Aicanto backed away from Sol and Gen, his gaze occasionally flicking to the shocked Lunarwing.Oh, oh, well, I'm glad you're enjoying it
Tobias gripped the feathered forearm, pushing back against Alicanto as the dragon slid a long talon against his throat.
Sol panted, looking away for a pained moment, his stoic expression faltering. "No." He whispered, his voice trembling with every gasping breath. Sol's gaze locked on Tobias, whose eyes were closed, his chest heaved, a thin stream of blood trickled down his temple, running into his cheek. Sol took another quick step back, his injured leg giving out. "Don't hurt him," he said through an exhale, "don't hurt him."
Gen appeared beside Sol, his scales black as the midnight sky above. He cocked his head to the side, his eyes on Alicanto. "I'll follow your lead."
Sol tensed, forcing his back leg back under himself, snarling as the pain ripped through his body.
He didn't know what to do.
He didn't know what to do.
Panic rose in his chest.
Tobias coughed, inhaling blood from his nose.
Sol broke.
"Oh, come now!" Sol shouted, his tail lashing in the sand. "You've done all but kill him! Just- just, please.. think for a moment. Think for yourself. You're not a- not a brainwashed tool, you're a dragon. With a conscious. Oh, would you listen to it?!" Sol's eyes didn't leave Tobias. The edge of hysteria in his own voice was enough to drive Sol into the pit of emotions raging in his mind- but he forced himself out of the suffocating misery, his jaw quivering as he slowly lifted his gaze to the CloudWing. "Please." He whispered. "Think for yourself. Don't hurt him." Sol shook his head. "Don't hurt him."
"I'm not brainwashed, and I'm not a tool," he snarled, locking eyes with Sol. "I'm a survivor. The only way to get by in the Scorpion Den if you aren't a Nightwing is to fight your way. You, of all dragons, should know that. But you weren't born there, your highness. You have a life outside that viper pit, and you have places to run to."
He took another step back, still holding a claw over Tobias's throat, loosening his grip slightly to allow the human room to breathe.
Sol's words rang in his head like an echoing canyon. Something behind the wall in his mind was screaming at him to stop, pleading with him almost as desperately as the Solarwing was. It felt like the wall was trembling and shifting, for the first time in his life, Alicanto wasn't sure. At least, this was the first time he allowed himself not to be sure. He hesitated, his dark expression faltering for a second as he glanced between the Lunarwing, Sol, and Gen. Finally he looked down at Tobias, the guilt rearing its head again as he stared for a moment at the limp form, his own claws and talons curled around the defenseless creature. Something in his mind tugged.
The wall cracked.
The roots and wires of feelings buried beneath the surfaces of his thoughts tweaked, barely pulling into his conscious mind.
He'd seen this human before. Just like he'd seen the Professor before. It felt like trying to peer into the life of another dragon. A dragon that wasn't him.
Or was him.
A dragon he didn't know.
But did know.
His head was pounding, the odd breaking in his mind making the headache from the fight worse. He lifted his gaze and met Sol's desperate eyes again.
"Why do you want this human so bad anyway," he growled, forcing any note of uncertainty out of his voice, tensing to keep his exhausted body from shaking.
@_-Captain BRM-_
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