a morning under the eternal sun

[Talon]

T A L O N

“I am glad that it was insightful for you. We are a young people compared to the rest of the people's of Ransera. Avialae did not exist before the Sundering. Truth be told, it has only been about three generations since Garel of Atoria fashioned us into the world. At least, if we were to be compared to other species.” It was easy for most to forget that Avialae had naturally long lifespans.

“My great-grandfather was Synnar.” Although Talon knew of his great-grandfather by reputation, the namesake for the Synnekar who broke away from the Kathar in the Imperium, there was little left of the man himself. It felt long ago because Avialae died fast and young. They were a warrior people by nature. The prosperity harnessed from the Warrens did not come without cost. That cost was sometimes steeper than the general population realized. But it was theirs to carry and the majority of the Synnekar that he encountered saw it as their duty.

“It does not surprise me that little is known about us outside of what can be found in Kalzasi or the Imperium. Our people have only just started to venture out beyond those places, more-so from Kalzasi than from the Imperium.” His eyes narrowed slightly. The Kathar were kept on a tight leash. The empire did not let the emperor's prized pets wander far and if it did, it was under strict supervision.

“I would say the burden of responsibilities is more poignant when I am away from Kalzasi. The community formed by the light bonds we form means that Synnekar in general always have this backdrop of emotional support. Some of it is more direct, such as the chosen bonds we form with family and friends. Most of it is just a soft hum in the back of the mind. It is one of the reasons why Synnekar are always more together than we are apart.” The Bond was as much of a mystery to the Avialae of Ransera as it was to any other. Their most learned scholars did not believe it was always the case. There was still much to decipher when it came to distinguishing which parts of their history were just Gelerian propaganda and which parts were actual truth. The Crystal Lady, Mother Chaos, did not divulge Her reasons for intervening and said intervention had come at a cost, one they were still learning about.

To Akantha's question, Talon was silent for a moment as he reflected on what he had experienced. He looked around the temple. He looked even beyond it, to those places where his Sight could be cast. A soft smile tugged at the corner of his mouth.

“The place is different. The land has changed. The breaking of the continents has seen most of the lands that Arcas knew sunken or displaced. However, the people are the same.” He did not elaborate on how they were the same. The Hytori were as wondrous as they were mysterious. There was ugliness in their beauty and a sharp pride to their elegance. Not without reason but there was no light without darkness, something he knew all too well.

“Granted, most of my time in ancient Sol'Valen was spent leading soldiers into battle against Ilixidor's hordes. There were quiet moments though. Lulls that led to finding curious people, places and things. Sol'Valen was ancient even during my first life. May I ask what you know of it?”

[Akantha SolEilran]

She watched him as they walked on, taking their time through the wide halls of the Temple of Eikaen Pater. Had this been someone other than a demigod, she might have used Semblance to study them while they talked, to get a sense of his emotions. But with someone like Talon... that would be foolhardy. "There are some books, but I have learned more from talking with those here. Our Winged Hytori, and from you, Lord Aoren, Lady Kala, and Lord Kaus than what the books can teach us," she offered a smile. "I have a space where I like to go and practice flying away from others, and when I do, those that come with me have wings of their own. I've asked them some about it before, but this has been illuminating." Normally, she didn't share much of herself, but he had shared a great deal of rather personal information, not just about him, but about his people as a whole.

She did note the narrowing of his eyes as he mentioned the Imperium. Ah, the Kathar problem. Lady Kala was determined to see them freed, too, so perhaps the two of them could team up in that regard. Of course, that was a difficult situation given the Daizoku's history with Gelerand, but one would have to see what could be done. There was bound to be winged Hytori enslaved there, and bringing them home was something important. Hytori had a duty, after all, to retrieve their own.

"I take it distance does not impact the Bond, then?" Which was a truly fascinating ability to communicate, with a strong enough bond. That was useful, especially since it wasn't something that could be interrupted by an interruption of aether, which could interfere with Runeforged items or Traversion-inspired communication.

"Ilixidor the Betrayer. He who treated with Shaeoth and slew my ancestress, the Phoenix Queen Thessalia Sol'Eilran. He started the Kinslayer Wars, which erupted into the War of Light and Shadow. You and your armies won the day, but at great cost," Akantha was grim. She might have understood why the Archmage had gone as far as he had, as the Hytori would have given a great deal to have their immortality returned to them. Some could argue that Ilixidor had been willing to do more for their people than the rest of the Court of Princes. But it did not excuse the results and the amount of suffering he inflicted on their people through his cursed experiments.

Akantha was a Princess, and her education had been thorough. She could go off into a great amount of detail, but as someone who had the memory of living through it... it seemed like it might be redundant and pedantic. Especially if she might learn more from his first-hand account.

"There is no rose without a thorn."

[Talon]

T A L O N

“If you are ever in need of a flying instructor, I would be most happy to share what I know. May I ask, how do the Hytori communicate in flight? Synskrit has a sign-language that we use to impart commands to each other at altitudes where speaking is not viable.” He walked beside her, hands resting at the small of his back. Every now and then he would glance at some of the architecture of the Dragon King's temple. A memory of Lyra once speaking on the precision of ordered schema being a key component in the assembly of structured magic came to mind.

“Not for a Core Bond.” He looked back to Akantha. “Other bonds have limitations. The lighter the bond, the less clear the communication sent between it. The less that is shared. That includes distance. A core bond has no such limitations. I could walk the Plane of Light while Aoren walked the streets of Silfanore and could still speak to him as if he were standing right next to me.” He smiled softly. In his mind's eye, Aoren was conversing animatedly with another dragon that had presented themselves to him.

“There is a vulnerability to the Core Bond that most do not speak of.” A momentary pang of regret pulsed through him as he remembered once using this vulnerability on his partner. It had been to command Aoren away from danger but the weight of that had not made the sense of helplessness and betrayal any easier to deal with. Aoren had been furious. Talon had felt great shame, even if his actions had been that of a desperate man trying to protect the life of someone he loved.

“Core bonded cannot ignore the will of their bondmate. Even if we might want to. Between Avialae partners, the stronger willed of the two would win in such an instance. Between an Avialae and a non-Avialae, the other will always win in such a contest. Some might say that the Imperium has desecrated the sanctity of the Bond through perverse devices and that is how they subjugate the Kathar through their collars.” He shrugged his shoulders. How the Obelisk of Gel'grandal functioned was a secret known only by the emperor and his closest advisors. If any other knew, they either kept to themselves or were likely dead.

“I hear often and have read often, many call Ilixidor insane.” The vivid memory of meeting the legendary archmage played in his mind. “He was not.”

“Ilixidor had such hope for his people. Terrifying and unrelenting. Every decision he made was calculated. He simply believed that the price, however terrible, was worth it. Even if it meant joining forces with my brother when he was locked in his insanity.” Arcas remembered. Ilixidor's conviction had been a reason why the elf had been so driven, even if that drive had led to untold suffering. It was a reason why, to this day, he respected the opponent that Ilixidor became even as he was repulsed by the man's actions.

[Akantha SolEilran]

"I would enjoy that, though I do think our ways of flying are different - I understand that the Avialae wings are inherently magical, such as they are, from an osprey or other avian. But once you're in the air, there may not be much of a difference," Akantha smiled at that. "We use Semblance, mostly; some utilize Mesmer to get their thoughts across. Some use runeforged equipment that has been worked with traversion to allow communication over distance, as I understand it. I primarily use Semblance with my instructors, especially if I've performed a full-body transformation. While something like parrots and corvids can imitate speech, I cannot with my osprey totem... and while I could chimerafy that with a corvid, it would not matter much with the wind currents," the Princess explained. It was perhaps odd that a Sol'Eilran had taken up Animus, but Akantha was a rara avis.

As he explained about the limitations of bonds and the core bond, the young Hytori found herself nodding. As he explained the danger, that was when she understood. Ah. Ah. You were surrendering control to your partner. For better or for worse... Akantha was thoughtful. Then perhaps the obelisk needed to be destroyed. "It seems to me that the obelisk needs to be destroyed, then," the Princess remarked. "Though that is perhaps easier said than done." Some very strong Semblers had best inspect it. Carefully. Destruction of magical items did tend to have... impacts... on the world around them.

There was that inflection again, Akantha noticed. It was almost odd for her to hear Arcas say that Ilixidor was not a madman, though many called him one. She was quiet for a moment as she watched him, considering. "He had a purpose, and was single-minded enough to pursue it through whatever means necessary. I do think that if he had been successful, and had found the way to return what was given up to close the rift gates, he would have been spoken of in a very different fashion than he is now," Akantha agreed. "And the Hytori would be quite different as well."

She looked up at him. "The Lord of the Void was the one who was mad at the time, then? Since you say he was locked in insanity. I imagine that that has changed, since he has returned and recently ascended."

"There is no rose without a thorn."

[Talon]

T A L O N

“Clever. Animus is not a sorcery I am familiar with. It is, surprisingly, not very prevalent in Kalzasi. That may be because we have a large population of Rathari who naturally shapeshift.” His nearest familiarity with shapeshifting was in his own ability to adapt his Mortal Seeming, Rickter's lycanthropy, and Aoren's dragon shifting. He supposed he could be more extreme with his reshaping of himself but the idea made him feel disconnected from himself. Aoren and Rickter's shifting appeared, to him, less varied and more just an innate part of them as opposed to something used as a tool for environmental adaptation.

“Truthfully, we do not know if it can be. The Obelisk is not singular. At least not in magical signature. There is another object of its like in the northern wilds. I have interacted with it in the past and it was…an experience unlike any other. The interaction left me with the impression that while its power could possibly be negated, outright destruction may be beyond reach.” He looked thoughtful. He recalled sharply the memory of stepping outside of Time through the events that had transpired there. It had been an unsettling experience, especially when he had reached his full ascendancy and viewed it from the lens of the high realm of the Aetherium.

“There is also the question of should we?” He glanced back to Akantha. “I saw firsthand what Kathar experienced. I felt it. I lived it. The people of the Imperium revere them, seeing them as guardians, protectors, emissaries of their sovereign's will. A symbol of their nation, brutal and terrible as it may be. Even in my comparatively brief captivity, when I was returned to freedom, the dissonance in my mind was deep. It was as though I had left a piece of myself behind. When Aoren escaped to freedom, it nearly killed him. Not from anything external, but because he became suicidal. I fear what would become of them, of the survivors, of my son.”

Talon's expression grew sad. It had been a terrible emptiness that had followed. He could only imagine the suffering that would ensue for those who had never known anything but the dominance of the Imperium.

“Aoren volunteered himself to the Dead Legion of Kalzasi. Soldiers who go into the furthest reaches of the Warrens, fully expecting to meet their demise in doing so.” The idea of losing Aoren to such a fate was painful to think about. That brief memory caused his beloved dragon to turn his attention inward. Talon sent a note of soothing assurance to his bondmate. The mental squeeze he received in return helped to brush aside the darker emotions.

“Ilixidor was brilliant. That brilliance was turned toward terrible ends.” He imagined for a moment what the world might have been like if the Hytori had been successful in regaining immortality. There were still paths to forms of immortality but each of them came with a cost.

“There are things older than the Dragon Gods.” Arcas' attention turned toward a corner where rest a sliver of shadow in an otherwise light graced place. Small though it was, he thought he felt his brother watching him from within it.

“Shaeoth was a prisoner in his own mind and body, at war with himself. Over and over. A fate that would have befallen me had he not saved me from it when we were boys. It is why I never stopped fighting for him.”

[Akantha SolEilran]

She was thoughtful as she listened. Well, that did seem to complicate things, and brought up more and more problems. But nothing was ever simple, especially when it came to mysterious magical artifacts. She knew Kala was interested in freeing the Kathar, and she wondered how much Talon and Kala had discussed this, or if they even had. That there was another one of those things in the northern wilds, well. Perhaps they needed to negate it and cut it off. If it was linked, perhaps that could destabilize the one in Gelerand, or lessen its hold.

"I am sorry for what you and your husband experienced. That sort of slavery is abhorrent," she pointed out. "And any choice of freely choosing the Obelisk versus freedom is tainted... especially if they have only known that life, and have been brainwashed to believe in it. It might be one thing if they chose such service... or there were contracts that had an actual end... but it does not sound that way." It seemed to her that it was not unlike the Re'hyaeans and their obsessive use of Mesmer with anyone that they felt deserved it. "I would hope that with proper emotional support, they might be rehabilitated and have an opportunity at a normal life. Your husband may have been nearly suicidal... but you gave him a new life, Talon. I imagine that if there were some winged Hytori amongst their number, then we could also help support them. Our community may not have a great many members to it, but they would be up to it, I'm sure."

"You have a son?" Akantha glanced up at him, her head tilting slightly then. "How old is he?"

She noted the way his voice changed once again, and her gaze went from the silver-haired Avialae that she was walking with to the corner, following his own line of sight. A patch of darkness in an otherwise lit temple? Well, considering that she had mentioned him, she wondered, and Akantha scrutinized the little patch of shadow with her Sembling Sight, assessing it for its magical properties. The aether was certainly different.. Odd, yes. Abnormal, certainly. And she knew from that stabbing sensation that she had best stop that before it bit her shapely posterior. She cut the flow of aether to the Rune of Sight before it could progress further.

As Arcas and Shaeoth were brothers, Eikaen was the father of the Lord of the Void as well. It was only fitting. The Princess bowed her head and shoulders with great solemnity towards the patch - maybe it was, maybe it was not, but it would not do harm to be polite and proper, in the event that Shaeoth was watching. "How did that happen?" It seemed to her that there was a good chance that it had to do with the things that were older than the dragon gods that Arcas had just mentioned...

"There is no rose without a thorn."

[Talon]

T A L O N

“I would hope so as well.” Talon’s expression saddened for a moment before he let out a steady breath. “There is much work to be done. It would be hypocritical of me to say that the Synnekar and Kathar are nothing alike. Even we have our traditions that outsiders view as barbaric. The Warren March being one of them. We would argue that it is our duty to uphold and hone ourselves in service to our people. Some might argue that the practice is not altogether different from the bindings of the Kathar.”

He remembered his own Warren March vividly. It was a defining moment of his adulthood. Most of his childhood had been spent preparing for it. Coupled with his tutelage in matters of governance, his childhood had set him apart even from his siblings. When Talon was born, there had been clear expectations for him.

“My own views and the experiences I now carry with me have shifted my perspective on the matter in many ways. As a boy, I believed wholeheartedly in the strict traditions we upheld. When I was born, my role in both Synnekar and Kalzasern society was already decided. I was the firstborn son to the reigning sovereign in a long line of Novalys kings. Present company excluded, most cannot grasp how isolating that sort of upbringing can be.” He gave Akantha a sardonic smile. It went without saying that the princess undoubtedly could relate.

“When Aoren and I found each other, I felt for the first time in my life that I had the opportunity to connect with someone who had no expectations of me. It was freeing.” He smiled at the memory. At the inquiry regarding his son, Talon’s gaze turned toward the west. The silver in his eyes gained a rose gold edge to them as he actively watched his son.

“Taryn.” In his divine gaze, he watched as his son shivered, looking up from what he was doing as though he sensed someone watching him or had heard his name.

“He was born while I was in captivity. The Imperium coerced me into their breeding program. He was born as a result of that. They have tampered with his body. To look at him you would not know he is only three years old.” Talon blinked. The golden tint at the edge of his eyes faded. He looked back to Akantha.

“Ironically, it is his birth and his existence that allowed me to understand why my own Divine Father did not intervene directly for so many years.” He had felt such anger and hurt toward Eikaen. However, with the birth and creation of his own son, it had helped him understand his Divine Father’s hesitation in a way that he simply could not at the time.

“Taryn is still young. He is still experiencing the world. I fear for him, his safety, and not a day goes by that he is not on my mind or that I do not have a divine sense of his well-being.” He sighed, eyes following where Akantha had directed her attention. In the patch of shadow, he could feel his brother. In his mind’s eye, he could almost see Shaeoth but his brother did not part the shadows in that moment.

“I think of what would happen if I simply marched into the Imperium and took him. Could I do it? Yes. It would not be without bloodshed. Much bloodshed. While I am immortal, Taryn is not and he is heavily guarded. So for now, I watch. I observe. I guide when he reaches out to me in quiet moments of reflection. Do I wish for more? Very much so. He is my son. But…in him I also see an opportunity. A chance for change.” Talon smiled softly.

“He is already causing change in unexpected ways. Ways that have irritated the Inquisition from what I gather.” His soft smile turned into pleased smirk. At Akantha’s question, he was quiet for a moment before he spoke.

“Eikaen took a mortal form then. At least, part of him did. He had a wife. A family. Us. My brother, my mother, and I. Even as a mortal however, my Divine Father cannot fully cloak himself. His presence attracts attention no matter the form. Something old, older than this world, preyed not upon him but me. It killed my mother. It would have devoured me. My brother saved me. But it was never quite able to fully conquer him.” He recalled all of those moments across the ages when he could still see his brother shining through the primordial darkness that sought to completely devour him. It was what had driven him to never rest, never stop, and never give up. Even when Shaeoth had been at his most broken and insane, he had still been able to see it. That drive, he supposed, was what had driven him to become the avatar of Hope. Ultimately, hope was what had freed his brother and him in the end.

[Akantha SolEilran]

Well, she was hardly thoroughly versed enough on the complexities and intricacies of Kathar and Synnekar cultural traditions to protest at the link that Talon drew. The fact that they were not bound by a magical core bond controlled by slavers, and they presumably had the free will to choose was a stark difference to her; but the princess had not lived through this. Talon had grown up in one culture and had been forced to experience the other, and he certainly had a much better understanding of the subject. "I take it that the Warren March is a rite of passage for when one comes of age?" she inquired. It was surely different than the Dead Legion, which sounded more like a military unit.

When he spoke of expectations and roles planned and laid out, Akantha smiled back at him. She did know exactly what he was talking about. She was fortunate, perhaps, in that while she was the firstborn of her parents' union, it was going to be quite some time before an heir to the Dreaming King was selected. There were lessons, expectations, tests, and endless amounts of training and experiences to have before then. There was a chance it would not be her, but one of her younger siblings. Whatever best served the Kingdom. She didn't even know if she wanted it - as long as it stayed with the House of Sol'Eilran... that was the important thing.

There was something in the tone of his voice, a softness that told her he was being genuine as he spoke of his husband. She could imagine that feeling - and in some ways, she thought she might envy that. No expectations, the freedom to be who he was, and be loved for that person. Not the prince, not the warrior-mage, not Arcas reborn... but who he, himself, was. She didn't expect to find such a thing herself, and if it happened, she would count her blessings. When he looked away and his eyes took on a different shade around the outside of his irises, Akantha wondered, but did not ask. There would be another time to ask if she saw it again. Perhaps he would volunteer it as he had the details of a core bond and why it was so rare and dangerous.

"That must be difficult. I am sorry," she frowned. "It must be hard to have gone through that, and know you can't resolve the situation in a way that you would prefer to right now." Had they been better acquainted than they were, she might well have touched his arm or hand. The thought had crossed her mind, as a way to offer comfort, but considering how he had described being forced into a breeding program... it was best to keep her hands to herself. She did, however, offer silent commiseration. "The ultimate goal of parents is to prepare their children the best that they can. With all their love and support, of course, but at some point we have to spread our own wings. We have to take to the skies on our own. I am sure that when he's in the light... he knows that you are watching. That you have not forgotten him, and that he is loved. Just the way the Allfather expressed Himself here," the young Hytori smiled at him.

As he spoke of his first life, she found that rather fascinating. How many people actually ever got to hear about this? She could only imagine Eikaean as a mortal being, and having little ones... but danger was everywhere, even when the world was young. The more you had, the more difficult it would have been to restrain, and with the Lord of Light, that must have been an impossible task. "Such is the power of love. Even deep in the heart of darkness, hope sparks a dream of light. That drive and determination is something to admire and aspire to. I hope that you two find equilibrium with each other one day, and that your relationship can continue to heal." She knew she was fortunate to hear about this, that this account from Arcas himself was something the scholars would probably sell their own eyeteeth for... and she appreciated it.

"There is no rose without a thorn."

[Talon]

T A L O N

“It is written into Kalzasern law. It is applicable only to the Avialae of Kalzasi. When we come of age at eighteen years, we embark upon the Warren March. The task itself is relatively simple, retrieve a dragonshard from the Warrens. Most are easy to obtain and are done so without incident. Some? Far less so.” He could think of enough Warren Marches that did not end favorably for those involved. The young men who had partook had been killed or gravely injured to the point they could not return to their prior life.

“Many make a contest of it. While not required, it is not openly discouraged either. The rarer the dragonshard obtained, the more prestige associated with it. It is well known that the noble houses bestow gifts, favors, and more to those who return with rarer aether gems.” His own father had been someone to bestow such favors. All of the Great Houses did. As the season yet approached for another group of young men to partake in the March, there were conversations happening in the council chambers.

“Failure to complete the Warren March means you cannot own land. You cannot operate a business. If you are a noble? You are ineligible to inherit your family holdings. You are not recognized as an independent adult. While there are exceptions, such as for the disabled, it is heavily frowned upon for the able-bodied Avialae to not complete it.” Thoughts of the upcoming event weighed on his mind for a moment. He worried his bottom lip for a moment before speaking.

“I have heard rumors that there are those who are being encouraged to seek Dawnstone. Illumite is heavily associated with me in my capacity as the Dawnking. It is valuable to Kalzasi overall but obtaining it is difficult. In the Warrens, it can only be found in the Second Deep which is much more dangerous than it would appear.” He shook his head. Clearly this was a matter he had put much thought into. As the Daizoku of House Novalys and one of the de facto patron gods of Kalzasi, with a heavy presence in its military and given his ancestral lineage as a direct descendant of Synnar, he was ever aware of how careful he needed to be with the public.

As the subject returned to his son, he nodded. There were many things he wanted to do. He wanted Taryn away from the Imperium. He wanted his son to experience joy, his family, and so many other things. But he could not do those things. Not at the moment, at any rate. As he regarded Akantha, he could see that she empathized greatly. On the edges of his senses, as Semblance was always tied keenly to his awareness, he could see some of her emotions flickering through her aura. He bowed his head in thanks.

“You are very kind, Akantha. Thank you.” They walked a bit more. Her words on the mending of things between himself and his brother was another of her insights that he appreciated.

“He asked me to leave this world with him. To go further than the Boundless Empire ever did. I convinced him to stay.” There were moments when he felt tempted to take his brother up on that offer. Perhaps there would come a day when he did.

“My brother and I are a mirror of each other. I love him. He loves me. Where I often times grow far too passionate, burning brightly, he paints the world in softer shades. We remind each other that the Light and Dark must not blind, lest there be nothing left to see in the world. Where I demand through justice that people honor their highest virtues, he reminds me that people are flawed. Justice cannot always be achieved at the level I want it to. Through vengeance, there are those who find their own personal justice in a world that would have otherwise cast them aside.” The last was said with slight sadness. Talon wanted to believe that equitable justice could be brought to all but he also recognized the impossibility of such a feat. The world was flawed and there was beauty in those flaws. The ability for mortals to learn, to grow, to stumble and get back up, it was the entire reason for the gods having wanted them to exist in the first place.

“I bring Hope. He brings Fear. A fearless society is admirable in thought but in reality, it can lead to recklessness, cruelty, and even catastrophe.” The wings on his back fluttered slightly, feathers ruffling before settling back into place.

“The world ahead is going to be interesting. A world where he and I are not fighting rather, we are guiding not just those who seek us, but each other.” Talon looked up, they had reached the far end of the temple. He peered past the temple grounds, toward the city.

“I do believe that I have taken up enough of your time, Princess. Forgive me, I am certain you have much to tend to.”

[Akantha SolEilran]

She nodded at his explanation. That did make sense, and while she could see why it was a difficult and bloody tradition, it did stand to reason, considering the threat that the Warrens posed. 18 years was adult enough for an Avialae, especially if a lot of their education involved such things, and presumably it did. It would be the slow death of a society and society to throw unprepared youth into what was effectively a meatgrinder. "What dragonshard did you bring back?" she wanted to know, a curious smile on her face. "What do you do with them when you return?"

She was considering what he said about Dawnstone. He was head of his house, now, as Daizoku, as she understood it. "That seems to me like it puts you in a difficult position. To discourage it and hope that they take heed of your words, that they get a dragonshard that completes their March... come home, get older, get more experience... and then go back in if they so desire it." She walked along with him, thoughtful. "While at the same time... it is about proving themselves." No guts, no glory, as some might say, but sometimes it was better to be smart and live to make another day. "Knowing when to quit is wisdom. Being able to do it is courage." That was, of course, one thing for her to say when she wasn't in that position of having to do it, and maintain the family's reputation.

That wasn't to say she couldn't, and chances were, their upbringing was specifically tailored to prepare them as thoroughly as possible to complete that task. That helped, of course, but it didn't help when they were lost to their people and promising lives ended on account of attempting the foolhardy.

She inclined her head when he called her kind. Not making that physical connection had been the right call, at least. But what was important was that he felt some encouragement and reassurance. She could empathize and sympathize, but one did not need to use touch to convey that, especially with someone as skilled with Semblance as the Avialae prince beside her. "Balance in all things," she smiled at him. "But that is something we have to actively strive to create. Without darkness, we cannot appreciate light. And without light, we couldn't appreciate the dark." There was something to be said for enjoying the sky at night, and then seeing the sunrise. But Talon was right. "I look forward to the future, with the two of you working together and not being at odds. We have interesting times ahead, yes, but may they be fantastical."

When he said he had taken up enough of her time, the Hytori looked up at him, ice blue eyes meeting stone grey. "I enjoyed it tremendously. It has been a pleasure," she told him, and she meant it. She may have said it plenty at times when it hadn't been, but it was necessary. But she had learned quite a bit today, about Talon, about Shaeoth, about history. "Thank you for sharing this time with me, Prince Talon. I do look forward to seeing you again soon."

"There is no rose without a thorn."