Fated Paths of Reunion (Whitebrand & Tigra9)

[tigra9]

It would be an early summer morning, the sun just now rising but despite that there was a young girl already awake and doing chores for the family that had accepted her after she lost her own parents, the house was a two story wooden home with three bedrooms on the top floor, it was rather barren compared to a modern home from earth but for this world it had all the essentials, beds for each of the house occupants, a fireplace, a magical old styled cooking stove, dining table, a corner for the kids to play in with their toys if they wanted, there was no electronics or electricity as the girl did some early house cleaning and preparing so that breakfast could be cooked but the mother of the house when she awoke and then the girl went outside to the watering well getting some water in a bucket to bring into the house for washing up.

When the girl named Corrina finished all the chores she had to do so bright and early she ran up to her best friends room, well even though she ran not a single sound of her footsteps could be heard and even her presence was faint enough to make her harder to notice and she slowed herself down and quietly entered his room, she was 5 years old with short purple hair and eyes, a dark almost black skin that was not quite a natural human skin tone but it marked the last remnants of Spirit ancestry Corrina had, which was the cause for her natural stealthiness. Her current attire was a dull brown shirt and shorts, unlike most girls her age Corrina didn’t wear dresses at all. Once she was right next to the bed she got a naughty grin and then pounced the figure in it “Good Morning!!”

[Whitebrand]

Derek made a loud and surprised “OOF!” sound. There was a brief moment while the beds occupant processed what had happened. Then hi hired himself into the covers again. A light blue arm with arcane red markings on it tried to wave off the intruder.

“Another hour or two,” he said, trying to put force in his voice. He failed. “Was up late.”

Stargazing, almost certainly.

[tigra9]

Corrina frowned and started tickling him “no! Your getting up now Derek, you have your chores to do in the mornings too you know, besides the sun is already rising” she said with a stern older sister sounding tone (even though she was half a year younger then he was) and after a moment she got off him and crossed her arms “besides that I need to wash the bedding today so you can’t laze around in it Derek” she grabbed the bedsheet and started trying to pull on them to throw Derek out of them, a move she had seen both his parents doo but she wasn’t physically strong enough to do anything but drag him and the bedding off at the same time

[Whitebrand]

"What are you...

"A
A
A
A
A-"
-THUMP!

"Ow."

Derek had held on to the blanket and got dragged headfirst off the bed and hit the floor. He lay in a heap, his skinny limbs in a tangle and staring at his navel. With a groan he struggled to untie himself and ended up flopping over on his side. This helped him straighten himself out despite the discomfort on the hard floor.

"Fine," he groaned. "Chores. Okay..."

[tigra9]

Corrina couldn’t help but laugh at the position he fell into and after the short laughing fit rolled up the bedding in her arms, in truth Derek didn’t have near the list of chores to do compared to Corrina, mainly tending to the animals, Derek’s parents were formerly a very strong and well known Adventurer and a powerful Elemental Spirit that called that adventurer her husband but Derek’s father had retired from adventuring after taking a serious leg injury that greatly hindered his ability to walk around or even stand up without assistance so instead the two had agreed to settle down in this remote village where they became farmers. In this world Elemental Spirits were spirit beings that were deeply connected to the forces that fundamentally made up the world though each was generally limited to one particular element or force with very very few exceptions throughout recorded history. Derek’s mother was one such example with dominion over fire, water, wind, and earth

At that precise moment Derek’s mother Ava appeared at the doorway, she looked very similar to an elf, standing at roughly 6’7 she was the tallest person in the house, she had a very lithe and beautiful figure, her breasts and butt were on the smaller side but somehow that made her seem even more beautiful in people’s eyes, her ears were pointed but not much different from a humans otherwise, beautifully shining silver hair flowed down her back reaching her hips in the back and framing her face in the front, her entire body seemed to have barely visible glimmering lines decorating her body almost like tribal markings, they became more prominent when she was using her spiritual powers though her irises seemed to shine with a blending and ever changing set of colors, red, blue, green and yellow and she looked between the two kids before crossing her arms with a smile “good morning you two, have you completed your chores already Corrina?” She asked, her voice was as beautiful as her appearance with a sweetness no human voice could hold, as for her attire it was a simple green villager dress that one could find on any villager yet on Ava it seemed to shine like something much more extravagant, she didn’t bother asking if her son had done his chores, a single glance told her he hadn’t yet.

Corrina hearing Ava turned and practically beamed her smile “except for washing the sheets yes I have auntie”

[Whitebrand]

Fotrunately for all involved, Derek liked the animals almost as much as he did gazing at the stars. He got dressed, covering most of his blue and red-glyphed skin from the sun. He put on his straw work hat and headed outside. His light blue complexion suffered in the direct sunlight and gave him an elfin glow at night. He'd named every one of the chickens and let them loose on the weeds in the enclosed yard.

Yes, they were pitiably stupid birds, but they all had personalities in his eyes. In fact he pretty much knew every animal on the farm by name.

"Come on, Little Bit," he called as he set out the enormous bowl of dog's food.

"Little Bit" was not little. He was a Cooshee, an elven dog the size of a pony with silvery fur. He'd been bred as a herder and guardian for the family and made regular patrols of the property. But when the dinner call went out it didn't seem to matter where he was...he somehow arrived in seconds. Indeed after only a few seconds Derek could hear the thundering paws scr5ambling in his direction. Derek stood back until the giant dog appeared, tearing around a corner and coming to a skidding halt at the bowl.

Then came the charming pigs. Then the small herd of finely bred horses led by the arrogant Big Red. Then the two goats and their energetic two kids. Then milking the four gossipy cows. Derek finally finished his animal chores around noon.

[tigra9]

When Derek returned to the house it was just his mother Ava inside cooking food for lunch and she looked at him “finally done? You completely missed breakfast again Derek... your father had to go into town... apparently something about the wildlife nearby, really that man, even being lame doesn’t stop him from being so helpful to others” she put a hand to her cheek with a smile as she spoke about Derek’s father then looked back at the pot “go wash up, lunch will be ready soon”

Corrina was currently sitting at the table reading a book... well attempting to read, it was a basic book for teaching people how to read and though Derek didn’t take long to consume the lessons in it Corrina was still working on learning it herself


(Scene switch over from here)

In a location far separated from the country side home of Derek a figure would be sitting on a half circle stone bench in the middle of a garden with the rainbow colored flowers spread across the ground, a single spiraling stone pathway leading to the bench as the main walkway, the figures Blonde hair bounced a bit as she moved her head, her hair naturally cured some no matter what work was done to it to try and straighten it completely, a pair of short round ears tilting side to side, she was wearing a black loose silk cloth dress that reached her ankles if she was standing, there were no sleeves to this young girl’s attire. In appearance she mostly looked human however had some very clear differences from humans, first were her animal style ears that emerged from the top of her head, second a pair of horns that wrapped around her head, next her arms from the elbow down were scaled and her finger tips ended in thin sharp claws, from the back of her waist emerged a tail that looked like a snake complete with a head as the tip of it, and lastly her legs from the knee down were furred and ended in hooves. This Chimera Demon as her species was called was the 6 year old Artimisa Chimer, first (and only) princess heir to the Chimer Demon kingdom located within the territory of the Demons race lands, in her lap was a lovely egg that was a pale red with white streaks on it, the egg was nearly as big as her torso and head and was a dragon’s egg but as she let her legs sway her sky blue eyes landed on woman standing nearby, the servant outfits were a very basic blue dress made from linen “Imoen... when do you think this egg will hatch? I’ve been tending to it for over three weeks now” she whined as she hugged the egg against herself

[Whitebrand]

“Dragon eggs don’t hatch overnight, dear,” the demon maid said. She wore a skimpy costume with lots of underboob and a black mask over her eyes without eyeholes. “But if you listen you may be able to hear him moving around in there. Let him or her decide when they come out...and don’t help. Hatching will be its first test. Let them pass it on their own.”

[tigra9]

Artimisa pouted “stop calling me dear Imoen... call me ‘my lady’ or ‘Lady Artimisa’ I don’t like being called dear by anyone but father” she complained but tilted her head and lifted the egg to rest it near her ear spending a few moments listening then getting an excited smile as she lifted it and hugged it against herself “I heard it moving inside! Also this shell is really thick” she tilted her head then blinked and looked as a raven flew down and landed next to her, she knew it as a raven from a different world and a different life, but there were no such birds in this world and even this raven was a being made by a magic spell... Specifically Artimisa who was a born genius in magic and she stared into its eyes for a moment “I see... so the spell worked” she sounded serious now, Artimisa was normally no different then a kid in her mood shifting, however during the times she was studying or engrossed in her magic experiments that she seemed far more adult like, and apparently her bird golem had just told her one of her experiments was a success as she stood up and stepped over to Imoen “please carry it for now... in truth I’m hoping it born a female truth be told” she smiled, Artimisa had been super protective of the egg since obtaining it and cared for it passionately so this would likely surprise the demon maid that Artimisa was even willingly letting someone else carry it

[Whitebrand]

“I shall instantly return it to you the moment it begins to hatch, my lady,” the maid said as she took the egg carefully. “Are we going to the lab or your library?”

[tigra9]

Artimisa put a hand on her hip “you had better Imoen, and my library, the experiment was on my crystal” she turned and started walking her hooves clicking on the stone, her room, library and person lab were all near the center of the castle on the second floor so it was quite a walk, the entire castle was made of stone and had a dark theme to it with candles lit sparingly, most demons possessed the ability to see in the dark so the limited lighting meant nothing to them, instead for those not able to see in the dark or find their ways through a different means it gave the castle a creepy vibe.

Upon reaching the door into her small personal library Artimisa pushed open the doors and walked to the center of the room where a square crystal was floating above a small metal base on a table and Artimisa sat down the bird flying in through the line window set into the far wall above and landing on the table and touched the crystal closing her eyes for a second before a holographic image displayed figures above the top of the crystal similar to a 3d hologram, one was Derek, the other Corrina (though Imoen and Artimisa have never seen the pair before so don’t know their names) , it was a recreation of the scene where Corrina was waking Derek up. “So... that’s him in this life huh?” Artimisa spoke solemnly as she stared at the young boy, there had been a very faint hint of longing to her voice that Imoen might have missed had she not been serving Artimisa since the minute Artimisa was born

[Whitebrand]

“How odd,” the demon maid said as she tilted her head. “A hybrid.”

She wondered briefly if she should report her charge’s interest in this gawky creature to her master. She decided against it, filing it under “answered under direct questions only.” The girl had little enough privacy of her own. She was allowed a few secrets.

[tigra9]

Artimisa as if reading her maids mind spoke “ill speak to father myself before I go doing anything... this figure troubles me in his vicinity” she touched the crystal again and the figures vanished replaced by a still image of Ava, spirits were by nature neutral and didn’t choose demon races or human races over the other, but it was known occasionally spirits would become deeply interested in individual mortals in this world, and Ava was a spirit so well known even Imoen could immediately recognize her “judging by the magic senses my golem has the boy is blood related to her” she frowned “even I don’t wish to cut my life short that easily” she tapped the crystal a magic circle forming in the air around her finger before sinking into the crystal which seemed to get a dull light to it momentarily and Artimisa rested her hands and head on the table with a deep sigh of relief, in her heart she was so happy she could barely contain it, she had found him! He was in this world too! But.... why were they born to enemy races?.... why was he a human hybrid and she a pure blooded demon of the absolute highest class of demons?! With thoughts like this her feelings became a jumbled mess

Artimisa would find herself dragged from her in er turmoil as she heard a crack and she quickly lifted her head looking towards the egg and hopping up to quickly reach for the egg “yay it’s hatching!!!” She began examining the egg and frowned as she couldn’t find a single sign of a crack “umm? Where? Where??”

[Whitebrand]

Imoen set a cloth on the table and put the ego down on it.

“Give it time,” she said in a near whisper. “I think it’s...I can hear it. It’s really pecking away in there...it really wants out of there...”

After several long moments the egg began to twitch. The creature inside was rapping repeatedly on the eggshell. Finally a crack appeared. Imoen held her breath as the crack expanded. Finally a flap was poked into the shell and the tip of a beak appeared.

And then another crack appeared elsewhere on the egg. In moments another beak poked out.

“Twins?” Imoen said, sounding startled.

[tigra9]

Artimisa watched it in excited suspense, she knew it was a dragon’s egg.. she had been gifted it by a dragon that saved her and the egg she had stumbled upon from another dragon that had been intent on eating the egg and her. Dragon’s were beings in this world that came in various shapes sizes and types, some that flew some that didn’t, but one thing remained consistent across all dragon’s, they were powerful beings with even a young adolescent dragon being able to dispatch a thousand strong army of average soldiers with ease.

Once the cracks formed enough Artimisa gently reached to pull away the pieces of eggshell that she could to help the little one, upon seeing the second head she tilted her head and let out a happy voice “awwwww so cute!” She gently reached to try and help widen the holes for the heads but jumped as a third crack same as the first two appeared and began to break causing her to hold her breath and watch, she could see two dragons in one egg but three?!?

[Whitebrand]

“Stop, my lady,” Imoen reminded her. “Let them do it themselves. This is very important for them...how they build their first strengths. No helping.”

Four heads burst free...and the emerging fifth finally revealed the creatures within. Or rather creature. The little draconian has five heads. All five heads immediately attacked their shell hungrily, tearing it apart and chomping the remains down.

Finally the five heads turned to the little girl, five simultaneous squeaks came from its mouths.

“Oh my,” the maid said.

[tigra9]

Artimisa frowned at being chastised by her maid but watched the spectacle of the egg hatching, when the five headed dragon creature emerged she couldn’t help but give a happy squeal and watched it devour its egg only moving once it turned and squeaked at her to gently reach out and pet it’s heads, she did try to use one finger for each head but it kept its heads to far apart so she had to resort to using both her hands “your a cute little dragon”

she smiled and then suddenly spoke a series of words in ancient tongue, it was a language long lost to all races in this world centuries ago (though it had been her common language in her previous life allowing her to easily learn and make spells using it) and using words she had casted a magic spell, the little dragon would feel some kind of essence from Artimisa touch its mind, it acted invasive but with it came a wave of gentle calming emotions from Artimisa, once she finished her spell she removed her fingers and smiled, dragons were practically immune to all but the strongest Magic’s in their elder years, but a hatchling like this had no such resistance and so the mental link spell she cast just now was able to easily link her mind with the little dragon that was half her size in length, the link allowed the two to read each others base thoughts and sense each other’s location and physical states, it was a spell meant for convenience on Artimisa’s part as this would allow her to tell if something was wrong with the five headed dragon or vice versus, aswell as for the two to communicate wordlessly

“There we go little one, your a good... hmm how do I tell if your a boy or girl? Also what name should we give you little one?” She frowned as the thought occurred she didn’t know how to check it’s gender and the hatchling was not intelligent enough to make any actual thoughts or words to tell her even with the link

[Whitebrand]

“She has a feminine feel to her,” Imoen reported dutifully. “And she has imprinted on you perfectly, my lady. Congratulations. She appears to be quite healthy.”

The dragon for her part was intensely curious about her new mistress. She seemed particularly perplexed about why her “mother” had only one head. And smelled like food.

Hungry. She was very hungry. And tired. She wanted to eat and rest. And looked to her “mother” for help solving this dilemma.

[tigra9]

Artimisa looked at her maid hearing her and smiled “ah is that so? Well that’s good to know, would you go to the kitchen and see if you can get some food for this little one Imoen, and dinner for me aswell please” she blushed a bit as her own stomach had let out a loud growl for food, she was still a growing child herself after all

Once Imoen left to do that she looked back at the hatchling and started petting its heads, taking turns with each head “so for a name, let’s see what you like little one” she then listed off names giving a long pause between each to see the little ones reaction

“Rororo”

“Tiamat”

“Bahamut”

“Ratatoskr?”

After the fourth name she tilted her head trying to rack her brain for more

[Whitebrand]

At first the little thing didn’t understand. Artemisia was just making noises at her. Finally, though, she seemed to get the idea. She rejected Bamahut almost immediately. She listened to the repeated names two or three times before finally getting excited at “Tiamat.”