Keshnarmeynee Adumbra's Story

The smile died almost immediately.

::Keshna! My bond! Why do you hide so, when you could be leading these incompetent demonesses?::

Keshnarmeynee's smile froze, turned brittle, and shattered into a surprised snarl. She knew the feel of private sending, and the feel of open sending-- and this was definitely open. And not something that she wanted anyone to hear!

The dragonet continued, scornful and oblivious to her "bond's" sudden panic and fury. ::Obviously you hate them more than anything in the world--::

She had to stop her. She had to silence her, before any of those demons at the feeding tables heard her. Leaping forward, Keshna all but pounced on the little red dragon, sweeping her up into her paws, against her chest. ::Hush, you little idiot!:: she hissed silently.

::--what? What did I say?:: the dragonet chirped in confusion, half-curled against inky black fur as Keshna crouched on the resin-coated floor.

::Everything you shouldn't have said!:: Keshna replied with a purely mental warning growl. ::Who I really am is a secret, do you understand? To these-- these clods I am doomed to follow, for now, I am quiet, meek, and not a trouble-maker! Do I make myself clear, Verklei?::

While the dragonet nodded her head vigorously, Keshna momentarily blinked away a moment of disorientation. The hatchling's name was suddenly in her head, without her even realizing where it had come from. Just like the bond whose placement had been so light that, in her panic, she hadn't even noticed. That bond with, she now perceived, a dragoness loyal, brave, proud, and protective-- and also stupid. She looked around, desperate, for another bond, another dragon, anything to make this somehow worthwhile. She couldn't believe that this was all. All that waiting, putting up with the other demons, avoiding Ilserv's grasping tentacles and Kejenah's flamelets, all that hiding... and this was her reward? This... imbecile?

Who was speaking again. Babbling, in fact. Still openly. ::I'm sorry, Keshna! Really I am, I didn't know. I'll remember. I'll be the best bond ever, I'll keep you save from those demons, no demon will dare lay a claw or a tentacle or anything on you, with me around! So you can make whatever plans you want to, you can count on me to do whatever you need me to!::

"Verklei...."

::Yes, Keshna?::

"Shut up."

::What? --oh. Sorry, Keshna.::

Keshnarmeynee rose slowly and carefully. "We're going to have to teach you how to keep those thoughts of yours private," she grumbled, guaging the distance to and safety of the food tables. The other demons, and Ghorikoss, seemed busy with their own bonds, and Kejenah seemed deep in conversation with her two, not even approaching the meat yet... it looked like none of them had heard Verklei's little outburst. "Until then, keep quiet, all right?"

::Right. Quiet. Very quite. So quiet you won't know I'm here.::

"Verklei!"

::Gotcha. Sorry. Being quiet now.::

And, thankfully, she did. For the moment, anyway. Keshna, giving up on the hope that something else would come to bond her and make up for this... idiot, drew her mental shield back up to protect her true self and slunk towards the feeding tables, and the wolfish Archivist to whom she was supposed to give her new dragon's name. Her new dragon. Her new stumbling block, was more like it. Her joke-from-the-goddess. Too stupid to even discern how disgusted her bond was with her, trotting along happily behind her.

As they approached the records-keeper, Keshna fell easily back into the submissive mannerisms she was so used to. The silence broke as Verklei asked, ::What are you doing? Aren't you going to walk proud? Smile and be pleased? I sure am!::

Keshna hissed a sigh through her teeth. ::The demon these lowly creatures know and recognize as me is timid and submissive, I told you this. You can be as proud and happy as you want, but I am staying in character.::

::Oh, yeah, I forgot! Sorry, won't happen again, promise!::

At the Archivist himself, Verklei again forgot her command to silence. ::My name is--:: she began cheerfully, but Keshna cut her off.

"Say another word and I'll have you for dinner!" she hissed, effectively shutting the hatchling up. The wolfish creature stared at her-- so much for staying in character. She cringed again, trying to salvage her act, and kept her eyes down when she told him, "Her name is Verklei." He watched her a moment as she crept towards the food tables, an apologetic and, according to the hatchling herself, desperately hungry little dragon following along at her heels.

At least while Verklei was stuffing her face-- or cajoling Keshna into stuffing it, for her-- she was entirely focused on eating, and on her bond, and wasn't projecting random, dangerous thoughts at anyone. When she was being quiet, Keshna could at least appreciate her striking colors, red on black, and her strong build. Stupid or not, she would be powerful one day. Maybe she wouldn't need the little brat to be smart... Keshna could be the brains, and Verklei the muscle, once she grew into herself. If only she would keep her thoughts to herself, there might actually be a little promise in this bonding. Maybe.

It was still disappointing, though, that she'd only managed one dragon out of this whole mess. It was with a flare of jealousy that she watched Kejenah come traipsing back from the main bay floor with her two in tow... one of them even had dual heads, so maybe it counted as three. They both looked clever, standing there beside her as she spoke to the Archivist. Multiheaded, one of them, and the other possibly a sibling of Verklei. Sourly, Keshna thought that the only better thing she could say about Verklei was that she wasn't as gaudy as her sibling....

::Keshna? Don't be sad, Keshna. I'll be a good bond, I promise! I'll make sure nobody ever is mean to you, and I'll do whatever you want. I'll try very hard... please don't be upset.::

If Keshna had possessed a heart weak enough to do so, it might have melted at the emotion in Verklei's tone. As it was, she just looked away from the twin black eyes staring up at her. Not guiltily. Not to avoid that lost-puppy gaze. Keshna had no room for such things in her thoughts. "I know, Verklei. Don't worry about it," she muttered.

The other demons were starting to assemble, finished feeding their new mental appendages. Only Kejenah remained aloof at the feeding tables, throwing sparks now and then that reflected and then faded on the translucent black floor, but that was hardly unusual. Kejenah was usually aloof. Obedient to the unspoken wishes of her temporary companions, Keshna gave Verklei a nudge in the right direction. "We'll have to get you clean, I think," she murmured with a little distaste. Her bond was all sticky.

"Got yourself a little pet, there, Kesh?" Creih's shrill voice taunted. "Looks a little underbred, to me, heehee! Is it as spineless as you?"

::Who're you callin' spineless!:: Verklei exploded furiously. ::I'm braver than you are, I bet! And so's Keshna! She's better than all you idiots put together! Why, she's-- eep!::

Before she could turn the growing amusement in the other demonesses faces into dawning realization, Keshna snatched Verklei back, mentally muffling her thoughts so she simply couldn't project. She gave a nervous little giggle, saying breathlessly to the other demons, "Sorry, doesn't know what she's saying... new-hatched, you know how it is...."

Full of tolerant laughter, the rest started out of the hatching bay. Keshna, holding a paw over Verklei's muzzle as if to silence her in more ways than one, hissed, "Next time you start to talk to anyone but me, I make silence a compulsion! Is that clear?"

:: ... Yes, Keshna,:: Verklei answered meekly.

As she slunk after the others, far enough behind that they didn't even seem to be part of the same party, Keshna could feel Kejenah's eyes on her, and she just hoped the Fire demon hadn't guessed.