Welcome to Gaia! ::

Serenia, on a nice patch of meadowland

Suluksati would be loathe to admit that Serenia was still home. She was supposed to be rootless and wandering, with only a cause to sustain her. That was what she wanted to think of herself as doing anyway.
But, despite everything, Serenia just felt right to her. Even after several beautiful adventures on the wing to other contidents, it was nice to return here. Home.
It was the last gasp of summer before Autumn took over, and Suluksati was enjoying the moderated warmth. Even so, she pretended this was an adventure like any other and was, at the moment, nonchalantly preening herself in a warm, sunny field. Secretly, though, she was happy to be 'home'.

Preening done, Suluksati flopped down, tail lashing in the soft grass. She loved the sunlight so much, and it was so warm... Why would she ever have to move again?
Of course, she would have to move eventually. She still had her lonely duty to perform.
And also, as her stomach reminded her, she was hungry. She opened her eyes, staring at the waving grass moodily, her tail lashing unhappily. Did she have to get up? Now? She had just gotten comfortable.
Her stomach prodded her again. Yes. Yes she did. She realized she hadn't eaten in a good while. Reluctantly, she levered herself up and shook the dry fall pollen out of her feathers and stalked off into the woods to hunt. A giggling sound, at a distance, came to her ears, but she ignored it. She knew of no prey animal that giggled, after all, nothing she would want to eat certainly.

Suluksati scented two things on the wind. An orderite (oh great) and a Notbjaovin. Neither were prey, and- though she was a bit big for the feline predator to hunt, she felt like keeping away from it would be a good idea. ... except... She looked back towards the glade. Were the two connected? Was it hunting the Orderite? Oh, probably not. And it was none of her business what the twolegs did, anyway. It was probably out because of that icky blood moon that darkened her sky and magic. Stupid blood moon. She would be happy when it was over.
She looked back, uneasily. It wasn't her business what happened to the orderites, self-rightgeous dragon hunters that they were, but... that giggle sounded... awfully young...
But how would she know. Had she ever seen a young orderite? No. And they grew up to join that stupid war of theirs anyway.
But... if it was a young one... and if it was being hunted by a fearsome predator... would she be able to forgive herself if she didn't intervene? It was probably nothing, and there was probably no danger, but she might as well go and check...? She grimaced. Fine. She stalked off back to the meadow to see if there was any trouble or if she could just leave whatever it was alone and find food.

That the scent of orderite and of notbjaovin were both close and in the area bothered her.

A glimpse in the grass attracted her attention- dark against the lighter colors of the daytime. There! That was it! The notbjaovin! And that... was a small thing. She hadn't known that orderites could get that small. She shifted her weight, uncertain. The kid was an orderite. but that was a Notbjaovin and it would kill her (she thought it was a her? she had no idea)
There was only one avenue remaining. She loomed above the notbajaovin, cloaking herself in shimmering light to try and look even scarier.
"Grrrr!" she said, trying to look threatening.

She gave it another growl for good measure before looking down... down down... at the little orderite. She was floored by how tiny they were. Would this really become a fearocious dragon hunting jerk? She was finding it very hard to believe.
"I don't know if it was pretty" in fact, she was sure the notbjaovin was not pretty at all, "But I dont think it would have been very nice." she swished her tail, ruffling her feathers uncomfortably. It was gracious too she couldn't be... not gracious... back. "You're... welcome. Why are you wandering off into the woods alone?"

What was it doing? Sulu shifted, slightly uncomfortably.
Why was the orderite petting her? Why was she snuggling her? Why did it have to be so... damn... cute..?! Like a little keinling?
She relaxed a bit. She couldn't be stiff-necked with this small creature, this orderite child. Surely, the child wouldn't be so bad- clearly they were innocents, if they thought a Notbjaoven was pettable.
She brought her wings around to enclose Suen protectively
"You're safe now." she said, falling back on feeling heroic.
Though she was a little taken aback.
"I... guess I am." she said, a little surprised, "um..." She came to a decision of some sort, "Just... how far did you follow the shadow, little one?" she asked, concerned. It was a small orderite keinling child thing, so surely it must have parents? A sire and a Dam? A Clan? She really wasn't sure how Orderites worked. either way, someone must be worried about this one.

((I understand her fine! Sulus voice is very musical in my head.))

"Oh. Good."
They were near home, then. Sulu was relieved. "... Why don't we go back to the fields, then?" was it normal for Orderites to leave their children unsupervised and able to chase after dangerous predators? She hoped not. She was trying to think well of them, at least a little bit, for this one's sake. If they did so, she would have to take it upon herself to remedy that, because that would just be wrong.
"You should not follow strange things away from home!" she said, concluding her scolding.
The amount of questions and chatter coming from this one was amazing. Children, across species, really weren't that different after all, she guessed. She wondered what dragon hatchlings were like.
"You met another Drakein?" she said, interested, "Was he a... was he bonded to anybody?"
She regretted asking the question- it felt rude and not all that nice to ask.
"Most are scaly and hard. I am special, but there are others like me, yes. We are called Alkein, and we are very good flyers." she tried to figure out where the little one had come from so she could start shepherding her back to her family. clan. whatever.

"A bonded is..." Sulu paused, "Nevermind that." she wasn't sure how to explain it to this child, or any child. It was a complicated thing, from what she understood of it.
"Your wings are lovely." she said, changing the subject. They were such a pretty color, like the sky but far more intense. She remembered when her wings had been too small to fly with. It had been so frustrating flapping at the wind and being unable to do more than glide. Those memories were small and faint, flavored by nostalgia and time, from the days before she had found a purpose in life. Those had been simpler times, and definitely happier.
"I'm sure you will be a wonderful flyer." she said warmly, "Now, I'm sure your parents will be worried if they find out. We should hurry before they notice." and before another predator found them. Not that Sulu couldnt take care of herself, but one could not be too careful with a young charge.