private Far from home. 1x1 with Illiad Easle

[Catpone Cerberus 23,426]

@Illiad Easle
 

It was a sunny late morning above the Everfree forest. There had been some rain during the night, so the forest floor was still a bit wet, but that didn't bother the ocean blue female dragon who climbed out of a small cave she had been sleeping in. She had arrived to the forest the previous day after a long flight from her homelands, and had been too exhausted to continue any longer, so she had taken over the first empty cave she could find and gone to sleep.

The blue dragoness yawned and stretched, breathing in the humid forest air, taking mental notes of the scents of animals that came with it, it was time to hunt. It didn't take long until she had caught a rabbit, but it wasn't even near enough to satisfy her after a long travel, so she went after the scent of a deer next. The deer was some distance away, and when she finally saw it, the deer unfortunately saw her too and took off running.

Not wanting to lose her meal, the blue dragoness ran after the deer, usually she would have flown after it, but she didn't know this forest well enough for that to do any good. She was staring to catch up to the deer when it suddenly made a sharp turn, and it was soon clear to the dragoness why it did, as she found herself falling downwards. She had ran off a cliff. It didn't worry her though, because while it was too small for her to stop the fall with her wings, she could just land on her legs unharmed.

She did exactly that, landing smoothly on the ground, but before she could do anything else, she felt something hit her  locking her right wing and back leg against the ground, followed by intense pain that made her cry out loudly, she hadn't realized she had broken off part of the cliff from above, and now that part was on top of her. She tried to lift the rocks and get herself free, but all that did was make the pain worse, so all she could do was to take the least painful position and wait, and though she had been taught for her whole life against it, she couldn't help but cry out for help.

 

OOC: 

 

 

[Illiad Easle 2,973]

@Catpone Cerberus

Ætheron was taking his time as he made his way along the overgrown trail through the Everfree forest, there hadn't been too many packages for him in Fillydelphia today, so he hadn't bothered with the cart instead carrying them on his back. Without the cart he could let the Fey magics guide his hooves as he walked, never tripping or getting caught in the foliage, which allowed him to think back to his life before he had fallen though that trapped portal that had sent him, and his party's gear, to this strange world.

In the end, he concluded, he was much happier here. While he worked like one, he wasn't treated like a pack horse. His friends treated him well, appreciated his company beyond the service he provided. Still, there was a small ache in his muscles, the desire for adventure that had first prompted him to leave his herd. It was then that he heard the cry of a startled deer, he turned, trying to track the sound of the deer as it fled from whatever predator pursued it. He drew his bow, getting an arrow ready as he moved through the forest, abandoning the path to follow the predator and prey as they ran.

The blue dragon would only have been trapped a minute or two when Ætheron came across her, looking over the collapsed hillside he saw how she was trapped, and herd her cries. While he didn't know exactly what she was saying, it was clear enough that she wasn't some animal, and that she was in pain. He quickly, but carefully, descended the hillside to where the dragon was trapped, he was surprised to see a dragon like her, she looked like the dragons he had read about back home, very unlike the dragons he had encountered here. As he looked over how she was trapped he chuckled to himself, "Looks like old wrinklebeard was right, I should have learned draconic." He moved to crouch by the dragon's face, hoping that maybe she could understand what he said, "Alright, I'm going to help you get unstuck, but don't try anything or I might just leave you here instead, okay?"

So long as the dragon did not act hostilely he would set about moving the rocks that pinned her down, taking care not to cause any more pain than was necessary to free her.

[Catpone Cerberus 23,426]

@Illiad Easle
The trapped dragoness went silent when she saw a creature coming down the hillside, instinctively trying to back up, which only led to her hurting herself more. When the newcomer got down, she tried threatening him, but she soon realized it didn't do much as her words didn't seem to register, which most likely meant he couldn't understand a word she said. 

When Ætheron came closer and crouched, the dragon again tried to pull herself free to get away from him, unsuccessfully of course, after which she seemingly braced herself for something, quietly repeating something that based on the tone of voice was a plea for mercy or something similar. When spoken to, the dragoness looked at Ætheron, bit confused by the friendly tone, something she hadn't expected to hear, she didn't have any idea what had been said of course, but it was enough to stop her from unleashing a wall of fire on him. 

This of course didn't mean she trusted him, as evidenced by her trying to get away from him the moment she was free, though that didn't go that great as she kinda just jumped into the air trying to take flight, only to let out a cry of pain and falling back to the ground. She got back up and turned towards Ætheron, slowly backing away until she found herself in a corner, it was obvious that she was terrified, and it most likely didn't help that she was injured, the wing and leg both being possibly broken as the dragoness held the wing in unusual position and limped. 

 

[Illiad Easle 2,973]

@Catpone Cerberus

Ætheron held his hands up in a placating gesture as he backed away in response to the dragon's fearful state, "Easy there, I'm not going to hurt you. Had I wanted to I would have done so already." He chuckled a bit, hoping it would make him seem less threatening. He lowered himself to the ground a short distance away, just far enough that he could jump up and run if the dragon was simply acting and decided to strike.

"It looks like you're injured, the fall you took wasn't good for you. Wouldn't be surprised if that fall was part of a trap set by the deer you were chasing." He thought about how he could bridge the gap between them, it was clear that this dragon was at least as intelligent as the manticores in this forest, maybe more. He spared a look into his side bag, keeping an eye on the dragon in case she tried to strike, and pulled out some prepared rabbit meat he had been saving for later. He held it up so she could see it, see if it would interest her, then he would toss it towards her so it would land about in the middle of the two of them. "No sense backing you into a corner, if we're going to get closer we'll let you do the moving, that way you only get as close as you're comfortable with. When you're close enough I can take a better look at your injuries."

[Catpone Cerberus 23,426]

@Illiad Easle
The dragoness didn't drop her guard even when Ætheron lowered himself, she did recognize his attempts to assure her even without understanding what he said, but acting nice didn't always mean you were nice, deception was a strong weapon after all. When the rabbit came to view, the dragon's hunger reminded of its existence, and she couldn't hide it, but she wouldn't step closer until the meat was tossed, and even then she hesitated for a while.

She moved step at a time, keeping her eyes on Ætheron  the whole time, being ready to either fight or back off if he tried anything. Assuming she got to the food without problem, she would sniff it for anything suspicious before grabbing it with her front leg and backing off again, confusion now being mixed in with her fear as she consumed the rabbit in record time. 

[Illiad Easle 2,973]

@Catpone Cerberus

Ætheron simply smiled as he watched, careful not to show any teeth in case it was seen as aggressive, "There you go, that's a little better. Let's see you come closer." He rooted about in his bag for something else a dragon would want, encountering a pheasant he had shot earlier with his bow. He held it up for the dragon to see before tossing ti between them, this time halving the distance again towards himself (So the dragon would need to go 3/4ths of the way to him to get the food) "Come now, there's no sense in walking all the way back with all the pain it causes you."

As he waited for the dragon to approach he'd make it easier by not looking directly at her, he'd keep an eye on her of course, but he'd turn his attention to their surroundings, it didn't look like this dragon was going to be capable of flying anywhere soon, and no doubt a manticore or timberwolves would be willing to capitalize on her weakness if she was left to spend the night in the open. He'd either have to camp there, or find a nearby cave for her.

First thing first though, gain the dragon's trust, maybe test their intelligence. 

[Catpone Cerberus 23,426]

@Illiad Easle
Again the dragoness hesitated, a bit more this time, but she was starving due to the long flight so even her mistrust couldn't stop her from taking the food she was offered. She again moved slowly and kept her eye on the creature feeding her, he wouldn't necessarily get her full trust just by giving her food, but it did help with convincing her that he wasn't here to hurt her. When she reached the food, she would again sniff it before pulling it back with her, and though this time she didn't go all the way back, it was still enough that there was a long enough distance for her to react if Ætheron did anything threatening. 

After consuming the food, she looked at Ætheron, seeming conflicted about him, she didn't know how to feel, as this was the first creature in her life that was actually helping her, and she couldn't sense anything that would indicate ill intent, but that was also what stopped her from trusting him, as it had been taught to her from young age that no creature is good, that everyone is selfish and only care about themselves, and though she didn't necessarily believe that fully, it wasn't easy to not think like that after living most of one's life in a place where that was very much true. 

 

[Illiad Easle 2,973]

@Catpone Cerberus

Ætheron continued his kind smile, "Good, that's some progress there, now let's see if you're as intelligent as you look." He began his, albeit rudimentary, demonstration of splinting a leg using some straight sticks he found nearby and the cloth he kept between his bags and his back. He splinted one of his forelegs, demonstrated that it could now not bend, then pointed to her injured leg. He would then undo the splint on himself ans pass the materials in a bundle towards her, about the same distance as he had tossed the pheasant, before also tossing over the other pheasant he had shot, which fully depleted his carnivorous foodstuffs. "Hopefully you get the idea, otherwise you just get some more food."

They had been sitting in this area for a while, no doubt some of the forest creatures would come investigating soon.

[Catpone Cerberus 23,426]

@Illiad Easle
The dragoness didn't really pay too much attention to the demonstration as splinting her leg was something she was planning to do anyway, she just had been missing the needed materials. She retrieved the materials and the food, again backing off, and after eating she proceeded to splint the leg, now and then looking towards Ætheron to make sure he wasn't trying to get closer. She also positioned her hurt wing to resting position using her legs as moving it was painful. 

After she was done with that, she looked at Ætheron with curious yet wary expression, she then pointed at him, at her leg, and lastly at her mouth, before tilting her head and saying something which based on the tone was a question.

For the other creatures of the forest, some timberwolfs had gotten curious, and were just about at the area, but they would stay on the top for now, looking down, as there really wasn't any easy way for them to get down, and a dragon was a threat to even them, since fire and timber didn't match too well.

 

[Illiad Easle 2,973]

@Catpone Cerberus

Ætheron was quite impressed, he hadn't expected the dragon to be quite intelligent enough to splint themselves, it seemed her more animistic tendencies had been from their difference in language and her being apparently quite hungry and scared.

Now there was the matter of interpreting her charade in return, it was clearly a question, "Are you asking what I had you do and eat? Or are you asking why?" he chuckled, "To the first, well, you shouldn't just do things because a strange horse person in the woods told you. But to the other... how do I convey this? How would you say kindness in charade?" He shrugged, then put his fist to his chest, puffing up a bit, then shrugging again he bowed to the dragon before shrugging again. "Hopefully that conveys something. Nonetheless, we should move before the wolves get hungry enough to try something."

He pulled out a map he had been making of the area, mostly he used it to remember where interesting things were, to see if he had found any caves nearby. Given they were right near a cliff it wouldn't be too much of a stretch they'd find some sort of shelter along they way. He held out the map so she could see it, pointing to the two of them and then a spot on the map, then moved his fingers to indicate walking over to another spot on the map where he did his best impression of having a roof overhead and sleeping.

He would then, slowly, get back up and start walking away before looking back at her and waving for her to follow.

[Catpone Cerberus 23,426]

@Illiad Easle
The dragon's question had indeed been 'why?', but she didn't really understand the answer. She did understand the meaning of a shrug, and she had guesses for bowing and  puffing up, but she couldn't really gather what was being told with them. She also didn't know what fist on chest could mean as the symbolism of the heart wasn't something her kind taught due to things usually relating to that were seen as weaknesses by them, and because their bodies weren't shaped in a way it would.be a natural gesture for them to do.

When Ætheron showed the map and did his thing, the dragon did understand what he was trying to say, because though she had never used a map, the concept of drawing an area wasn't that hard to grasp, and to show that she did understand, she nodded. She hesitated a moment before following Ætheron, but after looking up and seeing the wolves she had already sensed earlier, she started following him, after all, between certain threat and possible threat, the latter was a better choice, and honestly, it would be very weird logic to do all this to her only to try and hurt her later.

[Illiad Easle 2,973]

@Catpone Cerberus

Ætheron was surprised, but pleased, when the dragon started following him, the fact that she had hesitated to start following help assuage his lingering worry that she would attack him, "So you're coming along then? Let's make this quick then, the cave isn't far from here."

He would do his best to keep to paths that would be easy for the dragon to follow, assuming that she didn't have the same Fey magic to guide her feet like his hooves. Still there would be parts that would likely give the dragoness some difficulty to pass, at such places he would wait for her to overcome them before moving on, he'd take the opportunities waiting to see if he couldn't hit a stray bird or rabbit with his bow to feed the dragon once they reached the cave.

Provided they didn't encounter any hostile creatures or another cave before the one he knew about, they'd soon arrive at a small cave, big enough for the two of them, before the sun started setting.

(If they encounter something, then below does not happen.)

Ætheron would set about prepping wood for a fire just outside the mouth of the cave while he once again turned his attention to the dragon, "So, do you have a name? Or am I going to have to give you one? Because I think I'll start calling you..." he thought for a moment, "SaFire." Once the wood was ready he took a seat against one wall of the cave, "Might as well properly ask you first though."

Once he had the dragon's attention he'd point to himself, "Ætheron" he'd then point to her and raise an eyebrow in question.

[Catpone Cerberus 23,426]

@Illiad Easle
There weren't any trouble as the two made their way towards the cave, the timberwolves followed them some distance but they eventually either got bored or met a obstacle as they headed away fro the edge and weren't seen again. The dragoness didn't have too much trouble with terrain, because where she came from the terrain was quite hard to navigate through in some places, but that didn't mean she didn't have any trouble, since the injured leg did make things bit harder. 

When they arrived to the cave, the dragon again left a small distance between herself and Ætheron, watching as he collected the wood, and when he spoke to her, she just tilted her head to remind him that she had no idea what he was saying. She partly understood Ætheron's attempt at introducing himself, but wasn't sure if he was talking about himself or his kind in general, so she drew a picture on the ground, a group of Ætherons, and after she was done, she repeated his name "Ætheron", her pronunciation wasn't perfect, but it was a good first try, she then pointed at him "Ætheron?" waited for a response, then pointed at the picture "Ætheron?".

Depending on if Ætheron understood what she was asking or not, her response would be one of two, she would either point at herself and shake her head, trying to tell that she didn't have a name, or she would draw a picture of bunch of dragons on to ground, say the word for dragon in her language, and then point at herself and shake her head. 

[Illiad Easle 2,973]

@Catpone Cerberus

It was becoming clear to Ætheron that this dragon was at least as intelligent as the ponies, maybe more given how fast she was picking up on his rudimentary charades. When it came to her drawings he was again impressed, most dragons he had met, with the exception of one small purple one, had never bothered to write or draw anything. Nonetheless he ruminated on how he could respond to her drawing. Ultimately it didn't matter if she thought that his name referred to him or his kind, as thusfar he had been the only centaur he or anyone he had met had seen, with the exception of this creature they called Tirek, who looked sufficiently different that likely he wasn't the same species as him anyway.

He briefly considered crossing out all but one of the centaurs in her drawing, to indicate that there were no others, but decided that might just confuse her. He pointed to the drawing of multiple, "Centaur", then pointed to himself, "Ætheron" It seemed like what she had been asking anyway.

Per her response, naming her species but not herself, he would nod, "So you understand the concept of names, but don't have one. But you can manage to speak Common, so perhaps you could be taught it." He would point to her drawing of dragons, attempt to say the word she had given in draconic, then he would point to his mouth then the image of dragons, "dragon" attempting to indicate that he called them dragons.

He wondered how they might proceed, perhaps she knew some written language? He would draw a picture of a tree, write the word 'Tree' under it, then point at the drawing and say "Tree", then repeat by pointing at the word, "Tree"

[Catpone Cerberus 23,426]

@Illiad Easle
The dragoness nodded before pointing at Ætheron and saying his name, then pointing at the picture "Centaur", her pronunciation again was bit off, but it was her first time saying it so it was to be expected. She then pointed at the picture again and just shrugged, she had never seen or heard of centaurs before, so she didn't know what they were called in her language, if they had word for them in the first place.

She also said the word 'dragon' after Ætheron, with similar results to earlier words, learning singular words wasn't really a challenge to her, since it mostly was a question of memory, but learning a whole language would be more challenging, even for intelligent creature like her, especially considering the relatively simple language that was her native language.

The last lesson was bit different though, she said the word 'tree', and pointed at both the picture and text as she said it, so she got the concept of writing, but that was really all she got, she now knew that if you put these symbols in this order, it means tree, but she didn't know what for example 'three' would mean, and would most likely assume it is somehow related to trees. 

She pointed at the word 'tree' and shook her head, she then pointed at her mouth and said something. She then drew a shape to a ground, rectangle with rounded corners, and put some symbols in it, possibly text. When she was done, she pointed at her eyes and then back at the drawing, nodding, she then pointed at her mouth and shook her head."

[Illiad Easle 2,973]

@Catpone Cerberus

Ætheron nodded in understanding, "So you have a written language, but you don't speak it, and you have a spoken language, interesting." He pondered for a moment as to whether he should keep trying to teach her word by word, it would likely not be very effective. "I think I'll pick up a book on common for you when we get to the next town, perhaps that'd be a better way to teach you than just doing this. But for now we could do some simple words that'd be useful while we travel."

He would proceed to draw and say the words for a timber wolf, which he called a wood wolf, a manticore, a cave which instead of drawing he gestured to the cave they were in, and a pony. He'd do his best to learn her words for them as well, if she had them.

[Catpone Cerberus 23,426]

@Illiad Easle
Ætheron's conclusion wasn't fully accurate, but since the dragon didn't know what he said, she couldn't correct him, luckily it wasn't too far off. 

She again repeated the words as Ætheron said them, but gave equivalent from her language only for the cave, as ponies, manticores, nor any type of wolves lived around where she were from, her kind had eradicated every creature that they didn't consider prey. Seeing that there were lot of creatures around here that she had never seen or heard of, the dragoness decided to show Ætheron what she actually knew.

She drew four pictures, a deer, a rabbit, a fish and a bird, the deer looked bit different to Equestrian breed, but it wasn't certain if that was because it was on purpose or because she just drew it like that, the other three were more a general shape. The first three she pointed at and said what they were in her language, but for the bird she pointed at her eyes while nodding and her mouth while shaking her head.

[Illiad Easle 2,973]

@Catpone Cerberus

Ætheron would again do his best to repeat her words for the images she drew, providing his words for them as well as they went. When it came to bird though, "So, it sounds like you've seen birds before, but either you don't have a word for it, or you don't know it."

If the sun weren't already setting, it wouldn't likely be long, and Ætheron had spent the first half of the day traveling, so was already tired regardless. "I guess we'll continue in the morning, maybe the library will have a good book for teaching you since you seem so inclined to follow me."

He would attempt to convey the idea that they would sleep now, travel tomorrow, by pointing out the sun and indicating its descent, then draw a picture of the two of them sleeping, then the sun rising, followed by a decent rendition of the two of them walking along a path. Hoping that the idea was conveyed he finally removed the large pack from his back, setting it to one side, revealing a number of linear scars across the top and sides of his barrel. He unpacked a bedroll long enough for him to lay down lengthwise (Straight line from tail to head, legs tucked under himself, arms supporting his head) and lay atop it after doing some loosening stretches.

[Catpone Cerberus 23,426]

@Illiad Easle
The dragoness nodded, the sun part wasn't necessary since she was able to connect the dots from sleeping and walking, but she did get why Ætheron saw it necessary, though she did hope he didn't think she was stupid due to her limited knowledge, because she wasn't, she just grew in a place where one wasn't really taught anything that could be considered unnecessary. 

She didn't pay much attention to Ætheron when he went to sleep, she did notice the scars, but she didn't really react to it in any way, just eyeing them for a second before looking to a different direction, at this point it was pretty clear Ætheron wasn't a threat, he even got ready to sleep near her, which was quite a show of trust to her. 

She stayed outside the cave for some time, looking towards the sky seemingly in thought, but after hour or two, if Ætheron hadn't come out for reason or another, she would head inside the cave, and lay down, taking the most comfortable position she could with her injuries, and if nothing woke her up, Ætheron would find her in the morning sleeping in the cave, closer than she had previously been, but still far enough that it was clear she liked to have some personal space. It would also be noticeable that her sleep wasn't deep or peaceful, as she was twitching now and then in a manner that indicated some sort of discomfort, and if there was any sudden noises, new smells, or if Ætheron tried to get close, the dragon would wake up and look around in full vigilance. 

[Illiad Easle 2,973]

@Catpone Cerberus

Ætheron would do his best to leave the cave without disturbing the sleeping dragon. He left his stuff with the exception of his bow, arrows, and spear, and went out into the forest to hunt some small creatures for his current traveling companion to breakfast.

If she didn't wake up before he returned, she'd awake to the smell of cooking meat as Ætheron was roasting a pair of cleaned and skinned rabbits. When he saw that the dragon was awake he'd motion for her to join him by the fire. "Come on over, have some fresh rabbit I just caught. Or if cooked meat isn't your thing there's a bird over here too."

[Catpone Cerberus 23,426]

@Illiad Easle
The dragoness didn't seem to be bothered by Ætheron leaving, and she would be still sleeping when he got back, but she woke up the moment she smelled the raw rabbits, though it seemed to take her a moment to remember where she was and she didn't get up yet.

She would patiently wait for Ætheron to cook the rabbits, staying in the cave until she was motioned by Ætheron to come, not because she was waiting his permission, but because it was his catch, it was a pride thing, though it didn't really hold up when she was offered food because she was still hungry from her travel, rabbits and birds only kept it away for so long. 

Though she did prefer raw meat over cooked, she would happily take what was offered, beggars can't be choosers, and she honestly had no other option since she couldn't hunt herself at the moment.

She again would leave a space between them, but there was no sign of fear anymore, instead it seemed like she didn't know what to feel or what to do, she was confused, this friendly creature, the peacefulness of the situation, it was all new to her, she was used to being worried about her survival constantly, so not being threatened, it felt unnatural.

[Illiad Easle 2,973]

@Catpone Cerberus

Ætheron would take a piece from one of the rabbits and then offer the rest of both to the dragon, along with an apple he had packed and a piece of hardtack bread. While he had guessed by her teeth that she was carnivorous, the other dragon he had met in this realm was omnivorous to an extreme, so it was better to offer more and be rejected than offer an imbalanced diet.

Ætheron himself was more traditionally omnivorous, so he started eating the piece of the rabbit he had taken along with his second apple. He had originally brought enough food for the trip both ways, but now with this dragon he'd need to restock in Ponyville before returning to the office, provided she went for the offered foods, otherwise he'd just be largely vegetarian for as long as the dragon accompanied him.

[Catpone Cerberus 23,426]

@Illiad Easle
The dragoness declined the apple and the bread, as she was indeed fully carnivorous, and though non-meat didn't make her sick or anything, it had absolutely no benefits to her, making it waste of time and food for her to eat them. The rabbits in other hand, she ate quickly without too much hesitation, at this point she didn't see a reason to think they would be tampered with, not that it would ultimately even matter, because there was only some very specific things that would actually harm her.

After she was done with that, the dragoness decided to at least try and ask something that she wanted to know a answer to, she first pointed at Ætheron, then at her eyes, then herself, and lastly around them, finishing it with a tilt of her head to indicate it was a question. 

[Illiad Easle 2,973]

@Catpone Cerberus

Ætheron retrieved the ignored apple and bread, returning them to his bag as the dragon ate the rabbits. In regard to her question he was unsure what she was trying to ask, "You're either asking how I found you, how I saw you, or if I've seen someone like you around here before?" Although, none of these questions seemed to match all of the motions she made.

He came to the conclusion that his answer would vary wildly depending on what she was trying to ask, so he would indicate his confusion with a raised eyebrow and a shrug.

He'd then motion to the pheasants he hadn't cooked yet, point at her and pantomime eating, then similarly tilting his head in a question trying to ask if she wanted to eat them. Then he'd point at the pheasants, then the fire, then her, again indicating a question.

[Catpone Cerberus 23,426]

@Illiad Easle
The dragon put her leg under her chin in a thinking manner after Ætheron's response, as it was clear her question hadn't reached the target, and she really wanted to know. She stopped her thinking when Ætheron asked about the pheasants, and she responded by first pointing at the pheasants and nodding, and second pointing at the fire and shaking her head.

She would then try again with her previous question, she first drew what looked like bit misshapen Equestria's continent, and added trees close to where Everfree was on actual map, she then pointed at Ætheron, herself, and the surrounding area, before pointing at the trees. She then pointed at the rest of the 'map' by circling her claw above it and said in asking tone "Dragon?" she also tilted her head in case the tone wasn't clear enough.