CARJA

The water hears and understands
The ice does not forgive

Carja perked up, "Carry people? Like... they ride me? Cool!"

She suddenly reached out a giant hand, holding it out with her palm upwards, "Can we try it? Flying is super fun!! I've carried my siblings before, and my friend, a snail, but maybe it'll be more comfortable for you? Just sit between my shoulders between my spikes! When we get up there, though, being vertical is a lot harder than when I fly straight."

She wiggled excitedly, both at the prospect of seeing new people and at the fact that she could have a partner! She put her wing claws on the ground and used them as her forelegs instead. It was handy learning from a wyvern, she was more mobile than a lot of Gembound because she could have her hands free.

"I want to meet your children," she said, "Are they nice?"

The dragon sat there in thought, wondering what they looked like. Did they have two legs too? Did they stand upright? Did they have hands and flat faces and tails?

"You're pretty," she said suddenly, and just... gestured at him, "You're just- I like your tail and your hair and I like your hugs! You're pretty!"

Carja smiled sweetly, tail lashing behind her gently.

@Attikias

"Sure!" Admittedly, Attikias had never been carried- his children had never tried it with him, and not many beings would probably want to. Would it be nice?

Looks like he could try now, anyways. Hesitantly, his hand came forward to place in her's. Even with its callousness, it was soft, comparatively, without the shielding of scales across the backs of them. He felt... Small. Blinking, he stepped forward as he considered how to approach this.

Right. He got the idea. Pulling down, he tugged himself up onto Carja, using her hand as a stepping stool to clamber across her back. At first, he nearly sat on one of the spikes- but soon he figured out where she was talking about. He could fit- would be stay on? It'd be much easier with something to hold onto. Already, his mind was working on this- if they were going to do this again for the battle, then he'd definitely need something to put himself on.

Plus, he'd never had his legs this wide before. It felt weird. He settled in, worriedly, and placed his palms on her scales, looking over her back as he equal parts planned out a saddle and worried about this current flight.

He cleared his throat. "I've never flown before," he spoke softly, tail curling in close to himself. "Should I lay down? I don't know- uh- if sitting up will bother with it." He shuffled again, unable to find a place that was truly comfortable yet.

He gave it up when his family was brought up. The elf's head came to look at her's, issue forgotten, with wide eyes and a thinking expression. "They're sweet, yeah. I have a few- Asteri, Hunter, that aren't around, but Thalia and Vivilene still live with me. They both kind of have my top half." Kind of, but not exactly the same. Kind of weird how a lot of them did, though.

He returned to shuffling about, bringing up his knees a little as he folded in his legs. The compliment threw him off guard, though- he paused. He'd never heard one outside of his family. That bird had called him weird- he'd always called himself weird. Wait, Astraea had complimented him, right? He made a soft, confused noise in the back of his neck, then laughed and smiled humbly.

"Oh- uh, I'm just- Thank you, I guess." What else could he say? "I, uh, you're nice too. Your scales are nice, and your wings are... Nice?" Did he just say nice too much? He gave an awkward shrug, clearly lost in how to compliment people other than thinking about how he'd make a carving of them later.

Good going, twinkbo.

@Carja

CARJA

The water hears and understands
The ice does not forgive

Carja kept as still as possible as he got on, the gap between her spikes there big enough that he could fit, "You can hang onto my spikes, they're not sharp I think."

They were like her horns, to deter and as an extra bit of armor. She started to climb one of the trees, easing her way through the canopy until her head popped up. She perched on the top of a tree, the poor thing creaking from the weight, her wings spreading out to feel the air atop the trees.

"Sitting up doesn't bother me too much," she said, "I just have to adjust for weight as if I were carrying someone. Just hang on!"

Slowly, she raised her wings, muscles tensing, head lowering, coiled up like a spring. She pushed herself off the tree and caught the wind easily, pushing herself forward with a few heavy strokes. Her muscles twitched and fidgeted under her thick hide, layered with dozens of diamond scales, small, but quite hard. They were smooth, too, like a snake's scales, and flexible enough that she could move freely without issue.

"Are you okay up there? I tried to be as smooth as possible," she asked, head swiveling to face Attikias, her wings flapping gently as she turned back around, her head constantly moving, either to peer at something or to just look around.

Carja couldn't help but grin, her heart fluttering in her chest, so excited that she just couldn't help but let out an excited giggle, claws clenching and unclenching as she sped up just a bit.

"I-I just love this," she said after a few seconds, "Oh gosh, flying's just so fun!! You can see everything and nothing can touch you up here, you know?"

Attikias probably didn't know, but that was fine.

@Attikias

Attikias readjusted once more, placing his hands on the spikes. They weren't sharp, just like she said, but they still looked uncomfortable to sit on. Would it be uncomfortable for her if he held onto them? No- she offered, it must not be that bad.

"'Kay, I think I'm ready." Ready as he'd ever be, at least. Would it be easier to lift off from the clearing? No, they were fine, probably- Attikias ducked down, anyways, squinting instinctively just in case an errant branch came his way.

Hang on would be an understatement. He gripped her back life it was a lifeline, eyes going wide as he practically white-knuckled the spine in front of him. He'd glanced down- oh dear, that's a way to fall. Is this what leaves felt like all the time? It... It wasn't half bad, actually.

It was a weird mix of deeply settling fear and pure exhilaration that took over Attikias's senses. He'd never been this high up, and it was new, and, admittedly, pretty cool.

And then they were off. The motion caught him off-guard, and he rocked slightly back as momentum nearly took over. No, he got this. He was going to get this. His heart beat strongly with adrenaline as the wind flowed over him like he'd never felt it before, eyes shutting and head raising as he just took it all in. He glanced down as he felt a shift, though, and eventually just watched the canopy pass by under them like he was a kid again.

He turned to Carja when she looked to him. "It's great!" He had to bring his voice up louder to shout over the wind, but it was great- obvious by the wide grin that'd glued itself to his face. His hands gripped onto her spine just slightly more as the wind kicked up speed. "Why would you ever land? This is perfect!" He let out a freeing laugh, hesitantly bringing up his arms out to his sides to just feel the wind on them.

When he looked down, though, they had just passed the camp. "Wait, there!" One hand returned to his grip and the other pointed down to their left, to a clearing of sandy dirt and scattered items.

@Carja

CARJA

The water hears and understands
The ice does not forgive

Carja grumbled happily and started to purr like a cat, flapping her wings to get a little bit higher before turning to peer at the clearing.

"I'd never come down if I didn't have to eat," she admitted, "But sometimes my wings get tired, but that's only after a few days."

Her tail turned before her wings did, the rudder at the end helping her steer, her wings flapping as she slowed down drastically, her limbs and tail hanging down as she spread her claws and very slowly touched down. Folding her wings up, she reached her head under one to groom for a moment before laying down on her belly and putting her head down so Attikias could get off.

"That was fun!", she said, "I've never been able to share something like that before! We should go flying more..."

After a moment she blinked before turning her head to poke at his legs with her nose, concerned, "Wait wait- check your pants!! I'm sharp!"

Carja flopped her tail down and licked at her lips, wiggling gently. They'd definitely need a saddle, she'd nearly forgotten that her scales could be sharp. She'd just shed a few days prior, so they had hardened into diamonds already. A few days of flying and rolling around in sand would dull them again, but that would be an issue until then.

@Attikias

Part of Attikias regretted pointing out the camp. He didn't want to land, even as his legs began to grow uncomfortable and as he shuffled on her back. He wanted to touch the ceiling, to fly higher, to find the highest place he could and just exist there. That would be perfect. He felt like he could even touch it if he just raised his hand a little bit higher.

But it would be better to get back to work. Slowly, muddling thoughts crept in as he peered down and Carja banked down to the camp. He held on tight at the momentum of her stopping. A few things went utterly flying as her wings flapped- just some loose piles, really, at least. Most of his stuff had been on lockdown after a few invasive monsters tried to break a lot of his urns.

He made to slide off of her, hissing as a scale cut into him just as she warned him about his pants. "Shit-" He muttered under his breath, falling to the ground and feeling an acute papercut on his inner thigh through the tattering her scales left. The elf bent over and pressed his hand to the scratch. A thin trickle of red blood barely oozed out, and he sucked in through his teeth, muttering out a quicker "shit" again.

He'd have to get protection if they did this again. "Might need to get something for that if we do wanna keep flying," he spoke with a half-laugh, eyebrows furrowed as he stepped aside. "Anyways- welcome to uh. Camp Elenya? This place doesn't have a name, actually." His arms came up to gesture to everything, the haphazard hoarding of the place and the sleeping hut at the far end. "Thalia and Vivilene should be around here. Actually- Vivi might be at her garden. ...Don't tell her I told you about it. She likes to have her own private space, y'know?" There was a short nod to a somewhat concealed bath leading away from the camp.

"She doesn't talk much. Thalia might be a better talker- she likes to make music and stuff like me. She's a lot better than I am." Attikias chuckled as he stepped towards his workspace, carefully placing down a kirin-like statue that had fallen over in Carja's descent. "You'll know them when you see them. Vivilene's a little smaller- white hair, deer body. Or- well, like if a deer didn't have a neck and the upper half of me but wispier was there, instead. It's better than it sounds, I promise." He turned again, removing spear and bag and placing them beside one of the few logs around the firepit. "Thalia's darker, with kind of black deer legs and another me top half. It's kind of a pattern, I think? Angela's the same, with wings and talons but just with my legs and the rest of me, and Hunter's like Fisher but on his back legs and kinda standing like me. And hair."

He glanced up to the hut, checking its integrity. Why did they always have hair? Granted, they might look a little weird if they were bald, but weren't a lot of creatures bald? Hm. Whatever, he wasn't here to worry about the semantics of how or why certain people were built certain ways.

There, he was satisfied. Stepping back with his hands on his hips, Attikias turned to Carja with a smile. "So, how do you like it? Water's that way-" and here he pointed to a more used pathway "-and there should be enough space for you to sleep if I move the urns or stash or something. Oh- jerky's in the urns, too. And the firepit- I tend to cook there, though I think you'd probably out-eat all three of us if given the chance."

Too bad they couldn't store deer meat outside of jerky. It felt like kind of a shoddy thing to feed someone bigger than him, but he would be worth the offer.

@Carja

She immediately fretted at the cut, ”Oh no- I'm so sorry!! I should have told you beforehand...”

The dragon shuffled and ducked her head in shame, her tail knocking over an urn, causing her to quickly grab it and right it before it fell. She'd have to be careful of her appendages.

Carja listened to his rambling carefully, making note of everyone's appearance and to not mention that he told her about Vivilene's garden. She was careful where she stepped and sat down as carefully as she could, head lowered to Attikias' level. She watched him go about the camp, her eyes slowly leaving his figure as she sniffed at the hut.

She poked her nose inside to peer in, pulling her head back and looking around at everything else. It was so... homey.

”I love it,” she said, a grin spreading across her face, ”I'll take off from and land in the trees so I don't knock everything over from now on. And you don't have to feed me! I can hunt- and I ate a few days ago, so I'm alright for a few more.”

Carja only needed to eat every few days, and the bigger the meal, the longer she lasted.

”Thank you,” she said gratefully, bumping her head against his front, ”I appreciate it.”

The dragon carefully picked her way around camp for a few more minutes, tail held high and wings tight against her body. She poked around curiously, head tilted to one side, sniffing and inspecting everything she came across.

”Attikias?”, she asked, ”I'm sorry about your legs.”

Carja looked over and snorted, mist flaring up in front of her as she held out a hand, palm turned up. Maybe she could help somehow... ice helped swelling, right? The failed spell over made her breath fog up more, her face contorting into a pout. Stupid magic, it never listened when she needed it to.

@Attikias

Attikias's head came up, and he only laughed a little bit more. "What? No, it's fine, it's just a little cut." He wiped away at it again with a less than appropriate stance, if he wasn't some man who lived with literally talking animals. "I've had worse. Almost broke my arm, once, when a deer actually tried to fight me. And it's not like this'll scar or anything." He stayed bent over, inspecting himself, as the sound of an urn toppling sounded above him.

His head shot up like an overprotective mother. "Careful-" he gently began, before realizing that she can't really control her own size, anyways. He looked between her and the urns, then stepped closer, his hands out. "I'll move those so you can have some room." He needed to reorganize, anyways, since everything was almost always a mess- and there were still shards to clean up...

As she inspected the hut, he moved the urns a bit closer to the tree-line and under the secondary roof, sweeping away shards or just chucking them into the jungle if they were big enough. "I don't mind knocking down some trees with your help? I could use the wood for some other stuff," he spoke idly, scratching at his neck with a free hand.

He paused at the idea of not feeding her, though. What kind of grill dad would he be if he didn't feed his guests? "Nono- I'm gonna cook for you. At least a little something. Trust me, once you've had some venison and uh- alcohol fruit? You'll not want to eat anything else." He paused, here, turning to Carja after setting down the jar in his hand. "Actually- I don't have a name for it. I dunno. Tastes good, though- but, uh, it does make you drunk." Why did he partially understand alcohol? He didn't know that, either, just knowing that apparently drunk is associated with the word.

He continued on his busy-bodying, returning to the hut to retie open a flap before being interrupted by Carja's bump. The elf smiled to her in a warm response. It was a small gesture, but it gave him a giddy sort of feeling as he stroked along the scales of her forehead. "Hey, anything for a friend, right?" A few more pats, and he was off to continue placing things back in order.

He glanced to Carja with a small "hm?" when his name was spoken again. The cut? "I'll be fine," he assured, giving her another smile and a dip of his head. He waved his hand once dismissively, but he did step forward as she held up her hand.

Was she trying magic? His face tightened as he looked to watch, taking in the lack of anything that appeared other than a fog. Must've been a failed magic, then. He took her hand in both of his and pulled it down to keep her attention. "Hey. I'll be fine, I promise. It'll scab over and be gone in like, two days."

It still stung, and he was still gently dabbing at it every so often with a couple of fingers to drag away the extra blood, but it would go away. Eventually.

@Carja

Carja blinked, ”The deer fought back? I've only ever seen them run... though, to be fair, I'm probably a lot scarier in terms of size.”

The dragon curled her tail under herself and handed over the urn she carried before lifting up another to help move them, wanting to assist in some way. She walked on her wings rather than her front feet so she could carry the urns, and peered over at a few trees near the edge of the clearing.

”Oh I could do that,” she said, ”I mean I almost did that just trying to land... a bit more room would be nice.”

Carja set the urn she carried down, making sure it was steady before peering back at Attikias, her hands held up to her chest as if she were a meerkat, ”Oh? Now I'm interested... I've seen bees get drunk off of rotten fruit and stumble around, I don't think it'll be as much fun with me stumbling around, though. I might break something. Somethings.”

She shrugged gently and continued to move things, wanting to get as much out of the way before she started toppling trees. Hopefully nothing lived in them, she'd feel horrible if she dehomed a family of catsquirrels.

”I could go and catch a deer once the trees are knocked down,” she said, ”It'll be easy, the jungle deer like to group up by the streams and I can swoop in from above and catch one. I'll try not to leave too many teeth marks in it.”

@Attikias

"Ehh, I think I came upon a stag that decided I'd cornered it too much and that it wanted to break my spear. It's not very easy for me to actually fight without my weapons and stuff." The excuse seemed poor, but Attikias held humor in his tone at it, smiling. "I was pretty young, too. I'm about, uh-" He thought. "Sixteen cycles? Seventeen? Huh. But, uh, must've been when I was about five."

He paused, blinking as he thought about this. Damn, now he felt kind of old. Part of him also felt strikingly unqualified to have kids, but, oh well. He liked them, he was good at raising them, and so he continued on with what he was doing.

Letting go of Carja, Attikias joined her in moving the rest of the urns. "Here, put that one close to the hut," he spoke gently at one she was holding, and giving her other instructions as they worked on the camp.

He looked to the trees in thought. "I've been wanting a bit more room, anyways. And the wood'll help in a few projects- might need it to make a saddle, too." His voice began to trail as he voiced his thinking patterns out loud. "Maybe armor? I could try to make a dye out of some, but it might splinter... Maybe a better hut..?"

The elf shook his head. Carja had straightened at the prospect of a meal, and he returned to smiling, laughing once through his nose. "If we have a bit more room, you probably won't break anything anyways. I don't really get active after eating it, anyways, and it kind of cooks out when it's heated up with the deer. I wouldn't want my kids to eat the actual fruit." He stepped back, hands on his hips as he looked over the trees.

"Maybe we can clear out around that pathway? It leads to the Eyes." He pointed to the opposite end of the camp, to a minorly unused pathway that had begun to grow back over. He hadn't been down it in a while- at least, not all the way, and not as much as he'd like.

If only he knew what laid at the end of it.

Anyways, she'd offered for deer (again), and Attikias tilted his head gently. "Are you hungry for one? I have some jerky I was gonna have tonight, with spine-apples or something. We could make it a feast for the whole family." His fingers drummed on his hip as he continued to watch, thinking. "Later, though. I think the tree's're clear enough- let me get my axe..."

The final word was drawn out as he navigated towards his weapon stash, withdrawing a long-hilted tabar battle-axe. Of course, everything had to be a weapon with him. Its blade was curved, and it was obviously dulled and rusted, with a pole nearly the length of his arm. "You might have an easier time if I start them off with this. We could use the stumps for something- maybe I could move the firepit closer to the edge so we can have a bit more of a clear space in the center?" That might work.

Swinging the weapon over his non-gemmed shoulder, Attikias approached the area that Carja was working at. He looked up to her. This would work, right? He gave a soft shrug without any voicing to his thoughts.

@Carja