[P] Warmth of the Sand

Thorn puffed his chest out in pride. Yup. Valiant is a very suitable name, he thought. His pride turned into embarrassment when he was lifted. When he was brought back down he batted at Momo's face with a sheathed paw. "That was completely unnecessary," he mewed. He mentally glared at Rigel, feeling his amusement through the link. At the suggestion of food, he wiggles out of Momo's arms and landed on the ground. He hurried down the path before looking back casting a look that practically screamed, 'Hurry up, I'm hungry!'

Thorn turned around on her shoulder and climbed onto the top of Momo's head. He curled up into a ball, his front paws hanging over onto her forehead. He gazed around and checked on the link. Realizing that Rigel still hadn't moved, he sent a call down the link. Hey, aren't you supposed to be following us?

Rigel jumped to his feet, catching Lapis before she hit the ground. He threw her up into the air. Lapis spread her wings out and lifted above the tree tops. She circled around a few times, waiting for Rigel to join her. Once the two were together, they headed off in the direction that Thorn's presence was coming from.

Thorn gave a high pitched mew as he slid forward. He didn't dare unsheathe his claws since they would probably scratch Momo pretty badly. So he slid completely off her head. He twisted around to try and latch onto his shirt but his claws missed. He fell to the ground landing on his back, knocking the breath out of him. He stared up at the sky with a dazed expression on his face, his mouth open trying to get his breath back.

Rigel and Lapis flew over Momo and Thorn just in time to see what had happened. Rigel hovered and pulled out his dagger to send a drop of blood down into Thorn's mouth but was stopped by Lapis.

"I don't think you should do that," she said. "Momo has just gotten used to Thorn and if you do heal him with your blood she'll realize he's like me. She'll end up trusting you even less." Rigel hesitated for a few seconds. but put the dagger back in the sheathe with a sigh seeing the reason behind it. Instead, the two of the rose higher into the sky so Rigel seemed to be a bird while Lapis became a speck.

Thorn gasped and then started breathing normally, the shock from the fall wearing off. He reached up and nuzzled Momo's cheek, purring loudly, trying to get her to understand that it wasn't her fault.

Rigel watched, feeling kind of helpless. "Why can't I do anything?" he grumbled to himself. "It's probably my fault her day turned so bad anyway. It was going fine for her before I turned up." He groaned, rubbing his eyes with the heel of his palm to try and hold off the headache that was starting to form.

"Why don't you just explain to Momo what your powers are, and who Baltazar is?" Lapis asked, fluttering around his head worriedly. Rigel sighed and answered without looking up. "I would, but she's already grown attached to Thorn and if she learns that he's a summons of mine she might think I was spying on her or something, and it would probably make her feel worse."

"Then just pretend you don't know me," Thorn's voice said, ringing in his head. Rigel sighed one more time, but agreed. He glided down to the ground and landed about 15 feet away from Momo, in her sight but far enough away that she wouldn't feel threatened or uncomfortable, he hoped. "Momo, can we talk please?" he asked as Lapis landed on a branch above his head, his voice soft but still carrying over to Momo.

Rigel rubbed the back of his head uncomfortably, looking down at the ground. "Well you see, that kinda wasn't me who went all weird on you. I know this'll sound... crazy but there's this... angel who sort of lives inside of me. He's usually just a voice in my head every now and then, but if he gets mad or wants to do something he takes over my body. And there's not really anything I can do about that." He stuttered throughout that entire explanation with a blush rising to his face when he realized how crazy all of this must sound to Momo.

"Relax, just finish with the explanation and then see how she reacts. You have to stay open-minded about these things." Lapis chirped as she fluttered down to his shoulder, the chirps translated by her voice in his mind. He gave the bird a weak smile and gently stroke her back with a finger. Taking a calming breath he continued with his explanation.

"I'm sorry for freaking you out when I healed Lapis," Rigel continued. "I didn't mean to. The thing is, she's one of my summons, a swallow spirit. I have to sacrifice some of my blood in order to call her to me, and in order to heal her I need to do the same thing. I like to take care of my summons, unlike some summoners who will just let them be injured again and again until they are forced to unsummon themselves."