[Winter in Polaris!] Unexpected

"Well, don't invite a snowball fight before you're ready," Bone suggested, playfully--but it was kindly said, gently, no mockery in it. Bone didn't have a mocking... bone, in her body, really.

The other snowball whapped across her broad snout, sending a spray of snow up, and she sneezed and laughed delightedly. She wasn't quite sure how the hell Carja was that flexible, but the creature also glowed and had a bizarre... well, everything, so it wasn't all that strange.

Bone snorted, then, kind mischief taking her, and lashed her tail up through the snow as a whole--sending a little tidal wave of it at the other, dancing dragon. "Incoming," she warned, playfully, just before it'd hit.

Carja squealed as the snowball hit her in the next, and she snaked down into the snow before launching upwards and breathing in, hoping to launch a barrage of bubbles at the other. A wave of them went flying, quickly freezing in the frigid air, morphing from innocent little things to weapons of mass destruction.

She loved these winter bubbles!! They tinkled so pleasantly when they shattered, almost musical in how they did so.

She just had to point it out to Bone, "Look at my bubbles!! They're musical now- isn't that nice?"

Carjas practically glowed, beaming as she waited for a reaction, head slightly ducked.

Bone watched, bemused, at the little ice bubbles floating her way. She reached out one white claw, prodding at one, listening to the tinkling as it softly shattered.

"They're very nice," she agreed warmly. She had no real 'for show' magic, herself; she could make wisps, or move fire around, but there wasn't really anything here she could ignite. She nosed at the ice-bubbles with her heavily-built snout, considering.

"So--is this your magic, then? Water, and ice, that sort of thing--like Svartis?" Bone asked, genuine curiosity lacing her words.

Carja nodded gently and cupped a bubble in her claws, holding it gently before popping it, giggling as it tinkled gently, the small pieces drifting down, sparkling in the light of Polaris. She made her way over to Bone and cooed, appreciating her warmth.

"I don't really have a lot of um... spells," she said, "Sometimes when I'm thirsty, I can make my skin drink the air, and I can get my scales to harden. But! In the Olympics I could fight really really well! I'm so excited for the next round, I hope I do well."

She darted forward to demonstrate one of her abilities, tail swishing through the snow to fling it up in an impressive arc, into an enemy's eyes, blinding them temporarily. The snow, having nothing to hit, slowly drifted back down, light glinting off of the tiny crystals.

"I'm a protector," she said, and turned to Bone with a grin, "And I'll always protect my family!!"

Bone flinched, with a smile, at the swish of snow.

"That is impressive," she agreed softly; her pale eyes ranged over the glittering flakes to settle on Carja herself.

The smaller dragon was slender, and Bone wondered if Carja might be a little too fragile for combat. She was larger than many other Gembound, however, and certainly built for speed. Bone, herself, hadn't that much experience in combat and so she simply nodded. "A protector's a noble goal, I think," she told her warmly. "Do you have anyone who could, maybe, teach you what they know? In--fighting, that is? I don't think any of us are fighters, not--in that way."

Father used flame. Svartis used frost. None of them were rough-and-tumble wrestlers. "So--the Olympics; how did you do?" Bone asked, curious, soft.

Carja made her way forward to plant herself next to Bone, and shuffled a bit, humming, "I've been teaching myself! I practiced on lessers before I got big, trying to use different techniques of taking them down, either with my magic or otherwise."

She fluffed up her wings and the glowing vents on her neck opened like eyes, allowing her to soak in Bone's warmth a lot better, "The Olympics were fun! I won both my matches, against a cat and then against my friend who's this weird blob of meat!"

Her chest puffed up and she looked over at bone, her main two eyes alight with happiness, the secondary pairs also scrunched up, "It was awesome! I kind of felt bad for them, because they lost, but Svartis and Asimona were there and watching and it felt awesome! And... Vargas told me if I wanted, he'd train me. I was thinking I might, but I wanted to get bigger first, just in case."

The white dragon listened with warm attentiveness, and none of it was faked, or forced; she genuinely wondered about Carja's life outside of Monoceros. The mention of Lessers saddened her, some, though she didn't comment on it; she knew they all had to eat, and she herself killed to survive, but she never liked to think about it much. Thankfully, Dread had taught her early to kill fast, and merciful--she still wasn't sure why, given his lack of apparent kindness on the day-to-day (her father was nothing if not practical)--but she was glad for it; it meant she carried none of the regrets a foolish child toying with prey might have done at adulthood.

The mention, however, of 'my friend who's a weird blob of meat'--well, to say that threw Bone off would be an understatement. Sure she'd misunderstood, or that Carja wasn't explaining it quite right, Bone blinked and retracted her head a little. "Sorry--what?" she asked, but Carja was on about the Olympics, now.

"Oh--I'm glad that you had fun. Ahh--be careful about Vargas," Bone warned, at the mention of him, eyes widening a touch. "We have a bad history with him. His... child? Spawn? Attacked Svartis, and hurt him quite badly, and if Father hadn't been there he might have been killed. I think they want our gemstones-?" she added, heft brow furrowing, a little. Her concern was genuine. She didn't want to see the smaller dragon roped into anything--abused, or captured, or... anything, really.

"Effluvium!", she chirped, "They're so weird! All they care about is food! They're literally a blob- or a mass? Maybe- of meat, and they have a huge mouth and lots of legs and limbs and other mouths and eyes, but they're nice!"

If you counted not being eaten by them nice.

Carja cocked her head at Bone's explanation, and her body stopped shifting and bouncing all of a sudden, and she went still. Quiet.

"... They hurt dad?", she said, slowly and with a voice so different from her high-pitched ramblings.

Dangerous, perhaps? The side of her no one saw, but only the very surface.

"... Maybe I should look for a different teacher," she mumbled, troubled by what Bone said.

Ice crept up her scales, the snow that sprinkled her hide turning to thin sheets, fragile and easily broken, but clearly there, and a soft cyan color, rather than completely clear. She didn't move as she thought hard, eyes narrowed and brows furrowed. The ice stopped at her shoulders and rump, little pieces along her body spider webbing all over from where the snow had been. She turned her head to Bone and frowned again.

"... I don't like Vargas," she said, mouth down-turned.

Bone took Carja's sudden change in tone as sad, even afraid; the ice that crept up her, as a shield. She leaned forward, impulsively empathetic, moving to nudge the other dragon.

"Yes, though I think Father fought them, afterward. I don't know Vargas himself well enough to like him, or not, but... just be careful if you do wind up around him, hm? But it's all right, Carja. Svartis is fine, now, right? He's not hurt," she encouraged, gently.

"Anyway, this--Effluvium..? Sounds like an interesting character," she offered, in a not-so-subtle but still gentle topic change. "Just--meat, mouth and limbs-? I can't say I've seen them around. Which cave do they live in, do you know?"

Carja shook herself out, ice tinkling to the ground. She looked down and made a soft noise.

"Huh... I didn't know I could do that," she said, "Um... I know he's fine. I'm just... angry. Really angry!"

She shook her head and huffed, a cloud of vapor puffing out of her mouth like smoke, "It just... sucks? I guess."

She kneaded her claws in the snow, clearly agitated, and sighed, "Cetus, maybe? I've seen them everywhere, though. I don't think they know what a home is, they're not very vocal. Their whole schtick is about food. I think they tried to eat me back when I was still cat-sized."

Bone was wrong about one thing. She wasn't scared, and the ice wasn't a shield. It was armor, armor to defend and allow her to attack with little fear. And goodness was she mad!!