Emery

Emery took a deep breath and simply collapsed onto her back, sprawling out. The Dragon-kin hopefuls had all come to the Elders' compound once again to train, and things were going fairly well.

It had been around a month since the training began in earnest. After the initial stretch of a couple days where everyone found their footing and were guided to what they needed to work on, everything progressed in a blur. The Elders and Vale seemed convinced that the group would even be ready for the Kin bond in a matter of months, when Emery had expected it would take much longer than that.

Emery was making massive strides toward altering her Qi and Inner World into a state that would accept Vale's fire Qi easily without issues, thanks in large part to Avuri's water Qi and Cultivation techniques.

Avuri, in turn, was all but ready for the Kin bond with Lyn. However, because of her link with Emery, they didn't want to proceed until both parties were prepared. And even better, Emery's adjusting to add water Qi to her base would help her adjust in tandem with Avuri.

Cierra was doing her best to prepare for her bond with Cyril. Like her mother, Cierra was focused mostly on strengthening her Cultivation base with more water Qi, focusing on Avuri's techniques to help her be ready for Cyril's fire Qi. What had begun as something of a whim now had the girl actively excited, as she was preparing to work toward crafting her own original techniques to harness the three types of Qi she would eventually be Cultivating, because such a combination was fairly rare. And if she truly incorporated all three types, her mothers' techniques wouldn't serve her any more.

Glenn, Cove, and Mica were all working hard with Eiry, and performing quite well. While Mica was the one that had been chosen to be Eiry's Kin bond, Glenn and Cove were doing anything but slacking. Their constant drive to outshine Mica was pushing the woman harder, and they were all getting results. The only reason they hadn't already gone through with the Kin bond was Eiry's insistence that the three of them learn to use her Cultivation technique.

Despite all four of them using a base of earth Qi, Eiry's techniques were almost all designed to invert earth Qi, which was how she gained her air mastery. Or something like that, as she didn't share the actual secrets of her technique with Emery, and Mica and the others were sworn to secrecy. Once they learned the technique, though, it seemed like Mica and Eiry might be the first to make the bond.

Kord was working with Ray diligently. Somehow, the two seemed to be the best match when it came to their student-teacher relationship. Kord was a dedicated and hard worker, who took to everything with fervor. In contrast, Ray was far more relaxed and led more with feeling than logic. However, they complimented each other exceedingly well, with Kord managing to distill Ray's random tangents and stories into actionable resources, actively improving by leaps and bounds over the month.

Stena was having the toughest time, as her training with Vyne was turning out to be more of a mentally taxing struggle than anything else. They usually spent each morning of training days talking alone in the small break room, isolated from everyone else. Everyone else had taken to eating lunch later on in the day, allowing Stena and Vyne to eat alone first. When they left the small room, everyone else would funnel in to eat.

Emery noticed Stena leaving the room after eating with tear-stained cheeks often enough. Not every day, but at least half. She and Vyne would then spend most of the afternoon meditating quietly. Occasionally, they sparred for training, but not nearly as often as the others.

Vyne had said that Stena's Cultivation and body were already close to a place that would be acceptable for the Kin bond, so he didn't see the need to push her physically toward extra training, only opting to make sure she maintained her current strength or perhaps improve incrementally.

Emery and Avuri had both been keeping an eye on Stena throughout the month, trying to make sure - from a distance - that she was going to be alright. They weren't used to seeing evidence of her crying as much as she had been, but after two weeks of her training with Vyne, they started to see small improvements in her overall disposition. Despite their worry for their daughter, they decided to let her do what she thought was best for herself, because it seemed to be working.

Of course, none of that was the current issue. Emery blinked slowly, staring up at the faraway stone ceiling. She simply couldn't concentrate on anything. Or over the last few days, to be fair, but this day was the worst so far. And to make it all worse, even Vale seemed to be completely distracted too.

Emery leaned her head back on the ground, trying to get her father in her line of sight. He was pacing a bit behind her, not even having noticed she sprawled out on the floor.

"Do you think we should just go home?" Emery asked, trying to prod her father to do something instead of just pacing.

"Even if we do, it's not like there's anything we can do there." He said idly, continuing to walk back and forth. Emery rolled her eyes, clearly not even making enough impact to get her father's actual attention.

Giving up for the moment, her eyes wandered over the room to the others. It was around dinner time, so everyone was out in the main room, hard at work. However, Emery could easily see the hesitation and distraction in the way all of the Cultivators moved. Even the dragons looked a little distracted, though not as much as Vale was.

Emery sighed again. She sat upright and focused on Avuri's Cultivation technique for a few moments to get some of Avuri's water Qi rolling through her. Then, all at once, she sharpened her focus on one of the easier techniques that Avuri regularly employed.

In a flash of Qi, most of the cavern was suddenly covered in frost. The ice didn't cover the entire room like it would have if Avuri had done it, nor was the chill bone-deep like it could have been. Emery was still satisfied with the technique, though. And it stopped everyone's half-assed, distracted training.

Vale even turned to meet her gaze, finally.

Emery just rolled her eyes, then spoke at a normal volume; everyone in the room would be able to hear her just fine from where they were. "We're clearly all distracted today. I think we should just cut our losses and go home."

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"Yes, please." Cierra breathed out, as if she had been holding onto the thought for most of the day.

"I'm in agreement," Stena added quickly.

"No issues here." Avuri said, passing reassurance through her bond with Emery as soon as they connected once the active training stopped. Kord and Avuri's cousins were all nodding in agreement as well.

Vale sighed and rubbed his forehead. "You all know that even if we go home, there's nothing that we can do to help, right?"

"I know that. I'm sure everything is well in hand. Between the midwife from the City, Gray, and Ieji, I'm sure everything is well in hand." Emery narrowed her eyes at that point, raising a finger to point at Vale. "But if I miss the birth of my niece or nephew because you dragged us off to train, I'm going to make you regret it."

Vale snorted, knowing full well that he could call Emery's bluster. But Emery also knew that he wanted to be there too. They probably would be, if Talya herself hadn't shooed them off, telling the group that as much as their moral support was great, she'd much rather have the lot of them trained and capable of defending the Basin if trouble came knocking.

No one really had anything to say to that, so they had gone. But seeing as no one was able to concentrate on anything with Talya being so clearly teetering right on the edge of the baby's arrival, the group being shipped off to train was pointless anyway.

Emery raised her eyebrows toward Vale, as if to ask 'well?', prompting him to really look around the room. He, no doubt, could tell even the Elders were shifting a little nervously. They had all met Talya and gotten along with her quite well. Emery had no doubt they wished for everything to go well, too.

Eventually, Vale sighed. "Alright. Let's head home then. We're clearly not getting anything done here tonight anyway."

Eiry nodded, seeming more than happy to hear the decision. "That's acceptable. Perhaps we should even take a few days' break before we return to this. At least until the child has arrived safely."

"I think that would be wise." Vyne agreed. "There's little point to training hard like this if no one is making any progress."

"You heard the man." Emery said. "Let's gather our things and go check in with Talya."

Even once the decision to leave was made, it took the group a little bit of time to gather their things and prep to leave. It didn't help that it appeared the Elders had been waiting for something like this to happen, and had prepared gifts and well wishes for Talya, which they held back on until then, once the decision to take a few days off was made.

By the time everyone was scattered around between Vale's shoulders, back, and claws and he was prepared to carry everyone home, it was basically after dark. The flight home in the frigid night air was nothing new to them at this point, as they not only flew high above the Peaks where the air was already naturally quite cold, but it was even starting to enter the winter months.

The Sky Realm Cultivators didn't have much issue with the trip, able to pretty easily regulate their bodies' temperatures, but the Earth Realm Cultivators were regularly bundled up in thicker clothing and cloaks. They even rode next to Avuri, who was able to keep the worst of the chill at bay for them.

When Vale emerged from the clouds around the Peaks and got a clear view of the Basin, Emery saw the number of lights on around the houses. The main house was entirely lit up, as were several of the other houses.

At this time of night, she would have expected most of the family to be doing their own thing in their bedrooms by lesser lights. But with how bright everything was, it had to be some of the light Arrays active.

Before Emery actually put everything together, she felt Vale tense up and speed up toward the Basin. The descent was rougher than usual, and he landed hard on the dirt of the playground. Several of the older kids were already running out to meet us from the house.

"Mom! Everyone!" Fia said, as she hit the edge of the playground. "Talya's in the main house. It seemed like the best place, and the midwife said -"

"Is she in labor?" Avuri asked, hopping down from Vale's back with everyone else.

Elise stepped up beside Fia, decidedly less out of breath than her sister. Or at least less flustered. "No, she's already finished. I'm actually shocked you can't hear the crying out here, because boy does that kid have some lungs on him."

"Him?" Emery asked.

"Him." Elise nodded. "And everyone is safe and healthy."

"The midwife was so mad at Talya. Her labor barely lasted a few hours. She was muttering and complaining the whole time while cleaning up the baby." Fia said, finally getting her breathing under control.

Emery glared daggers at Vale. "I knew we should've come back sooner." She muttered, then turned back to her girls, and nodded toward the house. "Lead the way."

As Fia and Elise quickly sped down the path back to the house, the group fell into step behind them. It didn't take very long before Emery could hear all the commotion coming from the main house. It seemed like a lot of the kids were there, based on all the chatter. And sure enough, she could make out the crying of a small child amongst the din.

Hearing the healthy, loud crying took a load off her shoulders that she hadn't realized was there. Even with Fia and Elise telling her that everything went well, there was nothing like hearing or seeing the evidence first hand.

As they all moved into the house, the chaos within became immediately apparent. While there were less of her kids in the house than Emery had initially thought based on the noise, they were clearly running around doing chores or whatever else they thought might be helpful.

She got several 'Hey, Mom's and other greetings as she followed Fia and Elise up to the third floor where the extra bedrooms were. She could tell immediately that the one near the end of the hallway was the one in use, given the open door and all the light spilling from it. But even more than that, she saw Karn and Enrik running fresh water and towels into the room, trying to be helpful.

Emery didn't realize she was speed walking until she suddenly stopped at the door to the spare room, Avuri and Vale right behind her. Evidently, Avuri's cousins had taken their time, and were chatting happily with Briar by the stairs.

Emery only really noted that through her secondary senses because her eyes were on her sister in the room. Talya was in the bed, but looked comfortable, all things considered. There was a swaddled mess of blankets in her arms, which no doubt had a child bundled within. She was staring down at the baby with a warm smile, while Gray was perched on the side of the bed beside her, sharing the same look.

Despite the hustle and bustle around the room, with all of the teenagers being ordered around by the midwife who still looked a bit miffed, and Ieji standing sentinel in the corner, the couple seemed in their own little world.

Ieji nodded to Emery when she walked in, the smallest of smiles on their face. Emery grinned in response, nodding happily at her sibling's obvious joy.

"So!" Emery said loudly, prompting Talya to look up. "How's the little one?"

Talya and Gray both lit up brightly when they saw Emery, Avuri, and Vale standing there, and the small group was waved over quickly.

"Come see."

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