fire made flesh; and fire is power

The hushed growls fall away from Drogon's lips as he watches the interaction between the foreigner and the girl called Semele. In company with Rhaegal's warning growl, the darkest brother could not help but notice the way that Semele practically bounced in place, the wiggling of her tail making it obvious that she was happy to see this girl. Still, his body tensed as the head of the girl knocked against the smaller one's chest, pushing her off balance for a moment in their greeting. Ankh, this other girl is called. Rhaegal, of course was long distracted from the situation as he came to sit beside Bastille, her reaction to his presence bolstering his confidence. But a single blackened ear flicked to the side to catch the growl of the splotched white male who sat at a distance from the group. A warning, to be certain, that the multi-toned boy otherwise wholly ignored. He gave Bastille a sideways grin, but then the story began and his mismatched eyes turned towards Sorcha.

As the story proceeded, Viserion calculated what move Osprey might take next. Unlike his brothers, he is not distracted by the presence of girls in even the slightest way. Slowly Rhaegal became more engrossed in the story, so that when Bastille began to lean into him he did not even have to think about it before bracing her weight as he leaned back into her. Drogon's occasional glances to Semele became less frequent as the story continued, and just as he was about to look once more he found that to his surprise she was standing right next to him. Bewildered, the large boy pushed himself into a sitting position almost immediately, unsure what to do. He was not good with other pups, not the way Rhaegal was. The easiness of interaction came only with his siblings, for even when they had traveled to Glorall with Praetor and the girls he'd said hardly a word. When he realized that he was staring at her he quickly refocused his gaze up to the storyteller once more. But he glanced at her out of the corner of his eye, an ear trained upon her as he sat stiffly, half listening to the story, but also enraptured by each of Semele's reactions. Her quiet exultations gave the story new depth.

When the story came to a pause, Viserion piped up with his hypothesis for what would happen next. The blonde boy was pleased to hear others chime in, agreeing with his guess at what would happen next. He was confident in his words, for he did not speak unless he truly thought something through first. Rhaegal's tail simply wagged behind him, eager for the Bard to continue her story. It was only then that he really realized how much contact there was between him and Bastille, and grinned silently to himself, keeping his attention focused on Sorcha, hoping that this pause would not give the girl at his side time to realize the same, and if she did, would she pull away? He hoped not.

The smallest girl in the gathering's words seem the most heartfelt, and Drogon's head twisted to the side to look down at her as she spoke. Even in their youth he sat nearly a head taller than her. This was only a story, after all; she needn't get too upset over it. His brows pulled together slightly, for he found girls - even his sister - so hard to understand. As his gaze scrutinizes her she finally looks at him, and the narrowed brows of the boy do relax to a more normal state, trying to appear as if he'd not been staring at her. Blinking rapidly, his garnet eyes watch her as she withdraws from him, whispering apologies. Drogon remained silent, thoughts crashing in his mind, assuming that his large, dark figure must have scared her. Perhaps he reminded her of the terrifying cougar that Osprey was destined to face next in his trials? But before he can say anything Sorcha began giving replies to the pups who had voiced their opinions about the story, and Semele's gaze was so fixated on the ground that the dark brother was unsure what to do. His eyes avert to his paws for a moment, and just as Sorcha takes a breath to begin the story once more he finds the courage somewhere within him. His piercing red eyes lift to Semele once more, and gruff tones of a voice unused say, "I don't mind."

On the coattails of his words does the story begin again, and Drogon attempts something akin to a grin if Semele might look his way, before turning his attention back to Sorcha. As the story progressed, Viserion gasped at the realization that the cougar was a girl! It wasn't that he thought girls incapable of power and might - after all, his mother was a striking example of just how strong females could be - but that he had been wrong in his former calculations. That did not happen often, and when it did the boy became frustrated with himself, trying to go back and over what had led him to the mistake. But all it was in this case was assumption, and the golden boy chided himself inwardly. But as Sorcha revealed what Osprey had to offer to the cougar he nodded, thinking this was a smart thing, though should he not first consult his alpha before offering the services of his pack? Such thoughts receded into his mind as the second task came to its completion. Rhaegal had so thoroughly expected some sort of battle with the cougar that he felt almost disappointed at the fact that she was this sad, vengeful lady cougar. He wasn't necessarily sad, though, because Osprey was achieving all of his goals. But the third task began to bore him, even as it so easily became Viserion's favorite part of the story, and Rhaegal's tail began to twitch impatiently as he wanted to find out how Thistle's father reacted to his success.

Drogon, too, had been surprised at the lack of fighting in the story. He was the brother made so boldly of brawniness, who often only had to snap his teeth at his siblings to convey his feelings on matters. Could he ever become a hero, if all he had was his strength? When the story had started, he thought it would show him how he could use the might that he would someday grow into to prevail over anything that stood in his way. But at its end the lesson was that Osprey's integrity and determination had prevailed. Drogon's eyes slid halfway towards Semele once more, his sideways glance curious of what she thought of the story. Viserion, of course, had a few conclusions of his own taken from the story. "Integrity, but also the ability to use reasoning and logic, too." For hadn't the story shown that to jump to the first conclusion - Thistle's father's desires for the cougar to be killed being the only solution to the problem - did not always turn out to be the best?

Rhaegal's tail thumped happily against the ground, three tasks Osprey had accomplished, and not only had he and Thistle became mates, but her father made him King to consummate the thing! "As soon as I turn four, I'll start my three tasks." He half whispered to Bastille; never before had one of the brothers proclaimed a desire to someday take their mother's place as alpha. But it seemed that Sorcha's story had somehow awakened a desire in Rhaegal that he had previously been unaware of.

drogon; rhaegal; viserion