|
Post by Renathan on Sept 5, 2020 22:39:16 GMT -6
Moth x Rho (Aster/Linyu)
This room can look however you wish it to look, within reason. Only the two whose names appear here may post within this thread.
|
|
|
Post by Linyü on Sept 5, 2020 22:54:22 GMT -6
"So, Rho," said Seveth. "Where did you say you were from?" A little while ago, Seveth had come upon the area known as the Canyon of Eterra in his readings. There was little enough to do anyway - that San would let him do, anyway, which was something, since San also didn't seem to be happy with the fact that he was doing so little. But books, books had always been his friend, and there was enough he didn't know about the area that it was still interesting to be doing research. And the Canyons had just sounded so fascinating. An entire civilization of magic dragons! And so he had adjourned here, on the sly, and set himself up in a cave. He didn't have any connections, but that wasn't an issue. He tidied up the cave, paid for some renovations, and then opened it up as a bed and breakfast. And now he was chatting up one of his very first customers.
|
|
|
Post by Noa on Sept 5, 2020 22:58:15 GMT -6
On paper, or at least in words, Moth was a hunter for the clan. This suited her fine. She was good at it. She liked flying, and she liked the sensation of descending upon prey, taking them unawares in a perfect stoop and snatch. That wasn't really the problem. The problem, she was beginning to think, was the clan itself. The clan head was a Nanaiyesh. Rare enough in these parts, and legendarily clever, though the Shalaya were smarter. That had seemed wonderfully mysterious to Moth once upon a time. And one of her siblings had had a clutch with the family - she had a nephew in Zinnian. The boy's father couldn't be there to look after him, and Moth had thought it would be best for everyone if she simply joined up herself. But it was... well, they liked to talk so much. And sometimes she had to get out for a flight, just to be able to hear herself think.
|
|
|
Post by Linyü on Sept 5, 2020 23:00:58 GMT -6
It had seemed like a wonderful idea. It probably was a wonderful idea. It just... hadn't really taken all the way off yet, since this was his first customer and all, and said first customer didn't particularly want to talk.
The question hung in the air, unanswered. A moment passed, and then another, until Seveth eventually gave it up for lost. But no matter. He had plenty where that came from. "Okay, that's off limits. Got it," he said. "No problem. Then, what do you like to do in your spare time? See the sights? Go out for a swim? You've got that big river down there, and all." He jerked his head in the general direction of where the river was, not that they could see it from within the cave.
Rho continued to be silent, not so much as twitching in response to anything that Seveth had said.
|
|
|
Post by Noa on Sept 5, 2020 23:04:51 GMT -6
It wasn't always a bad thing, the chatter. Sometimes it was pleasant to listen to, if not to pay attention to. The words they used were too quick and too long for Moth. She was only of middling intelligence as far as Draconics went, and she hadn't spent a great deal of time around humans or other well-spoken Draconics when she was young, so she hadn't picked up a language so well. But it made good background noise, and when one or another of them wanted to tell her something, they would speak simply, slowly, and with a great deal of pantomime.
But she really couldn't take it all the time. And it felt so gloriously nice to soar on her own wings, up and away from everything nagging at her down below. She caught an updraft and rode it up, higher and higher, and sighed in satisfaction at the wind across her scales.
|
|
|
Post by Linyü on Sept 5, 2020 23:09:11 GMT -6
It was like talking to a rock. Or to San. Or at least it was probably what talking to San was like, as far as Seveth could imagine, because it wasn't as if he could actually talk to San, the way things were with the two of them. They had the journal, of course, and San had to write in there, so he did... But the thing was, San almost never answered any of the questions that Seveth asked him either, actually, which was probably why this conversation was reminding him so strongly of the guy.
"Come on, I'm just trying to get to know you better," Seveth said. "You're here on a trip, right? Visiting someone, maybe? Going for a little get-away?" He propped his elbows up on the stone slab that served as a table, smiling at Rho, who remained impassive.
Well, not quite. He did move a little - enough to turn himself away.
|
|
|
Post by Noa on Sept 6, 2020 0:18:03 GMT -6
Moth had liked flying since she had first managed to get herself off the ground. That had been a long time ago, of course, and those first wobbly flights would have shamed her now, but you needed experience and time to get really good at flying, same as any other skill. And since it involved the body, she wasn't so much at a disadvantage here than she was in other things, compared to her more cerebral clanmates and brethren. It wasn't necessarily true that in the air, all Draconics were equal, but then there wasn't really anything that was like that, was there? She couldn't recite poetry, but most anyone in the clan would be hard pressed to best her in a wrestling match. Not that anyone tried.
As she drifted upward, she scanned the canyon landscape for anything of interest. For possible prey to bring back, of course, but also for other things.
|
|
|
Post by Linyü on Sept 6, 2020 0:20:51 GMT -6
Right, that was how it was going to be, was it? Seveth sighed. He supposed maybe it was a little much to expect things to go his way so soon, but it really was a shame. He had been hoping to make some friends, make some connections... Maybe see a little magic. Okay, that was a little selfish of him, but at least maybe he could have gotten someone to point out to him where to go to see Draconics putting their magic skills on display. They were all capable, and some of them must be putting their skills to work somewhere, right?
As Rho turned away, however, something seemed to catch his attention. Seveth hadn't the slightest idea what it was, of course, but he could see in the way that Rho's head turned, as if he was trying to pinpoint something, that... well, that he was trying to pinpoint something, Seveth supposed.
|
|
|
Post by Noa on Sept 6, 2020 0:24:26 GMT -6
Prey was good and all, but she had time enough for hunting, and they had meat enough at home. Not all Draconics liked it; some preferred fish, and some preferred diets heavier in grain or vegetables or fruit. And the small ones really didn't eat that much, all things considered, though a Draconic of Moth's size did take some feeding. So it was a good thing she was such an accomplished hunter.
There were other, more interesting things to notice, like the comings and goings of other Draconics, even if she wasn't necessarily going to drift any lower to greet them. Or seeing if some new cave had been dug, or an old one redecorated in the manner of a new resident's liking. The canyons were old, and there were always caverns aplenty, but their occupation changed often enough to keep them interesting if you cared about that sort of thing.
|
|
|
Post by Linyü on Sept 6, 2020 0:27:33 GMT -6
Rho had been eating breakfast, which had consisted of... mostly meat. Gems traded here, and Seveth had some, so he was able to provide that much for his visitors, at least. The 'breakfast' part of bed and breakfast, and all. But now Rho abandoned his half finished meal - which in defense of Seveth's skills, the Draconic had been eating heartily until Seveth had tried to chat him up - and went to the cavern entrance to peer outside.
"Oh! Is something happening? What is it?" Seveth said, scrambling from his own seat to follow Rho outside. The Draconic was looking up, as if searching for something, and so Seveth looked up too. But he couldn't tell what exactly Rho was looking at - not that there wasn't anything, but there were a lot of Draconics at once in the air, all seeming to be on their own business, and it was hard to tell which one Rho had singled out.
|
|
|
Post by Noa on Sept 6, 2020 10:52:16 GMT -6
Moth wasn't a socialite by any stretch of the imagination. It wasn't that she didn't know the difference, since there were plenty of examples in the clan she had taken up with. In fact, that same nephew that she had been tasked with watching over had turned out to be something like that... Although Zinnian's interest tended to be in females, specifically, to the chagrin of his mother. One of her other sons, a brightly colored Makiyan, was more generally friendly, though the fact that Azarius had fathered two clutches and Zinnian had none told its own story.
But it was interesting to observe the social landscape from a distance, even if she didn't want to be a direct participant most of the time. Even as she flew, she spotted one such newly renovated cave that she hadn't remembered seeing before, with a dusky-colored Makiyan presently emerging from its entrance.
|
|
|
Post by Linyü on Sept 6, 2020 10:55:54 GMT -6
There were so many things Seveth hadn't gotten used to about life here. Well, probably because he wasn't actually living here, which he couldn't do, because Ichaival would worry and San would be angry about it. But even as a visitor, he hadn't been around long enough to quite have settled into the scale of it: a civilization of dragons. What it said on paper didn't convey the full realities of what it would be to see it in person. A population where at least a significant portion of the members could fly at will... and did, covering the sky like huge and irregular birds.
Seveth stood beside Rho, for a moment fallen silent, looking up in awe. It wasn't that he had never seen the sight, but to be honest he didn't really think about looking up most of the time that he was here, so it still caught him off guard every time.
|
|
|
Post by Noa on Sept 6, 2020 11:03:37 GMT -6
... And was that a human beside him? So it was. Even from this distance, she could tell. Her vision was sharp, so that was part of it, but the other thing was that this particular human was dressed somewhat brightly. It was impossible to mistake a fluttering scrap of shimmering cloth of that size for anything else, even from a distance.
A human - that was something of a novelty. It wasn't that there never were any here, but they didn't really visit often. And some clans would have very much liked to have one to bond to themselves, though others held them in less esteem, and even sometimes in contempt.
She didn't recognize the human, but then there weren't any humans she personally knew. Curiosity got the better of her, and she drifted a little lower, hoping for a closer look. And who was the Makiyan by the human's side there?
|
|
|
Post by Linyü on Sept 6, 2020 11:06:59 GMT -6
Seveth's awe lasted about as long as it took for one of the flying Draconics to begin drifting towards them, at which point it changed into something like a more targeted interest, mingled slightly with alarm. And he was only alarmed because he wasn't sure what the Draconic might want, as he wasn't expecting any more check-ins today, though he wouldn't have said no to a drop in customer either, if that was what this was.
But then, maybe the Draconic wasn't coming for him.
Rho lifted his head higher, and called out in a wordless cry. At least, Seveth hoped it was a wordless cry. Actually, scratch that, what he hoped was that it wasn't some sort of challenge. A fight between dragons would have been something to see, but to have it happen right outside the entrance to his new establishment would have been bad publicity he didn't want.
|
|
|
Post by Noa on Sept 6, 2020 11:09:41 GMT -6
As she drifted closer, and the features of the Makiyan came into sharper focus, Moth found that she recognized the Draconic, if not the human at his side. Was that not Rho? He had stayed with them for a brief spell, though he had no relations within the clan, and at the time it seemed as though he had wandered in merely out of curiosity. He wasn't like the two Kitava who lived with them presently, seeking a clan to take them in for more pressing reasons; and as it suited him, Rho had wandered back out again when it pleased him, with very little warning to anyone.
Was this what he was doing with his time these days?
At her approach, he called out a greeting to her, and Moth returned with one of her own before alighting on the cliff edge before the cavern. Courtesy as it was due, and all.
|
|