CARJA

The water hears and understands
The ice does not forgive

Carja trudged through the trees, her paws dragging on the ground, her wings held low, occasionally touching the soft soil before lifting up again. She wove her way down a path she used often, wide enough in most areas to accommodate her girth. Her tail followed behind, dragging on the ground like her head nearly was.

She was exhausted on top of being emotionally drained, her normally happy demeanor dampened by what happened with Dread. She was unfamiliar with the feeling of disappointment, her personality naturally chipper and enthusiastic. She wasn't used to feeling sad, but it was an emotion she'd have to get used to.

After a while she stopped, finding herself a clearing to curl up in, her head hitting the ground before the rest of her body followed, dust and leaves flying up from the impact, birds flying away, spooked by the noise. But she just couldn't bring herself to care.

'How will I ever face them now?', she wondered, thinking of the rest of her family, of the Voidcrawlers and of the other dragons.

Asimona, Blight, Lass... what would they think of her now? If they ever found out, she'd look like... like a jerk!

'They'll hate me like Dread does,' she thought, her body sagging further, each of her six eyes growing wet with tears.

How in the world was she going to try and save Bone and Svartis now?

@Attikias

Attikias had been having a busy day. Most of it had been focused on the fletching of arrows and creation of arrowheads- the act of chipping them out of stone was simply much too satisfying. He had to tie them together, too, but perhaps only after compressing them down to gem would he do that.

First? He needed to figure out how to make them fly straight. With his bow at home, spear over his back, and bag at his side, he'd gone out to hunt for something, a bit lost for what to use. Wood seemed good at first, but it kept getting caught on the bow itself, so that wouldn't work. His second thought was leather, and that was floppy and hard to secure. Feathers might be hard, too, but it was his third option- feathers would stay straight, and it helped a bird fly, so it should work?

If he could even catch one in the first place. He had a few traps set up, but those had never been his forte, so he continued on as he struggled to sneak up on the various avians of Eridanus.

A nearby, bassy whoopf of a creature falling caught his ear. Had a tree fallen? The canopy didn't shake (other than the birds evacuating the premises), so that didn't seem to be the issue. Curious. Looking to figure out this momentary puzzle, Attikias side-tracked and reangled himself to the direction of the clearing, pushing aside leaves and fronds to approach.

He stopped short when he spotted Carja's back. They were- asleep? Or going to sleep? Hooking his thumbs on the strap of his bag, Attikias paced around the enormous being, tilting down to look for a head.

He came into view a distance away, laying eyes on Carja's weepy face. His nerves tensed- why were they crying? Patriarchal instinct struck him. "Are you okay?" His voice was quiet in an attempt to not startle the dragon, wary of her size.

He didn't need to piss off anybody else, really.

@Carja

CARJA

The water hears and understands
The ice does not forgive

Carja lifted her head slightly at the sound of something rustling through the trees, but her head met the ground again as soon as Attikias rounded her body. She peered up at him and sighed, steam billowing from her nostrils and into the air.

"... No...", she said miserably, putting a paw over her snout as the tears started to fall, "I made a really bad mistake..."

She raised her wings and shuffled them closer to her, slowly lifting her head and wiping her eyes, lip wobbling, "I lived in Monoceros for months!! MONTHS!! A-and he didn't even recognize me, didn't even know that his children h-had been hijacked by an evil fungus thing- my own grandpa didn't know who I was!! Didn't know my name o-or anything..."

She'd lived there with Svartis and Lass for most of her life and he didn't know her! And she'd gotten angry and lashed out and now... now her family was going to suffer for it.

"... M-my dad and my aunt are in Ursa a-and I wanted him to come with me to try and find them," she explained, trying to wipe her tears away, "There was a huge fight i-in Polaris, and one of the Masters even came to help b-because this fungus came and was trying to make lots of us go to Ursa a-and my dad and aunt went 'cause they got a noseful o-of it a-and Dread won't help!"

Carja covered her eyes and wept into her hands, sobbing and crying, because it was her fault her family could be dead, could be infected, could be just not okay!

@Attikias

Attikias stepped closer as Carja began to weep. Despite their size, they looked so small, and the elf's eyebrows furrowed as he leaned further into them. He made sure not to get too close, keep out of their personal space, but he was still present as she spoke. "Everyone makes mistakes," Attikias interjected softly, his hands turning over the leather of his bag. Even giant dragons, it seemed.

The elf jumped at the increase in volume as she continued. Monoceros? Those dragons that lived there? Evil fungus? Attikias drew quiet as he put together the puzzle pieces. It must be Mother, that Tahi-shei told him about, that had her devestated.

Well, and family, too, apparently. Carja had continued on rambling, and Attikias completed his approach, offering to hold her head in his hands instead of letting her fall into herself. He knew this panic with his own daughter- just, this time, it was through words rather than a clingy need to be held. It was startling to hear about a fight. Frustrating to hear that someone had been so personally damaged by Mother. But, right now, he needed to be the mature person and simply let Carja vent.

He was quiet for a moment, before offering to rub his thumbs along Carja's massive jaw. "Dread- your grandfather? He might not understand. Sometimes you can't make people understand, either, okay?" He looked to her in the eyes, eyebrows furrowed in sympathy. "He's, ah-" How could he put this lightly? "He may not realize their danger." Not exactly what he wanted to say (and he didn't want to call Dread stupid, because he wasn't)- but how could you tell someone that their grandfather was a little simple?

Attikias let out a small sigh, squatting to Carja's level. "There's others going to Ursa. To help get rid of the infection, that your family has." 'Probably has,' his mind supplied, but he ignored it as he continued. "Not everyone will help, not everyone can understand, but it's nobody's fault if they don't. They might have bigger issues, or they just won't get it, and it'll just cause grief to both of you if you try to force them to. I might just be a stranger, but, uh, there are always others to help you if they don't. You can't just stop with one try."

One grandfather rejecting a child wouldn't be the end of the world, but it would certainly feel like that to the child in question. Attikias understood- he'd never want to put his kids in the position this dragon was now in, and it only made his heart hurt more to see a stranger suffering as much as she was.

Carefully, Attikias leaned in his head, offering a gentle headbutt if Carja had been receptive to the previous touches.

@Carja

CARJA

The water hears and understands
The ice does not forgive

Carja easily fell into his arms, her head heavy but not as heavy as it first appeared. She couldn't have anything be too heavy if she were to get off the ground, after all. But every touch Attikias offered was accepted and reciprocated, either with tiny brushes of her muzzle against his hands and chest or a gentle hum deep in her chest.

"I just don't understand," she said unhappily, "I've gone to him before, at the fight. He was there and he saw everything! How... how could he not understand?"

She was slowly realizing that Dread was... more or less an idiot. She herself was a little dull sometimes, but for the most part she thought she was pretty intelligent, able to find ways to peacefully resolve things. Except for this time, but she reasoned that anyone would get mad if their grandpa didn't recognize them after all they'd been through.

Carja looked up as Attikias spoke about Ursa, about the people going there, and her eyes brightened just a bit, their natural glow returning, "Others? O-others who can help?"

Her voice, oddly squeaky for such a ferocious creature, heightened in volume and pitch, her tail thwacking the ground once, then twice. She bumped her head as gently as she could against Attikias, reciprocating the casual affection.

"... I-I know there were more who were infected," she said, "Um... I know a praying mantis went, I'm not sure who else managed to get past the white horse's defenses. There were a lot of people there."

She bit her lip and thought for a moment, tucking her paws under her chest, becoming an adorable loaf of dragon.

"I-I'm gonna help," she said, the last of her tears drying up, "I don't know how useful I'll be... I'm big and I can fight, but I don't know how to use that fungus spell that some of the others had."

Carja bumped her head into Attikias like a giant cat and purred softly, "Thank you. I feel better. And my name's Carja by the way, or uh... Voidwing Carja, if you want to be fancy."

@Attikias

As Carja put her weight into his hands, Attikias made to rub his knuckles along her jaw, comforting her through not just words alone. "Sometimes people just won't. Even if you think they should, especially with him. He's-" Might as well just say it. With a sigh, he finished off his thought with, "a little simple." His lips drew thin as he shrugged into Carja, continuing to pet her.

He pulled back to return eye contact with Carja as she moved her head up, offering a warm smile. "There's always others. Not just with Ursa, but with other things, things even your family might not know the answers to." A thumb raised to rub over the dragon's cheekbone, even as he barely managed to not stumble from the nudge.

He'd let her talk, let her think, as he sat down fully to rest her head in his lap. "There might be a lot more. I hope not, but this way we could help prevent even more hurt like the kind you're going through." He kept on petting her as she loafed, scooting in just a tad bit closer.

Even if he wasn't a recruiter of sorts, it felt good to give someone lost a purpose. Maybe she could free her family this way, or give herself some closure- anything would help, wouldn't it? "There's going to be a deer- not Astraea- teaching some others about the spells in Orion in a couple of weeks. Master Vargas'll be involved, too." He leaned his head into hers as she bumped into him again.

"You're welcome." He pulled back again and smiled to Carja, his tail slowly drifting from side to side. "I'm Attikias. Attikias Elenya, if you want to be fancy, or Attik if you really don't." He gave a short snort at his own joke.

"I have a place you can stay while we wait, too, over at my camp." He nudged his head in the general direction of it. "It- might be a bit small for you, but there's plenty of clearings nearby. I can work on some armor, too, if you think you'll need it." If he could fit it into his schedule, at least. He still had some arrows to fletch and some leather armor for himself to craft.

@Carja

CARJA

The water hears and understands
The ice does not forgive

Carja was careful of her horns, not wanting to poke the elf accidentally. She pouted a bit at his insult, but there was really no other way to put it.

"... I have some friends," she mumbled, "The Voidcrawlers. I think it's a wonderful group, and we embrace Chaos without like... the murder-y parts? We're pacifists, though some of us, like our Voidmother and Voidseer, have become corrupted so that they can be closer to the void and chaos. I think that they'd be helpful, at least for backup, some to fight, some to try and evacuate those we can save."

She smiled up at Attikias with a dopey grin, her fangs long and sharp, like razors, "I'll learn what I can, and bring my fellows with me. Thank you, Attikias."

Carja was snuggly for anyone, but especially for a dragon. She leaned into every touch, pressed her head into Attikias' chest. She really just hoped she could find someone her size to snuggle with someday, or even better, find Svartis. Hehe, Sfartis.

"You have a camp?", she asked, then her eyes sparkled, "You can make me armor?!"

Carja rapidly stood and shook her head out, tail whipping out and accidentally toppling a tree in her excitement, causing her to turn and try to fix it before quickly giving up and turning back to Attikias, a sheepish grin on her face.

"What kind of things do you do?", she asked, "What kind of things do you craft, I mean?"

@Attikias

The mention of Chaos struck some string of thought in Attikias's mind, but it seemed to be too loose to connect to anything. He frowned, breifly- he should be able to recognize it, it seemed, but instead he was grasping for straws.

For how social he was, he did seem to live a sheltered life. Void, chaos, and corruption, all sounded like negative things, but so did a lot of other things that were eventually necessary. Take hunting, for example, or leather, or, sometimes, just surviving. The elf tilted his head just slightly as Carja put out a plan. "I'm hoping we won't have to fight too much. Go in, get people out, then just safely take out the fungus from a distance. It's a fungus, no matter how magical- we'll be able to get through it."

He gave a smile to her in return, eyes shutting briefly as he let out an amused huff. "Hey, it's no problem. I wouldn't want to make you guys fight if you didn't want to, though, y'know? I'm sure we'd need some medics, some people to help out those we save from Mother who don't need to fight." He mulled for a moment as she pressed her head into him again. Like he said, they'd get through it.

It seemed his words got her excited, though. Backing up quickly to let her stand, he watched her awkwardly try and fix a poor tree, laughing with a grin all the meanwhile. "Yeah- leather armor, it won't be very thick, but it's a bit more protection against stuff. I'm still working on some for me- I dunno how much I could make for someone so big, but I could try?" Still seated, he peered up at her full size, folding his hands together.

"I craft- or, uh, usually woodwork. I have some tools and weapons and stuff that I keep sharp, and I make clothes for me and my family." He stood here, wiping off his pants and holding out his bag for evidence. "I have a friend who works with metals, too, and I need to actually go take a friend to her eventually- I'm hoping she'll help with the Mother situation, too. Uh- Mother's the infection," he added quickly. "Here. This way." He stepped off in the direction of his camp, trying to choose a more broad path for Carja.

He turned partway through his chosen direction, pausing. "Uhh- can you fit through here? If you can't um, it might not be a hard camp to miss. It's kind of towards the Eyes, got a bit of a garden and a firepit and hut and stuff."

Carja could fit, but the forest may not like it.

@Carja

CARJA

The water hears and understands
The ice does not forgive

Carja trotted after Attikias and quickly found an obstacle. Trees, her worst enemy. She backed up and tried to find a way around, eyes narrowing.

"Fungus burns, right?", she said, "If we end up finding the source of it, then... we can just set it on fire!"

She didn't want to fight either, but she would if that's what was needed. And she did have a little bit of fire, she just needed to harness it a bit better.

"Um, if you need a lot of leather- that's animal skins, right? I can hunt them for you," she said, "I can bring in ten deer a day if I try, but three lasts me a few days if I nap a lot."

Failing to find a way through that wouldn't break something, she instead tried to just... ease her way through. Being big had its perks, until you had to walk through a forest.

Carja grunted as she tried to squeeze through a couple of thicker trees, kicking her legs and getting her ribs through before the rest of her fell after her, making her squawk and tumble to the ground in a heap. She poked her head from underneath, thankful she was flexible.

"... So this is fun," she said, picking herself up and shaking leaves off of herself, "Is your camp close? Is there anyone else there?"

@Attikias

"It should burn," Attikias confirmed, watching for Carja before continuing on. "And if our magic gets disabled, I can make fire by itself." His hands came up like a parking director, pointing to the right when it seemed like she was about to get stuck. "Yeah, animal skin. It might take a lot, but- don't overhunt. I don't wanna ruin the ecosystem," he offered with another slight (yet, a bit more awkward) laugh.

"'Sides, I'd need to make a lot more racks if you got that many a day. It takes a few days, anyways, to get something even workable, and I might have enough ready to harden for the more vital areas. Uh- maybe something to sit on or carry people with would be best, if you wanted to take people to and from the fight?" He looked over Carja, frowning again as she struggled through the woods. "I dunno how much I'll have left over."

She was still stuck. Placing his hands on his hips, Attikias judged the canopy, staring straight up. "Do you think you could fly? There's a pathway from the Eyes, if it ends up that you can't really land at the camp itself."

He huffed out a short laugh. "It's not that far, at least. I've got my daughters there now- Vivilene and Thalia, but other people come and go." A hand drifted up to tug at an earlobe in thought. "We don't usually get large visitors, though. I know you'll fit! Just, I'll need to move some stuff."

He continued to watch, hands still over his hips, as he tried to judge a better pathway for his new friend.

@Carja