Welcome to my Home! (DragonSong)

[Kalak8538]

So lost in his surroundings was Eihmo'tei, that Ras coming up behind him made him jump in surprise. Seeing the boy reminded the Zerdani about the spears.

"Oh! Ras! Lets make some spears, alright?"

He looked around for materials. There were some small trees in the area, which would be perfect for shafts. Stones, too, were abundant. The Zerdani noticed something wonderful now, something that had been scarce in his desert home. There were small palm bushes everywhere.

"Here, Ras." He said, going over to one. "Collect these! Get a lot of long ones!"
He picked a couple and handed them to the boy, before spreading his hands apart to signify "big".

These could be used quite well, but probably not for the reason that his human friend thought. Back home, palms grew on tall trees, which were rare. Even if one was found, Zerdani were not very good climbers, and most of the leaves were to big to use anyway. These were more thin and low to the ground, perfect for what he had in mind. When he was sure that the boy was alright with that, Eihmo'tei disappeared into the brush after the tree.

[DragonSong]

Kiara chuckled quietly, watching Eihmo'tei flit around. Ras- confused but willing- set about collecting palm fronds. Noticing this task seemed simple enough, the other children drifted over to join him, chattering in Essyrni as they worked.

"What on earth is going on in that foxy head of his?" Kit rumbled, settling himself onto the sun-warmed rock with a sigh.

She shrugged, giving him a lopsided smile. "Search me. At least he seems happier though."

[Kalak8538]

Making it to the small tree, Eihmo'tei began climbing. His race was better built for digging than climbing, so his ascension was slow. He searched for somewhat straight branches to break off. They would need a couple for what he had planned out.

SNAP!

One was down. The Zerdani threw it to the ground, so he would not be encumbered.

CRACK!

Another one down to join the first.

The third one was more difficult. The tree was not completely ready to give this one up. The fibers on the inside were tough. Eihmo'tei twisted and pulled, to no avail. He readjusted, trying to get in a better position to work the difficult branch.

KRICK...

The bough of the tree, the one Eihmo'tei had been sitting on, began to give way. Before it did, the Zerdani instinctively grabbed hold of the branch above his head. Now, with nothing to support his feet, Eihmo'tei was left hanging like a banner from the branch.

"Not my best idea..." he thought as he dangled.

[DragonSong]

"Kiara!"

"What?" At the sound of Perryn's voice, she looked up from the map that she had been attempting to plot a course with. She saw where the children were pointing and her eyes went wide. "Oh!" She got to her feet, calling to Kit as she made her way toward the dangling Zerdani, "Can you get him down?"

The dragon cracked one eye open and observed the situation. Then he closed it again, muttering, "If he can get himself up there he should be able to get himself down."

Kiara spared a moment to shoot him a glare, muttering, "Ass." Then she was under the tree, tilting her head to observe. It maybe wouldn't have been too far of a fall for her, but Eihmo'tei may actually hurt himself if he just dropped. "Here, jump," she called up to him, extending her arms. "I'll catch you."

[Kalak8538]

The Zerdani began pulling himself up. He did this as quickly as his limited upper body strength would allow. Once Eihmo'tei's legs were high enough, he swung them around. Now, he was hugging the branch, but he was still hanging below it, unable to progress any further. His arms and legs were tired, he was not able to hold on for much longer.

Then, Kiara appeared below him, arms outstretched. Looking down, he was not as high up as he thought. Then again, Kiara was huge. She pleaded for him to fall, but it was still rather high up. There was that ever present chance that the human would fail to catch him, or lose him once he hit her hands. This was the ultimate test of trust.

"Alright... I a-am coming down... C-catch me, alright?"

With that, Eihmo'tei closed his eyes, and held his breath. He released the branch, plummeting to earth.

[DragonSong]

"Gotcha!" Kiara managed to grab him from the air, stumbling slightly from the force of his fall but regaining her balance quickly. The children laughed and gave brief exclamations of relief, and she smiled at her little friend as she lowered him to the ground.

"What were you doing up there anyway?" she asked, pointing to the tree, then at him, then frowning quizzically and shrugging to show confusion.

[Kalak8538]

Eihmo'tei needed to get his bearings after that ordeal. Looking around, he regained his senses.

To answer his friend's question, he went over, and picked up the two sticks that were gathered before. He carried them over to the fallen bough, and raised them up for the others to see. He put them down, and grabbed hold of the stubborn branch, trying his best to rip and break the remaining strands of wood that held it to the bough.

[DragonSong]

"Umm..." Kiara crept closer, kneeling beside him. The children clustered after her, holding armfuls of palm fronds. She gave them a curious frown, then turned her attention back to Eihmo'tei. "Want some help?" she asked, still not entirely clear as to what he was doing.

[Kalak8538]

Eihmo'tei looked up to see that the other children had helped in gathering palm leaves. There were now way more than was needed. They needed something else to do. He searched the ground around him, until he found a stone with a flat side.

Lifting it up to show everyone. "I need this. Rocks with flat sides."

He put his open paw against the smooth part of the stone. He rubbed it slowly up and down, saying "Flat... Fllaaat... Understand?" he handed the stone to Kiara, the only one with free hands.

Going back to the branch, Eihmo'tei drew the stone knife from the sheath behind his back. He got to work on sawing the stubborn strands.

[DragonSong]

Understanding dawned and the children placed their bundles of leaves on the ground to set off in search of acceptably flat stones. Kiara chuckled, watching them scatter.

Turning back to Eihmo'tei, she eyed his crude knife and shook her head. "Here," she said, tapping his shoulder and drawing on of her daggers from the sheath at her hip with her free hand. "Use this," she said, offering him the hilt. She taped the tip of the blade- careful not to cut herself- and said, "Sharper. Works faster."

[Kalak8538]

Kiara's knife was heavy in the Zerdani's hand. For so long, he had wondered about these. He wondered what kind of stone could give off such a shine, and be so smooth. He took some time to observe it, delighting in his own reflection in the blade.

He put his own knife away, and went to work with the new tool. It sawed through the remaining fibers in only a few strokes.

"Whoa!" the Zerdani exclaimed. He inspected the edge, and saw for himself how much sharper the blade was than his own blade. With the job done, he went to hand it back to his friend, giving thanks as he did so.

[DragonSong]

She smiled as she took the knife back, a little amused by his fascination with it. "So what do we do with these now?" she asked, nodding toward the sticks he'd gathered.

"Eemo!" Tala and Bibi came running up, smiles bright and carrying handfuls of rocks. "Will any of these work?" the older girl asked, showing them to the Zerdani as the boys came trailing after them.

[Kalak8538]

Eihmo'tei took the rock one of his smaller friends was holding. "Perfect!" he said, showing his approval.

He sat down with it, taking up one of the sticks. He started filing down the tip, presumably to a point. He only started it, before holding it up for someone to take over.

[DragonSong]

Ras took over this part, evidently happy to be at a familiar task. Kiara smiled as the others crowded around, asking for something to do, begging to be useful.

"Energetic little things, aren't they?" Kit observed from where he lay.

[Kalak8538]

Eihmo'tei went over to break more sticks off the fallen bough. His ears picked up the pleading of the children, and he looked up. It appeared that they wanted work to do.

"Odd creatures, humans..." the Zerdani thought to himself. Back home, the young ones hated working with weapons. It was always so boring. Getting a fourth stick now, he rejoined the group. Thre was a big smile on his face.

"These too." He pointed to the remaining sticks, then rubbed the knuckles of his closed paws together to simulate filing. There was one for each of them now. Now Eihmo'tei needed one, so he went to search the bough once more.

[DragonSong]

Kiara chuckled as the children set to work eagerly. "Anything for me to do?" she asked Eihmo'tei, crouching down next to him. Kit woke himself up enough to shift his bulk closer to the group, huffing as he settled down again to watch them.

"Odd little two-leggers," he muttered under his breath, giving a dragon's smile.

[Kalak8538]

As much as the Zerdani looked, he could not find another branch that was straight enough for a spear. He could not understand the words Kiara used, but somehow, he knew that she too wanted a job.

He understood the younglings were eager to try something new, but Kiara was an adult. Perhaps she too wanted to get in on the experience. Eihmo'tei was a bit overwhelmed, but he gave a chuckle to respond to Kiara's request.

"One more spear! We need a good straight stick from the tree." he pointed up. Kiara was bigger and seemed more capable to collect a branch than he was, and also, the Zerdani did not want to risk falling again.

[DragonSong]

Kit evidently didn't feel like translating, but Kiara got the idea. "Another stick?" she asked, tapping the straight shafts of wood he was working on. "Alright then." She stood and eyed the tree.

"I don't suppose you'd be willing to help?" she asked Kit. The dragon huffed a chuckle, eyes twinkling.

"It's more fun to watch," he rumbled. She made a face at him and set about climbing the tree. She was no stranger to such a task, she'd spent much of her childhood doing so- but there weren't a lot of study branches to act as footholds and it was careful going.

"Will this do?" she asked, as she climbed, snapping a branch off, and letting it fall to the ground. It was fairly straight, and they could always whittle it down.

She looked around and realized she'd gotten a bit higher than she'd expected to. And she'd just broken off one of her better footholds.

Damn.

[Kalak8538]

"Perfect!"

Looking back up, Eihmo'tei saw that Kiara was in no better position than he had been just minutes ago. The Zerdani felt as helpless as as his friend may have been. He hated that he could not return the favor, and catch her should she fall. He did not know what else to do, other than call on the only one big enough to help.

"Kit! Kii'arah needs help!"

[DragonSong]

Kit snorted, raising his head to see what the problem was. He caught sight of Kiara and started laughing. "How you doing up there?"

Kiara glowered at him. "You are a jackass," she told him. "You gonna help me down or what?"

The dragon rolled to his side, batting lazily as a rock like a cat with a toy. "Nah. You're a big girl, you can manage."

She scowled. "I hate you," she grumbled, searching for a way down. Not able to find another foothold, she sighed and shook her head. The hard way down then.

She kicked off from her current branch and flipped through the air, landing- roughly hard, she had to admit- in a crouch on the ground. She winced as she straightened up.

"Whoa!" She jumped and turned to see Ras starring at her. The other children were looking up from their work too, mouths agape.

"How'd you do that?" Perryn asked, excited.

"Can you teach us?" Tala asked just as eagerly.

"Um..." She blinked. Great. She wasn't exactly being a stellar role model. "That's really just- practice. Uh, I don't think you should try it..." Their faces fell and she bit back a groan. "I suppose I could show you a few things, maybe," she relented, and they beamed. "But let's finish helping Eihmo'tei first, yeah?" she said with a smile, settling down with the others.