Moonshine flew on the air currents or Rhydin passing into the portal to the Twilight Islands. He destination was Ammy's beach house to speak with Lene. A long talk he had been putting off for some time ever since their son was, he wasn't sure what Calcifer was now beyond a feral, rabid creature. What finally chased him out of the forge was a visit by one man he never cross. Lene's father, Fleet Wolf.

The old Lupe had come by to remind him that no matter what life shot into ones hide like fiery arrows, mates were mates and should be talking not hiding from each other. So here he was, flying out to speak with Lene as a promise made to Fleet, under penalty of being turned into a hamster and letting the twins, Gwynever and Merlin play with him for a month if he didn't speak with her.

Moonshine landed on the porch and knocked on the door.

Lene answered the door, her arms a bit sudsy helping with dishes as Mirius went to her governor duties and mother was having a nap. She saw Moonshine standing there and she gave a small sigh even though she worked a plastine smile into place.

"Moonshine. It's nice to see your forge hasn't swallowed you whole. Give me a sec and I'll be right out." she went back inside.

Moonshine sat on the porch and waited. The fake smile troubled him as much as not being asked into the house. His tail twitched in slight annoying flicks. Things were definitely not well.

Lene reapeared and came onto the porch bearing two bottles of Wolf's Bite whiskey and a tray of crackers and smoked meats. She took a seat, opened the bottles and looked at Moonshine for a long moment before taking a deep sip of the burning whiskey.

"Lene, I am..." Moonshine began but was stopped as she raised a hand for him to not speak.

"Moonshine, you have every right to mad with me for everything in the past and present. The pains I've caused you, the worries I've put you through and more. Yet, you never avoided me until now. Why? Why now are you suddenly dodging me like the plague? Is it because of Cal's condition? Going off to war so much? Being a warrior goddess? What is wrong with me that you avoid me?" Lene said in a slightly hurt tone.

Moonshine gather his thoughts for the moment and took a sip of the whiskey. "I can't feel our soul bond anymore Lene. Not since you ascended to a deity. I have a deep, cold hole in my soul where you used to be. I felt none of your injuries this time and didn't even know you were back until I was told by father."

"So... you are saying you avoided me because you didn't know where I was?" Lene asked with a hopeful tone.

"No Lene. That was not the reason. Lene, soul bonds are important to dragon mates. It's how we know we are for each other for life. Without that bond, Lene, I feel I've lost you. Your acceptance of being a warrior goddess, the wrecklessness you pursue alongside your family. I don't blame you directly for the suffering our son has endured, but you are at fault for creating the enemies that took him by association with your family and dealings." He said and sipped at the whiskey. It gave him false warmth for the coldness he was feeling in his heart.

Lene's heart hammered in her small chest. "What are you saying Moonshine? That I am a bad mate? A bad mother? What?"

Moonshine was silent for a long moment then spoke. "Lene. I don't love you anymore."

Lene dropped the bottle of whiskey and braced herself. This was not the severity she thought this meeting would have.

"We have no more bond Lene. You feel like a stranger to me. You have given me plenty of love and kindness but you keep chasing paths that will lead to your death or the death of others around you. I just can't take that anymore Lene. I don't want our son further scarred by you either if he ever recovers from what has happened to him. I'm taking full custody of him. He should never have been removed from the lair to this house hold. Your mother meddles too much in other peoples affairs and you followed her orders instead of mine. I you would have listened to me over the last two years, none of this would be a problem." He said.

Lene blinked hard several times. Tears kept getting in the way of her vision. "Moonshine, you can't... be serious? We are mates."

"Were mates Lene. Admit it. You only stood by my side because you were bonded to me by a freak magical spell I did to heal you. You only stayed because you didn't want to feel me getting hurt if you weren't there to protect me. Instead? I suffered. Suffered as your injuries burned me, tore me, drove me to the brink of insanity by what you do and not able to help you. I am done with this excuse of a mating. The only thing that ties us together is Calcifer and he is more dragon now than he will ever be Lupinossai. A change for the better in my opinion. Your race is nothing but trouble." He responded.

Lene felt like she was ready to crumble inside under a heavy weight. She wasn't sure what to say or how to defend against this kind of assault. An assault on her heart and soul. Her tears stopped flowing as she did the only thing she knew how to do when threatened. Lene stood, wiped her eye and then jumped up and struck Moonshine's head to the side with an open hand slap.

"If you think you are taking me son, you bastrii of a dragon.." Lene growled.

Moonshine was caught by surprise from the slap but he wasn't stunned. He stood up to his full 10 foot height and stared down at Lene. "You may have survived our sons attack on you, Lene, but I am not a child dragon. Touch me again and I will see whether or not a deity can die by dragon might."

Lene's hackles rose and bristled in anger. "I'm trying not to bring violence into this you pompous snake! I was hoping to talk about the distance I've felt with us and work something out. Instead I get words of divorce and losing my son? Come here, dragon." she moved for Moonshine, intent to break something on him.

Moonshine leapt off the poarch and landed on the beach with a snarl and a hiss as dragon fire kindled in his maw. "You want our son. The son you can't protect. The son you won't be around for when Rhydin's troubles and evils drown your soul and mind? Then you better kill me for him, for I am not going to let him go."

Lene leapt off the porch and hit the sand, standing to her full 3ft height and radiated the power of a being 3 times the size and might. "Don't make me do this Moonshine. Please, don't make me kill my son's father and the one person I've loved so much."

Moonshine snarled hearing Lene's words. "Don't you dare throw the blame on me for our son being alone. I've been working my scales off to provide for this family and you make it sound like all I did was abandon you all to my smithing."

Moonshine charged at her again but spewed dragon fire as he moved cutting off the route between his legs. Lene leapt back and into the air, snapping her wings out and back peddling. If he was going to keep throwing that infernal dragons fire she had to get him away from the house. She couldn't risk anyone in that house getting hurt because of a quarrel between them. Moonshine kept following, arcing dragons fire at her in the air and trying to snap at her in between bursts.

Lene kept zones of vacuum around her to snuff out the flames. Her vulnerable legs twitched and moved, keeping from those sharp, large teeth. She gave him a few light kicks to the snout to try and clear his head before she landed on the sand again.

"We both had our reasons to be gone, and Calcifer was rarely left alone at all without one of us being there. I'm trying to get you to understand that we aren't always with our son to keep him safe all the time. Accidents happen!" She said.

Her ice blue eyes flecked with gold watched her mate now. They'd fought side by side a few times and she knew what tactics he favored. Moonishine sat for a moment, rubbing his stinging nose from the kicks then he was on the move again. He leapt into the air and hovered then unleashed a rain of dragons fire upon her from above. Lene sighed and let the flames vanish once more, hitting the vaccum zone and extinguishing them. She shifted her stance knowing what was coming next. Moonshine dropped from above, tallons and teeth bared, ready to rend her to tiny little ribbons. She let him close within 5 feet of her and her shield materialized onto her arm. Lene wound up and slammed the shield into Moonshine's chest sending him into the lagoon next to them.

Moonshine crashed into the water and sank under it for a moment. The cold water jarring his senses. He swam to the surface and churned the water frothy white as he moved for the shore with murderous glare in his eyes. He reached the sand and crouched.

"Accidents wouldn't happen if you weren't constantly searched for like some great challenge to destroy. You attract the grief and sorrow to our family. Admit it!" He roared.

Level leveled a glare at him. "So you are going to blame me for the family I was born into? Ever think that not once I wanted any of this evil attracted to me? To never be tainted? Listen up, Moonshine. Mudrah happens in big steaming piles. Sometimes you can't step out of the way, and some days you get shoved into it face first. To hold my past against me and to hold the fact I was targeted by an enemy after mother is wrong. I'm not walking around willingly putting our family in danger. So far, I've been pulling it out of danger or shielding it. Ever think why my family has alot of issues, but our little family only has a few?"

"We'd not have any issues if you would listen to me and stop trying to prove yourself to people by doing things that draw to much attention. You couldn't be just a mother could you? Just a loving mate to stay and take care of things." He said and approached Lene again.

This time Moonshine unhooked his smithing hammer that doubled as a battle hammer from the harness he wore and stood on his hind legs, wielding the hammer in his front paws. Lene took several steps back and held out her hands. A mithril spear materialized as well as her armor. This was getting out of hand and someone was going to get maimed or killed soon.

Moonshine was moving in on her quick, that war hammer raised and ready to smash into her side. Lene held her spear ready deciding which target posed the least amount of injury to her enraged mate.

Neither of them heard the soft thump of the flash bang hitting the sand, but they both heard the deafening bang by the device as well as the brilliant white light it threw out. Lene dropped the spear trying to hold her ears, her eyes wattering and seeing nothing but white for a little while. Moonshine was no better off. He was staggering around disoriented, but he still held that hammer and was swinging about trying to find Lene with its smashing end.

Lene dropped to her hand and knees to make a smaller target knowing she was vulnerable for the moment. A tactic that had just saved her head as the hammer whistled by sending a breeze to ruffle her hair. Feeling the whiff of the hammer, Lene raised a hand and pushed with the Force. Moonshine stumbled back, dropping the hammer and he crashed to the sand with a grunt, still temporarily blind and deaf.

Lene's hearing cleared faster than her vision and the words from Mirius made her freeze in place. Mirius with a gun was never, never a good thing as it meant her adopted mother was past any patience. Lene just raised her hands in the air quietly showing surrender.

"Easy, mom. Easy. There's a reason behind this, and I'm to blame for most of it. We were trying to talk out issue of us not seeing each other for a while and... some nasty words were traded leading me to slapping Moonshine. I shouldn't have done it, it just made him fighting mad." she said.

Moonshine snarled from where he lay resting and recovering his senses. "Nasty words? Don't sugar coat it you bitch. I'm taking our son and you are not a part of us anymore."

Lene sighed, stabbed in the heart once more. "Moonshine wants to split, take Calcifer from me to keep him safer and happier all because my ascension to a warrior goddess somehow erased our soul bond."

"You gave it up, you selfish woman." Moonshine rumbled.

Once his hearing and sight had returned he moved onto his belly and gave both Lene and Mirius a nasty glare. He could feel and sense the magic bubble keeping him from doing anything to Lene.

Lene rubbed her eyes to clear the last of the white afterimage from the flash bang. "I didn't mean to cause a physical fight. Moonshines words litterally scared me and put me into a deffensive mode. I didn't want to be away from little boy, Mirius. I've been physically healing, you've seen me mother, resting and removing bandages every day. I didn't want Cal to be separated from me and to stay in the Shimmerscale lair without his parents, but I couldn't risk him breaking loose at this house and killing or hurting more family. I'll be going to see him really soon. I do miss him. Just..." she looked to Moonshine.

"I've been worried about our distance Moonshine and I have been really thinking a lot two about us since the day we were bonded. It's true, maybe you don't love me anymore and I won't hate you for that. Hell, there have been days I questioned whether I still love you. But Mirius has a very solid point. We may no longer love each other, but damnit, can't we both love our son?" Lene asked him.

Moonshine stared at Lene for a long time. "So you don't love me?"

Lene threw up her hands in frustration. "You suddenly care now? After saying you don't love me, don't want anything to do with me and want to walk off with my son that I have been claimed to have harmed? What is wrong with you? I am beginning to think the other dragons I've spoken with are right. You need a mate that is more like you. A dragon mate so you can be a dragon, not babysitting some tiny, troublesome Lupe."

"Troublesome is a severe understatement." He snorted at Lene. "I do love my son, and I used to love you. I didn't know you no longer loved me till now. I had suspicions, yes, but you can't base things wholly on suspicions. Don't think that giving me free permission to bond with another as a free pass from what you've done, and why should I care about your realm of Lupinoss. Lene, you were never born there, but born here on Rhydin. Why should you care about their gods? Let them vanish. Let the realm die. What values does it hold to you?"

Lene just stared at him in disbelief. "So you want me just to toss my entire heritage? Sacrifice millions for your selfish desire to keep me to yourself? Over something missing like a soul bond? Moonshine, what is with you and holding to dragon customs? Remember when you first met me, and I was blind. You told me you shared my pain because you were blind too and Icer changed you from a Lunarnan to a dragon that could see. So don't go saying you don't care about Lupinoss. You came from it and you're not a true dragon. You don't owe any comittment to their customs, and yet, you do. Why?"

Moonshine growled. "Because I don't live in my past. I left my Lunarnan side behind as something never to remember and never to repeat. I wanted a new start. I follow dragon customs because that is what I am now. A dragon. What about you? Do you ever follow any custom? Hardly. You're a deity now. Why should you care about things such as bonds, mates and responsibilities?"

Lene's eyes narrowed a bit. If she could kill with looks she'd try. She turned her back on Moonshine and just screamed into the air trying to let go of all of her frustration that was building up.

Lene lowered her head, ashamed. "I... I know mother... just... I've been so ashamed for what I let happen to Calcifer. All my powers and I didn't go after him or my brother. I didn't assault the Knight sooner. I didn't do enough because.. I just can't... I'm not a miracle worker alone. I'm nothing without support, without family. I look at me son and see that I failed severely as a mother.... see that I failed him like mom failed me when I was so small."

She sat on the sand and hugged her knees close.

Moonshine was no longer making angry noises. It was hard to stay angry while an irate Lupinossai waved a gun in his face. He really couldn't deny a thing at all that Mirius had said. He'd asked to be changed from a blind Lunarnan into a seeing Dragon so long ago. Perhaps he'd really lost who he was in all of the craziness to be a dragon, but he knew much of the dragon life was good as well. Hesitantly he spoke, afraid he'd get another lashing from Mirius.

"I am sorry, Mirius. I can't argue with what you've said." He sighed deeply and looked at the sand. "I've lost who I was with the change."

Moonshine looked over to Lene as she said what was on her heart and it touched him very deeply. He moved over to Lene, but didn't hug her as she shielding stopped contact but he did rest on his belly next to her.

"No, Lene. It wasn't your fault alone. I wasn't able to protect him either. You've been right all along. All I cared about was working with metal and working my job. I.. just can't wrap my thoughts around what you and your family are able to do, and our son can do too. Magic... is so... scary and unknown to me. It frightens me to deal with something I can't see or understand. I feel... useless and a complete idiot when trying to offer help or comfort in an area I can't even begin to understand well. I feel so blind about this all. And Mirius was right. I didn't have to bring you back to life with magic. I could've taken you to a hospital instead of playing with something I knew nothing about. I am sorry." Moonshine said and tried to give her a nuzzle, or as close as he could with the shields up.

Lene looked at Moonshine with wet cheeks.

Moonshine looked down at the sand for a few moments. "We have a child that is hurt and needs us instead of us fighting like children ourselves. Let's give him the love he needs and deserves. As to the two of us being mates..." He closed his eyes and gave a long pause as he thought things through. "Why don't we discuss that after our son is better?"

Lene wiped the tears from her eyes. "Do you still love me?"

Moonshine tried not to sigh. "I... do love you still, but it's not the same as how a mate loves another mate now. What about you?"

Lene just nodded quietly. "I do love you but not in a deep way like it used to be. I guess... the soul bond was giving us a fake love that really wasn't as deep as we thought it was. Moonshine, I want you happy. I can tell you're bond with me has driven you nuts."

Moonshine had to chuckle now at that statement. "Nuts is putting it lightly. This body... seems to crave the companionship of like kind, just as I've noticed, Lene, that you seem to need someone better at anchoring you so you don't get lost in everything. How about this offer... We love each other as much as we wish, we love our song as much as he can take, and we agree that when we find the one that makes either of us happy, we give consent to let either of us be happy with that new someone."

Lene nodded to Moonshine. "I can agree with that offer."

Both Moonshine and Lene nodded to Mirius. "We'll behave." they both said at the same time.

Lene looked to Moonshine and sighed softly. "Before we talk anymore about us... let's visit Calcifer and see if he is improving. Then we can discuss our future some more love."

Moonshine nodded in agreement.