Seek the Storm [David]

Kyrie blinked away her flinch at the denial, only to tense her muscles against the restraints. Too quick for her to disappear into the shadow of the chair, she felt sucked in and trapped. And her heart leaped into her throat, eyes alive with the fear that gave way to an involuntary whimper. Memories of a few hours prior surfaced, and though she honestly tried she was helpless to do more than blink and breathe and utter noise in the back of her throat.

She was certain that he would do something foolish. Akin to what he'd done for Delilah, though Kyrie herself was nothing, now. She was so caught up in a wave of mixed terrors she at first missed that he took out a salve. If he took away the wound, the brand, Mathew would simply mark her anew and a greater rift would emerge between the two Elders.

Bnubando.

Property.

The word was seared to memory just as much as it was seared into the back of her thigh. The brand itself was an ugly third degree burn. How she made it with only her will and determination for the distance she had travelled - while in shock, no less - was not something she cared to share. She could not twitch away, but locked beneath his net of qi, she trembled. Shuddered.

'Do not!'[/color]

As close to a hiss as possible, the blonde inhaled sharply and a muffled squeak of pain was heard. Humiliation bled when the pain receded. His touch was different than Mathew's, though his hands just as calloused. And the tears that slid from her eyes were not ones of relief. This was the second time today that she had been touched, with another person she had a high amount of difficulty hiding from. One of three.

Even then. Even then, despite the riot of emotion blazing in her eyes, even as she watched him - glared, screamed internally, hoped, cared, despised, loved, feared, respected, denied, laughed, cried - she listened. Always she learned and always her mind turned. Her breathes were shuddered and tight despite his gentleness--how could they not be? Even though he simply was applying the cream that eased the pain - kindness when she had no right do it, was farthest from deserving it - she was afraid. It bled into her eyes and breathing, into the fine sheen of sweat and gathering droplets that slid across her brow.

The tears dropped.

Stained the floor.

But only temporarily. Ever only temporarily.

Her skin flushed, and even had she not been held tightly to prevent her escape, she would have remained as rigid as when Mathew's hands travelled over her flesh.




'Sív pide köd.'

Tears spilled anew. If she could have wiped the stains away, she would have. But she couldn't even move. Humiliation and worthlessness still reigned, but even through the dark, the evil, she held fast to the memories. The memories she held dear. The memories that hurt even now, they also eased her. Her family's love.

She swallowed roughly as she was released, and immediately the trembling was very much apparent, which only added a deeper flush to her skin. Perhaps this was all part of the punishment.

She was silent a moment as she tried to wrestle her breathing as she partially crouched to slide the loose shorts back on. She managed to only utter a soft murmur of discomfort. The medication had blessedly numbed the area.

And when she stood, she stood on still-trembling legs, her balance precariously distributed. Even though the medication had numbed the pain, she did not want to tax the injury more than she was.

"I would have asked your opinion of me. Of how I was growing, of the person you saw." Like he had, before. The events of the day, coupled with that statement, had her pausing. Something familiar. Something she should know. But she did not stop to give him time to formulate a response. "I should have known you would already know what I had done, though my journey was not unnoticed."

She swallowed, but still did not stop. His answer would be skewed. Even if she asked what he had thought of her, it wouldn't be the same. She didn't think she could face it.

"Regardless. I've carried lessons from my family--to choose love. To always choose it and to choose to nurture it even in a storm. That saying, love conquers all evil. Sív pide köd. I hold the memories of my family, their love, safe within my soul." It was the only thing that made her get up again. "I have come to acknowledge and love the Dragons as my own."

It was hard to admit through a tight throat. But there it was.

"I came here today...because it was a mistake to think that I could somehow challenge myself and push my limits. To keep two oaths and place trust in each. The trust I placed that as an Elder, you would not deliberately do wrong by another, no matter your differences or your past. I should have asked and dug further. I wonder if you may have had any ill-intent, and the Earth Dragon's words and reasoning place doubt in my mind where there should be none. I want to trust and choose to do so without fear of an ulterior motive--not with family. But I crossed borders and am reminded exactly of my place. The only thing I had that I saw as acceptable was my word, my loyalty, my life. Perhaps it would have been easier had I simply given him the only physical link to my family I had left. It has been a long time for me to open my heart. To choose love.

"And I took the only thing of worth I had, the one thing I was sure I could keep, and I broke it. With only the best intentions of wanting to form a bond that was personal bond to get to know you--"

In a moment of pure awareness, everything connected in her mind. Without really being aware of it, pale and suddenly rocked off-balance, Kyrie spun into a rapid stream of French. It was filled with many horrible words for herself despite the melodious nature of the language, and she pressed a hand over her eyes. An incredulous laugh, cut off quickly. To have come so close to understanding in the interview. Then in her interactions with him. Only to now learn in the wake of having committed a dire mistake.

Mathew's question. What would she do as an Elder. Left on her own. Would she be worthy when nobody was watching? Ironically, the realization was not spawned from the words David cut himself off of, but a collection of all her interactions. She had been right, subconsciously, in asking them questions to know them. The person, not the symbol.

"I have not been a Dragon. Not like David Blaze. Leon Sudeki. Mathew Amtrum. The journey to become an Elder is to know yourself. Dragon. It is just a name. By Juliet, even, musing over Romeo's last name. Had he had any other last name, she would have loved him, and loved him still by the name Montague. By any other name, you would be the same. Like our trinkets and items that simply augment our strength, it is only our strength. Natural strength. You. ...th-this is what you were teaching me. In my trust for you I had not kept in mind that which we had discussed. As a first true test of character I have failed thus...and in a spectacularly horrible way. And I deserve it, as I said I would."

Though she flinched further away, clearly pained, she steadied before she could fall, even to one knee. She felt the burn of tears. The woman that thought she had exhausted herself emotionally still had a deep reservoir.

"I have not held myself with honour. I have broken my word not once, but twice, the second time out of necessity though I wished it otherwise. I came to say that I am not worthy to be part of the Sky Force. As much as it pains me--I was proud of what I started to do for you and for the Dragons. I came to resign because my life is not my own, even now. It will not be until I somehow make myself worthy, or he releases me. I was given a second chance. I am here because I am enough to face my mistakes and take responsibility. To adhere to the consequences because I can do no less. Perhaps I still have some honour left. And I choose to hold love, to give it. But my word was broken. My self-worth is naught."

She managed to be coherent, her voice husky even as she worked through her thoughts verbally. Blue eyes stared up even as she peeled the jacket off. Folded it with quiet reverence. Extended it with a hard swallow, blinking bright eyes that were nothing but honest about the pain, regret, and loathing directed to herself.

"I...have faced my punishment and reminder from Mathew Amtrum. I stand here to receive the same from David Blaze, whom I have also wronged and betrayed on top of my fellow Dragon. I do not expect mercy, nor understanding. I will face the punishment you see fit to bestow upon me, so long as it does not break my oath. If it does...only the Earth Dragon may grant me permission to do so."

She could see the doors slamming shut. Her eyes dulled. In attempting to forge a close connection with David, she had thrown herself off the proverbial cliff. There was no watchful shadow to dive into. No jacket to catch her. Not with her word and honour broken. Her self-worth gone in a fiery brand.

She was 'priceless'. [/font]