private Far from home. 1x1 with Illiad Easle

[Illiad Easle 3,127]

@Catpone Cerberus

Understanding that the dragon wanted the birds uncooked he passed them over to her before spreading the fire out a bit so it would burn out faster, he was content to just eat the bread if it meant he got more time with this fascinating creature.

Her question seemed a bit clearer this time, "So, you're wondering where I've seen dragons in the world?" He came over to the map she had drawn and expanded the continent downwards to represent the southern badlands and pointed to some mountains he had drawn, "Dragons". For better representation he added a few crude drawings of dragons scattered about the area before, after thinking for a moment, drawing a small dragon next to the forest, where Ponyville would be. He pointed to themselves, "You and I", he put a point in the drawn forest and gestured to their surroundings, "Here", he drew a line towards the small dragon near the forest, "Go", he ended the line with an arrow pointing to the dragon, drawing a collection of small buildings, "There."

[Catpone Cerberus 23,588]

@Illiad Easle
The dragoness seemed somewhat uncomfortable when she learned about more dragons being in Equestria, for the rest she looked thoughtful as she tried to understand what had been communicated, and after few moments she proceeded to check if she understood right. First she pointed at one of the dragons and put one finger up "Dragon" she then put two fingers up and with asking tone said "Dragons?" she then lowered the second finger again and said "Tree" before putting it back up and asking "Trees?".

After getting answer to that, she would proceed with the others.
She first pointed at herself "I?" then at Ætheron "You?" after getting answer, she then pointed at a tree in the 'map' "Tree." she then moved her claw to picture of a dragon, and as she was moving it she said "And?" and when her claw reached the dragon "Dragon" 

She then pointed at the area around them "Here?" got up and walked few steps "Go?" and finally pointed into the distance "There?" 

If she got positive answer to her attempts, she would then repeat all the words first in Common and then in her own language.

 

[Illiad Easle 3,127]

@Catpone Cerberus

Ætheron was quite impressed, "You're picking up on this much faster than I thought you would. A very clever dragon you are, mayhaps cleverer than the ones back home." He confirmed her understanding of the words, she seemed to understand them correctly enough, and he would do his best to repeat and remember the words she had given him for her language. While it would likely be the most useful for her to speak Common, if they were going to travel together for long it could also be useful to have their own secret language.

Satisfied that she understood their travel plans for the day he set about loading himself up with his bags and the packages before moving to the mouth of the cave, he went over to their drawings of different animals, he pointed to his and her eyes, "If you see" , he pointed to the animals, "Any of these", he pointed to his mouth then her ears, then her mouth and his ears "Tell me."

He hoped she understood, while it wasn't so important for the pheasants, rabbits, and wolves, he definitely wanted to know if she saw a deer or pony before she attacked it or caused problems.

[Catpone Cerberus 23,588]

@Illiad Easle
The dragoness nodded to indicate that she at least believed she understood what was communicated, but she didn't try to guess any words and such, since there was too many exact words they could be, both because one thing could be said in several ways, and because she didn't know how to make correct sentences in this new language. 

Ætheron didn't need to worry about the dragon attacking anything, she was too injured to hunt in the first place, so creatures that were bigger or the same size than her were totally out of her interests for now. She would start following Ætheron when he started moving, this time notably closer to him than before, there was no sign of fear or distrust towards him, but she was still wary, observing their surroundings the whole time. 

[Illiad Easle 3,127]

@Catpone Cerberus

They would be traveling together for a few hours through the forest before they reached their destination, Ætheron would take the opportunity every so often to point out something to the dragon and tell her its name in Common and repeat back the work in her language if she knew it.

If by some stroke of luck they didn't encounter any hostile creatures or obstacles, they'd arrive at Zecora's tree house at about mid day, Ætheron had a package for her specifically.

If they encountered something however, things would play out differently.

(How much of the world do you want to control? I don't want to overstep my bounds.)

[Catpone Cerberus 23,588]

@Illiad Easle
No creatures bothered them during the travel, though the dragon could sense some of them coming close enough to observe them without being seen, but she didn't inform Ætheron since none of the seemed like a threat for now and she wanted to avoid any unnecessary fights. For obstacles, she would have trouble in few points where the terrain was either rough or inclined, because though it usually wouldn't be a problem, having one leg stuck in one position made it quite challenging, but she would survive it without help, though if she was offered help, she would take it. 

(will answer in OOC)

[Illiad Easle 3,127]

@Catpone Cerberus

Ætheron was hesitant to offer help when the dragon struggled over some of the more difficult terrain, but was pleasantly surprised when she accepted the help he did offer, leading to the first time he had physically touched her since they had met.

He would leave the package inside a hidden hollowed stump that his directions had told him about before continuing down the much clearer path that led to Ponyville, he was reminded about the first time he had come across the town soon after he had first arrived to the world. While the populous appreciated him for saving some of their young, their leaders were less trusting of his appearance. Nonetheless, they left each other alone.

[Catpone Cerberus 23,588]

@Illiad Easle

The dragoness quietly followed Ætheron, keeping watch in case anything dangerous presented itself, she couldn't keep calm regardless of trusting Ætheron, after all, she was in unknown lands surrounded by creatures and plants she didn't recognize. 

Things would change when the town came to view though, as the dragon stopped and started looking very hesitant, looking at any and all movement in the direction of the town, she was afraid and didn't want to go any further.

 

[Illiad Easle 3,127]

@Catpone Cerberus

Ætheron wasn't surprised at the dragon's hesitation towards the town, he himself still had a bit of hesitation due to what had happened the first time he had exited the forest to find the town and subsequently was attacked by the town's defenders. Nonetheless, he pulled a sash out of one of his bags to put on, indicating that he was a postal worker, which would hopefully prevent a repeat incident.

He turned back towards the dragon, he didn't want to leave her where she could get attacked, especially considering her wounded state, but also didn't want to force her to approach the town. He didn't know if she knew how to use weapons like the ones he had, and assumed she simply used her natural advantages anyway. He sighed, it wasn't ideal but there wasn't much option, he'd just have to be quick.

He pointed to himself, "I", then pointed to one of the buildings near the edge of town, "Go there." He pointed to her, "You", he gestured to their immediate area, "Stay here," He pointed to himself, then motioned walking, then pointed to their vicinity again, "I come back here."

He would wait to see if the dragon understood before departing, at a full gallop, for the building he indicated.

[Catpone Cerberus 23,588]

@Illiad Easle
The dragoness nodded, understanding the general message, but again she could only guess what the new words were, since several could fit. And if nod didn't tell it clearly enough, she also hid in the nearest vegetation to show that she understood that Ætheron  wanted her to stay here.

After Ætheron was gone, the female dragon momentarily thought about leaving, because ultimately she was a loner creature and even with Ætheron being kind, company made her slightly uncomfortable, but after thinking it through, she stayed, because where would she go? She didn't know these lands, she didn't know any creatures around here, and she couldn't hunt before either her wing or leg had healed enough, so from the two options, staying was the better one.

Nothing attacked her while she waited, few timberwolves came to stalk her again, but with the combination of the town being close and her letting out some smoke from her nostrils, they decided that it was better to go after something less fiery for now. Having seen timberwolves from closer now, she was bit confused now because she didn't understand how it was possible that something living was made of wood. 

When Ætheron would come back, he would find her hiding in the same place she had been when he left, but now her focus had moved from movement in the town to the crystal building towering over it (Twilight's castle) glimmer in her eyes.

[Illiad Easle 3,127]

@Catpone Cerberus

Ætheron was not the first one to come by where the dragon was hiding, instead a small creature that looked like Ætheron's drawing of a pony along with a small dragon, somewhere between half and a quarter the size of the female dragon (Assuming I pictured their relative sizes right, feel free to correct) came near to where the female had secreted herself. "I'm tell'en ya' Spike, I saw Ætheron come out of the forest not long ago, and it looked like he was talking to some sort of dragon! A small one like you!"

While to most Spike looked like a young dragon, the female could tell that age wasn't the only factor in his small size, he had some signs, like her, of being undernourished, stunted, not to mention his lack of wings.

(I'm pretty sure he gets wings later, but your dragon might be a kind that's born with them?)

[Catpone Cerberus 23,588]

@Illiad Easle
The dragoness snapped out of her awe towards the shiny building when unknown smell reached her nostrils, and she quickly made herself as unnoticeable as possible. She observed the two as well as she could without bringing herself to view, and how much she actually saw depended on where exactly they moved since she couldn't see through plant any better than any other creature could. She could tell that the language that was spoken was same as what Ætheron spoke, mostly because of the few words she recognized, and since both Ætheron and the word 'Dragon' was mentioned, she guessed whatever had been said was related to her. 

She tried her best to stay hidden, but if she was spotted (being a blue dragon in mostly green flora) she would let out a warning growl, making it clear that she didn't want anyone or anything to come near her. 

(yes)

[Illiad Easle 3,127]

@Catpone Cerberus

The creatures hadn't realized they had spotted the dragoness until she growled at them, which startled them backward. The spoke hesitantly, "Um... he- hello? D- Dragon? We j-just want to talk, we d-don't want to hurt you."

They'd keep a short distance between themselves and the hidden dragon, waiting for some sort of response.

If the dragoness waited long enough the creatures would start to look unsure, "Should we leave?" one would say to the other, "Maybe they don't want to talk?"

Ætheron wouldn't take long after that to arrive himself, the dragoness would hear his galloping long before he arrived. The creatures would relax when he approached, "Spike, Magnolia, what are you two doing out here? I'd have thought, after last time, you'd avoid the forest."

The pony looked sorrowful, "I know, but I saw you come out, and I saw you talking to some sort of dragon! So I went to get Spike so he could meet them," she gestured to where the dragoness was hiding, "But they don't seem to want to come out."

Ætheron snorted at that, "I suppose that's reasonable, I was going to see about introducing her to Spike, but then I remembered that Princess Twilight doesn't like me." They all chuckled at that, "Regardless, now you're here, lets see if she'll come out now that I'm here. You two give her some space, I get the feeling she's a bit cautious."

Once the creatures were far enough back Ætheron would crouch down not too near to where the dragoness was hidden and motioned for her to come out, speaking soothingly, "It's alright, they won't hurt you."

(If she comes out earlier than this, then things will be different, just quote the line that precedes her exit and we'll go from there.) 

[Catpone Cerberus 23,588]

@Illiad Easle
The dragoness didn't respond, she could tell that she had managed to startle them, but she had no idea what had been said to her, so she stayed where she was and kept the newcomers away. When Ætheron approached, the dragoness calmed down a bit, but she still stayed in her hiding place, and after Ætheron started talking to the two in friendly manner, she dropped her guard mostly, but still stayed in place, she wasn't scared of the two per say, since both looked like she could easily take them down even injured, but she had trust issues for justifiable reasons.

Once Ætheron motioned her to come out, she hesitated but came out, though she made sure there was some distance between her and the newcomers, and if she would need to be closer to one than the other at any point, she would create the bigger distance between her and Spike rather than her and the pony, because as weird as it may be from outside point of view, she was scared of dragons.

She made a mental note regarding the word 'hurt' as she had now heard it enough that she guessed it to be useful to learn. 

[Illiad Easle 3,127]

@Catpone Cerberus

Spike and Magnolia took another step back when the dragoness exited the bush, but their apprehension quickly turned to curiosity, especially in the case of the pink pony who would attempt to approach if the dragoness allowed it, but would back off if she opposed. "Whoa! They don't look anything like the other dragons! This one's all long and short."

Spike would be quick to pick up on the fact that the dragoness didn't understand what they were saying around her, "Does she not speak Equish? I thought all of us could at least understand it..."

Ætheron shrugged, "Don't know much about dragons, but she's picked up on it pretty fast from what little I taught her since I found her in a landslide on the way here. I was wondering if you knew her, but I guess not."

Magnolia giggled, "Just because Spike's a dragon doesn't mean he knows all the dragons, do you know all the centaurs?" She seemed to realize what she said and tried to backtrack before Ætheron smiled, "Of the two of us? I'd say I know enough."

Nonetheless he sighed, but Spike would try to take a closer look, "Well, she looks similar to other dragons I've met, but also a bit different, maybe she's from a different group? Like from the deep firelands or another continent? Could explain why she looks different and didn't know Equish."

The dragoness would likely get a good look at Spike as well.

Ætheron would address the dragoness directly at this point, trying to get her attention before speaking, "We" he gestured to the two of them, "want to Go?" he pointed back into the forest, but indicated it was a question. He wondered if she would get the concept of want in the statement.

[Catpone Cerberus 23,588]

@Illiad Easle
The dragoness wouldn't act hostile, but she made it clear that she didn't want either of them to come closer when the pony attempted it. Other than that she was mainly a passive observer, since the two creatures seemed to be interested in talking to Ætheron and she couldn't tell what they were saying besides certain words that didn't alone really tell anything. She did take a look of spike when he seemed to be looking her through, but all she got was that he was a wingless dragon who was older than he looked like, she had heard of different breeds of dragons, but none of them walked on two legs so Spike was quite a unusual one to her.

It took a second for the dragoness to register what Ætheron said, because she thought about what the extra word could be, which was harder that one could assume because her kind never asked if someone wanted something, since they would just take what they want. She would arrive to a right conclusion though, since 'want to' was the only thing that logically fit a question about going somewhere, because though something like 'be willing to' and 'wish to' would fit, her language didn't either have that or she hadn't been taught it, her learned language was more simplistic because her kind didn't really chat so there was no need for many words for one thing.

For her response, she looked towards the town before nodding, the shiny building interested her but she didn't want to take any risks as long as she was injured. 

[Illiad Easle 3,127]

@Catpone Cerberus

Ætheron turned back to the creatures, "See? She knows some of the words, hopefully I'll be able to teach her with this book I picked up in town, I'll be back for my next delivery run, which should be in about two weeks. You two stay safe."

The creatures nodded, the pink one starting to trot away as the dragon spoke, "I'll see if I can't talk to Ember in the mean time, she'd know more dragons than me, maybe she'll know something about her?"

Ætheron nodded, "Good thinking, I look forward to hearing back from you when I or we return." They shared a salute before turning away from each other, Spike towards town and Ætheron towards the forest.

As before he would lead the way, helping the dragoness when she faltered.

If they didn't run into any troublesome obstacles or the dragoness didn't halt their progress they'd rest in a clearing when the sun started setting, Ætheron setting up a ring and wood for a fire for the dragoness to light if she were so inclined. Once settled he'd point to her bound wing and leg and ask, "Still hurt?"

[Catpone Cerberus 23,588]

@Illiad Easle
More the dragoness had to listen conversations she didn't understand, more she wanted to start learning the language, not out of curiosity, but because she felt that she could miss a warning signs from other creatures because she can't understand them. 

Though there wasn't any big obstacles or threats, the dragoness's pace would slow down as they went on, and though she would try to deny it if Ætheron showed any concern, it was clear that walking took its toll on her. She would be able to manage until the clearing if Ætheron didn't cut the travel short, but she would be quite worn out and besides lighting the fire she didn't do much. If the questions was still asked, her response to it after figuring out what had been asked was to first move them one after other, after which she did a pulling-off gesture, pointed at the sun, and pointed to the direction in which the sun would rise slowly moving her finger upwards. 

Regardless of their stopping place, she would not long after they got settled get Ætheron's attention and in asking manner point at her mouth and make a chewing movement, she would then point at herself, make a grabbing motion, and then with quite a defeated look point at her injuries.

[Illiad Easle 3,127]

@Catpone Cerberus

Ætheron nodded in understanding, at least he assumed he understood that to his question she thought maybe tomorrow she'd be good, and in her second that she was hungry but couldn't hunt because of her injuries, and it saddened her.

He shrugged off most of his baggage, keeping on him his weapons before retrieving a book from one of the bags and bringing it over to the dragoness, "I'll go hunt, but you can learn while you wait." He opened the book to show her, it was a fairly basic foals guide to Common, including a number of basic words and phrases with accompanying pictures. While she wouldn't be able to speak it, she'd be able to write some things and read to a limited extent with enough practice. Ætheron could teach the verbal components later.

He left the book with her and motioned with his bow that eh would go into the forest, and then he would leave, either returning with a dozen or so small creatures he had killed, or he'd return somewhat injured with some large pieces of a dead manticore or some other large violent beast in tow, if he could find one in his hunt.

[Catpone Cerberus 23,588]

@Illiad Easle

Though it was true that the dragoness wouldn't learn to talk by just reading a book meant for foals, she could learn words without hearing them, as evidenced by what she was doing when Ætheron came back. 

She had written the alphabet on the ground, and above it she had written the words 'tree' 'pony' and 'go', from those she had connected each different letter to the alphabet with a line, under the alphabet she had written 'green' with lines again connecting the letters to the alphabet. She was repeating "green" out loud when Ætheron came back, but she stopped when she saw his injuries and asked "hurt?" as she assumed it was related to injuries due to Ætheron's earlier use of the word. 

[Illiad Easle 3,127]

@Catpone Cerberus

Ætheron was quite impressed by the dragoness's progress when he returned. While it certainly wasn't the path he had expected it was clear that this dragon was a quick and avid learner. When asked about his injuries he looked himself over and shrugged, holding his fingers close together but not touching, "A little."

He'd then remove the large cuts of meat from his back, placing them so as to not disrupt her writing but also so that she could easily get to them. He was dissapointed that he couldn't carry the whole beast back with him, but he was satisfied that the forest would see to it that no part of what he had left would go to waste, if anything it would keep the wolves away from them for the night.

He left roughly three quarters of the meat to the dragon as he took his portion over to the fire, using the bones within as a sort of spit with which to roast the meat while he watched the dragon eat/continue learning. Once he had eaten, if not prompted before then, he would come assist in her learning, teaching her the sounds associated with the letters so she could start to puzzle out the spoken words associated with the written ones she knew.

[Catpone Cerberus 23,588]

@Illiad Easle
Since she got a response that made sense, the dragoness came to the conclusion that she had understood the meaning of 'hurt' right enough for her to use it. She didn't seem to pay much more attention towards Ætheron's injuries, so either his response was good enough or she just lacked the compassion to do anything about it.

 The dragoness stopped her learning session to eat, and like last time, she ate quite quickly, though this time she slowed down a bit with the last piece. When she was done, nothing but the biggest bones were left, and for the first time since their meeting, she seemed happy, she wasn't beaming or anything, but it was clear that she seemed satisfied with her existence at the moment. 

After eating she would return to learning, going through the book to find any other words she could learn to say until Ætheron would came to help her. After hearing the letters, she repeated them after Ætheron like she did with the word, and repeated the whole alphabet until she remembered them without help, after which she went through it in her mind few more times. After moment of thinking, she started repeating the word "Dragon" saying it slower and slower as she did, and after several repeats, she started writing letter on the ground, ultimately coming up with 'ra on' before thoughtfully looking between T and D and between G, and K. 

 

[Illiad Easle 3,127]

@Catpone Cerberus

Ætheron was continually impressed by the dragon's progress, "You're just full of surprises aren't you?" he idly thought back to the dragons he had learned about in his homeland, he had never fought a dragon himself, but he had heard they were strong fighters, not scholars. Either the dragons were secretly very intelligent on average, meaning Spike was not an exception, or both he and she were especially gifted in that regard.

Nonetheless, there was no need to look a gift... well, dragon... in the mouth. Better to nurture such an intellect and see it soar.

He would continue to assist her learning at her pace, helping her along in spelling dragon out for herself by giving special emphasis to the confusing letters, and giving contrasting emphasis to the contrary letters. For instance contrasting the sharpness of T verses D, and the hardness of K verses G. He chuckled as he realized T and K were more draconian than D and G were.

If she were learning fast enough he would give her a second book, one he was planning to save for much later, that taught common conversational phrases and more complex words before finally cleaning and properly bandaging his wounds.

[Catpone Cerberus 23,588]

@Illiad Easle
Though she was quite a fast learner, they probably wouldn't make it to the second book yet, she did learn the differences between the similar sounding letters, and she was quick to figure out the writing for the words she had already learned now that she knew the letters, but that's when things slowed down a bit, because words that were totally knew to her and didn't share their letters with words she already knew, took a bit longer to figure out. 

She also skipped some things for now, like for example the numbers, because she wanted to first learn words that were more complicated to communicate in a different way, though she did look through them to know how to write the numbers themselves.

 Ætheron also would have a chance to learn some words in the dragoness language if he listened her closely, because though she didn't translate every word this time, she did say some of them out loud in both languages to make herself remember them better. 

[Illiad Easle 3,127]

@Catpone Cerberus

Ætheron would keep an eye on her progress as he bandaged himself, she seemed content to learn by herself, with only occasional assistance from him, which he was content to allow her to do. He'd pay passing attention to the draconian words as she used them, but he wasn't as quick on the uptake as she was, so many of them would pass him by. Nonetheless he'd pick up a few of the more common or interesting ones as time went on.

Once he was properly bandaged he would start thinking to himself, It's been so long since I've had a traveling companion, I hadn't realized how much I missed having someone depend on me as I traveled. This time the someone is truly appreciative of my help, unlike the last group that just took advantage of me.

He settled in to rest while watching the dragon learn, I wonder how long she'll keep at it, it seems to have really grabbed her attention and interest.