Adventuring with a dragon serving Justice can involve a surprising amount of paperwork. Tasha only saw some of it, but appreciated the irony of having to write things on special parchment only to then cast a communication spell to transmit it while burning it. It also made it obvious why dragons would bother shapeshifting - it's hard to write with giant claws.
Gutting a fallen dragon was another unexpected and surprising chore. Being creatures of magic, their corpses also didn't react like those of normal animals. Certain organs changed upon death, much like the heart did, leaving behind odd materials. Since Farnettor had been an earth dragon, this usually resulted in minerals of stone and crystal. The bulk of the dragon was left for the villagers to harvest, although Tasha did also snag a few of the teeth and one claw.
The journey back to their 'home' world was the same as the trip out, flying to a specific location that allowed for the gate to be opened. But other than feeling exhausted, Tasha was pretty much unscathed - though her armor would need some repair.
"Did the dragon give you any trouble?" Tia asks. Since she has to operate the gateway at her end, she's already right there when the expedition returns.
"It was more difficult than I expected and I had to go further than I wanted to, but I prevailed." Tasha does sound a little tired, and her armor is obviously damaged. "I learned a lot about myself, dragons, and others things, anyway."
"You thought a dragon would be easier prey?" Tia asks, as they head to the main gates of the base. "Were you able to eat its brai-.. it's heart?" she asks, while Vasha and Gwyndrael carry the other dragon parts, which she eyes with interest.
"I wasn't sure what to expect, but I think I underestimated it based on its behavior and my rough comparison to other magical beings. I also found myself both underestimating it and letting my emotions and frustrations grow out of control. I thought I went too far, but after talking with Gwyndrael, I wonder if it's the other way -- I'm not going far enough. I'm being too emotional, too sympathetic, and.. " Tasha hesitates a moment. "Too frustrated. With everything. Unfortunately for the dragon, my frustration is lethal. He didn't take me seriously either and paid dearly for it, then it was over. I can at least say I respect him a great deal more, now."
"Respect is important," Tia says. "It should help with the assimilation." She then stops and waits for a moment, as one of the utility carts whizzes past. A Kobold is driving it, and several others hang on for dear life. Whisper has one foot on the passenger seat and one on the dashboard, pointing with an outstretched arm as the driver tries to follow her directions. Then they're gone, hidden behind the bulk of Astraea.
The sight makes Tasha smile a little. "Whisper's a lot cuter than I expected her to be. I'm glad she's found a way to have fun." She rolls her shoulder, stretches her wings, then rubs her forehead. "You know, that dragon headbutted me."
"Is that what killed it?" Tia asks. They're nearly to the main building, where Sasha has his workshop and nascent alchemy lab. "Did Vasha help?"
"No, I stunned it with the Yellow Sword, then it was easy enough to remove it's -- his -- head. I didn't like having to use the Yellow power, but in hindsight I shouldn't have ignored any power I possess if it meant survival and success. It's like I've been trying to live up to some perfect ideal since.. Since some point I don't know." Tasha then shakes her head, stares at the ground a moment in thought, and then remembers there was a question. "No, but she did have to put herself on the line as part of the duel. We were under some sort of legal contract -- and perhaps magical. A trial by combat."
"Ah, so you were trying to live up to the ideal that you would like Vasha to live up to, perhaps," Tia suggests, and stops at the entry to the base headquarters. "Do you need my help with anything?" she asks.
"More than just Vasha," Tasha admits, if a bit quietly. She realized after the battle the pressure of expectation, achievement, success, and family were getting too her. The dragon wasn't the only one assaulted by demons of the mind. "No, although you're welcome to join us and inspect what we brought. I was surprised to learn dragons break down in to magical essences, for example, the earth dragon became minerals and crystals."
"That is much better than exploding," Tia says, but looks interested. The crate of former dragon entrails is transferred off of Gwyndrael, and Vasha picks it up. She's still the top when it comes to carrying heavy things! Kai also follows the Vartan. "I'm heading back to camp," Gwyndrael says. Camp being the tower that was given over to the dragons. "I'll let the others know how it went."
"Thank you for your help, I hope I wasn't a disappointment," Tasha tells Gwyndrael, offering her a little bow. "I'll try to do better."
"You aren't a knight, so you can't be expected to act like one," Gwyndrael says, then smiles. "But you won, which is the important thing in such duels."
"I am an honorary knight, but of that type, so I suppose I can forgive myself. At least, I learned a great deal about myself in the fighting." Tasha smiles back. "Tell the others hello for me. We'll be working on things in the alchemy lab. I'm not sure how this go so I may or may not be available for a while."
"Don't forget to rest," Gwyndrael advises, then launches herself into the air.
With Gwyndrael gone Tasha is left alone, and so quickly hurries after the others in to the makeshift laboratory. "I'm here," she calls out, assuming Sasha, Kai, or both are around somewhere.
Sasha is wearing grease-stained overalls, and so is Katie. "You look a bit dented," Katie tells Tasha, while Sasha goes for the crate, pointing to a spot Vasha can set it down.
"I found something with a harder head than mine," Tasha replies, knocking on her cracked armor chest plate. She walks over to a corner, holds her arms out in a T-pose, then lets the suit work its magic, drawing back segment by segment until Tasha can step out of it.
There are some grinding sounds due to the damaged parts, but Tasha is still able to step free, along with all the pent-up scents from the battle.
"Dragon was tricksy," Vasha claims. "It had fought before, I think."
"Probably had to beat or kill its siblings," Kai notes.
"Oh I'm sure it's fought many times. He was young but probably only relatively young. Fighting him did feel a little familiar though." The red woman steps forward and looks around. She's dressed in a relatively close jumpsuit with her under suit clearly visible beneath the partially zipped up chest area. When Kai speaks up, she turns to focus on her. "Oh so you are here."
"I'm good at not being noticed if I don't want to be," Kai says. "Especially when there's manual labor going around."
"I don't recognize any of this stuff," Sasha notes as he looks through the crate. "You didn't happen to make not of they started out as did you?" he asks.
"Big green one might be the liver," Vasha offers.
"So you're like the opposite of Vasha," Tasha removes her pouch harness from the armor, which is mostly made up of re-purposed Abaddonian military satchels and containers on straps. She then walks over and frowns at the pile. "I remember some of them. Vasha may remember-" She blinks at Vasha's answer, "-doesn't remember very well. None of them are the heart, because I have that. The tooth is the thing that looks like a dark crystalline dagger made for a giant, and the claws are the smaller versions of that. I think that one is the spleen, annnd the brain turned to powder, didn't it? We have some of that. There was a lot. The two rocks are the kidneys."
Tia is also hovering about the lab, but turns her attention to the crate as Sasha starts going through it. Her focus shifts to Tasha again when she mentions the heart.
"Does it look like a heart?" Sasha asks.
"It looks like an enormous ruby." Tasha pulls the heart out of the bag and holds it aloft for everyone to see. "It was a gigantic flesh heart, although neither seem directly edible. I'd have given the heart a try, of course."
Everyone is looking at Tasha expectantly now. "It's got a little bit of Farnettor's soul in it," Kai explains. "So maybe you can treat it like you would a Marker."
"Carry it around and be told my interpretations of what it's for is irreverent?" Tasha peers at the crystal, then holds it closer. "Or attempt to absorb it? I thought I was supposed to eat it."
"Well, it's the same thing," Kai claims, waving a hand. "Just more one sided. You're forcing the issue, which may as well be eating it. I generally stuck to beings that didn't crystallize though."
"I never got to eat anyone's brain," Tia says morosely. It's.. an odd thing to be morose about.
"Hah!" Katie barks, as if Tia just said a joke.
Tasha gives Tia a funny look and she wonders if Tia has a weird side she's just gotten a glimpse of. She then blinks at Katie, looks between the two, blinks again, and then stares at the ceiling. She does this for a moment, then just blurts out, "Okay, here I go," and raises the jewel-like relic to her mouth.
At the same time, Tasha begins to emit a deep red aura, ever shifting from an almost red-orange to deep dark blood colors, roiling and lapping like slow flame. This grows larger, and larger, until ambient light begins to flicker and she starts to radiate a moderate heat. At this point she opens her jaws and bites down, matching the symbolic gesture with the mental and spiritual will to consume and take in the heart.
Something punches her brain from the inside. The lab goes away, and Tasha is in a red version of the Sea Without Lees. And she's not alone, as Farnettor - or some aspect of him - is there too. Instead of being covered in stony looking osteoderms he looks like he's made of fire. Red flames though.. not the black ones that the Queen of Demise showed. And he's smaller than the real dragon was, about Drokar-sized. "You better not be trying to replace me!" a familiar voice squawks, as Blackwings puts a hand on Tasha's shoulder from behind.
"Oh hold your beak, this isn't like that. I'm here to absorb him," Tasha begins, turning around to glance back at Blackwings. She doesn't remember the woman having hands to grab her before, let alone enough substance to interact with her beyond words and feelings.
But then this is all probably happening in her mind, where Blackwings look like Tasha remembers her best. Not as a desperate, bitter shell but as the powerful presence she was to a young hybrid. "Oh sure, you're gonna just slurp that thing up? It's measuring us, I think."
"That's exactly what I'm here to do, one way or another." Tasha may see Blackwings at her best, as she saw her when she was younger and a lot more naive, but she isn't the girl in the memory and hasn't been for quite some time. "This is how dragons do things."
"If you say so," Blackwings says. "Do we.. you.. need to wrestle it into submission or something?"
"First, I will talk." Tasha reaches up and pats Blackwings on the shoulder, as if it tell her everything will be alright. She then gives her a nod, holds the woman's gaze a moment, and turns around to walk towards the effigy with purpose.
"And here we are," she tells the flaming spirit. It's not a greeting and it's not teasing or needling. It's said as a statement, a declaration and a reminder of the state of things.
"You killed me," the flaming dragon-thing states as well. "And now I must serve you or be extinguished, if my understanding of these things is correct. But you're also young and inexperienced, so I don't think I have to surrender everything to you."
"I think that applies to you as well, after all there's a reason you and I fought. We were matched. A dragon priestess determined you to be a suitable candidate, and I wasn't permitted to ambush you or otherwise attack as I might have. We fought, the both of us, with everything we had. And you lost." Again, no mockery, just a statement and background to understand the significance of it. Tasha then thumbs over her shoulder. "If you are able to partly resist me, you will likely join Blackwings here, within me, within my soul. I am not looking for another voice in my head or finicky power I must cajole and bargain with. That is why I chose this path, to seek my own power. You are intended to be the spark that Kindles my flame."
"And that will be the end of me?" the dragon asks. "Who will teach you how to really use it? The Advocate? I had to fight for what I have. I've earned it. If our places were reversed, what would you do?"
"I'd fight you to the very end, and beyond, if I could. And that is what I did, when my soul was consumed. To devastation. My soul cannot be consumed, and it is poison to many. I would either win, or be destroyed, unless I believed there was some greater reason to attempt to work with you, such as the hope of revival, or self preservation for a cause." Tasha folds her hands and settles where she is, shifting her weight to one leg. "The Advocate is not the only dragon I know. You might consider me apprentice to the Queen of Demise, guided by her shadow. The dragons who directed to me are three in number, and older than you. Then there is our alchemy and magic, the beings the Queen created."
"Certainly more than I had," the flame spirit says. "But it shows me why you want this power to call your own. Name me and I will serve you as well as that other spirit. Or I will resist, even though it destroys me. In time, we may become one. You can use me to kindle your power, as you say, but that power will not come with control, and that is what I offer you in exchange for my existence."
"I accept under a few conditions. The first is you will not try to wrestle control of my body or take over my soul in any way. I am the dominant soul, here. And I am more than one, and may become a great many. The second is that you don't act to undermine me, my family, my friends, and my causes. Third, is that you don't offer excessive conditions, lecture me, try to make me feel bad about incessantly, or otherwise make me regret keeping you as you are out of a desire for peace. I have enough entities who do that already." Including her own mind, Tasha reluctantly admits to herself. "And finally, if this is a ruse, or the control you offer is not genuine and you are misleading or lying to me, that would break my already limited trust and our deal would end."
Tasha thinks for a moment, then adds, "I know you faced many difficulties, but you preyed upon those farmers without a thought to theirs. And you seemed petty in your revenge. I understand what these feelings are like, though I only go so far against a hostile, aggressive force, not random strangers I simply want to rob. You and Blackwings share that in common." And so Tasha gestures back to the woman behind her. "Oh and I killed her too, if in very different circumstances."
"Didn't eat me though!" Blackwings calls out. "I'm useful too! I'll be keeping an eye on you if this deal goes through."
Tasha is beginning to feel like the ruler of some inner court vassals are forever trying to impress -- and occasionally unseat. The line between inner and outer worlds seems all the blurrier to her for these interactions. "Good, please do keep an eye on him."
"I am only a fragment of a soul, and it is doubtful that I could ever grow to be more," the spirit says. "I am power and control, and a contract is binding. It will be made when you name me, and I will become what you name. You have allies that can probably reach in and snuff me out if I behave in any way that is not beneficial to you."
"That may be, but my requirements remain none-the-less." Tasha has made enough mistakes due to overconfidence, she's being cautious this time. "As for a name ... "
Tasha considers this. She already has Blackwings, who, appropriately enough, seems to align with the darker entities that connect to her. And she is here to Kindle her Red, so the naming theme presents itself. Black wing and ...
"Redfangs. Blackwings and Redfangs. It has a nice multiple meaning and it fits the theme and my intent." Tasha nods, she is satisfied.
With the name given, the spirit changes shape. The dragon shape is still there, but now covered in scarlet scales with the flame relegated to a strip along its spine. It also shrinks to cat-size, reminding Tasha a bit of Charon, which may have been why it ended up like this. "Redfangs," it confirms.
Tasha smiles despite herself. Small dragons, one of her weaknesses. She is at least happy no one has tried to use that against her. Yet. "Good. Now, show me what you can do."
Redfangs leaps up and lands on Tasha's right arm, before curling around it and sort of sinking in, so that it looks like she has a glowing dragon tattoo with the head on the back of her hand. "Now.. cast a ball of fire," the tattoo suggests.
Tasha does as she's done before, except no aura appears: instead the entire landscape of red light begins to waiver, as if a heat haze were present. She lifts her hand and clicks her fingers for the focus and not the friction, letting the ball of flame condense and grow, and then she flicks it forth.
It launches out like a bolt of plasma, going much faster than expected. There's a slight dip in her overall feeling of energy though, as if she had just done something strenuous. It wasn't anywhere as severe as when Kai used her to melt a wall though, but it still seems to use her flight muscles somehow.
Tasha breathes out a 'pfffuuu', flexing her hand. "Well, that was a lot more impressive than the modest threat to dry shrubbery I could manifest before. And, then range is considerably better, too. I still feel the drain." She wonders if this is being Kindled, or if this is merely a pre-Kindled example.
"It will become easier with practice," Redfangs claims. "You may also use me as a flame spirit."
"Ah, like a nature spirit, then? Just, a dragon." Tasha perks her ears, glancing to the apparent tattoo. "Well, it's definitely a good start. Well done."
"Fun all around," Blackwings says. "But outside are you staring off into space, laying in a puddle of drool, or setting fire to everything around you?"
"There's only one way to find out." Tasha lets her aura subside, then focuses and drawing herself out of this place, turning the face of her soul from inward to outward.
The laboratory comes back into view, along with everyone staring at her. She still has the ruby in her mouth, and her jaw and teeth ache.
Tasha pulls the ruby out and coughs a few times, then puts it away and rubs the side of her face. "Wrel thrat wrus prowdwutive."
"You were glowing for a bit," Sasha says. The ruby has lost its red hue, looking nearly black now.
Tasha offers the ruby to Sasha, now that it's no longer the container for what remains of the dragon's soul. Once she's worked her jaw enough to talk without wanting to wince, she explains, "The spirit and I have come to an understanding and the soul fragment is no longer inside the ruby." She then raises the hand that was marked and concentrates, conjuring the fireball, this time without intent to use throw it.
There's no need to do the finger-sparking maneuver this time, and she can actually feel the heat from it.
"So does that burn calories?" Katie asks. "Or is it magical flame?"
Tasha holds it before her so everyone can see it, not that it's hard to miss. It's quite bright, for one, not to mention radiating heat. "I think it's some of both. I sense that I now have a reserve of magical power, which is not unlike the power reserves that let me shield myself. I could also draw on bodily strength, which is mostly what I did before, that and soul-strength. Soul strength is a little hard to quantify, but it seems to be the foundation and basic source of powers I use like this, but because the fire is physical and magical and not spiritual or soul-stuff -- psionic-like, as the Yellow Swords are -- it can only provide so much, and so I had only my body and that limited power to draw on. Now, I have much, much more. I still feel it draining me bodily, but the drain feels like it's splitting between raw magical reserves and my own energies. It might be that magic like this always takes something from the whole. I recall a lot of spell casters being exhausted by powerful magic, yet they are clearly also drawing on some other power."
"The effort of controlling it can be very taxing," Kai notes. "It's why many wielders still form contracts with magical entities to lessen that burden. Dragons can replenish their magical energy reserves by sleeping on treasure, which focuses the ambient magic for them."
"So.. does Tasha need to sleep on treasure now?" Katie asks. "That seems like it would uncomfortable."
"Treasure is never uncomfortable," Tasha insists, arms crossed, head raised, and tail wagging. "It's treasure. It's shiny. And I've had you, Hakeber, and Gabriel lay on me, I can take it."
"But we're mostly soft," Katie points out. "Is your treasure girlfriends then?" she asks in a teasing tone.
Tia and Sasha and Vasha stay out of this, but look from Katie to Tasha as if watching a tennis match.
Tasha looks about to say something, then leans back and her ears go up. She starts rubbing her chin as if in deep, deep thought. her tail wags more, worryingly enough.
"There aren't that many girls left," Sasha points out.
"We can make-" Kai starts to say, but Tia elbows her in the ribs before she can finish.
Tasha barks a laugh at that, knowing exactly what Kai was about to say. She claps her hands together with a rather loud crack, which surprises her briefly, but she quickly recovers and says, "Well I am going to go rest, or Silver Dragon Girlfriend is going to let me hear it. I feel like I still need to adjust to the merging, too, so don't wake me up unless you have to. I leave the laboratory to you, Sasha."
Tasha's rest is full of odd dreams, or possibly memories. Roughhousing with other dragons, until the first flaming breath surprises everyone. Fighting.. so much fighting with siblings and parents. And getting stronger, and learning more about the flame in the process. And sometimes.. talking to it..
"Tasha," an urgent sounding voice whispers, cutting through the dreams.
"Yes," Tasha responds in that hazy, half awake, almost meditative voice. She's not entirely here, but she isn't entirely not, either.
"Tasha, wake up.. more," the voice insists. There's also some weight, as if the source is sitting on top of her.
Tasha supposes she better wake up in that dream like realizes she must, of course, be awake, and now she needs to not be, so she's going to do that. The lump of Tasha begins to stir from her dragon-dreams.
"Kaa is hitting on your dragon," the voice says, in hopes of speeding up wakefulness.
Tasha does stir faster, but mainly because Kai doing anything unexpected is always a cause for concern, if not immediate action. Much like herself, Kai can be both a source of help and source of large and small scale devastation. Perhaps even sexual devastation, she might consider, were she awake enough to consider such things.
Tasha does stir faster, but not because Kaa may be flirting with something -- Kaa flirts with everything including some inanimate objects. No, she senses the pressure of immediatacy and problem, she always exist at the back of her mind. She, if anything, a kind of problem solver with a lot of problems to solve, and sometimes they come to her rather than she to them.
Once her eyes clear, Tasha sees that she's being straddled by Sharon, still in her Sexy Sorceress getup. "Are you awake now?" the girl asks Tasha.
Tasha opens her eyes, arches her brows, then shifts her weight and raises her hips so Sharon falls forward! She then tries to grab her and pull her in to in to an embrace, nose to know. "Hi, me. What's up?" And then she gets nuzzled a bunch.
"I'm having a crisis," Sharon claims, trying to nuzzle back somewhat ineffectually. It means getting her whole face into Tasha's fur.
Tasha stops trying to be sexy and instead shifts to being cuddily, holding Sharon close and shifting to let her get comfortable. "What's the problem? Did things not go well with our Dragon Wizard?"
"Nnnngh," Sharon muffles, then takes a deep breath. "Well, he had me do some tests, and says I may have an affinity for.. the other side of the Flame, opposite what you have. He told me to see Sister Thermoriax about learning healing magic."
"That sounds terrible," Tasha remarks, giving Sharona hug and sitting her muzzle atop her head. "I thought you two were going to study other kinds of magic with that outfit, but maybe I misinterpreted. And you know, I was going to suggest you try being a nurse, so maybe there's something there. And healers command a lot of respect! Remy's the only one who could make Gabriel sit down and listen, he even could override him."
"I tried.." Sharon admits. "I think. I'm not sure! He was nice and encouraging and human looking and not family. But then I wondered if that was just our daddy issues thing, or because Vasha was hooking up with one of the half-dragons.."
"It could be all of those things, but don't let that stop you. That's how I got Gabriel after all. Maybe you should be more direct? I suspect he knows, as he's clearly very insightful, but for whatever reason he hasn't chosen to act on it. Maybe that's important. he may be concerned about the consequences or asserting too much interest. And, I think he's polite enough not to share, whether or not things work out, or don't," Tasha suggests, taking some time to both and and get a very close look at Sharon, a version of whom she'd been, but from the outside. It's a strange thing indeed to be cuddling with an earlier other-species version of yourself. She can kind of see why everyone wants to do things to Sharon; even she has to admit the young woman radiates that kind of vibe.
For Sasha that vibe elicits a protective urge. Who knows what Vasha feels, if anything. But for the other Karnors it's probably more visceral - something taboo.
"It would be easier if you'd seduced older men more often," Sharon complains. "It's all just weird. It must be the lack of fur that drives Humans and Phins into seeking sensual pleasures. And the tongues."
For Tasha, it's curiosity and protectiveness, and she's always been quick to sleep with people she has feelings for. Sharon's one of the -- at least as of this moment -- exceptions, but she has to admit she's thought about it. "It's a bit hard for me to seduce any men right now, Sharon." She resist the urge to try and chew on Sharon; not hard, but just a little. She's not sure why she has that urge some times. "Which is a bit of a problem, because while I do love women, I kind of need someone to fuck me. Hard. And, preferably often."
"Sasha said he could make.. toys," Sharon says, and as absently as Tasha's urge to chew, the girl starts petting Tasha's head and even scratching her scalp without looking at what she's doing. "Gabriel has a lot of stamina though, despite his age, so you should be fine. You saved him from the scary bunny women and fed him hogs and beer. I don't think that will work on a dragon. Liza tries but she's not that scary."
Tasha's tail wags. She knows what Sharon's doing, as she had the same impulse, but she doesn't mind when it's Sharon doing it. Or, she has to admit, quite a few other people. She's never been one to turn down most physical pleasures, and she appreciates affection. "Well, I've been avoiding Gabriel a little as I figure out how to deal with his desire for children. I was for it at first but I've been increasingly apprehensive about it, to the point he may think I'm mad at him. but that's my problem. For yours, I think you should just tell him. Dragons are a direct people, he's just more sensitive and thoughtful than most, and he can sense your instability and anxiousness. Being more direct may help allay his fears. he doesn't want to hurt you."
The girl turns nearly as red as Tasha at the suggestion. "I did not get any of your confidence," she admits. "Maybe I could.. uh.. invite him to the hot spring? I'm afraid to ask Kai for advice on dragons.. she might just puppet me again to make me approach him like that."
"Well you got some of my wisdom, but that's a very real concern. As for confidence, if you don't have mine, you can try to build your own. I think the magic practice will help with that. As for the dragon, the hot springs might be nice. Just remember: he's going to be very cautious around you. I very much doubt he missed your interest, he's probably more concerned with a host of other complications like the ones I said, but also, the political and social ramifications," Tasha explains. She then cold noses Sharon, because watching her redden is adorable, and that makes her want to tease her. She settles for the nose.
"See, you're already a pretty good mom," Sharon teases at the nosing. "And it's not like you have to actually give birth, with the tanks and all."
"I don't think tracked battlefield weaponry will help me much this time," Tasha notes with a very straight face. "We'll need a better plan."
"Hah!" Sharon barks. Humans probably shouldn't do that. "No, like the ones you recovered in, or that Mariel grew in. I mean, aren't those basically mechanical wombs?"
"Maybe they've got something better now," the girl muses.
"Basically," Tasha confirms, nodding with what little motion range she has while being petted. "And who knows, maybe Persephone has some trick up her sleeve that makes things easier. Or, I don't know, I'm part dragon now, maybe I can lay an egg and then run away!" She grins. "And I don't know why it bothers me so much now. I guess I've sen a lot of families, a lot of ruins, and legacies. And maybe my fear makes everything else that much harder to bear."
"Our mom managed it," Sharon says, sounding a bit distant. "And she obviously didn't know what she was doing. Raising a kid on an airship? The Pteras could have.. would have.. eaten us if they could! And we don't know if the breeding trick from Persephone transferred to the rest of us. Could have Gabriel try to get Vasha pregnant to find out. I know Vasha would enjoy trying."
"Maybe too much, though I wouldn't mind sharing with Vasha now and then. She seems like she'd be a lot of fun, and she's the only reliable Vartan woman around." Tasha says that with a straight face, because she's being honest. "And lots of kids grew up on a ship! I'm definitely not the only one. And mom's a bit oblivious, and most people haven't traveled as far or seen as much as I have. I walk through the lives of civilizations and stars. I no longer just see tomorrow. I see the end of the road, and beyond. That's what I think of why I think of children."
"I've been hesitant to ask Kai about any special features she installed," Sharon says. "Maybe I could carry your and Gabriel's kid? I'm not built for going into danger."
"That doesn't alleviate the core problem. I might find childbirth a bit weird, but it's more of a greater and longer ranging problem than me. I'm thinking burdens, risks, horrors, and generations, maybe civilizations. There's so much I don't know and so much that could go wrong." Tasha exhales, sighing. "I think of Horus. I think of his regrets. Is that going to be me, who-knows-how many years in the future?"
"Well, you gotta take a first step," Sharon claims. "Just think of your and Gabriel's future. If you do that.. then I can ask out a dragon. Or you could ask one of them about all this. But absolutely you should see Jonas and save some of your eggs."
"I mean, you've got all sorts of immortal creatures just lounging about, they must have some good advice between them," the human reasons.
"I'm uncomfortable with how often people talk about or mention getting ready for me to die," Tasha laments, head shaking. "It almost feels it's becoming an everyday thing." She sighs again, then hugs on Sharon as if she were a stuffed animal, which would be funny if Tasha's mind were in the right place to catch it. "It's meeting immortal creatures and gods that have made me start to worry about it. They're going to say what I imagine Persephone would say, more or less 'but you won't have any legacy at all if you don't try, you'll have a future of nothing', 'if you let fear dictate your actions, that's all you'll ever have' and 'it's impossible to see the future or avoid every mistake; sometimes you must simply try and do your best'. And I know these things. Maybe there's more to it. Like, what if I resent my children? Or they me? What if something happens? I may die, but if one of you died, I'd probably feel a lot worse. I guess that's my weakness."
"You're starting to sound like Tia," the squeezed girl notes. "But we've always been about gaining control, haven't we? And at every step, every bit we get.. it just makes the world bigger and harder to grab. Nora was like that."
"I mean she was incapable of accepting that she couldn't accomplish something," Sharon goes on. "Not even in death."
"Was she? I guess you're a Human, and Nora's closer to being a Human than I have been most of my life. Lives. I hope Nora finds what she's looking for this time around. I really do. And I always liked that about her. The not giving up. In the end, it might have saved us all." Tasha rolls over, then pulls Sharon on top of her and gives her another hug. "I'll think on it. I'm just a lot less comfortable risking others than myself. Maybe one day I'll just tell Gabriel to hurry up and take me and just rush-rush before I get muddy hooves again."
"We can all come hold your hands while he does the deed," Sharon teases, making a weird face that only a Human could manage; a comical leer.
"Grr," goes Tasha who grabs Sharona and then rolls on top of her to straddle her this time. Then she lays down and props her head on her hand, twirling her hair with a finger. "You know, we could make out. If you keep learing at me, you can be my first Human!"
"Wouldn't there be.. like.. feedback?" Sharon asks. "And you don't like humans, or you would have gone after Yue by now. And.. should we have Sasha and Vasha too? If you can feel this way, then we all can.." she babbles while turning pink. "And there can't be biting or being too rough.."
"I didn't hear a no!" Tasha leans back, goes on her front hands, butt up, and tail wagging. "And I don't go after my mentors, that's my rule! Unless I did before they were my mentors! There are exceptions."
"I am very nervous," Sharon says. "Even though I know all of your favorite spots, and probably some other that only a Human can stimulate. Secret Human Stuff that makes Karnors go wild."
Tasha's eases out of her predator pose, then drops back down, laying her head on Sharon's tummy. "I don't want to make you any more anxious than you already are. We don't have to do anything. I won't apologize for being worked up though, you did wake me up by straddling me in a skimpy outfit. You know me."
"Did we ever care about the clothes though?" Sharon asks, her brows furrowing. "Or it just that on Humans it matters? I.. huh." She suddenly sits up a bit, enough to prop herself up on her elbows. "Something's off," she says, with a bit of concern.
Tasha begins to answer, then her ears go askew. "Did.. I forget to do something?" She breathes, checking her breath against the back of her hand and sniffing, then she looks up in askance.
"I know too much," Sharon says. "We were Human for three days, and didn't know anything beyond how to move and talk. Vasha wouldn't know more about being a Vartan than you already knew, because you were raised Vartan. Sasha knows how to be a Karnor because you also had that. But there was never any Human background for me to know! So how do I know?"
"Because of Nora? She was raised in a Human society. Or maybe because of something inherent to all Human-mixed uplifts?" Now Tasha is sitting up, head planted on a hand, brows furrowed. "And I'm not sure Kai would have known how to be a Galactic Human. I know Kainudy knew an Earth, but it's not the same one, and not the same time."
"But one them added it, either Tia or Kai or.. Sam.." Sharon says, sounding more upset. "I remember all the times we got into fights, but.. I don't know how to throw a punch. I'm the least you of us! I'm practically the opposite of you." She's starting to hyper-ventilate now, working herself into a panic.
Tasha tries to interrupt this by licking Sharon all across her face and mussing up her hair! It's very hard to focus on being upset when you have to fend off a tongue.
This does seem to calm her down. So the Human-Karnor bond works both ways apparently. Tasha recognizes an existential identity crisis, it's just the first time seeing one from the outside.
Tasha slides forward and scoops Sharon up, nuzzling the side of her head and wagging her tail. She's been on both sides enough to know how this works, even if Sharon's the first person she's ever used it on. "Sometimes I'm the opposite of me, too. Sometimes I'm complicated, or try to cook Gabriel food. Sometimes I just want peace and quiet and to watch a little turtle scoot across the ground as the wind blows. You're probably that side of me. The side I usually hide form everyone else, because I'm afraid they'll think I'm weak, or try to sideline me. Usually I go off on my own to handle it. Sometimes I don't want to be around people. If anything you're my most complicated side. the side that's not easy to quantify and doesn't fit in to what people usually think of me."
"Oh, I should have seen that," Sharon admits quietly after a few moments in the hug. "The other bits probably come from Yue. Kai would have stolen them, but nothing personal, I suppose. I was supposed to be able blend in with modern Terrans. Sasha looks like a modern Karnor. Does Vasha have Lacci knowledge? Probably not, Lacci isn't that good at social knowledge. And there's the other one too."
"There's another one?" Tasha tries to think if she's got another version of herself around. "Did I somehow miss another one of me?"
"Stuffy Tasha," Sharon says, and giggles slightly. "The toy version of you that Kai made to be sent to Mariel."
"Our oldest sibling," she laughs.
Tasha barks a laugh at that. "Oh her, she's not an actual version of me, I still need to pilot her. She does have an automated routine, but I don't think she's another me. At least, i don't think she is." She tilts her head in that confused canine way, finger to the side of her muzzle. "But yes, you should respect your biggest smallest sister."
"Oh.. I wasn't kidding about Kaa and Gwyndrael.." Sharon notes. "He was enticing her down to the lake and showing off."
"Well I don't own Gwyndrael, she can have sex with whoever -- or whatever -- she wants. That's true of Katie, and even Gabriel, since I don't mind if he has sex with other women. The only man he's allowed to have sex with is Sasha." Tasha nods, straight faced, and very definite. "And she can take care of herself. I highly doubt Kaa can outsmart or out play a five-thousand year old lawyer, if he seduces her she wanted to be."
"I don't think the dragons have ever seen dolphins before," Sharon says. "Or the Jotoki. I got the impression that they still don't know quite what to make of us all. The Kobolds are afraid of Liza and Aaron."
"That's weird, they're not exactly intimidating. I suppose we are all aliens from another universe, though. I sometimes forget we can be the alien, and some of us, including, increasingly, me, can be very exotic. Still, it's not like Kaa doesn't radiate 'horny guy vibes,' he's not exactly subtle." Tasha tilts her head the other way. "I'm surprised Katie hasn't made a pass at Gwyndrael though. She's big, silver, and has exotic machine limbs. Maybe I should introduce them? That could be a lot of fun."
"How many wolves does it take to hold down a dragon?" Sharon asks, then shivers for a moment. "She's awfully big, even for Katie."
"Just one if it's me!" Tasha's tail wags. "I was on top, and I used my tail. Kai taught me this exciting energy-surge sex trick, and we we both came at the same time -- and I could feel her's too!" Much more wagging. "It was amazing! But also very tiring, women are a lot more work then men, and dragons more so than most."
"I kinda like being licked by Thermoriax," Sharon admits. "Which is gonna be awkward when ask her to teach me magic."
"Oh, she'll probably know. I mean she's an ancient dragon who has a taste for blonds, so I think she's been around that corner enough o wear a dent in the road." Tasha then squints at Sharon. "I knew I sensed you were a bit turned on by that. That's why I was so suspicious of her, I thought she took advantage of you. Well, maybe our new favorite wizard can make you his personal lolipop, just don't get eaten, that didn't go well for us last time."
"Oh, I like him in his human form, not his dragon one," Sharon claims. "I have soft skin and he does not."
"Very boney, it seems. Hey, do you think dragons have huge penises? Maybe you'll be the first to find out!" Tasha holds her arms out as far as she can. "You can beat us all and make Vasha jealous!"
"They probably fight duels with them!" Sharon laughs. "Or they can hold things with them, like Kaa does."
"I think that's a rare ability," Tasha says with a chuckle. "Well, feeling better about things, now? And you don't have to be exactly like me. You can grow and change away from me, and that's fine, too. In a way, whatever you become is also me, because we are each other."
"I just had a disturbing thought, because of us getting a bit worked up just now," Sharon says. "It's probably a thought you wouldn't have, either!"
"Some people say I don't have many thoughts at all," Tasha admits, twirling her hair with her finger again and looking pouty. "So what do you know in your monkey brain? Also if you ever wonder which body part you correspond to, it's my tail."
"What do the others correspond to then?" Sharon asks. "I was thinking.. could Kai make.. living.. uh.. you know.. sex toys? And then I immediately thought of a giant tongue. Like.. big enough to lie on.."
Tasha gives Sharon a very weird look. "That's definitely not something I had considered. I'm not sure that's my thing, ity would be weird to me to make out with a body part. I did wonder if we could have sex in spirit forms though, but that's probably too tabboo for Gabriel."
"Spirit forms?" Sharon asks. "I guess that would be like.. uh.. persocom space?"
"Maybe you don't remember or know about it, but when we were with Wolf and entered in to the Wild Hunt. We had spirit forms. Karnors were made from wolves, so I wondered what the original was like," Tasha explains. She shrugs a little. "But the situation wasn't really conductive to sexual experimentation. Speaking of sex and sexiness, Wolf. Rar."
"What about telepathic sex though?" Sharon asks. "I mean, we can supposedly exchange experience, but what about imagination?"
"I don't think imagining at each other is technically sex," Tasha says skeptically, scratching her head. "I mean I think Kai can just make some orgasm or something with her powers, and probably has, or do you mean something else?"
"I don't know, maybe I'm really wondering if we could do an orgy while still being in separate rooms with different people," Sharon says. "And we're going to do something, we have to set the proper mood first! You need to be hiding under the covers with just your head sticking out."
"Wait right now or in some future intercom-link-brain-sexathon?" Tasha's ears are very askew now, and then she tilts her head.
"Well, if we don't break down laughing in the first few seconds," Sharon says, and blushes once more.
"Oh you do want to try something. Well you better take that off so it doesn't get dirty, then I'm going to try licking everything because it seems like fun!" Tasha sits up and resumes her play bow. "I'll try not to be too rough. Ruff? Katie would say ruff. If this works out, we should invite Katie. She'll love us forever. Anywa-"
And then Tasha pounces!