ORIGIN

Baratheon rumbled deep in his throat as he thought over her answer. He still couldn't place the blame on that poor foal. She was young, probably thought he would be her friend. It wasn't her fault that she didn't understand the predator-prey relationship. Hell, every creature in the cave had their instincts dumbed down. Except for him, his instincts were always keen and intent on making themselves known in the most inopportune times. But whatever, if she wanted to apologize then he would let her. "To me, everyone is little." His voice rumbled with laughter. Once upon a time he had been one of the smallest things in the cave but not anymore. Everyone he met never even came up to his shoulder. It was amusing really and gave his ego a not-needed boost.

"Of course it does!" How many creatures in the cave had even seen a dragon, let alone fought one. His head snaked forward a bit so that he could get a whiff of her scent. If he was to know her name that he should at least have her smell. "Because I didn't say it." Why did all of these creatures always ask for names this way? It wasn't as if he gave his name out willy-nilly. Of course they never caught it!

He grinned, exposing a few of his sharp fangs. "It's Baratheon or Bara if you fancy." His turned his head to the side to examine her with one large eye. "And you're Delphine... Mind if I call you Phina? It's shorter."

Oh, there was someone larger than him but he considered that creature to be less. All that demon wanted to do was burn and rend things until they were no more. He planned to eliminate it and put it in its place then it would be no more. He would be the alpha and the largest of the cave. Also, who was to say that with his new growth spurt he wouldn't outgrow the black demon? For all he knew he could be the same size. It had been a while since he'd seen him anyway.

Baratheon blinked as she tested his name, amused by how she went through both his nickname and full name. However, when he suggested an entirely different nickname he tilted his head to the side. Theon? Hmm, no one had ever called him that. Why, he liked it a lot actually! The dragon nodded his head a chuckle ringing from his throat. "Theon is fine. No one has ever offered to call me that before. I like it." It sounded far more dragon-ish than just Bara, actually. "Phina it is then."

At her next question he lifted his head, a wide toothy grin spreading on his face. Obviously it had pleased him to no end that someone wanted to hear of the dragons before him. "Of course! I would love to. But... Before I tell you of all the dragons that came before I must tell you of a specific one." He shifted his position. Laying down on his side with his rear legs sticking out to the side like a feline's while his forelegs were crossed over each other. His tail curled back around and lay right in front of his rear legs, the tuft would thump the ground periodically. "The First Dragon who ever roamed the cave, the one who is The Mother of Dragons... Ae'thiya." In his voice was wonder and a sense of thrill. Speaking of Ae'thiya was something he quite enjoyed. Perhaps even telling this one the story of the First Dragon would help her understand even more why he had attacked her.

Without further ado he launched into the tale, "Long ago when the cave was still young a dragon was born. Her fur was silver and her eyes were a burning gold. A dragon's eyes are said to the color of their souls, you see, and Ae'thiya's eyes showed her royalty and privilege of being the first of her kind."

"However, since she was the first dragon many creatures feared her. Which was fair of them because unlike anyone else in the cave this dragon was wild. Wilder than any other dragon to ever come. You remember when I attacked you in my rage, well... Ae'thiya was like this all the time. She could simply think about blood and prey and work herself up into the frenzy of Bloodlust. Unlike me, also, she had nothing to hold her back. No friends to talk her out of it, no one to help her try to conquer the rage. But Ae'thiya didn't even want to conquer the Bloodlust. She cared nothing for the other gembounds in the cave. They all feared her and she fed off of this fear and relished in taking gembounds for her meals. Many fancied that she wasn't even a greater gembound but a lesser given a more powerful form."

Um... Is it getting too scary for you?" She was still young and he didn't want to cause her any undue fear or elevate her nightmares.

Ah, good. He wasn't frightening her that was certainly reassuring. He didn't want to accidentally give the foal flashbacks or nightmares with his scary story. Well, not exactly scary but a little bit violent. He hadn't had a lot of interactions with children especially when it came to story telling. He was glad to hear that she was enjoying it at the very least.

At her question the dragon took on a thoughtful look, a low hum rising in his throat. "Memories, dreams, evidence around us and even myself." He gestured with his nose horn to the statue she rested near. "Why would these things be carved unless to denote that dragons once roamed. I myself sometimes have dreams about the First Dragons. I believe that having dreams about things you've never seen must mean something." He hoped that made sense to her but that silver female dragon and the others... They had to be real. Sometimes he added onto the story and used his own instincts for reference but not too often to soil the reputation of the story. "I also have magic within me, things that happen or instincts that take over which have to be something else... something ancient." He shuddered visibly, shivering as he remembered that ancient Bond magic and the words that seemed to come from his very essence. He hadn't made them up himself, they'd come from within, from his ancestors.

"Shall I continue the story?"

The dragon smiled down at the young foal. He was unsure if the horse would ever dream as a dragon would but who knew? Magic was abound in this cave and he didn't really want to crush her spirit. "Perhaps you will. Dreams of the First Dragon, dreams of the sun, and dreams of flight." Wonder was in his voice as he spoke. Oh, dreams were amazing things.

He rumbled deep in his throat when she told him to go on. He knew that she wanted to talk more of dreams and of what he knew but there would be time for that later. All the time in the world, really. ""Uh... Let's see. Where was I...?" He tapped his chin with a claw before it came back to him. "Ah! Right! Many thought she wasn't a greater gembound but she was through and through, just ruled by instinct was the problem. The other gembounds of the cave tried to mount a few attacks on her and bring her down but they always ended in failure. Ae'thiya was a monstrous creature, far larger than anyone in the cave. Even larger than I am!" Here he rose on his paws and stretched his wings outwards to give her an estimation of just how truly large he was and in turn how large Ae'thiya would have likely been. He lowered himself back to the ground and took his former position a moment later. "After enough of the failed attacks the gems realized they needed to adopt a new strategy. So, they searched among themselves and came upon a young lemur by the name of Luke. Luke was special because he was able to manipulate the earth and from it could craft many things. He hit upon the plan of manipulated the earth into strong chains which they would use to bind Ae'thiya. To make these chains, however, Luke would need to go to Ae'thiya's den in Orion and get a few measurements. So, the next day he set off and traveled right up the cliffs of Orion, straight into Ae'thiya's den but the dragon was sleeping. Inside of her den were thousands of bones and gems from her many victims. It sent shivers up Luke's spine but he continued on with his task and walked quietly around the dragon to get her exact size which he wrote on a stone that he carried with him. Everything seemed to be going fine until he looked up from writing to see Ae'thiya's golden eyes staring down at him. Smoke curled from her nose and she grinned wickedly at him as if she was going to eat him right there..." Here he gave a cunning grin and paused for dramatic effect. That was how the storyteller's did it, right? Pausing for effect? Gee, he hoped he was doing it right.

"But! She did not! You see, Luke wasn't just a smart gembound. He was also very special. He, unknown to both Ae'thiya and himself, was a Rider. The First Rider to be exact. Ae'thiya couldn't place this and instead simply stared at him at first, trying to figure out why she had no urge to eat him. After a few moments of coming up with nothing she spoke to him with her mind."

If only he could speak to her with his mind, then she would have more insight into the story but alas, he could not. The dragon simply lifted his head and tried to lighten his tone to make a decent impression of a female dragon who certainly still had a deep voice. "'Why are you here, small one?'" He lowered his head back down and dropped his voice back down to normal. "Luke, of course, was shocked that he hadn't been eaten but pleased of course. The dragon had spared his life and he was to live longer. What was more he and the dragon hit off a friendship that day. For days which turned into months after Luke would go visit Ae'thiya and they would talk for hours, growing more and more attached to each other. It was Ae'thiya who finally decided that the feelings she'd had towards him could no longer be ignored and so she summoned Luke to her one day by humming as only dragons can." Here, he gave an example by releasing a baritone hum deep in his throat. It was similar to the musical note he'd hit when he himself had summoned Booker but it wasn't quite as loud and didn't hold quite the same message. Still, it was a tender note and very musical for its one tone.

He cut off the sound and continued on with his story. "When Luke arrived and saw Ae'thiya she seemed to be bathed in light. He approached her and when he stopped before her the First Dragon said these words,"

"'I am glad to see you Luke. I feel such a kinship with you... something I have never felt before and it makes me happy all the way to my very soul. Touch my gem.' Then Ae'thiya lowered her head and exposed the pink gem at her throat. You see, every gembound in the cave has a gemstone, yes. But a dragon's stone is special in the fact that it is what connects us to our Riders and acts as a connection to our spirits." He paused and shifted positions, extending his right leg out slightly further to expose the rhodochorosite at the thigh, he pointed his nose to it. "Mine is here and right before I Bonded with my own Rider, Booker, he touched it and awoke me from the rampage... The same one which I hurt you in..." He tucked his leg back under, hiding the stone from view. "My gem is the same kind that Ae'thiya has. It's special because it shows that she and I are of the same gem and shows that I am a true dragon because a purebred dragon can only arise from the stone of another dragon." Valuable information if he should ever want to create more of his kind which one day he was sure that he would.

"Now, after Luke touched her gem Ae'thiya locked gazes with him. Her golden eyes seemed to glow with an otherworldy light as she recited, 'I have been thinking for a while now. A feeling has been building in me and today it has reached its peak and I wish to share it with you. I didn't know I could ever feel this way, not until you came to me. I'm glad that we've gotten to know each other... I feel that we have a bond, a special bond which is why I summoned you today. You are the wisdom for my temper, the caution to my storm... I believe you are the one who can help me when I lose myself to the Bloodlust. That is saying so much because before I met you I never wanted to temper my Bloodlust. You bring out the good in me and help me want to be more than a beast which is why I have decided to choose you, Luke, as my Rider.' Then, Ae'thiya touched her muzzle to Luke's forehead and within both of them a fire burned, forging a link between their souls. That link was the first Bond which allows Dragons and their Rider to see through each others eyes, feel each others emotions, and communicate without ever speaking a word to each other. It's a sacred link that many other types of Bonds have sprung from." He closed his eyes, a content purr rising from his throat as he thought of the day that he and Booker Bonded.

He hadn't really meant to pause the story, it just happened as he reminisced. Although his impromptu pause was perfect in case inquiring horses had questions to ask of him.

The large dragon gazed off into space, eyes glazing over slightly as he lived in his thoughts for a moment. Images of dragons past dancing before his eyes. It was Delphine's flood of questions that snapped him back to the present. His ears perked forward eagerly, his eyes locked onto hers. Rapt interest was held onto the foal as each question was processed and stored in his mind. Finally at the end he leaned back and thoughtfully puffed smoke from his nose.

It was a moment before he gathered his thoughts and answered. "At first you can't tell. You just feel as if the Rider is your friend. However, the Rider quickly becomes your best friend and you find yourself wanting to be near them. So much that you don't like to be alone... I don't know what it's like for the Riders themselves but I'd like to say that they feel the same, that even though their best friend could fly off the handle at any provocation they don't care. Because they know it's not their fault... and that the Dragons would never hurt their Riders." He blinked, the misty look still in his eyes as he searched for the answers in his mind. "As for Booker, yes. We can speak to each other easily with our minds and feel each other's emotions. It's like we are one being with two bodies sometimes. Inside when I close my eyes I can reach inwards and feel the Bond between us," Here he closed his eyes and looked inwards at the link. His side was white with bits of pink and a tiny amount of red scattered here and there. The link itself was like a stretch of white between their souls that connected him to the darker side of Booker's soul which was touched with bits of green and jade. "We can even cross over the Bond and see through each other's eyes whenever we please." His eyes opened and he smiled down at the foal, focusing on her again. "I knew the day he touched my gem that he was the one that was to be my Rider. He connected to my soul that day that only way a Rider could... That's how I knew."

At that point he came to the black dragon and his brown furrowed in a frown. "He is not one of my species... There are different sorts of dragons. I am a Furred Dragon, one of Ae'thiya's children, but he is not. The others like me disappeared a few thousand years ago. I don't know why yet but bits of them live on in me from my stone and others. No doubt if I have one of Ae'thiya's stones that there are others around here just waiting to be awakened." He shook his head. "Anyway, that dragon is far too violent for my tastes... He doesn't even have the bloodlust and takes satisfaction in chaos. Perhaps he is a Chaos Dragon. I don't know." Baratheon enjoyed fighting himself but he tried not to hurt innocent creatures if he could help it.

Now, finished he peered at Delphine again. Curious if she had anymore questions, he rather enjoyed playing the storyteller.