1078 AP (after phoenix)
GRIFFIN ISLAND
CRIMSON SUN 13TH
It's been multiple weeks since Lexington had his first class in weapons training and has been training Aiden on the sideline who's caught on quickly and improved drastically. He's currently being tested by his father who's clearly more experienced but Lex isn't backing down.
Simon: "easy Lex, no need to go so hard." He says as Lex calms down catching his breath.
Lexington: "sorry... I just get into it whenever I'm fighting, practice or not... You still haven't shown me what your weapon is." He says sitting down as Simon chuckles softly.
Simon: "it's a surprise Lex." As Lexington shakes his head slightly annoyed.
Lexington: "you named the damn thing Reaper's Harvest... I have high expectations father." He says jokingly earning a chuckle from his father.
Simon: "in time Lex." As he looks over seeing Elyria get whacked across the face by Zeke and goes to use magic but Simon grabs his wrist. "I said no magic Zeke, do you have short term memory loss?"
Zeke: "what's it matter? She's a knife ear." As Simon suddenly grabs him by the neck and lifts him off the ground surprising everyone there.
Simon: "listen closely Zeke or whatever the hell your name is, if your hatred for a race gets in the way again then you're nothing but a liability to our order." He says dropping him and looks towards Elyria helping her up. "Lex go take her to the healer." He says as Lexington nods leaving with Elyria.
Elyria: "Lex I'm fine." She says sighing.
Lexington: "I know El... I just wanna hang around you." He says as Elyria chuckles softly.
Elyria: "flattering." She says as they arrive at the healer as Mary greets her with a tight hug.
Lexington: "hey mom." He gasps out from the bear hug as Elyria is amused by this.
Mary: "these must Elyria you told me about, it's good to meet you young one." She says as Elyria sits down with Mary healing her slight bruise. "Interesting." She says as Lexington raises his brow at what she's getting at. "Elyria seems to not be fully developed for an elf." She says as Lexington begins overthinking.
Lexington: "not fully developed? Is something wrong with her?" He asks with concern.
Mary: "no sweetie there's nothing wrong her, she's just yet to become a full adult and elves usually have a ritual to celebrate this but we don't exactly have elves here." She says as Lexington acknowledges this.
Elyria: "it's nothing serious if that's what you're worried about."
Lexington: "worried? I uh... You're a tough one, I got nothing to worry about." He states with some confidence but eventually leaves.
Elyria: "Is he okay? I'm not a human expert but that didn't seem right." She says as Mary looks over.
Mary: "I wished I knew, he is my son but there's still a lot I need to learn about him, you're free to go." She says as Elyria leaves headed to the mess hall where she meets up with Lyra.
Lyra: "where's Lex?" She asks as Elyria shrugs not sure. "if you don't mind I got some questions about your culture." She says as Elyria motion her to ask away. "So what exactly was your people's relationship with the Sky elves?"
Elyria: "they protected us and we looked up to them, I've only heard stories from my father... He talked about them like they were gods or something, very elegant and beautiful." She says as Lyra raises her brow at how she said that. "Uh... It's just stories from what I hear but I've always been studying the Averials, everything they did was just great and their wings... It's something I wished I could've seen." She says with a lot of admiration.
Lyra: "I see, so how do your tribes work?"
Elyria: "there are four main tribes, the one I'm from is the wolf tribe but the others are the Stag, Raven and Bear tribes. We all have a decent relationship but we don't seek each other out, had I stayed in my tribe I would've been married off to one of my fellow tribesman." She says as Lyra is surprised.
Lyra: "really? Well I know a thing or two about that subject, it's not something I was excited for at first." She says with a slight smile.
Elyria: "so what was the goal of you marrying Sigurd's brother?"
Lyra: "well... The goal was to guarantee peace between Aelton and Newcastle and form a new Kingdom." She says closing her eyes.
Elyria: "couldn't that still happen given Sigurd's alive?" She asks as Lyra looks over curiously.
Lyra: "it could but Sigurd isn't exactly King material and I don't think he would take the position and nor would the other lords of Newcastle accept him taking the position given he's a suspect and a shapeshifter." She says truthfully but Elyria catches her off guard with her next question.
Elyria: "do you think he truly killed his brother?" As Lyra is silent thinking of what to say.
Lyra: "I... I don't know, I don't want to believe it but Sigurd being who he is makes that hard to believe." She says with honesty as Elyria nods understanding but looks behind her seeing Sigurd.
Sigurd: "I'd rather you say it to my face then talking behind my back." He says with his arms crossed as Lyra scoffs while turning to him.
Lyra: "talk to you? Most of the time you want nothing to do with me so how am I supposed to talk to you about something you probably won't even talk about with me?" She asks harshly as Sigurd sighs heavily.
Sigurd: "when has that ever stopped you before?" He asks rhetorically as Lyra doesn't have a response. "Exactly cause it's never stopped you." He says truthfully and sits across from her. "If this is because of what I said two weeks ago then... I'm sorry, Michal was your family too and it was of me to think you weren't affected by his death." He says as Lyra looks at him with a smile.
Lyra: "so you do have a heart of gold?" She teases as Sigurd scoffs with amusement. "I just... I need to know the truth, what happened?" She asks as Sigurd nods but says it's better if they have privacy.
Elyria: "I'll get going, I'm gonna go find Lex and make sure he isn't hurting himself." She says leaving beginning to search around for Lexington but bumps into the headmaster. "Oh headmaster Dante, my apologies."
Dante: "you're okay young one, I imagine you're looking for Lexington." As Elyria wonders how he knew. "Mind reading magic." He says bluntly as Elyria sighs.
Elyria: "yes cause he's acting odd... He's training hard like he's taking out his frustrations and he randomly left out of the blue." She says as Dante acknowledges this.
Dante: "well he asked me there's a red leafed tree where robins rest and I said yes pointing him in that direction." He says showing her as Elyria thanks him. "but Elyria... Lexington has been through a lot, especially recently... I know you mean well but he may not view it that way." He says with honesty as Elyria nods and leaves. Meanwhile Lexington is walking down a path seeing a red leafed tree with Robins using it as their home, he kneels down and sets a red feather that Robyn used put in her hair.
Lexington: "happy birthday Robyn." He says somewhat smiling but tears slowly stream down his face. "If only I hadn't failed at protecting you." He says closing his eyes and taking a deep breath. Elyria eventually does find him but stays silent hearing him... Sing. "Little robin, rise from your nest and shall you find your way." Lexington sings in a soft tone as Elyria stands behind a tree as she can't believe what she's witnessing.
Lexington: "shall your way be calm as the sea... Elegant as your wings... And may you... Find paradise in the skies." He softly sings with his voice breaking. "And shall you... Rise again... Like a phoenix." He sings and punches the ground in frustration. "What does it take Aiglia!?" He yells catching Elyria off guard. "People pray to you hoping that you'll protect them as they have faith in you! But what do you do? You just sit back doing nothing letting all these Innocents suffer with false hope! Where were you when Robyn prayed!?" He yells towards the sky as Elyria is shaking.
Lexington: "where... Where were you when I prayed?" He asks but scoffs soon after. "Typical..." He says but feels Elyria hugs his head into her chest. "I... How much did you-"
Elyria: "all of it." She responds as Lexington sits there silent. "It was a beautiful song Lex, you prayed?" She asks quietly as Lexington nods.
Lexington: "shortly after Robyn died I prayed to Aiglia, I guess I was really desperate in my time of need, I don't know what the hell I'm supposed to have hope for." He says feeling Elyria stroke the back of his head.
Elyria: "hope that you can make the world a better place? That's my hope in life... That elves and humans can live together in peace." She says softly as Lexington closes his eyes.
Lexington: "but what makes you believe that hope of yours can happen?" He asks with doubts as Elyria chuckles softly.
Elyria: "you being my friend gives me all the hope that it can happen cause I don't see you as just a human Lex, you're my friend... My best friend." She says as Lexington feels his heart beat against his chest.
Lexington: "I give you hope?" He asks surprised that she thinks that.
Elyria: "you do... After Fylis died I had little hope but... You changed that, intentional or not." She says as Lexington returns the hug.
Lexington: "I... Don't know what to say other than thank you." As Elyria smiles softly. "Uh this is nice but we gonna stay like this forever?" He asks with honesty as Elyria stops hugging him.
Elyria: "if you don't mind me asking, did you make that song on your own?" She e curiously as Lexington nods somewhat embarrassed. "you just keep surprising me Lex." She says with a smile.
Lexington: "Robyn said it was one of my best qualities." As Elyria nods in agreement as she removes a wolf pendent from her belt and places in Lexington's hand. "What is this?" He asks curiously.
Elyria: "when I was ten and completed my first hunt, the tribe's hunter gave me this pendent and... Once I've find someone I've come to trust... I'd give it to them as a gift, this pendent will also mean my tribe will protect you." She says as Lexington looks in surprise.
Lexington: "El... I'm a human, I can't accept this." He says as he tries handing it back to her but Elyria insists.
Elyria: "it doesn't matter that you're human Lex, you're more than that." She says as Lexington reluctantly accepts the pendent.
Lexington: "well... I guess I should give something in return." He says removing the red cloth around his neck.
Elyria: "Lex... Are you sure?" She asks as Lexington wraps the red cloth around her neck.
Lexington: "I'm sure El... You gave me something of yours, I give you something of mine and I've been meaning to move on from that cloth." He says as Elyria chuckles softly and nods.
Elyria: "thank you Lex." She says with them standing before the red leafed tree as their bond has grown much deeper.