#some pitifully trying to crawl back into the hive

[systlin]

Still waiting for anti-beekeeping vegans to learn about the Great Annual Drone Massacre that happens every fall

[shardclan]

Equinox pushed to keep the skydancer dryad in sight. She had no idea what to expect, but she knew she couldn't let it get out of sight, even as they climbed into the precipitous heights of House Betelgeuse.

Much like a domed ceiling could pool and redistribute sound, the upper heights of the artificial crystalspine was a gathered and redistributed Arcane energy from below. It floated naturally toward the stars from the ground floor to where several systems, both magical and architectural, ensured that this pool of energy was never allowed to become too dense. Generally it was recycled back into the House as an emergency energy source for all the wards and runes that kept things operational.

But it was still a gathering point, easily siphoned and even more easily absorbed, as the dryad seemed to be taking advantage of. Its glass-thin wings grew bright, and it pulled away with ease even as Equinox beat her wings harder in an effort to keep up.

Azricai knew that the ridgeback was not going to be a match for a skydancer, even one made of wood, that was brimming with its native elemental energy.

"Wait for me!" she called, and took off after it, easily leaving Equinox behind. While she couldn't take in the Arcane magic, she knew its currents well. She could match them with her own natural wind magics. And she wasn't to be outflown, even as it flitted around a blind corner and into a crevice hidden in the crystalspine.

It was the barrier than brought her to a halt, shimmering and golden. The dryad passed through it unfazed, but Azricai could feel the thrum of it intensifying in response to her approach. It flew on, travelling down the tunnel and vanishing. While she worked to do something about the light magic barring her way, her antennae twisted almost painfully with a burst of choatic, clashing emotion from somewhere just beyond her sight.

Righteous fury and a black desperation that was marred by hopelessness. Anger. Fear. And in the middle of it all, piercing to the very core of what Azricai was, a child's specific and single-minded desire to prevent conflict.

With renewed fervor, she did her best to whip up her wind magics in the tight corridor. Churning until the materialized into the shape of a wolf--the very same gale wolf she had taken as a familiar as a younger dragon. The barrier was strong and expertly crafted, and Azricai was no mage, but a gale wolf's capacity for destruction combined with her keen focus was more than enough to slice a small opening in the light magic.

With a grunt, she hopped through, shedding her form for her glamor just to be able to fit through. She quickly flew ahead, following her senses as much as the path of the tunnel, but was not quite clear on what she was seeing when she arrived.

The den should not have been there to begin with. It was clearly not a part of Moyo's design; it was too rough hewn. It looked like their old lairs back in the Isles, gouged into the stone by amateur claws. In theory, it would have been cozy for a large guardian or maybe two smaller ones.

In reality, it was cramped by Prophecy's splayed wings and flared frills as she shielded a squirming and clearly distraught Hihi'o from the aggressive advnaces of the dryad. The pleading, teary expression on the fledgling imperial's face as he met Azricai's eyes infuriated her. But she used it. Channeled it into restraint and self-control, and pushed that out on both the warring parties.

Prophecy's body tensed and she hissed, even as her murderous fury cooled against her will. The dryad seemed momentarily confused, but was quick to shake off Azricai's attempt at recursive emotional control. It leapt at Prophecy, beak snapping and claws at the ready.

Hihi'o darted in front of the old guardian, defending her with his body. "Stop!" he cried.

For one breathless moment, both Azricai and Prophecy watched the dryad clumsily skid to a stop. Prophecy was the first to recover, drawing a wing defensively around Hihi'o.

He glanced back and gently patted Prophecy. "It's ok. Please don't hurt them."

Azricai glanced between the three figures. Something was amiss. They seemed to be fighting over Hihi'o, but she couldn't identify the primary aggressor. She swept forward, pulling Hihi'o away from both of them and pressing him under her wing. "You are safe?"

He nodded blearily. "I'm fine, just please--please don't hurt each other."

"That thing started it," Prophecy growled. "It attacked you!"

Hihi'o frowned, and this seemed to agitate the dryad. It moved in closer to him, and again Prophecy was quick to pull Hihi'o defensively back to her side.

Azricai intercepted the dryad. It gave her that same quizzical look as before, and its antennae raised. There was a vague humming--a physical one this time, Azricai noted. When she raised her antennae in kind, she felt something unusual. More than felt it; she saw something. A clear image in her mind that she knew was not her own.

[Clover crying]

Azricai squinted, tilting her head to try and make sense of what was happening without losing it. This was new. Uncharted territory. And she carefully sought words to get as much information as she could.

"What are you trying to do?" she asked slowly.

The answer came back clear: [Happy Clover with Hihi'o]

"That's all?"

It nodded emphatically, and spoke with that skin-crawling voice that sounded very specifically like an imitation of Azricai. "Yes!"

"How did you know he was here?"

It's features scrunched. [Prophecy flying in black with Hihi'o]

Azricai's beak creaked slightly as her jaw clenched. It probably didn't have a handle on what it was seeing. Azricai wouldn't have understood it either, if the image was not being shown to her.

Bending light was a form of highly advanced magic in the Sunbeam Ruins. It was how light dragons approached invisibility. It wasn't terribly practical if the population of mirrors was high--bending body heat wasn't possible after all. But Aphaster had a grand total of three, and none of them frequented the eastern quarter.

What House Betelgeuse had instead was an apiary full of hybridized Arcane bees who had visual spectrums that Azricai couldn't even imagine. The flight that had been invisible to other dragons was a sort of glossy blackish splotch in the environment to them.

"You're the bees..." she murmured. "And you came to find Hihi'o. For Clover."

It gave another emphatic nod. [Happy Clover with the hive]

Azricai's eyes turned toward Prophecy, sharp with fury. "They came to find him. And found you. Hiding. With a barrier placed. Do you have anything to say? I'll be sure to consider your statement while you await your trial."

Hihi'o clung to Azricai's robes, pleading tearfully. "Please, it's not her fault! She didn't hurt me, she just--"

"Kidnapped you," she finished harshly. "Made your family sick with worry. Indirectly caused a major aetheric disturbance because the bees apparently found it necessary to generate a body in order to retrieve you." She swung her arm widely and Prophecy, welcoming her to speak. "Feel free to refute."

The older guardian looked tightly at the ground, still as a statue. Without looking up, she whispered, "He's my charge..."

"...He's what?"

"He's my charge. I've never had one before. I've never... had this experience before." Prophecy clenched her eyes shut, and rubbed at her face. "I just wanted to spend some time with him..."

"And the solution was to snatch him?"

"She didn't snatch me!" Hihi'o protested. "She told me she never had a charge before so I came with her!"

Azricai took a deep breath, and looked patiently at Hihi'o. "The sympathy you are showing given the situation is exactly what is so abusable. She is several cycles your senior and should never have called you away from your family." She pushed his gently into the waiting arms of the dryad. "Please remain quiet. I will hear all you have to say later."

"It's as you both say," Prophecy admitted. "But you don't know what it's like. I had no idea who he was and I laid my eyes on him and knew I would have died for him on the spot. I wanted to know who my charge was. I had to know. I've been waiting so, so long, I just--"

"Tell me how any of this changes the nature of your crime." Azricai challenged.

Prophecy flinched as though she'd been slapped. Everything made sense in her head, even it was a desperate, manic sort of sense. But Azricai's cold grip on the core of the matter left her tongue-tied for something to say. No matter how innocuous her intent, no matter that she had been completely upfront with him the whole time, none of those were things that would satisfy. Not the judge, not his family, and not the bees. Embarrassment set in. She felt far too old for how vulnerable she felt. But eons and eons of unanswered wishing and more still of bitterness and envy for those with even the most humble charges had fallen away the moment she saw him.

He was all she had longed for since her distant adolescence. Her charge. And in her clumsy haste to cherish him, she had quite possibly sabotaged her chances of staying with him, of protecting him.

All this time, and she had failed her charge almost instantly.

"But he's mine...!" she pleaded pitifully, hiding her face in her hands.

Azricai shook her head at the sad old female. "No he isn't. Hopefully, you get the chance to learn that."