Hunting For Dragons [Gligar] [Archive]

[DragonSong]

@Gligar

It had been a long time since Kiara had been forced to travel on foot. A small, petty, selfish part of her wouldn't stop complaining about it in the back of her mind--how without Kit, she was forced to trek over the ground.

Without Kit.

Her chest went tight, stomach dropping down to her toes. He could be hurt. Or--

She had to stop walking and physically shake the thought away, wrapping her arms around herself in a feeble attempt to hold the rising panic in. He's fine. Kit's fine. He's fine, and I'll find him.

There weren't many places for dragon hunters to hide, after all. Especially in these mountains. She'd been steadily making her way down toward the plains for the last two days, ever since her partner had been taken, following the signs of heavy travel through the barren, rocky landscape. She may not be used to ground travel anymore, but she was still a decent tracker.

She just had to hope it was enough.

It was getting dark. Too dark for her to move safely through the treacherous rocks, even with the slight advantage to night vision that her fae heritage gave her. She knew she should stop, find a place to camp, conserve some strength for first light, but she couldn't make herself do it. Just a little further. If she could just go a little further...

In the dark, she took a misstep. She barely had time to register loose rock sliding sideways under her foot before she was pitching to the left, arms pinwheeling as she desperately tried--and failed--to regain her balance. She just had time to think, If I fall and snap my neck, Kit will never let me live it down, before she pitched over the edge of a small lip of rock and went tumbling down the previously hidden slope.

She hit the ground hard, but luckily the slope had been shallow enough that she didn't think she was too badly hurt. But her head was reeling, and she certainly felt bruised all over--she was actually seeing flickering lights, so maybe--

Wait.

That was a campfire.

She had somehow tumbled right into someone's camp.

Groaning, she tried to force herself upright, but the world tilted sideways in abrupt warning and she let herself flop back down again.

"So, uh...hey," she muttered to the sky, praying desperately that whoever she had nearly fallen on top of wasn't readying their weapons.

[Gligar]

“Grr…”

If this girl was expecting a man with a drawn weapon, she needn’t have worried; what would appear in front of her would be much, much worse than that. What happened next was sure to scare off the faint of heart – or, more importantly, a bandit looking to steal something of Kovarst’s. Kovarst, in full dragon form, stepped down hard in front of the girl who’d tumbled down towards his campfire. His fangs were bared, and smoke trickled from his nostrils.

“What do you want with me, young girl?” he said, somewhat pompously – but then again, he was trying to intimidate here. He’d reserve his manners for people who weren’t potentially hostile to him. “And you’d better make it quick. I’m starting to get hungry, and I’ve a taste for the flesh of young human women.”

…That wasn’t convincing enough, was it? He’d need to practice. Still, a dragon growling in someone’s face was likely to scare said someone off anyway.

@DragonSong

[DragonSong]

Oh thank gods.

A dragon.

And a young one too, by the look of him. Certainly no older than herself or Kit—and quite a bit smaller than Kit, now that she got a good look at him. She knew wild dragons often grew slower than those bred for Adelan riders, but she'd not actually had much opportunity to meet any, so she wasn't exactly sure if she was dealing with a petulant child or someone closer in age to herself.

"Steady, friend," she said as she slowly tried again to sit herself upright, hands raised peacefully. Switching to draconic in the hopes that might win her some points, she said gently, "I don't want to hurt you, youngling. I came upon your camp by accident."

Unable to help herself, she added with the beginning of a crooked smile, "And you might wanna work on that line. A taste for the flesh of young human women is a bit...cliché. No offense."

[Gligar]

...That wasn't a normal reaction to several hundred pounds of winged death glowering in front of you. She could speak Draconic, which meant that she was at least somewhat familiar with his kin – which would really explain the lack of surprise she felt. Still, Kovarst couldn't help but blink at how ludicrous the entire thing was.

"Uh...okay then." Kovarst shrank back, lowering his wings – which he hadn't realized he'd raised, probably in a failed effort to intimidate her. "If you're not out here to hurt me, then why are you here? I don't have anything of note for anyone to acquire," he said, batting his eyes again for emphasis.

@DragonSong

[DragonSong]

"Nothing of note?"

Clearly he didn't realize there were dragon hunters in these mountains.

"Youngling, I hate to break this to you, but your entire being is "of note"," Kiara sighed as she got slowly to her feet. Her head was pounding, and she winced as the multitude of scrapes and bruises she'd accumulated during her fall protested her movement. "Blood, scales, teeth, claws--even dragon pieces are worth a fortune to the right buyer."

Realizing that was probably not the most comforting thing she could have said, she winced and shook her head. "Sorry, I'm-- That's why I'm out here. My partner, Kit...he was taken. By dragon hunters. I'm trying to find him."

She glanced around the campsite, brow furrowed. "What exactly are you doing out here? I don't know many dragons who camp like two-leggers."

[Gligar]

"I...hadn't realized any of that."

Kovarst couldn't help but shrink from the woman's view. He hadn't considered that this place was dangerous for dragons like him – he'd just assumed that he was strong enough to crush any opposition underfoot. But if there were veteran dragon hunters, well...

...She wasn't one of them, at least. She wouldn't have told him about the dangers otherwise, would she? Unless this was some sort of elaborate ruse or protection racket. Still, it probably wasn't something Kovarst couldn't claw himself out of.

"Your partner? Are you Adelan?" said Kovarst, after a moment's contemplation. "Must be. How'd you two get separated?"

[DragonSong]

Ah, shit, she’d scared him. Or at the very least made him nervous. Still, despite the sudden surge of guilt, she supposed it was better that he knew the dangers lurking in these mountains.

She nodded vaguely in response to his assertion that she was Adelan—she may be so by birth, but she wasn’t exactly a military dragonrider. No need to go into the details of all that though, at least not with a near-stranger. Her shoulders tensed when he asked how she and Kit had been separated, though she knew it was a reasonable question, given the circumstances.

“…He was hunting,” she sighed after a long moment, slumping back onto the ground and drawing her knees up to her chest. She suddenly looked her age—that is to say, rather young to be out on her own in the mountains. “I didn’t think anything of it—we fly this route all the time, the hunters have never come this far into the Thunderblacks before, I—“

To her mortification, she realized she was tearing up. The combination of exhaustion, hunger, and now falling down the side of a hill, all while desperately trying to keep her panic about Kit at bay had finally caught up with her. Swiping angrily at her eyes, she muttered, “I should’ve gone with him. By the time I heard him calling—they’d dosed him with something, some sleeping drug, I don’t know how, probably on their weapons, but it made him weak, and by the time I got there he—he was—“

She swallowed thickly and turned away from the dragon, rubbing at her eyes again. A soft, forlorn hiccup caught in her throat and she struggled to swallow back the threat of proper sobs.

This is ridiculous. I do not break down like this, I refuse.

Desperate to save some semblance of dignity, she scrubbed a hand across her face and asked the campfire abruptly, “What’s your name, anyhow? I’m Kiara. May as well introduce ourselves if I’m gonna be sharing your fire for a bit, yeah?”

[Gligar]

Kovarst blinked. This seemed like a raw and emotional moment for her – one that he had no right to be privy to. "I'm...Kovarst," he said. Anyway, it was probably best not to note her breakdown verbally. "Come – sit by my fire."

As he spoke, he trod forward, then shifted back into human form. "As to your earlier question, this is why I camp like a human would. I can't see as well with this form's eyes," he said, as he motioned towards his now-human eyes with his fingers. "I honestly don't know how you humans manage with such limited vision. I'd go mad if I had to stay like this for protracted periods of time."

That was a lie. He had stayed as a human for a protracted period of time, and he'd come out no worse for the wear.

@DragonSong

[DragonSong]

Kiara snorted a bit and swiped at her eyes again before scooting a little closer to the fire. "Oh, don't feel the need to stay two-legged on my account. I'm used to spending time with dragons."

Well. One dragon in particular, usually.

Drawing her knees in closer to her body, she cocked her head at him with a glimmer of curiosity. "What are you doing out here, Kovarst? I—well, I've never actually met a dragon who could take a human shape before. I mean, I know you lot exist, but..."

She trailed off with a shrug. "I didn't think many like you travel these mountains. Least ways, not without your scales."

[Gligar]

The moment she mentioned that she didn't mind his true form, Kovarst grew back into a dragon. "Alright, then," he said. "Just that some people might be uncomfortable – although now that you mention it, that was a pretty foolish assumption to make. Anyway, I've got all sorts of powers even as a human, so I don't fear for my safety in either form."

Kovarst squinted. "Going to wherever adventure takes me, largely," he said, with a chuckle. "I mean, what else am I supposed to do with my life? Waste away in some cavern somewhere, guarding hoarded gold?"

...That didn't sound bad, actually. Maybe he needed to try it some time.

[DragonSong]

"Oh, plenty of humans would run screaming at the sight of you, I'm sure. I'm just not all that bright," Kiara said with a quick wink and a slight, crooked smile. The playfulness bled quickly from her expression as she looked him over.

"...You should still be careful, out on your own. You'd be surprised how much ingenuity people can have when they're after a prize."

And in the Thunderblacks, it was often dragons themselves who were considered treasure.

[Gligar]

"I'm sure they are, but I haven't met a human I couldn't outsmart yet. Er, no offense." Kovarst smiled, despite present company. "Most people of ill intent I've run into aren't all that bright – they wouldn't know how to deal with a dragon if one clawed their face off. Which has, by the way, actually happened in my case."

Kovarst realized that he'd just alluded to having killed a human rather blithely – which, for some reason, offput quite a few other humans. He gulped. "To be clear, it was all in self-defense! That human was a direct and immediate threat to my person. Completely legitimate ethically, if you ask me."

...Why hadn't he been this intimidating when he'd been trying to be earlier?

[DragonSong]

Kiara blinked at him, then snorted.

"Oh, you don't have to defend yourself to me, friend," she chuckled, leaning back on her hands. "I tend to find most humans irritating enough to deserve a bit of fire, if not necessarily an outright roasting."

Not to mention she'd certainly killed before. Always either in defense of herself or Kit, but still...

Her smile faded, eyes focused on the flames of the campfire. Remembering other fires. Remembering losing control.

Shaking herself, she looked back up at Kovarst. "How long have you been traveling out here then?"

[Gligar]

"Ever since I left school. I studied in quite the reputable university, did you know that?" Kovarst snorted. "Of course, no-one knew of my true nature there. Well, okay, maybe there were some instances where...you know, that probably doesn't bear repeating in present company," he said, as he suddenly remembered he was in a woman's company.

Kovarst snapped. "Anyway, you seemed distraught at losing your companion earlier. Do you have a plan of action for getting him back? I'd help, but..." That was a bold-faced lie. He had no plans of meddling in the affairs of experienced dragon wranglers. But hey, what she didn't know wouldn't hurt her.

[DragonSong]

“Present company?” Kiara chuckled and quirked an eyebrow. She gestured broadly to her general state of travel-worn disarray. “Do I seem like some fainting flower to you?”

His question about Kit—about a plan—sobered her quickly and she looked away. “I—I don’t know. I have to find them first, then…”

Fight. And she was vastly outnumbered. They might even have dragons on their side, either by contract or coercion. Or worse. She’d seen the like before.

She shook her head at Kovarst’s offer, too distracted to realize it was disingenuous. “No, I’d never ask that. You don’t even know me, I can’t very well ask you to go off and get yourself killed for my or Kit’s sake.”

[Gligar]

Kovarst sighed. "Well, that's relieving to hear. Glad you didn't insist on it, honestly – I wasn't sure if I'd have really gone through with it," he said, with a laugh. "I'm glad that I could at least provide some emotional support for you while you were on your way, though. Sorry that we couldn't have known each other better."

That was when he stretched himself out and yawned. "I'm getting sleepy," he said. "But I know how to sleep with one eye open, so don't try anything funny – although I don't expect you to do so, mind. It's just something I do on principle, so don't take it against you."

[DragonSong]

"Ah..." Kiara blinked at him, not entirely sure how to take...well, any of that. "Noted?" she settled on as he stretched and yawned.

She glanced out into the dark, worrying her lower lip. It would be smart to rest now--just for a few hours, while she had something like protection nearby. But she couldn't stop herself from wanting to keep moving

Maybe...maybe just for a while.

"I suppose I should warn you in kind," she sighed as she allowed herself to flop onto her side, curving toward the fire. "I'm not exactly defenseless. And I know a dragon's weaknesses better than most." She gave him a small, tired smile, removing any real bite from her words. "I'll be out of your scales before you wake. Promise."

[Gligar]

"Probably the prudent thing to do," said Kovarst, somewhat half-heartedly. He didn't really want to put in too much effort into looking reluctant, as he found the notion boring. Besides, whatever happened to Kiara was really none of his business. And again, he wasn't willing to risk life and limb for a total stranger!

He had too many limbs for that. Wings were limbs, right?

Despite himself, Kovarst chuckled. "Well, if you really want to hear the story," he said, before launching into a story about one especially wild night at university. As he did so, he remembered the smell of burnt hair; the important thing was that nobody was seriously hurt, physically or psychologically.

@DragonSong

[DragonSong]

Kiara listened to his colorful university tale with the tiniest smile crooking around the corner of her mouth. He was just...so odd. She'd spent most of her life around dragons in one way or another, but she'd never met a creature quite like him.

"Didn't know they let dragons study at universities," she noted tiredly, yawning halfway through the sentence. "You're an odd bird, y'know that?"

Staying awake was becoming an increasing challenge. She knew she needed rest, but a part of her rebelled at the idea of sleep while Kit was still out there. In trouble.

Any sense of levity she may have had faded to the exhaustion and grief in her eyes. "I...if you're sure it's alright, I think I'll rest by your fire just a bit. I really do need to keep moving as soon as I can."

[Gligar]

"Yeah, it's fine." Kovarst shrugged with his wings. "I don't get company like this very often, anyway. You're safe with me around – well, really, we're both safer with each other around," he said, remembering her diatribe about dragon poachers. Yeesh, he wouldn't want to come across one of those guys!

Not that he was particularly scared or anything, it was just...gah. He needed to keep things under control, and this seemed like the best way to do so!

"Feel free to rest whenever. I'll nod off myself, if that's alright with you." Kovarst smiled. "I need to get rest – it's been a surprisingly long day for me, too." Especially after that story he'd just told her! What a day.