ℝ𝕚𝕕𝕖 𝔻𝕠𝕨𝕟 [Becboc║Ryees]

[Becboc]

The first touch of Kisa's images saw Ivy jolt backwards slightly, unprepared was she in the face of the constant presence of their bond growing stronger in a way she didn't know was possible. She saw the images, felt that they were from Kisa without needing any kind of confirmation, and amongst her despair, just for a moment, Ivy felt… awe. Wonder.

A glimmer of light amongst her shadows. An opening to let in more.

She watched the first vision and then the second, tears of pain slowly turning to realisation, understanding. Acceptance.

Kisa wasn't just showing her predictions or memories. It felt like she was showing her truth. Her future. Their future.

Both. Together. Unbreakable.

When the images finally began to fade, Ivy pulled back slowly, her expression no longer one of pain, but of surprise. Of reverence. The ache in her chest wasn't coiled so tightly anymore, the gnawing guilt of inflated responsibility had been replaced by a gratitude she couldn't quite voice yet.

Kisa and Gaelyn did not see her as a failure. She was a part of them and they knew that no matter what, everything she did? Was to keep them safe. Happy. Content. Mistake or no, she had tried, and she always, always would do. And while that wasn't necessarily enough for her, for them - it was. She was enough.

Finally she turned towards Gaelyn, her cheeks tear stained as Kisa silenced his own attempts at blame, so that Ivy didn't need to. Instead, she simply repeated in barely above a whisper as she met his eyes, "No blame. No fault." And then she paused just for a moment… speaking even more softly.

"Only love."

The words drifted between them and lingered unwavering, honest. Precious. Ivy knew she didn't need to say any more than that, not when the way she was looking at Gaelyn in that moment spoke for itself. It was a moment of vulnerability, a rare flash of Ivy opening herself to something unfamiliar, of showing that she felt… safe. With him. With them.

The moment didn't last long but it had lasted, the weight pressing onto their shoulders like the comfort of certainty, of knowing that in a world that was falling apart, there would always be each other. No matter what.

In the end, Ivy was the first to break, as she exhaled the sudden drumming of her heart and turned back to their dragon on an attempt to stave off more words that were bubbling. This was enough for now.

For now.

"Since when did our little hatchling get so wise, huh?" She eventually spoke again, her voice still thick but steadier, lighter. She gave a weak, albeit watery smile when Kisa chuffed her response before she reached up a hand to wipe at her face. Reality was calling and they couldn't ignore it for much longer. Kisa's intervention had pulled Ivy's pieces back together, tentatively, but it was better than the alternative - she just needed to hold onto that for now so they could refocus and return to their version of safety.

"Come on," she eventually inhaled, deeply, and then spoke on the exhale. "Let's pack up and get out of here."

In the end, they didn't need to travel far. Kisa flew them just above the trees until they came across an overhang of rock that jutted out of the ground which for now, would allow them a few more hours of rest and shelter. Arguably, they were currently at their safest, so long as Kaelen and Vessa had worked alone. They had dispatched their closest threat - it was unlikely that another followed so soon after. Brontos still loved, but he was riderless and would no doubt need to mourn the loss of his bonded before he even attempted to return to battle. That didn't mean they could leave their fate to chance though, as they worked once more to set up a smaller camp, only a fire and two bedrolls to offer shuteye before they were ready to move along again in the morning.

Once they were settled, Kisa kept watch, allowing Ivy and Gaelyn to take a few hours for themselves in a way that their dragon sensed they needed. Ivy was exhausted; her mind and body both felt heavy and the remnants of her emotional breakdown lingered at the edges of her senses, her mind. But as she lay in her bedroll, she didn't turn her back to Gaelyn like she had these past couple of weeks. Instead, she lay on her side, head propped up by her elbow, facing him. Thoughtful. Open. She needed sleep, of that much she was certain, but her mind was not yet ready to succumb to dreams again.

Something was clearly bothering her and it wasn't long before she spoke of it.

"Do you… want to talk about it?" She asked softly, her eyes meeting Gaelyn's with the gentle consideration of a supportive lover. An offering of a safe space, the likes of which he created for her to, one in which she didn't truly need to explain what 'it' meant. Her own vulnerability had manifested in a way that was obvious after what had happened, but Gaelyn's? Gaelyn's had been different. That look in his expression, the struggle to return to himself.

His attempts to take the blame for what had happened. That was unlike the Gaelyn she had come to know… and more.

"You don't have to if you don't want to, but I… I don't know, I just… I want you to know that you can… if you feel like you need to. You can talk to me about anything, Gaelyn." And then she added with a hint of a wry smile in that charming way only Ivy could. "I promise I won't think you're any weirder than what I already do."

 

[Ryees]

Post—— Profile— Gaelyn lay on his back, staring up at the rough stone overhang above them. Ivy's question hung in the air between them like smoke from their small fire, and he could feel her waiting—patient but present, offering him the same kind of sanctuary he'd tried to create for her over the weeks. The problem was, he wasn't sure how to explain something that was supposed to remain unexplained. "It's..." he started, then stopped, his jaw working silently as he searched for words that wouldn't sound like madness. "There's a technique they teach at the Academy. Not to everyone. Just to those who show... aptitude for the more direct applications of being a Rider." He turned his head to look at her, noting the way she listened without judgment, the gentle curiosity in her amber eyes. No fear... not yet. "They call it the Depth," he said finally, sounding the name out like it was a spell. "It's a way of... separating yourself from everything that makes you human. All your emotions, your attachments, your moral considerations—you dump them into this mental void and seal them away. What's left is pure instinct and training. No hesitation, no mercy, no second-guessing." He sat up slowly, pulling his knees to his chest and wrapping his arms around them. The position made him look younger somehow, more vulnerable than the efficient killer who had dispatched their attackers hours before. "When you're in the Depth, you think like your dragon thinks. Clean. Direct. Survival-focused. The bond becomes... clearer. Stronger. Because you're not fighting against their nature anymore." He was quiet for a moment, watching the fire flicker. "It's what made me fast enough to break Kaelen's mind before he could do permanent damage. What let me kill Vessa before she could reach you." His voice had grown quieter as he spoke, and now he glanced at Ivy with something that might have been shame. "It's supposed to be an open secret. Something that stays within the military ranks. But our bond..." He gestured vaguely between the three of them. "It's unprecedented. The instructors never even spoke about a triple connection. I was terrified that if I descended while bonded to you, it might... bleed through. Pull you down into that cold with me." He met her eyes directly now, his expression serious. "I've been trained to kill since I was fourteen, Ivy, to cut away everything that might make me hesitate when violence is necessary. Tonight, when I saw Vessa moving toward you..." He shook his head. "I didn't choose to enter the Depth, I just... fell into it. And for those few minutes, I wasn't the person you know. I was something else entirely." The admission hung between them, raw and honest. "I was afraid you'd see that and realize what you'd bonded yourself to. What I really am when the civilized parts get stripped away." His voice was barely above a whisper now. "I didn't want you to be afraid of me."​ ​