Bone gently interjected, here, doing her best to translate her father's loud ramblings.

"Ah, he--hoards things, things he likes to look at. He always has--right Dad? You said you had shiny stones, back in Fornax, when you were a hatchling?" She looked to him; the black dragon nodded, she nodded back, and then she continued in addressing Charon. "And the markings are, uh, paint, or dye I think it's called. I've seen a few with it around; maybe we can look for someone who can do it, if you ever want some for yourself. I've not had any done but I think it can come in a lot of different colors."

She eyed the hole, again. "Also, uh--if you ever decide to get really hurt to go in your stone, I don't think I'm the one to do that. Fire--hurts," she explained, with a wince.

But--she wanted to keep a conversation flowing, to make sure that the meeting went well, and to do that she'd need to sort of bounce Dread's loud matter-of-factness into something like an actual invitation to speak, something Charon could respond to. Maybe if she could find them some sort of common ground to bond over-? She wasn't sure, but she thought about it, for a moment, then looked to Dread. "So, Charon's got a really cool way of hunting. I think--you mentioned it, but do you want to tell him more, maybe? I think he'd be interested," she added, glancing hopefully to Charon.

@Charon

CHARON
The very mountains whisper your name...

Charon looked between Dread and Bone, following both as best as he could. So Dread was magically dyed, had a hoard of shiny things, and Charon was also half-deaf from Dread shouting right at him-

”Right!”, he shouted, trying to stop his ears from ringing, ”So because I can't fly I burrow beneath the snow instead. Sometimes I come across ice worms so I have to avoid them, but I'll bury myself beneath the snow and wait for a deer or something to walk by. When its back is turned I jump out and catch it before dragging it back in. It's really easy.”

He turned to a soft bit of sand and started digging, tearing up the ground with his powerful mandibles. He then burrowed into the hole he'd made and shook his tail around, doslodging the sand and covering himself before he nestled himself beneath, effectively disappearing except for his nostrils. He was a little bit stuck but he didn't think it would take too much effort to get out, so he lay there, waiting for a reaction.

@Dread

Dread watched as Charon started digging, rapidly chewing through the sand. That seemed like it would taste disgusting--but it looked surprisingly effective. He wondered, idly, how long it would take before the worm-dragon hit the water beneath the sand; it would probably be nice and cool under there, he thought. He himself looked down, pondering, and made a sort of halfhearted few scrapes with the wrist-joint of his wing, rocking his weight to the other one to compensate--but all he could do was a shallow toss of grains. It would have taken him hours to dig himself in the way Charon had done.

He looked up, squinting, examining Charon's position and considering those tactics. "YOU SHOULD PUT SOMETHING DOWN FIRST," he suggested, fins along his neck raising slightly as he concentrated. "LIKE... BERRIES OR LEAVES, LIKE BAIT. I BET THEY WOULD COME FASTER THEN." It seemed to him like it'd be an improvement in the reliability of those tactics--maybe in time spent, too. He was wondering if there were places, like his fissure, that he could make or use for such things himself; he was imagining what it might be like to try it. He could probably just snap a section of land open, and then nestle and and sort of... wriggle around, until the sand covered him back up. But it seemed to him that it'd be less efficient than just sweeping down to snatch up anything he spotted while soaring around.

Then again, Charon couldn't fly, right? Nostrils flared in thought, and he jumped topics without warning, based only on his own train of thought. "IF YOU WANT WINGS, THERE'S SOME WHO CAN FLY WITH MAGIC. MAGIC WINGS," he explained, loudly. "THERE'S A FAT LIZARD IN THE SWAMP WHO CAN DO THAT." He remembered it, from the fight with Mother, in Cetus--the poorly-named alligator trying to keep up with him, and mostly succeeding, magic wings keeping it aloft. He thought he'd seen others do that, too, but he didn't know (or need) the magic himself, nor did he know quite where it had come from.

And then, as if to be polite (but also with practicality in mind) he added, "THAT HUNTING LOOKS LIKE IT WORKS THOUGH. ARE YOU HUNGRY NOW?" He didn't mind snagging something from the sky, if his guest--family?--wanted something to eat. Dread imagined it'd be awhile before something just happened along, out here.

Bone simply watched, for the most part, her mind more and more in a sort of contented autopilot. They were talking; they were genuinely conversing, and that was good. She herself was growing faintly drowsy (in a pleasant way) with the heat and light across her eyelids and sinking into her scales, and with that pleasant breeze across her body.

"You've seen how we hunt. And Blight hunts by fishing, he skims the water and grabs fish near the top."

It didn't add much--it wasn't anything to think about, just a sort of interested observation on their varied hunting methods and habits. It was more of a brief comment made as if to show that she was still there, and still engaged with them.

@Charon

CHARON
The very mountains whisper your name...

Charon poked his head out and snorted sand out of his nostrils, shaking his head out to get it all out of his quills.

”I burrow next to where the animals travel,” he said, ”Next to water or near places they eat. If they don't come for a while then I take the time to nap. It is very comfortable under the snow.”

Charon dug himself out, wriggling and struggling under the heavier weight of sand, used to lighter, fluffier snow. He managing to get up and shook himself off violently, disgruntled at the feeling of sand in his scales. Now that was uncomfortable.

”I don't do magic,” he said with a gentle frown, ”I never got the hang of it, and I don't think I will.”

He contemplated his hunger and shrugged. He was always hungry, being an opportunistic feeder. Anything that came along, he ate, so he wouldn't turn down a meal if it walked in front of him.

”I could eat,” is what he said, though, ”We could hunt together, perhaps. If we head for the trees I could lay in wait somewhere and you scare a herd towards me. I'm certain we could easily catch something that way.”

It would make him feel a bit better about Dread getting food for him, too.

@Dread

Naps? Beneath the snow? Dread shuddered at the very thought. He hated the cold, and he couldn't imagine going to sleep beneath a blanket of fluffy ice.

The idea for hunting, however, was a good one, and he at once brightened, going from flattened fins (the closest his draconic form could manage to a grimace) to an arch-necked, upright posture, eyes bright with interest. "THAT IS A GOOD IDEA!" he boomed. "DO YOU WANT TO HIDE IN THE HOLE? OR SOMEWHERE ELSE?" He paused, then, flameglow eyes blinking. Neurons made some rare connection, a spark of inspiration striking him. "SCARE THINGS INTO HOLES I ALREADY MADE. USUALLY I JUST BITE THEM OR BURN THEM," he added, with something like a dragon shrug.

"PICK A PLACE! I WILL CHASE THINGS," he agreed again, and then turned, waddling into a bounding, leaping run, then launching skyward with a thwap and woosh of wing-leather. Again the light shone through dark hide, shining the wings a rich red-brown; again he lifted higher on warm updrafts with only a flap or two to carry him.

Bone watched with amusement as Dread latched onto the idea, immediately taking flight without any further discussion. She glanced sidelong at Charon.

"...I think you made an impression on him," she said, good-naturedly. "I wanted to say, uh--if you have trouble with magic, and you want to try and learn, I can try and teach you a little. No pressure, or anything, but it can be useful," she added.

"Maybe Svartis can help? Mom's magic was frost, and so is his. Maybe you just need someone with the same magic to help you out. If you want to," she added, as if to say "no pressure."

Bone didn't take off, just yet, either; she waited for Charon to find a spot to hide.

"I'll come with you, and once you're hidden I'll help Dad chase. I don't know if it'll work--seeing things through the trees here from above is just about impossible, but maybe if we just make a lot of noise," she added. "But if you are hungry and it doesn't work, it's easy enough to catch fish here." A pause, a sidelong glance--"Have you ever eaten fish?" Bone asked, curious.

@Charon

CHARON
The very mountains whisper your name...

Charon shifted from leg to leg, his tail swishing behind him as Dread's excitement quickly became contagious.

”I'll find a place!”, he called out after Dread, and was about to set off before Bone spoke, turning to face her.

”I don't have frost magic,” he said with a frown, ”The only thing I can really do is... push, I suppose.”

Charon demonstrated, letting out a snort of air to channel the magic. It shoved forward, sending sand flying ahead of him and away from Bone. With another shrug he looked at her with a helpless sort of look.

”But uh... I'm just not interested, I guess,” he said, ”I dunno, it's cool and all but I prefer to just... beat things up.”

He laughed softly and stretched, listening as she spoke of the plan, nodding along absentmindedly.

”We can try, but uh... what's a fish?”, he asked, looking over, ”Mom only ever brought me like... deer and stuff. And rabbits when I was smaller.”

@Bone

Dread gave them time to pick a spot, in the meantime canvassing the forest. It was hard to see through the leaves, true, but he had magic for that; the heat sense that would let him parse heartbeats from between the trees.

He picked up on a few, below--a herd of deer, maybe. Wingbeats turned him, his body angling into a curve. He circled once, raising higher along an updraft, then turned to soar up over the mountains. He waited for some sign that the other two were ready; now that he'd spotted his prey, he only had to wait for a signal.

Bone found the lack of interest in magic a little sad; if only because she found it wondrous, and couldn't imagine life without its color. Being able to touch something and see its past, or to gaze into the future, or ignite something with flaming breath, was all wonderful--but if it wasn't for Charon, then it wasn't for Charon.

She didn't comment on it. In part because it wasn't her place; in part because he'd just admitted he had no idea what fish were

"Fish!?" she said, surprised; "You don't know what they are, even?" Bone blinked, head curved back some, and then glanced off at Dread--he was circling, now, probably waiting for them.

"Shit, come on--let's go find a spot," she said, and started off at a thunderous, shuffling trot. "Fish are Lessers, uhh--they live in water. Underwater. They're edible, at least all the ones I've had, and they're... they have scales, fins, no legs. The silvery ones--you've never seen them?" she asked, glancing at Charon sidelong.

@Charon