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Homeward Bound [Private]

Started by glorilyss, June 01, 2017, 06:08:18 PM

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glorilyss

It was not a particularly long journey, not really - at least, not as long as it wasn't too hot, or raining. It was lovely out today, though, one of those rare, early-summer days that still flies the flag of springtime. And though the path was infrequently used, it was a familiar one to the booted feet that trod upon it. How many times had Maire followed this same road to Ketra to sell furs with her father? How many hours had she spent along such a river of dirt and dust?

Now she reversed that trip, leaving behind the outskirts of the city for the wild, open tangles of first hillside, then clutching forest. The transition from civilization to wilderness was a gradual one, but one that she was fond of, and she had come prepared for: a pack with two days' worth of provisions was slung over one shoulder, bumping against her hip in time with each step. The dark linen of her tunic and the buff color of her leggings made her look rather like a tree nymph, one more flickering shadow lost against the forest floor.

Those same shadows had begun to lengthen, the gloom growing thicker under the trees as the sun slid towards dusk in the west. She was still making good time, though; there was surely another hour left before true sundown, more than enough time to get everything ready. The closer she got to her old home, anyways, the more energy she felt trickling back to her - though the shadow of the past still hovered behind her shoulder, and the frigid cold of fear still whispered across her neck.

Maire broke through the screen of trees into a small clearing - or rather, what had been a clearing at one time. There was still some empty space, mostly the area around the ragged edge of a neglected cabin, but the forest had begun to fill the void once more, creepers and tall grasses pushing into the meadow. It had smoothed over the touch of humanity - including the ugly scar of earth that had once stood under an old, lonely aspen on the edge of the clearing. She could just barely see the large lump of stone that had been placed at the head of the grave, but made for it all the same, the diffuse light before twilight softening everything around her. She unslung the pack from her shoulder, dropping it to the ground and sliding with her back against the stone. Closing her eyes, she tipped her head back against the stone, still slightly warm from the sunlight.

"Hey, Daddy."

Sheshia

(Sorry of this is shorter then the original :/ Im about to collapse as I type this XD might edit it tomorrow when I get up idk)

Caitríonas had a fair amout of exploring to do here yet in this area. She seems to enjoy it alot, you never know what you'd find in forests. It seemed as though this was one of those days.

It was a nice day out to her, every day was a nice day for her as long as she was not cold then she would enjoy it. The birds were singing while she slept at the base of a tree and then they stopped. She opened her eyes to see a lone girl walk dowb a unused trail that had become over grown with grasses and other foliage. She looked like she was on a mission and had something in her mind.

The young dragonness slowly got up when the girl passed and waited a dew minutes before following the scent trail. Within a few minutes she apots her again leaning against an oddly positioned stone saying, "Hey, daddy." Caitríonas felt a bit bad for the girl she wanted to comfort her later on but didn't want to scare her to death since well she was a dragon and the girl was a humanoid. Well either way she was probablh going to panic. So the dragonness decided to bite the bullet and to approach the girl trying not to look as threatening as possible. And so she starts to walk towards her keeping her head lower to the ground and trying to look kess intimidating as possible.

She wanted to be frienda nit enemies afteralll.

glorilyss

[ooc: Post length doesn't matter to me! My first posts are usually longer, anyways, just to set the stage.]

Wrapped up in the potent mixture of guilt and memory as she was, Maire hadn't even noticed that there were other, larger animals in the woods around her on the walk to her old home. If she had known that she was passing a few feet from a dragon, much less a bear or a catamount, she would have been flabbergasted; as it was, she was blissfully unaware - at least, at first.

It was the sound of a foot pressing softly to the ground that brought her back to earth, her eyes flying wide open even as her hand twitched toward the pack by her feet. She had carried a small knife there, a formality more than anything; she hadn't seen anything before making her trip, and so hadn't really expected much to happen. To be fair, she didn't always see everything, and she couldn't guarantee that the nightmares that plagued her were ever true visions, but she would have taken heed had she seen something. 'I'll never make the mistake of ignoring something like that again.'

What she saw was so unexpected that the fear couldn't even catch up. Approaching along the side of the clearing.. was a dragon. At least, it looked like a dragon, but odd - there was no glitter of sunlight on scales, whether the light was diffuse or not. And she had never heard of one with... with fur? The girl blinked stupidly, mouth slightly open as her sleep-deprived mind struggled to make sense of everything. Then, with a little jolt of realization, she jerked backwards, hands pressing against the ground as she tried to scoot backwards.

"W-wha-" Her voice stuttered and failed, dying away in a little croak. Maire fumbled for the dagger, her hands shaking as they drew the blade from the sheath. "I don't mean to harm you," She spoke after a moment, her voice nervous but no longer quivering. She had been raised on stories of dragons, and knew enough to be healthily respectful, but now that her mind had caught up with her situation, she wasn't exactly scared. After all, not all dragons were cruel, and she was an Adelan, after all.

Sheshia

Caitríonas watched the girl while she approached. She sensed a good bit of sadness and guilt. That made her even more courious.

Caitríonas did not mean to scare the poor girl. Though since she was a dragon after all she guessed that she was going to at first then maybe if the girl saw that she meant now harm she would become less scared and more nervous. That plan went out the window for sure.

When the girl notcied her she  tried to scoot backwards, looking rather confused in the process, and eventually scrambling to grab her knife. The poor girl. Caitríonas snorted a bit watching her unsheath the knife. This girl was going to get killed by another dragon if she did that infront of him. Now they were getting somewhere when the girl said she ment no harm.

Why are you here? She asked the girl using her telepathy. It was possibly the easiest way for her to speak to others. Since their touge was to hard for her to pronounce with the way her throat was built. You seemed rather upset about something. Caitríonas laied down wanting to help the poor girl, while at the same time wanting to bolt. What harm can ONE girl do after all to a dragon? The possibility was low of her attacking if she was soeaking the truth.

glorilyss

The moments after her words left her mouth seemed to stretch for eternity, each one glittering like a grain of sand hovering beneath the bottleneck of an hourglass. Perhaps it was the fear, or the confusion, or the fact that she hadn't slept for more than an hour or two at a time in the past week or so. Perhaps it was just the shock of actually seeing a dragon. It was surprising to think that she  had never actually seen one, beyond printed bulletins and drawn photos, but that was the truth.

And then, a whisper like the brush of a feather over stone curled through her mind. Words, words that she certainly hadn't thought, echoed like a gong inside of her head. 'Why are you here?' It felt like even her heart stopped for a moment, a bolt of shock pure and clear thudding through her heart. It was talking to her. In her mind.

Her mother was going to think that she had finally snapped.

"Ah, I used to live here," Maire answered carefully, eyes darting to the clearly-abandoned cabin that commanded the center of the clearing. It wasn't yet particularly run down, but had clearly felt the effects of time and weather; creepers had begun to crawl up the sides, though the one glass window was miraculously still intact. At the insistent whisper that crawled through her mind again, she shivered, one hand reaching behind her to press against the headstone at her back. "I came back because I wanted to visit someone." No need to tell the dragon who just yet. "You're not, uhm, you're not going to hurt me, are you?" The tail end of her question lilted up, hope crawling across her face.

Sheshia

So the girl was surprised by thenway she spoken to her. Caitríonas narrows her eyes, if she was in her shoes she would feel the same way. But every dragon had different ways of communicating with others. Some spoke, others used thier minds while there are some who convey what they think through body language.

She must have been visiting her fathers tombstone. Caitríonas never truly understood the need for them, when someone died they died and of course are buried or left for the way of nature to deal woth but a stone to mark a burial? It was a waste of time and energy to get one. She knew because of what the girl just said to no one but the sky it seemed. Another of their weird ways of doing things.

As long as you do not give me a reason to harm you then I come here in peace. Caitríonas says looking down at the tiny being. She was more of the kind to shealth attack if she wanted to and they usually did not know what hit them before it was to late, If I had wanted to hurt you I would have done so when you walked by and not have approached in such a manor as I did. She blinked looking at the girl out her hands behind her back not taking her eyes off it for a moment.



glorilyss

The words sounded like falling leaves, the barest brush of wind and noise inside of her head, yet loud in the fact that she had not thought them herself. Maire quite felt that even if this dragon spoke to her every day for a hundred hundred years, she would never get used to the sensation of another's voice where only hers had been. She shivered delicately, icy fingers trailing along the column of her spine at the thought. What if the dragon could take thoughts out of her mind, as well as put them in...?

No use thinking that, she decided, clutching at the whispered words between her ears. No use thinking of being mind-controlled, when her dreams controlled her enough. The young girl raised her hands to her face, scrubbing tiredly at the pouched skin and dark circles there. She'd almost think that she was dreaming, except that the warm breeze and the rough stone against her back were quite real. But then, her dreams always were, weren't they? That was, after all, why she was so scared that she clung to awareness rather than close her eyes.

"Well, in that case, I think we won't have any reason to hurt each other." Maire dragged her thoughts back to the situation at hand. They scattered away like dandelion seeds in the wind, but she snatched at them as a drowning ant clings to any bit of leaf or grass caught in the current. "And I have to say, I'm glad you didn't hurt me. But why are you here?" She turned her gaze, still tired and but relatively aware, to the odd, furred dragon. "You don't live here, do you?" She looked surprised at the thought. Of course she was; though her mother and herself lived in Ketra, Maire would always think of this clearing as her home.

Sheshia

(Yeah Im just gonna shorten Caitríonas' name lol to Cait to same me time lol)

Cait shakes her head, "I do not live here nor anywhere for that matter. I have to travel during the warm and cold months other wise I wouldn't fair well up north if I stayed through the cold months." She would love to live in one area permanently but then again it wasnt good for the area around her nor herself. If she stayed to long in one area hunters might come by and try to hunt her, which was something she never was fond of to begin with.

"I was just resting here for a while before I move on again." Caitríonas looks at the clearing. Traveling was the best way to see the world though it did become a pain sometimes She was thinking of the girl as well in her own thoughts, the girl was obviously tired. She could tell just by the way she looked, though she was not tired enough to give up awareness.

Smart for a human particularly in a clearling such as the one they were in now. They would usually let their gaurd down thinking a nap was okay to have this kinds of areas and they would be attacked by a animal or worse. One of the perks of being a dragon is not a lot of creatures messed with you without the intention to kill or to be killed - while you are asleep. She rather enjoyed being asked questions like these, "What is your name?" Cait asks the girl. There was no reason for them to keep referring themselves as 'you' as it seemed the girl was going to spend a bit of time in this clearing.

glorilyss

As quickly as the bulk of her fear left her, now that she was sure she wasn't going to be eaten by the dragon before her, Maire's curiosity came swarming in. Even the dark circles beneath her eyes couldn't hide the gleam of avidity in gaze, brighter now on the creature before her than they had been in weeks. It felt like, with her constant exhaustion and the deep sense of unhappiness that her dreams brought her, she had been sleepwalking for so long; now she felt as though she was coming quickly awake, blinking into the bright sunshine of the world. She didn't know how long it would last, but she was glad for the feeling nonetheless.

"I've never seen a dragon with fur before. Do you think that makes you more susceptible to the cold?" Of course, Maire had read book whenever she could get them, and she had experience with the little snakes and the larger furred things that populated her old home. She knew that snakes needed the sunshine, or at least certainly seemed to spend much time sunning on rocks, but didn't know if the same applied to dragons. Would the scales hold in heat? Was there a bright fire burning in the dragon's belly? There were tales of such things, of course, but she wasn't sure what was true and what was myth. Even growing up in Adela, there was so much mystery around the odd creatures.

"Where are you going next? Oh, sorry if that's nosy." She dropped her eyes to her hands, which had fallen to her lap and now fiddled with the edge of her tunic. Still, she peeped up through the fringe of her eyelashes, a glitter of brightness beneath the thick lining of black. "My name is Maire. It's nice to meet you." She paused briefly, wondering if she could chance humor, then decided to press on anyways. She didn't particularly want to die, but what did she have to lose? "Well, as long as you continue not eating me." She flashed a sheepish grin to take any sting out of the words.

Sheshia

Cait looks at the human girl and listened to her questions. Hiw was she supposed to explain the one about her fur? It was very very short so might as well explain it a few a few answers at a time. Though she did enjoy seeing the tired girl brighten up a bit.

"Well Maire I'm just heading where my wings take me, I have no real home or territory so I just wander around and do what I want. Get some treasure to eat or just explore places incase I have missed something or there is something new or something happened." Caits favorite place was probably the forests and mountains. The plains were nice but she was to visible usually to get much food when she was hungry.

A blue jay flew around on the branches above them and Cait watched it. "The easiest way to explain the cold situation for me is just by letting you pet me." She lowers her head to Maire, "Go on. Its very very short fur like that on a cat's nose all the way down my body so it doesn't provide much warmth. As well as the fact scales absorb and retain heat for long periods of time lacking scales has its upsides and down sides the cold is one of them. I have a fire which helps but not enough to survive a northern winter like in Hyroite." That was the best expliantion she could give. It was a rather difficult subject to explain even if she was covered in fur.

glorilyss

Maire listened with something like longing as Caitríonas described what sounded like impossibly glamorous adventurous. Her eyes fell back to her hands, splaying the fingers over the curve of her leggings, flipping them one way and then the other. Life had felt like an adventure, at least when she'd lived out here. Then, she had her father to take her with him on hunting trips, and her mother had smiled more. In Ketra, the city's boundaries felt like a prison, holding her in except for the rare moments when she could sneak out, like now. Maire knew that living as a seamstress's assistant wasn't what she wanted to do for her life, but she didn't have wings - she wasn't a dragon.

She couldn't just fly away.

When the dragon offered to let Maire put her hands on her, the girl's eyes shot back to the draconian female and her jaw dropped a little. Despite the fog that seemed to cloud the edges of her vision, a surging flame of excitement licked along her spine. "A-are you sure?" she whispered, thoroughly shocked but already rolling to her knees and lifting herself from her sitting position. When she was encouraged again, she took a few hesitant steps forward, one hand out as if she was approaching a strange dog or horse. Her breath came quicker as she placed her palm flat against the shoulder of the dragon, her fingers as light as butterfly kisses, then a little bolder. "Your fur - it's so soft!" She was gripped quite suddenly by a vivid image of the two of them far above the ground, wisps of cloud around them, the horizon and endless promise before them - but dashed it away nearly immediately. This elegant creature would never stoop to allow something so pathetic as a tiny human on it, and she couldn't leave her mother. 

And, of course, the nightmares would always find her, no matter how far behind she left the ground.

Sheshia

Hmmm.... interesting this turned out to be. A vision popped up in her mind. Cait felt a tingle then nothing and the girl turned from excited and happy to not that happy as when she was touching her. As though something was holding her back from leaving and as if she was haunted by something. Cait wanted to know what she was worried about and what was holding her back from a life of adventure.

"Thank you Maire." Cait watched her looking at her reactions carefully still. Something was definitely a bit wrong. Couriosity got the best of her, "Maire, i cant help but winder from your reaction when you petted me. There is something holding you back. Which I mean no offense, but it is Of which I do not know and why i do not know. Cait blinks seriously, "I may be young for a dragon but I still have seen many things and my mind is older then my age." She snorts a bit, How about you tell me what is? In return we can go do something if you want, as payment for telling me. Whatever you want as long as it is within reason. It has been ages since I had such a pleasant conversation." Cait was pretty happy. A decent conversation with this human and something that she might beable to learn if Maire told her what was holding her back. It was the least she could do for such a tired and happy girl.

glorilyss

In her wildest dreams, Maire had never imagined herself as standing next to a dragon, being asked a personal question and being given a single request to be granted.

Then again, the truth will always be stranger than fiction.

"Well, uhm.." The girl's voice fell away as her eyes dropped to her hand, still resting delicately on the otherworldly serpent's shoulder. "I just... Well, I'm just a human. I don't see why you'd invite you me to touch you." Blushing, she took a half-step away and snatched her hand back, cradling it to her chest. It wasn't the full truth, and the tightness along her eyes betrayed that, but she couldn't spill the story of everything to this stranger. Even if the animal was obviously sentient, she wasn't a human, and therefore human emotions must be inherently strange to her. Besides, surely Caitrionas would take offense to the very idea that such a crawling, earthbound creature such as herself would ever entertain the idea of riding upon her back?

"As to my one request, it's fruitless." Her bark of laughter was bitter. "I just want things to go back to the way that they were. And unless you're a god, that will never be possible." She blushed a furious crimson again, realizing that her words had been harsh and rude. "Meaning no offense, of course..."

Sheshia

The girl was lying, like a lot of other humans. Lying gets you no where in life nor is it good for someone to lie in general. She narrows her eyes but keeps quiet.

It was better to wait and see for your prey to come in reach then to miss it afterall. Cait may not be human but she had a few emotions like anger and maybe saddness. "I may not be a god but I can say this, never wish that since it could not be the same, keep looking forwards and live life as it is meant to be." A bit of smoke came from her nostrils.

"I let you touch me so you can get a good feeling of my fur to help you understand and learn that just because something is a dragon, it doesn't mean we cant get cold and other things. For learning porpoises." Cait flicks her ear. The girl was definitely hiding something. To what she would find out one day maybe if she could but time was different for them. An hour may seem like a second or two Cait.

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