The Caregivers Prompt 2

The golden clad haedians watched the surface dwelling trio finally submit to the ethereal magic of their sacred pool. The dark runner, the green empyrean, and the pink chaser were all silently floating in the lake not far from shore. The leader of the golden haedians stared at the dark runner who had put up the most resistance to her coercive magic, he had a very strong will and she had honestly worried she wouldn't be able to get him into the waters. The other two had put up no resistance at all which had surprised her a little, she had at least expected the pink one to fight back but he was unusually docile for some reason. As she watched the trio float in the lake a nearby pool of water's surface rippled and began to change color. Well it was no matter, whatever the reason for the dark ones resistance and the pink ones silence all would be revealed by the grace of the sacred pool. The golden haedians gathered around the pool of water as the surface slowly changed until an image of a young Reginald rippled across its surface.

Reginald found himself slowly sinking in a gentle haze of memories, old scenes with places and people he thought he would never get to see again replayed themselves in vivid detail as he floated in the pool. The memories flitted past rapidly barely lingering long enough for him to fully remember them before darting to the next until finally a wave of blinding light washed over his senses and he found himself standing in a massive snow covered courtyard. He was standing in formation, receiving orders from the former knight commander of military training company he had attended when he was barely old enough to be a teenager. As he stared in shock at the man he had thought had passed away he realized he couldn't understand what he was saying. The commanders voice was muffled and muted as if he was speaking underwater. He was positioned in the front row and on either side of him were some of the vayrons he had once called his brothers. Just as he was starting to feel choked up being in the presence of so many long lost friends the scene suddenly shifted once more and he found himself in the heat of battle. Garbled muted screams echoed around him as swords, teeth, and claws clashed violently. He remembered this too, this was one of the last battles he fought in the war... this was the battle where he lost everything and gained something new. He wiped his head around and desperately scanned the surging throng of combatants until he spotted a familiar set of golden armor flash in the distance. There he was, if he could just reach him in time, maybe he could save him! Reginald willed himself forward through the dream, he step felt like he was dragging massive boulders behind each foot as he forced his way through the crowd. He screamed against the strain as he reached out desperately to his best friend but just as he saw the flash of the blade rise over their head once more the scene changed again and he was ripped away from the battlefield.

Old once closed pain and grief were suddenly ripped open flooding Reginald's chest with intense emotions he had prayed he'd never have to feel again. As the memories Reginald experienced flashed across the pool and the golden haedians realized the trauma they were forcing him to re-experience they glanced back at the dark runner who was now twitching and nearly convulsing in the pool. The leader of the golden haedians frowned in pity as she swiped a paw across the pools surface forcing the magic of the pool to move on from the dark runners tragedies. It wasn't the first time the pool had revealed such a harrowed past but she had a feeling the dark runner would not forgive them for making him experience those events once more. Memories and emotions whirled past Reginald once more until he found himself in a more recent memory. He was patrolling the city when a small child accidentally ran into him. The fragile little human was no more than six and looked as if it hadn't had a decent meal in a long time. Its eyes were huge and watery as it stared up in terror at the massive vayron clad in black armor looming over him. In the distance behind him, the sound of indistinct yelling could be heard. as a merchant charged through the semi-crowded streets searching for the little beggar who had stolen a loaf of bread from his stall. Reginald looked back down at the boy and saw him desperately clutching a small loaf of bread with its dirty scared hands. The vayron pitied the boy but knew that stealing was a criminal offense, as the irate merchant charged up to the guard it's screams didn't become any more distinct. It was almost as if there was a filter of the sound as Reginald found himself responding to the merchant but also couldn't quite hear his own voice. Reginald internally watched as he helped the beggar to his feet and forced him to apologize to the merchant and return the bread. The merchant had merely glared and given them harsh words as he wouldn't be able to sell a tainted loaf that had been soiled by dirty thieving hands.

In an attempt to ease the situation Reginald had reached into his own pockets and pulled out a few coins to compensate the angry merchant. The merchant had angrily taken the money and after a few more harsh choice words gone stomping back to his stall. With the merchant handled he had turned back to the now sobbing little human and stared at him with pity as the boys stomach could be heard loudly grumbling. The dark runner heard himself say gentle muffled words to the boy before leading him over to a nearby restaurant where he got the boy a meal. The vayron watched in amusement as the child cried happy tears and wolfed down the entire meal so fast he was afraid the boy would inhale his cutlery too. Once he had eaten, the vayron spoke to the boy once more and while Reginald could not hear the words he spoke he finally remembered this interaction. This was how he had met his vice captain, his aching heart flooded with nostalgia as he watched himself guide the young boy to the knight order he was a member of. He had forgotten the humble beginnings of his most trusted human companion, today there was no trace of the tiny fragile beggar the vice captain had once been. Reginald smiled to himself as he watched the wide eyed and excited orphan excitedly agree to join his order as a stable hand. The three caregivers who had been watching Reginald's memories smiled as they watched the dark vayrons past, hopefully the more pleasant memories he is experiencing now will help him forget the pain they had accidentally made him relive.

Satisfied with what they had seen of the dark runner they directed the pool to focus on the green empyrean now instead, leaving Reginald to enjoy his happy memories. The pool rippled and shimmered as the scene it displayed changed and focused in on the gently floating green empyrean. Lianna found herself floating in pristine un-moving waters of the sacred pool and she let out a contented sigh at the pleasant feeling of the thick water clinging to her pelt and weighing down her wings. This sensation felt so similar to the time she had visited Roenden and lept into a lake that was in the process of freezing over and was more of a slush than water. As she remembered her fond memories of her past lake based shenanigans she suddenly realized her felt like she was sinking deeper into the lake like a gentle wave suddenly washed over her. A gentle haze of memories swept over her and flitted past rapidly barely lingering long enough for her to recognize them before darting to the next until finally a wave of blinding light washed over her senses. Lianna found herself sitting alone in her childhood nest staring out over the vast sea of clouds. She remembered this well, it was the first day her parent never came home. Barely more than a fledgling she was suddenly all alone in the world. The large cave that had once housed her family was on the side of a sheer cliff face and the tiny green tyrian had never seen what laid beneath the clouds. She remembered the many days alone crying and pleading for her parent to return only to be met with the silent emptiness of the sky around her. The tiny tyrian had eventually run out of food and in an act of desperation had approached the edge of the nest. She fearfully peered over the edge at the clouds far below, desperately trying to steel her nerves. Eventually the trembling tyrian used the image of her parent soaring gracefully in the sky as encouragement, after all if they could soar through the sky like that surely she could as well.

With a few last shaky breaths Lianna stepped one foot off the ledge and with a last gasp allowed herself to fall forward out of her home. Wind whistled past her ears as she desperately opened her eyes and flapped her wings but she continued to fall. She screamed in panic as she lost the little control of her dive that she had and she toppled end over end through the clouds. She fell for what felt like hours but was no more than seconds until she finally broke through the clouds and could finally see the world beneath her. A vast ocean stretched seemingly endlessly off into the horizon and connecting up to the cliff face nest she had just exited was a large rocky beach. Terror had gripped her as she tumbled toward what she assumed would be her end when suddenly a dark shadow filled her vision. The feeling of gentle claws wrapping around her, stifled the scream in her throat as she tried desperately to see what was happening. The tiny green empyrean looked up to see a massive golden figure holding her gently in its back talons. The sun glittered and reflected off its magnificent pelt as Lianna found herself being carried by an unknown tyrian unlike anything she had ever seen before. The memory faded away and Lianna found herself witnessing a slideshow of her past growing up with her adoptive mother. Wonderful warm memories of a peaceful nomadic life and adventure washed over the green empyrean as she smiled with love at the image of the one who had saved her that day. She had learned everything from this tyrian, from how to fly, how to hunt, how to cook, and even how to use magic. The memories continued to flash and show the mother daughter duos travels across the various continents of the world and the many adventures they had together. Even the not so pleasant memories were remembered fondly because she was with her adoptive mother, from their occasional arguments, to Lianna wondering what happened to her birth parents, to the time the two of them came across someone who had been caught in a natural disaster and needed to be rescued. Remembering all the fun and crazy things they had gotten up to brought a smile to the green tyrian as she watched her life flash by happily. Seeing her beloved adoptive mother for the first time in a while made Lianna want to go visit her soon. Lianna wondered to herself if she was still out in the Isilian isles as that was the last place she had seen her. The golden clad haedians smiled warmly at the images being shown by the green empyrean, a kind and gentle soul from start to present.

Now all that remained was the pink chaser who up to this point had been floating nearly lifelessly in the sacred waters. The golden haedian stared at the chaser uncertain how to feel about the previously obnoxious males quiet indifference. What had happened at the Order clan that had left him in such a catatonic state? With a wave of her hand like paw the surface of the pool rippled once more and the pleasant memories of Lianna faded away as the lake reached into the depths of Kernels mind. The surface of the water rippled and darkened as the innermost trauma of the small chaser was forcefully brought to the surface. Kernel who had been peacefully floating in the lake suddenly felt as if a force had yanked him under water. Kernel tried to struggle against the current but it felt as if he was being forcefully launched through a raging current. Indistinct harsh voices yelled and screamed around him but they sounded like they were speaking underwater so he couldn't make out what they said or recognize them. The chaser squeezed his eyes shut tight as he felt the current finally come to an abrupt jarring halt. He tentatively opened his eyes as he recognized the feeling of a carpeted floor under foot but as soon as he saw his surroundings his entire body locked in terror. Kernel found himself cowering in the grand opulent halls of his childhood home, around him on every wall hung expensive and tacky decorations. Everything was the same deep red and gold color palette and standing in front of him was the object of his worst nightmares. The noble family that the chaser descended from believed that it was below them to raise their own children so they passed that task off to the maids and butlers. Standing before the pink chaser staring down at him with blatant hate and disgust on her face was a human woman dressed in a maid outfit. She was just past the point of middle aged but looked far older due to many years of labor and stress while working in his family's manor. The head maid Gertrude stood before the pink chaser holding a large horse whip.

Kernel felt his entire body tremble in terror as he stared up at her wide eyed, remembering every horrible thing she had ever said or done to him. The years of torment and abuse he had suffered by her hand under the guide of discipline, the years upon years in which his own family had not listened to his pleas or believed him when he told them of what she had done. The retched woman opened her mouth and yelled muted obscenities at the pink chaser who realized he was even smaller than normal. He forcefully tore his eyes away from the whip being waved in front of his face and looked down at himself. His normally short legs were even shorter, his normally long immaculately groomed fur around his ankles was haphazardly cropped and tangled, and his body was rounder than he remembered. That is when it hit him, he was a child once more, thrust directly back into the nightmarish days he had prayed would end. He started to hyperventilate as the maids screaming grew louder and louder, he watched in abject terror as she raised the whip over her head. The golden haedians watching around the pool forcefully intervened in the memory with a rapid swipe of the paw on their viewing pool. The pink chaser was forcefully ripped from that memory and thrown into the torrent once more, "That was too forceful!" one of the haedians snapped at the one who had struck the pool. The golden clad leader grit her teeth as she waited for the pool to settle once more so they could see what Kernel was experiencing once more. Kernel found himself facing a whirlwind of dismissive hateful voices, berating him from all sides. The voices were barely understandable but the tone was all too familiar. The voice of his mother cut through the noise. "-worthless. Why must you be such a difficult child? Behave yourself already or I swear you will be cast out of this house and removed from the family records." another voice cut in over hers, less familiar but someone he had respected and feared greatly. Someone he had longed for the acceptance and approval of, his father spoke harshly. "You can't even groom yourself properly. How can I expect you to conduct yourself at a gathering of high society? Get out of my sight." The voice of that vile woman cut in again this time not obstructed by the murky waters of the sacred pool. "You are a vile little cretinous mistake, a blight upon this world!" The voice suddenly sounded as if it was doubled as another voice rose above the cacophony of hatred whirling around the chaser.

"Shut your mouth." the two voices commanded at the same time. The golden clad haedians watched as their viewing pool rippled and displayed two different memories at the same time. Kernel was huddled in a bloodied pile at the foot of the maid they had seen before, in her hand was the whip she had held above her in the previous memory on this time the whip had obvious signs of use. In the second memory, the pink chaser was being pinned to the ground by the Order clans leader Shira with one paw. The cultist haedian's sharp fangs were mere inches from the terrified chasers eyes as she glowered down at him. Across her body there were slashes and scorch marks that they realized they had seen as well. This must have happened right before they had arrived to guide the surface dwelling trio down to the Caregivers territory. Kernel could only stare up in horror as the sensations, positions, smells, and words of both memories overlapped perfectly. "A worthless stain on society like you doesn't deserve love. Don't ever think anyone around you could possibly love you, you are a vile and worthless waste, not even worthy of being killed by my hand." Kernel closed his eyes and screamed while covering his ears, desperate to block out the never ending torment blasting him from every side as he lost his ability to comprehend what was going on around him more and more. The golden clad haedians leader forcefully activated her magic and silenced the screaming of the waters, leaving Kernel a sobbing trembling mess in his own mind. All three of the golden haedians stared into the dark pool at the projected form of the sobbing chaser, their hearts pounding from adrenaline at the shocking things they had just witnessed. With a shaky hand the golden clad haedian tried to gently guide the magic of the sacred lake towards anything positive the chaser might have experienced. Slowly the color of the pond around Kernel began to lighten, until it was more a muted grey a notable improvement over the pitch black it had been before but still not the soft warmth the other two had gotten to experience.

A small handful of pleasant memories slowly wrapped around the still sobbing chaser, flashes of Lianna gently praising or just smiling at him appeared in the waters of the viewing pool. As the gentle kindness of the green tyrian towards Kernel was displayed the sobbing chaser was finally able to calm down once more.