Swords and arrows

[Anadwen]

Athran raised a brow, appearing almost amused. "Pity? It's only concern. Look, I was dead before. And I din't like it... I like being alive, but it wouldn't be the same if I'd get messed up bad. It's only concern. I don't want anyone and anything to be sorry for me," he growled, suddenly sounding harsh and cold, "because I know very well what toll I pay for what I am, and I don't regret it! Leave the pity for fools. I'm not that stupid."

He sprung to his feet and turned his back to Dram, a tad enraged that someone even assumed that he would be either unprepared, or feeling something so weak and foolish as pity. "If you think I'm unprepared, you know nothing of me. I'd be prepared in the grave. I'm not sorry for anything, the less my own self."

"And if the fact that I'm trying to help in any sense drives you mad..." he shook his head, and left the rest of his statement for himself. It would only spark another argument.

[Lion]

Dram remained quiet during the elf's moody speech.  Despite the grimace on his face, he did not feel wholly unsympathetic.  He inderstood what he meant, truly, but did not say the words that he did.

"You're right," Dram said quite nonchalantly.  "I do not know you.  But you give off an air of...irritable impotence.  Like you are filled with regret.  Please.  Do not mistake it for judgment.  It is merely my observation.  Though perhaps it is a sign that we should find common ground before we quest together, Pale Elf."

"And forgive me, your soothing bitterness, if I find that your willingness to help seems to drive you more mad than I," Dram said, laughing as he did so.  "Perhaps, instead of parting from your weapons, you craft a new one for one not yourself.  I've seen you parted from a weapon of yours.  You aren't pretty."  Dram smirked in amusement and continued to chuckle as he did so.

[Anadwen]

Athran grinned at Dram's last statement. "That's the Black Sword. It's special. I can deal with lesser weapons getting away from me - after all, they do get broken and lost - but not the Black Sword. I can never make one like that again." he said, still quietly, but this time with more amusement than rage.

"But I think you're mistaken, when it comes to regret. I never really felt regret... What is there to regret, after all? The past can't be changed. Regret's a waste of time." he winged off.

After a while of staring at the forest, stretching to all sides around the cliff, he turned and sat back down by the fire. His eyes were watching the meat, slowly roasting, unsure whether it's ready, or still needs time... He poked it with his fingers.

Still not ready to eat... "I wish I could eat it raw. I'd eat my own shoes right now." he muttered.

[Lion]

Dram gave a nod.  "Please understand that it was just business, not personal," he explained.  "But makes that sword so special to begin with.  How was your forging different from any blacksmith's?"

[Anadwen]

"My forging isn't that special. It's good, better than average, but not so significant... It's more about what's the sword made from. Have you noticed how light it is? And have you seen me using it? It's blade is black. It's not made of iron..." Athran shrugged, "I doubt I can find a similar chunk of metal ever again. It's as hard as an adamant, cuts through anything - even dragon scales - never rusts, and remains sharp. I just happened to find that rock and melt it."

He carefully pulled a part of the blade from its sheath and revealed the dark, glinting metal it was made from, along with complicated patterns, twisting and turning like branches of trees, carved into it. "Plus, it took a lot of time to make. Any ordinary blacksmith would have burned himself in the flames where I made it... Fortunately enough, I'm fireproof."

[Lion]

Indeed it was a beautiful blade, and the black metal and complex pattern carvings twirling through it made it all the more gorgeous as Dram took it in.  "No wonder I stole it.  But no, no I haven't seen you fight with it.  I was a little too busy saving my own hide  with my own sword.  It's no where near as glamorous as yours but it is mine and has served me well in my lifetime."

Dram revealed the slender and equally light blade of the kopis, its unusual shape making it ideal for hacking, slashing, and thrusting when needed.  He spun the sword within his hand and smiled at it.  "But I see what you mean.  A warrior ought not be parted from his weapon.  It's just as apart of them as they are apart of it.  Yours is a fine blade.  It won't be a mistake I make twice."

[Anadwen]

Athran smiled, but it had a hint of sadness in it. "I love this blade more than I loved my wife... That witch, I mean." He hid the Black Sword again. "It needs no sheath, but it's simply too striking to carry it around uncovered. Your weapon is also a well-crafted one... Light, slender, good for many uses. Fits you." he admitted.

"But I'd make sure you wouldn't make the same mistake. I don't usually kill for petty reasons... Try to rob me once, shame on me. Try to rob me twice, shame on you and your grave, if you know what I mean." His smile turned into a rough smirk.

The flames, dancing on the logs, appeared almost fascinating, but not as much as the meat, roasting above them. Athran moved closer, impatient, and the fire turned from red to white, suddenly searing with heat. "When is it done? I can barely cook a thing, but I feel like it's there for long..." He narrowed his eyes, then grabbed one of the flanks with his bare fingers, and pulled it out of the fire.

"I'm eating it raw, I don't care!" he muttered, stuffing his mouth with the hot meat. "You... You don't want, or what?"

[Lion]

At that Dram quickly rose, dropping the meat in the fire and moving toward him like a gust of wind, smacking the meat out of his hand.  "You don't touch it until it is finished, buffoon!" he growled and threw that piece of meat over the side of the cliff.  "To the wolves with you!"  Then he turned to Athran once more.  "I don't need a sickly companion rolling around on his belly because he ate raw meat that wasn't fully cooked.  If you are so eager, here!"

Dram moved toward the fire and stuffed his hand in the flame, not uttering a peep, and snapping off the piece of meat he had been cooking and throwing it Athran.  "Chew, don't gobble.  You're an elf, not an animal."  Dram growled enough again and resumed his former sitting position.  "Grab a stick and help cook the rest of it, you bloody cur!"

[Anadwen]

Athran caught the meat in the air and clenched his fingers around it. "Ssshhh! Calm down. Do you really think I'm that stupid?" he shook his head and bit into the piece. "If I knew raw meat's not going to do me any good, I wouldn't eat it! I'm used to raw meat. My cooking is so terrible that half of the times I have to roast meat alone it's raw. And I've never gotten sick from it. My stomach can put up with worse things."

He continued eating, more like a hungry beast than a sentient creature, but when he ate half of what he got in his hand, he suddenly stopped. "If I didn't know what I'm doing, I'd be dead long ago..." he winged off. "If you think a piece of raw meat is going to cause me some problems, then you're mistaken."

His eyes, burning like fire above the dark rings that circled them, stared right into Dram's own eyes. "And I may be mad, but I'm not stupid." the black-haired elf muttered. "Don't tell me what to do. I am no child... I have seen half a millenium on this Earth. I am no fool, Dram."

[Lion]

Dram raised a brow at Athan's explanation and he shook his head.  "I apologize for my reaction," he replied gruffly.  "But being a bad cook is no excuse to eat it raw.  Regardless of how long you've been alive.  It is an art and really not that difficult.  I am sorry if I came off too strong, but please.  You are never too old to learn!"

The dark elf got up and moved his meager set of spices between them.  "Here you try, just set the venison in the salt and pepper like so, and just rub it in," he said, demonstrating.  He flipped a new piece of the deer in the salt and pepper.  "And then you let the fire do the work.  When it smells good enough to eat, it is done.  Now you try.  Just don't turn it to ash!"

[Anadwen]

Athran grinned as he softly grabbed the meat with his thin fingers. "I simply can't figure out how long to leave it in the fire. I burn it, then it's stone-hard. I undercook it, then it's raw..." he explained him, rubbing the slab of meat in salt and pepper. "And then it usually ends up with me eating bread and drinking wine and all my dinner in Maigrod's stomach."

He picked the crimson piece of deer up and held it in the fire, as if the flames weren't touching the bare skin on his fingers. "Besides, don't apologize. As I told you, regret is useless." His head turned back to the dark elf, and carefully watched him, not even blinking once.

[Lion]

"I apologize not because of regret.  But because of courtesy, and respect," Dram pointed out and did not raise his eyes to meet the Pale Elf's.  "Though it does strike me as funny.  You're older than I...and you cannot cook!"  Dram fought hard not to laugh and he merely shook his head.  "I suppose you should take a lesson then.  Wisdom does not appear solely because you are old, but because of your experiences, what you have learned.  And you are never too old to learn."

"Just eye the meat.  When it appears browned enough, but not black, pull it from the fire.  It is not that difficult.  Use your instincts.  Smell it, pierce it, if it's tender, take a taste of it.  If it is not cooked enough, hold it over the fire a little while longer."

[Anadwen]

Athran nodded. He glanced at the meat in his hand, then turned back to Dram. "I never got the opportunity to learn cooking. I was too busy training how to fight my whole long life... And I lack the patience for cooking."

He watched it for a while in silence, then begun talking again. "I doubt you'd find any time to ever learn how to cook if you lived the way I live. I spend all my time training - that's where I agree with you. You're never too old to learn! But you can be too good for training dummies." he chuckled.

His hand arose from the fire and handed the meat to the Dark Elf. "Is it ready yet? I want to eat it." he asked impatiently.

[Lion]

"Eat the slice I gave you!  That one is finushed," Dram said nonchalantly.  "I probably would have led a very different life had I been in your position and likely would not have squandered it.  Everyone thinks things would be better if they had been born into a different lot, but regrets solve nothing and we can't change the past."

Dram gave a sigh and shrugged.  "Cooking will teach you patience.  It seems this quest will need it from both of us."

[Anadwen]

"I already finished the first one... But I want more." Athran admitted, and begun eating the meat he roasted himself, slower and resembling a beast at least a bit less.

"I'm content with how I was born and regret naught. I used my lifetime well... I wanted to be a warrior. And I believe I succeeded. There was no time to learn how to cook." He shrugged and crossed his legs beneath himself. "Besides, I always burn it, anyway."

[Lion]

Dram peered at Athran through bored red eyes and his frown only deepened.  "Very well!  That means, you will have plenty of time to practice," he said, standing and moving the spices toward Athran.  "Cook the rest of the meat."  He yawned widely and stretched his arms before moving toward his bird.

"And don't burn it!  Or we'll have nothing good to eat!  I'm going to go to sleep, a luxury I have not been afforded since two nights ago," he finished and laid down to nestle against the feathers of his mount.  He fell asleep quickly and easily, though mentally kept one eye open in case the Pale One burned the damned venison.

[Anadwen]

Athran gave him another nod, and grabbed more pieces of meat to roast in the fire. Instead of holding them in his hand, he stuck them onto a long, thin knife, and cooked three at once. Even though it wasn't the best roasted deer ever, they appeared and smelled edible, and once all of them were done, he packed them and sat beside the kindling flames once again.

"I'll take watch. I hardly ever sleep more than four times a week, anyway." he whispered, despite knowing that his companion was already asleep. They will travel for many days... The ruins are far. It was time to get rid of some things that would only get in his way.

Another blade glinted between his fingers, and his left hand clenched around the long wisps of hair, hanging by the sides of his face. It was left long for such a long time... He cut all of them off without wincing, till they reached only a little longer than to his shoulders. It was a habit that he did before every journey - the long hair looked good, but only got in his way. There was no need for it.

Fire licked the raven-black locks that fell into it. The smell of burning hair filled the air for a short while, but the Black Sword sat behind it like a statue of stone, his long shadow drawn onto the stone behind.

It was time to go... One of the few times when he didn't travel by himself or with Maigrod.

Athran kept on guard through the whole night, moving towards the edge of the cliff when the fire burned out. In the darkness, many things moved under the shadows of the trees, but only few escaped his watchful sight.

At last, the bleak light of sunrise appeared above the eastern horizon, coloring the clouds into a lighter blue than the black ink that covered the rest of the sky. Athran's tall figure, standing on the edge of the cliff, appeared like a dark silhouette, unnaturally lifeless.

[Lion]

Sleep was thankfully uneventful and the only burning stench that reached Dram's nose was that of burning hair.  It didn't alarm him, it hadn't even awakened him.  When the sun at lost rose to break the peak of the mountain opposite them, only then did he jerk awake and rubbed the sleep from his eyes.  It was rare that he awoke precisely at dawn.  Usually, he was up before the sun, running, leaping, bounding, training his body in endless arrays of exertion.

He was ever alert, ever ready.

When he stood and gathered his things, he observed the cut hair on the ground and then peered up at his companion.  "So you decided to give yourself a makeover while I slept?" he asked, throwing the tube that held the map over his shoulder.  "If you did not burn the meat, then we are ready to travel."  Dram moved toward the ashes of the fire and sifted through them, pouring a handful of ash into a pouch and strapped that to his belt.  He moved toward the black bird and climbed into the saddle and gestured toward Athran.

"And where is your dragon that you spoke of?" he called to him.

[Anadwen]

Athran shrugged. "Somewhere in the mountains... I can't sense his mind. He's too far, I suppose... I can create perfect dragon fire, though. It's the same kind as Maigrod can emit - we don't need a live dragon, just his fire. I can't call him, anyway." His bag, till then on the side of their small encampment, appeared on his back.

With a few steps, Athran got back to Dram. "The meat is packed in our bags and seems to be alright. It should last a few days... I have half, you have the other half." he explained, and carefully sat behind Dram. "By the way, what's with the ash?"

[Lion]

Dram shook his head.  "Not the fire.  I've seen what you can do with that!  You nealy burned the entire city down," he said.  "I mean as your mount.  Why take a bird when you can fly a dragon?"  He shrugged as he was already on Bane's back as it were.  "And how can a rider of dragons be parted from his mount anyway?  I thought they practically had their guts attached to one another.  Or so it would seem."

But it mattered little and Dram spoke no more before he gave a loud cry and Bane rose from the cliff's edge, at first plummeting quickly toward the treeline before immediately swooping upward and flying high toward the direction of the ruins, the winds in their favor.