I Know You...

[DragonSong]

Nani' smile turned a little wry. "Wish I could be more helpful with that," she noted with a soft, dry chuckle. "Mine aren't exactly proper flying equipment on my best day."

And she hadn't even tried gliding since her wing had been injured. She didn't know if she still could.

[MadEmperor]

Rosamund cleared her throat behind Nani. "I've been thinking about that. I believe I can heal them and even enhance them for true flight. You wouldn't be much of a protector if you couldn't keep up with your charge, now would you?"

[DragonSong]

Nani stared slightly and turned to look at the wise woman. "You can...do that?" she asked, wide-eyed. "I—I didn't think that sort of thing was possible..."

[MadEmperor]

"Normally I wouldn't have the power, but we just so happen to have a magical creature to act as a catalyst," Rosamund answered.

Ein had to remind himself that she meant him. But what did she mean by that?

"Your blood, dear Einhardt. You saw what it did to counter what infected your dog. Imagine what a skilled mage could do with it," she told him.

[DragonSong]

"His blood?" Nani repeated. She didn't sound as put off by the idea as many mainlanders might have been, merely startled. "I mean...but wouldn't that...change me? Like it did Vander?"

[MadEmperor]

"Oh, no, nothing like that," she reassured. "It merely interacted with the process his body was already undergoing."

Noticing Ein's dubious expression, she said, "This, of course, assumes you are okay with a little benign blood magic. I'm not the kind of mage to do anything without permission."

The newly freed gargoyle nodded. "Take whatever you need. I'm not one to get hung up on superstition or a little pain."

[DragonSong]

"I..."

Nani hesitated. Healing her wing would certainly be a boon, but the rest... It felt like a big decision. Not as big as the one Ein had just faced, but bigger than anything she was used to.

But...the idea of being able to fly... Not just glide, but fly.

She looked to Rosamund and nodded once, sharply. "Yes. If Ein is comfortable with it, then yes. Please."

[MadEmperor]

The mage smiled. "Excellent. Just give me a little time to make sure I have everything I need."


Sometime later...

The three were seated around a magic circle as Rosamund mashed several unfamiliar and odorous ingredients into a fine paste in her mortar bowl. She stepped over to Ein, who nodded and cut his hand with one claw before squeezing a few drops into the mixture. Rosamund stirred the blood in and nodded to Nani.

"I need you to expose your back. I have to apply this to your wing muscles."

[DragonSong]

"Right." She nodded swiftly and turned to offer access to her back, easily stripping off the rather well-worn tunic that had been with her since Ein's farm. Unlike most mainland women, she didn't wear a breastband--there wasn't really a way to get one on comfortably, not with her wings--but she also didn't seem to care overmuch about her own "modesty" either.

"Is this...what will this feel like?" she asked curiously, and with perhaps a bit of trepidation, over her shoulder.

[MadEmperor]

"Warm and itchy, but there should be no pain. The spell won't reshape anything; it will merely strengthen your musculature so that your wings do not tire so easily," she responded as she moved behind the Yoreiqi woman.

She began slathering the paste on her wing muscles and select spots along the wings themselves, paying special attention to Nani's wound. The substance didn't seem to warm until Rosamund poured magic through it, at which point the familiar itch of knitting flesh grew almost unbearable.

[DragonSong]

Nani help perfectly still while Rosamund worked, a state she tried to continue throughout the process. But after a minute or so the itching grew so bad that she started to fidget helplessly, and clenched her hands into fists in her lap. Her wings trembled with the effort it took to remain still.

"How—how long should I wait?"

[MadEmperor]

"Until the itching stops and the warmth fades," she answered as she began kneading Nani's muscles to encourage the magic further.

After a good half of an hour, the sensations suddenly faded. What was left was the invigorating soreness of a lengthy exercise session.

[DragonSong]

Though she knew it was under an hour, Nani felt like she sat there for half the day waiting for the discomfort to fade. When it finally did, she sighed and cautiously rolled both shoulders and wings back.

She winced at the soreness, but it wasn't pain, exactly, and that was certainly a marked improvement. She looked up at Rosamund hopefully. "Can I—I mean, is it...done?"

[MadEmperor]

Rosamund nodded. "It is. But I recommend you both rest before you attempt to fly. Your bodies have been through a lot for one day."

"You most of all," she told Ein pointedly. "None of your tough guy nonsense, do you hear me?"

Ein chuckled. "Alright, alright, I'll be good. Gods, I forgot I was like that as a kid."

Was?

[DragonSong]

Nani snorted quietly and shot him a droll look at his use of the past tense, but didn't comment. She glanced to Rosamund and asked hopefully, "Could I at least...go out? I'm not sure I could stretch to my full wingspan in here--not to try them," she added hurriedly, "but my whole back feels...tight."

[MadEmperor]

Rosamund smiled and chuckled lightly. "Yes. Of course you can. Just take things slow and you'll be fine."

"I actually need to step out myself. I need to take Ein's new measurements to the seamstress. Can't very well let him walk around with nothing but torn underpants." She smirked.

"Perhaps you should come with me and show her how your shirt works. She's never made clothes for anyone with wings before."

[DragonSong]

She nodded obediently. "Of course, if you like." She gathered up her shirt, holding it bundled in front of her chest but not seeming all that inclined to put it back on. She glanced back at Ein over her shoulder.

"You'll, ah, be alright?"

[MadEmperor]

Ein chuckled. "I can handle being alone, if that's what you're worried about."

"I think I'll visit with Vander and take a nap. That really did tire me out."

[DragonSong]

Nani smiled and nodded at him. "We'll see you in a bit then." She looked to the wise woman and dipped her head respectfully. "Lead on then, Mistress."

[MadEmperor]

After a day of rest, Ein was excited to give his true body a workout. It was the first time since his childhood that he could remember looking forward to what the day might hold. Nani had never seen him with anything like the bounce he had in his step when he emerged in his new clothes.

The cloth and leather ensemble Rosamund had provided weren't anything fancier than he was used to wearing, but it was new and it was the first thing that truly fit him as he was meant to be. Turning to give the ladies a complete look, he asked, "Well?"