Not Enough and A Lot of Company

[Anonymous]

It had been a few weeks now. Doeshe would curl up around the fire and all Sharlee had to keep warm was her cloak and any heated spot she made on the ground from sitting in a nice freezing pile of leaves. Lavender eyes were on the horse sized pearly white dragon, curling around the fire, looking like he was trying to stay warm. In fact, Doeshe was gazing at an egg in the fire, looking like a big puppy, his doe-full black eyes occationally flicking towards Sharlee and he'd begin to purr. The young woman would stick her tongue out at him and then return to what she was doing previously.

Tonight, Sharlee was brushing her hair, one long loopy braid at a time. It took a good hour for her to brush and re-braid her hair, and while she was doing that, Doeshe had a constant eye on the egg resting in the roaring fire. Sharlee was fairly jealous of the orphaned egg, usually it was her all cuddled up against Doeshe, warm on the back and the front, one from a large white dragon she'd watched hatch.

"Doeshe, do you want me to freeze to death or something?" Sharlee stuck her tongue out and pushed a long braid over her shoulder, standing up before licking her lips and putting her hands in her pockets. The sun was a red sliver through the sleeping leafless trees, the fire was hot and roaring, and Sharlee burst out laughing when she heard a tummy growl. "Doeshe, are you hungry?" Moving over to her dragon companion, she pressed her fingers over the ridges on his head and he looked up at her. "Go get yourself some dinner, I'll watch the egg, guard it with my life."
               
Doeshe gave a nod and slowly got up, his tail wagging above the fire before lopping off into the darkening forest.  Shivering slightly, the elvan woman rubbed at her red cheeks and put her hands to her ears. Travelling, always travelling. Pale lavender eyes were on the egg in the fire, knees were drawn towards her chest, arms wrapped around them and her chin was rested on the tops of her knees. Doeshe was out hunting, and Sharlee was curled up by the fire, watching her adopted dragon egg.

Not quite sure which of them adopted it, or if it really was a dragon egg, Doeshe took to it right away, so the little elvan princess could only assume. "I'll laugh if you're a giant fire bird." If it didn't physically twitch and move occatioanlly, she'd think it was hard boiled. Doeshe would probably eat it then. Hell, Sharlee would eat it then. She had a sword that she couldn't use, her magic was of the healing helpful variety and she couldn't argue herself out of a wet paper bag.

"Ah, Doeshe, I miss when you could sit on my shoulder and we'd share a rabbit." Doeshe was now the size of a draft horse and ate all the rabbits to himself. She could only suppose he was stocking up for winter when he had to keep the little egg warm. Reaching over and picking up a stick, she poked at the embers around the egg and huffed loudly. "Selfish jerk." Keen ears weren't tuned into the surroundings, she wouldn't bother.

Not like anyone would show up anyway. It was night time now, fall, and in the middle of a forest. The only people who were out were weirdos like her, who had a driving need to be somewhere. The young woman had no idea where that somewhere was, but it was out there, and she'd find it eventually.

[Rhindeer]

Sorin sighed as he and his shifter companion, Cadmus, tromped through the woods. Cadmus had no trouble maneuvering the uneven terrain, for he had shifted into his gryphon form and he loped ahead of Sorin some distance, silent and all but invisible in the darkness.

The gryphon had spotted a campfire some distance ahead, having used the last of his energy to take to the air and scout around for signs of civilization. There was supposed to be a city out here somewhere, but it seemed they had taken a wrong turn because in addition to the campfire, Cadmus had indeed sighted the warm glow of nightlife in the distance--on the other side of the blasted mountain. So they'd had to change directions and worse, after a day of flying Cadmus complained that his wings didn't want to work anymore. "I'm not a horse, you know," he had hissed when Sorin dismounted. "And this isn't like riding. I'm working against gravity, here."

So here they were, traipsing through a forest at night towards a village Cadmus had seen in the distance, which was hopefully Arca. They could have been there by now if Cadmus hadn't gotten his damned wing cramps or whatever, but for now they had to settle for walking. Once they got to the campfire, they'd take a break--assuming the other occupants let them. If not, well...Sorin looked ahead at Cadmus, who was weaving through the undergrowth and snarling whenever twigs snagged at his feathers. Yeah, they had a bit of a trump card there. Cadmus could be damned scary when he wanted to be, and who could say no to a five-hundred pound gryphon?

They could always make their own campfire, but Sorin was feeling too cranky and tired to want to bother. Besides, there would be people there and he could find out if they were on the right track.

The smell of smoke told him they were almost there, and Cadmus slowed down and fell in beside him, not wanting to go too far ahead now. He would let Sorin do the talking and introduce them first so that he didn't spook anyone. Meanwhile, he'd play the role of docile, tame gryphon. He didn't want to bother with shifting right now, not when he'd only be shifting back in the morning. Traveling in this form was faster.

Sorin lead the way from there, up to the line of trees the bordered the little clearing, and he peeked through a gap in the leaves to see just what sort of company they'd be having--and saw a girl there. Alone. Well, that made things easier.

Now to just...not come across as creepy. There was no harm in civility, which was what he reverted to anyway when he was exhausted from a long day. Most people got cranky. For him, that took too much effort because it required something more than apathy.

"Hello," he greeted, calling out to her first so as not to startle her too badly. He stepped over a thick, fallen branch and ducked under some low-hanging leaves as he walked slowly forward and stopped when he'd just entered the circle of light the fire created. He held his hands out at his sides, palms exposed, to show he meant no harm, despite the baldric he wore and the sword that it carried. "I hope I didn't startle you. I saw your fire, and I was wondering if you could tell me where Arca was? I know there's a city out here, but I wasn't sure if that was the right one..."

Cadmus chose that moment to follow Sorin out, a huge black gryphon that looked to be all fur and feathers and sharp parts, with his wickedly hooked beak and curved black talons. His golden eyes shone an eerie green as they reflected the firelight. He sat down next to Sorin, and even then his head came up to Sorin's shoulders.

"Ah, pardon, don't let my pet here spook you," Sorin said, and Cadmus' head whipped around, golden eyes narrowing at him. Sorin chuckled tiredly. "He's harmless. See? Aren't you, Caddy?" With a smile, he ran a hand through the gryphon's thick black mane, ruffling fur and feathers and scratching behind the creature's ears.

Cadmus let out a low sigh and rolled his eyes, biting his tongue. Caddy. Only one person had ever got away with calling him that, and Sorin certainly wasn't it. For now, however, he let it slide for the sake of playing the tame, docile, overgrown house cat.

[Anonymous]

As it was her nature to be 'in tune' with the trees, she had noticed someone was coming up from the darkness of the forest but payed no attention, instead she stared at the egg, waiting for it to do one of it's little twitches. Of course the voice made Sharlee jump and stand up quickly, her cloak swirling around her like some epic cape. It would have been more fantastic and like a dream if the corner of it hadn't fallen on the embers and started to smolder. "Ah, hello?" Sharlee said, pulling her garment from the fire and stepping it into the cold ground.

Swallowing and pushing her bangs off her face, the long bits behind her pointed ears, she smiled and bowed slightly, looking back up and smiling. Not bothering to look at this new man's hands for and sort of weapon. A downside to being raised behind closed walls in an elvan city was that, while she was a gentle soothing soul, she couldn't use the sword attached to her hip, she couldn't fight to save her life, and she relyed on a gigantic puppy for her safety. Looking over her shoulder for a moment, Sharlee shrugged and then looked up at this new strange person.

"I'm sorry... I'm afraid I don't know where... Well.. Anything is, I'm travelling rather aimlessly, you see, and –" Then 'Caddy' came in, and Sharlee took a step back, her cloak up and wrapped in her arms to keep it out of the fire. Moving slightly so she obscured their view of the egg, once the Gryphon sat down, Sharlee grinned at it. Enchanted. She'd never seen one before.

Without thinking, after the strange man introduced his 'pet', the young woman pressed her hands onto Caddy's fluffy cheeks and rubbed at his jaw. "You're a pretty boy, aren't you, Caddy? Yeah." Sharlee smiled widely before tilting her head, her hands still scratching at his jaw and neck. "To you too, Sir, when you meet mine... He's..." Sharlee eyed Caddy and pursed her lips before continuing, her hands moving down Caddy's neck to rub at his chest. " He's so soft and squishy! Doeshe is large... And... You'll see... He's a big puppy, but if he's hungry he'll–" Cut off again, Sharlee's eyes flicked towards the dark forest moments before loud crunching noises were heard.

Doeshe, in all his huge pearly white glory and black doe eyes, had returned.

With cargo.

Odd looking human cargo.

"Doeshe, what do you have? Drop it!" Obidiently, Doeshe dropped the still-breathing thing. It was then that Doeshe noticed strangers by his adopted egg. The human he liked, the bird-thing he did not. Almost imidiately, Doeshe stalked towards it, a rather funny thing to witness from a dragon who's shoulder blades were nearly over six feet off the ground, his head down, a predatory glint to his eyes. A slimy tongue slid out, and after about a foot was left between the two mythical creatures, Doeshe's tongue lapped up the side of Caddy's head.

The dropped human forgotten, Sharlee rushed between them and pushed Doeshe backwards, glaring at him, sending him feelings of dissapointment. "They're guests, the birdthing is very nice. Don't eat him." Doeshe gave a woeful sigh and curled back around the fire, his tail trailing through the leaves and twigs, his eyes still slitting and grumpy. His fire. His egg. His camp.

"I... I'm sorry. That's... Well, my... Pet, if you will." She said gently as she walked towards the heap of a person, running her hands over their chest, a confused look on her face. "Are you alright?" Her hand moved over their face, pushing hair back and gently stroking a cheek, her knees a pillow. "I... Usually am able to heal with some magic but... I can't seem to. Here, we'll start with a simple question. What's your name, I'm Sharlee. Oh!" The elvan girl looked over her shoulder at the new guests.

An appologetic smile, "I have no food cooking, but I can build another fire for us to sit around. Doeshe is protecting something precious that's laying in those flames and... Ah, I'm Sharlee. I already know Caddy's name... What's yours, Sir?" Her eyes remained on the human, the blond one.

[Anonymous]

There were people that seemed most at home in the woods. They could commune with nature and make friends with all the forest creatures. Charm the very birds from the trees. Spend their nights with the stars as their blankets.

Noodles was not one of those people. Noodles liked cities and their comforts. And he hated when he wasn't around people. It always gave him hunger pains, even if he had eaten recently. And there was dirt everywhere. Or worse, it would rain and then there was mud everywhere. And every time he tried to sleep outdoors, there was always a rock right in the middle of his back, no matter how carefully he cleared the area.

But Noodles liked to keep on the move. Well, to be exact, Noodles disliked angry mobs so it was best to stay on the move. And he had been trying to move in the direction of a city. But all these damned mountains looked the same. Trees and grass and cold.

He had been trying to find a place to camp for the night when a massively huge white shape had suddenly appeared. Fortunately for the small demon no one had been around to hear his high pitched squeal of terror at the sight of the dragon. Or see is mad scramble to try and run in the opposite direction.

Unluckily for Noodles, the dragon wasn't having any of that and he soon found himself being carried in the creatures mouth. And was getting drooled on. Gods damn it this sucked.

The dragon burst out of the trees and into a campsite in a flurry of activity. A sweet voice was talking and suddenly Noodles found himself dropped in a table of arms and legs. A very pretty piece of food was running her hands over him, asking him a few questions.

Tossing his head to get his bright blue hair out of his face, the pretty faced, androgynous looking boy blinked his strange colored eyes up at the food, "Uhhhh....what?" She had just asked him his name. "Uh...Noodles."

[Rhindeer]

Sorin's lips twisted into a frown as the girl proved to be pretty much useless. Damn. Oh well, they would just travel to that city, anyway, and if it wasn't the correct one, eh, it might not even matter if they had luck there first. Their mark was in Arca, but if they struck gold elsewhere first, even if it was a smaller bounty, well, beggars certainly could not be choosers.

"I see. Well, that's not a problem, thank you," Sorin murmured, then shrugged away his disappointment and looked her over more closely. So she was useless information-wise, she didn't look like a mage and was thus useless there, but as he focused more on her, looks-wise she wasn't half bad at all and he was sure he could find some uses for her as far as other things went. And she appeared to be alone and rather dim-witted. What else were dim-witted women good for?

He sighed and walked past Sharlee to stand closer to the fire, turning his back to it so he could watch the other two and warm up. He rubbed his gloved hands together, trying to work out the iciness. If he didn't have the gryphon with him, this whole encounter could have been at least a little more productive and a good deal warmer.

"You wouldn't mind a little extra company tonight, would you?" Sorin started, bitterly acknowledging that he meant that in a completely clean way, but that was when Sharlee swooped down on Cadmus.

Sorin bit back a laugh as Sharlee fawned over the gryphon, whose eyes had narrowed and whose feathers had fluffed up at being talked to like...like, well, a pet. Cadmus endured it, though, and sat there stiffly as Sharlee petted him and cooed and called him squishy. Squishy? What the hell? His golden eyes darted to Sorin, who was smirking, and then he sighed, laid his ears back, and resigned himself to his fate. The chest scratches weren't bad, though, and when a purr rumbled in his throat, it wasn't exactly forced.

As Sharlee went on about some 'Doeshe' thing, Sorin and Cadmus exchanged glances. It sounded like she was talking about a dog, but that line about him being hungry...

That was when something crashed through the undergrowth, and a massive white creature burst into the clearing--with a body in its mouth! Cadmus screeched and jumped to his feet, fur and feathers bristling, and let out a sharp hiss as he backed away from it slowly. Sorin just stared, brown eyes wide and mouth dropping open.

That...was not a dog.

The girl was talking to it like it was a dog.

It dropped the body, which was still alive, and then it was stalking toward Cadmus. Cadmus hissed again and scrambled backwards, wings snapping open and spreading wide as he prepared to launch himself into the air, but the dragon was quicker. It was on him before he could even attempt a take-off, tongue lapping up the side of his head and sending all his carefully groomed feathers and fur into disarray. Cadmus snarled and would have lashed out with his talons if Sharlee hadn't chosen that moment to step in between them and shove Doeshe's head away.

...Don't eat him...?

Oh gods.

Cadmus, the fur and feathers on one side of his head spiked upwards with dragon slobber, growled at the dragon one last time before before he trotted over to where Sorin was, tail twitching anxiously. "Let's go, Sorin," he hissed under his breath while Sharlee was distracted with the body-that-was-still-alive. Dragon. A bloody dragon! Cadmus prided himself on his bravery, but dragons were just one creature he knew better than to mess with. One had nearly killed him; in fact, it thought it had and had left him for dead, bleeding from a throat wound that would have been fatal if it had been just a few more centimeters to the right. Luckily that dragon hadn't decided to eat him. Thank goodness feathers were too annoying to deal with.

Sorin ignored him, though. He'd caught something Sharlee had said, something Cadmus, in his distraction, hadn't.

Healing magic.

He shook his head and reached out to stroke Cadmus' mane, and as he pulled his hand away he flashed the gryphon a discreet hand signal, the sign for 'mage'. Cadmus clamped his beak shut. "Aww, looks like your 'puppy' has spooked my pet here," Sorin called to Sharlee, and he ruffled the feathers on Cadmus' head again. "Anyway, I'm Sorin, Sharlee. Ah...is that guy okay? Noodles?"

What a strange name.

[Anonymous]

Noodles?

Sharlee lift an eyebrow and pursed her lips out into a rosebud shape. Noodles. Wasn't that food?  She smiled and gave him a pat on the cheek and pushed his odd coloured hair back before turning to look over her shoulder, her keen ears picking up what Sorin said. "Puppy?" Sharlee looked around then saw Doeshe. Oh, her puppy. She smiled and helped Noodles up before moving over to Sorin and Cadmus. An odd pair, though, she supposed herself and Doeshe looked even odder.

A tiny elf with a huge white dragon  – Who was still technically a pup. "He's fine. I can't use my magic but I know enough without it to tell that he doesn't have a nick on him! You're fine Mr.Noodles." That sounded funny. Shaking her head slightly, Sharlee got back up and wandered over to Cadmus before taking his head in her hands and pouting at him, "That's horrible that Doeshe scared you."

Lifting her head slightly she smiled towards Sorin. "The offer still stands... There won't be much heat with Doeshe around the fire... I can make a new one for us to sit around..." While she spoke her hands smoothed down the feathers Doeshes tongue pushed up and her fingers scratched at his cheek and the sides of his beak. "You're not scary at all are you, Cadmus, hmm?" Sharlee cast a glance towards Sorin and looked over her shoulder towards the Doeshes cargo. Noodles.

"Though I suppose, after raising a dragon nothing is very scary anymore." After giving Cadmus one more chin scratch she smiled and walked around the edge of the clearing, looking for dry wood. Afer a good bundle was in her arms, she set it up in front of the gryphon and human pair and stole a stick from Doeshe's roaring fire.

The dragon lifted his head and showed her some lethal teeth but Sharlee just rolled her eyes and put the burning stick into the new fire, using another stick for poking and prodding purposes. A smile was on her face and she called out to Noodles from her place beside Sorin. "There's room here for you around the..." She paused and rubbed at the underside of her chin, looking green and confused, " Around..." Sharlee licked her lips and turned her head.

Hardly one to be sick, the bout of nausia took her by surprise and all she could do was turn her head and vomit. All over Sorins boot. A bright blush rose on her cheeks and she stared at Sorins face before making a funny noise and grabbing leaves to wipe away the bile and saliva. When she spoke her voice was high pitched and panicy. "I'm so sorry Sorin! I .. I didn't feel sick a few minutes ago! And... All of a sudden I feel horrible! I didn't mean to .. To.. Do that!" She sniffed and used her free hand to wipe at her eyes.

What an adventurer, crying because she puked on someone's boot. "I.. I'm sorry." She grew very quiet after that, her knees tucked up to her chest and her lavender eyes on the new fire. Doeshe was contently curled up around the larger fire, staring at the egg. "I'm sorry for being such a bad hostess, but I feel... Very ill."

[Anonymous]

Lot's of things seemed to be happening around poor Noodles. Suddenly the pretty food was gone, after informing him that he was just fine. He didn't move from the pile the huge dragon had deposited him in, blinking up at the night sky. He was pretty sure he didn't feel fine. His heart was still pounding from the adrenaline rush, he was covered in drool and he was pretty sure he smelled vaguely of the dragon's breath.

As he carefully sat up, doing his own check to make sure he didn't hurt anywhere, he started to wince as he discovered he had the beginnings of a bruise on his ass, the boy froze, staring wide eyed at the gryphon. What the hell was going on here? Another good looking piece of food, a male this time, seemed to be with the gryphon.

Noodles glanced rapidly between the two rather scary looking creatures, confused and nervous. Was food starting to protect itself with massive beasts now? That was not good news for Noodles. Not good at all.

The female food seemed content to flit about, fussing around with gathering wood for a fire. Noodles glanced over at the male food, wondering if he seemed to have a better grasp in things then the flighty healer, "As I mentioned before, I'm Noodles. Do you have a name sir?" Good to be polite at first. Never knew when the food might turn angry. And there were several large, scary beasts.

"Ah...um....ye-" Noodles slowly started to stand at the food's offer of getting closer to the fire. He felt quite damp and was starting to shiver with cold. He broke off, scrambling back away from her as she suddenly turned and vomited all over the male food's boots, "A-are you alright?" It was often a bad idea to eat food that was ill with something he could catch. And vomiting always seemed like such a waste.

[Rhindeer]

A low purr rumbled up from Cadmus' chest and throat and he leaned into the scratches. This was another one of the benefits this form had--there was never a shortage of people wanting to pet and scratch at him, once they got over the initial fear of him biting off their hand, at least. His lion's tail swished contently, but his muscles were still tensed to bolt and his eyes never left Doeshe. Just in case. Dragons were unpredictable, and it was making him more than a little skittish.

He kind of resented being called not-scary, though.

Sorin, meanwhile, was running through his options in his head. That...Noodles kid he wasn't really worried about. It was the dragon he was worried about. If not for that beast, getting Sharlee and getting out of there would be child's play--well, if Cadmus was rested enough to fly, that is. Even then the gryphon couldn't carry them both, but Sorin was fine with walking.

Right. They just had to find some way to get that dragon off of them, and as much as he wanted to do it now and be gone, Cadmus was tired. They would probably have to wait until morning, hopefully the dragon would go hunt, and that would be that.

"Thank you, Sharlee," Sorin told her when she finally left Cadmus and started making a new little fire. He stepped a little closer to her, shrugged his traveling pack off his shoulder and to the ground, and unbuckled his baldric so he could lay that and his sword down alongside it. "Oh, I'm Sorin, by the way. It's a pleasure to meet you three. Noodles, why don't you come join us?" The fire was kind of pathetic, but fire was fire and he was but a humble guest right now. Cadmus drew in closer to the two and sat down, fluffing up his wings so the heat could penetrate beneath the feathers and to his skin, and Sorin had been about to take a seat beside him when the unthinkable occurred.

Sharlee puked. On his boot.

Sorin stared in disbelief, his stomach twisting unpleasantly and his face going pale as the situation sank in.

Cadmus made a weak little hissing sound, something close to a snicker, and then promptly collapsed on his belly and covered his beak with his foreclaws, shoulders shaking with repressed laughter.

She puked. On his boot.

Sorin should have expected it. He should have known. His abilities...sometimes did that to mages. Sorin closed his eyes, took a deep breath, and counted to ten as Sharlee apologized, cried, and wiped at his boot with leaves. Deep breaths, Sorin. Deep breaths. "It's...okay," he finally managed through grit teeth, eyes still shut. What he really wanted to do was smack the dumb bitch--puking on his boot?! Why did she turn her head his way?!--but instead he forced his eyes open and forced a reassuring smile. "No harm done...ah..." He glanced down at his boot. Most of the stuff was gone, but it was still all...smeared.

His stomach roiled and he looked away. "Are you okay? You're not sick, are you?" Frowning with feigned concern, echoing Noodles' words, he reached out and felt at her forehead then shook his head. "You feel kind of warm and clammy. That's not good. We should probably get you to a doctor..."

[Anonymous]

The fire was not pathetic! It was a fire. It was a fantastic fire! Fire had feelings too.

Sharlee felt like puking again. Too warm. She shuffled backwards, her long black braids going over her shoulders as she used the distance from the fire to stretch out her legs. She was never sick! She was an elf! They didn't get sick! The hand against her face felt dilciously cool and she closed her eyes and leaned into it, sighing quietly.

Of course she snapped back to reality and leaned away, blinking owlishly. "Sorry." Rubbing at her eyes with the heels of her palm she sighed and stretched forward agin. " I've never been sick before." Quiet, she flopped backwards, moaning with pain at a rather pointy rock digging into her head. One foot tucked under her knee and her other foot dangerously close to the fire, Sharlee moaned and rolled over towards Sorin, wiggling closer.

"There's some food in my pack. S'next to Doeshes butt. He doesn't bite. You'll need water for some of it. Pot's at the bottom of the sack..." She trailed off by the time she was done talking her forehead was pressed against the side of Sorins thigh. It made the headache go away, oddly enough. If she knew it was because of Sorin that she was so unnusually sick, she'd have high tailed it away from him. As it was, pressing against him made it feel better.

Sharlee flailed an arm up, pointed towards the noise of trickling water. " Small river is up that way." Her arm stayed put and she curled up tighter, mouth open, cheeks flushed. For lack of a better word, Sharlee felt like shit

[Anonymous]

Everything was getting to much for Noodles. The chances of him finding food were pretty slim. There were big scary things that might eat him. And the girl food was sick, which was making Noodles lose most of his appetite. It smelled vile.

And the male food smelled like the vomit. So Noodles wasn't going to be eating him. While the fire was nice, sticking around just seemed like a bad plan. Too dangerous.

"...Uh...Maybe I should go find more wood for the fire." Standing up, Noodles started to back away toward the woods. Things didn't seem quite right. Made him nervous. He doubted any of them were paying much attention, so he didn't bother to wait for a reply before heading back into the forest.

This sucked. He was back where he started. Lost in the woods. But, that still seemed like the better plan. He should try sleeping up a tree. Maybe dragons wouldn't find him there. He sure wasn't going back to the camp.

[Anonymous]

Zora, in her Animal Form, had been asleep on a nearby sturdy tree branch herself, had been awoken by the noises, all combined of Noodles, Sharlee, and Sorin. Her bright, large, glowing green eyes snapped open, and she left out a slight yawn as she stretched slowly, nose twitching. She sat up and watched, "Psheess...It's too late for this..." She muttered groggily.

(...Ahahah I'm bad at this XB)

[Rhindeer]

When Noodles left, Sorin exchanged looked with Cadmus. They could get her if they acted fast, except all that was left between them and making a clean break was...the dragon.

The dragon, which kept Sorin from killing Noodles and splitting with the girl in the first place.

There had to be a way to get rid of it.

Then again, they might not even have to.

Sorin had zoned out in the midst of thought, but he tuned back in to catch the last bit of what Sharlee was mumbling about. Mostly it was the fact that Sharlee was now clinging to him with her face pressed against his leg that did it, and he repressed the urge to twitch because, well...he had a pretty girl clinging to his leg and he couldn't do a thing about it in Cadmus' presence--not to mention the dragon. Gods be damned. He'd been out in the wilderness among men and gryphons for far, far too long and he sure as hell wasn't desperate enough to try a thing with any of them.

Ergh. He hated this.

Crouching down next to Sharlee, he brushed her hair out of her face and smoothed it back, tenderly. "Look, hon, I'm not worried about feeding myself. You don't look good. Listen to me, there's a village not that far away. We need to get you there. You're already vomiting and you feel feverish...we need to get that taken care of before it turns into something worse." He frowned at her and slid his hand across her cheek and under her chin, tilting her head up.

"Cadmus can get you to the village; it's not very far away by air. Otherwise, it'll take a good few days to get there on foot, and that won't be good for you. It could make you sicker." He stroked her chin with his thumb, trailed it along her jaw, absently. "Is that okay with you? He's perfectly safe! Your dragon and I can catch up with you in the village later."

Unless the dragon could fly. That would put a damper on everything.

That was when a noise from the trees above made Cadmus hiss and whirl around, fur and feathers bristling--until he looked up and caught sight of a creature in the trees above. Sorin looked over his shoulder and followed Cadmus gaze, then frowned. Nothing to worry about...but if that thing created another distraction and another delay, he was going to be pissed. He quickly turned back to Sharlee and left Cadmus to deal with it. "What do you say?"

[Anonymous]

Moving her hands to push herself up, she leaned into the hand slightly, eyes closed, it felt cool and comfy. The young elf even nuzzled her face into it, dark hair brushing against the hand, falling out of her braids. A village. Villages were good.

"I... Doeshe is busy watching the egg, he won't pay attention I think, until the fire dies, he's a good boy. Just distracted." Her voice was airy, still holding its musical lilt, the hand was nice. " your hand is nice." The speed at which she got ill worried her, so the little elf assumed it would be a good idea to go along. He seemed nice and helpful, he had a cold hand! People with cold hands had warm hearts, it worked out.

The noise coming from the tree didn't worry her at all, she was too distracted and feeling bad to even pay attention. Opening her lavender eyes, she looked up at Sorin and blinked slowly, mouth open slightly as her breath was hot and shallow, cheeks flushed. Ill, but no reason, body over working its self to figure out what was wrong just made her feel worse.

"Doeshe's a big boy, he can't fly, his wings haven't grown yet. He's going to get bigger, y'know." A smile and she grabbed at Sorins hand, holding it against her cheek. Not because it was him, but because it was such a nice cool feeling hand.

[Rhindeer]

"That so?" The dragon was busy watching the egg and wouldn't pay attention to them, hmm? Excellent. Sorin smiled when she said his hand felt nice and pressed his other hand to her opposite cheek, listening as she prattled on some more about her pet. And the beast couldn't fly, either? Even better. "Well, he'll just have to catch up, won't he? Now c'mon. Let's getcha up and on Caddy here, we shouldn't dawdle much longer."

He let his hands fall away, somewhat regrettably. Her skin felt nice and soft and he silently cursed Cadmus' presence for what would not be the last time that day. Goddamn he was deprived, he didn't normally feel this desperate. With a small grunt he pushed himself to his feet, then stooped and slid his hands under her and scooped her up bridal style.

"Cadmus, come."

Cadmus tore his attention away from the creature in the tree and narrowed his eyes at Sorin in a gryphonish glower. Talking to him like a dog? Ugh. Thankfully he wouldn't have to put up with this for much longer. He trotted over to the pair, fanned out his wings, and knelt down on his front legs in a sort of bow. Sorin settled Sharlee down on the gryphon's back. "Are you strong enough to hold onto his mane? You'll need to hold on tight or you might fall off," he told her as he scratched Cadmus behind a feathery ear. "But he's a good flier, so don't worry. Just a little bumpy. I hope you don't get motion sick."

Cadmus grimaced and straightened up. Oh, jeez, don't even put the thought in the girl's head! The last thing he wanted was...no, not even thinking about it. He ruffled his feathers and reached around so he could groom one outstretched wing, pulling out a loose pinfeather and smoothing the others back into place. Then he looked back over at Sorin and gave a subtle nod, indicating he was ready. The girl was small and light so it was sure he could could fly for a ways before needing a break--quite unlike flying with the heavier Sorin.

Sorin looked at Sharlee and brushed some hair back from her face. "Are you ready?"

[Anonymous]

The little elf didn't know she could feel this awful. What could it have been?  A natural healer, Sharlee could usually figure out what was making her sick before, frowning for a moment she let out a distraught sigh when she felt too awful to even use that bit of magic. Before she knew it, tears pricked at her eyes and she was on the back of something warm and strange feeling. Oh, it was Caddy. Sharlee rubbed her fingers through his feathers before snuggling closer letting her head drop, one long braid falling over her shoulder and onto his neck.

Motion sickness?

Sharlee gave a dry laugh and gently squeezed at Cadmus' neck before moving a hand up to his forehead and ears. "No, no motion sickness. 'Sides, everything I had in my stomach ended up on your shoe." She pursed her lips, fingers still moving against his feathers as a distraction. Doeshe was curled up around the fire, facing them, his eyes on Sorin, watching.  His tail and legs protecting the egg nestled there. He'd follow in time.

Where were they going anyway? "I'm ready." Why wasn't she putting up a fight? Sharlee closed her eyes for a moment, pale and warm and one of her index finger making a mindless circle before she ducked her head and got ready for movement. She was feeling a little better now that Sorin wasn't touching her. Sharlee frowned for a moment. She'd figure out why she was sick, an upside to being a healer.

[Rhindeer]

Sorin's mouth drew into an unamused line. "Yeah. I suppose it did," he muttered, wrinkling his nose in disgust. Gee, poor Cadmus, he wouldn't get to experience the joys of getting puked on. Repressing a shudder and fighting the urge to roll his eyes, Sorin pat Cadmus on the head instead. "Which is good. I'm sure Caddy here will appreciate that, 'cause I don't imagine grooming gunk out of feathers is any fun. Anyway, safe flying to the both of you. I'll see you again shortly."

Once Cadmus dumped the girl off with the others, he'd be back to pick up Sorin. All he had to do now was figure out what to do to kill time, stuck out here in the middle of nowhere with a dragon for company. Frowning, he spared the beast a sidelong glance--and nearly jumped out of his hide when he realized that it was watching him. Gyah, that was just creepy! Hopefully it stayed laying down and docile, but just in case, Sorin retrieved his sword and baldric off the ground and edged away from the dragon.

Watching this, Cadmus only snorted loudly through his nostrils. Hah! So he wasn't the only one afraid of dragons here! Feeling a little triumphant, and having gotten the go ahead to leave, Cadmus turned and started to trot away, eyes on the canopy above them as he looked for a good gap between the trees that he could safely get through without knocking Sharlee off. Finally, he got his chance and, feeling that Sharlee was holding on, he snapped his wings open and launched himself into the air, and with a few powerful beats of his wings they were soon breaking through the canopy and then rising above it.

It was good flying weather that night, and before long he had reached a comfortable altitude and was able to catch some warm updrafts that he could just glide on. Sorin might bitch at him later for taking so long, but Cadmus would like to see him flap his arms for an hour or two straight before he gave him any lip about being lazy.

Oh well...at least he got to stretch his wings.

"How're you holding up back there?" he called without thinking, tossing his head to peer back at Sharlee.

[Anonymous]

Doeshe was protective. Not yet at the age to learn how to use his natural dragon telepathy skills, or having had a parent to teach him, he kept his rather docile thoughts to himself. Though this Soren one smelled pretty awful. Not the person himself, but his self. It smelled rotten and tainted. Not a human he wanted his little elfling with, the bird-thing seemed nice enough, but still a stranger. Doeshe couldn't understand why she went with them, but he knew he could follow her later. Or she'd be back. Give it a day.

The dragon was rather pleased that the tainted human seemed to be afraid of him. He was just a baby! Almost as much a baby as the little egg he was curled around. Doeshe nudged his nose against it and was pleased at the sense of wriggling life inside, a few more weeks it seemed, before it hatched. It would be his. Doeshe decided.

For the time being, the dragon kept his eyes on the human, alert, occasionally flicking his tail, throwing bits of dirt and rocks in Sorens direction and making chirping noises. Almost a way of telling the man that he was there, just incase the tainted human forgot.

Sharlee on the other hand was quite enjoying herself. Doeshe couldn't fly yet, having no one to teach him and being too young for his wings to fully develop, Sharlee didn't notice she didn't feel sick anymore until Caddy turned to talk to her.

Confused, she blinked her big purple eyes and stared, her mouth dropping open slightly. Surely that was a trick. Why would a gryphon sound like... a man? Sharlee looked around before lifting her head slightly, careful not to throw off any balance and then leaned in to speak towards his ear. If the gryphon didn't actually say anything, then there would be no problem and Sharlee would stop feeling crazy.

"You're a wonderful flyer, Caddy!" Sharlee decided on a compliment reply, she'd spoken to Doeshe like this. There was no way Caddy spoke. "I feel better already." Her fingers flexed on the feathers she'd try to gently hold onto and then frowned at the back of his head, pressing her face down slightly. No way did he speak. Speaking was for... humanoids and... humanoids. "I hope you're not getting too tired," Sharlee opted for a mind trick and gently balanced before letting go and petting the spot where one of her hands had been.

Falling would be bad. It'd work out best in the long run if she was careful while on the back of a flying animal.

[Rhindeer]

Maybe she didn't hear him with the wind in her ears, because she was going on like he hadn't spoken at all. Or maybe she had heard and was just in denial. It was always ind of funny to see how people reacted when he spoke in this form, and many did try and act like he hadn't said anything, probably just to convince themselves they weren't crazy. Well, with them airborne and her trapped on his back, he could finally drop the docile, tamed pet act and he was more than ready to shed it.

Because he hated it.

"No, I'll be good for at least another few hours," Cadmus answered conversationally, like there was nothing at all strange about talking gryphons--which there wasn't, to him--and like she hadn't just been talking to him in the same way people talked to their dogs. In other words, speaking without actually expecting or wanting an answer, mostly just doing it to air their thoughts.

"You're very light, so I can hardly feel you there at all, Just be sure to hold on tight and stop letting go! I don't want to have to catch you if you fall and I don't think you want that, either."

He snapped his beak in irritation, then looked forward again so he could actually watch where they were going.

Yeah. Let her try and ignore that.

[Anonymous]

Oh, my.

Sharlee swallowed and stared down at the feathers in front of her and she held on tighter even though the first reaction she wanted to jump back and screech. Caddy had spoken! And she was speaking to him like he was a trusty pet... bird-cat! Slowly she chewed on the middle of her upper lip and looked off to the side, adjusting her seating and holding on tighter. "I... I'm holding on now."

It spoke. He spoke. Sharlee cleared her throat and was glad she hadn't done anything like change in front of him. That would have been mortifying, and she was sure to forget there was an intelligent mind before those big eyes and that sharp beak so she'd have to remind herself often! Well, often if he decided to be quiet.

She had been sick! It could be her mind playing tricks on her.

Sharlee swallowed and wiggling slightly before patting where her hand was and holding tightly again. "Thank you for your concern Caddy. Can I still call you Caddy or do you not like that?" Self concious about how she was speaking now she didn't want to make him want to throw her off for the name she used. Sharlee stared off and her eyes went blank, did this mean Doeshe could speak one day too? That would be odd. Very very odd.

[Rhindeer]

"Caddy is..." Cadmus grimaced, then let out a low sigh. "Caddy is fine. You may call me that." And only because his 'niece' once had, back when she was young, and Sharlee seemed young and child-like in the same way. It was endearing coming from her--well, mostly; it had been a long time since he'd been called that--but anyone else would have gotten a death glare and a stern 'cease and desist'.

At least he could now have a conversation! It was difficult playing the dumb, mute beast for too long, and so far, aside from the initial shock, she seemed to be taking this rather well.

Not like some people who carried on shrieking...eugh, that was always unpleasant, made even worse because his hearing was above that of a human's.

He beat his wings twice to keep the height, then just let himself plane. They were making good speed, already far from where he'd first met the girl. "Sharlee...it was Sharlee, right? Are you feeling any better?" They weren't very high now, just a little above the trees, but he knew some people just didn't take well to heights and she had thrown up not long before. If she was nauseous, the up-and-down motion when he flapped his wings wouldn't make matters any better, so he was doing his best to just coast until he was certain she could handle it. "No more nausea? I mean, I'm assuming this is your first fli--ah!"

An arrow whizzed by and Cadmus banked to the side just in time; it just grazed the tips of his flight feathers. Crap! Probably some idiot glory hunter; some people made a sport of hunting magical game. Cadmus swerved with a hiss and dodged another arrow, then risked a quick glance back at Sharlee. There was no way he could fly like this, not with arrows aimed on him and no way to spot the one doing it.

"Change of plans. Close your eyes, don't let go, and please don't throw up on me."

And with that said, he tucked in his wings and feet and plummeted like a stone, straight for a forest clearing just down below.

But not before one arrow hit its mark.

Cadmus screeched in pain as the arrow sank into his right thigh but he didn't diverge from his course, falling until the ground was just yards away before snapping out his wings and...well...that wasn't one of his better landings.

He touched down and managed to run all of three bounds before his injured leg gave out and he collapsed, tumbling the rest of the way--and no doubt throwing Sharlee.