Blessed are Soul Sisters (Amaranth & Ferinbless)

[Amaranth]

It had been the last straw in a long field of disappointment and mistrust. If they had been able to give her a good reason or perhaps a solution that allowed her even a small amount of freedom maybe Amaranth would have listened. Maybe she could have been coaxed back into her safe day to day routine. She might have found herself going stir crazy once more, but at least she would understand her parent's reasoning.

OF course she knew she was still very young. She knew they wanted her to be safe. But they didn't seem to understand that she needed to see more than the insides of their estate. More than just the city and all it's esoteric splendor.

Amaranth needed to grow, before she felt stunted by the confines of her life.

Which is why she was currently bundling her best clothing up inside a blanket that had seen better days. If she could just get outside the Ahilm gates she could slip off with the other people making pilgrimage to Faesa she knew she'd at least have a head start before her parents started looking for her. The predawn light was grey and gloomy, but perfect for the small elf to slink through her family home with her pet dragonling at her side. Szarka seemed to understand the need for silence, her claws barely making any noise as they descended the pale stone stairs and crept across floors made of matching material.

A quick detour had Szarka laden with some packs filled with food and Amaranth's water proofed cloak in case of rain.

And then the pair slipped out the front door, missing the gentle glow of candle light from her father's study. If Amaranth had turned, she would have seen her sweet father smiling down at her escape with eyes shining. Perhaps he would be able to tell her some day. Of the fear every parent has when a child leaves the nest.

[Ferinbless]

With a thunderous bluster, Ferinbless was awoken by her own sneeze. The young woman jolted from her sleeping spot, flailing about in the tangle of her bright blue cloak which double-served as her blanket. She settled into a sitting up position, groggily opened her eyes, and with a grimace and a groan, realized with utter dismay it was morning… a damp and horribly gray morning. There had been a cold wind following her journey the past week, and the mornings were unseasonably cold for the area. At least, that is what the locals she had had the ‘pleasure’ of interacting with were muttering.

Oh, that old woman selling that delicious bread with the melted butter wasn’t so bad… I’d give both my dainty little pinkie toes for that bread right about now…

She sat there pining a moment, pouting into the distance with bittersweet longing for that soul-warming food. An icy chill soon crawled her spine, however, and she quickly sprang into action to remedy the situation. Wrapping her cloak about her as she stood, Ferinbless scanned her surroundings with an expression as if it were the most blasé task to ever be invented, and set to work stoking a fire to make herself some breakfast and hot spice tea.

~*~

Full belly, a neatly tied ponytail, and a clinking coin purse equipped, Ferinbless was now more than ready to hit the highway. There’d been word of a pesky Bullgurskr moving in and eating the occasional cow whole in the nearby village of Ilhis, which was so conveniently on the way to her ultimate destination of Faesa, Ferin just knew it was fate. Oh, she and fate were certainly not friends, but she always took his traitorous, slimy little hand when he was smiling on her.

She stepped onto the road with a hop, once again easily scanning her surroundings, and picked a bit of jerky from her teeth unceremoniously. As she turned to the south, to her surprise, she spotted a pale figure walking towards her. There was a small creature flitting about as well, and little flashes of what looked to be fire were occasionally expelling from it. Ferin lowered her eyelids and pursed her lips with curiosity, and with a confidence beyond most, strode towards the stranger.

[Amaranth]

The travelers on the road had been a mix of apprehensive at the sight of her dragon, or indifferent in the way only people with a place to be and a time limit seem to be able to master. At first this suited Amaranth. She and her pet walked at a brisk pace, almost jogging in the beginning of their escape in an attempt to cover as much distance as possible. She had been tempted to trek through the wilderness at first. Her magic and Szarka's claws were a force to be reckoned with after all. But she wanted to reach Faesa with her hide intact. She wanted to plant a flower like everyone else and hope for a blessing from the absent god that surely must still be watching. And she wanted to do all of that looking every inch the eldest daughter of the ViCeren family.

So she stayed on the road, breathing in dust and smells of unwashed peoples and beasts as they all trudged forwards towards their destinations.

Eventually the crowds thinned, people branching off to head to villages or to rest in shade or simply slower than the rest of the traffic. Amaranth found herself alone, walking besides the little dragon that was showing signs of flagging under the midday sun.

"Come now, Szarka. You're so brave and terrible. I know you can keep up with me a bit longer." Amaranth used her sweetest voice, the one known to perk up even the most recalcetrant of her hound's ears. Szarka simply laid her ears back and made a hiccuping sound. A tiny lick of flame erupted from her mouth, causing Amaranth to gasp in surprise.

"Oh no. You're sick." There was no question in her voice, only resignation. Szarka had been sick once before, last summer. Days of her lithe form coiling around and sneezing out flame the length of Amaranth's arm. This was the last thing they needed on this journey. The little dragon needed to be strong to help keep her mistress safe. Amaranth had no weapons training, only her fire magic and wits. With a mouth pressed into a firm line the young elf managed to untangle the packs from Szarka's sides, and the little dragon danced around with the weight gone, sneezing three times in succession. The grasses that lined the road curled up and blackened under the searing flame.

She almost cried, then. Amaranth followed her sickening dragon and wracked her mind to think of what had cured her last year. It was only then that she looked up along the road and saw the figure swathed in blue and white, her dark skin a sharp contrast to her clothing's colors. Amaranth didn't tense, exactly. but she ran several magical attacks though her mind in case she needed to escape. It was only smart after all, to be prepared.

[Ferinbless]

Squinting through the bright sunlight, Ferinbless could now see she approached a lithe young elf, dressed in a fancy lavender gown that very much marked her as some kind of nobility. Certainly not a common sight, and she had to wonder what had possessed someone of that stature to be traveling alone wearing such an obvious outfit. This sparked her interest even more, and hundreds of questions came to mind to ask her. Even with such a sudden brightness to the day, Ferinbless could see the young lady’s shoulders tense as she approached. Though she too had raised her guard as with any stranger you would meet on the road, the dark-skinned woman was not about to let that stop her from meeting a potential ally, or even better, a new buddy.

”Ho there!” she yelled as she attempted her broadest and most jovial grin, waving rigorously as she made the final stride, cloak fluttering behind her, “What have we here? A little one under the weather? That’s really too bad, she looks like she’s normally a very strong girl!”

With a crinkled nose, but still sporting her grin, Ferin gestured dramatically at the large swath of smoldering grass. And then suddenly, without hesitation, Ferin’s fingers curled beneath the dragon’s chin and scratched with a sort of gentleness that belied her initial exuberant entrance. Szarka was at first pouty and curled on herself tightly as she laid there on the ground, but then came a soft purr as Ferin’s fingers worked and eventually moved to stroke the dragonling’s head as well. Szarka seemed to calm a little, resting her head down and closing her eyes.

Ferinbless went back a step, raised her forearms up and away from her sword hilt and bowed slightly in greeting to the woman and the tiny dragon. Ferin rose from her bow, and locked eyes with the stranger.

“You can call me Ferinbless, or Ferin, or Bless, whatever you like. I’m really not one to be formal, but with a get up like yours, my natural instinct to bow overwhelms me…” she pointed and wiggled her finger down at Amaranth’s garb, and then stroked her chin with an appraising brow and a smirk, “So, tell me, where are you going with a sick little one in the middle of nowhere, all by yourself, hmm?“

[Amaranth]

It took more effort than Amaranth realized it would to return the woman's smile. "Good day," She managed, smoothing her hand down the crest of Szarka's head as the little dragon huffed and looked completely miserable as she curled up at Amaranth's feet. It wasn't until the human had gotten within striking distance that she realized that Szarka was worse than her first impressions had been. And then the dark skinned woman had reached out and touched Szarka as if she knew the little dragonling would allow it.

Amaranth didn't know what was more amusing. The fact that her companion allowed it or that Amaranth herself was being treated like a noblewoman.

"Ferinbless," She acknowledged, inclining her head and smiling. "You can call me Amaranth. Though please, there's no need to bow. I'm hardly so important." Brown eyes met blue and Amaranth felt a little self conscious in her choice in clothing. This traveler seemed to know exactly what to wear for a long trek down dirt roads. Something Amaranth was learning has her dress' hems collected dust and debris. "We're hardly by ourselves if we're together, Szarka and I." This woman was very... cheerful. Amaranth struggled to keep herself from being infected with the good cheer. Thankfully Szarka's next sneezing cough gave her good reason to stay serious.

"I'm afraid Szarka being ill wasn't expected." With grace learned from childhood the elf knelt next to her companion and frowned, running both of her hands over the delicate scales under the bronze dragon's jaw. "I'm at a loss. She was sick once a few seasons ago but... We weren't in the middle of traveling at the time. I don't want to rush her but I really must reach Faesa before the Solstice ends."

Not for the first time Amaranth found herself wishing she had been resourceful enough to bring a book on dragon lore and husbandry with her. But what reason would there have been to keep it on her person while making a pilgrimage?

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