Too Important

"[THREAD TITLE]" is a [SEASON NUMBER] thread written on [IRL DATE].
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Liam Arnason: The Changewing was getting really tired. Liam didn’t want to have to land, but they were close to the shore anyways, and he figured a break couldn’t hurt. It was getting late in the day, though, and they still needed to cross the ocean. Gnawing anxiety bit at him as he guided the dragon–what did she name it? Faerner? Fraened? Fraener, that was it–to the sparse trees of the shoreline, getting off its back with a grimace.
“Hoo. Boy. Almost there.” He started stretching his legs out, using a nearby spruce for balance. The ride was taking a toll on him, physically and also mentally, as the air had been a little stiff between them for the second-to-last leg of the journey.
Verdandi: Verdandi slides off of Fraener’s back, grimacing at the painful twinge in her knees as she straightens her legs fully for the first time in–it must have been hours.
“How far is it?” she asks, squinting out at the sea. It’s a genuine question, and it also avoids the awkwardness they’d left behind.
Liam/Warden: “Pffff, uhhh, I don’t remember. Bunch of miles. Real close.”
Liam looked up and down the coast, the sea wind ruffling his hair and raising goosebumps on his forearms. Then he frowned and tilted his head a little. The hairs on the back of his neck were standing, too.
“Verdandi, do you fe–?”
The beach warped in front of them, and with a concussive blast, an enormous demon body vaulted out of midair and bowled Liam over, holding two long, curved sabers to his neck as they skidded a foot or two into the gravel. A mental scream was in the middle of splitting the air, but it immediately cut off as the demon recognized who she had attacked. 
Liam!? Nala sputtered.
Verdandi: Before they’ve even stopped skidding, Verdandi rushes forward, shortbow already in hand. “Liam!” she shouts.
She slows to a stop as the demon halts her attack, eyes wide. “N-Nala?” she says hesitantly.
Liam/Warden: The Warden looked up at Verdandi, starting to speak to her, but she was interrupted by Liam kicking up roughly into her ribcage.
“What the HEL, Nala!?” he bellowed, almost tearing his own throat with the force of his shout. The demon stumbled backwards in shock as he scrambled to his feet, slipping on the loose gravel, and kicking a spray of the fine gray rocks at her. They rattled across her porcelain shins and she stared down at him, stunned. “What the fuck was that!? Why–where were you!?” He clenched his fists, chest heaving. “You left her and I to deal with that shithead by ourselves!!”
Liam.
“You couldn’t have said something? Maybe left a note? Was that too hard? Huh?”
Liam.
Tears pricked his eyes. “What was so important that you had to just get up and leave me?” he demanded, his throat sticking with his words.
LIAM. The Warden seized her mental claws into him and poured a stream of consciousness of everything she had learned, everything she had confronted, making him stutter to a stop. His eyes widened as he stared into space, trying to process the events of the last week in the span of a few seconds, and when she finished, he shook his head, taking a step back. He reached for Verdandi’s shoulder for support, speechless for a moment. The Warden stared down at him in…not anger, but an emotion of similar intensity.
“V…Verdandi…uh…” The half-breed struggled for words. “I d…I think you should…I think you should head back.” His voice was lower, and a little wobbly. “Like…all the way back.”
Verdandi: “No,” Verdandi says. “We’ve come this far together, I’m not leaving now.” Sighing, she rubs her temples. “I need to see this through.”
Liam/Warden: “No, you don’t…you don’t get it.” He was holding both her shoulders now. “You need…you need to get away from the Rebellion. There’s bad shit happening. Really bad shit.”
Verdandi: She bats Liam’s paws away. “No! I’m not leaving!” she insists. “I-I shot that man, or, or whatever he is, in the eye, and I did–I don’t even know what I did! I don’t know how I healed you!” Verdandi drags her hands through her hair. “I keep having strange dreams, and remembering things that I shouldn’t remember, and I’m scared! Liam, I don’t want to be alone again.”
Liam: Liam threw his paws in the air in a shrug. “Verdandi, I don’t know how to help with that! All I know is that if you stick around, Rhenco could mess you up, and I–” He seemed to choke on his words, and he looked a little alarmed as his eyes glassed up. “I’m not–I’m not gonna be responsible for that. Go, get out of here.”
Verdandi: “No,” she says tearfully. “I’m not leaving. I don’t care that she’s–” Verdandi waves a hand at Nala, “–here now, we’re in this together and I’m not leaving.”
Liam: Liam’s stomach felt sick and he was shaking, and he wasn’t sure why. “Why not!?” he said in frustration.
Verdandi: “I’ve been alone for so long, and… and now I’m not, and I don’t want to be anymore.” Verdandi sighs, swiping at the tears gathering in her eyes. “I-I’ve got you, and Fraener, and…” She trails off. “Rhenco will want to kill me anyway. I think… he’d find me, if he wants to.”
Liam: He shook his head. “So you need to get away, now. Get a head start. Hide. Go back to your family, or whatever.” There was a lump in his throat. Fuck me, what’s wrong with me!? “You don’t need to stick around with me, of all people.”
Verdandi: “Liam, I want to,” she whispers. “I don’t want to be alone. I… I can’t go back to my family. I have nowhere to hide. I’m not going to run away.”
Liam/Warden: You care about her.
Stay out.
Liam, acknowledge it.
Why?
Do you recall how harshly I was punished for ignoring my feelings about the rebels?
I’m not a demon.
You may have to start acting as one.
Liam clenched his fists, staring at the gravel in front of them. His short tail swept from side to side as he stayed still and silent. He ground two of his fangs together, tightening his jaw.
“I just don’t…want you to get hurt, Verdandi. I…” His words died.
Verdandi: “I don’t want you to get hurt either, and…” Verdandi sighs. “I want to be able to protect you. I, um, think we might have a better chance together.”
Liam: Liam flushed and scuffed a foot against the beach. “I can protect myself.”
Verdandi: “Is it so awful to have someone at your side to help?” Verdandi asks.
Liam/Warden: Rubbing the back of his neck, Liam became acutely aware of Nala’s gaze drilling holes in his back. “I–I don’t know. I guess I’m…just not used to it, I guess.”
Verdandi: Hesitantly, she steps forward, grabbing hold of one of Liam’s paws. “I’m not either, but… it would be good, I think.” Quieter, she adds, “Maybe I can figure out what’s wrong with me.”
Liam: Liam’s claws flexed against Verdandi’s hand as he instinctively almost tried to pull away, but he relaxed them back into his fingers and looked away hard, studying the waves as they crashed on the shore with a soft hiss and pulled away, accompanied by a faint growl of thunder. His face was still burning. After a few moments, he untangled his paw from her hand, but he looked apologetic about it.
“Maybe we can figure out what’s wrong with you,” he mumbled.
Verdandi: “Y-yeah,” Verdandi stutters. “I’d like that.” She clears her throat, rubbing the back of her neck. “Um, thanks.”
Liam/Warden: Liam waved vaguely and looked away, cheeks aflame. Nala studied him before shaking her head and looking at the pair of them. I am guarding the coast against trespassers. You two would do well to report to Haligan and see if they need assistance.
“But we just found you, Nala,” Liam protested. “You want me to go hang around the stuffy rebels again?”
Be polite, she reprimanded. Whatever is affecting…Verdandi, was it? Perhaps someone on the island can help. At the very least, it would be safer among them than by yourselves out in the forest. Nala hesitated briefly, tempted to do a search of the girl’s consciousness to find any such anomalies herself, but she kept away in an attempt to be courteous. Maybe later.
Verdandi: “She’s right,” Verdandi says. “And I think we can help the others. You can tell your… cousin, you said, about this, right?”
Liam/Warden: “Yeah...yeah, we should go do that, I guess.” He sighed. He was half-hoping they wouldn’t have to go to Haligan at all, but they had a lot of questions. “Hey, uh...F-Fraener. Here, boy.”
The dragon ambled up from where it was lurking in the treeline, and Liam climbed on its back, reaching an arm out to help Verdandi up. We still got a lot to talk about, he said silently to Nala.
Later, little one. Fly safe.
The dragon took flight as Liam nudged it forward, and it took several bounds before leaping off above the crashing waves, headed towards Haligan.
Category:Events
Category:BOTGD 2
Category:Liam Arnason
Category:Verdandi Østergård
Category:The Warden
Category:Act I