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Alaerth continued to slowly circle downwards through the clouds and skies, enjoying the nice start of the day, when something... unfamiliar caught his nose. He sniffed a little again, turning his head around to try and locate the vague, although strange scent. After a few moments of looking around, he noticed a figure down below, next to the lake. He was still very high up, but it wasn't hard to see that the figure was rather large. He kept gliding downwards in a spiral, narrowing his eyes as he got closer and closer, and eventually, a pang of realization went through his mind.
It's... another dragon? I can't believe it! But... what's another dragon doing here? The townsfolks' stories have always led me to believe that other dragons are very territorial and almost solely sticks to one place... He felt a mixture of excitement and worry at the prospect of meeting this new dragon. The first dragon he'd be meeting in all of his life, actually.
The forest lake shimmered as the strong sun beamed down from the sky above. Whilst beautiful, Kargen paid little attention as she continued to wonder about where to get food in these strange lands. She needed to eat soon or her strength would weaken, leaving her an easy target for humans or perhaps even another dragon. She took another look in through the trees but again was unsuccessful in her efforts. She continued to look through until she whipped her head round, full sure that she heard something. She looked around the trees beside her and even over by the pool, but there was nothing there. She brushed it off, believing it was her imagination and continued to look through the trees.
As if on cue, Alaerth had come gliding downwards as quietly as he could before finally giving his wings a firm flap to slow his descent considerably, leaving him hovering above the ground a short ways away from Kargen, just in case this dragon would decide to attack him. He finally landed on the ground with a loud thump, wings folding along his back as he stared at this newcomer he'd never seen before.
Kargen continued to peer in through the trees until she heard a loud thump behind her, she immediately spun round and to her surprise, there stood a dragon not thirty feet from where she was standing. He was light blue with a yellow underbelly and had jagged edges running all the way from his head right down to his tail. He looked to be about the same size but Kargen's father told her never to underestimate a dragon based on its size. Kargen had no idea what to do. It was the first time she ever met a dragon that was from outside of her family group. Was he friendly? Was he about to attack?
Kargen finally decided it was better to try and scare him off than run. If she ran, that'd mean she was a coward and Kargen is no coward. It's been a long time since her father taught her about combat but she remembered the basics. She started growling, snapping her jaw and exhaling heavily.
I can take this guy if he attacks, no problem ... although I hope he doesn't. I'm pretty weak at the moment so I don't know either ... no I can take him. She continued to snarl and blow steam from her nostrils as she prepared herself for what was about to happen next.
Alaerth dug his claws into the ground as the other dragon began growling and generally behaving rather hostile. His eyes narrowed and his teeth bared as he let out a rumbly growl as well.
I guess a friendly dragon was too much to hope for... He made himself look as large as possible, his tail swinging from side to side behind him before he opened his mouth, growling out his words while his eyes were fixed square on her. "... I hope you realize you were the one coming into -my- territory and not the other way around. If you attack, then you have no one to blame but yourself."
To Kargen's surprise he actually spoke, rather than just attacking straight away! As much as Kargen hated being wrong, he had a point. She WAS in his territory and she was the outsider, not him.
He's right, I am trespassing in his land. But what do I do? If I let my guard down he might attack. Maybe that's what he's trying to do! Make me lower my guard, so that he can attack me. I don't know if I can risk it.
She kept her eyes fixated on him as she thought about what to do. It was probably better to cool off before this escalated any further, but that meant admitting she was weak. But the real problem was that exactly, she was weak, with hunger. It was a tough decision to make but Kargen decided to stop with the aggressive advances and cease the hostility, on her side anyway. She opened her mouth and growled in a low tone at this other dragon, still bitter about the fact that she had to lower her advances first. "What now?" she snarled.
Equally as surprised at Kargen had been before, Alaerth watched the other dragon back somewhat off. He had expected her to either just turn and flee, or actually attack him. He decided that it would be best if he showed that he wasn't about to attack her either, so he relaxed his body somewhat, not gripping the ground any longer and lowering himself somewhat down. He was at a bit of a loss of what to do now, he'd never imagined his first meeting with another dragon would go like this. "Well... mrh. Why don't you tell me what brought you here in the first place? I didn't know there were any other dragons nearby. Or are you from farther away than this region?"
Much to Kargen's surprise, Alaerth also backed off. A wave of relief rained over Kargen as she saw the dragon lower himself down. Kargen's first meeting with an outside dragon was fairly rough but at least no one got hurt which was a plus. Especially considering that with each passing minute, Kargen was getting hungrier and weaker. After the hostility had seemingly dispersed Alaerth surprisingly asked Kargen where she was from. "I come from a region far away from here. I flew here after my parents decided to leave me to fend on my own. I decided that staying in my home would perhaps bring back too many bad memories. So I fled the nest and eventually stumbled upon this region. I flew high up into the southern mountains and rested there for a long time. I left my cave this morning to explore this land and then that's when I came down here for a drink and well you know the rest". Kargen had just told him all this information before even stopping to realize what she had said.
I Might as well ask the same . "So what about you? Where are you from?"
Alaerth didn't know why, but for some reason, he felt inclined to share as much with this other dragon as he could. Now that he knew she wasn't hostile (Or at least, believed that she wasn't), he was a lot more excited about this first meeting, even going so far as to offering her a smile. "I'm actually from around here." He turned his head and gestured back at the mountain behind them. "Grew up here and I've stayed in this area ever since. Nobody knows I live here, which I know because i occasionally go to the nearby human town in disguise, listen to rumors and the like."
He paused before stepping closer, brushing past her as he leaned down to drink from the lake for a few moments, lifting his head afterwards, turning to her once more. "... I'm sorry for the hostile welcome. My name is Alaerth. I've never heard of a dragon or even a human coming from a different region than Havenedge. Have you been flying for long?"
"I'm pleased to meet you Alaerth. My name is Kargen." Kargen was starting to warm up to Alaerth, he seemed friendly and he did lower his guard after Kargen lowered hers. He brushed past her in order to drink from the lake which sat beside them. As he leaned down, Kargen turned her head to the side and grit her teeth. The pain in her stomach was getting worse as time progressed. The main problem was the fact that Kargen had no idea where to find food in these lands. Her only hope was her new found friend Alaerth. "I've been flying for a good while now but today is my first day in a long number of years." She paused after saying this, should she tell him of the hunger? He will definitely know she's weak then. She'll be a walking target if the wrong person found out. Her stomach ached from the pain and she grit her teeth once more. "Listen Alaerth, I know we have just met and this is sort of a strange thing to ask at a time like this but do you have any food? Or know of any good hunting grounds? I've been sleeping for years and I have no idea where to look within these lands. The pain in my stomach gets worse by the minute."
Alaerth had heard of dragons' ability to sleep for hundreds, even thousands of years at a time, but he'd never experienced any need or wanting to on his part, which made him all the more curious about Kargen. His brows furrowed somewhat at her hunger, nodding slowly as he turned his head to look across the lake. "... I've been hunting in and around this forest for over five hundred years. I know exactly what you need." He turned his head back to her and sent her another smile before unfolding his wings, bending his legs and kicking off of the ground with a powerful flap of his wings, setting off towards the opposite side of the lake while calling out "Follow me!" behind him.
Kargen couldn't help but smile upon hearing Alaerth's response. Alaerth's told her of his experience hunting within the area. This gave Kargen a huge sigh of relief. Alaerth kicked off the ground and proceeded to head to what Kargen could assume was the hunting grounds. He shouted back telling Kargen to follow him and Kargen did just exactly that. She spanned her wings out, kicked off the ground and gave her wings a flap, sending dust and dirt flying through the air as she proceeded to follow Alaerth.
The two dragons flew across the wide-spanning forest, Alaerth staring downwards while taking an occasional whiff of the air while his mind was occupied with thoughts about Kargen. How she'd just appeared out of nowhere and that she had no idea about anything in this land. Alaerth himself didn't have great knowledge of it, but he knew his way around the immediate area, if anything else.
Just then, he spotted what he'd been looking for. A massive boar, almost half the size of him was standing in a clear in the forest below, snuffling for truffles. Alaerth's eyes narrowed as he circled in the sky a few times before finally pressing his wings close to his sides, diving down wards as silently as he could. Just before making contact with the dire boar, the creature lifted its head in alert, starting to make a run for it, but Alaerth had already extended his claws and managed to grab onto the now squealing pig as he crashed down on top of it. The boar wasn't completely dead as it snorted and squealed, trying to escape from underneath him, but Alaerth managed to finish it off with a quick grab of his teeth and a snap of his neck.
Letting out a huff at the brief struggle, he stepped back from the boar and raised his head to look up at the circling Kargen, taking in a breath of air before letting out a roar, which both sent birds nearby scattering from the trees and hopefully let Kargen know that it was safe to come down and eat.
Kargen circled overhead and watched as the struggle below ensued. It didn't take much effort for Alaerth to take the boar down. A massive roar came from the ground below, Kargen was unsure what this meant but decided to head down anyway. She tucked her wings in by her side and bulleted down towards the ground. Before she hit the ground, she opened up her wings to slow herself down before dangling a few feet above the ground before drawing them in and crashing on to the ground. She looked over as Alaerth stood beside the boar which he had finished off, she crept forward cautiously, unsure whether a dragon could feed on another's kill. Her father certainly didn't allow her. But she was too weak to even think about trying to take on a boar of her own. Kargen never did like feeding herself while she was in her dragon form. She knew she could transform into a human but didn't want to do it right in full view of Alaerth. Then she remembered what he said earlier about heading into town.
I occasionally go to the nearby human town in disguise. Kargen was intrigued. It certainly was an odd thing to say. Did this mean that Alaerth could transform as well? She couldn't risk it and decided to feed while in her dragon form for now.
She leaned down and began to feed herself. The more she fed herself, the more the pain in her stomach subsided up until the point where it was gone completely. While it may not have been the most flattering introduction for herself at least now she was fed and back to full strength. She looked down and noticed that there was next to nothing left for Alaerth. "Oh ... I apologize. I may have been a bit greedy".
Having taken a seat on the ground nearby during her meal, Alaerth shook his head and offered another smile. "Oh, no, I'm the one who should apologize. I killed it, even though you were the one going to eat it. That just seems... wrong, to me. But I thought that if you were very hungry, you might have been gorged a bit by the boar, which I have been in the past when I was entirely focused." He looked a little sheepish for a moment before flicking his tail to the other side behind him. "I at least hope that it was a nice meal, Kargen. It's only fair that I be hospitable to the first other dragon I ever meet." It might have been the fact that he was also somewhat hungry, or that he'd taken a bit of a shine to Kargen, but he felt that he could trust her with this sort of information. She seemed rather young as well, so there was less chance that she would judge him, like he imagined most older dragons would.
Kargen wasn't sure what to expect from Alaerth after she apologized but to her surprise he was more than ok about it. Kargen felt great for the first time in years. Her childhood was tough. Her father would train her rigorously in order to prepare her for the years ahead. She never had a real friend, someone who she could talk to about things or even just have fun with. She looked over at Alaerth and thanked him for everything he's done for her so far and even gave him a friendly smile, something which Kargen hasn't done too often in the past while. Although despite this, she couldn't shake the thought of Alaerth perhaps being able to morph into a human. It was a difficult subject to approach. She had no idea how to approach something like this, do you just ask him straight out? Or do you wait until the opportunity
She decided to wait it out and see what happens. Kargen walked over to the area in which Alaerth was sitting and took in a deep breath as she looked around. She turned to Alaerth. "So Alaerth. What do you do for fun around here? I mean there's gotta be more to life around here than just flying and eating right?"
Alaerth tilted his head slightly as Kargen walked closer, having a look around the large clearing in the forest. He let out a rumbly hum while his spiked tail flicked to the side, accidentally ripping off the bark of one of the nearby trees. "Well, I nap quite a lot. I love going flying, especially when it's cloudy. Other than that, it's interesting going into the human town on the other side of the forest. You can learn quite a lot about the world and what beings are in it without ever seeing it for yourself, I'll have you know. Like for instance, I know that there's most likely a very dangerous dragon to the north... east, I believe, due to rumors I've heard from the townsfolk." He nodded his head slightly, as if for confirmation to himself, rolling his head on his shoulders, shifting a little on the spot. "Although... I've also heard some troubling rumors. Lately, there's been talk of a group of humans having assembled, calling themselves the 'Dragonslayers', so I'm worried that you waking up now is a stroke of bad luck on your side."
There he goes again, with the heading into town talk. He's gotta be able to morph, he's has to be able, there's no other explanation for it. Kargen tensed up a bit when she heard of these Dragonslayers. While Alaerth didn't exactly say it, the clue is in the name to what these people are after. Her father taught her many things but he never taught her how to deal with a large group of dedicated hunters. She shuddered at the thought of it all. Well at least she still had her morph ability to blend into the civilians if things got ugly. Her mind was heavy with thoughts and questions. But there was the one question that annoyed her more than the rest. Can Alaerth morph into a human? She needed to know but on the other hand she would look insane asking such a question. The waiting game wasn't going to work, she could never wait until the opportunity arises.
"Alaerth I need to ask you a question. Now this might seem a little bit far-fetched almost insane in some ways but I need to know your answer so I can put my mind at ease". Kargen knew she had morph ability but she thought it was some kind of special ability only given to her. She never spoke about it with anyone and never met anyone who had something similar. It was her escape, she used it to get away from the killing and the fighting at times. Sometimes all she wanted to do was to head into town and shop for items or head to the local bar and watch the chaos of the patrons ensue. To meet someone else with the same ability would be amazing, finally she wouldn't seem so different after all. Not to mention it would come in major handy against these Dragonslayers.
After telling her about the Dragonslayers, Alaerth almost immediately regretted mentioning it. He should have kept the conversation more mellow and pleasant, rather than going straight into the thing that had been worrying him the last few weeks. His brow raised a little as she wanted to ask him a question, warning him that it might be a little far-fetched. He was wondering what it could be, because it didn't sound like it had to do with the Dragonslayers. He nodded his head, his tail flicking again. "Of course, Kargen. What do you want to know? I'll try and answer to the best of my ability."
Kargen swallowed a lump in her throat as she prepared herself to ask this all important question which weighed down her mind since Alaerth first mentioned it. "Okay here I go ... Alaerth I would like to know if you can uh ... if you can ...." Kargen took a deep breath before continuing. "If you can morph ... into a human? Almost like you can change your body completely". It was no surprise that this was tough for Kargen, asking a question like this will only end two ways, either Alaerth agrees and everything is fine or he thinks you are insane and flies off leaving you in a strange land all by yourself. "I know this might seem weird but ... you kept mentioning 'heading into town'. Now I'm pretty sure the townsfolk are going to notice a dragon wandering around. This probably sounds totally crazy I know".
Alaerth blinked a little in surprise at the question. Considering the ability to turn into a human more or less came instinctively to him, he had just imagined that all dragons had this ability. Now that she was questioning him whether or not he was able to do this, he had to admit, it seemed a little odd. He did let out a rumbly little chuckle at the thought of a dragon just waltzing into a town, but eventually gave a nod, although looking somewhat unsure of what it meant for him. Did she think him weird for being able to do so? In either case, he couldn't just figuratively sit on the fence on this one. "Mmh, I can. I've always been able to do so. It's a pretty handy skill to have. Erh... are you able to transform as well...?"
She couldn't believe it! Another person who could do the same as she could, there was so much to talk about, so much to discuss. She didn't know where to start. Her breathing rate increased, it was exciting beyond belief! Finally someone she could talk to about this weird power she had. Kargen kept it hidden away from her father and mother, especially worried about what her father might think had he known she could turn into a human. "Wow ... I didn't think there was anyone else who can do it. Oh and to answer your last question ... yes I can" Kargen's heart was racing with excitement, she barely got her response out over her accelerated breathing and excitement. She had no idea what to do or say next. But she couldn't hide the big grin she had on her face.
A look of relief crossed Alaerth's features, followed by a smile spreading on his face as he saw the excitement in her eyes. It was at that moment he recognized something he'd been feeling all along himself. He couldn't quite put words on it, but the look in her eyes and the big, toothy grin on her face definitely told him a story he could relate to. "I'm glad to know I'm not the only one! Hrmh..." He looked thoughtful a moment, his tail giving a few swipes back and forth behind him. "Do you want to go have a look at the town I mentioned? It's only a short flight, but it's a lot of fun spending time among the humans."
After calming down a bit and managing to catch her breath again. She took a deep breath and relaxed. She could see that Alaerth was equally as excited and happy about the fact that he wasn't alone when it came to this ability they had. For the first time in years Kargen was truly happy. And her excitement only grew larger when Alaerth's suggested that they could perhaps go to the town nearby and see what the humans were up to. "Of course I'd love to see what the humans are doing. It's been so long since I've seen a human. I'm interested to see how far along they've come since my last encounter with them." Hearing that it was only a short flight away, Kargen spanned her wings out and got ready to lift off the ground. She turned to Alaerth who seemed to know the way to this town. "Lead the way".
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