Kind of? [There's a hesitant uncertain pause in her voice and a chirp from somewhere nearby that could have been Thorn but isn't. Rey's been holed up in her cave with the tiny hatchling, afraid to leave and risk it being seen.]
( and understandably so. dragons haven't been a part of their lives for the better part of a century. they moved on, found their way, and now there is uncertainty as to how to respond to their reappearance. and resentment, even, at having been abandoned. )
Where are you going? [She tells herself it isn't panic, that uptick in her voice. She's just a little lost, not knowing what to do with the tiny dragon or the city full of people she doesn't know how to talk to or understand. Idan's cities were already a foreign world she couldn't coexist in before her death. Now they're even more different from what she knew. She has to choose her words so carefully.]
Oh. [It takes her a moment to realize he changed the subject without answering her question, that he still hasn't. But she didn't exactly give him all the details either.
A part of her had hoped he'd say yes, so she knew exactly how to find him if things got worse.]
Are you- taking the egg with you? [She's hoping his question wasn't because his disappeared or was destroyed, but it's so hard to read him sometimes and she doesn't want to press it directly. The egg had been so badly cracked, what if it hadn't survived, after all?]
Dragonet. ( he corrects, because there is no point in hiding this from her. and perhaps it'll go a ways to explaining his sudden fervency in leaving the city. )
Come with me. ( it sounds more like an order than a request. unintended, mostly, but since learning she was alive he is reluctant to find himself entirely parted from her. )
[Another time she might have protested his tone. She never responds well to being ordered around, something that had gotten her in trouble in the temple several times.
But Thorn intercepts her own dragonet's explorations as it heads for the cave exit for the fifth time and Rey's relief over having somewhere to go, and someone else in her situation who understands the dangers of staying, is greater than that.]
Okay, but I need to make a new staff first. [Trying not to sound too eager isn't hard when her nerves have been rocky for so long. She hasn't been back in the city and as good as Thorn is at helping her keep track of the hatchling he's smaller than it.]
( foraging materials from the shore is an option, certainly, but since they have a week to stock up and to figure things out, they might as well take advantage of it. )
Something else might have to suffice at least until we can get closer to a wooded area.
( thinking out loud. there's always the market, he supposes, but where precisely would one go to purchase branches. a blacksmith? perhaps he can find a ready-made staff. )
Maybe you can teach me how to use a sword. [He seemed like he was decent with one, but she had never really used much in the way of deadly weapons. She wasn't that kind of thief.
Fish? [Rey is by no means a fisher. She has no skill with it and the bay hasn't been great for it, either, but being right on the coast it had, in theory, seemed the easiest thing to try and get for the little dragonet.]
It does like to chase the sand bugs. [She doesn't even want to think about when they're grown. What will they do with two dragons? How would they hide them or care for them? What if they tried to eat each other?] I haven't been able to leave it alone to get anything for either of us. I was too worried they would find it.
[They being the guards.] And it makes noise if I try to conceal it in a bag.
( it would depend on what kind of magic was employed, he thinks. blood magic had enough transformative curses that surely one could be adapted if needed, except.
except rey would never allow it. and perhaps she was right. perhaps mingling that sort of magic with the dragonet's natural power was only asking for trouble. )
Some kind of charm would be better. Easier to maintain.
It would be nice not to have to hide all the time, if we could make it so they aren't so easily noticed. They're going to draw a lot of attention.
[And even more once they started to grow. And he's not at all wrong in his assumptions, either. Rey was hesitant enough about exposing the dragon eggs to blood magic. She was even more worried about using magic on them directly.]
We don't know what exposing them to different magic will do to them. We'll have to be careful of what we use.
( mild, an attempt to convey calm where there wasn't anyć ”not yet.
perhaps he should contact strange again. )
Masking its shape is the first priority. Once we no longer have to fear discovery, learning more about them should be easier. Particularly since it might require consulting with those more knowledgeable.
( the elves are the logical choice. perhaps the dwarves, once they have an idea of the enchantment needed. )
I can meet you on the western side of the shore. Near where we first found it.
[The egg they had had to rescue from a monstrous hungry lizard.]
There's a cave near there. [One of them would have to go into the city to get weapons and supplies for the journey, but Rey didn't want to leave the young dragonet alone in the cave to go into the city she was hiding it from.]
![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
@audio;
the worst cryptic answer
Do you?
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rubbing at the bridge of his nose, ) Are you still in the city?
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She has a dragon hatchling and people want it dead.
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( and understandably so. dragons haven't been a part of their lives for the better part of a century. they moved on, found their way, and now there is uncertainty as to how to respond to their reappearance. and resentment, even, at having been abandoned. )
I'm leaving the city within the week.
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Back to the temple?
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I want to return to the marshes, see if I can find any sign of what woke us.
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A part of her had hoped he'd say yes, so she knew exactly how to find him if things got worse.]
Are you- taking the egg with you? [She's hoping his question wasn't because his disappeared or was destroyed, but it's so hard to read him sometimes and she doesn't want to press it directly. The egg had been so badly cracked, what if it hadn't survived, after all?]
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Come with me. ( it sounds more like an order than a request. unintended, mostly, but since learning she was alive he is reluctant to find himself entirely parted from her. )
no subject
But Thorn intercepts her own dragonet's explorations as it heads for the cave exit for the fifth time and Rey's relief over having somewhere to go, and someone else in her situation who understands the dangers of staying, is greater than that.]
Okay, but I need to make a new staff first. [Trying not to sound too eager isn't hard when her nerves have been rocky for so long. She hasn't been back in the city and as good as Thorn is at helping her keep track of the hatchling he's smaller than it.]
no subject
( foraging materials from the shore is an option, certainly, but since they have a week to stock up and to figure things out, they might as well take advantage of it. )
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I found a knife on the shore and some rough, porous stones I might be able to use to help smooth it.
[It's a lot of work to get done in a week and after a moment of hesitation she reluctantly adds-]
Or a different weapon I can use until I can find or make a replacement.
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( thinking out loud. there's always the market, he supposes, but where precisely would one go to purchase branches. a blacksmith? perhaps he can find a ready-made staff. )
I'll see what I find in the market.
Do you have enough food?
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How different from a staff could it be?]
I'm fine. I just don't know what to feed it.
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Meat. Fruit. Insects.
Whatever it can get its talons into, or so I've been given to understand. ( eventually, when they're grown, they're going to run into some trouble. )
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It does like to chase the sand bugs. [She doesn't even want to think about when they're grown. What will they do with two dragons? How would they hide them or care for them? What if they tried to eat each other?] I haven't been able to leave it alone to get anything for either of us. I was too worried they would find it.
[They being the guards.] And it makes noise if I try to conceal it in a bag.
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( not nearly enough for both of them, but the dragonets should be able to manage. )
Someone mentioned possibly enchanting them, to mask what they are.
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[To the dragonet. To the tiny life she has become increasingly protective of in a very short span of time.]
Is that something we can learn to do?
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( it would depend on what kind of magic was employed, he thinks. blood magic had enough transformative curses that surely one could be adapted if needed, except.
except rey would never allow it. and perhaps she was right. perhaps mingling that sort of magic with the dragonet's natural power was only asking for trouble. )
Some kind of charm would be better. Easier to maintain.
no subject
[And even more once they started to grow. And he's not at all wrong in his assumptions, either. Rey was hesitant enough about exposing the dragon eggs to blood magic. She was even more worried about using magic on them directly.]
We don't know what exposing them to different magic will do to them. We'll have to be careful of what we use.
no subject
( mild, an attempt to convey calm where there wasn't anyć ”not yet.
perhaps he should contact strange again. )
Masking its shape is the first priority. Once we no longer have to fear discovery, learning more about them should be easier. Particularly since it might require consulting with those more knowledgeable.
( the elves are the logical choice. perhaps the dwarves, once they have an idea of the enchantment needed. )
no subject
[The egg they had had to rescue from a monstrous hungry lizard.]
There's a cave near there. [One of them would have to go into the city to get weapons and supplies for the journey, but Rey didn't want to leave the young dragonet alone in the cave to go into the city she was hiding it from.]
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( laden with food and whatever supplies he could gather with his mediocre coin. )