Thar Shaddin

"Am fine. Tired, a little. " Her voice barely carried. Her ears flicked in slight amusement at the way that the girl got dressed with as little skin showing as possible, but didn't comment. Soneya was from Marn, and they were not as relaxed about nakedness as the society of changers she had grown up in. "Kaevad is fine. Sleeping. Very tired. Has slept the day and most of night. You, too." Her tail swayed gently behind her.

"Is food, out by fire, if you want. I go check on dragon-man." It was a good meal, a pot of stew that had been continued to keep warm by hanging just outside of the flames, and bread wrapped in a basket below it. Good, hearty food that was common among villages such as these.

Her paws were all but silent, a gentle whisper over the floor as she left Soneya's doorway and moved over to Kaevad's. The hinges creaked lightly as she pushed the crack wider to check on the man. His wings were still there, carefully arranged so that he would be at least semi comfortable in his sleep. His breathing was different than it had been earlier, but to her ears and eyes the large man was still quite alright. Rhyn moved back over to her cloak that was by the hearth, debating if she wanted another bowl of the thick stew. Her stomach wasn't hungry, but once she returned to the high reaches, she would not have much of the same chances to stuff herself like this. Every minute of her time would be spent making sure she had even just the bare minimum of what she needed to survive. I could return to Brad's cabin... he would not mind me using what he had built. It would be better than the caves of her childhood.

Ladeling out a bowl of stew for herself, the catwoman slid down, sitting in front of the fire once more. She didn't bother with utensils. Feline teeth did not mix well with spoons.

He cracked his eyes open as the cat left, watching as her shadow retreated. He'd heard the women talk, heard Soneya's question and couldn't stop the small pang of relief. She still cared. She didn't hate him. His eyes fluttered with a shut and a quiet sigh. At least he wasn't in physical agony anymore... just twinges, and those he could manage. Part of him wanted to get up and check on Soneya, but decided to give her a couple more minutes. He didn't want to seem clingy... or obsessive... never mind he actually was.

He took a deep breath and decided to take this quiet time to meditate on recent events. He'd gone from alone, depressed and angry to with two women who he's decided he'd die for. To protect of course. There is no way in any shape or form he cared for them beyond friends. No. Simply no way shape or form- he sighed. Oh Changers... he was too old for this nonsense. 220 years old and he could still crush on women. Theogios's hairy balls...

It wasn’t until Rhyn mentioned how long she had been out for the count that Soneya stopped to consider that for a moment. She had figured, she had only been asleep a few hours. After all, it had still been light when they had been brought to the village and now it was night. It made sense. Rhyn’s words however, shocked her a little. “That long?!”

In response to the mention of food, Soneya’s stomach immediately rumbled and her mouth began to water. She pushed the thought away however, really wanting to check on Kaevad first as well. As silently as possible, she soon followed Rhyn out of her room and towards the next door behind which Kaevad was sleeping.

Seeing Rhyn stop in the open crack however without making any move to go in or even speak, Soneya didn’t follow her to the door completely, relying on the fact that she would have gone in if something had been wrong and instead finally turned towards the stew. She swiftly picked up one of the bowls that had been left for their use and put a spoonful of stew along with a piece of bread into it before seating herself not too far from the flames.

Soon enough, Rhyn joined her in her meal and for a while they quietly savoured the food. Soneya’s stomach soon stopped its protesting at having been denied for so long. She was fairly used to not eating a lot, so it definitely made it more bearable but she wouldn’t be able to live without food either, she liked it too much.

As she looked over to Rhyn, she wondered how the catwoman even came to be in the lower lands since she was more of a highlander, and she decided that it was simply about time to flat-out ask her a few questions. “How did you come to be down here in these parts?” she asked quietly, not wanting to sound too invasive seeing that the woman generally was fairly quiet. “What enticed you to leave the snowy reaches?” Without knowing if she was stepping on any toes, Soneya tried to phrase the question as openly and curiously as possible without wanting to seem like she was prying but it wasn’t always easy to sound breezy when basically asking for someone’s background.

She had stretched out over her cloak, letting the fire warm her side. The bowl of stew rested on the ground, and was supported by one short-fingered paw as her small muzzle dipped into the bowl to get at the stew. Soneya's voice came just as she found a thick piece of meat, and her head came up with the piece hanging slightly out of the corner of her mouth. Swiftly, she finished chewing it, and licked her chops clean of extra juice as she shifted how she was laying so that it was easy to turn her gaze onto the younger woman.

The firelight caught the citrine at her throat, even through the thick fur there, flashing a pale yellow. Her pink tongue flicked out of her mouth to catch a drip stew that had dropped onto her arm, taking the time to think of how to respond to the questions. Her ears ended up going sideways. "I walked. That is how I got here." Memories of quiet, uninterrupted nights, curled on the floor of Brad's cabin, inserted themselves painfully, but the even more so, the death of the old man. She spoke have slowly and carefully to find the words without stumbling."It was not an enticement that made me leave, but a request. The request of a dying man that I cared for deeply." She reached up and fiddled with the stone and leather choker.

Rhyn moved slightly, tilting her head at Soneya. "As soon as I finish fulfilling that request, I will go back to the mountains." There was a pause, and she took a bite of stew, and then continued, knowing that the question of what that request was would be coming. "I must find his son, and pass on a few possessions, and a story..." Her tail flipped over her legs and tapped the floor. "He told me he was from Shim, and so Shim and Marn is where I began my search." Feeling as though that explained it, she began to eat again.

He listened to Rhyn and Soneya speak for a moment before shifting off the bed with quiet groan. He brought his wings up and back to stretch as he did, purring silently as joints popped and muscles rippled. He stood and twisted back and forth, popping his back before moving out of the room, popping his neck. He'd been stiff from sleeping so soundly for so long. He moved into the room with a panther-like grace, but made sure to keep a polite distance from the women, give them room if they wanted to retreat.

He wasn't hungry for obvious reasons, but the stew smelled delicious, so he helped himself to a bowl and sat cross-legged on the opposite side of Soneya, his eyes calm and withdrawn. If she ran, the pain of rejection would hurt less this time.

As she listened to Rhyn’s story, she couldn’t help but grin at the reply. Well, yeah, she had figured it hadn’t been by flying that she’d gotten to these parts of the world. The rest of the story sounded though like there was a lot that she wasn’t saying or didn’t want to admit to maybe, pent up feelings of various natures and Soneya wasn’t about to go pry either if Rhyn didn’t want to tell any more than she had already done.

“If you don’t mind me asking another question,” Soneya began once Rhyn had finished, “why is it that you’re running along with us here and agreed to take me on a bit of a tour if you have something you need to do? Not that I don’t want you along, of course I do, but I meant, maybe we should be helping you find this person rather than keeping you and actually taking you in a different direction again?”

It was at that moment that she heard a sound coming from Kaevad’s room and her attention immediately flicked to the door through which the man appeared soon after. The hesitation was obvious and the comprehension of why he was so hesitant made Soneya remember what had happened. Only through sheer willpower did she manage to repress the shudder that threatened to run down her spine. It wasn’t him after all, it was the limb. The thought of that damn arm hitting her in the face. Otherwise she could have more easily made her peace with the whole incident, she was sure. As it were, she hadn’t even thought about the arm since she had woken up and apparently she had slept without nightmares. She wouldn’t have thought either that merely Kaevad’s behaviour would be enough to remind her. Somehow she would have to move past this however if she wanted to stay around him. And she understood, understood that it was the nature of the dragon and that there was nothing to be done about it. It still didn’t change the fact that someone else’s bloody arm had been in her face.

Straightening her back a little, she looked at him, shyly and somewhat hesitant herself all of a sudden. “Is everything alright?”

Rhyn's ears followed the soft but heavy steps that came with the large man entering the scene. She didn't lift her head from her bowl, though her tail raised to flip sinuously in some strange form of a greeting. Soneya's attention focused onto the man, and the cat shamelessly took advantage, leaving her last question unanswered as Kaevad sat, and the other girl began to speak to him instead. Annoyingly, soon she wouldn't be able t hide being immersing herself in her food. Her tongue was beginning to hit the bottom of the bowl, lapping up the last of the juices.

Pale eyes looked up for a moment at the dragon-man. He seemed better, if nothing else he was no longer on the edge of collapse. Rhyn yawned slightly, pink tongue scraping around her teeth, and settled, content for the moment with the fire and her fully stomach.

Green eyes softened involuntarily. "I should ask that of you. I am fine, but are you two sound?" He frowned and looked between the two, not having missing Soneya's look. He'd scared her, and he resented himself for that. He shifted before looking down. "I- you..." He sighed. "You may leave without me if you so choose, I understand if you cannot stand to be in the presence of a monster. You've seen what I can do first hand, I cannot blame you if you do not wish to be near me."

“Don’t be ridiculous,” Soneya shook her head. “We’re not going to leave you here on your own. We knew what we were getting ourselves into by staying in your company. We’re going to deal with the consequences.” And it was true. He had told them and both her and Rhyn had known what could happen – at least they had understood a possible outcome of him losing control even if they hadn’t grasped the full extent of it – so they would just have to learn to live with the fact that they had witnessed it a few hours ago. Well, day.. how long had it been again?

For a while, she focused on her food, feeling her cheeks blush again. It was easy to tell him that she didn’t want him to go because she saw how he felt about the whole situation. Wanting to make others feel better was her strongest point but at the same time it was a weakness. As much as she was terrified by the whole event, she wouldn’t be able to live with herself if she disappointed him in that way. Life was never easy and she had been encased in a glass cabinet for most of her life, no wonder she was horrified by the first unexpected splatter of blood.

“No worries,” she finally replied to his initial question, which she had foregone in her haste to assure him that he was still welcome, hoping that she hadn’t said something Rhyn wouldn’t agree to. “I’m a little shocked and bruised but I’m alive and fairly well.”

Rhyn nodded in response to Kaevad's question. and then frowned, as much as a cat can, at his way of saying that they could go on without him. Soneya instantly jumped forward to reassure him, but she knew that it wouldn't be enough to just sit back. Her distance that she kept would only make him think that she didn't agree.

So she pushed upwards, shifting without thought into the full form of a leopard. Her paws padded softly the few steps that it took to reach the man, and her small body pressed against his back. Rhyn pressed herself against Kaevad, arching her back and rubbing against him, much like a house cat. She made a soft chuffing sound as she did so, curling around the man in an affectionate manner, bumping his arm with her head and making it clear to him that she was neither afraid of him or repulsed by him. It felt strange. She had never really shown affection for anybody but her family, and later, Brad. But it was nice. She had not had much contact with anybody since Bradley's death.

Deciding that stepping out of her own comfort zone was warranted, Rhyn smiled slightly as she rubbed against the man's back. Her paws stepped up to settle on his shoulders for a moment, and she pressed her nose against the back of his neck before coming back to the floor and nudging insistently at his arm until she could slide beneath it and set herself onto his lap.

He smiled at Soneya's quick reassurance, though couldn't help but to feel a bit of doubt until Rhyn came to the rescue. Full-cat form, she rubbed against him, purring, causing him to look around in confusion, only to be startled into a laugh as her cool nose pressed into the back of his neck. She slid into his lap and he couldn't help but to bend slightly and hug her around the neck, burying his face in her fur a moment.

"Alright, alright, I get it." He murmured. He looked up, eyes bright once more. "Well, we made our destination, just not in the manner I'd hoped. I assume you have questions, Soneya?" He rumbled, now massaging Rhyn's neck, occasionally scratching under her ear.

A large smile was spreading over Soneya’s face when Rhyn suddenly got up and began to act much like a housecat in her way of showing Kaevad that she cared. It was endearing and almost brought a tear to her eye as she watched the two of them. Shifters, or at least these two, seemed so very different to the cold way of most humans she knew and it tightened her chest a little to realise that she was extremely deprived of anything in relation to closeness and intimacy. Maybe that was why she was so keen on keeping these two happy and pleased with her? Despite her moaning on the way here. Or is it something else after all? she thought as she looked into Kaevad’s face again.

“Well,” she replied, slightly taken by surprise by the question. “I haven’t actually thought about it yet. I haven’t seen any villagers yet either except for our welcoming committee.” She had sidestepped it nicely enough without hesitating between the words because she wanted to just leave the bad events behind her. “And I haven’t had the chance to talk to anyone yet either because well... Apparently I’ve been sleeping for more than a day.” She looked a little disgruntled at that, mixed in with a little sheepishness. “I have no idea where to go from here,” she shrugged helplessly. She wasn’t quite sure what Kaevad and Rhyn had expected to do in the village and how they had wanted to introduce her to the magic users here.

Saving her from having to ramble on any further in her growing embarrassment, a woman stepped into their cabin, after having issued a short, soft knock. She was of very slender stature but her muscles were well defined and she had a fairly feline appearance to her features. “Oh I see you’re all up and about again,” she smiled, her voice almost coming out in a purr. For a moment, Soneya wondered whether she was a cat shifter but she refrained from asking the question. It wouldn't be polite. “That is very good to see. Is everyone feeling alright? Everything in place? No more hurting limbs? No more bleeding wounds?” Speaking to them in a manner that showed she really was used to having several patients under her watch, the woman moved to Soneya to briefly examine her before stepping to Kaevad to do the same to him. Completely nonplussed by the slightly odd display of a snowleopard sitting on a man’s lap who was sprouting dragon wings. “Is there anything else you might need?”

Rhyn purred slightly louder as Kaevad rubbed at her neck through thick fur. She had missed this relaxed manner of things, just being able to be comfortable around others. Even as the village woman knocked and entered, she only raised her head for a moment, flicking her tail in greeting before setting her head back down and watching what was going on. Her paws dangled over Kaevad's knee and flexed slightly, a natural movement that matched her breath, exposing claws for a moment and then hiding them once more.

He looked to the woman and blinked once, twice, before rubbing his eyes. He looked at her again before barking out a laugh. "Threw me for a second there, lass, sorry. You look just like your Grandmother." The girl looked to Kaevad, baffled. "Everyone says that, but how did you-" "I am Kaevad." He grinned. The woman gasped, looking baffled. "But- my grandmother-" "Dragon, lass." "She said you said that too..." He looked to his companions.

"I visited this village awhile ago, selling furs for vegetables. I ended up helping with a bandit problem as well." He smile was rueful. "We could use your help again... there's been numerous bandit raids. We've sent hunters and warriors... but... we're just not as well trained..." Kaevad looked over before smiling wryly. "I can help. But you must keep my friends safe and not allow them to follow me."

It was better that way. Besides... he DID owe them.

Soneya followed the conversation – if one could call it that, poor woman was so surprised – with a growing look of astonishment. “Seems like you guys don’t really get any respite here from the bandits,” Soneya muttered, passing over Kaevad’s embarrassment before he could start apologising again for something he had no control over. “Are there no strong shifters here who could take care of the problem? By training more extensively I mean? Or something along those lines?”

Once she heard the words spoken out loud, she realised how offensive they could sound, and made a mental note to keep her tongue in check a little and maybe consider things briefly in her head before offending everyone she crossed paths with.

“And no no, you don’t get going out all on your own again, leaving us behind, who knows what’s going to happen. I for one may not be able to do much but I’m certainly not going to sit around and hope for you to come back whole while you’re out there doing who knows what. I’m sure there’s something we could help with?” Soneya looked from Kaevad to Rhyn to the woman and back, boring her eyes into the man’s. As terrified as she was of what he was capable of doing, she wasn’t going to let him run wild. For his sake. She didn’t want him to feel guilty for losing control, thus she was more than willing to try her best and help him control it. And who knew, maybe there really was something she could do to help. Rhyn certainly would be a help, she was a fighter by nature, if maybe not of exactly the same kind as Kaevad.