Ery
The entire Dragon-Kin group sat in a circle on the training cavern's floor. They had ended a little early today because the Elders wanted to discuss sothing, and had ended up gathering around Avuri's cousins who had all basically collapsed after a particularly brutal training session with Eiry.
Glenn, Cove, and Mica were all sprawled out breathing heavily when Eiry called everyone over, and once they were arranged in a rough circle to talk, Cierra, Stena, and Kord took a hint from their extended family mbers and sprawled out as well to take full advantage of the break. And the cold stone floor was bound to be comfortable as well.
"We've been at this for a while now." Eiry remained standing, arms crossed, looking every bit like the military commander she often felt like. "I think we need to discuss next steps."
"Next steps?" Ery asked.
"Yes. We believe so of you are ready for the bond."
Ery raised an eyebrow, and she could feel Avuri's relative shock at the statent as well. They had been training for around five total months at this point, and while Ery couldn't deny that they had all made unbelievable strides toward their respective preparations, she had honestly expected it to take longer.
Avuri had expected another few months at least, while Ery had it in her head that they would be training for a year before anyone was ready. Of course, she also had to admit that it was probably just because 'a year' sounded nice and round in her head.
"I'm confident that Kord is ready." Ray said.
"Ery is, as well."
"So is Avuri."
"Glenn, Mica, and Cove are also ready, although I plan to hold them back until they learn my basic flight technique." Eiry said. The three siblings all looked like they were internally warring over excitent and disappointnt at being so close but not allowed to move forward yet.
"Cierra is likely ready as well, although I would prefer she spend a little more ti solidifying her mixed Qi foundation. I think she's capable of making it through, but I would prefer the added safety of a bit more ti." Cyril looked down on Cierra with pride, despite the woman being spread out on the floor like a child.
"I believe Stena is more than ready for the Bond, but the Breakthrough situation is more dependent on her own state of mind. I would leave the decision up to her." Vyne turned his hand over, motioning to Stena who propped herself up from her back with her elbows, looking awkward and surprised.
Ery could see in her daughter's face that despite that, she was seriously considering what Vyne had said.
"I'll wait." Stena muttered after a long mont, then repeated it with more conviction. "I'll wait."
Vyne nodded, apparently quite satisfied with her answer. Ery and Avuri were both proud of her as well - neither had missed the fact that Stena had arguably been given the option to pass her older sister handily but had not simply jumped at the chance to prove herself.
That was visible progress, though Ery had no idea if Stena saw it that way. For all she knew, Stena had chosen to wait just to look good. But sohow, Ery didn't think that was the case.
"Then the question is," Eiry began again, "do we push forward for Ery, Avuri, and Kord, or wait until everyone is prepared for a single day?"
Kord looked over at his mothers and bowed his head, clearly leaving the decision in their hands. Ery quietly cursed the boy for that - he surely had his own opinion on the matter, but would likely not give it.
Ery and Avuri t eyes and traded simple feelings back and forth through their bond. Ery knew how she felt about the situation, but wanted to be sure they were on the sa page.
The hosickness and excitent that she felt from Avuri told her they were in lockstep on the decision.
"We'll go through with it." Avuri declared.
"We've been away from ho almost daily for five months. I think it's ti our children got their parents back." Ery agreed.
"You just want to get back to dote on your nephew." Vale teased. But Ery knew that it was also exactly how he felt.
"You're one to talk."
Vale shrugged at that. "Guilty as charged."
Eiry sighed and shifted her weight before clearing her throat to get everyone's attention again before they strayed too far off topic. "Tomorrow, then. You three will go through the Bonding ceremony, one at a ti. Kord will go first, as he's liable to take the longest because of the likelihood of the Sky Realm Breakthrough. Prepare yourselves tonight, and return tomorrow well rested and focused."
She turned to look over the others and added, "You five will continue training tomorrow, of course, so consider today's early ending a little bonus. Rest and relax; I expect you to return tomorrow ready to train."
Her eyes ghosted over Mica, Glenn, and Cove when she added, "Especially you three. I expect you to fly by the end of the month."
"That's…not even two weeks." Cove croaked, still breathing heavily.
"You heard ." Eiry declared, sounding overly domineering. Ery had a mont where she was really quite glad she hadn't been training with the woman. But then her face, stance, and voice all softened into sothing more motherly, "Enjoy your rest, everyone. You've earned it."
Sothing about her bearing put Ery more in mind of a grandmotherly type, even despite her looking perhaps middle aged at most.
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As the small congregation broke apart to prepare to head ho for the night, smaller conversations broke out. Ery took note of Ray slapping Kord on the back, congratulating the boy. Kord, who almost always had a look of sheer determination and seriousness on his face, was smiling proudly at the praise, and bumped his forearm against Ray's in a sign of affection.
Cierra and Stena both looked more satisfied with the outco than Ery had expected they would, given Kord's allowance to proceed. On the other hand, if they were able to recognize the differences in their situation and his, that was a good sign. Her kids really were growing into fine adults.
Once everyone said their goodbyes for the day, and Avuri's cousins were able to scrape themselves off the ground, Vale flew everyone ho.
They arrived a little after everyone else had eaten dinner, so Ery and Avuri were at least able to spend a couple hours with their kids. They were pretty quickly dragged into playing a ga on the playground with everyone. It got rowdy and loud, but that was a nice change from the scattered bits of ti they had gotten to spend with the kids in the last few months.
Eventually, though, they had to send the children to bed. And while Ery would have loved nothing more than to play well into the night, everyone from the older kids to the younger had been wiped out from being active all day and were clearly ready to sleep.
Once they had tucked in Arek and Astra, Ery and Avuri retired to their own bedroom. Ery could idly feel both Cierra and Stena ditating in their own bedrooms. She guessed that while they may have recognized their current situations, it still had lit a fire under them to really give it their all.
Avuri chuckled, feeling Ery's amusent through their bond. "They're really going at it, aren't they?"
"I suspect they're fitting in extra Cultivation now because they think they'll be watching the bonds tomorrow."
Ery watched as a wry smile spread over Avuri's face. "Oh, those sweet little girls. You really think they believe they'll get a rest day tomorrow?"
"That's exactly what I think. They're planning to just watch tomorrow."
"There's no way Vyne and Cyril let them skip training."
"I know." Ery laughed. "The question is; do we tell them that?"
"Hell no." Avuri laughed. "They may be mildly upset tomorrow, but I think they'll appreciate the extra practice, honestly."
"That's true. Want to take bets on whether they'll start to do late night practice?" Ery asked, as she slipped into their closet to change into her sleeping clothes.
"I bet they will." Avuri slipped into the bathroom to start her own 'before bed' routine. "They sleep more than your average Earth Realm these days as is. I think they'll choose to start using their ti better."
"I could see that." Ery's eyes tracked to the side where her daughters were working in their own rooms. "There's no way that Stena doesn't push herself if Cierra tries to."
"That girl." Avuri sighed. "The way she puts so much pressure on herself is hard to watch. She so clearly admires Cierra so much and puts her on a pedestal to the point that she writes off her own success in comparison."
"I think her talks with Vyne have been helping a lot, though. She seems more self-assured than when this all started. Or at least more aware of her own success."
"I hope so." Avuri said, leaning against the doorway of the closet, watching Ery slip into her loose-fitting night shirt. She gave her wife a solid look up and down, then smiled. "And what about you?"
"What about ?"
"How are you feeling about tomorrow?" Avuri asked, her voice suddenly taking on a more serious edge. Ery could feel the earnestness in her question, too.
"Solid, I think." Ery walked toward Avuri, slid her hand around the woman's waist, and spun gently in a circle, depositing Avuri solidly inside the closet so she could get her own clothing swapped. Ery gave her a kiss, too, before letting go.
"Solid, hm?"
"I think so." Ery moved into the bathroom to wash her face and take her turn for bed prep, transitioning into ntal conversation as she did so. "I don't think any of us have any real idea what the Bonding ritual will be like, so it's hard to be perfectly confident or anything like that. I believe my body is prepared to accept a whole ss of fire Qi, though, and I'm ntally prepared for what I imagine will be like any other Breakthrough."
"You're far more worried about Kord." Avuri sent back a statent, not a question.
"I am. People always underestimate the Sky Realm Breakthrough. It's the first real test of your true ttle, and I've heard too many stories of Cultivators not being prepared."
"While I understand where you're coming from Em, I don't think we need to worry about that with Kord. We've drilled it into all of the kids, and Ray has been pushing him hard, too. I think he's more prepared for it than we were."
"And I think you're right." Ery splashed her face and took a deep breath, enjoying the cool water on her skin. "Doesn't make worry any less. Besides, I can feel your worry wafting off you, too, so don't try to tell you're sitting over there unconcerned."
"Can't hide anything from you, can I?" Avuri sent back, amusent coming with it.
"And what about you, hm?" Ery asked out loud again, as they reconvened in the bedroom proper. "You're ready?"
"As I'll ever be, I guess." Avuri shrugged. "If anything, I'm surprised how much I've improved while training with Lyn. I didn't expect to be shown exact areas of improvent to work on so easily."
"I wish I had the sa feeling." Ery laughed. "My training has been so spiritual focused that while I can visibly see the changes in my Cultivation, I don't actually feel much stronger."
"Every one of us has followed such disparate training regins that it's quite hard to compare." Avuri said, slipping onto the bed. Ery joined her; they sat in the middle, back to back, in a comfortable ditation pose.
With barely a thought, they both slipped into their combined Inner World. The place looked almost alien when compared to just months before.
The center of the space was dominated by a large mansion that looked remarkably similar to their actual house. Scattered around it was a ss of brick and stone buildings with tall chimneys sending thick plus of smoke into the sky from the active forges within. What had once looked more like a camp of artisans in the middle of nowhere now looked much more like a built town with sturdy, permanent buildings.
A snow storm raged all around, though the winds and snow that pelted through the village wasn't as vicious as it could have been. Regardless, it still left everything covered in a layer of snow that would crunch satisfyingly under foot.
Their spiritual bodies within the space had changed, too. Avuri retained the general snow fairy look, but her body looked more well defined than before. So of the inherent softness and etherealness of the spiritual world had been driven away, leaving Avuri looking more imposing than she had previously.
Ery had changed, too. The dragon scales that covered her body in her spiritual form looked more like Vale's than ever before. While they had started black, they had gained a glossy sheen that made them look sohow healthier. Her eyes had also changed, the color darkening from their normal steel-gray to a more volatile gray that smoldered with a slight red glow behind them.
When they both appeared in the center of Avuri's building in their town, settled against one another already, neither wasted any ti and slipped straight into a deep ditation. Ery wanted to be as calm as she could manage when she tackled everything the next day, and she could tell that Avuri felt the sa.
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