Welcome to Gaia! ::

After the excitement of the somewhat aborted Cave of Dragons and the healing (and subsequent departure) of his friend, Keke had returned to his clan for a much needed break. He hadn't expected to see her again, certainly not so soon, and he was therefore surprised when a beast arrived, carrying a message in it's ornery talons. He had received it during class, and it had derailed the class into various discussions of vildean anatomy, care, and feeding, which had annoyed it into flight. Fortunately, he was able to capture it long enough to send it back with a reply.

Of course he would meet her.

Keke waited on the stones by the place that they had camped, just after he had brought her to the settlement to be healed. They were an interesting formation of stones – spires that spoke of caverns, not the open sky above them. They were, he thought, likely the result of magic, though their composition (of a strictly igneous nature) meant that they could as easily be of Firani make as of Gaili make.
Perhaps, he thought, they were the result of a battle between two dragons of those clans... Or, better yet, Between dovaa or khehora. If so, that would be a fascinating bit of history and magic, and Keke had to restrain himself from taking samples to investigate (or hoarde amidst all his other samples). He could take some later. For now, these thoughts were mere amusements as he awaited Xenosa's arrival...

Kekeovonnai had gotten distracted... again... and was busy nosing around the spires for some hint (and maybe, in a classic show of his lacking self restraint) a few samples of the strange rock.

He looked up abruptly, an amusing gesture for one with such a long neck. “Hmm?” he smiled sheepishly and stretched before padding over to join her. “Oh, not at all. Not waiting long at all.” his tail waved gently as he sniffed her from a respectful and friendly distance. She seemed healthy from her scent, which was very good considering the last time he had seen her, but otherwise he could glean nothing too substantial from her scent...

Which was why the gods had given them speech.

“How are you?” he asked, “I must say, it's been a while!”

“Aisko?! That's so far away! And such a fascinating land!” he said enthusiastically. He wanted to go there some day, some how. And who knew? Maybe one day he would. “Someday, you must tell me of your fascinating adventures there!” and everywhere.

“Oh yes! I've been teaching the little ones about their world. I try to make it interesting...” he churred at the vildean, “He made things very interesting, indeed! I managed to keep him out of their stomachs, which was a little trying, but they ended up learning so much that day...” he chuckled, and frowned... He hadn't realized it was late at all – having keen eyes that could see in dim light helped. “Oh!” he said, a little sheepish, “Up to you! I'm comfortable as is... mmm...”

He looked up at the mountains, observing how they were shadowed by the dimming light. “So, your message was quite vague. What will we be doing?” He was excited for whatever it was, more so for it being secret.

“Oh.” His father had travelled throughout the world, and Keke had always wanted to follow his example: Keke seriously doubted that there was anywhere on Magesc that he didn't want to go someday. But perhaps another time, when he was stronger and more able to find the adventure that he was sure was buried beneath the cold desolate place that Xenosa described... oh the animals and plants he could find there! There were creatures there – at least for the dragons to eat, anyway, and he wanted to know what they were, how they survived, why they didn't all just grow fins and wings and migrate away. But for now, it was clear that Xenosa wanted to talk no more about Aisko. Perhaps another day, another adventure.

For now, it seemed, they had a more current adventure to plan. “Ooo! Yes, a fire would be splendid! It's so difficult to make a fire with talons alone, did you know?” he chattered as he watched her start it, “When its very cold, my father helps to start a fire in his cave, and we bring lit branches around to other fires to start them and keep the dens warm. He has hands, you know.” he offered, “He's a khehorian.” Well, both of his father's were, but Oblivion... was long gone. They had sought him and sought him, his sister and he, but it was as if the Diabi had simply... vanished.

He settled in by the fire, letting his dark hide absorb the heat, and let out a low purr of satisfaction. This... was good. This was very good.

As was her idea. “Oh! Yes! What an excellent idea!” he chirped, “Of course I'd like to come! My auntie has been on my case about building my own collection of dragon orbs. Something about showing my power, but honestly, I've told her over and over again that I'm a teacher – I can't just go trying to take on dragons on my own whenever I might have the chance, you know? Otherwise the little ones might not have a teacher to learn from!” he laughed, stretching out to his full length, “But I will be hunting with you... do you know, I haven't hunted for dragons since my sister went with me?” he purred again.
“This will be fun! So I take it that is tomorrow, then!” Keke felt excited and ready to go already, but he forced himself to settle down (though his tail betrayed his eagerness, twitching constantly to release his still-boundless enthusiasm into the world). Xenosa had been travelling and was probably tired. One shouldn't take on dragons when one was tired – that was common sense. “We'll probably find them quickly anyway!” he chattered, “I know there was a family of them around a canyon just north of here... They were carving out a lair, if I observed them correctly. So, they should still be there!”

“Both look like dragons – scales and horns and such – but there are differences. Like tails.” he explained, his tail swishing inadvertently in demonstration. “My father looks more human than some, but I know one who looks like a dragon on two legs.” Yes, Grrell looked very dragony. And Suluksati... was odd. But perhaps that was because she was an alikhehorian?

“Summoned? You have to go home?” Keke frowned, surprised, “Oh, thats right! You said you had a family, didn't you? A...” he squinted, trying to remember, “Mate, correct?” He knew people who wandered away from their mates, and returned occasionally, but...

“Do you not want to go home?” he asked, curious. It certainly sounded like it, but it was an odd thought.

Two legs was two legs... Keke thought that was an interesting way to look at it. More interesting still was her correction – not a mate, but a husband. But wasn't 'husband' the Magescian term for a ritually-bound male mate? He didn't think he was wrong, but perhaps he was? This required more research.

But research was not done bluntly between friends, not when it was clearly a sore topic, and especially not when she had specifically said that she didn't want to talk about it. Keke was curious, not socially inept, and so he left questions about Magescian family structure for another time and place. One day, he supposed, he'd have to see them for himself.

“New?” he said slowly, thinking, “Well,” he cocked his head from side to side, uncertain, “A few months ago – so not exactly new – I had a very close call with a group of Darvithri! Do you know of them? Fascinating little beasts, like someone crossed a bouken with a magescian and then gave it fire magic!” he chuckled, “They aren't very friendly, and a group moved into an area I like to use for field trips – supervised and educational exploration. It has such lovely rock formations and I've found crystals there, too. Mostly quartz, but still a nice, pretty rock for the little ones to enjoy! But with Darv there, it became far too dangerous to take them, which was sad. Not so much for them – Orakoi can explore anything and enjoy doing it – but for me, because it was such a perfect teaching tool; with great strata, rocks, a few plants, and even an old lava floe...” He babbled on about the virtues of the site, of the nearness of it to his clan, of a really neat stone he found there once, and its properties. Keke loved to talk, and once he got started, it was sometimes hard to stop him – it was this enthusiasm that made him such a good teacher, and he was rarely boring... though he did end up leaving the interesting matter of the darvithri and the issues they caused behind as his 'conversation' went deeper into his favorite subject – nature. If Xenosa fell asleep during his chatter, no one – especially not Keke – would blame her.

If she had told him to shut up, he probably would have. For a while anyway. It wouldn't be the first time that someone had told him so, and he had gotten the occasional boff to the face for it. He was observant enough to notice when Xenosa actually fell asleep, her soft not-quite-snores a giveaway even he could not miss. Embarrassed, he made his own trek into sleep near the fire.

Keke was an obnoxiously energetic khehora in the morning, a fact his nocturnal sister would growlingly attest to. He'd stayed up late chatting to his friend, so he woke a little later than usual – that is, when the sun was more than just cresting the horizon – but he still woke with his usual vibrant energy.

He uncurled himself from his sleeping position and stretched. “Good morning!” he said cheerily, “Are we going to hunt now?” At the gruff affirmative, he shook the dirt out of his wings and began to prance happily forth. “Then lets go!”

He knew the way to the canyon, and his sense of smell – and other senses – led them to where the dragons were... and no further. He could feel them nearby, their great magical bulks distinctive signatures against the natural stone, but he and Xenosa were still hidden behind a cloak of stones – an rockfall centuries old that stood like an ancient grave cairn near where, only feet below, the rapids of the mountain river carved their way, still, through the stone.

“What next?” he whispered, staring up at the rock ledges. He could even see one of the massive beasts nesting there... how exciting.