Inferno walked down the hall with a soft smile as he was holding the egg of his child in his arms as he headed to the medical ward to check on the patients, it had already been a week since the fight had taken place and everyone was slowly recovering as time went on, but Inferno still wanted to keep tabs on Melody, Leblanc and anyone else involved. Following behind Inferno was Sazh, who was initially taken prisoner, but with some conversation Inferno had grown to learn that Sazh was a very agreeable and good man, and thus Inferno freed him, but the man wanted to stay and wait for his friends, but was slowly growing to like Inferno and wanting to aid him instead. But only what his allies decide will determine his decision, Not far behind them was Ornstein, holding two other eggs similar to that of John’s, the one Inferno held. Ornstein had a tired look on his face as he spent the week taking care of the newly born eggs, which was the reason Inferno was having troubles before the fight. Drazernon’s spell, like how it affected Kevin’s egg and why it won’t hatch, also had an effect on Inferno, he had triplets, but the ritual damaged his body and it caused it to panic and so the other two were stuck waiting. Thankfully he was able to get it taken care of before things got really bad. The trio made their way into the medical ward, where Saria and Nomad were, taking care of Leblanc who was still too weak to move much. Melody was also in the room, standing and stretching as she was making a quick recovery, but Inferno still grew worried. “Melody, please don’t get up, you are still in a state of weakness after you used that spell. Please do not push yourself.” Inferno said, but the feline smiled softly and walked over, a hand rubbing across Inferno’s face, a gentle friendly feeling.
“I understand your concern your majesty, but please, do not fret over me. Leblanc is the one much worse off, I can stand and move, and I am talking after all. Do not worry about me dear.” She smiled at the younger hybrid as she gently sat on the bed she was originally in, Sazh walking over and looking at her with concern, but sighed softly in relief when she gave an assuring smile. As the duo interacted, Inferno gently handed Nomad John;s egg, and Nomad smiled as she gently held her grandson, moving away so Inferno could talk to Leblanc, the tiger woman groaning softly as she turned in pain, glancing up at Inferno. She had a look of remorse on her face, as she had already been told by Melody about what Alucard had done, her glance drifted away from Inferno, who gently side and knelt by her side and gently took her hand. “Leblanc, I am glad you are okay. To think Alucard would be able to cause so much suffering from the shadows. I had thought him dead thanks to Bael, but he really is alive. Please rest easy.” He said softly, which caught Leblanc off guard as she looked over at him once more, noticing her hand was held by his. Inferno was a compassionate, caring man and this was never a question of doubt, anyone who spent a few moments with the man would know that he was a leader of heart. Nomad smiled softly at the son she had adopted, proud that he never inherited the dark, faded heart that Drazernon possessed, and was glad she could see the good in her son. Leblanc was overwhelmed by this as a couple tears escaped her eyes, but she was silently groaning from the pain.
Inferno gently placed her hand on the bed and helped her get situated gently before standing up and moving back, the woman slowly fading from consciousness as she grew tired, and drifted off to sleep. Inferno smiled gently and stepped back before heading back to his husband, gently kissing his cheek, making Ornstein blush softly as he smiled at the crown prince. “Well my liege, shall we head out and let them rest. Lyle wishes to see us after we get the kids settled back into the room.” Ornstein reminded him as Inferno nodded, stretching a little as he was handed back John, Nomad hugging her son softly before returning to her work to heal the former rebellion leader. Inferno put one arm around his husband softly while holding John with the other and started walking, the duo leaving the room happily together as they made their way back to Inferno’s chamber. The two got to work and situated the triplet of eggs down in a crib and wrapped a few blankets around them to keep them safe and secure, and warm, since they wouldn’t be able to always monitor them, so they already made plans for work arounds until they were born, a thought that made the crown prince happy, but also worried as he wondered if he’d be a good father, given who his father and family was. Ornstein however had faith and gently hugged the man from the side, placing his head on his shoulder to show his faith, he was close to Inferno through anything, which the prince smiled softly and nuzzled him gently.
After the kids were set and were fine, Inferno grabbed his sword which was leaning in a corner away from them, and Ornstein waited for him as his lance was always on his person, attached by a strap to his back. The two smiled at one another and made their way to the practice arena to meet with Lyle upon his request. The two knew it was about training since they had taken most of the week to relax and unwind after their battle with Leblanc and the rebellion, and so Lyle was probably planning on getting them back in tip top shape. As the two left, Drax was walking out of his chamber, using a cane of sorts to help him walk a little, his body still working on recovering itself since the battle. He was glad Melody and Inferno had him retreat as he felt he wouldn’t have lasted much longer had they not done so. He made his way to the throne room hearing he had someone waiting for him, and he was confused who it might be but he figured he shouldn’t make them wait much longer. He entered the throne room and saw a familiar jackal teen standing there, standing alongside a human that Drax hadn’t seen before. The jackal smiled softly as he looked at the king, it was Mar. “Hello father, I have returned from my mission, and I have brought the requested person. His name is Hiroshi Mikasa, the leader of that kingdom you had me investigate.” Mar explained giving his father the rundown of his mission.
“Greetings your majesty.” The human said and bowed, he was graceful and had a feeling of honor and respect, but something about the tone of his voice was somewhat deceptive and cold, but Drax had a feeling there was purpose behind his tone. The man stood up and looked at the man in the eyes, not showing any intimidation that most people would show when in audience with the king of Elderitch, but the man was fearless, and Drax could tell, he had a look to him that would stare death in the face and smirk. “As your child has explained, I am Hiroshi Mikasa, leader of the kingdom of Avel. I heard you had wished to see me and speak to me about something for both of our kingdoms.” He said as Drax nodded, excusing Mar who bowed to his father and left to give the two leaders privacy. Drax nodded once more as the door closed as he walked with the man into a room broken off from the throne room, a meeting room of sorts, like the one used to prepare for the former battle, but this was more private for Drax.
“As my son had said, I did want to talk with you about such matters, but I do have one question before I get to the main part of my comments. I noticed you said leader, and not ruler or king like you are. Any particular reason you remove yourself from such honorifics?” Drax asked him, showing he was very different from the man before him, all the while Drax examined him. He noticed this man was much different from King Ashford, and realized he was a lot more put together than a normal king. The man was tall, with long black hair that reached just below his shoulder blades, he was a slender person in figure, and looked surprisingly scrawny, but he held a title as a warrior so Drax knew it was all just a show. The man also looked foreign compared to Ashford showing they weren’t of similar culture, the man looked a lot more gentle as well. Hiroshi watched the king as he was examined, his light blue eyes focused on the bigger man, as he nodded and took a seat “Well the reason I am not a king but instead a leader is because a group like mine doesn’t have kings and queens. We are a gang of sorts, the town is led by a group, we go by the name of Crimson Rain, and we handle things a bit differently. I guess the best example I can share with you is our methods. When someone decides to step out of line and try to make an attempt against us, we give them a little reminder. Something that tells them to not bother screwing around with us.” He said simply, but Drax had a strong feeling he knew what he meant, Hiroshi was like a bandit of sorts, a thug. But his looks didn’t give off such a feeling, he was fair and at least from mannerisms he sounded reasonable and caring to some degree. Drax sat down.
“Then why even pose yourself like a kingdom? At that point what is the purpose when you can just be apart of a bigger kingdom instead? Any reason you feel inclined to keep yourself as a kingdom as a whole and not a town or city?” Drax asked him, Hiroshi’s expression showing a serious demeanor as he listened to the king, not hostile, but definitely questioning. “A kingdom is not dictated by kings, queens and leaders. In my eyes, and the eyes of my ancestors who founded Avel, a kingdom is formed by the methods, means and unity that people express in keeping such a place functioning. Just because I am a leader does not mean that I am not leading a kingdom. A kingdom is and always will be, to me, what is forged by unity. Not by what a king feels.” He said simply, but coldly, Drax realizing he may have overstepped his bounds and so he decided the best course of action would be to just drop it, and drop it he did as he instead grabbed a folder he had put together prior to sending Mar off to Avel, it had what he wished to discuss strewn about inside, because of the rush of battle he did not have time to organize it, and had failed to do so in the prior week due to memory faults.
He opened it and placed it before the human, who took it and examined some of the files. Despite being untidy, they were thankfully in order, which made things easy for Hiroshi, who nodded softly as he examined what was in the folder. The first page was pretty simple and was talking about support from Avel if the need ever arose. After that last battle he felt it was necessary to have a backup plan especially since Ashford was never able to be contacted for aid. Drax watched as Hiroshi set the paper down on the table face down, to his right. He then read the second page, which started talking about the politics and ideas they could share, and Hiroshi seemed a bit uncertain of that as he placed it face down before him. The final one was about trading, and stuff that both kingdoms could potentially trade as if being a fair and meaningful trade impact. Drac watched him the entire time, seeing three piles slowly form. After what felt like a long period of silence, Hiroshi nodded and grabbed the middle pile and did some thinking, Drax growing uneasy as he did, the papers being put in respective piles. Drax noticed as Hiroshi handed back the stack to his right. “This is what I agree to, this other stack is stuff I don’t feel necessary or all around just doesn’t benefit Avel. I hope these can be negotiated.” He told him.
Drax accepted the stack and read through, noticing that a lot of what was approved was all of the military and war help agreements, but Drax noticed a lot of trade and access stuff were denied. He thought but nodded as he set them down and looked at him. “I do have one comment. Why do you not wish to allow freedom access between kingdoms? I am not saying it is a huge changer but I do wish to know your mindset.” Drax said as he gently sorted the papers in his claws, all while Hiroshi set the denial stack aside. “I just don’t feel it appropriate for either side to just up and walk into someone else's kingdom, nothing against you are I have heard you are a very gentle and caring person, but it is a matter of comfort. I do not wish to unease either of our people and what they feel in a matter of safety. With all due respect I would like to keep things on a matter of coming and getting approved each time, since most times you will almost always be accepted. It is purely out of the safety of my people and my family. My kingdom is my family and I don’t want them to feel uneasy with a lot of anthros coming and going, and I know a lot of your kingdoms people would feel the same about humans.” He said, a smile finally showing on his face as he was genuine in how he wanted to protect people.
Drax listened to him intently to him, and nodded gently, taking what the man said to heart as he truly understood that feeling of protecting one's people, especially his family. He stood up and smiled as he felt they had come to a proper agreement, sticking out his claw gently, Hiroshi accepting it as he stood and shook Drax’s claw with a soft smile. “I have greatly misjudged you Hiroshi, I was worried when you denied so much that we wouldn’t be able to reach an agreement worth keeping. But upon hearing your story and your ideals, I understand in full what you mean. I have my own family I always value and want to protect, so hearing you say such things struck something in me, something of understanding.” Drax explained as the human leader gave a nod, as he placed a hand on Drax’s shoulder and gave a pat or two, smiling. It was his way of showing understanding as he looked. “Do not worry about misjudging me. As a human, and a leader of a group that is known for its murder and methods, I am used to being cruely misjudged. But I am glad that we can come to an agreement.” He said as he walked alongside Drax out of the room, to see Nomad and Scath having a conversation.
Drax smiled seeing his lovely wife as well as one of Inferno’s romantic lovers standing there as he made his way over with Hiroshi. “Hello love, Hello Scath, is everything alright?” He asked them, both of them smiling gently with a nod as Nomad handed Scath her sword as she had been holding it. “Yes dear, Scath here was just humoring me and letting me see her sword, as I was always curious about swords, but have never been able to wield one well enough to be effective. Alex even laughed a little once when I tried to show him.” The queen laughed as Scath smiled, before looking in surprise when Nomad gave her daughter-in-law a gently hug before nodding and dismissing her, the dragon woman bowing softly and leaving with her sword, a bit surprised by the queens sudden affectionate approach, but she gladly accepted it as she made her way to find Inferno and Lyle, wishing to join their training. Nomad sighed softly with a smile as she thought, before turning to Drax. “To think, if only I could have used a sword, then things almost forty years ago could have been different. It was my lack of skill that almost led to us failing to handle the situation. It was almost my fault that we would have lost.” She sighed as Hiroshi listened, as he understood what they were talking about as a lot of kingdoms knew about the event in question, the betrayal and massacre of King Amadeus.
“Love, do not distress yourself so. You are a powerful mage and a wonderful ally, you did not such a thing. My brother was a fool for what he had done, and he only tried making you use that sword knowing you were more magically inclined. I am just glad I was there soon enough to save you.” He said before his voice trailed as he looked down with a hint of sadness, the human looking over with a soft sigh. “Even though I was too late to save my father. Seeing his lifeless body lying there with Drazernon’s dagger in his chest, blood everywhere. I failed to save him because I was just too slow to realize and accept my brother was a horrid individual. Drazernon deserved to die, but I told father he could change. How foolish I was. I am just glad I was able to save Junior before things got worse and he killed him too. Hopefully when Junior arrives next week I will have the courage and strength to tell him the truth of our father.” Drax said softly, Nomad gently hugging her husband as she nodded, knowing they hid the secret long enough, considering Amadeus Junior, Drax and Drazernon’s youngest brother, was only a baby when the incident happened, and so he was never told about the tragedy.
“Well, you are stronger than most your majesty. Others would have surrendered and given up long ago had they had to carry such a powerful burden. I am sure you will be able to tell him about that incident, if he hopefully hasn’t heard it in passing from other kingdoms. It was a tragedy, and it was heard all around the kingdoms. The loss of King Amadeus was a horrible loss indeed, I remember my father being distraught that his old friend had died. We were all powerless to know that Drazernon would be such a threat to people. But now, Drazernon is deep in the ground and burning for his sins and crimes. So all we can do is praise your army for the bravery they showed and give them praise for being the ones to finally put him down.” Hiroshi told Drax, doing his best to encourage the man to not let him fall into despair, knowing it was a burden he carried everywhere. Drax nodded in understanding as he looked at the man once more, both clearly understanding one another. Drax thanked him and excused himself, Nomad staying behind as to not leave Hiroshi alone to wander since he was a guest, the king needed time to rest his mind.
Hiroshi and Nomad made their way out and Nomad decided to treat their guest to a meal, walking into the kitchen and dining area to see Lea and Kenta talking, Kenta discussing something with the head chef who seemed to be more than happy to acknowledge Kenta’s presence, as the wolf seemed eager to learn from the royal chef himself. “Ah, your majesty.” Lea smiled and bowed to the respected and admired queen of Elderitch, as Nomad nodded to him watching him stand and looking at Kenta who hadn’t immediately noticed, nor has the chef as the two were to indulged in cooking and talking to notice. Lea chuckled and looked at the two royals. “Ignore them your highness, they have been like this for almost an hour. Seems Leon had found himself a friend and a student.” Lea said as Nomad smiled, glad to see that Kenta had made himself feel comfortable handing around, the king and queen allowing him to be around as Lea seemed to trust him and he was a good kid. Nomad also noticed that Inferno had constantly turned his attention to Kenta, but was too shy to say. Nomad knew that Inferno felt something and that was part of why she loved having Kenta around, she wanted to make them comfortable enough to hopefully eventually bring themselves to finally talk. Hiroshi noticed the two cooks talking away and chuckled, as they were finally acknowledged and quickly served a meal.
Inferno_the_dragon_wolf
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