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 Posted: Thu Oct 27, 2005 6:29 pm
Katrina pushed aside the underbrush from her path as she picked her way gingerly into the deeper parts of the forest. Even at this time of night, the most frightening thing for her would be the prospect of discovery. People would ask questions if they knew she was sneaking out at night, but nobody could stop her except Isabel and her mother. She smiled as the thoughts were chased away by another presences. In her mind, the essence of her bonded made itself know by nestling a wonderful calm into Katrina.
"Hello Drex" She said outloud, using her pet name for the dragon.
Hello, Katrina. The response came. Are you sure you want to try this again? You seemed very tired after the last time. The concerned voice of Drxisisliege floated soundlessly to Katrina's mind.
"Yes, Drex. It seemed easier every time we broke the barrier. One day I want to be able to do it with ease. I want to explore this with all my heart, Drex, I've never felt anything like it!" Katrina's voice was filled with a happiness at knowing she had a permenant life-long friend. She wanted to explore their unique relationship to its fullest.
I understand how you feel, I just worry. You are unable to converse with someone of a similar abilitiy. You have no guide. I do not wish harm to come to you. Katrina smiled.
"I know. But I have to learn. Perhaps I'll find some young woman who needs a guide to her dragon. I cant get better if I dont try." Katrina said. Drxisisliege did not bother to mention that males also had the abilitiy to bond with dragons. She knew of Katrina's kinder nature in the matriarchy, even if she did not fully understand the idea of the dominence of one gender of the other.
Katrina found a nice spacious clearing and sat in the middle. She closed her eyes, not really necessary, but it helped. She imagined herself on a large open plain with shifting, shapeless colours around her. She identified the one infront of her, a mass of white and blue that snaked along through the air.
"I am ready, Drex" Katrina said. The image wound its way up to the invisible barrier, stoping just shy of Katrina. In response Katrina stretched out her hand and placed it on the barrier.
1. 2. 3. PUSH! On the last command, Katrina pushed against the barrier, feeling Drxisisliege do the same on the other side. A rushing of the air, the familiar mingling of her mind with Drex's and then....
All the shapeless colours snapped into focus as Katrina looked about her. She was in her bonded's world. She was in the Dragon world...
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Posted: Fri Oct 28, 2005 9:45 am
Katrina felt disoriented. For a moment she was both the human in the human world and the dragon in the dragon world, both pushing the barrier. She felt like Drex, and as 'Drex' looked around, there was a question of disappointment. Had it really worked? The dragon world was very familiar to her. In the past, they had made this effort and ended up still in their own worlds.
Then the affect of Drex's consciousness disolved into a memory, and Katrina was fully herself again. Sometimes it felt the opposite, like she was only half of herself. But it had worked, and she was in the dragon world. The strong anticipation Drex had felt lingered the longest, so that Katrina's heart raced and her breathing was fast as she reoriented herself.
It did not seem to matter where she had been in the human world, she always turned up in different places in the dragon world. She was always whereever Drex had been standing, and since Drex could fly, Drex visited many places. This time it was a grassy place that Katrina had seen before when she was younger. There was a large, unexplained cave protruding from underground, with an entrance big enough for a dragon. What was strange about it was not really its placement in the middle of a grassland, but the smooth dome like shape of the protruding rock and the regularity of the circular opening. It was as if some one had carved it.
Katrina may have been in the cave before, if she had not been too frightened; it was not completely dark in there, and it was just a damp cave with a few stalagmites growing. These hard protrusions were broken often by dragons that went in there and kept the middle of the cave clear with their claws, teeth, or fire. Perhaps because of its shape, it seemed important. Maybe sacred. Or perhaps it seemed that way because dragons clearly visited it but there was no clear reason for them to do so. It was just a cave, the only thing around.
Then something from the memory they had shared came floating back to Katrina: human. There had been a human smell in the air before they'd pushed through. Drex had told her that there were humans there sometimes, other dragon bonded, but Katrina had never met one before.
The smell had come from the cave.
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Posted: Fri Oct 28, 2005 4:59 pm
Where there was human smell, there was...
well it didnt really work but it made sense. Drex had sensed a human in the cave. Katrina was excited to meet someone else like her. Would she be from a nearby compound? Would she even be from a far off country?
With restrained exhiliration, Katrina crept to the mouth of the cave and peered into the inky black interior. She could make out the vauge shape of the natural rocky furnishings. Drxisisliege would never intentionally bring her somewhere she could be harmed. Mustering up her courage she took a deep breath.
"Hello?" She called into the cave. She waited , hoping to hear a response other than her echo.
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Posted: Fri Oct 28, 2005 5:52 pm
There was an older blonde man sitting in the center of the cave. He was fair skinned, which was not as unusual to someone from Eldic Estates as it was in the rest of Feretris, but it was still a notable feature. Beside him was a small dragon, probably a child, that the human stroked on the nose. They didn't seem to be talking, but they did seem to know each other.
It was very quiet before Katrina came in, so when she entered the cave the human and the dragon noticed immediately. The dragon started to get up, but Cedric shhh'ed it back down. "Good after noon," Cedric greeted her, but he said it in a tongue that she had never heard before.
Then, seeing that she didn't understand, he greeted her again in her own tongue. He seemed to know the tongue of Feretris pretty well, although he did have an accent like a merchant from the North would (though Katrina would not have met many of these). "Is this your first time here?"
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Posted: Sat Oct 29, 2005 6:23 am
The man had an odd accent, one she had never heard before. That meant that he did not come from South of Feteris, though it did not tell her much else about him. He had the fair skin of many of those in the complex, the type that Merean was so eager to snatch up. Skin like her own.
She stood silently taking in the scene as her eyes adjusted to the darkness. She took a few more steps into the cave. her eyes were kept on the man and the dragon. He could not have been bonded to it, or else he could not be here. Whenever Drxisisliege and Katrina crossed worlds, they had to physically switch places, which meant Katrina only ever talked to Drex in her head.
"No" She said quietly. She had been hoping for a woman, somebody that would be able to understand her on her own level. Though somebody, even if it was a man, was better than nobody at all. "It is my first time seeing a creature other than a dragon here. At least, not ones intelligent enough to talk." It sounded like she was praising the man for having accomplished speech, like rewarding a dog for learning a new trick. And though she did not know it, her southern Feteris accent gave away exactly where she came from.
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Posted: Sun Oct 30, 2005 6:11 am
It took an effort for Cedric to think civily. This brought back bad memories: a woman with that accent, talking to him like he was a wild animal. But that was a long time ago, and now the woman who stood before him was half his age.
"I've been teaching the sheep," he said in a serious tone, "but they don't have the tongue for it."
Cedric stood up, and so did the dragon beside him, who could tell that something serious was going on between the humans. He could tell that Katrina was not happy to see him. He was also pretty damn sure that she was his child, and he thought he even knew by which woman, because she looked like her as much as him. It was time to at least shock the girl if he couldn't win her over.
Cedric extended his hand. "My name is Cedric Renae. As your father, I'm sorry I missed the chance to name you-- but I'd love to learn your name now."
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Posted: Sun Oct 30, 2005 8:58 pm
Katrina's attention had been on the dragon for the most part. However, the word father immidiately switched her focus to the man infront of her. She took a step back as he and his dragon stood up. Shock led to confusion, which led to fear. She did not know what to make of his greeting, something she would not have hesitated to recipocate if he hand been a she. Katrina looked at it as if he were handing her a live snake.
"Katrina...My name is Katrina Preace." She said in a firm voice, swallowing hard annd forcing order on herself. She eyed him carefully. He was no mirror image, but she could deffinately see what he was saying. The skin, the hair, the facial features....the eyes....
"It wouldnt matter any way. If you are my father, you would know that you have no right to name me anyway. Now, I believe its time you explain yourself. I do not enjoy people trouncing around claiming to be my father. In the compound I serve, we teach our men better manners!" Katrina found a toppled stalagmite and sat gracefully on its rocky form. She remembered the training of her mentor; Things always got easier when you were comfortable.
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Posted: Mon Oct 31, 2005 5:45 am
Cedric laughed. He surprised himself by keeping bitterness out of his laughter. "Child, I don't live on the compound. I'm from the "wild", remember? I escaped many years ago and returned to my own country, where things are very different. I wished many times my children could grow up here and learn our ways...but it would have been impossible for me to take you with me." He said it as plain fact, and clearly he did not regard Feretris' ways as the best, nor did he look back on his time there with pleasant memories. He was happy he escaped. And, for a slave living in the wild, he sure looked healthy and well kept. Did he really take care of himself?
"You can ask me any questions you like," he said more gently. "Aren't you the least bit curious about the rest of the world, or of this one? But first, tell me how you are doing. What is your job on the compound? What name does the compound have? Are you strong and healthy? You look it."
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Posted: Mon Oct 31, 2005 6:34 am
"Of course I look healthy! I have to be, besides I wouldn't let myself degenerate into some helpless beaurocrat. I'm the one that teach the animals better manners." She said with her lips curling into a smile to irk him. She wasn't letting him see the sinking feeling that his claim had some wieght. But what would that mean? He was still a man, wether or not he was blood related wouldn't make a difference, it shouldnt have made a difference.
"I have never looked into who my father was, so your exploits as one of the contributers to my existence is completely beyond me. I have, however, read the notations about who Cedric was, as a man." The slave that got away. Katrina had only wished she could have been there to see the look on her mother's face. It was a once in a lifetime event. "Though I still can't believe that you left your mistress when she was pregnant. I live at Eldric estate now and ensure that each man and animal knows what it needs to in order to keep the compound running smoothly."
Ask him questions, huh? Katrina would have demanded answers if she wasnt so unsure. Cedric's first impression had easily thrown her for a loop and she wasnt sure why. Get over it, girl. It really doesnt matter who he is, he is still a man. She ttried to remind herself over and over until it started getting easier to believe.
"So you want me to ask you questions. Well I know enough of my world, Ive read the library many times over. But you can answer my questions about this world. Why have I not seen any humans here?"
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Posted: Mon Oct 31, 2005 10:36 am
Cedric stepped back from her. He shouldn't have expected a woman from Feretris to respond to him kindly, not unless he submitted to her first. It didn't matter that she was his daughter, or that he could help her. She hadn't even answered his question: how are you?
"You don't ask questions like you want to know the answers," he said sourly. "Any human you might see came here the same way you do, and that means they left a dragon behind them. Not very convenient, is it? And then, you and I could come here a hundred times each and miss each other each time." It was strange, but he didn't speak to her as if he was repeating any thing, or as if he doubted his knowledge. He wasn't afraid to appear confident in front of her, and he certainly wasn't meek even when he was helpful. Case in point, he continued:
"Let's walk outside." He didn't wait for her, but turned his back and started out of the cave.
(it hasn't occured to him that she might have the very magic that kept him in Feretris for so long-- she could stop him in his tracks by making him feel like his stomach turned into a knot, his feet were just sawed off, or simply that going in that dirrection makes him dizzy).
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Posted: Mon Oct 31, 2005 2:44 pm
(She doesnt like using her magic unless necessary. Remember she is attached to her pets and to nature.)
She couldnt very well sit there and watch him leave. Or rather, she could she just was not about to. Not one for power games, and much more use to breaking a man in with presistence rather than force, Katrina reminded herself she was dealing with a man very proud.
"I will walk with you, Cedric." She said, getting up at her own pace. "But you will have to wait for me. You cannot very well have talk to me if you run off by yourself." She walked out with him, keeping her eye on the dragon.
"Is he coming with us, or are you leaving him here?" Katrina said, pointing to the wonderful beast.
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Posted: Mon Oct 31, 2005 6:24 pm
(just making sure that you had thought of it <3 )
Cedric ignored her tone as she decided she was going to follow him after all. It was hard to resist the urge to force a power struggle. She was half his age, so she should respect him-- but she didn't and he knew it.
The older man gave her a playful look as they walked out, like an aunt to a neice. "I don't know, ask him," he said. He didn't control these creatures, and he didn't want her thinking they could be controled. This one was just a baby though, and made a melwing sound as it bounded after them. It butt into Cedric and growled.
"Careful there," Cedric chided, "those are big teeth you have." The dragon took the chiding poorly and, trying to play, enveloped Cedric's arm in his teeth. Cedric stopped walking and held very still.
"Are there still tigers at Eldic Estates?" he whispered. He guessed that she lived there because he thought she might be Marean's daughter. "This is kinda like that. Don't...spook him."
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Posted: Mon Oct 31, 2005 7:18 pm
Katrina nodded slowly and watched the creature. Creautres like this did not understand their own strength. This one was just trying to play. A large wolf had the average intelligence of about a 4 year old and roughly the vocabulary of 500 words, depending on the size. A large tiger was a little higher than that. Katrina suspected, from her interactions with Drxisisliege, that this creature was already able to understand the basic human vocabulary. It sense of sarcasm and humour may have been a little unpolished, but it understood the intonations changed the words meaning. Katrina was very impressed.
But she had a flare with creautres of all types and she cautiously studied the dragon for a moment.
"Hey there," She said softly. Her voice was calm and gentle, but firm with the sense of security. Under normal circumstances, she would have let Cedric handle it on his own. But she wanted to experience this. She wanted to involve herself in her bonded's world and taste the beauty of a different mother nature. She took a few light steps up to the dragon and raised her open hand. At the same time, small waves of calm emotions eminated magically rom Katrina and slowly replaced the dragon's desire to play. She put the open hand with great care on the snout of the dragon. The leathery hide was still smooth without having weathered the hundreds of years a dragon could live. Soft and full with youth, Katrina could only think of the dragon as a child in her care.
"You don't want to play with Cedric's arm, now do you." Katrina whispered the suggestion softly. "Maybe you'd like to show me something else you can do, ok? Is there something else you want to show me?" Katrina was acting as if Cedric was not even there, focusing the dragon's attention on her rather.
"I know. Why dont you find us a river. I wouldn't mind seeing you swim. You can fly up and find us a river and Cedric and I will walk there. Then we can swim okay?"
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Posted: Tue Nov 01, 2005 6:04 am
(do you want Cedric to feel calm, too? xd )
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Posted: Tue Nov 01, 2005 8:46 am
Penden (do you want Cedric to feel calm, too? xd ) (No, she is showing off to him and trying to make him unease...since it isnt her arm in a dragon's mouth. I guess I shoulda specified that.)
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