Welcome to Gaia! ::

Detraeus blinked, glancing down when the the khehora sniffed him, but not pulling away. When she nudged her snout under his hand, he felt a pleasant, surprised heat climb up into his cheeks, and the barest twitch of a smile tugged at his lips before his expression relaxed again. He curled his fingers gently, rubbing the top of her head, and followed close at her side as they moved out.

Judging by the position of the rising moon alone, the full trip likely took an hour or so. Approximately halfway through, however, Detra’s legs were betraying him. He’d shaken it off early on, but no matter how he pushed as the minutes wore on, he continued to drag behind. Eventually, the khehora at his side nudged at him, notching her head in encouragement for him to climb on, and his cheeks burned.

Voice dropping to a low whisper, embarrassed, he asked, “It’s okay…?” and only after she gave him the go ahead did Detra climb carefully onto her back, nestling gratefully close and trying his best not to be a burden on her movement as they went along. “What do I call you?” he murmured, feeling strange that he knew the names of the two males, but not the khehora.

“Amadia,” she answered, and Detraeus shut his eyes.

“Amadia…” He yawned around the name, and, despite his best efforts, had nearly fallen asleep again by the time Kilian announced their stopping point.

As Kilian and his hybrid son made up sleeping arrangements, Casseth predictably close to his father, Detraeus watched Amadia curl up, making her nest off to herself, though still close. After some debate, he moved over as close to the khehora as he dared before making his own bed of earth and a single blanket. He fell asleep faster than he expected, shutting his eyes and dozing off to the distant sound of night creatures, and the closer sound of soft breathing. He didn’t wake until the first rays of morning pricked at his eyelids.

“No!” Detraeus isn’t strong enough to shove the grabbing hands off of him. They yank him along the ground, towards their wagon and he kicks at the dusty earth, screaming. “No, I don’t wanna go. No, Mama, don’t let them—MAMA!” The last word comes numb and hoarse, never loud enough no matter how many times he tries to voice it — again, and again, and again, and—

Something warm nestles against him.

There’s breathing on his cheek and the men yanking him away are disappearing, the world is shifting, but he can’t…

Detraeus murmured in his sleep, expression pinched as he tilted his head slightly. “Mama…don’t let them…” The sun was warm, though, bright and rousing, and when he blinked, he came eye to eye not with a long lost face, but something far more immediate. Despite his body’s immediate instinct to tense, however, that was all he did before breathing out and forcing himself to relax again. After a quick glance around camp and the movement therein, he frowned.

“Are we leaving?” he asked, only loud enough for the khehora to hear.

Breakfast.

Detra’s stomach rumbled. Four meals in a row since the beginning of the previous day. He hadn’t eaten this well since he’d lived with Yviss, and even then, she didn’t usually have this much meat, nor did he ever get the opportunity for seconds. After their quick breakfast — thoroughly enjoyed on Detra’s part — they started off towards Taliuma, and he felt an almost alien feeling in his chest. Warm. Eager. Almost…hopeful? Excited?

For once, nothing had gone wrong yet, and while he still feared a catastrophe rearing its head at any moment, he was so close that he couldn’t help but feel a bit of giddiness. A sliver of genuine hope that just this once, things might go through positively. When Amadia offered him another ride, he blinked, surprised. Though he wasn’t tired anymore, she had opened the invitation and seemed welcoming enough, so after only a moment’s debate, he obliged, mounting her carefully and letting his worn legs rest.

At the words ‘Hang on,’ though, he startled, quickly leaning down and gripping where he could. Was something coming? Had she spotted another beast? More people? Or—?

Amadia lifted off, and Detraeus yipped, jerking down and shutting his eyes at first, arms looping and clinging around her neck as he pinched his knees in tight to her sides to ground himself. Up, up, up. He felt his breath catch in his throat, pulse picking up as the sandy earth retreated away from them. She didn’t fly ridiculously high though, and kept her body remarkably steady. A smooth enough ride that within half a minute, Detraeus felt his breathing calming to the steady pace of her wings, and a new, different sort of rush bubbling up in his chest.

Flying.

He was flying.

Smiling felt strange and unnatural, but the expression crawled onto his face heedless of his experience with it, stretching until he was almost laughing as he balled his fingers and hugged closer to her. He tilted his head back as much as he dared, pulse alive in his chest as he faced the endless sky.

“I’m a dragonnn!”

Detraeus flushed as he and Amadia landed, his expression almost abashed as he climbed off. Guilty, as though he didn’t deserve to be gifted with such a happy experience. Casseth’s seemingly endless good cheer perplexed him also, though he managed this time not to frown, simply blinking confusedly after the boy as they caught up and Casseth waved.

When Kilian returned, multiple items in stock as he approached, Detraeus swallowed, a familiar anxiety nipping at the edges of his good mood. What if the man had forgotten their bargain? Would they just leave him here? He would have to steal if he wasn’t left with anything to barter with now, and what about a ferry across? Perhaps he could stow away in a baggage vessel as he had before. At the thought of curling up in a dark, dank hull amidst fish or rotting vegetables, though, Detraeus’ stomach turned. But if he had to—

“Here.”

Detraeus’ thought process petered out as Kilian held out multiple items in turn as he listed them. Food. Water. Furs. And more coin than could have hoped to sell the meat for had he attempted it himself. Detraeus’ felt his throat tighten, a lump of unfamiliar emotion coiling itself there and in his chest as the man presented each thing in succession. Why. He didn’t understand why these strangers had gone to such lengths for him, and it was a constant effort to keep his fingers still as he accepted each of the parcels in turn.

When Casseth turned to him, though, holding out a pristine blade — sheathed, but clearly immensely higher quality than the ragged dagger currently at his belt — Detraeus felt his breath leave him in a quick burst, brow pinching together with desperate confusion. The boy held the weapon out though, waiting for him to take it, and finally, after forcibly willing his hands to cooperate, Detraeus did.

He held it to himself, swallowing hard before biting his lip and stooping to reach into his own small pack of goods. He had little — nothing of comparable worth — and his cheeks burned with frustration at the fact, but eventually, he convinced himself to drag out one of the few items that had helped him: a carefully wrapped and stored venom sack from one of the first beasts he’d encountered in the Terra Expanse. A vispirii queen. Multiples of them, in fact, which he’d been able to survive only thanks to the help of the feral khehora there at the time.

“It’s ugly, sorry,” he blurted, holding it out curtly and scowling at how ridiculous he sounded. How inadequate a piece of an insect seemed as a ‘gift’ compared to what he’d been given. “Put it on your weapon, and it’ll make you more dangerous.”

‘Thank you,’ itched on the tip of his tongue, but it didn’t feel like enough, and Detraeus worried that if he tried to speak more, he would lose his voice. Crack. Fall apart like a brittle, pathetic child. As such, the moment Casseth took the venom sack in his hands, Detraeus wiped the back of his hand quickly over his lips, breathing out shakily, nodded to each of them with a lingering glance to Amadia, and fled as quickly as he dared into the streets.

A ship.

He needed to find a ship, and for once, he even had the coin to pay the fare.