Maintain - Draven/Harlowe/Ke'lal

Draven hadn’t been all that impressed with the outsiders when they originally delved into the Beneath, went from clan to clan to learn what he could. In part, it was likely due to them stealing from his own clan to give to the Forgotten. Perhaps that soured his opinion of them more than it normally would’ve been. Either way, the Caregivers deemed it necessary to go to the Above and seek out their aid in freeing the Matriarch. Something that didn’t quite sit right for Draven, but who was he to protest? They were the Caregivers. The ones who spoke for the Matriarch. If they’d decided it was time to seek out help, then so be it.

However, he wasn’t immune to the buzzing anticipation of being able to see the Matriarch. Knowing outsiders were being able to experience the same didn’t even dampen it in the slightest. Not truly, that is. No… as he approached the cavern with the rest of the crowd and entered the crystalline sanctum, he was rendered speechless. Frozen in place as he beheld his Matriarch for the first time in his life. Her sheer size was awe inspiring, and the colorful crystals along and encasing her body were both parts beautiful and daunting at the same time. Her crystals were their life, and yet… it was her prison.

“Do not let your awe render you useless, Watcher.” A voice behind him warned, their tone harsh but not hateful. 

“Ke’lal,” Draven greeted, having whipped his head around in reaction to being spoken to. “Finished with your patrols already?”

Ke’lal let out a low rumble in response, his gaze shifting past Draven to their massive Matriarch. To the many varyons and haedians working to free her from her confines, the groups moving about and finding tasks to do with some guidance. A spotted, cream colored varyon held his attention for a moment as they passed before his focus was shifting to the rest. The topsiders were… tolerable. So long as they continued to prove useful in their task, he would tolerate them at best. He was an Order Guard, though. If he saw fit, he would remove whoever he deemed necessary.

“In a sense,” Ke’lal confirmed, “My task now is to aid in the Matriarch’s comfort.”

Or, more accurately; aid her and monitor those who were assisting the Caregivers in her care.

—

Harlowe came marching in with many others when he was summoned for aid down in the Beneath. Well, not directly, but he was an able body and many from Warrenfall came to see the hubbub and do work for the Haedians, so he joined along for the sail and came to this foreign magical land for the very first time. 

Now he needed to find work to do. After asking some Caregivers, he was pointed to a small group to help comfort the Matriarch. Feed her, tend to her, all the like, and Harlowe was more than thrilled to do so. She was magnificent indeed. Imposing, massive, the biggest living being Harlowe had ever seen. If he could have stars in his eyes they’d be twinkling with amazement. But for now he had to steel his wit and head over towards his soon-to-be temporary team. What he did not expect were the hard looks he got. One of the Haedians he soon learned to call Draven, seemed all the less interested in him the closer he got, while the other, Ke’lal, was looking him up and down like squeezing him mentally for some reason Harlowe was unaware of. 

__

Brief introductions aside, the trio moved towards the Matriarch’s head. More specifically, the joint of her jaw. Another team on the other side was already working to gently chip away and file at the excess growth, and between the three of them they would likely be able to manage clearing away the crystal limiting her movement.

“Approach this with more care than you would the stone upon her sides, outsider.” Ke’lal warned, but if you asked Draven, it somehow sounded like a threat.

The Watcher offered Harlowe a file instead of a chisel, allowing the larger haedian to pick those tools up instead and get settled. Once the vayron had the file in hand, he picked up one of his own and focused on a jagged section of crystal to smooth down.

“Simply smooth out the edges. Ke’lal will handle the… more precise work.”

—

Harlowe kept his strongest front when the large Haedian gave his, uh, instructions, and followed them to the letter. With a file in his paws, he settled and got a good grip on the tool before starting to file away the excess points. He had to wonder how this would feel on the Matriarch. Does she feel.. The rock? Is she the rock? That’s what Harlowe heard, but.. They’re all breaking away at it, he wasn’t sure how to think about it so he opted to following Haedian example rather than arguing with his concerns.

Filing the crystal wasn’t a hard task by any means, with the tool being fresh and clean for job to get done swiftly. The colorful dust was all over his paws in no time. You could maybe make paints with it… The Matriarch’s jaw was massive, and every time Harlowe believed he’d covered a large area, all he had to do was look in any direction to see more jagged points from Ke’lal and Draven having chipped away at the growths, waiting for Harlowe to smooth them out. 

This job would go on for hours, with some breaks in between to stretch your limbs and digits, and grab something to eat and drink. Ke’lal wasn’t as appetized, but Harlowe didn’t say no to some fortification before resuming his job. The file has pressed on his paws for so long, that the pads had indents for the file and the handle, and the crystal dust would be a pain to get out of his fur for sure. But, he voiced no complaints yet, and heaved himself back up to resume working beside Ke’lal and Draven.