Quite a Misunderstanding (open)

[RedIrishDragon]

(Am listing this as open as I'm not sure if it's private or not between me and Ethereal-Star – can change later if needed)


Some idea. Yeah, let's go check out this great treasure that the drunks at the bar were talking incessantly about. Let's go with only a couple of directions. Let's try to DIE on the bloody mountainside!

The rant was silent, but the scowl said everything as the figure slid back another two feet down the rock he was trying to ascend. It was just a tiny fraction of the Kilanthro Mountains, but at this point he was so sore everything felt like a mountain. His usually colorful garb was dusty from the rocks, and likely snagged in a dozen places. By the time he got back – if he got back – he'd probably look like he'd been in several scuffs. Hah, wouldn't THAT be an interesting story to tell? Yes, I need to repair this tunic because I was a moron who decided to seek out a legendary treasure.

"Gods, I hate climbing," Joss grunted as he pulled himself up again, using every muscle he had to pull himself up. A few more grunts, half a skid back, and his fingertips managed to wrap around the top edge of the rock he was on. With a crazed laugh, the bard managed to scramble up the rest of the way before falling flat, panting. "That's... the... last... time..." he grumbled, thanking a few gods for his wonderfully flat piece of dirt. Out of morbid curiosity, however, he pulled himself back to the ledge he'd just managed to get up. That... was a freakishly long way down.

The realization that he'd have to go back down that same way sank in slowly, making him groan. "Oh maaaaan... why does this always happen to me?" Pushing himself up, Joss dusted himself off as he opted to look up and around rather than down. The unfamiliar rock formations offered more than the mountainside had to maneuver over than before. One quick adjustment to his gittern to get the bag it rested on out of his backbone, and he pushed himself on. Skirting around the corner, the rocks took a new form and began to recede into an opening. Was this the entrance to that cave of such wonders that he was told about? Maybe his luck was changing!

Another readjusting to his bag, Joss entered the hole slowly, certain that just one step would sent him straight back down the mountain. Now... to find this treasure before something untoward happens.

[Ethereal-Star]

Inside the cave, Zy'raxas the crystal dragon had taken down the barrier from the entrance because she were about to venture out to stretch her wings and enjoy some freedom in the air, plus maybe find a juicy arctic boar to eat while she was at it. Only a little hungry, the boar (or whatever she could find) would serve as a small snack for the immensely large dragon.

However, just as she was about to leave, a small shadow passed over the cave entrance and in came what looked to be a colorfully dressed young man, carrying a musical instrument in one hand. A gittern, from the looks of it. Yes, Zy'raxas knew her item lore, and she knew it well. And the ancient dragon recognized the lad to be a musician or a bard, or some such type. Perhaps he was lost?

"Well, well, well, what have we here in my humble abode?" Zy'raxas stated in a deep, rumbling yet strangely feminine voice, her voice seeming to be the combination of two voices, that of a lower sound and the other of a higher sound mixed together perfectly to make up her draconic voice.

[RedIrishDragon]

Just a few yards in, and Joss was already stumbling. He paused to wrangle his pack around to grab a lantern, half walking in a circle to try and reach it in the dark. He didn't realize when he stopped being alone. All he knew was that suddenly there was a voice.

His response was simple: escape by jumping out of his skin. This did not end well, however, as he jumped into the wall of the cave and, somehow, ended up with his feet above his head, shoulders firmly in the floor. The unexpected position made even Joss pause, giving him a few more moments to see what exactly had attacked him.

Well, spoken at him, really... considering what he was looking up at, he'd be dead if it had attacked.

Another mad scramble and he was back on his feet, pushing into the wall as if he could crawl through it. Within a few seconds of this, he let himself calm down and simply sink a few inches down the wall, offering a weak yet polite smile. "Ah-hah... um... s-sorry, is this your cave? Well, I-I-I-I'll just be on my way then..." Joss managed to say with a mostly even voice and shakier hand gestures, slowly inching his way towards what he was assuming – rather, praying – was the exit to the cave.

[Ethereal-Star]

"Now, now what's the sudden rush? Do I intimidate you?" Zy'raxas sighed what sounded to be almost a genuine sigh, however she was merely having some fun at the bard's expense. "Well, alright then. Let's get a look at you, shall I?" And the dragon bent her head and neck down to peer at the young lad, reptilian yellowish eyes gazing at him in contemplation.

"Hmm...a bit on the scrawny side, but oh well. A dragon can't be too picky about what company unexpectedly drops by to say hello. Oh, don't worry. You're not on the menu. Have no fear." And with that, the crystal dragon straightened back up to her full towering height, looking down upon the lad.

"So, tell me. What brings you to my little home in the mountains? You don't exactly look dressed for the part if I do say so myself. Are you here to rest perhaps and get away from the biting cold you mortals have so much trouble with? Or are you here to steal my treasure?" Her eyes narrowed into slits and she stared down at him. "I hope for your sake that you aren't. Or if you are, that you have now changed your mind after seeing me. Well? Let's hear it then." Looking expectantly at the bard, Zy'raxas awaited an answer.

[RedIrishDragon]

The question was enough to get Joss to sigh for a moment. Intimidate? A short human up against a large dragon? Was she being sarcastic? He answered by freezing as her head came down, reactively sucking in his gut as far as he possibly could to keep some distance. Being assessed so was not helpful, even as she noted she wouldn't eat him. Somehow he was seeing quite a bit of a grouchy old dragon he knew in this study, except the tone was much brighter. Which seemed weird to note, given it was a dragon speaking. Their voices were always deeper.

Joss grew some confidence as the dragon drew back, prying himself off the rocky wall while maintaining a close relationship. While he wanted to, he didn't dare interrupt the dragon as she listed out all of the things he might be there for, the options getting worse and worse. So were her options for dealing with him. Frantically, he waved his hands to dissuade her, finally hearing her pause. "Ah- wait wait, wait... we have clearly gotten off on the wrong foot here. Er. Paw... talon? Anyway..." he began, his voice having gained some stability with the sense of indignity. "I'm not here to steal anything. I never have nor will I ever even consider attempting to steal a grand treasure." This was true, he wouldn't lie to a dragon. Didn't mean he didn't ever steal, but not like that. Mainly, he wasn't good enough at it...

"I was told by some... people, that there was a treasure up in the hills, a grand treasure that was lost. Open to the taking," he explained in more detail, deciding it was safer to continue with the no-lies path. "Since that information is... grievously wrong, I do apologize for disturbing you and I am happy to get out of your hair. Scales. Crystals... erm... yes."

For a few moments, the bard remained still, blinking a few times as he watched the dragon as if waiting to see what would happen. The suspicious part of him was beginning to wonder if he should have faked it and noted that he was simply investigating the mountains, that he was curious, rather than actually having been after a treasure. Some individuals he knew could be exceptionally territorial of their stockpiles, which he could appreciate on one hand, but they often were... difficult to survive an encounter with.

[Ethereal-Star]

Zy'raxas regarded him for a few moments, before finally speaking again. "Yes, I would say that information is grievously wrong." she stated slowly. "However, your honesty is quite refreshing. I assume you have changed your mind by now, hmm?"

Tapping her talons on the icy ground beneath her, she continued gazing at the bard, while thinking. "Now, you look like a bard to me, am I correct? And bards know how to play some interesting music as well too, hmm? How about you entertain an old weary dragon by playing a song for me? I'd love to hear one. And then after that, we could exchange riddles. You do like riddles, yes? I would hope so. Riddles are one of my specialties." her eyes seemed to gleam like yellow crystal as she said this, already looking forward to some riddle solving.

"What say you? Will you play me a song?"

[RedIrishDragon]

(Sorry to take so long, had to move a bunch of stuff this last week :/ )


"Yes, yes it was," Joss softly noted in agreement, pursing his lips a little. Very, very grievous. At her question, he half laughed. "Changed my mind about claiming some of a lost treasure? Not at all. I'd never steal a treasure, so knowing that I would be stealing were I to take anything..." He let the comment speak for itself as he left it hanging.

The offer was surprising, to say the least. He had assumed she would want him to leave as soon as possible. "Ah, yes, m'lady! A bard I am, but riddler... ah, I usually leave that to the poets," he replied, a little of the charm coming up half out of self-defense. Almost as a move of comfort, he slid the gittern closer to hand, although it would require untangling it and himself from the satchel he wore. He needed this lovely large dragoness to continue liking him, if his reading of her was correct thus far. "I would happily play a song for you, m'lady. I do not guarantee as much enjoyment in any riddle-solving..."

[Ethereal-Star]

"Very well then." Zy'raxas gestured with a white-taloned claw in the air. "Play me a song. Whatever you deem to be the most appropriate at a time like this." The crystal dragon found this chap to be quite amusing she admitted to herself silently, continuing to gaze at him with crystal-like eyes in anticipation of the music he was soon to play for her. "As for after that, we can discuss the matter of riddles later. I would still very much like to see how savvy you are at these kinds of puzzles. I am sure you will find them very much enjoyable, as I myself do."

With that Zy'raxas let him perform on his gittern, a delightful way to pass the time.