It was worth a try.

[-Caithann]

Fenyx sat kneeling at the temple, hands on his knees. He was almost a statue, quite to the point where he hadn't moved in enough time that the few monks pacing about the temple simply let him be and worked around him. His breathing was so slow that his chest barely made any notion of the action. He wore little, his chest and arms bare, head unburdened by a helmet. His hair was cut short; the length of his thumb at most and it stood untamed in the quiet temple air, doing what it willed without a care from the dragoon for his unkempt style.

When he first began, a monk or two would occasionally stop and admire the artwork of his body. Tattoos displaying in the candlelight. While his lycan regeneration often left him unscarred, there were still thin lines drawing a faint map across his arms and torso. A map of his life, a testament of what he could endure and survive. The attention didn't phase him at all, it was like he didn't care, or wasn't there.

Where his mind was at was anybody's guess. He'd always had a liking of religion, spirituality - He must have, given his upbringing. His entire life was devoted to his own beliefs; that his body was to serve as a vessel of penance for the trio of dragon souls within him. Not every dragoon of Danglanesk slayed the wicked and imprisoned them, most joining was willing.

None of that mattered right now. Even the Wolf within his heart was powerless, unable to urge him one way or another. This was what he needed; a temple, and enough time without being bothered that he could detach himself mentally and spiritually.

He had heard enough whispers in the wind with Varia's aid that he knew that Zarafey would seen have her rituals and be given her own Lycan name - something of a prize among Anur. He never had one, he never fully committed himself. He was proud of her, much like an older sibling would be. She'd accomplished something he hadn't, and now she'd be living her own life away from him with her own things to do.

Fenyx was accustomed to being left. He had helped Anaia, became emotionally invested in her - also like a sibling despite how she wanted him to feel towards her. She left, finding her own way home suddenly. Nianna, oh Nianna. The one woman in this world that Fenyx had offered himself to sealed herself away. It was to protect her own people; a people that Fenyx might have had a chance with. He never resented her choice, though. Given the opportunity he may have done the same to save Danglanesk. It was a wound that he carried with pride; that in spite of a life of war and conflict he'd managed to find love. There was a part of him that knew he had to move on eventually, and by rights he should have by now. Of course, his lupine instincts hampered that.

Of course, that was all hidden beneath the steel surface of stoicism and only a little bit of bitterness. What set Zara aside in all of this was that he never intended to hold her near and dear forever. He protected her, he trained her, and he guided her as best he could, Now she had left the proverbial nest and would live her own life with whomever she chose however she chose. This gave Fenyx an iota of happiness, he felt he had done something right. If she chose to call on him again, or include him in her life, he wouldn't refuse.

But now he meditated. His mind miles away. A statuesque trance. With the three dragon prisoners, his own familiar, Vidar, and the Wolf within, Fenyx had very little wiggle room to be... just himself. Even though the meditation silenced everything, this pleasant nothingness in his head was a welcome reprieve. Even though he knew that once he opened his eyes and left that temple it would all be back. He welcomed what little time he had to himself.

Now he rested and waited for the next inevitable interruption.

[-Destinysend]

Aerastraza wasn't ever really one for temples, the places stank of incense and an underlying feeling of awe that made her itch in places she didn't know could itch. Regardless, she had tracked her fellow dragoon to this place and would brave the halls of religion in order to find him. Even if he wasn't fully human, even if she barely knew him, he was a dragoon and defacto brother-in-arms. Her boots clacked on the stone floor, the steps echoing her approach. She actually wandered the place for several minutes trying to find her fellow, bothering quite a few monks with her presence. Aera smiled as she found Fenyx, careful to keep quiet given he seemed to be praying. She never really did understand the whole spiritual thing, despite having devoted herself to The Matriarch and Wyvar, and generally related everything back to finger wiggling magic.

Within her head Manasa snorted in amusement at her thoughts, the ice dragon spirit fairly amused her charge did not believe in spirits despite being in possession of three. Aera slowed her approach as she neared, angling away to a pillar nearby to lean against. Even if she did not believe, Aera had respect for those that did. Beliefs drove people beyond limits, zealous religious fanatics went even further. Fenyx would speak when he was done, she was sure of it, so now she played the waiting game.

[-Caithann]

He seemed miles away still for another moment, but the implication that he was deaf to the world was far from the truth. He was very spiritually aware of his surroundings. The sound of metal footsteps echoed as if he were down a long hallway. The sound, the sensation that something- someONE was approaching him pulled him back to Redemption.

His eyes slowly opened and he continued staring ahead for a moment at the now dead prayer candles and a few old sheets of paper. Parchment that had long sat folded up beside the dragon knight's chest.

He didn't know Aerastraza well enough to have her scent down, or any other means of identifying her from afar or without his eyes. Fenyx pressed his hands to he knees and stood without use of his upper body, slowly turning to face the newcomer. Brushing one palm against another he nodded to her.

"I was wondering when somebody would show up."

[-Destinysend]

Aera pushed off the pillar, inclining her head in acceptance as she did so. "If I'd gotten an invitation I would have been here sooner." she replied, offering a slightly hesitant grin. Even if they were from the same home, she never knew the man so relations were slightly distant at best. "That, or if they hadn't made this place like a giant maze. Did you know the men's bathing chambers are remarkably similar looking to their prayer hall?" Yeah, that had been a sight she could have gone her entire life without walking into. Aera repressed a shudder and tucked the image away into the depths of her mind, praying it would never come back. "You done?" she asked cautiously, unsure of if there were some rites the man wished to continue with.

Why he had come to a temple was not her business, she was merely here because there was nowhere else to go and the man could help her center herself on this new world. He'd been here much longer than she had of course, years despite having only passed from Ekthor to these lands roughly a few months before she herself had come.

[-Caithann]

"I am." Fenyx responded, reachign over to the bench to pick up his shirt before pulling it over his head, the tapestry of runes and other tattoos disappearing beneath the fabric. "Sorry, but I didn't really pin you for the prayer and ceremony type." He mustered up a small smirk, tilting his head.

He moved over to one of the candle stands beside a window to the room, waving his hand over the extinguished candlesticks and reigniting them. The dragoon was sure that Algaz would take offense to his soul being used in such a trivial way, but Fenyx could care less for the scaly bastard's bellyaching.

Content with bringing at least a little bit more light into the room as twilight faded, Fenyx turned to face Aerastraza again. "So. Curiosity's getting the better of me."

He took a moment to examine her features, seeing if it was battle that brought her. His voice was polite and thoughtful, different than his usually somber tone from Anur.

"Why are you here?"

[-Destinysend]

Aerastraza shrugged a bit at the question, "Mostly for you." she replied. There was nothing more to it, despite how the words could be taken, she really had just come looking for Fenyx and no real other purpose. "And you're right, I'm not really too into the whole whisper your hopes and dreams to someone you don't even know truly exists or whatever. I like things I can feel, and spiritual stuff generally generally isn't very solid." She tilted her head back, staring blankly at the ceiling for awhile. "Missing home I suppose... you're the last link I got left besides Rith and Noridi, but they're more a part of me than a part of home." Aera rolled her eyes to look over at Fenyx, a bit curious to see his current mood.

((OOC: meh))

[-Caithann]

Fenyx offered a rare, brief smile to her, nodding. "You know, not to brag, but I went a few decades without anybody but my own prisoners." He didn't want to insist that his own suffering of homesickness was in any way more validated than hers, but claiming any last links would be preaching to the choir.

He didn't make any comment to her regarding her views on spirituality. It wasn't his place to judge, and even among the Dragoons of Danglanesk, he was a part of the more religious sect. His duties regarding the dragon souls' penances were second to none; it was a lifestyle favored by Wyvar - making Fenyx one of his few chosen children of justice rather than servitude.

The lycan looked down, rubbing his thumb harshly along the back of his other hand. It was an awkward - if not almost shy gesture. His voice carried a bit more subtle warmth in it than before as she mentioned home, "I... will do what I can to help, then."

He quite honestly unsure of how to progress at this point. For the past few years, people had been his weak point, and now here she was. He wanted to entertain her however he could since the two shared a lineage from a world far from this one.