Bird of a Wing - Chapter 8: Chapter 8

The elite ship was filled with the best and strangest of the army, which meant the bravest and most foolish of the Namya side. Not much parted people in the corridors because of this, but the current expression on Ryraso's face made everyone hurry out of his way. Ryraso moved with a stride which suggested he had a purpose which was not going to be stopped for anything, his footsteps seeming to echo in the corridors.
His expression to most of the crew was terrifying. Which was why despite the burning curiosity which was spreading, no one dared to ask him where he was going or stopped him as he headed to the command centre.
The room was only for the top commanders and generals of the army and crew, where Inai would contact Loror to discuss whatever he needed to. It was one of the most technologically advanced rooms on the ship. Ryraso didn't like it. It smelt wrong in there. Technically he was allowed in there, but with Tai'ray often taking it as a chance to taunt and insult him, Ryraso avoided it as often as he could.
Still, this was a situation that needed to be addressed. Aw'endo should never had been able to make it this far. The Winglord was supposed to protect and look after all of his people. Both those who fought in the army and those who still remained in Navat and the rest of the k'nairi lands.
People were their own beings and Tai'ray could not be responsible for the thousands and thousands of k'nairi, but he was at least supposed to be able to keep an eye on people in his own 'inner' circle. Something Aw'endo was supposed to be as Tai'ray's adoptive son, unless Tai'ray had disowned him after Ryraso had left. After all, Tai'ray had never desired a child and had taken on Aw'endo for Ryraso.
If Tai'ray was human, he might have disowned the youngling but Ryraso doubted it given he was k'nairi. The k'nairi looked after their young fiercely as a long-lived race with few children. Few crimes were seen as worse than harming a child in k'nairi society.
His entrance was not dramatic, but it was hard to be when they had sliding doors. The doors slid open to reveal the two leaders arguing with each other. At his appearance they both paused, Inai turning to face him, Loror looking over at him from the view-screen on the front of the room.
"Is there something you need to tell me, Doctor?" Inai asked, his voice tense but also grateful for the intrusion. It gave him time to prepare the next argument to his enemy. In the four years since Ryraso had originally met the young leader, he hadn't changed much. His nature was still the same and his appearance while slightly more refined was still clean and handsome. Inai did now sport a scar on his left cheek reaching under his left ear now.
"You, sort of," Ryraso allowed as he walked into the room and over so he was next to Inai. "Mostly I'm here to rip the ear off of Winglord Tai'ray," growled Ryraso ferally, everything from the tone of his voice to his posture radiating anger.
Inai opened his mouth to say it could wait, but paused as he saw how angry Ryraso was. Not only angry but calm angry. Whatever Ryraso had to say to the Winglord was serious. Wordlessly, he gestured to the screen.
Loror who had been watching with interest quietly switched places with Tai'ray, apparently curious as to why the healer wanted to talk to the k'nairi. Ryraso wasn't sure if Loror knew about him. They had only met once on Navat and had never formally been introduced to each other, and with how Tai'ray acted sometimes it was hard to tell.
Tai'ray appeared on the screen, standing proud, not afraid of the doctor though admittedly that was easily said when they were talking over computer screens. He did look very surprised and a touch confused at Ryraso's demand to talk to them though.
"The twins have just dragged a k'nairi off the battlefield on sweep duty. He had been unconscious when they found him, suggesting he had been there since the end of the battle," Ryraso reported, his voice calm, but his expression revealing he was barely holding on from yelling obscenities. All he wanted to do was scream at the birdbrain for allowing this to happen.
"I fail to see how this is important, it happens occasionally. The generals must have missed him when checking who had returned," Tai'ray shrugged noncommittally. "I'll look into and make sure it gets sorted," he waved off as if it was nothing and he was unconcerned as to why Ryraso would want to interrupt a meeting for this.
"I am more concerned with why you didn't notice," Ryraso said seriously.
"One soldier out of a thousand..." Tai'ray started, clearly about to go on some prepared rant about how he couldn't watch everyone in the link at once.
"It's Aw'endo," Ryraso paused letting that fact sink in. He felt an almost sadistic glee as the colour drained from Tai'ray's face as he searched for Aw'endo in the link and failed to find him. The twins had managed to get a prisoner seal on Aw'endo in the fight to block him from the link. The magic on the Namya ship also stopped the link from working probably even if Aw'endo wasn't wearing one but Taidra liked to be sure.
"He's supposed to be in Navat," Tai'ray whispered with a surprisingly honest expression of surprise.
"Well he's not. Now, I don't know what is going on behind those lines and frankly, I don't give a shit. But you're supposed to be his fucking guardian and you didn't even bloody notice for god knows how long he was even fucking missing!" Ryraso's voice got louder and angrier as he spoke, the winglord visibly shrinking in on himself.
"He was supposed to be in Navat," Tai'ray repeated with a bit more of a defensive edge to his words but he knew there was no way out of this hole. He should have kept a closer eye on the boy.
"You think that's better! Tai'ray, Navat's fucking two weeks away. You're telling me, he managed to get from Navat to here, managed to enlist in the army and go out on the battlefield, a process that would have taken a while for him to do, plus another four days of being unconscious and you didn't even notice he was planning all this? You really have become negligent if you have allowed such a thing!" Ryraso full on yelled at the screen.
The other people in the room looking at each other in bewilderment. The people on the D'mar side looked equally as confused and interested. Tai'ray had a ward? More than that, Tai'ray had a ward and Ryraso knew the child personally.
"I ... was distracted. I assume Aw'en's okay?" Tai'ray asked, knowing he had no real defense against Ryraso's words. As the boy's guardian, he should have been checking up on him every few days, but he was embarrassed and ashamed to admit that he hadn't checked on him in at least a month. He had been so caught up with the war and with other things going on, he had let the boy slip between the cracks.
Ryraso shrugged, calming slightly. "He's alive but his wings are damaged. Best I can tell? He got scared, flew too close to the tree line and fell to the ground. His wings were full of twigs and leaves. He won't be flying for a few weeks," he said in a mixture of his paternal tone and his healer one.
"Sorry to cut in, but who are we talking about?" Loror asked seriously, getting bored of the conversation and not knowing who they were discussing. Tai'ray winced slightly, his wings lifting slightly defensively.
Ryraso narrowing his eyes at this. Loror didn't know Tai'ray had an adoptive child? Loror didn't know and Tai'ray hadn't wanted him to find out. Ryraso turned slightly to check the reactions of the people in the room, most of which were looking with obvious interest. Inai was giving him an expression which was also asking for answers to this new information. Isst caught his eye and nodded slightly. Isst remembered who Aw'endo was.
"Aw'endo, a k'nairi boy who is seventeen and way too young to be on a battlefield," Ryraso answered gruffly.
"Seventeen's not that young," a few people murmured, noticeably among the younger of the group.
Ryraso let out a growl, turning to glare at them. "K'nairi aren't adults until they are thirty and have been through the Navdia. He may look fairly grown, but mentally he's about thirteen. He has no talons, nor the instinct to kill and harm beyond defending himself," Ryraso explained in a forcibly calm voice, trying to help anyone who didn't know about the k'nairi understand why the boy was too young.
"What is the Navdia?" Loror asked, looking at his second. The winglord blushed and squirmed slightly under his gaze, something which surprised everyone. Tai'ray didn't blush. The k'nairi race as a whole were difficult to embarrass, they didn't have the same handicaps that humans did. They were very open about sex and everything which went with it.
Ryraso took a deep breath, letting Tai'ray off the hook slightly by being the one to explain it. Navdia was not something the k'nairi were in any way ashamed of but talking about it to humans was always a difficult thing for them. Humans had a lot of views which didn't mesh well with the k'nairi.
"When a k'nairi male fully matures, his body goes into heat. It lasts a few weeks and during that time, they fuck pretty much anyone, for as long as the person can keep going. A side effect of having a sex drive kick in all at once, before this they have none. Normally happens about the age of 25," Ryraso explained in his best teacher voice.
"Thing is, anyone going through the Navdia is quite literally a sex beast. They will harm anyone who tries to get in their way of finding a new partner. So I refuse to allow anyone who hadn't gone through it on the battlefield. It's too risky," Tai'ray admitted, his cheeks burning red, likely from his own memories of going through the Navdia.
"That would be a way to go," chuckled Isst, having already known about this and currently the most relaxed person in the room. Isst was likely the most knowledgeable person about the k'nairi outside of those who had lived with the race thanks to Ryraso. Inai and Loror just looked at the Winglord in disbelieve.
"You like the idea of being fucked to death?" Tai'ray commented dryly, looking at the man oddly.
"Heard of worse ways," Isst shrugged, Ryraso's lips twitching into half a smile at his friend's bluntness. Not much fazed Isst, which was why he made an excellent bodyguard for Inai.
"Either way, since you seem unable to protect the boy, I shall look after him from now on. If I were you Tai'ray, I'd start looking over your troops. I wonder how many others have slipped past your notice," Ryraso snarled before turning and leaving. The sounds of Tai'ray demanding he return behind him, but he had made his mind up. If Tai'ray couldn't do his job, Ryraso could ensure that Aw'endo grew up safe. This wasn't like before, Ryraso knew the people on board the ship. Aw'endo would be safe with him.
"Was that really wise?" Isst asked as he followed the doctor out of the room, not having to guard Inai while he was safe on this ship. Inai didn't need his bodyguard with him all the time. Ryraso shrugged, choosing not to answer Isst at this point. "Inai will make it happen, you know that, but still Tai'ray won't like leaving one of his here," Isst warned.
"Are you explaining to me of all people how Tai'ray thinks?" Ryraso looked at Isst, lifting an eyebrow almost amused by this. "He'll deal with it. Anyway, it's time he learned to take better care of his charges," Ryraso growled lightly as he stalked to the mess hall with Isst on his heels.
"You're taking this a little personally," Isst commented, poking him lightly in the ribs, before his voice went lower. "Aw'endo's the orphan right? The one you had to beg to be taken in?" Isst's voice was gentle but he was obviously avoiding using Tai'ray's name.
Ryraso paused for a second before nodding slowly, "Yes, he is. Though don't let Taidra find that out. He'll pull a fit."
The twin's older cousin, Taidra, was the guy in charge of security. He was wary about Ryraso as it was because of his links to the k'nairi but if he discovered the full truth, there was no doubt in Ryraso's mind that Taidra would personally kick him off the ship. At least until the twins convinced him Ryraso was safe again. Ryraso didn't hold it against the guy, like the twins, Taidra had an implant which made him act a little strange at times.
"Your secret's safe Ryraso. Anyway, I know you and where your loyalties are. Even if your heart still longs for the forest," Isst murmured, wrapping an arm around Ryraso's shoulder and pulling him close for a kiss on the cheek. Ryraso glared at Isst but didn't argue the point. It was true. If the k'nairi switched sides, he would be back serving the Winglord in moments if he could. Isst gave him a one arm hug keeping him close, Ryraso letting him. Isst was one of the few people he could count on after all.