Crowned (private/ask before joining)

Kuz'a.


She stared down at the elaborate message, complete with fancy praises and elegant font. Her lungs had stilled moments ago and were starting to shrivel up and burn as she scanned the words on the page over and over again, completely still save for the occasional twitch of her tail. The sunlight that streamed through the windows of her house illuminated the expression on her face; shock, wrinkles of concern creating imperfections on the sides of her face.

Ruler of the Ki'sha. Queen Athena.


Queen. A title that she wouldn't have chosen five years ago. That word alone sent eels slithering up her spine and made her teeth feel like they were going to fall out of her mouth. Yet here she was. It was staring her in the face. A Queen once more.


Only this time, I'll do it right. Raising her head, Athena strode to the front door and opened it. The heat from the outside washed over her and she realised with a groan of frustration that she'd forgotten her heat gel, a special substance that made her resistant to the effects of the desert. Doesn't matter, I'll deal with it. Already feeling woozy, she took off from the front steps to her tiny shack of a home and towards the palace.


The wind helped to wash away the painful heat. It was cold and sliced at her scales like a kitchen knife, but it didn't have the chilly bite to it the Kaamil regions had. Ugh. Why couldn't this be a wintery tribe? Ah well. Athena's mind was overriden by thoughts like; this is MY tribe now. Mine. No one else's. I rule this now. Yet they weren't contemplated upon with a power hungry gleefulness akin to a theatre villain, more with shock and disbelief. A foreigner, ruling perhaps the toughest, most unruly tribe in Verula, maybe all of Nuira? Impossible!


Then again, she had a bit of a habit of breaking the rules.


The letter had mentioned the new rulers of the Stormcallers, Solarlight and Darksky, wanted to meet her at the palace. Athena's talons began to tremble in the air, her tailtip twitching violently as she soared towards the great looming shape that domianted the kingdom. It was all happening so fast and it wasn't even breakfast time yet. She hadn't even had breakfast yet. Her stomach warbled mournfully as the wyvern beat her wings and glided down towards the base of the palace, where the great, foreboding doors and uniformed guards barred the way for potential assassins to enter and kill their precious Kuz'a.

Solarlight and Darksky had both been shocked by the news they received. For whatever reason, Rihzom has left and made them rulers of the Stormcallers. Neither knew what to say, or what to do. Sky couldn’t help but think that he and her brother were too young for this position, while Solar wondered if the other Stormcallers would even accept the pair as their... Oh great! How would them ruling even work?! It wasn’t like they had any history to go on. They sat in the corner of the library for a long time after get the news of their rule. They now had the destiny of their tribe in their talons. So much responsibility on two young dragons.

The pair both knew they would eventually have to speak to the whole of the Stormcallers who lived above the Tempest Ring, but, after the shock had calmed somewhat, they had decided on something else to start with. In all honesty the idea was two fold. It would help hopefully help get the Stormcallers back to their historic trade and alliances. May even help keep Verula safer for everyone. The other side of them doing this though was to get away from everyone else and think. There were just too many dragons with questions.

And with that, they told a few dragons of their plan and sent a messager ahead to the Ki'sha, the tribe the Stormcallers shared the continent with. They wouldn’t need a translator and it would be an easy flight. Just what the two headed pair needed.

After their flight to Ki'sha territory, they followed whatever instructions the guards gave them, showing their letter and crowns as proof of who they were.

The guards that appeared to greet the pair shot them stern, scornful looks, bitterness brewing beneath the stuffy armour that protected them. After inspecting the letter and the twins once more, the Ugaans led them on a short flight over the city to the palace.


----

Meanwhile, Athena touched down on the steps leading up the doors. As she ascended them, the Ugaans and Aliugaans positioned nearby remained completely still. They don't know who I am yet. How many dragons knew of her new title? Clearly, very few. She was relieved by that.

When she reached the doors, two Aliugaans blocked her way. The high rankers looked her up and down, recognised her (being two of the only dragons informed thus far) , and bowed deeply. Athena squirmed internally, feeling the others' eyes on her, their glances of shock and confusion. She was used to bowing, not being bowed to. It felt like the world had been turned upside down.

The Aliugaans opened the door. As they did, the sound of wingbeats reached Athena's ears,which twitched. She looked over her shoulder as the Ugaans leading the twins touched down on the bottom of the steps. Immediately, the other guards lining the palace walls bristled at the sight of a foreigner so close to the palace.

Athena cursed.  The Stormcaller leaders. But there were...  Two of them? Well, of course there were, it had specified in the letter, but... Twins? A hydra? Unusual.

She hadn't even been Kuz'a for five. Fricking. Minutes. The wyvern froze, feeling unsure of what to do for a moment. You're a Queen, act like it! hissed a voice in her head. Turning to face them, Athena disguised her apprehension beneath a mask of cold indifference, her go to expression for stressful situations.

"Stormcaller Ku'za," she greeted them,unsure of whether to use a plural or not. In a move that caused several guards to glance up, she descended the stairs to mee them, tail twitching as she eyed her new fellow leaders. One head was a stunning snow white, the other sported scales as black as death. Ying and yang. She wondered if they were polar opposites in personality too.

Realising that heading down the steps was probably an unpopular choice, Athena tried not to panic as she stood before rather than above the pair. "Would you care to come inside? It's ah... Cooler, in there."

The pair noticed looks the guards gave them, which almost got Sky to break her attempt at a “sure” look. Solarlight gave her a silent assurance through their mental link before they were led to the Ki’sha palace. It was a beautiful sight to say the least. The whole desert city was a sight. Almost an opposite of the Stormcallers Twilight Palace. While both locations where quiet inhospitable, though in their own ways, yet dragons lived there.

It wasn’t long before the pair were lead to the palace. The moment the twin rulerytouched down the guards reacted, causing Darksky’s side to jump as she was spooked. The black scaled dragoness gave an embarrassed look before both her and Solarlight both gave slight surprised look when they saw the Ki’sha’s Kuz’a. She was an ice dragon with various scar covering her body, particularly one over her eye.

The twins quickly hid their expressions as their fellow ruler approached, calling them out as rulers... well... ruler. It annoyed Solar and his sister a bit, but they tried to ignore it. The Kuz’a seemed to study the pair, which they honestly did in return. Sky silently wondered about each scar over the other dragoness’s body, while Solar focused on how she moved, seeing if she was confident or not.

It was clear that she did something to make the guards question her before asking the pair if they wanted to go inside, noting that she said it was cooler. Made sense. She was an ice wyvern. Sky slightly nodded as Solar responded in Kishin.

”That sounds good, your majesty. And, may I ask, that you refer to use a individuals?”

As the wyvern drew closer, she began to pick out more details on the twins' body. The dark headed dragon was now only black. Her eyes, narrowed and focused like a hawk's, picked out blue and purple shapes amongst the ebony, decorating Darksky's body in a way that reminded her of a cheetah. She had dark, soulful eyes that gazed back with quiet reflection.

The male, on the other hand, had yellow marks branching down from his spine like tiger stripes. His yellow eyes and horns gleamed like molten gold in the harsh, merciless sun. Their personalities seemed akin to the two felines, too. Athena sensed that the female looked to the male, that he was the 'big sibling.'


It reminded her -painfully- of Aphrodite. Quickly shoving down such images, for they would open up a descent into a pit with no bottom, Athena twisted around to face the palace again, keeping her eyes on the Stormcaller King and Queen at all times.

In response to their words, Athena nodded. "Su- Of course," she said, trying not to sound casual in front of her guards. Gaaah! How did a queen speak? Scortia had spoken little and briefly, only to give orders and ask questions. Was that how she was to act?

Before she ascended the stairs, Athena leaned in slightly and spoke quietly enough that only the twins heard her. "My apologies. I wasn't expecting a hydra," she apologised, before she raised her head and approached the palace doors. The squad of guards followed, forming a triangular formation behind the twins. They eyed the pair with scorn behind their helmets. The hatred of Stormcallers ran strong in their veins.


The doors opened and Athena stepped inside. Immediately, a sand coloured dragon emerged from one of the tunnels and bowed to her, nose touching the floor. The wyvern froze and stood there, not knowing what to do. Cursing internally, she prayed that this was her advisor, coming to greet her as the new Kuz'a and explain what the hell was going on, but he remained bowing. It was almost... His body, the way it curled slightly away from her, the subtle vibrating of his tail as he tried to keep it from twitching violently. It was almost... As if he were afraid of her. She hadn't even done anything. Scortia's doing.

"Ahem," she said, the uncertainty flickering on her face. She didn't want to make it obvious to the two leaders that she didn't know what she was doing. Oh. "You... May rise," she said, in a tone far less regal than she imagined it coming out. The tall, brittle male rose and spoke in a low, respectful voice.

"My Kuz'a," he said. "Welcome. I understand that you must be a bit overwhelmed, but the gods have placed you in good-" he halted, noticing the twins. His brow furrowed in confusion, and his eyes filled with scorn as he realised this was a foreigner hydra in the PALACE.

"It doesn't matter, just show me to a room where I can speak to the Stormcaller rulers in peace," Athena said, cringing inwardly now that it was revealed this was barely her first day as Kuz'a. The twins must be looking upon her with contempt now... Aaaaaargh!

"But-" the male began to protest. Athena sighed.
"Tutorials on acting bossy can come later. Now show us to a meeting room. And..." she wasn't used to giving orders and having them followed like the law. It was so, so, strange. Surreal. It felt like playing God. "And prepare our guests some food," she finished. She turned towards the guards. "You lot, leave us."

The squad of Ugaans wavered, casting wary glances at each other and the pair. Not accustomed to their leader. "I think I can handle myself. Go," she commanded. After a moment or two, the guards turned and exited the palace, whispering to each other. Great. Now the news would be all over the city by lunchtime.

Athena turned towards the twins. "Come." She didn't want to dicuss the fact that she was brand new to this whole thing. She looked to the sandy coloured dragon and nodded.

With that, he began to lead them deep into the mouth of the palace.

(Athy. Solar’s eyes are darker while Sky’s eyes are lighter.)

Both heads kept their eyes on the Ki’sha ruler, though Sky looked uncomfortable, despite the black dragon’s efforts to hide her shyness. The pair where able to get a good look at the wyverness’s features. Her tail was spiked, and looked quiet deadly, but both could tell that the spines seemed... unattached. They also noticed the Kuz’a had piercing blue eyes.

Before they went in, the ruler seemed to give an assurance that would refer to the two headed pair individually. This gave them some comfort, but the dragoness soon leaned in and softly apologize, noting that she wasn’t expecting them to be a hydra. The twins both nodded as Sky forced herself to answer with a somewhat timid voice. ”I-it’s ok. We... sort of expected it.” She mentally kicked herself for sounding so green at simply socializing, but she couldn’t help it. The dragoness hated attention, and by now both her and Solar had noticed the guards.

The guard gave them looks that weren’t the normal questioning, insulting, or curious looks they were use to. These were looks of anger, hate, and scorn. Sky got closer than she already was to her brother as they both looked at the guards. Solar tried to reassure his body mate, but she simply kept trying to figure out why the guards looked at them the way they did. Did she not know something about their tribes history? Was it simply their isolation from the other tribes? It wasn’t long before they learned something else too.

Another dragon, maybe some sort of advisor, came to speak to the Kuz’a. Solar noticed she seemed unsure about what to do. Then she sealed it with her own words. The twins both looked at her with sympathetic looks. They both knew exactly what she was going through. It was early morning in Stormcaller territory when they learned about their own rule (Assuming Verula is roughly the size of the US. Morning on the west would be almost 11-noon on the east.) It almost seemed to back Sky ease herself at this news. Were they seriously that lucky to find another hours-new ruler.

The dragoness then led them deeper into the palace. As she did, Solar spoke up, speaking with the calm tone he would use with Sky when she was flustered or spooked. ”Do you mind if each ask you a question?”

(my baaaad xD my brain can't brain)



Darksky seemed ill at ease, tension emitting from the lines in her face. She could understand that. Being alone in foreign, unfriendly lands. No backup to defend you. That uncertainty. That fear. Athena had gotten used to that feeling over the course of her own lifetime, so she could hide it well. It also meant she could detect it in other dragons.

At Darksky's response, the wyvern would tilt her head slightly. Used to it? They must get a lot of strange looks for their... Unusual appearances. Athena had seen stranger so she wasn't bothered, but she hasn't met a hydra herself before. She too felt the morbid curiosity towards the twins, but she was able to reign it in and suppress it.

Aliens among our own kind. How alike we are. It seemed she had more in common with the Stormcaller rulers than she had previously assumed.




Athena's feathers bristled when she felt the pitying gazes of the twins on her. She hated being pitied. She had the urge to turn around and growl at them, but she wasn't in a position to act barbaric anymore; so she took a deep breath, buried her frustration and embarrassment deep inside to release later on, and lifted her chin to follow her advisor.


The torches that lined the walls filled the belly of the palace with an ominous orange glow. It made the guards positioned along the corridors appear that much more sinister, their helmets glimmering like ebony shards in the light. It was eerily quiet too, as if the place were holding its breath.

Athena didn't like it. She didn't like not knowing where she was going or who she was going with. The skinny dragon leading them gave her the creeps. Perhaps it was the sickly yellow colour of his eyes, or the droning tone of his quavery voice.

"What's your name?" she asked him. He glanced over his shoulder. "Oseron, my Kuz'a," he responded. Oseron. Unusual name. She wondered for a moment if he was a foreigner like her, not from the Ki'sha.

Solarlight spoke, requesting that each of them ask a question. At this, Oseron tensed noticeably. She ignored him, but her feathers still stood up defensively.

"Depends on the questions," she responded, meeting his eyes over her shoulder. "But knock yourself out." The sound of a door squeaking made her head snap around, tail lifting slightly as the spikes twitched dangerously.

Oh. They were here. Oseron halted in front of the now open doors. He turned and bowed his head. "This is where you can hold your meeting with our..." he paused, eying the twins with a hint of suspicion in his gaze. "Guests," he uttered the word as if it were poison on his tongue.

Athena narrowed her eyes at him, but chose not to comment on his tone. Beckoning to the twins with her tail, she entered the room. The guards shut the door behind them.

The room was huge, with vast tapestries depicting crucial events in Ki'shin history pinned to the stone walls. There were a couple of tables and chairs dotted around the room.

This used to be a war plan room, the Kuz'a realised. She recognised the stone table in the centre of the 'meeting room,' now bare of maps and compasses.

She turned towards the twins and met their eyes. "So... We- I wasn't expecting visitors."

(It’s ok.)

Solar was quick to notice the Kuz’a reaction to him and Sky’s shared look. Both twins felt a bit bad, but at least they had some understanding of what the new ruler was going through. She also seemed surprised at what Sky said, which both heads seemed to pick up on. At least questions about exactly how they worked were kept at bay, maybe not even considered.

The pair had followed slightly behind Athena, not quite knowing what to think of the dimly lite corridor, or the advisor. Sky thought it looked like something out of one her favorite books, and Solar was curious about why the palace was built the way it was. But that advisor, Oseron, still creeped both Solarlight and Darksky out.

When the Kuz’a gave the pair permission, Solar quickly spoke first with a surprisingly calm manner. ”Well, we only know you by your title. So what is your name?”

At his question, Sky shot her brother a worried glance. It was less about what he asked, and more about what he didn’t. He would put her on the spot every now and then, saying it was to helper her with her fears, but on numerous occasions he chose the worst time to do it. Once Solar’s question had either been answered or dismissed, Sky took a breath, and nervously asked her question. ”W-w-why have the guards looked like they hate us? I-I could understand untrusting looks, but this is... different. Is there some piece of history we were never told?”

Both twins had expected a lack of trust, but, like Darksky said, something seemed different. This was more like an ice dragon’s reaction to a fire dragon, and visa-versa. It seemed like hatred.

When they finally arrived to the meeting room, the way Oseron refereed to them was met with four narrowed eyes and a hint of a growl from Solar. They looked at each other again, with Sky giving her brother a disapproving look before noticing Athena telling them to follow.

Once in the room, both looked in awe at the sheer scale. The tapestries also caught their eyes. Both were interested in them, Sky for the history they showed, Solar for what it said about the Ki’shin, and both for the artistry. It was interesting to see the history of the tribe that so few outsiders even knew about.

Athena then caught their attention when she noted she wasn’t expecting visitors. Both twins smiled as Solar spoke. ”It’s ok. We didn’t exactly give fair warning. To be honest, neither of us are well versed on... any of this really.”

Solarsky's question made her blink. She'd been expecting something more... well, she wasn't sure. Political, or prying. Then Solar probably would have been impaled with a spike, which would have been an unpleasant sight. She wondered for a moment what would happen to one twin if the other died. Pushing such questions to the back of her mind, the Kuz'a raised her head slightly. "Athy." Realising she'd used Storm's nickname for her, she quickly corrected herself. "Ahem. Athena."

Moving away from the two, she circled the stone table, studying the bare surface with her eyes. She could see small, faint dents in it, where maps and war plans had been pinned to the table. The Ki'sha were a very war entitled tribe. Tough and tasteless.

She didn't look up as Darksky asked her a question that had a complicated answer. Athena licked her lips, pondering on how to deliver it simply. Her tail twitched. She raised her head and tilted it slightly, giving her the appearance of a curious hawk. "The Ki'sha despise the Stormcallers. They're rather racist, to put it mildly." She herself had been called several names; white heathen being one of them. Eugh. By an Ugaan, too.

The wyvern huffed. "It will be a hilarious day when they discover they're now being governed by an ice dragon," she said, dry humour lacing her tone. Even her voice, rough and hard from years alone in the wild, gave away that she wasn't from here.


When the moon-pale twin revealed they too were new to ruling as well, she gave a small start. Were the fates so devious as to shove her into the same room as two green rulers? Huh. Athena found herself slowly beginning to relax around the Stormcaller rulers. A tiny smile curled her usually stony lip.
Perhaps we can help each other then. I'm brand new to this whole 'bossing dragons around thing." She hesitated. "As you've probably noticed," she uttered, trying to stamp out the feelings of embarrassment.


She gestured to the chairs surrounding the table with a wing, causing several tapestries to ripple like sea waves. "Have a seat." She herself sat down, but not in a chair, since there were currently no chairs really comfortable for her body structure. Thankfully, she was still tall.

It occurred to the wyvern that she wasn't behaving very regal or hoity toity. Should she be acting above these dragons? Asserting her dominance. Scortia dominated the room with her presence. At the moment, the only thing I'm dominating is this chair. At least, that was how she felt. Sweeping her tail to the side, she waited for the twins to sit down before she leaned forward slightly, feathers flickering.

"Alright, so..." she cleared her throat. "I suppose we should start with the meaning of your visit. Why are you here?" realising that the inquiry came out in an almost threatening manner, she tried to fix her expression to make it less cold.

Both Solarlight and Darksky smiled at hearing Athena’s name. It was nice to hear the ruler give her nickname first. It made the ice dragon seem more normal. Solar tilted his head before speaking with a friendly, but not flirty, tone. ”Athena? Quiet a nice name.”

The pair watched as Athena circled the table, with Solar noticing some dents. He noticed her tail twitch. A nervous tick? Maybe. Whatever it was, Athena soon raised her head and answered.

Both twins were kind of surprised to hear that Ki’sha could be considered racist. They expected untrusting, but racist. It explained a lot about how they acted. The Kuz’s then noted that it would be hilarious when the other Ki’sha learned that she ruled. This managed to get some chuckles from the pair as Sky shyly spoke up. ”P-probably similar to how the Stormcallers will react to us.”

After that, Solar noticed that Athena seemed to relax when he said he and Sky didn’t know what they were doing. He guessed it was nice for her to learn that she wasn’t the only one trying to figure out just what to do. The Kuz’a then suggested she could help them figure things out, and visa-versa. It got a smile to come to the twins maws, and Solarlight soon spoke. ”Yeah, it was, but you’re right. We could help each other in understanding how to do this job.”

The white dragoness then motioned to the various chairs, and asked the twins to take a seat. The pair quickly climbed into one of the chairs, but both noticed Athy didn’t use a chair. Maybe it was because she was a wyvern? The chairs were probably designed for western dragons, so they may not have been comfortable for her.

Darksky noticed the other dragoness seemed to be thinking of something, but she couldn’t really tell what. That was more Solar’s specialty. The Kuz’a then asked what they were there for, seeming to try and sound not-so-threatening. The pair looked at each other, seeming to have a silent conversation, before looking back to Athena.

”Well. I guess any sort of discussion about trade, or possibly our tribes working to together if something ever happened that would endanger either both our tribes or Verula.”

"Athena? Quite a nice name," Solar said, cocking his head. She huffed, a smile briefly curling her hard lips. Compliments usually resulted in a dead dragon, but Solar had been genuine with his statement. She dipped her head slightly in a thank you.

To her surprise, the darker head, the female, spoke up in a timid voice. "P-Probably similar to how the Stormcallers will react to us," she uttered. The wyvern's tail twitched as a subtle expression of surprise appeared on her face. She had always thought the Stormcallers were accepting of any race or dragon; anyone was free to waltz in and out as they pleased. That's why Storm left.

The crack that had torn the Ku'za's heart in two began to burn. She hurriedly shoved down any feelings of remorse or grief and focused on the task at hand. An alliance between the two tribes could help them both, despite their polar opposite views. She observed as the two locked eyes and seemed to exchange words through their heads. They have telepathy?


Solar's words lifted a great weight that had been gathering upon her chest. Athena nodded, leaning forward slightly so she rested more of her weight on her marred wings. "Of course," she agreed. "Being neighbours and all, it would be strange indeed to continue snapping at each other's throats." Besides, having such a powerful neighbour nearby, with an unfriendly relationship continuing between them, could spell trouble for either tribe.

"I'd be more than willing to set up an alliance between our tribes. If it's one thing we can provide, it's military assistance. As for trade..." she tilted her head. She was somewhat nervous. She'd never been in charge of a decision this... big, before. This would affect the whole tribe. "As for trade," she continued. "Well, whatever we have to offer would be available to you." Her fins extended slightly. "But what can you offer us in return?"

Solarlight noticed the slight surprise on Athena’s face. He quickly realized what she was probably thinking of. The white scaled male looked at Athena for a second before elaborating. ”I think she’s talking about us being attached. There’s not really anything to go on with dragons like us ruling. It’ll probably surprise some dragons.”

The Kuz’a seemed to be happy with what Solar told her. The pair smile and nodded at Athena’s initially response, and both said ”Agreed.” The two then listened to Athena’s words. They noted that she mentioned the Ki’sha’s military strength, which was something the Stormcallers lacked. She also said that, trade wise, they could trade whatever they could, but Athena rightfully asked what the Stormcallers could trade. The twins looked at each other again before looking back at Athena. Solar then spoke up. ”We could trade pretty much anything we have. Knowledge about the other tribes, their history, and really almost anything along those lines. Any resources we can offer would be open too.

Sky then opened up again, still slightly nervous, but seeming more comfortable than before. ”And as f-far as an alliance goes.... W-we may not have a strong military, but if push comes to shove we have Diploma... um... citizens living pretty much everywhere except here. So we could aways g-get information if things ever got to that point.”

Athena chose not to respond to Solarlight's words. She felt it would be... unprofessional, to pursue the topic of the twins'... well, attached-ness... Thus, the wyvern abandoned the subject and focused on the matter at hand; the terms of the Ki'sha/Stormcaller alliance.

The wyvern watched through cold, hawk-like eyes as the two heads locked eyes for a moment, as if making a silent decision. Then, the brother offered information, archives of it, on other tribes. Whilst another leader might have scoffed at the idea of knowledge, Athena's feathers perked in interest. Having knowledge of other tribes could help with political incidents... and give the Ki'sha an edge in war. She nodded.

What was more, Darksky said that the Stormcallers had eyes everywhere. The Ku'za tilted her head. Having dragons on her side everywhere in Nuira was a sure fire way to gain intel on other tribes if the need arose. Pleased, the wyvern bowed her head. "In that case, I suppose it's settled," she released a short, quiet chuckle. "I was expecting hours of paperwork and yapping on about political values. Thankfully, it seems the only piece of writing we'll have to do will be to sign our treaty... alliance... thingy," she made a vague gesture with her wing. Need to work on learning fancy terms for things.


Suddenly, a bell went off inside her head. The letter... it had mentioned something. What was it? Or someone. Her eyes narrowed as she tried to think. Something had come up, a name... Athena's talons flexed, producing a raw, scraping noise like daggers on metal.

Vortex. Leader of the Xoya.

It had certainly been a while since Vortex had traveled this far into the continent of Verula. It wasn't that he disliked the desert sands, or had poor experiences there in the past, he just simply hadn't gotten around to it. The whole 'travel' thing he was used to was also a bit more difficult with his new occupation. He'd been soaring through the air for quite a while now. The trip to Verula wasn't all that far by his standards, but he had taken a bit of a scenic route on his way. Since he wasn't going to be leaving Shiveki all that much anymore, he might as well enjoy the time he has away, right? 

In all honesty, Vortex wasn't exactly sure how he had wound up in the position of Kommandant. After all, there were plenty of others far more qualified than him for the position. Odd how some things work out, isn't it? Besides, he wasn't complaining. Well, actually, he was a little bit, but just not when anyone else was around. Sure, it had been a little surprising, but Vortex slipped into the rank just fine. He'd done plenty of work with the Xoya before, and from what he knew before he was shifted in power most of the Xoya thought he was one of them. Well, now he actually was. Something a few others found odd was that he didn't have some sort of fancy inauguration similar to his predecessors. It was completely pointless in his eyes, since everyone would know who he was in a few weeks anyways. Perhaps it wasn't pointless. He didn't care all that much. 

One thing that did spark his interest, however, was that both the Stormcallers and the Ki'sha had swapped rulers around the same time as well. A tiny part of him wanted to take the advantage and overthrow both of them, but that was the genocidal part of his mind, and he (almost) never listened to that part. Conveniently, there was also a meeting occurring between both of the new leaders, which he wasted no time to ensure that he would be included, not only to see what he was up against, but also to see who he would be dealing with. Since he was already well known within the Stormcallers, it wasn't hard to convince a messenger or two to write him on the list of guests. It wasn't the easiest travel, but there were no language barriers regardless of how they spoke, and an alliance could be useful in the future. 

Although it was a controversial decision, Vortex managed to fend off the countless guards attempting to follow and 'protect' him, convincing them that he was able to handle himself. As an added countermeasure, he had intentionally flown the wrong direction, cloaked, then turned the right way, just to ensure he would be going it alone. After a few hours of flight, he landed outside of the Ki'shan borders, surprising the Ugaans which approached him by explaining his business in fluent Kishin and showing them his version of the letter.

Both twins was somewhat relieved that Athena seemed to drop the discussion on how people would react. It probably wasn’t the best thing to bring up right now, so it was best to let that conversation die there.

Sky and Solar did watch Athena for any cue on her thoughts as they spoke their parts of the possible alliance. Sky was surprised to see that the Kuz’a seemed interested in knowledge. From the various histories she’d read, the dragoness had gotten the sense that Ki’Sha wouldn’t be that interested in that kind of stuff. Then again, Athena didn’t seem like the typical Ki’Sha. Solarlight has also noticed her interest in the information gathering that the Stormcallers could provide.

Then Athena bow and told them it seemed settled. The twins bowed back before give some friendly laughter at the ice wyvern’s expectations for what would happen. In all honesty, they thought it’d be the same. The pair simply figured they were all lucky on that front. Solarlight then said, ”Looks like it. Well. With one exception.”

As he said this, Darksky pulled out a piece of paper. It had writing in both Universal and Kishin, side-by-side, with some blank space. It also wasn’t the most official sounding document, but at least it still seemed official. ”We weren’t really sure how this would go, so this isn’t quite finished.” Sky then looked around, trying to find some writing toolset. ”Um.... Is there anything to write with?”

After getting something to write with, both started to add the details of the alliance... treaty... whatever it was... to one side or the other. Both, however, stopped when they heard Athena’s talons scraping. Both looked at her before Solar asked ”Is everything ok, Athena?”