Somewhere off in the caves was a creature having a hard time sleeping, mostly because she could not seem to ease her mind from the various things that plagued her.
Regardless of having come back from travels several weeks ago, this beast still had no real desire to return to her so-called home. It just felt like the wrong time to return and even so, was certain she would end up getting nagged to no end about having been gone for so long. Sure they would be happy to see her, but no one would truly believe that she would never leave again.
And they had every right not to trust her just as it went for everyone else..

This hybrid was starting to feel as though she was merely using everyone just for things she could not obtain on her own. As though it was obviously not true, this was the way she felt towards everything.
Gathering herself, those sapphires burned into the night as she watched the weather from the mouth of that dreary cave. No rain in several days and it was a mostly clear sky, the moon was waning and gave just enough light to make things even brighter.
"I think a nice cold soak will do just fine.. Maybe it can calm my nerves.."
Rynn mumbled to herself as she began to walk towards a familiar sound. In all actuallity, it had been quite some time since her physical being had been there. Well, let's see... three years? Yeah that was it, three years since she had been here to bask in the sunlight back then.
Stripping off her tanktop and jeans, letting them fall to the grass, she gingerly walked into the water, getting goosebumps from the chilling water the farther she went in.

Letting the water gradually over take her slender form, at her waist she took a deep breath and dove under the water, staying under for five minutes before coming up to take in more air slowly, calmly.
Floating to the deeper part where the falls generally used to fall, she allowed herself to relax and float there, using her tail as an anchor to hold herself in one spot near the rocks.

Rynn's timing couldn't have been worse, or better depending on your perspective. Deep below the falls, far back, there was an underwater passage. A passage very few knew about, but it led to a wonderful cavern of crystals. Blake often came here looking for inspiration with his art, a nice quiet day where nobody could bother him... even Krynn... and for some very fine crystals and gemstones he could carve or sculpt. And he was returning to the surface just as she had anchored herself at one of the rocks. To be polite he managed to surface a little distance away from her, shaking his head and lifting a small bag up out of the water. "Oh... hey Rynn, fancy seeing you here. What's up?"

As far as anchoring herself, it was very comfortable despite only having quite literally a few minutes of relaxation. Upon feeling vibrations of something moving in the water, she secretly hoped it was Athan for she wanted to talk to him, but it ended up being a familiar black dragon... that she had been avoiding for some time now.
Sidling around to have just her head out of the water, not that it much mattered as she was completely covered in fur save for a few bits.
"Coming from the cavern again?"
She more or less stated in question form, half trying not to burst out of the water for her clothes. But right now she was still close enough to the waterfall where it could.. impair even his vision.

The black dragon grinned, nodding. "Yep, how'd you guess? Oh... hey uh... you want me to turn around for a minute or just keep my eyes focused on yours?" Blake was a little embarrassed, but he couldn't help his timing. Turning back from that little path was a hard thing to do for someone his size. And while he'd honestly not really thought about her in that kind of fashion Blake had seen her exposed in the past. Maybe not fully exposed but he wasn't trying to remember anything like that. "What brings you here anyway?" The dragon didn't need to mention her absence, she knew where she'd been obviously. And she didn't need to be reminded of anything.

"I guess being gone for so long would have others to forget some of the tricks I am indeed capable of."
She smirked and shook her head. It was kind of odd that she was in the water and talking to someone while completely nude.
"It would be nice if you could avert your eyes for a while until I can get my clothes back on, but I don't know if you would trust me not to run away."
Even as she was speaking, she was already floating towards the shore.
To avert his eyes or not, she wanted her clothes on to avoid any discomfort that might come out of it all. Yes in the past she had a crush on him, but never wanted much to do with the family most of the time. Thus nothing ever came out of it.
As she neared shallow waters, she cared not if he wanted to continue looking or turn briskly. All she cared for was her clothes and if that meant exposing a little then so be it.
Rynn surely had no shame.

Blake was kind enough to turn away for now, though being a guy... there were a few reasons he didn't want to. "Huh, guess so. How long's it been? I mean, it couldn't have been that long right?" Oh geeze, he made sure she knew what he was thinking since once those words were out he regretted them. He wanted it to seem like he wasn't in a blaming or accusing fashion, but still knew she'd been gone a while and didn't want to guilt her. Like he was glad to see her but didn't want to smother her with "OMG UR BACK HUGZ!" like some would.

It had been quite a trip trying to keep from disappearing off the face of this planet. And when she had originally came back, if Athan hadn't quite literally caught her, she would have been more than likely gone away for another five months or so.
"I suppose it has. Crimson's kids made it especially apparent that it had been just under a year..."
Rynn got down on all fours and shook out her fur and stood up, flicking her tail back and forth to release the water weighing that fllufy thing down. Walking into some thick bushes, it would be easier to have a conversation that way, plus there was a tree there she could hide behind.
"It's safe to turn around now. And its okay if you want to guilt me... Afterall I had promised to be back after a few months, not a year..."
As she spoke, waiting for her fur to dry, her voice was a bit quiet. It almost sounded embaresssed but sad and lonely.
Standing behind that tree and not knowing what his facial expression would look like, she could only imagine what others would complain about.. some would probably have a fit because of the things she does..

The black dragon strolled out of the water slowly in her general direction. Once he was out he set the bag of gems down and shook himself off as best he could, starting to wish he hadn't worn his clothes down into the cave. "Nah it's okay. Rynn, their own mom can't be around for them." Oh geeze, good thing she could read his mind. He meant that having her missing for more than a couple months wasn't a bad thing really, that she was able to come back and that's what really counted. "You know what they say, absence makes the heart grow fonder... or something like that." And the half a dozen or more sculptures of her he made since she disappeared could kind of prove it.

"I suppose your trying to make me feel better for leaving so suddenly and coming back so late. So I'll smile this once for you."
She was smirking back behind that tree, struggling to get her clothes back on even though her fur was still a little wet.
When she managed to get her pants on but not her shirt, she got down on all fours again and shook out her fur even more so.
"Gah... sometimes I hate having so much fur.. then again father always said he would have glued fake fur to me if I have been born with scales... course he was joking... but.. still.."
She remarked, sitting on her knees and heels as she squirmed into her black tank top and sat there.

Blake laughed, smiling. "I think you would have looked good with scales, but fur just suits you better. And there's nothing wrong with a lot of nice thick fur is there?" He did wonder what she had been up to though, and he kind of wanted to give her a kiss or something but she was a friend. And the kids would like spending time with her again. Maybe that's part of why she left, they could get overly clingy from time to time. Especially Inno, but for good reason. That little one was either really clingy or really adventurous and running around all day. Heh, kind of like Rynn in a way. Wait... did she really just make a reference to her father? And why was he only just now realizing this? "Rynn??? You mentioned your dad?"

As she got up and moved around to visible sight still messing with her shirt while the dragon talked, she looked up in a bit of surprise at several things.
One he seemed tempted to give her a kiss but she had plenty of distance not to worry about that. Two... well he just seemed shocked that she would even bring up family...
Well at least amily that did not see much of the new country.
"Yes, I did actually..."
She stopped to think about what had been spoken and kind of surprised herself as well.
"Yeah, he was always quite fond of my fur, with him being a full-blooded dragon and all.."
She moved to sit down and lean against the tree, hoping Blake would be willing to just sit and do the same.
And now that she really thought of it, no one even knew she had a brother and sister until they came into the restaurant. No one knew she had family ever until they had com barging into the lives of others around her. It was kind of sad to think about. And now tonight Blake gets to learn a little bit about Rynn's daddy.

"I can definitely sympathize with that feeling. Not that I don't like scales, especially since I think I look damn good in mine, heh. Still, fur has a very strong appeal." Blake sat down near her, looking at his shining sleek scales and over to her. Dragon blood definitely showed in other aspects of her, and she was certainly one of if not the most special people he knew. She was actually pretty lucky in his eyes. Blake spent quite a bit of time looking at Rose's book on dragons and only one or two out of the entire book had fur of any kind. "You want to talk about him? He sounds like a great man."

Who would have guessed Blake was fond of fur? She certainly wouldn't have guessed, then again since the kids hatched she rarely had time to sit and marvel at a few select males she preferred over the vast majority. But of course, her select few males were the ones she often hung around the most... though it wasn't needed to name the five she liked to watch.
"He was a great man, well.. what I can remember of him anyway."
She watched as he got comfortable sitting on the ground a little ways away from her.
"He passed away when I was still little, but I always remembered he was very happy to always see me. At the time Ashlin and Diablo were living with our aunt and uncle at the time, but he was taking care of me. I never knew my mother, he never really said much about her, but I found out that she merely rejected me like some hybrid parents do."
It wasn't mere rejection, her mother simply wanted her dead.
"Father always did his best to keep me safe. He was an incredible man until his accident. He kept me well clothed and always let me go to work with him and help out when they needed. He was fond of buying dresses for me to wear hehe.. I always fussed with him about wearing them but.. I wore them only for him.. especially when he got sad sometimes."
Rynn took a breath, swallowing a small lump in her throat. Now she knew why she was thinking about him.
She looked over to Blake and made herself smile happily.
"I was his little doll.. is what he used to say."

Blake was no mind reader, but he could definitely feel all the emotion coming from Rynn. Years and years of longing for her parents probably, missing that comforting presence whether it was by her side or the simple knowledge she could come home and find it waiting for her... he knew that feeling. And he also knew that she was stronger than she knew. "You were very precious to him, as well you should be. And you're precious to a lot of people around here too, maybe not their little doll, but definitely a treasure all the same."

It couldn't be helped that a little smidge of her past would seep out. No one around here could be thoroughly quizzed about her past and be able to pass it with flying colors. The only one who knew of her past was dead now. Even Diablo and Ashlin could not fully open up about it. For one they knew Rynn disliked talking about the past and two, it was because they could not tell everything. Even after her father died, their uncle, Makor, kept her seperate from them for years before she was introduced to them and often clinged to them for comfort.
But yes, it was building up, and especially after the passed few years, had finally boiled over and she wanted to break down and let it all out.
She knew why she was thinking about him all of a sudden, but didn't want to leave to go visit his grave back home.
"I've been told that once, but in a joking manner..."
She smirked, pulling up her knees and rubbing her bad eye as an excuse to wipe away a stray tear soaking into her fur.