Under The Full Moon

Unexpected Visitor

It had been a week since the last battle with Alerone and his minions, the villagers taking the time to mourn the loss of their friends and heal. With the help of Wysteria, they were able to keep their injuries from growing infections, and with the help of Gale and Broin, they were able to keep themselves full on fish and deer. Gale sat down with her portion of deer, having returned with Broin with some for the villagers as well as herself. As she rested herself down to eat, Dillan sat down beside her. She turned her head, giving him a friendly snort of a greeting. His wounds had been cleaned and his arm bandaged, but otherwise, he looked as though he was doing well. He smiled up at Gale in response to the snort, patting her leg with a hand before he set to eating his own meal. While he ate, Gale finished her own, settling her head on her paws. Broin sat not too far away, talking with Wysteria at one of the fires that they had made. About what, Gale couldn't hear. More that she wasn't trying. She was tired from hunting, and she didn't mind the closeness that had grown between the two. As much as she liked Broin. It had become obvious to herself, when Broin was near her, that there were feelings in her that were more than a friendship with the young man, but if there was anything that was there it wasn't something Gale was going to pressure.

She was drawn from her thoughts when Dillan leaned back against her leg, giving a satisfied sigh as he set aside his wooden bowl. Turning her head enough to look at the young man, she lifted one of her whiskers and gave his face a tickle. He chuckled, playfully swatting it away. With a small smile forming on the corners of her lips, Gale closed her eyes and allowed them to settle back down. "What are you going to do when you get to go back home?" Dillan's voice reached her ears, his soft tone of voice giving away his curiosity. Her eyes still closed, Gale flicked an ear back as she gave this some thought.

"Probably hug my father until my arms grow tired," She mumbled, exhaling softly against the ground through her nose. Dillan gave a nod. 

"That's understandable. I would do the same thing in your shoes," He responded, playing with the fur on her forelimb for a moment, almost studying the soft texture before he spoke again. "I'm sorry this happened to you. I know we talked about it a little before..." Gale drew her leg back away from him a little and sat up. 

"Dillan..." Broin's voice interjected before Gale could speak. The expression on Broin's face was one that suggested that Dillan stop while he was ahead. He had been paying attention to the two without either of them getting a hint of his watchful eye, and Gale's discomfort with the direction the conversation had taken was noticed. Dillan shifted uncomfortably under Broin's gaze but he didn't speak a word after. Instead, he simply sat with Gale for a time before he took his bowl over to wash it in the lake and went to talk to a few of the villagers. Gale watched him go, her head soon settling back down on her paws. She began to fall into a light doze when the sound of a conversation nearby drew her sharply from her sleep."You shouldn't be here..." She could hear Broin's voice, followed by one that sent her heart into her throat.

"I needed to see if what you were telling me was true... that my daughter is still alive..." The voice of her father made Gale's fur stand on end. She was excited to hear, but there was also a fear that he might not believe it was her. "Where is she?" Gale's ears went back against her head, her wings moving to hug tightly against her sides. Wysteria was there in a moment, her hand on the side of Gale's neck. "I can't wait for you to bring her back to me any longer, I need to see her,"

"It's going to be alright," She whispered, Gale's head swiveling to look at her. The expression on the dragon's face was doubtful, but she was going to try to listen to her friend. Turning her head back toward the conversation, she watched with fear as Broin turned to look at her, her father standing just behind him. He looked older than she remembered, her going missing having taken a toll on him. His once dark beard had begun to go grey, worry lines forming on his face and brow. When his dark brown eyes rested on her, there was a look of disbelief and shock that made her heart ache.

"Gale?" He whispered as he approached her, her head lowering a little. He stopped a little way in front of her, not wanting to get too close, to begin with, in the event that this was some kind of trap. Gale could sense this, a low whine escaping her. 

"It's me..." She spoke softly, her purple-blue eyes cast to the ground. Upon hearing his daughter's voice being uttered from the beast in front of him, Gale's father's eyes welled with tears before he rushed to her, grabbing her head in his arms and hugging her close. Gale closed her eyes, burying her muzzle against the older man's shirt, her ears drooping heavily to the sides of her head. "I'm so sorry..." She whined. "I should have listened to you... you must be so ashamed of me..." 

"Gale..." The man spoke, moving to look at her, holding her muzzle now in his hands. "I am just glad to see you are alive..." He stroke her nose, running his hand from her nose to her forehead. "When Valor came back without you and we couldn't find you, we had searched everywhere for you... then your friend over there came to us and gave us news that he had seen you, but that he couldn't bring you to us. We didn't understand for a while, but... after hearing what he had to say and seeing you now... I understand," her father's words reached her ears, her head lowering a little further. 

Despite his words, his saying that he was glad that she was still alive, and there being no shame or anger in his voice, Gale couldn't help but feel a great sense of guilt. She had put her father and the rest of her family and friends through a lot of grief with her vanishing. She should have listened, stayed within the boundaries of their village. Looking to her father, she gave a soft sigh. "When I do get to come home... I promise you that things will change..." Her father settled a hand between her horns on top of her head, running his fingers through her mane as he did to her hair when she was still a young girl. 

"It's going to be alright, Gale. I just want you to worry about getting home,"