One x One The Dragon and the Druid

[StarryKnights]

Orion rolled her eyes. "Noted". He had no intentions of eating her, she was lucky he'd fed earlier in the day. That, and now she was semi useful to him. Once she got past the magic barrier keeping him from his family heirloom, then she was as good as dead to him. If he was lucky, she'd die in the cross hairs. If not, then he'd simply kill her himself. "Goodnight, Duzzel". Orion chuckled darkly before flying up to one of te many ledges that over looked his horde, here, he slept, in his dragon form.

 

[ihaveprobs]

Duzzel was unable to sleep very deeply that night. The slightest noise seemed to wake her up due to his mistrust of the dragon. Sleeping with one eye open however had become something she was used to in recent years however so it didn't effect her much. The lack of true lighting in the cave made it hard to judge when it was time to actually get up, but when she felt she had gotten enough she went ahead and sat up. Stretching out she yawned deeply.

 

[StarryKnights]

Orion slept perfectly, as he always did. When morning broke, the dragon stirred, despite the low light, his internal clock knew when down broke. He grew up greeting the son with his kin, as it was apart of clan life. Even with them gone, he kept to his old habits. As the sun rose into the sky, and Duzzel stirred, Orion crawled from his sleeping perch. Ignoring the human at the bottom of the cave, he scaled the walls until he reached the highest ledge, which had a massive hole cut out of the side, giving one a perfect view of the rising sun. The dragon sighed and whispered a soft prayer in draconic, giving thanks for another sunrise.

Though it was all very bittersweet, given he greeted each sunrise alone. Once that was done, he dropped back to the cave's floor, shifting into his human form as he fell, he landed neatly on a pile of rocks. Looking down at Duzzel he smirked. "Did the lady sleep well?" he chuckled.

 

[ihaveprobs]

Giving him a light glare she stood up and started rolling up the bear pelt. "Well enough all things considered." She looked at the gold distastefully. "Sleeping around metal is always unpleasant." she told him and picked up her bundle. "When are you teaching me how to become mist so I can get your thing back from the metal heads?" she asked, wanting to get the thing for the dragon and be on her way. She had no interest in staying longer than she had to with the beast and his metal filled cave.

 

[StarryKnights]

Orion chuckled. "All in good time my pet, but I'm afraid the item I seek is...not with the nearby metal heads". Kingsburrow was miles away, on the coast. "In order for our deal to be satisfied, I'm afraid we're going to be traveling together". He sighed and looked to all his gold. "Though it will be hard to leave behind all that I hold dear". He grinned as he caught sight of himself in the reflection of a shield, discarded by the corpse who lay a few feet away. Looking back to Duzzel, he spoke. "I'll teach you what I can on the road, whether or not your...capable of such advanced magic is your issue to sort out".

 

[ihaveprobs]

Duzzel rolled her eyes and swung her pack over her shoulder. "Fine, but we need to grab my spear from the cliff side." she said ready to go get it now. Just knowing it was within reach would set her mind at ease some. "How far away is this 'Kingsburrow' anyways?" she asked annoyed it wasn't just the city next to them. To her all cities were almost the same, she just hoped that this one didn't put her further behind in her journey home.

 

[StarryKnights]

Orion rolled his eyes. "yes yes, your little spear, we can fetch it on the way, as for the city's location". It certainly wasn't the next town over, since they'd have to walk the trip would be even slower for the dragon. "Worry not Duzzel, once our business is settled, you'll be free to go. If you...impress me, perhaps I could be persuaded to take you somewhere. Until then, let's focus on you uh...lessons". The word made him want to vomit, the idea of teaching a human the arts of his clan was unthinkable, but at the moment, he didn't have much of a choice. He lead the way out of the cave, once outside Duzzel would be able to find her stupid spear.

 

[ihaveprobs]

The woman didn't believe that the dragon would be 'persuaded' to do anything. She bit her tongue on the matter however wanting to learn the magic she could before they parted ways. "Fine, lets gut started on these lessons once we are on our way." she said. "That is unless you need more time to say goodbye to your precious yellow metal." she told him with a raised brow having seen how he looked at it earlier. Never would she understand the obsession that so many humans and creatures had with the metal.

 

[StarryKnights]

Orion scowled at the woman. "I do not need to say goodbye to my gold, honestly woman". he shook his head. "We said or goodbyes yesterday, I don't expect a savage like you to understand the power and prestige that comes from such a vast fortune". Orion chuckled, he supposed given her savage upbringing, Duzzel wouldn't have much need for money. The world was changing, and the life of the tribes was slowly dying out, no doubt this was fueling this woman's desire to destroy modern civilization. But none of that mattered to Orion, as far as the dragon was concerned, all life that walked on two legs was a curse.
Orion looked around, but didn't spot the wild woman's spear. "Well, find your damn stick so e can be off".

 

[ihaveprobs]

Sending the dragon a glare, Duzzel headed off towards the direction she remembered running the night before. Looking around she started tracking herself from the night before. "You know, this would have been easier if you hadn't caught the forest on fire for me making camp here." she told him annoyed. "Not like I was hurting anything." she muttered.

 

[StarryKnights]

Orion rolled his eyes. "It wasn't about you hunting, you were on my territory, I'm sure YOU of all people understand that you don't trespass on other people's land". Orion smirked. "Besides, it was all in good fun". The forest would recover, it always did, with a little help from some of the dragon's magic, but that wasn't the point here. "You should've taken the hint when none of your precious metal men bothered to follow you here".

 

[ihaveprobs]

Duzzel waved off his comment. "Metal men are stupid about forests. They worry about getting lost in them and there not being enough room for horses to maneuver." she said as she retracted her steps. "Besides, it's not like I had a lot of options of where to go or saw anything marking this forest as yours." she said still frustrated with their situation. Coming to where her small cave had started she looked towards the cliff side.

 

[StarryKnights]

Orion chuckled. She did have a point, the average man worried about the stupidest things when they were out in nature. He scowled when she mentioned there no markings. "All who live and breathe in this area know this as my territory, the scent markers are usually enough to make it clear. there are also usually bodies littering the area, but I haven't had any notable kills of late to use". He rolled his eyes as she stopped. The spear was around here somewhere, where exactly was up to Duzzel to figure out. "Tick tock little human, don't make me wait too long".

 

[ihaveprobs]

Duzzel walked towards the cliff side and looked over the edge for her makeshift cave. Spotting the outcropping of rocks she smile. "Yes, terribly sorry I didn't notice the stench or lack of bodies when I was escaping the metal heads. I'm sure as someone that's never smelled a dragon or been in these parts before I should have magically known this was dragon territory." she said as she started climbing down the cliff side to her cave.

 

[StarryKnights]

"Yes well, that would be your fault, you uncultured heathen, not mine". Orion rolled his eyes and sighed. "Hurry now, find your blasted stick, I'd like to get going sometime this century". He tapped his foot on the ground and looked up to the sky. People always left you waiting, and would take whatever they could get from you, before scurrying off into the dirt. They were a curse upon the world, and they had stolen something very, very precious from Orion. Duzzel was lucky she was useful, elsewise he would've killed her by now.

 

[ihaveprobs]

Reaching her cave, Duzzel crawled inside it and took a moment to rest just to spite the irritating dragon. She debated closing off the entrance again and trying to escape, but decided that wouldn't really be possible as long at the dragon could indeed turn himself into mist. Grabbing the spear she attached it to the straps on her back before making the climb back up. Reaching the top she pulled herself back up. "There, ready to go."

 

[StarryKnights]

Orion tapped his foot impatiently against the ground, once Duzzel emerged from the cave with her spear, he grinned. "Fantastic, let us be off, we have a long ways to go my dear little mouse...I mean Duzzel". He rolled his eyes and lead the way, it was at least a week's journey to Kingsburrow on foot, and while he could fly, he didn't want to risk being tracked by soldiers or magicians. Both of them would spell trouble, dragons were formidable, but not invincible. At least, dragons as young as Orion weren't invincible, an ancient dragon might as well be. He could only hope he'd make it to such a promising age.

 

[ihaveprobs]

Rolling her eyes as well, Duzzel followed after the dragon. Side stepping a thorn bush she looked at the dragon's back. "So where are we going if it's not the metal heads already here?" she asked. "And what are we getting once we get there?" she continued wanting to know information about their mission. Information that Orion hadn't seen fit to give her before hand.

 

[StarryKnights]

Orion looked the woman up and down. "...That is both private and sensitive info little mouse...let's just say...that these wretched humans stole something from my clan...". The heart of the Starfell clan held very dear. All dragon clans had their artifact, a piece of history which was passed from generation to generation. For his clan, it was an amulet, a simple trinket, easily mistaken for costume jewelry. The red gem in its center was made from a small portion of the heart of the first dragon, an ancient being the name of whom had been lost long ago.
It had been entrusted to Orion's family, but after they all were slaughtered and their lair pillaged, the amulet had been taken, and hidden away in an anti magic vault.
With Duzzel's help, Orion would be getting it back.

 

[ihaveprobs]

Duzzel started to strap her spear to her back while she followed after Orion in the forest. "Right. So after we get to this city, I should just wander around aimlessly looking for this thing that you want back but refuse to tell me what is or looks like. Should go great." she said tightening the strap. "Nope don't see any problems with that plan."

 

[StarryKnights]

"After we get to the city, I will give you instructions based off of the current security measures being taken at the castle vault". He snapped, glaring at the woman. "And if your going to be this insufferable the entire trip, I will rip out your tongue". Humans were all annoying, but this one was a special kind of aggravating. Perhaps it was because it seemed she didn't consider herself to be as low as the rest of her kind. Maybe it was the stream of sarcasm coming from her mouth.
Now that they'd gotten her blasted stick back, they could make the journey to the capital, though once they arrived, Orion wasn't sure how they'd go about taking back his clan's artifact.

 

[ihaveprobs]

The woman frowned at the dragon's back. After a while of staying silent she picked up a semi thick piece of a tree limb she was passing. Pulling out her smaller bone knife she started to whittle at the wood to help pass the time since she doubted the dragon would be pleasurable company. The wood wasn't the best wood to use and her knife wasn't really meant for whittling, but she would make do with what she had.

 

[StarryKnights]

They had long ways to go, and it would only be made longer if they walked in silence like this. Orion could only stand it for so long. He looked back over his shoulder and saw that the woman was working away at a chunk of wood pulled from a tree. In what way that was entertaining was beyond the dragon, he huffed and looked back, ahead of him.
"So tell me little girl, why is it you seem to hate your own kind so much?" Orion asked as they reached a large bridge, that covered the gap that separated Orion's territory with the lands that belonged to the nearby city of Morfield. Passing by the town could pose a threat, assuming they discovered who they were. Orion wanted to avoid fighting as much as possible until they reached the capital, his plan would be all the harder if Kingsburrow received word that an angry dragon was making its way there.

 

[ihaveprobs]

The woman looked at him unamused at the nicknames he insisted upon bestowing her with. "One, my kind are mostly gone and I don't hate them. I hate metal heads." she said before blowing at the wood piece she was carving to get the shavings out of the way. "Two, what's it to you?" she asked still staring at the wood. "So long as you get your thing that I can't know about or what looks like back, you don't really care what happens to me." she said looking up at him with narrowed brown eyes.

 

[StarryKnights]

Orion turned around and walked backwards as they moved across the bridge. "Metal heads? What are those, soldiers or...?" He chuckled. "Your kind run amock my dear, your little tribe is but a drop in the vast bucket that is human expansion. He chuckled darkly. "Although if your tribe lived in a counter cultural manner, its no wonder these metal heads" saw fit to destroy you".
Humans tended to purge things that did not mesh into their tiny little worlds, and that meant destroying other humans as well.
Turning back around, Orion hopped off the bridge and onto the road below. "This will take us past Morfield". he looked back at Duzzel.
"I imagine the men you claim were chasing after you were stationed there, so it would be wise to be on the lookout".