Level_5

[Skybreaker] Envieux [Level_5]

With his mouth a thin, stoic line, Asbel waited for Frey's outburst to be over and for the prince to disappear into the tent he had originally been so reluctant to enter. Of course the prince would agree to the arrangement only after he realized that the phoenix was a natural talisman against the dark. Nothing else suggested quite so clearly that Frey truly was afraid of the darkness: the only reason he would agree to sleep in the vicinity of such an otherwise-useless thing was if the thing was a glorified lamp. Already, as much as he now didn't want to, as the last shreds of light vanished in the rain-filled dusk, Asbel's light was already becoming more pronounced: a soft, ethereal glow so like candlelight.

A thing. After seventeen years of taunting and nearly-deadly pranks, a few insults, none of them new, should not have been so bothersome. But they caught in Asbel's throat all the same and the phoenix gritted his teeth to keep his eyes dry. Always a thing, always a tool. The alchemists thought so, Frey thought so -- everyone thought so, except for Bacchus and Augustine. Two people in all the castle.

Augustine wandered through the darkness towards Cassius, but that was all the sound Asbel heard from that direction, so he entered his own tent and returned Frey's glare. Not even the relative comfort of a small, enclosed space allayed the fact that Frey was the one sharing it with him.

"Royal brat," he snapped in return, voice nearly cracking, and with that he turned his back on the prince and sat as far from Frey as possible. Nothing else needed to be said. The forest was horrid -- the prince was horrid -- the rain itself was horrid. To be wet was a misery all on its own, and Asbel tugged off his jacket and shirt, bare skin still unpleasantly damp and chill. He bundled the discarded clothes in his hands and sent heat through them to dry the waterlogged fabric before he resigned himself to sleeping beside a demon.

[Skybreaker] Envieux [Level_5]

For the hours that drifted slowly past, Asbel followed close behind Augustine and Cassius, his attention alternating between the back of the elder prince's head and the surrounding forest. For his first foray into the real world, the phoenix would have picked nearly any landscape but this. The trees were tall and bare and black with seared bark, and the sky above had lost all color but the grey of the thickening storm-clouds. The smell of the place, too, now associated with the sickening marmalade jam from Frey's breakfast, had no merit either, and the whole forest assailed him with the reek of sap and burnt wood and impending rain.

Ahead of him, Augustine chatted amiably with Cassius -- meaning that Augustine occasionally spoke and Cassius did nothing but nod and, once in a while, rumble a reply. Even though he felt as though he were eavesdropping, the phoenix trotted nearly in their shadows, anyway: better there than anywhere near Frey.

The first drops of rain startled him, though Asbel managed no reaction but to glance up in puzzlement. He had not expected rain to be so cold, and he sympathized with Frey's yelp of irritation some distance behind. Was this ran going to be a frequent occurrence?

"We brought tents for a reason, Frey," Augustine called back as Asbel tugged off his jacket and covered his head with it to keep off the rain. The general and the dragon, meanwhile, tossed down their supplies and began to unpack as Frey was doing. "Cassius, you help Frey with one of them; Asbel, you stay with me."

Turning pink despite the new chill in the air, the phoenix approached and meekly followed the general's directions: canvas here, pegs here, and so on until the assorted pieces resembled something that could be slept in. And just in time, as the rain came down harder, swept into Asbel's face by an errant wind.

"Finished just in time," Augustine announced, surveying their accomplishment with obvious satisfaction. "You can take this one, Asbel. You and Frey will share; Cassius and I will take the other and take turns keeping watch."

The phoenix tensed. He would not speak against Augustine, not for anything, but even so, resistance to the idea of being alone with the demon prince for an entire night froze the breath in his lungs. "Is that... is that wise, Your Eminence?"

The general surveyed him for a moment through the rain, hair plastered to his scalp, eyes agonizingly thoughtful even in the inclement weather. "You will be fine," he promised, and he sounded so sure that Asbel almost believed him. "He's been cooperative today. But if you need help, either Cassius or I will be awake at any time during the night." The prince flashed a smile that doubled the phoenix's pulse and turned toward the other half of their party. "Cassius," he shouted, "when you finish, go inside and get the supplies dry; I'll take first watch. Frey, you're over here with Asbel!"

[Skybreaker] Envieux [Level_5]

Ha, you're halfway there. xD Lots of good ones to choose from, though!

[Skybreaker] Envieux [Level_5]

Asbel blanched beneath the prince's withering gaze, and his arms tightened around the pack held against his chest. That the prince could move so seamlessly from shocked and apologetic -- almost soft -- to frigid and inhuman was a terror in itself, but the phoenix refused to shudder. He had suffered Frey's antagonism long enough, and with Augustine and Cassius so close by, the young prince would dare not do anything dangerous.

All the same, it took every spark of resolve in him to stop from leaning away from Frey as the prince drew so near. His breath reeked of sugar and old citrus -- and Asbel was so busy holding his breath that he almost missed the young prince's antagonistic response.

Stop that.

Green eyes narrowed in confusion and disapproval, but already Frey was gone, headed back to the others, and Asbel relaxed -- as much as was possible. Had the retort been born of wounded pride -- genuine concern scorned -- or was the prince rejecting any further attempts at a peace treaty to their ongoing war?

Thus puzzled, and in no small way offended, Asbel followed Frey back to the other half of their group. Cassius was dressed by now, Augustine adjusting the buttons on the now-human's jacket. "Grab what you can carry," the elder prince ordered, looking pointedly at his brother. Cassius, shirt buttoned, hefted one of the largest bags in one hand and slung it over one shoulder.

[Skybreaker] Envieux [Level_5]

Me, too!

[Skybreaker] Envieux [Level_5]

No worries!

[Skybreaker] Envieux [Level_5]

Yes, let's. :3 Slow and steady and sweet~

[Skybreaker] Envieux [Level_5]

<3

[Skybreaker] Envieux [Level_5]

Cassius did indeed land gently, his wings flaring as he slowed the descent and settled on the grass like a great, scaly, over-sized feather. Augustine laughed again as the swirl of wild air around them settled, and he raked a hand through his hair as he slid down from the dragon's back.

Asbel moved more slowly, stiff with the cold from the higher altitude and half-hopeful that he might be able to cling to Frey again, as much a brat as the prince may have been. At least he was warm and steady and was back to being an understandable, prickly young man. And whatever else Frey was, at least he wasn't a dragon.

But the phoenix tucked his arms around his pack again as Augustine likewise began to move the luggage from the dragon's back to a heap alongside. "Let's get you turned back to a man, Cassius. You're enough of a lightning risk as a human being, but better that than a too-big reptile."

Cassius rumbled in veiled displeasure, but Augustine patted him gently on the neck and the dragon began the slow melting back into the dark-haired, sharp-featured man he'd been earlier in the day and took the spare clothes from the elder prince.

Asbel took that opportunity to further examine their landing place, and to glance at Frey to make sure he hadn't wandered too far. The younger prince, twenty feet away, could yet not be trusted to stay with the group (as far as Asbel was concerned), and the phoenix trotted over with the intent to herd him back toward the others. "Maybe the lightning frequently strikes the trees," he suggested by way of apologizing for his earlier standoffish. "How far do you think we have to walk?"

[Skybreaker] Envieux [Level_5]

I have returned! :D