faderift | (no subject)

WHO: Kain and YOU
WHAT: Open post for the month! Dracolisk bonding, dumb parrot bonding, shard… curiosity, cute Warden creatures
WHEN: Earlier part of Firstfall
WHERE: All around Skyhold… stables, training grounds, tavern, wherever the griffons are
NOTES: N/A

[Stables]

[Kain has been hanging around the stables lately, watching people come and go with their mounts. He’d lost his own not too long ago, sadly, so he’s been on the lookout for a new one. There are of course the nuggalopes now, and he doesn’t count that option out. It might be really nice to have a large war-beast of sorts.]

[But first, he makes his way toward a lovely looking hunter shade dracolisk. One who he’s been visiting a lot lately. At the moment, she has no official owner. She’s in excellent shape, her previous owner supposedly did great caring for her, and she’s been looked after very well since too.]

[He holds an apple out toward her.]

Hello, girl… how are you today?

[Training Grounds]

[Kain is going all out with his training as always, giving it his all. He pauses eventually for a short break, stretching and catching his breath. He even takes his Grey Warden helmet off for a moment, shaking out his long golden hair. As he’s doing this, something swoops down from above to land right in the middle of that hair... It's a bird, a bright blue parrot with yellow spots near its eyes and mouth. It screeches a greeting.]

”Andraste’s perky tits!!!”

[All Kain does is simply shift his gaze upward. Maybe this needs an explanation? Maybe it doesn’t. He simply sighs heavily.]

Oh. It’s you.

[Tavern: pick an option!]

[Kain is mostly keeping to himself, drinking and brooding. There's a lot on his mind, even though he's supposedly in here to relax a little. He isn’t the best at ‘relaxation’, but he’s giving it his best attempt. When someone approaches, he’ll react slightly differently based on whether he notices a shard or not (he won’t ask if he can’t see it, after all, he hides his own under gloves).]

[Tavern A. Shardbearer]

[Watching curiously, Kain doesn’t say anything at first. But that distinct green glow is hard to miss.]

Was it hard to get used to? That shard...

[Tavern B. No Shard]

[Kain gives a nod in greeting as the other person approaches. He's perhaps had a few drinks by now, as is evident by the random question.]

If we close the rifts, do you think those shards will disappear from people's hands?

[Wherever they keep the Griffons!]

[Yet again, he can’t sleep.]

[That’s a regular occurrence after the recurring nightmares, which have been worse over the past year or so. This time, Kain gets up and heads off toward where the griffons are kept. He’s quiet as he enters the area, so as not to disturb them. He really enjoys seeing them, finding it especially comforting to see such an important symbol of the Wardens alive and thriving here...]

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"... wait for me! The fox was one step away from its freedom but the desperate cries of a child stopped her only few meters from the main gate. A young hare was still there, trapped by fire-"

Guess who else can barely sleep at night! Rydia used to spend her nights in the stables, keeping company to Kain's dracolisc, but now she's alternating the various locations. The simple idea of having a... personal mount, instead of a companion, is still alien to her (even if she spent almost two decades on the surface) and since she keeps having nightmares- why not spending her time with creatures who could probably enjoy some company? Now she's sitting on a pile of hay with a book on her legs and her precious bag at her side... and she's reading them Ruby Hide's tale, something childish about a fox who kept stealing from rich farm animals to feed starving forest beasts whose habitat has been ruined by humans. Silly? Probably. Does she care? Nah.

As he walks in, Kain hears the sound of someone else reading, and is surprised when he sees the green-haired rifter. Rydia, that's her name. He'd found her... actually rather friendly to talk to, even if her off-world mannerisms still baffled him sometimes. Not to mention being told he's so much like her dead friend.

"I trust I'm not interrupting? I wasn't expecting to see anyone else here..." Aside from other Wardens, of course, who are bound to suffer the same insomnia as himself. He heads over toward where she is, vaguely smiling when he sees the griffons. "Does your world have griffons? Like the dragons, they've only just reappeared here..."

Oh, yes, her dead friend... he's the main reason it takes every fiber of her being to actually turn her head in the man's direction and offer him a friendly smile. To think the other Kain -who perhaps wasn't her world's one- is right there as well, inside his urn.

"Greetings, Kain." That name is still hard to say to another person "You're interrupting nothing but an old tale, nothing I can't continue later, am I wrong boys?" The summoner gentl scratches one of the creatures under its chin "You're welcome to join us if you can't sleep. If you were planning to steal one of them, thought, that's an unlucky night for you." she's merely jesting, yet she wouldn't be too surprised to see this Kain lookalike run away "And- not like this. We do have vaguely similar creatures" Rydia comments gently patting the hay next to her, inviting the man to make himself comfortable "but they're usually... dangerous. And have more heads." She's talking about chimeras, but they're the closest kind of creatures the summoner can remember. "And... they just returned, you say?"

"I would never dream of stealing them... they belong to the Grey Wardens as a whole." Kain shakes his head, as he approaches. He's still unsure how to act around her, because of what she'd mentioned of his similarity to her dead companion. Still, he'll do his best not to let this be too weird. It takes him a moment, but then he finally goes to sit down near her, so he can be much closer to the griffons. She'd been the one to suggest it, anyway, so he doesn't feel so bad.

He looks at the little creatures with awe and adoration. "Yes, these are the first ones that have been found in some time. There was once a time when we Wardens flew upon them, long ago..." But just like with the dragons, they'd gone, times had changed. "Their return is highly encouraging, and at a time when the Wardens really need it." He looks at her curiously. "Your world sounds as dangerous as Thedas in some ways, with such monsters."

~~And there I thought I replied, good thing I'm checking all the FR threads I'm currently on!~~

"Then, as I said, you're more than welcome to join us." Yes, this meeting is less awkward... or she is at least trying to sound perfectly comfortable around him. Poor boy certainly doesn't need to hear a summoner's depressing thoughts, right? "They are wonderful clreatures, aren't they?" Rydia is still petting one, she had always been better with animals than people and the griffons don't seem to dislike her company too much. At least, not the one enjoying the scratches under its neck.

"Mhm." The woman nods "Maybe it is, maybe not. It's not really their fault, the moon influences their actions, those who live on the planet's surface are more... wild and brutal, if you meet them in the depts of the planet they are actually quite lovable. But- enough about me." She closes her book, placing it at the side "Do you want to share with me more stories about your people and their relationship with those splendid animals?" If the summoner learnt anything from the books is that the Wardens have plenty of secrets and she knows better than giving the impression to be someone interested in stealing their secret powers or whatever.

~~not a problem at all! :D I'm always up for getting back to things, anytime!~~

It certainly isn't escaping his notice how well she's getting along with the griffons, and that they're responding positively toward her as well. "Very wonderful... they're among the most incredible creatures I've ever met. They seem to like you." He reaches out, carefully and gently, to pet one of them. He takes his time, knowing that they don't like any sudden movements. "Maybe we need to recruit you to the Grey Wardens if they end up liking you best." He actually - surprisingly!- means that as a joke, even if it's said in his typical dry tone.

He's very intrigued by this talk of a strange, far off world, especially hearing about their monsters. But, of course, with the griffons right here, it wouldn't be fair not to tell her a little about them. At least most of what he knows isn't anything deeply secretive, like the reality of the Joining. So he doesn't mind talking about it.

"Griffons originally come from the Hunterhorn Mountains, far to the west in Orlais. They're one of my favorite mountain ranges to visit, actually... they have been since I was young." Yes, it's another Kain who loves mountains. "Though the griffons are long gone from there, and have been for quite some time. These are the first to return in ages. Wardens and griffons used to have very strong bonds, though. They would ride them into battle. It's also said that the griffon chooses the Warden, such a bond cannot ever be forced..." Would that ever happen for him? Who knows... It's something he still catches himself daydreaming about sometimes, before snapping back to reality. Nothing is guaranteed, after all.

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Where the Griffons are

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