So many appear, and she feels... she does not know.

Names are offered, and smiles, and then the bloom of magic and push of bodies nearly becomes too much. The girl shuts her eyes against the physical swell of magic which threatens to crush her veins, holding tight to the golden-eyed filly's and willing the rest to subdue. Fire, water, it hurts her head, pushing her senses into overdrive, filling her with soft and warm and cold and tangy, brittle and blue and sour and loud. Her brother cannot help her, for he is fighting off his own attacks, trying desperately to hold the light as dragons jostle his petite form. So much need, so much greed, and the image of Ampere's furious face flashes against the back of her eyes, accusing tongue whipping her ears, asking her why she participates.

I wanted to reunite a family... I never wanted this!

But it is too late to save the situation. Natraj sees the pale dragon coming and ignites his tails in a muffled warning, drawing the moonstone away from the hole just as fire threatens to engulf them all. It is with a mixture of relief and dismay that the girl realizes the egg has been, so to speak, saved; she stares at it, aghast, and then up to her companions, a tightness gripping her beating heart. A child, and eerily familiar boy, a gold-streaked princess, and she. Why do any of them deserve to raise an unborn creature, to see it into the world and guide its fragile steps?

Why do I?

Her brother returns to sit beside her feet, pressing against her reassuringly and glancing uneasily at the white dragon with the belly full of fire. Fire Dancer looks around the group, listening, waiting, thinking and debating. The egg sits between them, wrapped in a cloth and a dragon's clutches, the focus of so much emotion, so much distress. Perhaps she should leave. Ampere's image flickers into her head: "You've already enslaved one!"

And then, louder, Natraj cuts through, his voice indignant and matter-of-fact.

Not enslaved. Brother. Us not monsters. Ampere monster. Us at least help, look after egg even when hatched, even if not ours. Then we better than Ampere, because we always protect.

A fire rises within her breath. She wants to protect it. She will not see it failed, forgotten, abandoned or hurt. It is an innocent trapped in the designs of the corrupt; they have manipulated it thus far without its say; and she vows, silently, that whomever it goes to, she will not let it be forgotten, or mistreated, or abused.

She steps forward, an idea rising with the sparks in her breath. They have wrapped it in cloth and creature, but it will not travel well that way, and the child's contraption is unwieldy and crude. Her voice cuts into the smoke and tension, deep yet assured, confident and clean. "Natraj often in my braids. He is willing to let the egg rest there." Long nose reaches out to inspect the orb, carefully avoiding the dragon, not quite touching. She exhales more sparks, and they run along her neck, quickly weaving themselves into her tangled hair, warming her steamy skin.

She looks to the gathered, black eyes deep. First the mare, then the stallion. "If you help I can carry it to safety. The dragon is welcome to stay." At her hooves the boy nods, and stands to approach dragon and egg. He is older than the white companion, and marginally larger, and has a flame of his own- he is not afraid. He presses his nose against the shell, and listens to its life with oversized ears. I will ride, too, he tells his sister, glancing sidelong at the lizard.

The girl remains still, but smiles softly with a nod.


[ Tandavi offers the nest in her braids (see first post) as a means of transporting the egg. ]

Prior Refusal
Wishlist
EDIT :: using my 8 votg extra rolls