Deviation Actions
Literature Text
Chapter 15: Realizations of the Choice
The stare had two very different tones to both of the Dragonborns; to Aesthyrarytiss, it had the distinct tone of we need to talk about this!, although in a manner that was filled with girlish squealing, while Bejikixen saw more of a tone of if you so much as make her shed a single tear, remember that I know where you sleep within Nessa’s emerald eyes, which were as daggers piercing into his soul. He shifted uneasily, and when he looked at Aesthyrarytiss, he noticed that she was still blushing.
“Now, now, Aesthyrarytiss,” Nessa said, her voice beyond teasing, “you know that gold does not hide a blush very well, now; does it?” she asked, and the female Dragonborn turned away from the two humanoid figures.
“I do not know what you are talking about,” Aesthyrarytiss said quickly. Nessa laughed as her sister said this.
“You can have him all to yourself, Aesthyrarytiss,” she said, waving her hand dismissively. “You know where I stand on having romance in my life right now. Maybe in another few months, or a year, but not right now. Not when we are on a quest that is a matter of life and death.” When she said this, Zaratoovir twisted his head around to look at her, but soon returned it to the position it had been in before; resting on the ground with his eyes closing slowly into sleep. Aesthyrarytiss continued to blush deeply until, finally, she turned away from the other two again entirely.
“I am going to go to sleep,” she said bluntly, taking her pack and slipping behind Zaratoovir’s sleeping form to slide out of her full plate armor. When she returned from behind the dragon, she picked a spot on the ground close to the fire, which was at a relatively dim glow so as to not give away their position to any enemies that would otherwise love to cut their journey short.
“I will take first watch,” Nessa said, but Bejikixen shook his head firmly.
“No, Athearverthicha,” he said sternly. “You were just out hunting and look like you were in more than your fair share of scrapes. I will take the first watch, and Aesthyrarytiss can take the second watch, but you need your rest.”
Nessa looked at the Dragonborn in mild confusion, but did not argue with him as she, too, picked a spot of ground to sit down on as she entered a state of trance. Zaratoovir opened his eyes slightly as he looked to Bejikixen, who had his sword out at the ready as he sat out on the edge of the camp, his red eyes lost in thought.
“You look as though you are troubled,” Zaratoovir whispered in a voice that would not draw the attention of the two sleeping women. The Dragonborn turned his head as he looked first to Aesthyrarytiss’s sleeping form, and then back to Zaratoovir.
“Why is there nothing there?” he asked, and the dragon looked at him in confusion as he tried to understand what he was asking.
“What do you mean, Bejikixen ux Vaecaesin tibur Aranel Oronrá?” Zaratoovir asked, and the red Dragonborn pointed at Aesthyrarytiss’s sleeping form.
“Why is it that I feel nothing for her?” he asked quietly, sighing as he looked over her sleeping form again. “Look at her… most any other race would be jealous of her figure, and her eyes… her eyes are simply stunning! And those scales… I hope you do not take offense to this, Zaratoovir, but those scales would make most metallic dragons jealous of her!”
“I am unsure of what to tell you, Bejikixen,” Zaratoovir began, “because I have found my eyes drawn to her sister, but she insists that she cannot feel anything for me because it will cause the Charirmolik to take one of us captive to lure the other in.”
“I had noticed that your eyes seem to be consistently drawn towards her,” Bejikixen said. “And I am not blind—she has cast a few longing glances in your direction as well. But… how is it that I feel absolutely nothing towards Aesthyrarytiss?” he asked, casting the female Dragonborn a single longing glance more before he turned away again, his eyes trained on the horizon.
While this conversation had been happening, Aesthyrarytiss was drifting fitfully in and out of sleep. Several things had been darting across her mind, from the various encounters on their trail, to her decision to undertake the Rite of Rebirth, to having Zaratoovir in their party with them, to encountering Bejikixen—and it was the encounter with Bejikixen that set Aesthyrarytiss off on a whole other tangent of thoughts. As she curled up by the fire in her bedroll, she sighed deeply.
If there is one thing I miss about my Elven body, it is the ability to enter a state of trance… she thought to herself, curling up again as she finally allowed her eyes to close, but as her eyes closed, a memory danced across her mind.
“Dragonborns cannot even have children, Nessa! Did you know that?!”
This angered sentence, spoken by Pavel, rang into Aesthyrarytiss’s memories as another thought accompanied them. Though it had not felt like it, it had been nearly three weeks since she had decided to become a Dragonborn, and something dimly flashed across her mind.
It is been over a month… and nothing. Pavel was right; Dragonborns are incapable of bearing children… she thought, her eyes slowly sliding open as this thought danced out of her head almost as fast as it had danced into it. Once that thought had danced out of her mind, however, she realized why it was that she had felt absolutely no attraction to Bejikixen; even though he was decidedly handsome (her mind went as far as to venture that, had he grown up in Irilia, ever female within the village would be vying for his affections).
“Aesthyrarytiss?”
This was said in a voice that was barely above a whisper; the Dragonborn female looked up from her bedroll to see Bejikixen looking over at her, his red eyes alight with curiosity as he observed her. When she stirred, his eyes returned to the horizon, but when he heard her move to sit down next to him at the edge of the camp, he looked back at her, his eyes soft.
“Could not sleep much?” he asked, and she shook her head.
“No. Sleep seems to be one thing that has evaded me ever since I decided to become a Dragonborn, probably because I was so often going into states of trance. I did not need to sleep when I was an Elf—and now that I cannot enter a state of trance, I am finding myself wishing that I could enter a state of trance—or at least sleep soundly for a few hours at a time…” she said, and Bejikixen nodded as he looked away for a few moments.
“Listen, about earlier…” he started to say. “I am sorry. I should not have overstepped a boundary such as that—”
“Bejikixen… it is not that I do not feel anything for you as a person,” Aesthyrarytiss said, looking at him with intent golden eyes. “It is that I do not feel anything physical for you—and we cannot. It is… not possible for us,” she said, and Bejikixen nodded slowly.
“I know,” he said quietly. “I was beginning to figure out that Bahamut designed us this way, so that there would be no children born into this hard life without choosing it first. I do not mind the fact that I will not be preserving my family’s lineage—I never cared much for them anyways, especially my mother.”
As he said this, he looked solemnly over the camp, although he was honestly not concerned about anything attacking them in the middle of the night; not with a golden dragon guarding the other borders of the campsite with nothing more than his sleeping form.
