Time to learn him something...

[zhilbar]

Warily entering the Nexus just long enough for Naoko to lead him over to the dimensional locator, he dropped in a scale and got the coordinates. The girl wanted to be the one to input them, but he'd do it himself.. Can't let the vassals do everything, right

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[zhilbar]

He really should be paying more attention to her, but at the moment he's just making sure not to hit her with tail as they go down the tunnel. Keeps trying to convince himself that this is all wrong, he must have been mistaken, this isn't home at all.. And when he turns into a cavern littered with goblin courses he can ALMOST manage it. Except the curve looked so familiar..

Going a little bit further, nearer to his own clutch's teaching chamber, he tries rationalizing, figuring what could be wrong with his sense of recognition, "Just wanting it to be more righ- Dear BAHAMUT!"

Older!Zhil is going to be so embarrassed about that one.

But still, big giant glowing puddle of lava where the floor should be! Sure, this MIGHT be the teaching chamber, but it's lacking in ANY of the accoutrements or furnishings thereby! And again, LAVA! This obviously can't be..

And then his eyes are drawn with sick certainty upward to a crude little carving in the side of the wall, illuminated by the ruddy rocklight. Little more than a stick figure dragonlet dressed funny and with runes that roughly translated to 'Rawr! I be FIRECLAW, an' I hateses EVERYBUDY 4EVAR!'

The sad part is, his artistic skills didn't improve at ALL for the first eight thousand years!

[mistressnaoko]

Naoko stayed close to Zhilbar, even as they approached the room. The heat of the lava-filled room forced her to stay back though. She could feel the heat and the desolation from her lover though... Even if he was not aware of it. Staying back from him as he went further, she looked around the tunnel, feeling dwarf-sized but more interested in the various drawings and runes on the walls.

((This is my FIFTH time trying to post this! Sorry!))

[zhilbar]

Slowly, he lifted a paw and put it over the 'art.' "I just carved that last week.." He sounded so lost.

Zhil wandered aimlessly for a few more moments, looking at the various claw-scribblings and letting it sink in; it was a lot more of the same, as one might expect of a place where hatchlings were taught. While he's not exactly prepared to go lava-dipping QUITE this soon in his life, the heat-haze emanations rising off from it didn't really mean anything besides where the thermal had been coming from..

And things clicked just a tiny bit in his mind. "The Council Cave. If there's anything, ANY kind of message, it'd be there.. I have to know." He's probably more vulnerable right now than Naoko had ever seen him, and is just grasping at any straw he can think of!

Re: ((This is my FIFTH time trying to post this! Sorry!))

[mistressnaoko]

Naoko put her hand on Zhilbar's flank carefully, as to to reassure him. It pained her to see him so vulnerable, but at the same time it gave her the chance to see her lover in a different light. He was a child now, and seeing him move cautiously and carefully even at this age warmed her heart.

If she had met him when he was this age, she would not have given him a second notice, but this was different. She wondered if their child would grow to the same maturity, but contained an inner sigh. She could not bear his child... not unless she wanted to doom the child the same way her blood placed too many responsibilities on her.

[zhilbar]

The touch of her hand jerked him back out of La-La Land, reminding him that he wasn't the only person he had to worry about. Sure she was a grown-up, but she was TINYPEOPLE!

(He didn't really get that humanish creatures were fully capable of taking care of themselves until much, much later; at the moment he felt responsible for her well-being. He got her into this, he needed to get her out!)

"Miss, please get on. We've got a ways to go yet!" He may have tried to sound rather walled-off and closed up, but he just didn't know how to shut away his emotions yet. The trying (and failing) was blatantly clear, but she shouldn't be troubled by his mental turmoil!

((Icon and I be pressing enter happy))

[mistressnaoko]

Naoko got on the dragonling, really worried now but not showing it. She hugged him as tight as she could, which was not very tight as he was really huge, but she did hope the message got across. She trusted him.

"Deep breaths, dear one. We'll get through this," she climbed on and braced herself as she had done so earlier.

((Forgive me for absurd amounts of tardy? :D?))

[zhilbar]

The hug DID help, actually. There were people who needed him, he had support and someone who cared... He wasn't in this alone.

And that helped far more than words could possibly say.

"All right, keep moving.. We'll be heading down to the valley floor next." He's already halfway out of the cave, wanting to leave those memories behind as fast as he could..

"Thank you, Miss Naoko." He isn't about to say for what, as they begin to spiral down.

Re: ((I'm just the same, sorry about that! :P))

[mistressnaoko]

"Welcome, dear one," Naoko said, not really knowing, but guessing. She hung on, as this promised to be a really fast trip.

((No worries. Also? *Stamps!*))

[zhilbar]

((Sometimes I really hate IE. -_-))

Not so much, actually. Some dragons were hatched with the knowledge of how to fly, and while Zhil wasn't quite that precocious in this field, he'd put some serious effort in!

Falling pretty much any distance without getting hurt was a given; it comes with having functional wings. Naoko's shifting weight and mass certainly made sure it was no cakewalk, but all the months of practice he'd put in helped him overcome that obstacle; it was a reasonably slow and uneventful trip down.

Right until this guy tried to tear off one wing in a flyby.

((I was expecting that -_-))

[mistressnaoko]

((Can't you use firefox or opera?))

Naoko hung on tightly to Zhilbar as they descended, bracing herself and letting the wind hit her in the face. It was warm, yet strangely comforting. Despite the precariousness of her seat, she was enjoying it. That was of course, till something hit Zhilbar, and she was nearly thrown off the dragon. Her grip on him was quite tight, but even so she lost her footing. For one heart-stopping moment, she was hanging on to him by just her fingernails.

To her credit, she didn't even let out a sigh. Naoko had been trained to be stealthy except during certain circumstances. This was not one of them. Instead, her eyes scanned for handholds. If there was an enemy attacking, she would not distract him, and would offer him a hand instead, albeit not from his back. It was better not to remind and distract him now that he had a passenger on his back.

((Well if you were expecting that, why did you do it? :P))

[zhilbar]

Zhil didn't know WHAT the hell just hit him; he'd never seen anything like that in his life! No time to think about it, though; had to get Miss Naoko to safety. The slow way wasn't cutting it, pull back toward the cliff there should be a ledge right.. there!

Too slow to float, and the dastard was coming back for another pass.. He'd have to try that trick that just never worked right for him! Partially furling the wing nearest the cliff, he slipped in that direction suddenly with a smooth shift.. Oh crap, the wing suddenly closed altogether! He was spinning and falling like mad!

((*Stamps!* ^^))

[mistressnaoko]

She jumped off as the wing suddenly furled. Her heart was in her throat as she grabbed the ledge and pull herself up with one hand. No time to think, had to help Zhilbar! As she began looking for him, something whizzed by her so fast she barely had time to blink.

She didn't think, just reacted. Her hand reached for one of her throwing daggers and she threw it at the thing following Zhilbar... who seemed to be spinning out of control.

((*How did I know that was going to happen..* -_-))

[zhilbar]

Zhil's tumble managed to get him out of harm's way once more; nothing works quite as well for evasive maneuvers as something you're not expecting yourself! Naoko's dagger flew straight and true at the demon- and then bounced off, drawing its attention. Mundane weapons just don't have the kick they need against an Outer Plane being!

Snarling, it goes into a dive.. Just in time to be caught by a gliding Zhilbar, and SLAMMED into the cliff face! Its head disappeared in an inferno of dragonfire as the hatchling drew on what he HAD learned in the egg, even as his lower claws raked down and disemboweled the creature.. Right before it literally got its head bitten off and spat away.

You do NOT mess with someone under a dragon's care, baby or no!

Discarding the twitching corpse, Zhilbar dug his claws into the cliff face and clumsily climbed over to Naoko's ledge, only now starting to feel the ache in his wing-joint and the slash along his flank he hadn't even realized was there. "I'm sorry, Miss Naoko.. I have no idea what that thing was or where it came from! Are you all right?" Tinypeople get scratches easily, don't they? Hopefully she didn't get hurt on the cliff..

Re: ((*How did I know that was going to happen..* -_-))

[mistressnaoko]

She nodded, sporting only a few dusty spots on her robe. Naoko was mostly unharmed, though there were one or two negligible scratches on her hands where she'd grabbed the ledge and pull herself up. She was more concerned over the wounds on Zhilbar though, her eyes full of concern and love. The way he had treated the corpse did not bother her in the slightest.

"I'm fine, dear one. Your wounds look grievous."

[zhilbar]

Okay, she's good, breathe out.

You know, that gash and his wing were really starting to hurt-brush it off, you don't have time to bleed! "It's nothing. Shall we-AH!"

The last part came from him trying to flare his wings to continue, only to realize 'Oh hey, this wing REALLY got wrenched by that demon! Walking is your FRIEND, Zhilbar.' As a result, it's currently being held close to his side in an effort not to stretch it again.

Some experiences don't need repeating.

[mistressnaoko]

Naoko saw the gash just a moment before Zhilbar cried out. Alarmed, she pulled the sash from her waist and held it tightly in her hand, carefully looking the wound over. With gentle hands, she picked out any small stones and cleaned the wound as best as she could with the sash. Once she did that, she looked up at Zhilbar.

"Dear one, this is going to sting."

Then uncorking the small water bottle she'd carried, she poured it over the wound, without warning him on purpose. While it wasn't deep, but it hurt. There was not a lot of blood, but the tendons were in a dangerous spot.