signetshadows

[signetshadows]

"I do have more important things to be doing than babysitting a Sorrengail." He replied back between another puff from his churam. She had no idea what he was up to and he was going to keep it that way. The last thing he needed was Dain touching her and seeing what he was up to. "He's not making it difficult on purpose. I can tell you he's not thinking about you at all. He's got other things on his mind."

His eyebrows rose some as he watched her adjust herself, noting that she still needed to work on keeping her balance and core strength. "You could kiss me to see if that makes your little ache happy or you could focus and really shut him out completely. You're too focused on what he is doing rather than what you need to do to make it so you don't feel all the emotions he does." A smirk is on his features as he watched her, still smoking his drugs. "Up to you, Violence."

"Through Liam? Yeah, but not you. You have other more important things to be doing," she pointed out, a brief reminder of the secret meeting she'd accidentally stumbled into. It was the same night when she realized how dangerous and powerful his signet was, and the same night she earned some respect for him for protecting the other rebels' children. "And you think? I'm trying to shut the door but he's either making it difficult on purpose or..." Violet trailed off, not even wanting herself to start doubting.

His next words had her sigh, a soft puff of mist coming from her lips. It made her look a little like a dragon, if it weren't for the way her knees buckled. Clearly, her joints thought that now was the perfect time to lose a little strength, and she gripped the wall to keep herself from falling against him. "So snow is out. Aside from giving into this sudden urge to kiss you, I don't see what else I can do."

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"Our fates together are sealed by our dragons. You should know I'm keeping an eye on you." He figured she would have deducted that already with Liam being her bodyguard around the clock. "Liam isn't here, is he? He does need to sleep, Violence, much like you do but I know it's hard once these two are like this." He had been able to block them out now but the first few times had been very difficult.

Xaden shrugged when she refused the churam and smoked more of it himself, letting out a puff of air that showed in front of his face. He found it to be a nice distraction that leveled out his emotions that were being forced by Sgaeyl. "You think snow is going to help you forget all those feelings they are stirring up inside you? You need to shut the door harder before you try some kind of physical cure. You're just going to be cold and miserable if you don't."

He was there before she could react, though her hand was already around one of the knives she always kept strapped by her ribs. Realizing who he was, however, she lowered her arm to her side. “You’re keeping an eye on me?” she asked, though the answer was pretty obvious. She just didn’t think he would actually do it, not with the hatred he had for anyone with Sorrengail as their last name. “I thought Liam would be enough.”

His offer of the churam had her look up at him and then shake her head. “No, thanks. I’ve never smoked that in my life, and as distracting as our dragons are being right now, I…” Violet froze when another wave crashed over her – didn’t I shut the door enough?! – and she bit down on the insides of her lips. “…don’t really know how my body is going to react to that. I was thinking of just faceplanting into the snow.” The possibility of the cold shock would end up affecting Tairn, too, but she was sure that that last stab of arousal had been deliberate. So much for not being immature.

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Xaden could sense the unease with Violet and knew she wasn't blocking out Tairn correctly which meant she would bolt. Her bodyguard was asleep, unable to protect her as she left her bed and headed outside. His shadows moved to watch her and everything around her, grabbing his own jacket before he left his room and met her right before she exited the doors that lead to the Courtyard.

"Not so fast, Violence," his voice was smooth, hand catching and grabbing her elbow to pull her too him. The force of the motion had been too much, her tiny body hitting his chest before he could stop her. "What do you think you're doing? I was joking about going to tell them to knock it off." He wasn't sure if that was her plan but he also didn't think it was wise that she decided to wander off by herself at night. "Here," he pulled out his churam and offered it to her, "this will take the edge off and hopefully make you relax some."

She groaned. Violet didn't know why she expected anything more than sarcasm from him, but it was worth a try. A resounding huff was her response, and she tried slamming the doors to her bond with Tairn shut. Which was about as useful as using a metal strainer to catch water for all the good it did her; if anything, that close contact was making her start feeling...things.

Normally, those things involved a very Dain-like figure, but to her horror, she was thinking of onyx eyes and dark hair, caught in a fist of her fingers, lips moving lower down her body until...

"Damn it, Tairn," she grumbled, tossing the pillow into the air as if that would end up beaning the big black dragon on the back of his head. Not even her usual technique of reciting history texts was working, so she ended up throwing her flight jacket on and heading outside. Maybe faceplanting into a snow drift would help; at this rate, anything was better than being in bed.

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He didn't argue with her statement and let her return to Liam and her friends, trying his best to keep the shadows away from spying on what she might be talking about. After dinner, he left with Sgaeyl so he could deliver the weapons he had promised. He didn't return until late that night and he was slowly beginning to get ready to sleep when he felt the emotions wash over him. He quickly put up his shields and decided that he wasn't going to bed. He pulled out his churam and sat himself down in the chair that was in his room, relaxing with the drug.

Her voice in his head made him smirk. I'm not telling them anything. If you would like to disrupt everything they are doing then it was nice knowing you. He took another long puff, sighing softly to himself. He had control over this by now, not letting Tairn or Sgaeyl disrupt his peace as his barriers were much better than Violet's. She would eventually be able to block them out like he could and he made a mental note to get her some churam for nights like these.

"Stranger things have happened," was all she offered as a response. Xaden was right: she suspected there was more to their family's history than he and her mother let on, but she was more concerned with reaching the end of first year. And War Games coming up, she needed to be ready. Violet said nothing more, only nodding when he suggested that she find Liam. She already knew where he would be, though she ended up being 'cornered' by Rhi and Ridoc on their way to dinner.

It was close to midnight when she was finally able to return to her room, with Liam waiting until she was safely inside. The bed had never looked so inviting, and she slumped down on it and closed her eyes. It felt like only minutes before she felt something, something raw and intense, and a quick check of her shields showed that the emotions were coming from Tairn's end. Fuck. She hated to think what he was doing with Sgaeyl, and she groaned, covering her head with her pillow. Although it was unlikely that she would reach Xaden through their telepathic bond, she did so, anyway.

Please. Tell them to stop. I'm trying to sleep!

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Violet was much nicer than he was, always worrying about others rather than herself. It was why she had two dragons now instead of just one. She had cared even about the golden one that she ended up pairing with the most powerful dragon in her year. "I'll think about it," was all he responded to Liam getting some time off. He needed to make sure the weapons were dropped first and then he may decide to take over the duty of watching over her.

He caught her by the arm when they were down the steps, onyx eyes looking into hers. "Miss me? When have you ever cared about my safety, Violence? You usually look like you want to end me." He let go of her and he was tempted to read her mind but he refrained, letting her speak her thoughts rather than find them himself. "I'll be back by later tonight. You don't need to worry about me. I have Sgaeyl that will take good care of me." He pursed his lips and took a step back. "Go find Liam so you can get some food into your system. I'll see you tomorrow."

Violet nodded at that, maybe a little too enthusiastically. Sure, it meant that she would be left unprotected, but she believed she could fend for herself. She'd had a couple of razor close calls, but she was still there, in part due to her sister's gift. "Would you? I wouldn't mind if he did; the last thing I want is for them to have to see each other only when I've got to go to the Archives." Liam and Jesinia were two people she was fond of, and she'd be happy if they ended up being happy together.

"Neither would Tairn. And as grumpy as all three of you are, I..." she hesitated and almost missed a step on the way down. Thankfully, she managed to right herself at the last second, though she had to stop for a few seconds. "...I'll miss you, okay? Even if Sgaeyl secretly wants to bite my head off. I'll miss all of you." He could take that however he wanted, but she knew that even if she changed her reply, her shields were unreliable that he would hear her thoughts.

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"Liam is the opposite of her in the sense that he warms up to people very quickly. I'm sure you noticed that." Which is why he was such a good shadow for Violet. Liam was likeable and Xaden was sure that deep down she really cared for him even though he had to guard her. She wouldn't feel the same way if it was him that tailed her around. He had too much to take care of to do so. "Maybe I should give him the night off so he can talk to Jesinia." He watched her as she spoke and his scarred brow rose when she mentioned saving him. "Saving me? Sure you don't want to fry me like you did Barlowe?" He smirked, playing with her some. The tension between them was thick, borderline flirtatious but Xaden had reserves as he needed to make sure weapons got dropped when they were supposed to. He didn't have time for a relationship even if the thought had crossed his mind when it came to her. "Saving me because our dragons are bonded makes sense. I don't think Sgaeyl would like it if I died anytime soon."

Fondness replaced playful mirth, and she nodded. "Yeah, he's great. I think Jesinia likes him, too, and she's normally not quick to warm up to people." Especially rebels. That was something she didn't need to say; he and his friends most likely got clear reminders of it every day. No sense in adding to it, not when this was supposedly -- on her end, at least -- some kind of a safe space.

Violet did perk up at the number. It might not have been much -- painfully low if she was in the middle of a battle -- but it was more than she had managed before. "I hope so. We never know when I need it." She'd called upon it at a critical moment, sending Jack Barlowe to his death, and she knew it wouldn't be the last. "Or when you would." The thought of saving him had never occurred to her before, yet there it was. Mira would have a conniption, and her mother...oh, she tried not to think about what General Sorrengail would do if she heard that one of her children had saved a Riorson.

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A small smirk flashed across his lips. Her sarcasm wasn't lost on him and it amused him just briefly until he stood stoic in front of her again. "He's not bad company. I can tell you've grown fond of him," he said simply, watching her closely. He didn't need to use his shadows to find out just how much she cared about Liam. He already reported everything to Xaden and could sense that Violet was off limits in that regard.

"About fifteen which isn't bad. More than I thought your body could handle," he admitted, his eyes scanning her over and assessing the damage she never spoke about. He could sense that she wasn't in the best shape, one of her knees out as the other one took her weight. "Eventually your body will get used to the amount of heat and power your signet takes. I won't be surprised if you get to twenty by the end of the week."

"You're going to make him wait for me? I feel special," she said, clasping her hands together and pretending to swoon. Still, she couldn't deny the way her heart leaped in her chest at the thought. Maybe it was because Tairn and Sgaeyl were mates, but ever since Threshing, her emotions when it came to Xaden were all over the place. She wanted him, she didn't want him, she lusted after him, and she beat herself up internally for even thinking of him that way. It was enough to give her and Tairn mental whiplash.

Violet stayed seated for several seconds more before she stood up, testing her one good knee before putting weight on the second. The pain that shot up that leg wasn't as bad as before, and she thought that she could manage to get back down. "How many strikes did I even get in?" she asked as she moved closer, averting her gaze from those beefy arms and his onyx eyes. "I honestly lost track."

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Xaden felt a bit of tension release from his shoulders when she admitted that she didn't believe Dain was the boy she thought he was. His biggest concern with being connected to her was her friend finding out the secrets he had been keeping. His power of seeing memories by touch made him hesitant to share more with Violet even though he wanted her to know all about what he was planning. He watched her quietly, impressed with her powers and the control she was gaining but he knew she was pushing herself too much, her body giving herself away to him before she finally decided to take a break.

"I have to meet with Bodhi," he replied simply to her question, his eyes traveling over to her as she rested on the bolder she had managed to save. "I could be persuaded to make him wait," a small smirk appeared on his lips, toying with her as his big arms rested over his chest. "You should probably rest and eat something. Using all the power is going to drain you faster than any training season you've been in. I'll have Liam go with you to the kitchens."

Before the Parapet, hearing that Dain had such strong feelings for another girl would have crushed her. Now, all she wanted to do was smack her ‘best friend’, which was a term she loosely used when it came to him. Strange how the guy her own sister had warned her away from ended up being the one who had the most faith in her. “I won’t. As much as I hate it, I know he’s not the boy I thought he was.” She sighed and started slowly flexing her fingers, only drawing up on the power when she was ready to strike out again.

She managed several more hits, a few missed ones and a few that met their mark, before she finally stopped, breathing heavily and sitting down on one of the few boulders that had survived her lightning strikes. Her knees were already hurting her, and she reached down to massage the joints and winced as pain flared to life. Tairn grumbled something about her overexerting herself – again, Silver One – before she blew one of the loose locks of her hair from over her face. “So…where are you going after this?” she asked nonchalantly. A part of her hoped that he’d go down to the hall with her, but it was also likely that he would either need to go to Sgaeyl or meet with his ‘friends’, so she kept silent instead of inviting him to go with her.

[signetshadows]

Xaden and Sgaeyl

[signetshadows]

Hope is a fickle, dangerous thing. It steals your focus and aims it toward the possibilities instead of keeping it where it belongs - on the probabilities. || Fourth Wing by Rebecca Yarros

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Her question made his scarred eyebrow raise at her. "You shouldn't get so ahead of yourself," he huffed though he felt mostly amused by her thinking that they could even get to that number. Violet had surprised everyone, even him, but he had stopped doubting her ability to survive long before her dragons had picked her. "And one hundred lightening bolts would overheat your entire body. Take it one at a time."

The air around them filled with the feeling of electricity, making the hair on the back of his neck stand up. He watched as tiny bolts of lightning cracked around her as she spoke about Dain. "Is he really going to keep questioning dragons?" Xaden shook his head, not surprised that the all knowing man was in a twist about something that had never happened before. "He's probably still upset that the girl he was sleeping with last year got executed for her participation in trying to get you killed." He shrugged, acting like it didn't bother him how she had been hunted while she slept even though it made his muscles tense some with irritation. "I wouldn't let him get under your skin. You're more valuable than he is with your signet."

She took a step back, her bouncing swiftly halted. "Why stop at fifty?" she asked, her smile shifting to a slight line in an attempt to bite back a grin. It was nice to actually hear someone support her instead of trying to talk her out of it. Even Mira had tried convincing her that being a rider wasn't for her. Call it stubbornness, but their lack of faith in her only made her more determined to do it.

"I'll go to a hundred if I have to," Violet continued, already taking a deep breath that signaled her getting ready to channel the power. That turned to her shoulders lowering, her body tensing at the very mention of Dain. "...not good. He's been trying to convince me to give up Andarna. Says having two dragons just isn't...done. But even he can't go against the Empyrean." Even as she spoke, the memory of his words brought a surge of irritation, tiny bolts of lighting crackling around her fist.

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Xaden's gaze moved to the first crack he heard, noticing how she had gotten close to the target. It wasn't direct but it was progress. It wasn't good enough for her dragon though, the voice of Tairn vibrated in his own head. The instruction was clear and before another flash blinded him briefly. This time she struck the rock directly, impressing him. The large bolder split in half, sizzling some. "Good job, Violence," he commented, not letting his demeanor change in the slightest even as she bumped into him. "Now you just need to do that about fifty more times to be ready to battle." One target didn't mean she could suddenly fly with him but it was a step closer. He ignored the chuff he heard. "How are things going with your friend?"

“Trying to.” She was about to let out another surge when he piped up with that quip, and she cracked open an eye to look at him, an almost imperceptible shake of her head following, before she unleashed it. A loud crack echoed, and the lightning bolt struck the ground a few inches from the rock. It wasn’t exactly a direct hit, but it was closer than the previous ones. “Yes!” Violet looked pleased with herself, the previous irritation over Dain immediately forgotten. “Again!” In the back of her mind — and possibly Xaden’s — she heard Tairn grumbling, but the dragon ended up letting her tap into the power again, and this time…

“A direct hit!” She began to bounce, almost dancing around until she bumped into him.

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Her words didn't match her tone she used with him, puzzling him some. "Alright," he responded simply and listened to her. Unlike her friend, Xaden knew that Violet was capable of everything that surged through her body. He took a step back and then another, giving her the space she had requested. "I trust that you aren't going to kill me. Maybe you should have a little faith in yourself." He had heard the conversations she had with Dain and there was no doubt the man thought she should be dead by now. "Remember to ground and that I'm not scared of you or your signet," he added the last part with a little smirk, unable to stop from teasing her.

"I'm not saying you are," she said, sounding more snappish than intended. Her conversation with Dain had already ruined a perfectly good morning, and it hadn't helped that she kept on missing the targets that Professor Carr had set out for her. Not by a few inches, but by a foot. Feet, even, and it served to drum in the message that she couldn't do it. "I just..." A deep exhale, her eyes briefly closing before she focused on the empty field ahead, the power already surging through her body. "...I need you to step back a little. Sgaeyl will have my head if you end up lightning fodder."

[signetshadows]

indie and canon xaden riorson from fourth wing. sideblog to @dalphahale . private and selective. minors dni.

[signetshadows]

@silveryviolence : “I don’t need anything from you.”

Xaden's jaw tensed, his onyx eyes assessing her and the words she spoke. "You don't need anything from me?" He huffed out an air of laugh that sounded more like a sigh signaling that he was bored and tired of their conversation. "Why is it that you keep bickering with the one person that believes you can do something more than what others are saying?" He crossed his arms over his large chest, the shadows in the corner of his vision. "I'm not your enemy, Violence, thought you were smart enough to know that."