Torn was walking, with his gear, through Kirika Maze. He had heard it was a beautiful thing to behold, and while he was in Arri, why not take the opportunity to do so? The maze wasn’t particularly infamous for its difficulty, and Torn was never known to be unlucky with such things - so he did not spend long admiring the mother-of-pearl pathways or the colourful flora in the maze before he got to the lake, where he spotted a familiar figure some distance away. He decided to walk over the moment he saw the familiar figure’s company - a full-grown dragon.

“Hoy, there, Toya!” He said, as he approached. He looked at the dragon, pondering. There were sentient dragons, he knew, and he didn’t know if this dragon fell under that category. So he chose his words carefully. “Is this your draconic companion? The one you ride with?” He asked, ensuring he avoided wording that assumed that the dragon was somehow a possession. He tried to look back at Toya, but found himself fascinated by the dragon. The salamander’s scales were golden, reflecting the rays of the morning sun like the dragon was dawn itself, and was in fact the exact same colour as Torn’s hair - a coincidence not lost on the young adventurer. He felt an inkling about the dragon, a feminine air, and so he dared to say “She’s beautiful.”

What a time to be fucking alive! Her daughter was pregnant, her husband while looking rather helpless was there, she had most of her children (all would come soon enough), and she had a dragon again. With a piece of wheat in her mouth and her eyes closed as she laid against the hot scales of the dragon, she was nearly startled. “Kid, next time… be more careful before I toast you,” she said as she spit the damn wheat out of her mouth.

“Aye, isn’t she though?”

“Do not speak of me as if I am an animal incapable of understanding and/or speaking,” Karith blew her nostrils at Torn and Toya giggled softly.

“She speaks too. Karith this is Torn… This is the bastard who knocked my daughter up.”

“Joy.” Toya appeared not to be amused with the dragon as Karith laid her head back down onto the grass.

“Never mind her, she is the serious one of the two of us.” She patted the ground next to her and smiled. “Might as well get to know each other since we are going to be family.” Pausing for a moment. “And we are going to be family so help me god.” If he left her daughter there would be hell to pay.

She had managed to change into her regular everyday wear, which was just as casual. Her brown curls were pulled back into a low ponytail and she just looked like she wanted a fight. “I take it that Keira is actually listening to me and is resting?”

Torn looked at the dragon as she spoke, and was caught a little off guard as she blew her nostrils at him. On reflex, Torn took a step back as the forceful air hit him, planting his feet and crouching slightly, leaning a shoulder against the wind to allow it to flow off him naturally. He managed to stay on his feet, his gear rattling - but he was knocked back a step. As a result, he gained an annoyed expression on his face. “Yes, she is resting,” Torn confirmed, before looking at the dragon. “And I was trying to be polite. That was uncalled for,” he said, forgetting the fact that the creature in front of him could likely roast him in an instant if she was to be so inclined.

He looked back at Toya, the annoyance gone. “I decided I might as well do some exploration while I have the chance,” he said, looking around at the scenery. “I’ll probably spend a lot of my time here for the next twenty years or so, I imagine,” he continued with a smile. “But when I spotted you and.. Karith, was it? I decided to come say hello.” He looked at Karith, admiring the dragon’s scales, wings - everything, really.

“I always found stories of dragons so fascinating,” he said, remembering back to tales he’d heard as a child. “Such power… Such freedom.” He let out a sigh. “I’ve always dreamt about flying,” he continued, looking up at the sky. “I cannot imagine a feeling more liberating than soaring up in the clouds, with the world an indistinguishable expanse below, ripe for exploration.” He chuckled a bit, looking back at Toya. “I envy you. Not many humans ever get to experience something so magnificent.”

Torn stood silent for a short while, before taking a sharp breath and hesitating. Clearly, what he was about to say was something he wasn’t quite certain how to address. “Toya, I… You’re the only grandmother my children will ever know,” he said, looking at the ground. “I hope I’m not being too presumptuous, but…” He hesitated again. “I hope that means that I’ll be given a chance to find a place here.” The presence of the dragon momentarily forgotten, Torn looked at Toya intently, hoping that he’d be met with a smile and not a disapproving scowl. Or a gout of dragonfire.

“Karith can be a bitch don’t let it get to you kid. Never take on an animal that can roast you in a second. Do as I say not as I do.”

“What she means to tell you is, she bullied me into helping her and now I’m stuck with a midget on my back whenever she needs something.”

Toya had a grin on her face. “A challenge is never to be turned down unless I don’t have the time. You know that Karith.” She gave Torn a wink and smiled as he continued to speak. “Dragons don’t always have the freedom you would think. Being so powerful? It makes you a target Kid. Why do you think Angela keeps her kids locked up like a holiday presents before the reveal? Dragons are often hunted for sport and not many make it thanks to groups attacking them. Me? I would rather recruit them for my Dragon Knights.”

“You’re telling me that you have never flown?” Karith let out a groan. “Hush, let the boy speak because if he hasn’t we are fixing that today.” However, the talk turned serious as Toya drew her knees up to her body. “Look you are alright in my book but if you want to show Blaine how serious you are… and you are seriously in love with my daughter than marry her. Raise the twins as a true family, despite all this free love bullshit that goes around Arri, it does children well to see two people committed together. That and it might make the lycan get off your back a bit. Just don’t tell him I told you to do it.”

Toya took a sigh as she got up. “Look kid, if you need a family you got it. If we’re all those babies have, you are welcome here. That’s the one thing we do is look out for each other. Climb your happy ass up onto the dragon.”

Torn smiled broadly as Toya gave her response, chuckling as she mentioned marriage. “I don’t know, ‘mom’. Keira was rather insistent on the free love thing until a while back - I realise that the children are a game-changer, but I’ll have to talk to her.” There was a glint in Torn’s eye, a promise of something obscure. “I’m not going to drag her up to an altar - gods know she’ll tear my throat out if I try,” he continued, grin still in place. “And somehow, I think she’d disapprove of me getting down on one knee just because of the kids.” He placed his hands on his hips, his smile turning a little more sincere. “When the time comes, Toya. As much as I hate having your husband breathing down my neck, I am far more afraid of Keira.”

When Toya mentioned flying, Torn looked at Karith, perking an eyebrow. “If there’s one thing I resent, it’s people assuming they can tell other people what to do, just like that,” he said, and moved closer. He put his hand on Karith’s scales, smiling at the dragon. “I would be thrilled to take to the skies… if the lady Karith does not object,” he said, perfectly aware that a drop from dragonflight would be the last thing he ever experienced. He took a step back, and gave a courteous bow. “My lady, may I have the honour of flying with your golden wings?” he asked, applying all the charm available to him - which was, when all things were said and done, a substantial amount.

Toya laughed hard and smiled towards the boy. “The way she was looking at you, Boy? She loves you and I think she would say yes. She’s just been… down lately is all. There was man who trashed her heart and if I see him I’m going to make sure to rip his out.” There was a threat there. “Keira does have my temper, yeah?” She was grinning with such pride. “Blaine would absolutely hate hearing that. Blaine is just protective of our family. We’ve lost a lot when Timedeath happened. I would like to recruit you and your men to keep an eye out for our son Jayden. He’s our only living son.”

With a little lift of an eyebrow, she started to laugh again. “You shouldn’t have gotten my daughter pregnant. Of all women you have to knock up, you chose the one with an impulsive mother who could have very luckily passed down her bitchiness.” She teased him lightly as Karith got up.

“If I must,” Karith sounded displeased but she looked like she was rather happy to get into the skies. “If you fall, Toya will catch you. I’ve heard stories of what her last dragon has gone through.”

“Listen smart ass, I’m not drunk, I’m not husband hunting, and he’s only human… I don’t even think I could save him from a fall off you.” The woman laughed lightly. “Just don’t die, Keira wouldn’t forgive me.”

Toya climbed up onto the dragon’s back and pulled Torn with her. “Hold onto my waist and if you grope me, so help me god boy.” With that and a laugh Karith was up into the sky with amazing speeds. Toya was right in her element as she hooted and hollered all the way up.

“So Torn? What do you think?” She maneuvered Karith over all of Arri for him to see. “This is our home.”

Torn took Toya’s hand and climbed onto Karith’s back, smiling. “I just don’t want her to think it’s just because of the babes,” he explained, and chuckled as Toya mentioned groping. “Between Blaine, Keira, and yourself, there’s plenty of incentive not to,” he said and wooped as they took off.

Torn looked down at the receding ground, awestruck. “This… Is fucking amazing,” he exclaimed, laughing. The wind whipped at his hair like a ship in a storm, but the dragon’s flight was smooth and elegant. Torn saw the people milling about like ants below, and let out a cry of excitement. Never before had he felt so free, never before felt like all obstacles were irrelevant - indeed, it was the freest he had ever felt, despite being dependant on two other people (using the word loosely) to fly him. And all at once, Torn got a feeling. A feeling that part of his destiny was about to come to pass - that the limitations of the world would loosen their grip on him - and Torn realised that the next leg of his journey was flight. Then, as if fate itself showed its hand, Torn spotted something on the horizon.

Torn tapped Toya’s leg and pointed at it - roughly at 2 o’ clock. “What’s that?” Torn could see that it flew, yet it didn’t quite look like a bird - but neither was it a dragon. As the party came closer, Torn began to grin. “Look at him. He’s majestic.” The pegasus stallion was large even by pegasus stallion, and had a black coat lined with gold near the hooves, and a golden mane and tail. He looked like a vicious thing, which only excited Torn all the more. He called out to Karith, his heart racing with exhilaration. “Karith, my lady! Think you can force him to land!?” Meanwhile, Torn demonstrated that he really was good with a rope - taking his adventurer’s coil and tying it into a flawless lasso in seconds, mid-flight.

“Tell her I threatened to kill you and burn your body at the stake or something, she would believe that. Trust me, I’ve done it before to someone… Not for that reason I promise.” She gave him that troubling glare before hanging on tight to Karith.

“Isn’t it though?” She yelled at to Torn and smiled with that wild look in her eyes. She showed him a bit more of the scenery before the large stallion appeared in the skies. She looked over and up at Torn. “Now wouldn’t that be a damn prize to go up to Keira and propose to her on.” She was adamant about it.

“Toya don’t you even think about it!” The height could kill her but Toya had done it before. 

“Pegasus from the looks of it. She smirked a bit and smiled back at Torn. “Hold on to the fucking boy Karith. I’m going in.”

“TOYA,” Karith let out a roar as the Rosenite flung herself off the side of the dragon without a second thought. She free fell for a long time, silently, before landing on the pegasus. Her sudden impact made him fall a bit before regaining strength. She was light enough that it didn’t matter. The pegasus tried to fling her off but her grip was strong as she forced it close to the ground.

“KARITH GET YOUR ASS DOWN HERE.”

“You are dead when I tell Blaine.”

“Don’t tattle on me, that’s no fun.” The queen made the dragon visibly roll her eyes as the dragon lowered itself. Toya was wrapped around the horse with all four limps. “Rope and then we can land this bitch and you can take him down Torn. This is your prize.”

Torn watched, gaping, as Toya simply lept off Karith’s back, onto the back of the pegasus. He called after her, indignantly. “Hey! Toya! That stallion is my prize! Damn it!” He hung on as Karith descended to assist with the pegasus. Torn grunted, and prepared to throw the lasso, frowning. “Sorry, Karith, but I must skip ceremony for now. Get me above the pegasus, put us between him and the sun. If he sees the rope coming, he’ll most likely dive.” As the dragon put herself in the prerequisite position, Torn prepared to throw the lasso, knowing that one false move might cost Toya her life.

Torn spent a few seconds, timing the wingbeat of dragon and pegasus to get the perfect throw. It was something he had done before - timing the rocking of a ship with the crash of waves to ensure a sail was reaved safely. Finally, after five beats from the pegasus and three from the dragon, Torn had the timing down pat, and threw. The rope coil sailed through the air, slightly in front of the pegasus, threatening to sail by without hitting. However, Torn tugged on the rope and the coil tightened, looping itself around the pegasus’ neck, just as it was about to dive. “Dive!” he called, hoping that the dragon would follow suit before Torn was ripped off its back and plummeted to his death.

Luckily, the dragon obeyed, though not without expressing some form of disdain at the situation. Torn managed to coil the rope around the dragon’s neck, and called out apologetically. “I’m sorry, Karith, but this is the best idea I have. I swear, I would never have done this otherwise.” He then jumped ahead, grabbing the rope and freefall-ziplining his way to the pegasus, landing on it roughly. The pegasus buckled under the added weight, and Torn grinned at Toya. “Your turn to hold on to my waist!” he called out, as he leaned forward to force the pegasus’ gaze downward, to further encourage it to land. He screamed back at Karith, adrenaline fuelling his voice to an impressive boom. “Cut the rope!” He had tied the rope so as to be easily reached, and the dragon bit over the rope all too gladly.

“Kid if you tried diving in your current shape you would be dead and I would have to explain it to my daughter. She might even make me talk to my sister, no way.” Toya laughed as she gripped onto the pegasus. Karith did as Torn commanded if only because of her master’s joyride.

It was crossing her mind that Blaine would have a mild tantrum should he find out what she was doing. As soon as Torn landed on the pegasus she held on and laughed. “Do not under any circumstances tell my husband what I was doing today, I will kill you and tell Keira it was an accident… or you stepped on my foot or something.” She teasing.

Karith cut the rope with relative ease, as soon as she was free she soared around them protectively. The pegasus began to head for land. Toya may or may not have slapped its ass a few times to encourage it. “Come on land.” As soon as it was done it took pleasure in throwing the Rose queen off. She flipped backwards and landed on her butt to watch with interest.

“Well come on then finish it up so you can so Keira.”