(C1, Racksom) The Making of Men (12th Board)

Andyr was grinning like a fool. "This is a dragon? It looks like a cat. Not like giant lizards with leathery wings that breathe fire..." he said, contemplating the little thing curled in his arms. "Those were tales told in my tribe, stories of old..." he said quietly and turned it over on its back to get a look at it. It uncoiled a little, kicking feebly as he stroked its nearly hard stomach. "Scales. It really is a dragon..." he said and remembered Little Blond's question. "I found it under a table at a pub. Someone left it there after drinking too much. It looked important to me, felt warm, I took it" he said and looked to Little Blond. "What do I do? Does it suckle? How do I know if its hungry? Should I give it a name?". He looked a little lost, which was endearing because normally Andyr knew exactly what to do.

And he wouldn't put the chick down either.

"Dragons are not mammals. This one came from this egg. Does that mean I feed it... normal food. It doesn't need to suckle then?". But he was talking to himself now, sat down in the stall to have a better look at it, turned it over. "How do I tell if it is male or female? Do I raise the tail, are they like other animals?".

The chick made a highpitched sound, a sort of mewl that shut Andyr up.

He practically melted, the big oaf.

The look on Andyr's face made Little Blonde unable to keep from smiling. He was like… well, if he had to describe it, probably a new parent, or a child that just got their very favorite thing. His questions about taking care of the dragon woke him out of the slight stupor however, and he immediately realized he was drawing a blank. "I- I don't know." He answered honestly, blinking. "I've never seen a dragon like this… and I've certainly never raised one… Uh…" He stared at the small creature for a while longer, trying to make heads or tails of the situation. "I doubt it would eat meat so young, but it is a dragon so maybe…" A thought occurred to him then, and he stood abruptly. "Maybe Vesp- Ur, the Woman knows. She's a mage, so maybe she's read something about this?" He was walking before Andyr agreed, hoping that the man was too enthralled with the little dragon to notice that he had very nearly called Vesperia by her name, or if he did, was unwilling to set the creature down in order to box him over the ears for it. Leaving the barn before he could find out one way or the other, he left through the door that he'd seen the mage take before when she'd hastily exited the building and looked around the yard for her.

She wasn't hard to find, because she hadn't gone very far. It did take a bit of a double take though for him to realize that she was floating a decent amount of the ground and started a bit. Just another thing to get used to. For a moment he hesitated, unsure how to approach and decided that directly would probably be for the best. Walking over, he stopped just outside of arm's reach of her and crouched down, settling his forearms on his knees. "Are you alright?" He asked softly, looking intently at the side of her face but otherwise made no overtures to get her to look at him. "Or rather, are you going to be alright? I know that this is a hard time for a lot of people, things are very uncertain, but if there's something I can do to help…"

Vespira had finally decided, she'd go back in and she'd except her fate. What else could she do except sit here all night? A movement out of the corner of her eye nearly dropped her onto the ground as a sudden fear clench at her for a moment. She relaxed slightly when she realized it was only Vann. Still, that didn't mean she wasn't in trouble. But, he didn't approach her in a threatening manor, so she looked over to him, her hair still covering her face. Her eyes were red, but not too bad. She hadn't been entirely crying, so her face was still pale, and not red spotted. She waited trying to figure out what was coming. He seemed too calm.

To her surprise, he crouched down and spoke to her evenly. That was different, and something she wasn't used to. These guys really were very different than anyone she'd ever known. Still, Ves was careful not to look directly at him. As different as they were, they were still men and that made them her superiors. "Yes, sir," she said, not sure if she should call him Vann anymore. She gently set herself back onto the ground and facing him, she knelled on the ground and bowed her head so her hair very nearly touched the ground. "Apologies for earlier sir, it was not my place, and I should not speak unless spoken to. I am a servant, nothing more. Forgive me, or punish me how you like."

His first reaction was sympathy. It was obvious that she had been crying, the way that she held her hair in front of her face to mask her red eyes doing nothing to deter him from seeing that. Her words brought on more sadness. Obviously, she had not grown up in a female-friendly society. Andyr's attitude was probably doing her no favors. Shaking his head, he made a dismissive gesture with his hand. "I'm not going to punish you for being angry. Just… look. I'll confess that I'm not used to magic, and I doubt that Andyr is either. I can understand why you'd be angry with him. His culture has a very different view on women than mine or yours, but he's not a bad person, really. Or, he hasn't been so far. The three of us are probably going to be together for a while, especially if he keeps wanting to train me to…. to be a man, or whatever it is… Anyway, point is, you don't have to like it, I know I don't, but we have to get along, alright?" He gave the mage a small smile and went to stand, then stopped as the original purpose of his visit out here reoccured to him. "Also, there's now a dragon in the barn, and I was hoping that you knew how to raise one."

Vespira blinked when he spoke. She looked up at him confused. So he wasn't going to punish her. Not at all? But that didn't mean Andyr wasn't. She nodded her head to him. "I understand sir," she said, still not one hundred percent sure if she was aloud to call him Vann even when Andyr wasn't around. She'd figured she would, but after earlier she wasn't sure again. "To be honest sir, I'm not sure why my magic responded like that. I'm not really that used to it either. I learned it only a few years ago, when I got good at healing myself." She didn't go on, but she made her point. "I promise I'll behave myself, however, I still have to talk to Sir Andyr. After all, he was also one I was out of place with."

She looked up at him when he casually threw in the bit about the dragon. "I think I might know. It depends on the breed of dragons. I haven't been too close to one before, but I do know things I've seen from afar," she said softly. Vespira stood up and walked with her head down still back into the barn. She located Andyr easily and walked over to him. "Sir," she said a little shakily. "I was out of line and it's not my place to speak unless spoken to. For that, I apologies and offer myself to whatever punishment you see fit as it is a male's right to punish those female who don't know there place." She bowed her head to the barbarian, then added quietly as she looked at the dragon. "She'll either want milk or small bits of cut up meat," she added.

He looked up at her, both brows raised. "Woman, it is not a Man's right to punish a Woman for having emotions" he said as he stroked the hatchling's stomach. It was making a game of catching his finger and suckling on it. "If you harmed me, or anyone, then I could punish you. Or if you were very much impolite to me, personally..." he said and put a hand on her shoulder. "Just try and control your magic. Very strong. I think you hatched the egg" he told her. "It was the heat".

He let her see the baby dragon. "It is a she? How do you know that?" he asked. "Should I name it?"

He was in the middle of thinking of names when he gasped. "Oh it made people sounds earlier. It went buh buh buh, like a baby, then hiccuped, then meowed... tried to suck my nipple. I think she needs milk and meat. We should get some" he said and nodded. He stood, all eager, the hatchling in his hand. "If you want to, you can come Woman. You too Little Blond".

Vespira's mouth almost dropped, but she quickly caught herself. For a moment she thought she must be dreaming. There was no way that this man, Andyr, the biggest, strongest, most scary man she'd ever met, had just said that to her. She wasn't going to get punished? Not at all? She blinked and was completely shocked and confused. Never once, since the day she was kidnapped, had anyone ever been so nice to her as these two were. She almost wasn't even sure what to do now. She stood there frozen, before gingerly and carefully she stood back up, her head still sort of bowed, but she was looking directly at Andyr. She had to be dreaming... but no, this was actually happening. Right now, right here. In that moment, Vespira vowed to never do wrong by these two, and to help in any way possible.

She nodded her head when she finally pulled herself together. "Yes sir," she said softly. "I promise to control my magic sir." She looked at the little dragon and smiled softly. It reminded her of baby Sorrahkin and she had to keep herself from letting tears into her eyes. Baby creatures were always so cute. "Yes sir, she's female. You can tell by it's stomach," she explained softly. "Um, most dragons around here do go by names, however that is up to you sir," she said and couldn't help the small smile on her lips when he jumped in with how it had spoken. Most dragons she knew of spoke too. In either a mental or vocal form. She backed away from him a few steps when he stood, bit her lip. She wasn't sure if she should go or not.

The shocked look on Vesperia's face when Andyr pronounced that it wasn't necessary to punish her had Little Blonde smiling to himself and it took a bit of effort to not laugh. He'd known that Andyr wasn't all bad and was just glad that the mage had gotten to see it too. Maybe it wouldn't be as chaotic of a living situation as he'd first feared.

With all of that settled and Andyr heading off for another adventure, there was no way that he was going to miss out on the huge barbarian walking into the mess hall, dragon in his arms with that mushy look on his face and demand food for the little critter. There would be confusion, he was absolutely sure, especially since Andyr wasn't exactly someone that most would associate with being compassionate and soft hearted. Well, that's what a fuzzy creature did to some people, he supposed. "Let's get to the mess hall, then. No point in keeping her waiting. If dragons are anything at all like other animals, then they can get loud when they're unhappy." He smiled gently at the little creature. It was cute, even if he knew that it was probably going to grow up into some sort of scaled fearsome beast later in life. Especially under Andyr's care.

He was grinning as he set off, the hatchling in the crook of his arm, warm and comfortable. By now, he'd learned the way from the mess hall to the stables and didn't need to be lead. Just as well, for he was eating up ground with those long legs of his. Along the way, he was thinking of names for her. It wasn't so much of a problem that she was female... because she didn't really count as a Woman, and she couldn't be a whelp. In her regard, she was more like a varghund, only... dragons were higher than varghunds. He had a lot of thinking to do about her place in his life, but so far what was most important to him was naming her. He couldn't go around calling her Dragon. It would solidify the 'Andyr is simple' idea that most of the Surahnians had about him.

They arrived at the mess hall, and once more there was a hush as he strode in, dragon in tow, Little Blond and the Woman not far behind.

"I want milk and beef for the hatchling. Cook the beef, warm the milk." And when no one rushed to do as he'd asked, he turned his loving gaze from the dragon to the mess hall where it promptly hardened into something threatening. "Now" he boomed.

Someone broke and scrambled off to babble Andyr's order to the cook.

With that taken care of, Andyr sat, the bench groaning under his weight. He put the hatchling on the table and watched as it uncurled and started crawling around, careful to keep near to him, nipping his fingers when he pet it.

"Kvinna... I will name her Kvinna" he said, looking up at Little Blond.

Vespira didn't want to be left a lone, so she swiftly followed the two men out of the stables and across the grounds towards the mess hall. She kept her head low, fully aware of the stares and hushed whispers at the group. 'Don't let it bother you, they're just stupid people who know nothing,' she told herself while she walked. For the most part it worked and she ignored the people. Of course, she paused slightly when Andyr threw open the doors to the mess hall. She always hated coming in here. Everyone whispered whether she was with someone or not. She sighed quietly to herself and followed the men towards the table.

Ves sat down a little bit away from the two men, but close enough where she didn't have to deal with the men in the room bugging her like they normally did. Well, she most likely still will have to, but maybe no so much as normal. Like earlier. She sat still, her hands folded in her lap, and kept her head angled down, her eyes watching the two men from the corners of them. She was ignoring the whispers. Ignoring them... ignoring them... It wasn't hard to drown out. She wasn't even paying enough attention to figure out which in their party was the target of the banter. What did it matter in the end. She was more interested in seeing what the barbarian would do to feed the little dragon. She bit her lip when she was about to speak. Keeping the comment of how she liked the name to herself.

Things were actually going exactly as predicted. It would probably take these soldiers a long time to get used to Andyr, if such a thing ever happened. He didn't hide his smile when he saw the others start scrambling to do as the barbarian ordered, some more hesitantly than others. Looking over his shoulder, he noticed that Vesperia still had her eyes firmly averted, paying close attention to the floor. How was it that she didn't run into anything? And it was really too bad, because she had lovely eyes. Maybe later he'd see if he could get the girl to look up properly, though he had a feeling that would be fighting an uphill battle. Once satisfied with the organized chaos unfolding around them, Little Blonde took a seat next to Andyr on the bench, though not too close to respect the bigger man's personal space and give the poor wood a little relief so that it didn't start to buckle under their combined weight. "That's a good name, I think." He mumbled in response to Andyr's pronouncement, having no thought otherwise. He wasn't entirely sure how dragons liked to be named if they had some sort of convention for that type of thing, but it seemed a good enough title to be called by.

'Itty-bitty little bees buzz around the bear, mantled in honey and dripping saccharine. Alone, the bee is to the wind as a single leaf is upon a tree, but when the affair comes that the hive is set upon, behold then that a swarm is unleashed upon the predator. Only in aggregation can the indisposed strive to topple the strong, and it is then when the mountain is assailed that it realizes the folly in overlooking the pebbles that stand beneath its roots.'

Something drew his eyes upward from the small dragon that was now inspecting the table with a curious nose, his gaze drawn by movement. A group of off-duty soldiers had risen from their place at a table two rows over, the group of six walking toward them, grim looks on their faces. Little Blonde dropped his hand to where his weapon would normally sit belted to his hip and cursed silently when there was nothing there to be found. What a time to be unarmed. These men certainly didn't look like they were about to come and have a friendly chat.

The leader of their group, a man that looked like he'd spent the majority of his life with a broadsword attached to his back or in his hands walked forward with an unflinching gait, his attention centered directly on Andyr. When he got close enough he slammed both hands on the table, looking the barbarian directly in eye. "Look blonde, I dunno who you think you are, but we don't like takin' orders from untested outsiders. So you take your… cat and go get the food yourself, lazy ingrate."

Andyr smacked the man, all the force behind his great bearpaw of a swing. He was already pushing Kvinna toward the Woman for safety even as he stood.

Often talk was cheap and Andyr did not have it in him today to trade words he hardly knew with these Surahnians and be mocked for his lack of proficiency. They wanted to start a fight? He'd fight them, and when he was called to answer for his transgression, he'd simply say that he was finishing something the six of them would start. He also did not like the display of six men coming to bother him and little Kvinna. Sure, six men could take him on with some kind of confidence that they could beat him (but Andyr never thought he could lose), but leave the hatchling out.

One didn't poke the bear by shooting the cub.

Vespira was playing with a few strands of her hair, braiding it and unbraiding it a few times in her finger when she caught movement out of the corner of her eyes. She picked her head up slightly as the group of men approached. She swallowed hard, knowing from instinct that there was no way this was going to be anything good. Especially with the reception the three of them seemed to get when they walked in here. No, this could only be trouble, and even Andyr seemed to think so as he was pushing Kvinna towards her. Vespira scooped the little dragon into her arms lightly, brushing her hair back so she could actually keep her eyes on the group of men, and the dragons without her hair being in the way.

Vespira moved away from them a little more and positioned the little dragon comfortably, where hopefully she may just lay down and sleep a little. Of course, if she was hungry that wasn't a likely out come. Ves winced slightly as Andyr smacked the man. He deserved it for talking like that, but still, it reminded her of so many things, most of which were inflicted on herself. She didn't move other than that though. She wasn't entirely sure what to do just yet, so she kept her magic at the ready. She also had a feeling she'd have to do some healing by the time this was done. That was almost a given promise being that the six men had picked a fight with the one person she guessed they'd lose to easily. Andyr.

There was dead silence as the man that Andyr had hit simply collapsed, hitting the ground hard with a dazed look on his face. The lackeys that had been following along staring first at the downed ring leader, then at Andyr and back. One tried to step out of the way, apparently having no part of this, but another one shored up his confidence. "Get the bleedin' fool!" Instantly, the others were all fists and bravado, one of them rushing forward and practically leaping over the table to get a swing at Andyr, a second one close on the heels of the first. The mess hall erupted in to chaos, soldiers standing from their meals to either watch the fight or join in, some not even really knowing what was going on but wanting to bloody their knuckles with a good old-fashioned testosterone-laced fight.

'This is madness!' Little Blonde thought as he surged to his feet, getting out from the trapping of the bench around his legs and immediately went to cover Vesperia as a handful of men, enticed by what looked like a weak target that should have been easy to simply pick up and carry away in the confusion came forward. He stopped one easily by grabbing one of his extended wrists and twisting it around behind his back, throwing the man at one of the others who had rushed forward, and then he too became a target for flailing fists, curses, and general riot-induced anger.

'And so the dam dost breaketh.' The Voice simply said, sounding uncharacteristically smug and left it at that.

Andyr grabbed the first man by his face and caught his fist, using him as a human shield for the coming attack of the second man. Grinning widely, he slammed the man in his grip down on the floor and kicked him in the side before launching himself on the second man, flattening him to the table. He beat his face with his ham-sized fist and grabbed him, tossing him into another group of fighters as though he weighed no more than a sack of apples. Andyr took hits from some of the more ambitious men, but the others were quickly realizing that one on one fights or two on one fights with Andyr wasn't going to work.

They tried piling on him, and the sight was comical. There were at least six guys on him even as he continued to move, peeling them off like so many parasites and throwing them to the ground, where their bones made hideously loud cracks against the floor. Still, no one but the first two men were too badly hurt, and Andyr seemed to be having fun.

He headbutted one man, slammed the two on his arms together and threw himself backward to crush the men on his back. Rolling to his feet he picked up a bench and slammed it into the next three guys to run at him.

Pain and blood and cries of the hurt filled the hall.

Idly Andyr wondered when someone would wise up and call someone in charge. It'd be somewhat hilarious to meet Zartear in chains once more. Still, he didn't want that.

"Stop! Stop now. Stop. You will only get hurt" he boomed. His voice did stall them men for a moment. In the momentary silence he seized his chance. "No one wants to get more work as punishment. If someone in charge comes here... finds us like this, everyone is in trouble".

Vespira held the little dragon closer to her as she stood up and backed away slightly. She saw the men coming towards her as she picked her head up to look at them. Though it wasn't fear for herself that kept worry in her eyes. No, it was fear for the men who thought they could take her. Most of them could if they could get close enough, but Vespira was quick to shield herself with the a solid wall of air. She threw it up around her, keeping it 3 feet enclosed around her. This should stop anyone who tried to throw a punch at her. Now she open to play and protect anyone else. Her eyes first went to Andyr, however, he seemed to have everything under control. She then transferred her eyes to Vann.

Vann didn't have the same strength that Andyr did, yet he managed to fend for himself well. Not surprising to Ves. She watched him for a moment before she returned her attention to the men who was just about to hit her wall. Without moving her hands, Vespira pushed the men's feet from underneath them in a gust of air that sent a few plated nearby flying with it. She then took the water from any cups her eyes laid on and shifting it into air she pulled it towards her, using her magic to let the liquid become greater in volume. From there she laid it over the men's feet who were looking it with wide eyes and let it cover their legs like a blanket. Chilling it, she turned the liquid to ice and then quickly looked around to see what else she could do. Of course, the ice would hold them down till it either melted, they chiseler themselves out, or she released it.

Just as he was sure that he was going to get knocked over by the sheer flood of people, the attacks stopped as soon as they started. Little Blonde put a man on the ground with a fist in the face, wiping his lip in an attempt to keep the blood from his split lip from leaking all over his face. Warily he stood ready to defend himself, the circle of attackers watching Andyr with just as much apprehension. The brief silence was shattered when the door to the mess hall slammed open, admitting several armored men, one of which who stood at the fore of the group and looked particularly pissed.

Some of the soldiers that had been hanging around the outskirts of the fight and were nearest the door quickly got out of the way, coming to attention and standing stock still. With a clatter of armor, the small group of soldiers came forward, the lead man looking around at the bruised faces, split lips, thrown food and upturned tables with obvious disgust on his face. When he came to the inner ring of the fighters, he took quick stock of Andyr, Little Blonde and the men that they had at their immediate reach, barely even glancing Vesperia's direction. She was obviously not worthy of notice. "Right. Men! ATTENTION!" The whole room immediately stopped and straightened, so silent that the marching of feet outside could be clearly heard. "You sorry lot have acted like fools! As punishment, every man in this establishment will scour the mess hall until it is COMPLETELY spotless! I don't want to see even so much as a speck of dirt on the tables when you're done. AM I UNDERSTOOD?!"

"SIR, YES SIR!"

"Good!" The man then turned his attention to the central ring, surveying first Little Blonde who looked exceedingly uncomfortable with the whole situation, the bloodied men around him, then Andyr and his collection of injured soldiers at his feet. "As for you lot. You're coming with me. This isn't a battlefield. Fighting is strictly prohibited. All of you will have to face the consequences. Am I understood?" The soldiers gave a weak reply, obviously not looking forward to facing whatever punishment was in store for them. "Did I stutter?!"

"Sir, no sir!" The soldiers straightened up in answer, accepting their fate.

For his part, Little Blonde had already felt the bite of a whip more than he cared to remember and looked to Andyr for direction.

Andyr squared his shoulders and looked to the leader of the disciplinary group for direction. They were to face consequences, then so be it. He glanced over at Vespira, then at Little Blonde. "Stand straight Little Blond, accept it. It is a punishment earned" he murmured. As they were marched out, he reached out and touched Vespira's shoulder. "Wait at the stables... take care of Kvinna. She is hungry remember?" he said before following the line of men out of the door. Andyr had faced worse punishments, and to be honest, he was sure that after being oared, so had Little Blond.

It wouldn't be pleasant, whatever the punishment was, but it wasn't as unbearable as being strung up and beaten with an oar.

He could only hope that the Woman wouldn't be given too hard a time. His precious Kvinna was hungry. She needed food and he knew that being a Woman, Vespira would have a hard time, and probably twice as hard a time, what with the fight that had gotten everyone in trouble.

Last edited by Aero on Tue Feb 21, 2012 9:04 pm; edited 1 time in total

He wasn't going to bother arguing the fact that they hadn't even been the ones to start the fight. For one, if Andyr was going to accept their punishment, then he really didn't have any choice but to follow. Secondly, if he got the bright idea to resist, he's probably be decapitated as a result. It seemed like that kind of thing that these Surahans would do. So, taking a deep breath he straightened his shoulders and fell into line, only looking over his shoulder to make sure that Vesperia was going to be alright. Hopefully, she would make it out of this mess alright. It was the first time that he was glad these invaders didn't take much notice of women, it would probably help her in this.

They were marched out of the mess hall, the commander collecting discipline officers as he went until they were in the work yard. Immediately Little Blonde felt his heart rate skyrocket. Nobody just got used to torture, and he'd been out of the clutches of the disciplinary squads for long enough that he'd forgotten what kind of fear the sigh of a whip put into his body. He tried not to tremble, clutching his fists tightly and kept his gaze focused somewhere over the top of the heads of the people in front of him.

The commander of the file stopped, the soldiers behind him following suit and pointed to a slightly raised wooden platform that had been used many times for the public display of discipline. "Line up and strip down." The discipline officers that had been gathered took out their cat-o-nine tails whips, looking eagerly for anyone that looked reluctant to coax them along. Little Blonde wasn't foolish enough to hesitate.

"You rowdy lot are being punished for disturbing the peace! We are the Surahnian army, and our King has demanded that we show the weaklings that we conquer our might. We are the bringers of peace, justice, and order! If we do not have order within our own ranks, how can we expect to bring the rest of this world to order?" The soldiers were lining up during the man's speech, bare to the waist and reluctantly lined up on the platform, the disciplinary officers reading their whips a little too eagerly after tying the mens hands together on the rack. "For your misconduct, 17 lashes. Let this be a lesson to you, and to all under the rule of our mighty King! Order must be maintained!"

Little Blonde's heart sank when he heard the proclamation of 17lashes, gulping down his fear and stood stock still, staring at his bound hands like a deer caught in the hunter's sights. The fist whip crack sounded, echoed by a dozen or so others and it took a large chunk of self-control to not bite through his tongue. Oh gods, let it be over soon.

Andyr stepped forward from the line, didn't wince when a lash caught him across the chest, a thin scarlet line appearing where the whip caught him. He ignored their shouting for him to get back in line. Threatening to double, triple, even quadruple the punishment. They lashed the whip at him twice more, and on the third time, he caught it. "I started this. Scourge me first" he said. He hadn't, but his presence and attitude had provoked the men. No wait, he had started it, had slapped the man that had came up to him.

Andyr had to remember, that as part of an army, he couldn't do whatever he wanted. He let the whip go, had already been shirtless, and dropped to his knees. To make it easier for the men whipping him. No one liked to whip up. He grit his teeth. Stared down at the dirt and wondered if the Woman had managed to find food for Kvinna.

Shame washed over him. He'd allowed himself to throw his muscle around, be the brute everyone thought he was. Andyr knew how to speak, how to think. In his own language, he was eloquent. He wanted to learn the letters, so he could read. He wanted to teach himself and build his vocabulary to speak well. But this, he deserved this whipping, if anything... to remind him that he had a godsbedamned brain.

Vespira dropped her head down and tried to make herself as small as possible. She held the little dragon still against her without letting it get harmed at all. She'd dropped the ice hold on the men she'd held down without even looking at them, and let the water soak into their clothing and wash across the ground. No one even noticed her, which was how she wanted it right now. If she'd known how to turn invisible she would have. But her magic only worked with elemental abilities and healing. When everyone was marched out, she looked up and caught Vann's eyes with a fearful look of her own. She wondered what would happen to them, and not for the first time did she find things that happened her unfair. Still, she didn't have a say, and she couldn't.

Once they were gone, she swiftly headed towards the kitchen area and grabbed whatever was made and anything else that she figured the little dragon would need. Then wasting no time, she swiftly headed back to the stables. She needed to first take care of Kvinna, then she could worry about Andyr and Vann. The first thing to try was feeding the little creature meat. Then if that didn't work, or even if it did, giving Kvinna some milk to drink. After the little one would eat, Ves would set up a bed out of hay, and lay the little dragon down to sleep a bit. Young creatures needing sleep after eating. Once the little dragon would be taken care of, Ves would sit down near the little dragon to watch out for it, and await for the men's return.

Andyr's stepping forward gave them all a little bit of a start, but the Surahnians didn't pause for long when the big man willingly lent himself to the whips. It was expected of a good soldier to accept his punishments as he would his rewards.

Eventually, everyone had their turn at the whipping post, the commander watching the procession with a stone-faced gaze. "Remember the pain that your misdeeds have caused you! When you shame the name of Surahnia, you carry the shame of us all on your backs! Do not shame your people again, and let these scars remind you of your failure and the consequences of letting down our King. Now, be off with you! I expect each and every one of you to perform your duties on the morrow!" His speech was met with a raw response of "Sir, yes Sir!", the soldiers righting themselves as much as they could manage under the circumstances before heading as one to the medical tent to have their wounds tended to before infection could set in.

Little Blonde flexed his newly unbound hands, wiping away a smear of blood where he'd bitten his lip too hard, feeling raw and exhausted. He stared at the blood on his fingers for a moment, entranced by the sight of it. Such a pure red color. They lay before him, sprawled out on the floor in grotesque poses that spoke of broken bones and disjointed sockets. He looked to his hands, coated in red and a smile stole across his face. Such a lovely color…

"Gah!" Pain shot through his head and he collapsed on the spot, falling on his knees and burying his face in his hands, closing his eyes against the vision that swam through his head. He felt dizzy as the images shot past faster than he could comprehend.

'Within the heart lies the secrets that are most despondent of all. In a campaign to integrate the totality of a society under the singularity of a nationalized banderole, the sodality that quests to fabricate the metamorphosis has consigned to oblivion what drove them abroad in the original instance. Reaching singularity of mind can never be achieved by forgetting that the souls of others are forever a factor in the conquering of nations. So too is the soul at war upon itself when waging the eternal conflict of desires and necessities. To be forever caught on the edges of the swirl, can you evade the whirlpool?'

Realizing he looked a fool clutching his head when everyone else had moved on. The vision had dissolved now, leaving him with only with the throbbing pain in his back and an ache in his head. Perhaps Vesperia would be able to help out, though he wasn't sure how much healing Andyr would allow if they were supposed to suffer the pain of their transgression. What utter nonsense. Struggling to his feet, he made his way to Andyr's side, silently waiting. Whatever happened next would be at his direction.

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