private Far from home. 1x1 with Illiad Easle

[Illiad Easle 3,139]

@Catpone Cerberus

Ætheron looked over with a smile, nodding, "Good morning. Did you sleep good?"

He'd wait a bit for her response or confusion before continuing, "Today, we go to city." he pointed to Fillydelphia, "There are many friends in city, all kinds." he pointed to what remained of the drawings of the friend group from the previous night. He looked back at her with a questioning look, "Do you want to be close to many friends today?"

Anticipating her confusion he started to draw, he drew two representations of the city, each with small simple sketches of creatures. In one he drew them together in the midst of the others, in the other he drew himself in the city and Ædriga outside the city by herself. He pointed to the first, "Do you want to go into the city with me?" He pointed to the second, "Or wait outside by yourself?"

[Catpone Cerberus 23,594]

@Illiad Easle
Ædriga took a second to understand but she got the general idea for the question as she replied "Yes." she didn't understand all the words by themselves, but she did understand it roughly as 'Positive morning, you something positive?' so it was only matter of some logical thinking to figure out the question was related to sleep since it was now morning.

For the rest it would took lot more effort and it would probably take long enough for Ætheron to decide to draw some help, because though she got the general idea of what had been said, since she understood the most important words, she wasn't fully sure on the question because 'to be close many' was something she didn't understand yet.

When the question was visualized, Ædriga became thoughtful, looking at the both pictures, she didn't really understand the spoken questions, but she got what was asked from the pictures and was thinking, because though she would have preferred to stay away from the crowd, she knew that if she was going to stay here, she would need to learn to live like the creatures here. After few minutes of hard thinking, Ædriga finally pointed at the picture with both of them in the city, it was time to show that she wasn't a coward, even if she was quite worried.

[Illiad Easle 3,139]

@Catpone Cerberus

Ætheron was surprised by her answer, he had half expected her to elect to remain outside. Nonetheless there was still the chance she'd decide to withdraw once they actually got to the city.

He nodded as he resumed gathering his things, strapping them up to his back as he rose, "Alright then, let's go."

He'd start out of the cave and wait for Ædriga to join him before continuing down the path.

If they didn't run into anything they'd exit the forest after about an hour, reaching a clearing that extended all the way to the city. It would be another hour on this open road before they reached the city itself, and as they walked they were certainly attracting the attention of the sparse travelers and residents of the city's rural area. Most of their gazes were focused on Ædriga.

[Catpone Cerberus 23,594]

@Illiad Easle
Ædriga would probably be ready before Ætheron considering she had nothing to gather, so Ætheron wouldn't need to wait long until she was next to him. 

Nothing bad happened during the travel, but at some point Ædriga would open her wings and move them around a bit, this didn't affect her moving speed in any way, but they were pretty noticeable considering that unlike pegasis, she didn't have magic to keep her in flight and instead she fully relied on her wings, so her wings were quite big when compared to the rest of her body. Assuming Ætheron didn't do or say something to make things different, s he would do this for minute or so before closing them again as she just wanted to test how long it would be until she could fly again.

When they would eventually arrive to where there were ponies, Ædriga would be hesitant for a second, but would follow Ætheron after raising her head in a way that said 'I can do this', though it wouldn't stay high for long, as she moved to more defensive posture and gazed back at everone with mixture of curiosity and wary, she would also quite clearly make the effort to have Ætheron between her and the currently biggest group of ponies, or any creatures in that matter. 

She also kept her attention on Ætheron's emotions, as in, she checked how he reacted to different individuals, if he was calm and friendly towards them, she would mirror that with some wariness mixed in, but if he was nervous, wary or in other ways showed distrust, she would act more hostile and even growl if necessary.

[Illiad Easle 3,139]

@Catpone Cerberus

Ætheron was passively impressed by the size of Ædriga's wings, he hadn't got a good look at them when he was freeing her from the rocks, he found they were more akin to the dragon wings he had read about in his homeland rather than the wings he had seen on dragons here, perhaps they were more practical rather than magic? She did walk on four legs rather than two like he had seen the smaller dragons here.

(Which, TBH, it is a bit odd Spike walks upright given he was raised by ponies,)

On their approach Ætheron seemed to ignore most of the attention they got, but he didn't ignore that Ædriga was looking to him for how to react to them, he chuckled, "They are friendly, won't harm you." He shot a pointed look at those closest, and they hurriedly nodded and backed up a bit.

Soon enough they reached the city itself, the streets and airways were more crowded than the rural roadway, Ætheron paused for a bit so Ædriga could get close, "Stay close, don't get lost. If you can't find me, come back here, I'll find you."

He hoped she could understand those instructions before he set about on the simplest route to the post office.

Despite the crowds, the ponies and even griffons afforded Ædriga a generous berth in addition to their curious and wary looks. But beyond all the creatures to see was something else, something wholly foreign to Ædriga: the vast collection of the city's smells. From cooking food to fragrant flowers to the scents of all these new creatures there was a whole world of new things for Ædriga to find.

[Catpone Cerberus 23,594]

@Illiad Easle
Ædriga didn't really get the message, partly because she didn't understand everything, but mostly because it was hard to focus with so many of...everything near them, not that Ætheron would be able to tell, since she stayed close, in fact, she was side by side with him, almost touching him.

She didn't really pay any attention to the creatures giving her looks, not because she didn't care, but because she couldn't, with all the smells, and noises, her senses that had learned to spot every little sound and smell that were out of place were getting overwhelmed due to every new sound and smell being out of place for them. This was mostly visible in her expression and general demeanor, as she seemed uncomfortable and disoriented, but she continued following Ætheron, and if Ætheron stopped to see if something was wrong, she would just plead "go" until they continued moving, sure it was fun to find new things, but it wasn't so fun when it was everything at the same time.

[Illiad Easle 3,139]

@Catpone Cerberus

Ætheron did his best to pick up his pace to the express office once he was fully aware of Ædriga's plight. She was overwhelmed that much was certain, likely regretting her decision to accompany him, but was determined to see it through and seemed able enough to keep close without difficulty.

It was a pretty straight shot to the office, and he would take special care at any road crossings or corners that Ædriga did not lose him. Provided nothing happened to them they'd arrive soon enough, Ætheron would hold the door of the office open for Ædriga to enter first before following up behind.

He had brought them to the back of the office to avoid anyone in the front as well as it being the employee entrance. While it was much quieter than outside, the machinery made sure it still wasn't quite a silent environment. The scents were reduced to essentially just being the smell of various kinds of paper, adhesive, and ink. There were only two creatures in the room when they entered, a pegasus and a griffon who were organizing letters and packages into a number of bags, they looked up when Ætheron and Ædriga entered, curious expressions on their faces, "Good to see you Æther, who's your friend there?"

Ætheron breathed a sigh of relief as he dropped his bag of packages, "Good to be here, this is Ædriga, found her trapped under some rocks in the Everfree and she's stuck with me since. I've been trying to teach her Common, and she's been picking it up pretty quickly over the past two or three days."

The griffon shrugged, "As long as she doesn't get in the way I don't see any problems with her being here, we'll have your next bag ready soon enough if you want to rest up."

The pegasus took a more direct interest in Ædriga, coming a bit closer before waving, "Hi Ædriga, I'm Postmark, it's nice to meet you."

[Catpone Cerberus 23,594]

@Illiad Easle
Ædriga seemed a bit relieved when they got into the building, because though it wasn't exactly quiet and scentless, it was lot easier to handle and thus allowed her to think straight again. She missed most of the interaction between Ætheron and the other creatures as it still took a moment for her to calm her instincts enough to get her surroundings.

She looked at the pegasus when she realized she had been talked to, her wariness was obvious but she didn't fear pony since it was clear that Ætheron trusted these two. It took her few seconds to understand what had been said, or well, she didn't necessarily fully understand all the words, but she recognized it to be a greeting and introduction "Hi." she answered, rising her leg to imitate the wave, the way she did it indicated that she was unsure if she was supposed to do it or not, but had decided to give it a try "Postmark you name?" she wanted to make sure because though 'Postmark' was where name was supposed to be based on what she had learned, she was still learning.

[Illiad Easle 3,139]

@Catpone Cerberus

Postmark smiled at Ædriga and nodded, "That's right! I deliver mail like Ætheron does, only I stick to the skies while he does the forests. Anyway, where'd you come from? You look different from the other dragons I've met... not that I've met many dragons."

Ætheron had gone off to one side of the room with the griffon to help gather together the packages for his next trip across the forest. He was near enough to respond if called, but not that he could hear their conversation.

[Catpone Cerberus 23,594]

@Illiad Easle
It was probably visible from Ædriga's face when she tried to process what had been said to her, it was a lot to take in so it took her some time until she could run it in her head enough times to pick the words she understood, but if she wasn't interrupted, she would figure out the question that was asked, though answering it was more complicated "I from not here, where I from...there no ponys, Centaurs, griffons...only dragons, dragons no friends."

[Illiad Easle 3,139]

@Catpone Cerberus

Despite Ædriga's struggles Postmark didn't lose her kind expression, patiently she waited for Ædriga to come to her own understanding and listened intently to her response, though she did look a little sad at the end. "Oh? That sounds sad, that the dragons were not your friends. I think you'll be happy here, there are many friends here for you." She looked a bit happier as she extended a hoof for a bump or a shake, "I could be one of your friends! If you want."

[Catpone Cerberus 23,594]

@Illiad Easle
Ædriga thought about the comment regarding there being many friends around here, remembering that Ætheron said something similar, but she broke out of it quickly as she was taken bit by surprise when Postmark extended her hoof, getting slightly startled for a second before realizing there was no danger, as her instincts weren't still used to someone having good intentions. If her startle didn't cause Postmark to lower her hoof, Ædriga would also extend her leg, though instead of bumping or shaking her hoof, she kinda just touched it, as she was not familiar with bumps and shakes, and physical contact was a sign of trust for her since you get close enough to be attacked without being attacked. When she touched the hoof, she said "Friends." with careful half-asking tone, was it really this easy?

If instead Postmark did lower her hoof, Ædriga would still raise her leg and say the same thing, the only difference was that her tone would be full on question. 

[Illiad Easle 3,139]

@Catpone Cerberus

Postmark had come to the conclusion that most of this was new to Ædriga, and so was patient enough to wait. When Ædriga touched her hoof she carefully pushed forward so her hoof was against Ædriga's palm before nodding with a smile, "Friends." She chuckled at Ædriga's disbelief, "Most ponies want friends, make friends fast. Others..." her expression darkened, "There are mean ponies, don't want friends. But you're a dragon, they shouldn't cause problems for you."

It wouldn't be much longer before Ætheron returned with another bag of packages to transport, he waved to Postmark before turning to Ædriga, "You ready to go? Or do you want to see more city?"

[Catpone Cerberus 23,594]

@Illiad Easle
Ædriga didn't really get the whole message behind what Postmark said, but she guessed it somewhat based on what she knew and the emotions that Postmark showed, something about ponies wanting friends while also not wanting friends, so the logical conclusion was that some ponies want friends and some don't, which was what she had assumed in the first place.She didn't get what she being a dragon had anything to do with it, but she didn't think it was fatal information. She would nod while attempting to smile. 

She made her way to Ætheron when he returned, she understood the first question, even though the word 'ready' was still unknown to her, but the latter didn't fully register, not that it necessarily mattered, as her reaction to the word city would probably say it all, as she looked at the door they had came from with clear discomfort, she didn't really want to go back there, even though she knew that they had to to get back to the forest. 

[Illiad Easle 3,139]

@Catpone Cerberus

Ætheron puzzled for a moment exactly what Ædriga wanted in regards to his question, before narrowing it down to either not wanting to leave the post office, or being hesitant to pass through the city again to get to the forest.

He decided the second was more likely, "Don't worry, we'll go back to the forest then."

He bid his farewells to the staff, Postmark saying goodbye to Ædriga as well, "I hope to see you again soon! Keep Ætheron safe for me!"

With that they were back on the streets of the city, it was somehow more crowded now than it had been when they first arrived, and they didn't get nearly as much of a berth as they had the first time. If Ædriga wasn't careful she'd quickly get separated from Ætheron, especially since he was striding at a quicker pace than when they first arrived.

[Catpone Cerberus 23,594]

@Illiad Easle
Ædriga again stayed close to Ætheron, again almost touching him, the speed wasn't really a problem, because she was quite a quick walker and runner, even with a hurting leg, so until someone crashed into her or she crashed into something, she wouldn't lose Ætheron, though a crash wasn't out of question considering she only focused on Ætheron rather than her surroundings so that she wouldn't lose him.

If she did end up crashing and thus losing Ætheron, she would momentarily go to a state of panic before taking flight and flying as high as she needed to get away from crowds, ignoring both the pain and any possible creatures she may or may not crash into while doing it. She would then collect her thoughts and fly to the edge of the forest.

Regardless of if she arrived with or without Ætheron, the moment she got out of the city she would stop, cover her ears, and then start breathing deep breaths, she would do this until her senses calmed down. 

[Illiad Easle 3,139]

@Catpone Cerberus

(Well I'd hate to let your writing go to waste)

Despite their best efforts a large, but young faced, griffon ran into Ædriga, the two of them falling over in the process and Ætheron disappearing into the crowd.

"Oh! I'm so sorry, I..." the griffon noticed she was a dragon, and immediately backed up with a somewhat fearful expression before scurrying off in the opposite direction.

When she started to panic many of those around her noticed and widened their berth around her, they all stared with worried expressions but didn't venture to help the panicked dragoness. When she took off for the skies she would narrowly avoid crashing into the flying ponies and griffons, though a few hurled some unkind words after her.

Once she had made it to the edge of the forest, it wouldn't take long for Ætheron to arrive at a full thundering gallop, worry and concern evident on his face. He'd attempt to calm her with soothing contact if she seemed receptive, and simply waiting nearby if she refused his touches.

Once she seemed to have calmed down enough he would ask, "Are you okay?"

[Catpone Cerberus 23,594]

@Illiad Easle
Ædriga ignored the unkind words, and not only because she didn't understand them, as her self-preservation took over her pride, making insults meaningless. She hadn't really paid attention to what crashed into her, nor how creatures around her had reacted, because though there wasn't any real threats around, her mind had gone to survival-state, ignoring everything that wasn't immediate source of danger. That was why she had to forcibly calm her sense when she got out of the city, she didn't want to accidentally kill someone.

She wouldn't purposely stop Ætheron from touching her, but she would wince/flinch when he first did so, though if he didn't let go or did the same again, there wouldn't be similar reaction, she wasn't used to anyone or anything touching her without ill intent, so by reflex she prepared for the worst when she felt something.

She nodded to Ætheron question, and tried to explain her situation by pointing towards the city, then at her ears and nostrils and finally taking a posture like she was ready to fight something.  

 

[Illiad Easle 3,139]

@Catpone Cerberus

Ætheron would not try a second time to touch Ædriga once she recoiled from his first attempt, and would simply wait for her to regain her senses before continuing.

He nodded at her charaded explanation, "Good to fly and not fight. Not good to fight friends." he motioned towards the forest with concern still on his face, "Do you want to go back into the forest now? We won't go far before we camp for the night." 

[Catpone Cerberus 23,594]

@Illiad Easle
Ædriga didn't even need to translate the question to understand what had been asked, so she nodded before starting to go through what had been said, because while she didn't need to understand the words to answer the question, she still wanted to use any chance to learn new words. She would also take steps towards the forest at the same time as she nodded, showing just how much she wanted to leave the city behind, maybe it was a good idea to first get her used to ponies in Ponyville or other smaller place before big cities, since ultimately the problem was everything being unfamiliar to her.

She was disappointed of herself, she was supposed to be a creature from top of the food chain, an unwinnable hunter, yet here she was, fleeing from crowds of prey animals, hiding behind...she wasn't sure if Ætheron was to be considered prey or predator, she really was a failure like her mother had said, but well, at least she was happier, and if being happy meant she would be a failure, so be it, better than being dead at least.

[Illiad Easle 3,139]

@Catpone Cerberus

Ætheron could understand that the city had made Ædriga quite uncomfortable, and so was more than willing to lead the way back into the forest. He would wait until Ædriga seemed comfortable before attempting to interact with her. If she calmed before they reached the cave they had started at this morning then he'd turn and ask, "Do you want to hunt with me?" He'd draw in a clear spot in the trail a basic pictograph of him and her fighting a manticore, "Or do you want to rest while I hunt?" He drew himself hunting on one side and her sleeping on the other.

If she hadn't calmed down by the time they got back to the cave he'd drop the packages off his back, leaving her language books where she could easily access them, then turn to leave, "You stay and rest, I'll go hunt."

If she didn't seem to understand he'd draw her sleeping in the cave while he shot small creatures with his bow.

[Catpone Cerberus 23,594]

@Illiad Easle
It wouldn't take long for Ædriga to return to her usual self after they entered the forest, in all it's weirdness it felt familiar, so it would take only some deep breaths and taking in the sounds, and lack of them, to finally calm her mind. She would think a moment after the question, she didn't really get what the choice was from the words alone, since 'hunt' wasn't exactly something found in foals' book, but the pictures got the message to its target. She looked her injured leg and moved it in various ways, then thinking about something again, it did still hurt a little, but it shouldn't stop her from hunting, it only meant that she wouldn't be able to fight or chase her pray if it got away, or at least it would if she was alone, but she wasn't. 

She pointed at the first picture, before doing movements that at least were supposed to signal that she was itching to hunt again, but if Ætheron didn't understand the implication, it would just look like she was warming up her body. 

[Illiad Easle 3,139]

@Catpone Cerberus

Ætheron smiled as she made her choice, "We'll hunt together then, I'll just put these down in the cave first." He redoubled their pace up to the cave they had started the day in, setting the bag of mail down in a partially secluded alcove before pulling out his bow and arrows and turning his attention back to the forest. "Now... let us hunt."

He would lead the way back into the forest, arrow ready as he moved almost silently through the underbrush off the path. Whenever he saw a small creature they could hunt he'd point it out to Ædriga if she hadn't spotted it yet and tell her it's name. He'd take turns with the ones he spotted, giving Ædriga the chance to take them every other time, on the opposing times he would shoot the spotted creature with his bow before collecting the carcass.

If they found a larger creature like a manticore however, he would stop their advance and crouch down behind some cover and point it out, "This is a big one, it could eat us if we aren't careful." He'd quickly draw a diagram of where they were and where the large creature was. He showed them splitting up to get on either side of the beast before they attacked, and indicated that he would attack first before she would attack from the other side. Once he was sure she understood he would start to stealthily move to one side of the beast with his bow out.

[Catpone Cerberus 23,594]

@Illiad Easle
Every time it was Ædriga's turn with the small animals, she would disappear for a moment and soon launch from other direction catching the prey and breaking its neck, and sometimes she would smell the air before one was spotted, disappear into the forest and soon come back carrying a carcass. Her quiet movements and smooth landings told of her hunting skills, she may have been small and cowardly, but she was still a predator.

This would show even more when they found the manticore, Ædriga nodded at the plans and would go to the planned direction as told, but when Ætheron attacked, and thus gave her to signal to attack, instead of coming from the opposite side from Ætheron, she dropped from above the beast and started digging in in its neck until she would be either thrown off or she managed to break it, or in this case cut it since it was too big for her to easily twist.

She would probably get hit by the manticore's tail, but it didn't seem to penetrate her scales  and after it had hit her once, she would grab it with her hind legs thus making it's use lot harder.
This was a tough fight though, so Ædriga would need Ætheron's help to take the creature down.

She seemed to enjoy taking on the bigger creature, and after she was either thrown off or the beast was dead, even though she looked like somewhere hurt, she seemed genuinely joyful. 

[Illiad Easle 3,139]

@Catpone Cerberus

Ætheron did his best to assist in Ædriga's attack on the manticore. His first shot had hit the beast square in the eye, his later shots were mostly aimed at the manticore's joints looking to reduce or eliminate its mobility so Ædriga could more easily deal the killing blow.

Once the beast lay dead Ætheron would step out of the forest to investigate the corpse before pulling out a very sharp knife to begin dismembering the corpse. He first quickly and carefully removed the tail and set it aside, he would then remove the legs as the hip and shoulder joints.

Once the limbs were removed he turned back to the tail, carefully and expertly removing the poison sack and stowing it away. Then he'd start cutting the coat off of the rest of the manticore before finally turning back to Ædriga with a smile. "You did a very good job, this was a big one, lots of meat here for us."