Strength in Differences

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In the morning Kaulu only wanted to stay in bed with her prince. She wanted to wake up and find that they were back home, or perhaps somewhere in paradise where they wouldn't have to worry about the war that was upon them, or anything else for that matter. But that was unfortunately not the case and they were in Cavinor where Nik would have to train with the Elementals and his mother, people that they both thought would love and accept him for what he was and rejoice at his presence, but they were really no better than the Sidhe.

It wasn't much longer before the group was ready and following a large group of Elementals and Aiofe to the outskirts of Cavinor. It seemed that here was where Nik would train. Everybody was a step or so behind him except Kaulu who was standing beside him as she always would. The snide comment from Aiofe had the Chaktawe princess narrowing her eyes, but she said nothing. She would never get used to the woman using "desert-dwellers" in a negative connotation, but she also knew to choose her battles.

As her "mother-in-law" began to list off the Elementals, Kaulu paid close attention. So Nik would be training with the water pair, then the five earth, the air trio, and finally the four fire, with Aiofe, a lightning Elemental, training throughout the entire time. Kaulu was just as surprised as her husband to learn there was a fifth element.

When asked if they were to begin, Kaulu looked to her husband as she gave his hand a supporting squeeze. She met his eyes, telling him silently that he could do this and that she and the werewolves and other Chaktawe were here to support him. And then she took a step back to gather with the rest.
 
Nik gave a nod to his wife, acknowledgement of her support, appreciating it, and then he turned once more to face his mother, Aiofe. His eyes widened instantly to see a lightning bolt heading for him and the Sidhe dodged to the side, rolling and coming up on a knee and a foot only to cry out as another bolt hit him anyway. It arched through his body, sending fire over every nerve and yet, even as he struggled not to scream, the Sidhe knew that jolt was tame compared to what he suspected Aiofe could actually do.

He looked up, white hair already damp about his face, when the lightning left, leaving him gasping for breath as the older Elemental came closer, watching calmly. And Nik noted that a crackling net of lightning had been placed between him and his family, keeping them from interfering. Aiofe's voice was even when she finally stood over him.

"Call that your first lesson. You can't outrun an Elemental. Lightning can not be stopped by fire, by air or by water. It is only slowed by earth, but earth will not stop it completely. The only thing that is effective against lightning is lightning itself." She backed away as Nik grit his teeth and rose to his feet, feeling like each movement was fire under his skin. His mother continued.

"You, however, shouldn't need any protection. You are a vessel, Niklomaus. THE Vessel. Elements do not harm you. They can not touch you. They merely pass through you."

"Feel's to me like it f**king touched me!" he bit out, touching his side where the bolt had hit, noting that while he'd been hurt...part of what the older Elemental was saying was true. He should have been scorched, burned, but there was no mark on him. Just a burned hole in his shirt to prove he'd been hit at all.

"That's because you expect it to. It's as much a state of mind as it is a born-gift. You accept the Elements and they will be fair with you. Fight them and they'll tear you apart. They do not CARE. They will not comfort you, they will not ease back if you're hurting, they won't coddle you or have more patience just because you don't feel you're ready."

He shook his head, confused, frowning. "That's not true." How could that be true? The Elements weren't entirely vindictive, vicious or unjust. Not all the time. There were gentler aspects to them. He'd felt it, seen it. But Aiofe's gaze was hard, holding some kind of knowledge he could not yet fathom.

"But it is, Niklomaus. Elementals are a war-like people. We have no choice in that matter. We feel the wrath of Gaia, Poseidon, Vulcan and Aura from the moment we are born until the moment we die. We are a hard people, made of will, fight and wild savagery because that is what we are required to be. Those who try to take the easy way out, to live in peace soon find themselves dead. If you don't want to find your life bleeding out of you, I suggest you find that strength within yourself, Vessel."
 
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Kaulu's eyes observed Aiofe and the rest of the Elementals as much as she watched her husband, her black eyes straining to watch everything. However, the training started so soon that the Chaktawe Princess hadn't even seen the first bolt of lightning. But she had seen the second and it took everything in her willpower not to yell out to her husband. It would be interfering with his training and while she had that strong urge to protect him, she knew that helping him on Aiofe's time would only bring more harm than good. This was her land, her ground and boundaries. She knew what Nik did not and even if Kaulu didn't like her, she had to suck it up and reel back her reigns unless she wanted to lose her husband... and her people.

And thank the heavens for that net of lightning - otherwise Kaulu would have to worry about her small group interfering as well. They only listened. Most, if not all, were unsettled in watching their beloved halfbreed be put in harm's way and not being able to do anything about it.

A war-like people. It made so much sense, but like Niklomaus, his wife knew that the elements themselves were not so cold and stern as Aiofe made them out to be. She had seen the way the wind played with Nik's hair. Hell, even the reason only a part of his hair was braided was because he knew the wind liked dancing through each free strand. And she had seen the elements protect him. Felt it. Felt them accept her and only her because they knew who she was to Nik.

They couldn't be so cold-hearted. Even if he was just a vessel for them, she felt they had been too genuinely caring of him. So they just couldn't be entirely what Aiofe was saying... could they?
 
Nik trained with Varun and Talise for nearly three hours with Aiofe directing their performance and intensity before his mother called a break. The two water Elementals had been surprisingly ruthless, nothing of the gentler aspect of their element coming into play. When people thought of water, they did not immediately think of it as a weapon, but the two blue-haired Elementals had given the lie to that assumption.

The Sidhe was absolutely soaked, but more than that, he was still choking on water, his lungs wet and there were scald marks on his arms and fingers, redness under his shirt, across his back, sides and stomach. He'd learned more about how deadly water could be than he'd ever thought possible. How it could be heated to near-boiling, pushed through the nose and into the lungs, how you could drown someone just by putting a bubble of water around their head and how powerful a simple blast of tsunami-force streams from the hands could be.

His body felt battered, his lungs ached and Nik was exhausted...but he'd made progress. Aiofe had put a stop to the training for that reason alone. When she'd seen the boiling water finally not just being deflected by Nik, but touching him and not harming, that was when she'd called a halt. Now she looked to the Sidhe after dismissing Varun and Talise.

"Better. Not as good as I hoped. You're slow to learn, but you do learn, so that's something."

Nik grit his teeth at the stinging words, but said nothing, pushing wet hair back from his face and shaking his head, taking in another harsh lungful that hurt. He ignored the way simply flexing his fingers shot pain through his hand from the blisters.

"You're wrong about the Elements, Aiofe." He refused to call her mother and the female seemed to take no offense at it, barely seeming to acknowledge the wall Nik had put between them at all, expecting it, wanting it. She did raise a brow at his words, though, nearly smirking. "Oh? Take you this long to decide that? Have you learned nothing yet, Vessel?"

The Sidhe said nothing at all. He just extended his hand, pale blue eyes starting to glow and water seeped up from deep within the desert - something that made both Varun and Talise look over sharply, eyes widening in surprise as they'd had to take their water from buckets already brought with them - coming toward Nik. It flowed through the air and found his hand, wrapping around his fingers and down his hand, along his arm.

Soothing the burns before it seemed to splash playfully against his face before retreating back into the sand, leaving Nik looking at his mother's purposely blank face, Aiofe giving nothing away. But the Sidhe smiled.

"I've learned plenty and I know you're wrong."
 
The three hours went weirdly by; it felt like it took ages, but at the same time it was going by so quickly. Kaulu supposed that was because Nik was learning so much but all the while being harmed. When Aiofe stopped the training, Kaulu stood from her spot on the ground and peered over the flames of lightning to see the woman dismissing the water pair and then talking to her biological son. The Chaktawe tsked at her words. Nik was a slow learner? Okay, maybe he didn't learn as fast as the other Elementals, but he wasn't a full-fledged, pure Elemental and he wasn't exactly used to this type of training. Plus, she didn't see how anybody could learn so much in not even a full three hours time; to be honest, she was impressed with how much her husband had learned.

When the halfbreed blatantly showed his mother wrong, along with Varun and Talise, Kaulu smirked and then smiled proudly. Aiofe, that b***h... she didn't know everything. Nik just proved it.

(( Sorry for short reply! Didn't know what else to add haha. ))
 
((LOL. Sokay))

"How did you do that?"

They were the first words to break the silence and they came from the Fire Elemental, Aithne. The others were silent, but they seemed as mystified as she was and Nik looked around with the beginning of true confusion, pale blue eyes taking in all their expressions and his brows furrowing as his head tilted just a little. "Taking the water from the ground?"

"No, making it....gentle like that." Aodh answered for his twin and the Sidhe blinked, surprised, uncertain, but he answered. "I...didn't make the water do anything. I just called it. That is what I have been trying to say. The Elements aren't always wrathful."

"Not to you." Talise said softly and then her attention switched to the Lightning Elemental. "Aiofe, it was never said that the Vessel would suffer the same curse we do."

"Curse? What curse?" Nik spoke up again, not about to let that slip through the cracks of the conversation and his mother sighed, looking like she wanted to do a lot more than that - perhaps erupt in a fit of electric frustration and anger - but she kept her cool and finally lowered the lightning wall she'd made between Nik and the others. Kafta was quickly moving for the Sidhe, snarling with her fur raised at the Elementals, but she stayed near Nik, the only thing keeping her from shifting into her more human-like form and healing him being Nik's silent admonishment for her to wait until after the conversation was through.

Aiofe looked at the rest of her people before looking to her son if nothing but blood. "Perhaps you are different and I was wrong about that, but I am not wrong about Elementals and how the Elements behave toward us. We are not blessed by the Elements, not beloved of them, but curses by them and purposely so."

"We brought it upon ourselves." Makani said coldly and the others' jaws tightened, but they nodded, giving assent to his words.
 
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Aghh, she just wanted to be near her husband again, but this damned lightning was holding her and the rest of the group back. All they could do was watch and listen as they had been for the last three hours.

All Elementals had been mystified by the way Nik had gotten a hold of the water beneath the dry desert sands, but it was a fire Elemental that spoke first. It wasn't quite the notion of gathering the water from below, but rather the behavior of the water that truly surprised them. It was gentle compared to the harshness of their own.

Kaulu cocked her head to the side, eyes narrowing as she was in thought. Was there something not even Aiofe and the Elementals didn't know?

No, that wasn't quite it... there was talk of a curse and that was when the wall was finally let down and all moved immediately towards their Sidhe. Kaulu allowed some distance between her and her husband, though, not wanting to get in the way of Kafta and her healing him.

"What do you mean you brought it upon yourselves?" she asked, looking from the lightning Elemental to Makani. "Why are you cursed?"
 
The other elementals remained mute, seeming to lose their nerve, their desire to speak as soon as the harder question was asked and Nik looked to each of them and then back to Aiofe, a hard edge to his eyes, to his voice that came more from his Sidhe heritage than anything else. His patience was already running short and he hurt, his entire body aching and burning with the blisters that covered his fingers and hands, the scalding patches on his torso and chest growing worse the longer he stood there. Kafta whined in the back of her throat, wanting to help, but again, the Sidhe denied her, watching his mother. "Well?"

Finally the lightning Elemental spoke, evading. "You're not ready to know."

"Then I have no further need to be here."

Nik turned then and started walking away, and Kafta blinked in surprise, realizing he wasn't bluffing and she followed after, shooting Kaulu a glance. No, Nik was done with others using him to their own ends - whether it be as a lesson to someone else like his grandfather with his father, as a bartering chip like with the Sidhe, a Vessel like with the Elements or whatever he was to the Elementals. He wasn't going to let them use him. Kaulu, her family, her people had shown him he was worth more than that. - that he should make his own decisions for his future.

They'd not gone more than twenty steps before Aiofe called out and it sounded like the effort of doing so rubbed her the wrong way. But she did. "Wait." The lightning Elemental's face was somehow older, more strained with the years and an unnamed stress when Nik's pale blue eyes looked back, meeting vivid blue that snapped resentment at having to say anything at all.

The Sidhe didn't care.

She'd lost the privilege of expecting anything from him - including understanding, respect or patience - when she'd given him up to the Sidhe, when she'd left him there, knowing what was happening to him. No, she was not his mother. She was just another person trying to get something from him.

"You are the Viisen Narfoc. Do you know that that means?"

Nik frowned, nodding and finally - much to Kafta's inner grumbling - he started to let her heal his hands, the blisters there starting to grow beyond merely irritatingly painful. He didn't look away from Aiofe, though. "I means 'Three-Blood Child'. Why is that important?"

"Because that name goes with a prophecy. Have you heard it yet, Niklomaus? Avgin Viisen Narfoc vuu bok Avgin Ragnoktis ta Yexzse ikn Gaia nfe zase nit. Have you?"

The Sidhe's mouth had gone dry and he swallowed hard, but nodded, answering in no other way than that. He hadn't told anyone, not even his wife, what he'd heard Aura tell him. He knew what it meant, though, and while he'd not believed it then, had been scared then, he was more willing to listen now....but not less scared. Aiofe took his confirmation, though, and went on.

"Well, that prophecy is a cure to our curse. You are the cure. You see, because we, Elementals, we created the Naishsck une Vailae, the
Avgin Ragnoktis ta Yexzse ikn Gaia was our doing."

"You did WHAT?" Nik rasped the words, eyes widening and he looked to Kaulu, seeking confirmation as her people were the ones who had held the artifact, the blade hidden for so long. Aiofe followed his gaze and smirked just a little. "Well, Chaktawe? Do you know your own history or has it been so long that it's been lost to legend?"
 
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Kaulu's eyes briefly looked to Kafta when she whined and then to Nik, wondering why he wasn't allowing her to heal him just yet. Giving him the benefit of the doubt that he had a reason, the princess looked back to Aiofe. She hadn't given them answers and it was becoming annoying with how long the silence was dragging out, how Aiofe was so unwilling to share any of her knowledge.

Then she told Nik that he wasn't ready to learn about the curse - about anything, really. Kaulu's eyes narrowed but her husband was leaving and she met eyes with Kafta. Kaulu followed suit, knowing that there was no way the Elementals were just going to let the halfbreed leave after they just got him. No, he was much too important for any stubbornness and pride to get in the way. And that became evidently true when the lightning Elemental called out to them. All turned around, meeting the other group's gazes as the female leader began talking.

A prophecy? No, the Chaktawe had not heard of that, and she looked to her husband as he nodded. He hadn't told her anything about that.... and there must've been a reason why. A reason that Kaulu might not have liked, but... still. She would have liked to hear it. She looked back to Aiofe when she said the prophecy was a cure to their curse. And then...

They... they created the weapon?? But how? And why?? Black eyes met pale blue but she didn't say anything. How could she when she didn't know anything about it? She looked to Aiofe, eyes narrowing and stance shifting. "I'm guessing there is a very good reason as to why we have it and you don't."
 
"There is." Aiofe conceded before she grew quiet again and Nik took the opportunity to move closer to his wife, coming up behind her and loosely wrapping his arms around her waist now that Kafta was done healing him, the werewolfess now being half-supported by Aja as she was spent, but satisfied with her work and in no danger. Just tired and perhaps the Sidhe should have stayed with her, but he needed Kaulu more and he could sense that she needed him.

He wanted to be closer to her, to once more let her know that she was the most important person to him and no matter what might happen, he was hers. He did not belong to the Sidhe or the Elementals, the Humans or the Elements themselves. He belonged to her and no others.

Nik's mother started speaking again shortly after that, looking resigned to the story and the Sidhe sensed there would be no more delays this time. "Long before the Chaktawe ruled the desert as three Tribes or the Sidhe had crossed the sea to create their Kingdoms, when humans were first starting to increase in strength, the Elementals were the chosen children, the favorites of the Elements. Endowed with their power and beloved of them, the world was ours. We could live in peace, in harmony with Gaia and her sister and brothers. That wasn't enough for some of us, though."

Aiofe shook her head, sighing quietly before she continued with a story that had to have had embellishment at some point, but was now broken down into the absolute facts after generations. A war-like people had no need for grand stories like the Chaktawe did.

"The humans were growing stronger and other mythicals like the Centaurs and Griffins, and Elves were starting to encroach upon the places we thought were ours simply by virtue of wanting them. We were spoiled and selfish, little children playing at a game we didn't want to lose and so we behaved rashly. Our power was greater then, the Elements trusting us, and we used it to create a weapon that could rid us of those we did not want in our land, anyone who might challenge us."

"Thirteen Elementals died making the Avgin Ragnoktis ta Yexzse ikn Gaia. Three Fire, three Water, three Earth, three Wind and one Lightning. They poured their wills, their spirits and their power into that blade, calling upon forces that never should have entered this world, nor should they have been allowed to be used, to stay. But they were used. Naishsck une Vailae was used against any who came against us, a weapon that brought Death and Life itself, but always at the highest cost. We fought over it as time went by, the Elementals among themselves. We killed and waged war for the weapon and we ravaged Gaia with our bloodshed, and angered Vulcan with our misuse of his power, polluted Poseidon until he would not bear our presence upon his back." Aiofe looked pained, nearly coming to tears and Nik wondered at that. She would weep over a story long gone, but not over her own son? He did not understand such a thing.

"The Elements finally ran out of patience with us, but where the other three would have killed us, Aura spoke mercy and punishment both. We were cursed, to never leave these lands, to never know peace, to never know the love and gentleness of the Elements like we once had until what we had done could be made right. In war we had destroyed others and so in war we were bound to live."

"And the Naishsck une Vailae, it was given to the Chaktawe." Nik spoke it, but it wasn't a question and Aiofe nodded, regaining composer, mask falling back into place perfectly.

"Yes. To people of Aura. To those loyal to her. I believe it was the eldest son of Wayhali Namiche who first hid the weapon and since then, the Tribes have been guarding it, faithful to the promise they made."
 
(( Can I just compliment how well you make things flow? :D ))

Kaulu took in a deep breath when Aiofe confirmed her assumption, and when she felt her husband's arms wrap around her, she let it out slowly. He had sensed her need for him very well and she gladly accepted him, as she always would. Even when everything else felt so chaotic and so wrong, Nik was always right. He would always be the one for her. And as if on the same wavelength, she knew that she'd always be the one for him.

As the lightning Elemental told the story, Kaulu listened intently. It was natural for her to want more detail, but everything was given to them clearly and so she kept her questions at bay. Of course it had been greed that cursed the Elemental people. Greed was the cause of so much suffering that it was such a typical explanation, but it wasn't any less hurtful.

The dark-skinned female also caught notice of the way Aiofe's eyes welled up, and like her husband, she was curious to know how she could be so pained over a story and not her own flesh and blood. Even if she never wanted Nik in the first place, there still should have been some kind of intimate connection. However, even then Kaulu also sort of understood the pain the pale woman was feeling. To have such a gift and never know the gentleness of it, always thinking it a curse, it must be horrible.

Still. That didn't give her a reason to be so cold-hearted.

As the story came to an end, one thing still stuck out to the Chaktawe princess. The reason the Elementals wanted to use Nik was so their curse could be lifted, so that they could know that gentle touch of the Elements again and so they could know peace. But Aiofe had held such hateful remarks about Kaulu's people, to the very people loyal to Aura. She had been so snide; to Kaulu, it still felt as if the Elementals still thought themselves superior. Did they even deserve to get their break in this war?

Maybe, maybe not. If they got what they wanted, they could still be the very same people that turned against the Elements. But at the same time, this second chance might have them changed, might make them grateful to have their powers. Might make them humble.

Even with the risk, Kaulu would rather have the Elementals freed from their curse rather than the Sidhe gaining such a destructible power.

"So how exactly does Nik tie into this? You said he was a vessel, your cure. But what does that mean? For him?"
 
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This time the silence was telling and Nik felt ice settle within him as it stretched, knowing he would not like the answer. When did he ever like any of the answers that pertained to him? It seemed anything that involved his technical, blood-family, anything that involved the people he was tied to only brought more suffering, more bad news.

Kaulu and the Chaktawe had not been part of his 'destiny' his 'fate'....and they'd been the very best - the only - good thing that had happened to him. Nik didn't see a coincidence in that simple fact.

Pale blue eyes flickered around at the silent Elementals and Nik could not help that his grip on Kaulu tightened just a bit, wanting to protect her from what he sensed was coming and at the same time scared himself. "Well? Don't go silent! You wanted me, right? Bred me, sacrificed for me, so tell me what I have to do!" he spat at them and noted that a few - Aodh, Aithne, Talise, Damek and Makani - seemed to flinch at his words, looking uncomfortable, but Aiofe was as calm as ever and naturally it was she who answered.

"Avgin Viisen Narfoc vuu bok Avgin Ragnoktis ta Yexzse ikn Gaia nfe zase nit, aio pelom Banoroc nfeno uk reffn lesi." Some of the words were different to Nik, but understood. She said nothing more, looking at the Sidhe intently and Nik grit his teeth, but finally, for the sake of his friends, for the sake of his wife, he spoke the words in a language they understood. "The Three-Blood Child who holds The Cold Fire that Consumes the World will save it, and those Cursed shall be set free."

"That is your answer." The lightning Elemental offered, but Nik's pale blue eyes narrowed. "You said using the dagger came at a cost. If I use it, what will I use it for, what will it ask of me?"

"You will use it however the Elements want you to. What they might demand and what the weapon might demand is for you alone to know. I can't tell you."

He could tell she spoke the truth, but it didn't make Nik any happier. "But it will demand something dear to me, won't it? You said the 'highest cost', right?" Nik gave a bitter sounding laugh and he shook his head, holding Kaulu tightly to him, but trembling with both anger and a desperation he knew he could do little about. "Of course that would be it, though, right? It's not enough that I spent the first seven hundred years of my life being tortured or that neither of my blood-peopled cared about me. It's not enough that nearly every aspect of my life has been riddled with pain of some kind. It doesn't matter that I've already lost a child to all this. Of course it doesn't."

The Sidhe shook his head. "I'm beloved of the Elements. That should be enough, right? Who cares that it might ask me to give up what I love most or take me from the happiness I have found. So long as you all get what you want, right?" he demanded and the silence was different this time....a damning silence of agreement that none of them dared speak.

And then someone did speak, Aithne as she furrowed her brows and gave a puzzled look between Kaulu and Nik. "You haven't lost it."

The Sidhe blinked, confused. "What?"

The fire Elemental looked nervous, but she pointed to Kaulu. "The child. You haven't lost it. She's still pregnant. Can't you feel its presence?"
 
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(( I DON'T KNOW WHAT TO EXPECT BUT CONSIDER ME MIND BLOWN WITH WHATEVER IT IS
WERE THERE TWINS
I DON'T REMEMBER IF WE TALKED ABOUT THIS
OMG))

Kaulu swallowed thickly as the unsettling silence grew. She didn't like this; the worst of thoughts were coming to her as possible answers to her question. The weapon, that damned weapon was going to take her husband away, wasn't it? Or it was going to take her. Or - or... or something! Feeling Nik's grip around her tighten, her hands came up and rested upon his own, giving support though it showed that she was just afraid as he was. She was always strong for him when need be, but there were times when it was important or when she just couldn't help but share her worry with him. She flinched at his words, eyes closing for a couple of seconds before they flickered open once more to look at the Elementals. Her expression was unreadable at this point.

Aiofe spoke then, repeating the prophecy though there was an added bit at the end. Kaulu mentally thanked Nik for repeating it so that her and everyone else could understand. She already knew that though. She knew what the prophecy was. What she asked was how it affected her husband. The woman on the other side of the gap between the groups explained that she couldn't tell exactly what it meant for Nik, that it was up to the Elements to decide what it meant for him. Kaulu bit back a sigh, but a very quiet growling noise still crept up her throat. She wasn't satisfied with that answer, though it had given her a little bit of hope. The Elements liked Nik. They cared for him, so they wouldn't be too harsh, would they?

But the Sidhe was speaking again, and after his laugh, Kaulu's expression went grave. Her grip on Nik's hands tightened, and when he spoke of their lost child, she closed her eyes for the second time. They opened soon enough, a sadness there that was quickly clouded over. As he finished speaking, she went to turn and face him, but a voice spoke to them and the words made her freeze. She looked to Aithne, confused and then angry and then lost as her hands subconsciously moved to her stomach, atop the scar that still ached sometimes.

"No, don't speak," she said, voice quiet. "I watched the child leave me. It basically..." she swallowed thickly again, "it basically slipped through my fingers." She wasn't exactly used to talking about their lost child, but the few times she had, there wasn't any tears. Except now. They were welling up and she was fighting hard to keep them back. This Aithne, she was telling her they hadn't lost their child when they obviously had! Kaulu saw it with her own eyes. She never felt it within her anymore. And the Elemental dared talk about it!? When she knew nothing??
 
(( ROTFL! Uhh....Cata....eh, nevermind, you'll see. :P ))

"But-"

"We saw it die!" Nik snapped, cutting the female Elemental off. His pale blue eyes blazed fire, anger in their depths. There were few things that could make the Sidhe react in such a way, but this was apparently one of them. The subject was a raw one, painful and far too new even now, and for someone he didn't know to speak of it, to tell them that their child wasn't dead? That was going too far.

And everyone seemed to sense it....but again Aithne spoke, braving the anger, helpless against staying silent. "But she IS pregnant!"

"Stop saying that!"

"Both of you shut up!" Aiofe's voice was like the crack of a whip and she looked exasperated between both parties before focusing on Nik and Kaulu. "Your first child died. We understand, but Aithne's not wrong. You are pregnant, Kauluwehi. Niklomaus should be able to tell that much. The child does hold a spark of his power. He should sense it." She raised a brow, completely blunt. "You two have had sex since losing the first pregnancy, yes?"

The Sidhe's mouth snapped closed, sudden understanding coming over him. Another pregnancy. A SECOND child. Another chance.

His hands were moving to cover Kaulu's own across her stomach before he even fully registered it and slowly Nik looked down, white hair falling about his face, giving him a much softer look when paired with his wide eyes as he took in his wife. Waiting for her reaction even as the most hesitant, but strongest of joys was bubbling up inside him.

Another child.
 
(( >//< lolol oh dear
that was stupid hahah
I got too excited and didn't think u_u ))

Kaulu winced at the angry words her husband had snapped. She didn't know if this was a cruel joke, but she was too hurt to think clearly and she just stared at Aithne, lost. What was she saying? They had lost their child. They had lost it and they could never get it back.

Aiofe's voice whipped through the air and Kaulu looked to her, taken a little a back before listening to her.

The.... their first child. That's what they had lost. But now they had another? Kaulu's lip quivered as she looked up to Nik, turning around to hug him tightly as everything became clear, her head nestling into his chest. They had another chance to be parents! Truthfully, she had been so caught up in their lost that she never really thought about having or even trying for another child. The possibility never even crossed her mind, but now the news.... oh, it was incredible! A joyous laugh left her chest along with a few tears escaping her eyes.

"Oh, Nik! I'm pregnant!" she exclaimed happily as her head left his chest to look up at him. She honestly couldn't have heard better news.
 
(( Heeheehee, you're silly. Cute, though. :P ))

She turned in his arms and Nik instantly wrapped them around Kaulu, barely daring to breathe. Finding out once that he going to be a father had filled him with nothing but endless joy and elation and then everything had come crashing down, that hope and happiness torn away so cruelly that Nik wasn't sure he'd properly dealt with it even now. He could barely think about the baby they'd lost, about how they'd lost it. Kaulu...had talked to her sister, her mother. She seemed far more at peace with it even if it would always pain her, always cause an ache and a spot in her heart that would not be filled, unique for that child alone.

But Nik...he hadn't dealt with it, hadn't known how to.

Finding out he was going to be a father a second time left him with no less joy in his chest....but this time there was an ache of fear, too. The Sidhe prayed it didn't show in his eyes as Kaulu's black ones met his pale blue and he smiled down at her, tears in his own eyes, too, simply letting the happiness banish the uncertainty and fear of another potential loss for the time being.

His hands cupped Kaulu's face and Nik did nothing more than kiss his wife, uncaring of who was watching or where they were, pouring his love and joy, excitement and the first embers of rekindled hope within him into her as his fingers tangled gently in the Suli's black hair, keeping her close. Cherishing her and now the life within her that was protected between their bodies.

Nik prayed silently, desperately that such was how it always would be this time.
 
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(( hehe c: ))

Kaulu couldn't believe it. She tried not to sob, but a few sounds had escaped every now and then but she was mostly able to keep it at bay. As Nik's lips met her own, she kissed him back endlessly, not caring for those around them either. There was a bundle of warmth building inside her and she didn't want it to stop growing. She wanted it to fill her and Nik and their new baby.

And while she was in a state of bliss, she had also had fear and worry nagging in the back of her brain. She had fear of them losing their baby again. She had worry about the future of her baby. But for now, she eased all those negative emotions away with that elation buzzing happily away at her body and mind, and she, too, prayed. She prayed to the heavens above, the stars and sun and moon, the spirits and the elements. She prayed for the safety of her family, for her husband to know happiness and peace, and for her child to know life. She prayed so intently that she could feel the words pouring silently into Nik's mouth as she took his rekindled hope and love.

But she knew she needed to step back, and soon enough, Kaulu reluctantly pulled away from the kiss. "I love you," she murmured to him, meeting his eyes before she turned back to face the others. She stayed in his embrace, though, a new glow emitting from her that wasn't there before.
 
----

Training had been stopped that day, the husband and wife left alone to absorb the news they'd been given. They'd both needed it, to just be together, to lay in bed and simply watch each other, to relax into the knowledge that what they'd been given another chance, another hope. That's what they'd done that day, talking softly, staying close to each other, neither daring to speak their fears, wanting this day, this moment to be nothing but happiness, so they could remember it in the days to come, in the years to come when they thought back on their reactions to their child's presence.

The rest of the week, though, was different, though.

The Elementals were only short of brutal in their training and while Nik understood why now - they couldn't help it, being warriors down to the depths of who they were - it didn't make it any easier. It didn't make him hurt any less by the end of the sessions, nor did it make him it easier for him to want to help them. He'd stopped letting Kafta heal him completely, the werewolfess exhausted and nearly sick as she'd been using her power too often, taking on too much of his pain and too many injuries. She'd not been happy about it, but she'd obeyed.

And Nik had started to get better at what he was being taught.

He'd completed training with the Water Elementals in three days total and he'd learned what the Earth Elementals had to teach him in one day, finding their techniques the simplest to pick up on. As a Sidhe, he was already inclined toward the earth and as an Elemental, tapping into that side of himself was ridiculously easy. He was so good in that training session that Aiofe had switched him over to the Wind Elementals in the same day.

That....had been harder. But he'd learned that wind, like water, was just as deadly as fire or earth could be. It was just harder to grasp, harder to control. It took a great deal of concentration and Nik had come to bed the last two nights utterly exhausted, barely able to stay awake past asking how his wife was and then saying goodnight.

And he was sorry to admit that sometimes he fell asleep to the sound of Kaulu's voice even before she'd finished speaking.

Today, though, he was learning fire, an element that Nik had only recently started to understand, an Element that had only in the last few months started to acknowledge him. Vulcan was very temperamental in who he gifted with his power and until recently, he'd not been impressed with Nik at all, less willing than the other Elements to go along with this plan.

Knowing that and having known the cruel touch of fire in his life, Nik wasn't going to lie and say he wasn't nervous. Especially knowing that not only would he have to deal with the fire training today, but his mother's lightning as well. It was no wonder he wasn't rushing to get out of bed.
 
Exhausted and an aching body, this is what the Sidhe dealt with for the rest of the week. While news of their baby had absolutely overjoyed the married couple, Nik's training had put him in a spent state. Kafta eventually was ordered to stop healing his injuries because she used her powers too often, and so Kaulu did what she could with massages and her own mixtures of drinks to help ease his overworked body.

But the training was worth it. Nik's training with the Water Elementals was over in three days, and it didn't him even take him a full day to learn what the Earth Elementals had to teach him. Wind had been harder to grasp but Kaulu helped with what she could in that as well, considering she was one of Aura's people. What she couldn't help with, she made up for in supporting her husband and motivating him. Even when he fell asleep to her words, she continued talking.

And now, he was on his way to training with Fire. Nik had told her that Vulcan wasn't as willing to teach him and so she knew there'd be much more difficulty today than other days, especially since Aiofe was to be training Nik with Lightning as well.

Kaulu was slow with Nik as he readied in the morning. It wasn't like she was exactly ecstatic either about having him go out. But she knew the quicker her husband got this down, the quicker he would be able to rest and that's all she wanted.

"You're going to be fine, love," she said as they made their way out. "You've already done so well."
 
Nik nodded to Kaulu's words, appreciating them, but his mind was rapidly going over what he knew about the fiery Element named Vulcan.

The Sidhe knew he was truly the Element of War if there even was one. He took pride instilling fear into those that displeased him and yet took equal delight in those that proved themselves above fear when in the presence of his element, fire. Vulcan was temperamental, just as likely to warm a house through the winter as he was to send a spark out to destroy it. He acted on whims and was a law to none but himself. His brother, Poseidon, he barely tolerated and the feeling was mutual. Gaia was neutral to both brothers, recognizing the worth and merit in each of them, knowing how both could cause her grief and yet how both helped her greatly. And Aura, well, Vulcan adored Aura and that was one thing that Poseidon could agree on. Both brothers' powers were compatible with her own and yet it was Vulcan that Aura clearly favored.

It was for Aura's sake, for the sake of the Wind that loved Nik so much, that the Sidhe hoped Vulcan would show some mercy today. He'd not shown it to the other Elementals, of that Nik was sure. In fact, he'd be willing to bet that the war part of the curse, Vulcan had put a strong say in.

Still, the Fire Element respected strength, confidence. Nik just had to dig those up from somewhere. Not the most difficult thing in the world....but not the easiest either.

He sighed as they came to the waiting Elementals, looking down at Kaulu with a smile, kissing her forehead as his hand found her stomach briefly in a gentle touch of acknowledgement before he moved away from the Suli. Coming to a stop a few feet from those who'd train him - Aodh, Fintan, Cinaed, Aithne and Aiofe - ready for anything they might do, expecting some kind of surprise attack.

What he got was a question instead from his mother, her arms crossed and a pensive expression on her face. "Niklomaus, have you ever used lightning before?" Her blue eyes flickered to Kaulu and the rest, silently giving them permission to answer as well if Nik didn't know - which was entirely possible.
 
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