Sionnach (closed)

"At the very least, I hope to get the chance to know what he wanted to name her. Until then, I've decided to call her Rikke, after my late godmother from Denmark."

“Don’t get too attached, Invah. We don’t know what might happen.” Fiona warned the great dragon

"I'm well aware, but I'm already attached. How can you not adore this sweet little face?" But Invah nodded to Fiona. "I know Schaller may take her back, even join us, but until then, Sadah and I agreed we'd look after her along with Gaiann. We just didn't know she'd be hatched. That's no problem, though."

As Invah glanced up and saw Danica's new partner returning, she scooped up the hatchling carefully in her jaws and moved past the crowd to take the hatchling to a quieter corner of the courtyard where Invah could make a proper nest for her and feed her.

Fiona let out a long sigh, watching as her dragon took the fledgling to a quiet corner of the castle to feed her and be make the best that would be her home for a while. She wondered when Barbarossa and Schaller would realize that the egg was gone. She was sure that she would hear from both of them very soon.

"Everyone!" A call suddenly came from near the main doors. "May I have your attention, please." There stood Kell, several of his agents around him, all serious and sharply focused. "Quiet, please." The crowd that had gathered to see the hatchling all turned silently and Kell began, "It should go without saying that no one is to breathe a word of the hatchling's presence here. We are under immense threat having taken an Elder Dragon's child. Do not pass along any of this information for any reason unless authorized. Do not talk about it openly. Do not say anything aloud, lest you be heard by spies that we know are present in the city. I don't need to remind you how seriously we take security and information breaches. If I've made myself clear, you are all to return to your work. I don't want gawkers or unbidden people around the hatchling. Only those cleared personally by Invah or Queen Fiona of Inverness may approach or have contact with the hatchling. As I understand it, she is extremely fragile and we don't need anyone hovering around her anyway."

The crowd began to disperse, a few people disappointed at not getting a good look at the baby dragon, while Kell approached Fiona. "I hope to whatever God is in charge that this doesn't backfire, Fiona," he murmured, his agents keeping people from listening in. "... It was a good idea, but I can't help feeling nervous about my cub. Who knows how widespread Schaller's rampage could be if he came here looking to destroy us rather than negotiate."

“If you are concerned about Brogan, I would allow he and Rissa to go to the north where Rory has the dragon’s hidden.” Fiona offered, listening as Kell admitted his nervousness at the situation.

"I have plenty of hiding places where no one would think to look for him, even if our entire network was breached. No one knows them but myself, Kate, Qira, and Rissa. But I'd like to keep him in reach for Kate's sake... But I'll be sending him a distance away today, just until we know what Schaller will do. I was worried Schaller would know right away and follow... But it seems we have a little time." Kell sighed, rolling his shoulders and forcing himself to relax a bit. "But we also don't want to risk you, not to mention the wounded and defenseless here. You could fly away at a moment's notice, but we have a whole city that can't."

“Kell, if I need to leave Edinburgh with my dragons, just say so. I can go home to Inverness.” Fiona said softly, knowing that he had a lot of weight on his shoulders at the moment and needed to think of the greater good.

"I don't want to kick you out. And I certainly don't want to put Inverness in danger. Having everyone here makes it easier to react quickly, rather than days later. We just need to be ready for Schaller, and be able to meet him with an offer before he gets close to Edinburgh."

“Well, our offer is simple. If he wants his fledgeling, and we know he does, he will either join our side or take that fledgeling and leave both sides. Go far, far away from this flight. The have one caller. We have three. Each of us has a specific skill that is far beyond what their caller has.” Fiona set out her terms, feeling much better than she had and more forceful to boot.

"Will you meet him if he agrees to talk?" Kell asked quietly, knowing Sam would probably be against it, but knowing that it would likely take a Caller to keep Schaller calm.

“Yes.” She said without hesitation. “There’s not a reason on this earth that I wouldn’t. In fact, once you feel secure in everything, send word to them about what we have.”

"I'll be sending a message within the hour. Until we know what Schaller will do, I leave the hatchling to the Riders. Make whatever arrangements you need to take care of her through myself or Kate. And if I could ask you a favor, get a report from Invah about what happened when she found the egg. It looks like she didn't encounter much, if any resistance. I'd like to know why Schaller left his egg under-defended, if something went wrong."

“Of course.” Fiona said, giving Kell a nod as they parted ways.

Fiona left Invah alone until a suitable nest had been built as the little fledgeling was fed and back to sleep. Approaching her dragon, she paused a few feet away. A dragon could be possessive and Fiona wanted to respect Invah in that moment.

“She’s a beautiful dragon.” Fiona said softly, looking st the fat and broad little girl.

The the help of Danica's new partner and offers from the stable hands, Invah had dug a shallow circle into the ground at the corner of the walls, lining the inside with crushed tree branches topped with spare horse blankets and the shreds of a previously-ruined dragon saddle. Invah was busy crunching the branches down to create a springy bed under the leather and blankets, which would keep the hatchling from hurting herself as she learned to walk. And for the moment, Sadah and Gaiann were there, and Danica was helping the hatchling drink from a few large skins of milk.

Invah turned as Fiona approached, nuzzling her before welcoming her closer to help Dani. "She's going to need a lot of care without her birth mother around."

“Her birth mother is dead.” Fiona said as she was welcomed to join them in helping the little dragon. “According to Tala, she was killed and Schaller lost his mind. Which is why Kell is questioning why he left his most important possession alone.”

"She wasn't alone... Well, at least she hadn't been. When I found the right spring, I found the corpses of two Imperial soldiers and a very small female dragon, only twice the size of a drake. I... I think the soldiers attacked her, and she killed them and died later of her wounds..." Invah's brow furrowed in thought. "... I think the Imperials were trying to take the egg, unless a female dragon found it under their guard and tried to take it thinking they had stolen it... But if it's the former... Then Barbarossa may be seeking to control Schaller absolutely. Schaller claimed to be Barbarossa's own partner, but... There's a chance Zaufberg has him brainwashed."

“You think that there’s a chance that Barbarossa meant to destroy this egg?” Fiona said, looking to the little dragon and then back at Invah. “If that’s the case, he could easily blame the loss on us and then he would have a very angry elder dragon.”

"Destroy it, or keep her to make sure Schaller would never be tempted away if Zaufberg's influence failed or he died. I truly believe now that Schaller's monstrous behavior is not of his own volition. I think he is being controlled, and it's driving him mad." Invah looked up as the hatchling suddenly let out a cry, squirming away from Danica and Sadah as she realized Sadah wasn't Invah. She refused to drink any more, and Danica looked to Invah for help.

On pure instinct, Invah trotted over and picked Rikke up in her jaws, bringing her to the nest and settling her among the blankets and branches. "I'm afraid she thinks I'm her mother," Invah spoke to Danica and Sadah. "... Let Fiona feed her. She has a bit of my scent. And it'll be good to make sure Rikke's well-acquainted with humans right away."

"Have at it, then," Dani offered a small smile to Fiona, bringing the milk skins over. After losing Amistad, Dani had been determined to continue the fight, but she was also a shadow of her former self without the attitude and excitement for life in general.

“Invah, is that wise?” Fiona asked, glancing up at her dragon as the milk skins were brought to her.

She had told the dragons about her pregnancy, but no one else knew. In fact, beneath her armor, she began wearing a thick band around her waist. When someone asked, she claimed it was for her ribs, but it was to disguise her thickening abdomen from anyone else.

"I don't see why it wouldn't be." Invah offered Fiona a gentle smile. "Without her birth mother, she'll need hand-feeding for a week or so, and then she'll be able to see and hear and drink on her own, and she'll figure out she can use her hands in the process. I see few people better to help me than you."

"If I get in trouble with my husband for this, I will definitely make him talk to you." Fiona said as she stepped into the nest with the water skin and gathered the little dragon into her lap, letting the creature latch on to the bottle to feed yet again.

Sam had been back and forth because of the war. Every other day she might be lucky enough to see him for a meal, but more often than not, she would simply wake and he would be in bed beside her, having slipped in at some point during the night. He was expected back soon and she missed him greatly.

"What, are you afraid she's dangerous?" Invah lay down with her body encircling the nest, and Fiona heard a deep rumble like a furnace from her chest, a blue glow coming from her chest and smoke rising from her nostrils as she seemed to ignite fire in her body, radiating warm suddenly that surrounded the little hatchling.

At first, Rikke tried to squirm away from Fiona. With a little coaxing from Invah, she soon latched onto the milk skins and began drinking hungrily, her little hands kneading Fiona's legs in the process.

"I'm not afraid of her, but we both know that Sam has been very protective of me." Fiona said softly as the little dragon latched on to the skin and started to kneed her legs in contentment.

"Then, we can pretend it's practice for your own little one." Invah laid her head down to watch them.