[Citanul]

A slight nod as Orthos turned sharply to the left, having Kahewai close to his side as they weaved through the trees - they were starting to get thinner here, being close to the exit now. "Blood knows its own... Maybe you're right, or your Elders anyway. I must have family somewhere. Maybe you can help me find them." He offered, giving a gentle smile to the female at his side. She seemed like the kind to want to help him do so and he wanted to spend more time with her.

Chuckling softly the smile remained on his maw as he curled his wings in close for some low-hanging branches. His companion would be fine - she was quite a bit smaller. "Oh, no, I understand. You still love your children and sometimes ideas change. As long as you love them and their father loves them, that's all that matters." Accidents happened, and he had seen many a pair of unwilling participants in the breeding areas.

Another gentle laugh, as Orthos paused in his steps. The fog had cleared now and they were out of the forest - in a small field that heralded the forest to come. "But truly m'lady, I just wanted to see you safe. If you would like to repay me, then stay with me. We can help one another find our families."

[Kallile]

Kahewai grinned up at Orthos as she nodded. “Certainly they feel the same, even if they haven’t realized it yet.” She still woven through the thinning trees carefully—while her smaller stature did give her an advantage the material of her wings was still more fragile than Orthos’s webbed membranes. The almost gossamer looking skin that formed her wings was something to be marveled at to think it could even hold such a large creature aloft in the air let alone not rip even by a sharp glare.

She only nodded softly to his answer about her other daughter. Lucrecia at least tried to keep in touch though she was far too like her father in personality. Her whims and fancies often whisked her away elsewhere without thinking a goodbye to her mother might be nice. But that was just her and Kahewai had come to accept it.

“Stay…with you?” The question came out before her eyes had moved back to his face. It was a frightening question; did she simply go back home to where Quil would easily find her, or did she truly trust this strange Sailfin? But there was something about him…something she couldn’t put her claw on that made him seem so familiar. Like someone she had talked to for years and shared much of her life with. “I…of course, I will stay with you. I hope you don’t think this silly of me…but…I cannot shake this feeling. This…feeling that we have always talked like this and stood this close. I know it sounds ridiculous…but I feel like I have already known you for years.”

[Citanul]

The bright blues watched Kahewai as she stumbled lightly over her words. There couldn't be a malicious bone in this Sailfin's body. Not with the steady gaze, the soft way he looked at Kahewai. He had no reason to be so kind, so gentle, and yet he couldn't help himself. He would have lead any stray traveller to safety, but this... This was different somehow.

"Silly? No, no of course not. ...I... I've felt so since I first saw you. As if, I've spent time with you before." He couldn't explain it, but Kahewai's words certainly came close. "I feel like you need me right now, Kahewai." A smile came upon his maw as he came in a little closer, with the trees now gone they were able to stick a little closer.

[Kallile]

Kahewai knew it was foolish to assume ill of the Sailfin species as a whole simply because she had met one bad seed, and Orthos was working miracles to quell any fears she might be having. What he was asking was daunting: leave the home she knew was like a prison and all those she knew to be with him. But they were going to seek out their families…together. Wasn’t there an old saying about tearing down the familiar in order to discover something even better? Right now the Fairy’s brain just couldn’t contemplate such things.

A shaky smile came onto her face as Orthos spoke. He could feel it too? “I…that’s wonderful. I had been afraid that I was the only one. Perhaps we’re in our second lives…some people think souls are reborn into new bodies. Maybe we are simply old friends…reborn and meeting again.” She could feel the soft hide on her face go warm in a blush as she too moved a little closer to her guide. “But that probably sounds equally silly, I’m sure.”

[Citanul]

Of course he could not deny what they were feeling now. The innate desire to keep Kahewai safe, to guide her away from whatever was hurting her at her home. Something bad was happening there and he couldn't stand thinking that she was going to be hurt.

"I think you're on to something there." Orthos smiled softly to her. "A second life... A chance at something that once was?" He offered with a soft chuckle. "Maybe I failed to protect you then... So I can now. "

[Kallile]

Kahewai couldn’t stop herself from smiling or inching closer to the larger male with every step as they continued to walk. She liked that idea more than she truly should be leading on…the idea that Orthos was a friend from some other time, so other place. That he really was the friendly face she could rely on as completely as she already was. It was blind faith, but she was going to trust it with all her heart.

“Maybe. Or perhaps we are just destined to meet here, now, as we are. Maybe it was written somewhere in the stars.” She looked up—the foliage now mostly gone the stars could peek through to them.

“You said you wanted family, Orthos. Do you ever imagine what they would be like? I did once…and my daughters, no matter how estranged, still amaze me.”

[Citanul]

Sometimes it seemed like blind faith was all the hope that someone needed. To be truthful Orthos had been rather lonely as of late, none of the other Paragon he knew were talkative or even willing to be around him. He understood though, everyone needed their space, he just truly felt he belonged to someone. At their side, protecting them.

"There re a lot of stars to be written on." Tilting his head upward he chuckled softly. "Fate is a fickle woman, Citanul says. Maybe our destinies never entwined in our last lives... So they must play out in this." It was a profound thought for the usually live-in-the-moment boy, but maybe it was the female's presence at his side. She had brought out more smiles to his maw than he thought he had to give.

"I've thought of it a few times. Having a big family, lots of hatchlings to care for. Something just seems right, about it. Even if they weren't all mine. I'd adopt them." Another bright smile as he looked to Kahewai. "Brujah has been speaking of starting an orphanage, with Ares... I think I would like to help him."

[Kallile]

Kahewai laughed a little and kept on smiling. “I suppose she would have to be a woman, wouldn’t she? Fate and female nature just seems to go hand in hand.” At the mention of children his or others, Kahewai blushed a little. It still made her feel small to know she had hatchlings she hadn’t planned on when someone like Orthos had none and wanted them so badly.

“A large family, hm? I’ve always missed my clan…I suppose the best way to get that feeling again would mean I look forward to a large family of my own as well.” A rustle in the bushes sent the female standing stark still for a moment, the smile fading and worry returning to her face. “Orthos…” She said quietly as she sidestepped until her wings brushed against his side and she could feel him near her.



The mammoth purple head of a Voidbringer poked through the foliage, though the only true defining attribute that made the beast stick out in the darkened forest were the four glowing red eyes that peered at the pair.

The male was larger than Orthos by a little, but the lack of wear on his scales told that he was young and probably lacking experience. Regardless, an angry Voidbringer was not something to be taken lightly. Stepping free from his hiding spot the male flared out his red razorwings in a display against Orthos. He was literally armed to the teeth with sharp parts, it would be in everyone’s best interest just to avoid conflict.

“You two aren’t moving quickly enough.” Came out a rough voice as the four eyes narrowed in their direction.

[Citanul]

"That's how I've always heard it." Orthos chuckled gently. "Not all females are so, but it seems many are." Not like he could complain, Kahewai had been one of the few females he had been around for extended periods of time.

A soft nod as he tilted his head, shifting Kahewai close to him as she moved. "I - Who is there!" He called out, thoughts lost after the rustle in the bushes. He stood tall, wing curling Kahewai flush to his side as fangs flashed and his tail lashed lightly in the underbrush.

Conflict was on his mind, but for now he was content in posturing against the young Voidbringer. He had experience on this youngster, even if he was a bit taller. "Getting out of the forest is not a piece of cake, young one. Leave us be." This had to be one of Kahewai's persuader, the ones she was running from. Who had hurt her.

[Kallile]

The Fairy did not resist as Orthos’s wing encompassed her and drew her protectively to his side. It was a little alarming at first, yes, but ultimately the gesture was one that she leaned into. She was not a coward really…but she did know her strengths well and the Paragon that stood before them now had more strength than she could defend against. Her eyed the Voidbringer, wondering where she should position herself should a battle break out.

Tovin, however, had no such ideas in his head. “Oh, I intend to leave you be. However if I can catch up with you, then so can my father. You need to pick up the pace.”

Kahewai took a small step forward though still stayed well within Orthos’s protection. “I don’t understand…” She began. But…he had been helping Quil’lian chase her down. Why stop them now only to tell them to move more quickly?

“I’ve been keeping him distracted. I don’t personally desire to be charged with raising more half siblings, nor do I wish for the things I know he would ask of me should he succeed in catching you. So you and your male had best move more swiftly. My distractions won’t entertain him much longer.”

[Citanul]

"Father? ..."

The word hung rather thickly for a few moments as it clicked in his mind. This had to be the son of the one Kahewai was running from. By her reaction however, it seemed like he hadn't wronged her. At least not yet. He kept her close, muscle still tense and ready to pounce at the smallest inclination of this younger paragon to attack.

"Distract him for a few moments longer. We will be gone." He nudged Kahewai and spread his wings. She could surely keep up with his flying - and her chaser would not be able to follow in the skies until they couldn't be caught.

[Kallile]

The Voidbringer narrowed his eyes and gave a quick nod of his head. “I’ll do what I can. If you mean to see her safe then take her far. My father’s reach is wider than you might be anticipating.” It wasn’t clear why the male’s father would want the Fairy in the first place. For coming off as such a dark underlord it was hard to imagine what he might see in the brightly colored and light hearted female.

Kahewai looked to Orthos doubtfully, but spread her own wings as well. Her species were natural fliers so keeping up was not her worry. Even in the darkening sky her bright hide would be like a beacon. “He will still be able to spot me from the ground.” She said, but then looked to Orthos with a kind smile. “Maybe if I flew above you…then it I wouldn’t be spotted so easily.” It would be a task of timing to get both wings flapping in sync, but if they could pull it off they would certainly make a clean getaway.

[Citanul]

"I know a safe place where he will not dare to tread. A sanctuary, where no violence will be had." Orthos nodded back to the young Voidbringer and looked to his companion. "I will fly just below you." It would be hard to sync their wings - but his body was so much bulkier, that it was easy for him to obscure her. His dark hide would be near-impossible to spot in the skies anyway.

With a gentle nudge he took to the sky, a rather powerful gust left in his wake. He excelled at flight, expecially in the long distance they would travel this night.

[Kallile]

The voidbringer simply watched the pair as they prepared to take off, his head angled so he could watch the forest behind him for any signs of life. Quil would be along any time now, and the Void needed a good excuse to offer up. He had been after this particular female since before Tovin was even considered, so to lose her to another would be a hearty blow to his ego. If…of course….he found out.

Kahewai flapped her wings furiously to gain air above Orthos and stay there. Luckily her wings had girth rather than length, and she managed to soar just above him without much issue. A few times her wings would brush his and she would pull up and try to retime her wing beats. “I’ll follow you…I trust that we’ll be safe where we’re going.” And she meant it. No one else would have stopped to help her, but this male had. She had to believe there was genuine goodness in his heart after what little they had gotten to talk about.

[Citanul]

If he did anything, Orthos was wanting to keep Kahewai from ever having to see this strange male again. It was that odd connection between them, that he had to cite for this over-protective nature. She just seemed to need this protecting, this out from the horror of her past.

Not seeming to be disturbed by the brushing of their wings, Orthos just tried to stay steady for Kahewai, shielding her form from view. A slight dip of his head as he chuckled. "Of course, Kahewai... Safe, and not to be found by anyone."