Blight shook himself and stifled a laugh.

"'Sfartis,' huh? Well--close enough, I guess--good job, Carja," he answered, stifling a good-natured laugh. But at the quieter aside, he nodded a little more solemnly. "I don't know. I can't get much out of her; I asked her a couple times if she has a family but--well," and here he paused, glancing with a faint wince to the tiny dragon, "She doesn't exactly... talk." He thought for a moment, studying her, a warmer smirk showing itself as she head-butted him; and he reached out one wing-arm to gently 'ruffle' atop her head, a playful push. Still in the quieter undertone, he leaned to his 'father' and spoke. "I don't know if we should ask them. If we don't, and she IS theirs they might get mad that we took her. If we do, and she's theirs, they might take her back and... I don't trust them with a kid," he added, quietly.

It was rather a nasty choice.

Blight looked back to Carja. "You hungry, Carja? I can show you where to fish, here, if you want?"

Then, quieter, to Svartis--"What do you think we should do, Dad?"

@Svartis

Icy eyes stared down as Carja huddled up to Blight, tail flapping a wild rhythm as she babbled and cooed. "I don't think they would have such a - cuddly child in their ranks," at least, I hope this isn't how they start, for their sake...

Anyways, the baby: the black dragon offered her another question, "do you like the hot or cold?" Dread surely wouldn't mind another addition to the growing number of dragons up in his den in the Platforms.

"What do you think we should do, Dad?"

Svartis considered it for a moment, and decided: "we can keep her, for now. They can't come at us - we're both strong and our magic's strong?" His gaze peered at Blight, mostly curious, "practicing yours, right?" At this moment, his confidence was faked - but he had to put it on for his son. Or... it seemed like he should. Surely, with finer control over his ice, he could, at least, put a damper on any monster Vargas threw their way and help them escape?

Even... with Vargas as a Master - whatever that meant.

@Carja

Now, Carja didn't understand what they were saying, but she knew they were talking about her by the looks they were giving her, so she flopped down on her rump and stared back up at the two of them, looking back and forth as they spoke. Like a tennis match.

She scratched at her neck and fell over backwards, looking up at Blight as she recognized the words, 'hungry'. She contemplated for a moment, wondering if she wanted to eat or to nap more, and decided that a nap sounded much better.

"Sleep," she said softly, yawning gently before rolling onto her side and laying herself mostly flat.

Carja perked up as Svartis asked a question. Hot or cold? She licked her lips and contemplated for a moment, focusing on her paws as she tried to think up an actual answer for once.

"... Like both," she started slowly, her speech slurred and baby-ish, her syllables both over and underexaggerated at random intervals, "C-coold."

Carja wagged her tail and looked up at the two, seeking approval for her broken speech.

@Blight

Blight eyed Svartis sidelong, and there was something new in his gaze: a sort of slyness, a confident cunning he didn't often display. It wasn't menacing, but it was a sort of outgrowth of the cockiness he'd shown in his younger cycles: as if the hatchling willing to confront Orthoclase-Alpha had grown up and actually inherited the power he'd thought he'd had.

"I think I could kill either of them without getting close," he said, quietly, and that surety resonated in his voice. He seemed to have no qualms about it, either.

In truth, Blight had never tested his magics against large opponents--because he hadn't found any, yet, to test it on. But smaller things died... quickly, and badly, so much so that after honing that magic he had stopped practicing with it, much. Anyway... He turned back to Carja. "If you wanna take her to the frosty place, I can go tell Dad-Dad--unless you want me to get him now, to meet her?--and then I can watch the tunnel for awhile."

@Svartis

Svartis wasn't... sure how he felt about that look in Blight's eye, nor what to do about it except for suggest that he "please be careful. You never know what they might be capable of from afar..."

Now, back onto the baby, watching eagerly with those beady-glowing eyes of hers. She was looking to take a nice nap (same, says Navy) and had a preference for the cold. Svartis smiled with his eyes, tipping his head, "I'll take you down into the gorge, then. We'll get you a nice sleeping spot carved out and made." Icy eyes glanced towards Blight, nodding with that apparent answer.

"Once she's asleep, I can come relieve you... ?" he offered, even as he extended a wing for Carja to clamber onto.

@Carja

Carja looked between them as they spoke, blinking gently before yawning widely and stretching out like a cat, wings stretching all the way up before she shook herself off and sat back down. She seemed perfectly content to listen to the two speak for a bit longer, but it wasn't long before her eyes were drooping.

When a wing was offered for her to clamber onto, she crowed happily and hobbled aboard, using her wing-claws to latch onto his scales to keep herself steady. She walked around in a circle and curled up like a cat, paws crossed one over the other as she poked her head up past Svartis' shoulderblades to look at Blight and stick her tongue out, her main eyes batting as if she were the prettiest princess in her castle.

"Bppthh!!" she cooed, reaching out her wee paws out to him to give him a goodbye smack on the nose and a wet lick up as much of his face as she could reach before sinking back again.

@Blight

Blight gave a little nod.

"I'll be careful. I'm not out to start fights," he added, but there was a glint in his eye that warned of what might happen if one of the large Sentinels did, in fact, actually turn up. "Right, I'll go let Dad-Dad know she's here, and describe her and stuff. One of us can take her to meet him later, maybe. I'll see you later, Dad," he added, and reached out to touch his snout to Svartis's.

Then Carja was saying her farewells, and she was like some scaly-alien mix of dog and cat the way she curled and licked, and Blight found himself laughing. "Eww--thanks. You go with Dad, okay? -And sleep," he added.

In retrospect, he really didn't want her getting sick or something from licking his scales; he didn't think she would, but caves knew he was all slimy with bacteria half the time and ingesting the dried result was probably... not good.

He sent a brief curl of magicka her way--cleansing, strengthening, just in case--and then nodded to Svartis. "Just did some magic to make sure she didn't get sick from that," he explained, and then repeated--"I'll see you later, Dad, Carja!"

Then the young dragon was off: bounding and leaping with swift grace into the air, his lithe form curling serpentine toward Dread's lair off in the distance.

@Svartis
exit Blight

Svartis was sorely tempted to quip with a sure you aren't, kiddo. He hoped that the day Blight had his cockiness knocked out of him didn't come soon - and that it was something he just grew out of. Icy eyes just rolled, a subtle nod in his snout. The Sentinels seemed intimidated enough, anyways.

The black dragon flinched a small bit as a wing-claw hooked into the wrong place, but was otherwise just plain impressed by how comfortable (naive's the word for it, I'm pretty sure) Carja must be. Seconds passed, and she was curled up contentedly; so light that he could barely feel her presence. Only when she pitter-pattered across his scales to bat at Blight did she seem to have a weight.

He was kind of smitten.

Svartis took the nose-bump with a smile, "seeya, Blight." Once magic was cast and the dragon was properly out of sight, he twisted to look at Carja: "okay - got a good grip? It'll just be a short dive down." A few seconds after she indicated that she did, in fact, have a good grip, the black dragon lurched up and flapped down into the gorge.

"Have at it - pick a spot, Carja," he rumbled softly, lumbering half-into the icy den and shrugging lightly to rouse her. Wherever she chose would be her bed - at least... until she got bigger.

@Carja

Carja cooed softly as the familiar wash of warmth was breathed over her, something she could totally get used to. She squawked at Blight as he left and held on tightly to one of Svartis' spikes, clinging to him and chirping when she was ready, lurching a bit as they took off, and quickly readjusting. Her head was craned up the entire time, swiveling all around as she tried to see everything there was to see, each pair of eyes looking in a different direction.

When she finally got dizzy, they had landed, and she slid down Svartis' wing like a slide, flopping not-so-gracefully to the ground. She stood and shook herself out, nose to the floor as she walked around, inspecting the area thoroughly.

Deeming it to her liking, she trotted back over to Svartis and sat down expectantly, staring up at him with all six eyes, unblinking. A bit unnerving, before her nose twitched and she sneezed, before resuming her stare-down.

The tip of her tail wagged, and it was all the warning Svartis got before she lunged for his face, latching on and clambering up his snout to his head, and scuttled down his neck like some sort of bug-creature, before settling right back down around one of his spines. Svartis ought to be more specific... but either way, he was her bed now.

@Svartis

Sniff, sniff, sniff - Svartis stiffened, trying not to jump to the ceiling with the sudden jump at his face. BETRAYAL?! his mind quailed, even as she casually crawled down the length of his neck and became one with one of the spines on his shoulder. It'd be such a smart move, too... Vargas and the Alpha must've figured out that they were all family-loving fools and sent one of their spawn their way...

Oh, wait -

Cut the fog machine act (because, boy, was he billowing) she's just settling down to sleep. It'd be fine for now, he supposed. Carja would surely get relaxed and lose her grip, leaving him to escape and stick Blight on babysitting duty.

Except... well, Svartis was full of sleepy boy juice, and conked out maybe a second after he curled up in the back of the den.

exit?
@Carja