she had thought, at the very least, that these waters would bring her more peace than slateport ever did. the tunnels leading into the sanctuary are reminiscent of her home's, yet she's spent hours on the bluffs hugging her knees, feeling a chill absence where homesickness should lay. 

dawn rises. despite ana fell 's subtle attempts at fixing her sleeping schedule, the councilwoman has been awake for over twenty-six hours. 

twenty-nine by the time her attendants find her tending to the new deino hatchlings and inform her that her 9 o'clock has arrived. she dismisses them with a wave, smears mashed fruits and veggies onto her apron before tugging it off, and leaves the enclosure. 

dragons turn their heads as she passes. one in particular - a scarred, weathered beast, with metal clasps on one tattered velvet wing, rises to his paws. he lumbers over, flanking her shoulder as she comes upon the man whose mind, she fears, she holds in the palm of her hand. 

"did you bring what i asked, ranger?" 

Caleb Harcourt

☉

"fantastic," she says as he gives her a measured stare. she'll use it, but only to tamper it around the edges. to refine it, contain it, and give him time enough to let the molten metal cool before he grasps it. 

lyune's breath snuffs freya's hair and she waves him away, fiddling with one of her braids and leaving a goopy glob of applesauce in her wake. her showers after taking care of the dragons are long and arduous, most days. 

"can you hold your own without a pokemon?" she asks. her throat makes a sound and lyune huffs, stretching himself alongside her to expose his flank. she tugs away leather ties and unshackles her unstrung bow. 

Caleb Harcourt

☉

ah. 

"i've been having trouble focus on papers lately," she says with a squirrely frown, thumbing at the smooth polish of the instrument in her hands. still, she'd rather hear it from his mouth. he'd probably beat her in hand-to-hand then, no doubt about that. 

she remembers the trident. 

but she doesn't tell him that. of course not. she looks down at the bow. it's almost identical to the one she'd had in that place, save it has no latent energy lingering inside of it. no pokemon synergy to blast phantasmal arrows. no, what she has is real. 

"they're outdated and superfluous," she says. "not worth it to learn, at this point, to be quite honest." she snaps her wrist and the bow folds in on itself, wicked edges twisting together to become a flat blade. she tosses it to him. 

"but you said you're good with a knife?" she pats lyune's side right as she whistles. and the creature waiting behind her springs out, almost-vestigial wings flaring. it rushes past freya, sending her hair sweeping over her shoulder, and pounces on the ranger.

Caleb Harcourt

☉

firkraag is an obedient dragon. mild of temper and responsive to a tamer's call. she tends to use him to introduce dragons to new recruits, but there's a different reason she forces him against caleb now. 

this dragon is a sparring partner. and regardless of caleb's strengths, his opponent is undoubtedly stronger. 

claws scrape against steel with a whining sound. sparks fly over the blade and firkraag gnashes at caleb's head, missing by mere inches. freya looks on approvingly and walks in a circle to better see caleb's next move. 

the red-headed dragon does not relent. caleb has shifted away, looking to give ground between the two, but the dragon takes with another flurry of claws. 

"and your endurance?" she asks with a smile.

Caleb Harcourt

☉

he keeps pace. it's a brutish test of strength. she flips her wrist over, noting his time, and annoyance makes her nose wrinkle. it's no surprise he beats her, even if he walks away with a torn shirt and some new scrapes. she can't take the dragon on with the force he displayed; she's always had to dance around him, striking when she can. 

he fights like king.

"endurance is pretty damn good, actually," she says, because he's earned that much. "most of the tamers here would crumple like tinfoil in the first three seconds against firkraag."

the dragon stomps one foot at the sound of his name and snarls, but freya's sharp, "ifpesp, firkraag," makes him cock his head and return to her side. he noses at the pouch at her belt and she palms the top of his head, smiling as she feeds him some dried jerky. 

Caleb Harcourt

☉

"mm, he's alright," she teases, more to the dragon than caleb. he nips annoyedly at her fingers, but his teeth grasp her gingerly, leaving no real damage. she's careful to avoid the rough skin that makes up his hide and once he's done playing, she snaps her fingers and points back to his cave. 

he yawns widely, considers the rest of the treats he can smell from her pocket, and then turns with a snort. 

she eyes caleb and then beckons him to follow. they don't have nearly as much space as the morningstar estate, and as such only has one main field dedicated to battle. they skirt around the sidelines as tamers call orders and dragons go claw-to-claw against each other. 

on the other side of the field, she digs around in a cooler and tosses him a water bottle.

"i'm not training you so you can finally succeed at that," she finally says. "i'd rather not waste my time."

Caleb Harcourt

☉

wrath clings to this man's heels. he will not shake his vices so easily. she's fallen prey to her own illusions of grandeur more times than she can count, but still she wants to believe him. this is a start. 

lyune had trailed behind them, long tail dragging in the grass. he curls it around himself now as he settles down onto his side. his flank rises and falls in meditative peace, but he does not sleep. dark pupils narrow on the ranger. 

a couple of embers snuff out from his nostrils and freya looks thoughtfully at the beast. 

"alright," she says. "then you and i spar every week. i need someone who can keep pace. i'll teach you all you need to know about the dragons too."

Caleb Harcourt

☉