Dragons Beyond the Wall, Part 1

Posted on Wed Aug 5th, 2020 @ 9:48am by Miss Kashian Lyrius & Miss Lushian Lyrius & Miss Amborsae Lyrius

Mission: Deep Winter, 2137 of the Endless Winter
Location: Family Chambers, Lyrius Estate
Timeline: Morning, Aurember 1st, 2137

Kashian led the way up the stairs and to Amborsae's room. It was on the other side of the manor as their mother's room, on the opposite corner as the room her and Lushian shared. It was a pair of rooms, one for sleeping and one for entertaining should Amborsae wish to do so. Kashian knocked lightly on the door.

"Amborsae! Are you awake?" she called as she waited for some sign of life inside.

Amborsae was, as usual, awake early. She hadn't been able to sleep late for too long, but she was sitting by the window with her easel and pencil. She had been working on her picture of the mountains for a while now, and sitting by the window by the sunrise was always inspiring for her. She chuckled softly as she heard her adopted sister's voice at the door. "I'm awake," she called back. "Come on in," she added, covering her picture. She always hated showing her work off before it was ready.

Kashian stepped in followed a moment later by Lushian. Lushian stepped over to look at the picture on the easel, but she said nothing

Kashian walked right up to the window and peered out at the grounds, the Manor wall in the distance and beyond, she was all but certain, were the travelers she had heard about. "Nomads!" Kashian declared as if this alone meant something significant.

Amborsae smiled. "And you're excited," she surmised, standing from her seat. She wrapped her arms around Kashian from behind her, resting her head gently on Kashian's shoulder. "I guess you want to go and spy on them?" she asked, smiling sweetly.

Kashain raised a hand to gently touch her adopted sisters face. She was fond of touch, it was Lushian who avoided it when at all possible. "Of course I am excited. I heard a rumor that they have ancient beasts in magical cages. I wonder if they have a dragon or a basilisk or something else dangerous," she said excitedly.

Lushian studied the picture and looked out the window. Without a word she picked up a pencil moved it swiftly along the page on the edge of a mountain, adding a thin crevice that was just barely visible as the light began to cascade into the gap. She had no interest in the rest of the image, but that gap bothered her.

"A dragon, maybe, but a basilisk? I hope not, because I did not go through hell to become a statue," Amborsae replied. "You and your ancient beasts, sister. I love you, but I don't know how dangerous creatures make you so happy. Besides, I prefer being safe, especially after I spent months in the mountains before I got here," she added. She turned, seeing Lushian adding to her picture. "Lushian!" she exclaimed, going to the picture.

You missed a spot," Lushian said simply as she set the pencil down. "I fixed it."

"Bah, these aren't wolves and the nasty crap in the mountains, these are dragons! How often do you get to see a 3 headed goat?" Kashian said dragging Amborsae back to the window, hoping to hype her up.

Amborsae looked at Kashian and out of the window. "A three headed goat? Is that actually a thing?" Amborsae asked, looking out of the window. "I mean... it'd be interesting to draw," she mused. "When do they all arrive?" she asked, not wanting to dampen Kashian's excitement. She loved her sisters completely, so she wrapped her arms around her sister and kissed her cheek. "I'll be there with you, don't worry. Maybe they'll have some new clothes or art supplies."

"Okay, so I don't know if the goat is a thing or not, but it might be and I want to find out," Kashian declared happily. "Also I have no clue when they will get here, so I vote we go and find out. I know how to sneak past the wall and get to the road."

"They're still on the far side of the cape, it will take them til nightfall to reach the manor," Lushian said, leaning in to sniff the picture.

"Plenty of time for us to reach them before they get here," Kashian went on. "What do you say? You in or not?"

Amborsae sighed. "I don't think you would let me not be in, would you?" she said, with a smile. "Alright, let's get ready," she agreed. "What's your plan?" she asked.

"Well, you could stay, tell mother what we are planning, and try to stop us from sneaking outside the manor wall into the more wild places," Kashian replied with a shrug. "But that's not much fun now is it?"

"It's safer," Lushian said as she moved away from the easel and investigated another stack of drawings.

"Safety is for people who aren't sneaking out to go see nomads," Kashian shot back. "My plan involves stealing some of the cloaks the guards use when they go on patrol and making for the gate in the side wall. They don't use that gate often and we can slip out. After that we make for the shrine of Kamui and from there we can get to the road and the nomads."

"And do what? Spy on them? Ask them questions? We could wait until they get here, it'd be a lot easier," Amborsae said, looking at her sisters. She was curious about Lushian, as always, but she never said anything. "Lushian, what do you think of this idea?"

"The gate is covered in snow," Lushian replied flatly, selecting a picture from the pile and holding it up to the light by one of the corners.

"We can uncover it," Kashian shot back.

"There might be an easier way though," Amboresae suggested. "Lushian, do you like that picture or did I miss something?" she asked.

"It is..." Lushian began.

"What other way? We need to get on the other side of the wall and de Locke won't let us through the front gate unsupervised anymore," Kashian said interrupting her sister.

"I wonder why that is," Amborsae commented drying, smirking at her sister. "I still have the cloaks from our last journey, if that helps, but if we just go without planning carefully. I wish one of us had mother's skill with magic."

Kashian glared at Lushian. "Yeah, it would be nice if someone had our mother's gift for magic and would use it for something... besides looking at pictures," she said and snatched the picture from Lushian and set it face down on top of the pile. "I want to go see the nomads before they set up. I want to see how you transport a dragon."

Lushian looked at the picture on the pile, but did not pick it back up.

"Very carefully, I would imagine," Amborsae said, with a small smirk. "Alright, I'll get the cloaks. We'll go, but if we're at risk, we come straight back," Amborsae told Kashian.

"No risk, no reward," Lushian observed quietly.

"Okay, get the cloaks and meet us by the courtyard doors. We'll go get some provisions," Kashian said as she began to push Lushian to the door, wanting to make sure her sister couldn't say anything to ruin her perfect plan.

Amborsae smiled at the two girls as they left. She went to her closet and changed into something warmer, and grabbed the cloaks. She knew that if Lushian had agreed, then there had to be something about this outing that they needed to learn. She trusted Lushian, beyond a shadow of a doubt.