It took well over a day for Violet’s injuries to heal enough for her to no longer be in serious pain. After slapping the big dog the day before she had simply trotted back to Luna, who was struggling not to laugh out loud. Then she curled back up besides her and promptly went back to sleep, the last thing she saw was the look of absolute befuddlement on the face of the Orthrus.
Both she and Luna slept through the rest of the day and night, not caring about being out in the open or under the rain. At some point during the night Luna had somehow crafted a tent like structure overhead to protect them from the incessant rain.
The morning came when Violet felt a soothing warmth flow into her body, she let out a muffled coo of satisfaction as she slowly opened her eyes. Susan was crouched down before her with a strained smile on her face, the woman looked slightly haggard and worn out but equally happy.
Upon noticing Violet’s gaze she looked up and her smile turned a bit more genuine. "You two did well, I’m glad you were able to defeat that monster. But." She then glared up into Violet’s eyes. "You need to make sure you don’t get injured so seriously! If I wasn’t nearby once you collapsed then you could have died! Even with me there it was a close thing!"
The raw emotion in her voice shocked the young dragon slightly, she knew that it was close, but she didn’t expect that she had actually gotten that close to actually dying. Then the fact that Susan looked so torn up about that fact also shocked Violet.
She knew that they got along, and Violet did genuinely like both her and Rhyana, but she didn’t expect that Susan would care about her enough to get angry at her for almost dying!
So with a bit of shame in her voice Violet looked down at the golden haired dogkin before her, who even now was still pouring in her healing skill into Violet’s body. "Thank you. For looking after me, and for caring about me. I... cannt say that I won’t get this injured again, but I promise that I will try my best to not let that happen."
Susan kept her gaze locked onto the violet orbs of the dragon before her for several long seconds, then with a snort she nodded. "That’s about as much as I can expect I suppose. And, your welcome, we all care for you and don’t like seeing you get hurt."
The group fell into silence after that. Eventually once Susan was finished healing Violet the group got up to move. Susan led the two companions away from the central area to the east side of the city.
They didn’t travel for long before they came across a building that was still standing. It was probabally once quite a grand structure, with a crumbled wall around an overgrown garden. The main building itself was quite impressive, it was multiple stories tall, with a grand double door that easily allowed Violet to walk inside in her dragon form.
Within was a large open space, two sets of partially crumbled stairs leading up to a balcony hugged the back wall. Several collapsed doors led away deeper into the building. In the centre of the open hall lay Rhyana.
She too looked to have been quite beaten and battered after the battle, yet had clearly healed up quite nicely, likely thanks to Susan’s care.
She looked up when Violet and co entered, nodding her head in their direction in greeting.
The group of ladies spent some time after that discussing the battle as a whole, learning about what each other did in the battle and how they pulled through. The discussion lasted for some time, during which Luna transformed back into her humanoid form to begin cooking som food for them all.
Violet was about to transform back herself, but was sternly told not to by Susan, who claimed that she may reopen her injuries if she changed back. Violet secretly though that she would be fine, but opted not to say so when she saw Susan glare, much to Luna’s amusement.
And so it was that the group spent the rest of the day, resting, relaxing and recovering. As night began to fall Violet brought up their incoming evolution and advancement. That got both girls quite excited and they eagerly began to talk about what they hoped may occur.
They were wanting to hold off till the morning, but Violet and Luna both insisted that they undergo it now. Eventually, after much cajoling from the two evolved beasts, they capitulated and agreed to undergo it now.
So with much anticipation, Violet and Luna sat back to watch over their friends as they underwent their advancement and evolution. Both wondering what might change when they came out the other side.
Rhyana was the first to have any real change, a electric blue shell began to cover her form. With it came a presence, it was in a nascent form right now. But it was slowly coming into fruition as time passed by. It shifted and changed as her evolution went on. But both Violet and Luna took note of a particular, flavour to her presence. It was one that they were both quite familiar with, for it was an imitation of what both girls held themselves. It was not quite as pronounced as what the girls held themselves, but it definitely contained a hint of the Wilds in it.
They were both quite happy for Ryana at that, both of them knowing that she had been looking for some way to gain something similar.
Susan’s advancement was much less dramatic, no shell of power formed around her, but something did change with her. Her figure seemed to slowly shift, the lingering traces of her malnourished past filling out. Her slightly sunken cheek gaining a healthy glow about them. As she slept through the process, water blue veins of mana became visible snaking across her figure.
The veins seemed to be expanding and multiplying, forming complex patterns under she skin as the process carried on. They did not seem harmful, so the observing girls did not worry too much. Then Susan’s own presence began to take shape, to their surprise it too gained a hint of the Wilds, surprisingly to a greater extent than Rhyana’s own.
Violet and Luna took turns sleeping so that they could stay and observe their friend during the entire process.
The morning soon came, and with it came the sound of a cracking shell.
Before the shell could fully break apart, Susan’s eyes opened, she took a deep breath as her presence washed out. It was like a deep pond, cool and soothing. Caring yet holding a hidden strength. It was quite a pleasant presence to be surrounded by, at least so long as you were friendly to the one emitting it.
Susan’s eyes snapped to Rhyana’s cracking shell. And not a moment later it finally gave in, shattering into dissipating flakes of mana. In its place lay a much larger blue dragon. Not quite as large as Violet, but still around double her previous size.
Her scales show with an electric blue, small sparks of lightning seeming to shift along them in random patterns. Her horns grew out and spines formed along her tail.
Then came her own presence which swiftly melded into Susan’s own, much like Violet and Luna’s did back when they both last evolved. It created a complex harmony of sensations, soothing yet sharp, calming yet alert. It was a contradiction of compliments, yet fit both of them to perfection.
Violet smiled at the two newly awoken lords.