private Far from home. 1x1 with Illiad Easle

[Catpone Cerberus 23,591]

@Illiad Easle
Ædriga was fine, physically that was, the ooze hadn't managed to do much to her claws, just bleached them a little, as she had quickly burned it off, and since her claws didn't feel pain, she hadn't even felt it, mentally though, the arrival and actions of Twilight had scared her to but it mildly, and she would be quickly hiding behind Ætheron from this pony capable of melting creatures, she didn't care if it made her a coward, she didn't want to be melted by a blinding light, she was way too young and magnificent for that. 

 

[Illiad Easle 3,131]

@Catpone Cerberus

9 hours ago, Catpone Cerberus said:

she was way too young and magnificent for that.

9 hours ago, Catpone Cerberus said:

just bleached them a little, as she had quickly burned it off,

Ætheron was relieved to see that she didn't appear to have any lasting damage from her attack. Still, he was sure to rub the affected area with a cloth and potion to be safe. Wouldn't want to have any hidden effects crop up with more dire consequences later. "There, keep watch on claw, make sure no bad happen because of ooze."

It also allowed him to ignore the princess for longer without it being too obvious that he was ignoring her.

Twilight scoffed, it was clear she wasn't used to being ignored, "Excuse me! I just saved your lives from... whatever that thing was."

Ætheron turned his head to face her while he kept the rest of his body facing away, it was an impressive display of his flexibility. "Exactly. Once again you come charging in and attack the first thing you see. You don't know what it was. Are you even sure it's been truly taken care of? And don't flatter yourself, we are perfectly capable of defending ourselves. Just because your ponies are too weak to defend themselves properly doesn't mean everyone needs, or wants, your 'protection'."

He turned his attention back to Ædriga, who he was covering with his body similar to how he had protected the foals when he first arrived to this world. When Twilight and her friends attacked him thinking he was the monster, instead of the manticore that charged out of the forest after him. He gave her a comforting touch before motioning back the way they had came. "Lets go, we've got more packages to get."

Twilight was sputtering, conflicted between anger and some small bit of remorse, but she didn't have a comeback for them.

[Catpone Cerberus 23,591]

@Illiad Easle
Ædriga wasn't really sure what Ætheron was doing to her claws but she let him as she could tell his intentions were good, she also wasn't sure what exactly he said but again she could guess, and her guess was somewhat correct.

When Ætheron  started talking with Twilight, Ædriga didn't even try to understand what was said, not because she necessarily would have had any extra trouble with it, but simply because from the tone of the words she decided she didn't want to know what they were saying, she had more important things to think about than this hostile pony. More specifically, she was lot more interested in the way that Ætheron was acting, he seemed protective of her, and again touched her without the intent to hurt her, she couldn't name what she thought about it, it was new to her, but she could tell that it was a positive thought. 

She just nodded and would follow next to Ætheron, she didn't look towards Twilight at any point, not because she was trying to avoid her, no, she just didn't need to see the pony to know where she was, but if she would have, one could have seen the fear she felt towards the pony, because while she was glad the weird creature was seemingly gone, a prey animal with such power was lot more terrifying to her than any predator.

 

[Illiad Easle 3,131]

@Catpone Cerberus

Once they had a bit of distance between them and Princess Sparkle Ætheron shuddered in what Ædriga could clearly recognize as fear. He took a few steadying breaths before he continued forward, "That pony, is leader of ponies here. Very strong, very smart. She does not like me. I don't like her." He would turn his attention more directly to Ædriga as they walked, "Are you okay? Did she scare you too?"

[Catpone Cerberus 23,591]

@Illiad Easle
Ædriga didn't need to wait until the shudder to notice Ætheron's fear, as she, like many other animals, could sense it long before it was visible, but she didn't think too much about it, after all, she was equally fearful of that creature melting pony. She listened what he said and after his question, it would take a moment for her to understand and respond, she was missing few words, but the combination of what she knew and the subconscious signals Ætheron showed, she could get the meaning without knowing the exact translation.

She started by pointing in the direction they had just been "Pony no friend, like dragon." with dragon she meant her kind specifically, since from the little she just saw, Twilight seemed almost as merciless and hostile as Ædriga species of dragons. "I okay, but no like pony." "You say pony no food here, but where I, if pony there, pony food." "Food like dragon, no good" her tone indicated that she was trying to communicate that Twilight had scared her, but she didn't know the words for being scared yet, since she wasn't sure if 'scare' was the word she was looking for or not.

 

[Illiad Easle 3,131]

@Catpone Cerberus

It took Ætheron a bit to parse what she had said, but he nodded, "I try to avoid her. no make angry if no see." He resolved that he would get the next books in the language learning set while they were here, she was progressing wonderfully given how short a time had progressed, and he was excited to see how quickly she would continue to learn. He looked forward to when she would understand the words well enough for her to explain the significance of her name.

After the creature's apparent destruction the ooze seemed to lose most of its effectiveness, the forest already starting to heal over the wound. It wouldn't be long before they got back to the mail office, Ditzy had already unloaded their harnesses, and was surprised to see them back so soon, "I thought you'd be a bit longer, though I'm glad to see nothing happened to you two. A few ponies ran into town after you left, were you out helping them?"

Ætheron nodded, "They were running from some cursed creature, not much I could do about it, but Ædriga here did a great job fending it off."

Ditzy smiled as she ducked behind the counter, returning with a basket of sweet smelling muffins, "I think that deserves a reward don't you?" She looked over at Ædriga and motioned to the basket. "Do you want one?"

[Catpone Cerberus 23,591]

@Illiad Easle
Ædriga just nodded and after a moment started smelling the air around them as they walked, she didn't pick up anything worth reacting to, but she liked to know what was around her and it wasn't like she had anything better to do at the moment. She also again stayed quiet during the conversation, just listening what was being said and trying to pick up words. 

She would break out of her thoughts when Ditzy addressed her, and it wouldn't take long for her to respond because she understood all the words in the question, or well, respond wasn't necessarily a right word, as she leaned over to smell the basket curiously before taking one and smelling it individually, it wasn't hard to tell that she had no idea what it was. She looked at it from all sides and took it apart to see if there was something inside, but assuming nobody interrupted her, she would eventually taste a piece of it, making sure to actually taste it instead of just swallowing it like she usually did with smaller food.

It was hard to tell what she thought about it at first, but considering that she ate the rest it could be assumed she liked it, though her expression told that she wasn't really sure how to feel. "Good, but no food." being from where she was, the concept of things you ate for taste rather than nourishment was new to her, and thus she didn't know what to think of this thing she had just eaten, it clearly wasn't food, since she was carnivore and it wasn't meat, but at the same time, it tasted such that she kinda wanted to eat more of it.
 

 

[Illiad Easle 3,131]

@Catpone Cerberus

Ditzy was pleased that she liked it, "Do you eat gems like Spike does? I mean... you look like a dragon."

Ætheron was happy that Ædriga liked the muffin as well, he feared what might happen if someone didn't like Ditzy's treats. "It is called a muffin, is a treat, which is like food, but more to enjoy than normal food."

He turned to answer Ditzy's question, "I haven't seen her eat any, nor have I had any to offer her, so I doubt it. I'll have to see if there's a way to combine your muffins with meat, though it isn't easy to pair sweet with savory."

Ditzy thought a moment, "Well, you could always use a cornbread muffin, those are more savory. I'll have some made for you when you get back!"

Ætheron looked over at their empty harnesses and Ditzy jumped, "Oh, right! the packages! Give me just a moment!"

She darted into the back and soon returned with a large pile of packages, which Ætheron started organizing into the two harnesses. He also gave Ditzy back the learning books, and she already had the next two in the series waiting for them.

It wouldn't be more than half an hour for the harnesses to be ready, and Ditzy would offer Ædriga more muffin if she wanted any.

[Catpone Cerberus 23,591]

@Illiad Easle
Ditzy's question went beyond  Ædriga's understanding, mostly becasue she didn't know yet what gems were, but when it came to Ætheron's comment right after, she understood mostly what he said, quietly repeating 'muffin' and 'treat' to herself few times, but the concept was still bit out of her scope, being so weird to her, though she would surely understand it better when she got used to it.

Understanding that rest wasn't addressed to her directly, she again just listened and tried to pick up words, she learned to understand notably quicker than she did to communicate the words herself, since she could get the meaning lot easier than the translation from listening others.

The half an hour would go rather quickly for Ædriga as she had again fallen into thought to go through everything she had heard today, only breaking out when Ditzy came to offer other muffin, which she would accept and then say "Thank, You, Ditzy.". She would eat the muffin slow enough that it was done not long before they were ready to go, she usually ate things quick, but she wasn't still sure about the taste of this one so she tried really hard to try and figure out if she could recognize it, unsuccessfully, but she tried. 

 

 

[Illiad Easle 3,131]

@Catpone Cerberus

10 hours ago, Catpone Cerberus said:

"Thank, You, Ditzy."

Ditzy smiled, "You're welcome! I hope you come back soon! Between you and me, Ætheron has been alone for far too long."

Ætheron snorted at that as he hefted his harness onto his back before moving to see if Ædriga would need help with hers.

Ditzy looked a bit coy, "What? You said yourself that centaurs were not meant to be solitary creatures!"

He chuckled, "I suppose you're right." He motioned towards the door once Ædriga's harness was secured, "Lets go then, another city awaits us."

Ditzy would wave goodbye as they left, and soon they'd be back in the forest. After a bit of walking Ætheron would ask, "Is there something you want to know? Something you don't know yet?"

[Catpone Cerberus 23,591]

@Illiad Easle
Ædriga was bit confused what was being said but she didn't make it too obvious and instead just focused on getting her harness on, which wouldn't give her too much trouble, she would take bit longer than Ætheron did with his, but she didn't need help, she would nod when Ætheron said 'let's go'. She would quickly wave back to Ditzy, it was quick because she she needed all 4 legs to walk well, but it would still be clear enough that one could tell that it was supposed to be a wave. 

"Lot." Ædriga would respond "I know little" "Where I from, there, I eat food, I sleep cave, I hurt dragons, dragons hurt I" "All day, all night" "No muffin, no..." she pointed at the harnesses "...no city." "Only food, sleep and dragons" 

Edited October 23, 2020 by Catpone Cerberus

[Illiad Easle 3,131]

@Catpone Cerberus

Ætheron nodded in understanding, "I think I understand. I hope that you like here more than there. I like you to be here, with me. I hope you like to be with me too." It was an odd feeling he had, he felt bad hearing about her past experiences, he wished he could have helped, but he knew he stood little chance against dragons, especially if they were even more powerful than Ædriga had proven herself to be.

[Catpone Cerberus 23,591]

@Illiad Easle
"It good here." Ædriga said "No want where I from." sure there was lot of things that she were wary of here and she was sure there was lot of things she wouldn't like, but in the end this place can't be any worse than where she came from, it could end up being as bad, but not worse. "Here friends and lot food." "Many no hurt I here, there all hurt all." "You good, you friend." 

Edited October 24, 2020 by Catpone Cerberus

[Illiad Easle 3,131]

@Catpone Cerberus

(The AI indicates that nothing eventful happens before they reach camp, feel free to have something happen if you like.)

Ætheron smiled when Ædriga said he was a friend, "Thank you, you good too, good friend."

If Ædriga didn't have anything else to say or anything to ask, Ætheron would be content to continue in companionable silence until they reached a cave that they had stayed in previously. He set down his pack and set up the campfire for warmth, the nights were getting colder as winter approached.

Before he gave Ædriga the new book for language he pulled out a map, he pointed to Ponyville, "We were here, Ditzy here." He then pointed about to where their cave was, "We here now." Then he pointed to Trottingham, "We go here, a few days until we get there."

Once Ædriga understood about where they were going he would give her the new book to learn with.

[Catpone Cerberus 23,591]

@Illiad Easle
(Remember to not go overboard with it)

Ædriga was glad that she was liked, and it showed in her expression, though she didn't smile, since that wasn't something she did naturally and instead just something she was trying to learn to do in name of communication. She would have had lot to say to and ask from Ætheron, but she still wasn't good enough in this new language to word them in a way it would be easy to understand, it did annoy her a bit, but on the positive side it made her want to learn more faster.

The travel would go peacefully, though it wasn't hard to tell that she was more alert as they moved, and since she was now more actively searching for anything happening around them, she also noticed lot of things she hadn't paid attention to earlier, but what she noticed was mostly small animals and old scents of predators, so she quickly lost interest after she sensed them.

She would help with setting up the camp by lighting the fire with her breath after getting her own harness of and putting it in a place where it was in cover from the weather. Cold didn't really bother her since being heat resistant meant that her body was well insulated, thus meaning that her high body temperature kept her warm enough, though cold did have some annoyances, the two biggest ones being ice gathering on her scales sometimes, and her hot breath causing steam to form in the air easier than many other creatures. Neither of them were big problems, but they both were distracting to her.

Ædriga nodded when Ætheron showed the map, though she did have a question. She pointed at Trottingham "This." she then pointed at Manehattan "Big like this?" lastly pointing at Ponyville "Small like this?"

After all was said and done, she would dig into the book.

[Illiad Easle 3,131]

@Catpone Cerberus

11 hours ago, Catpone Cerberus said:

Ædriga nodded when Ætheron showed the map, though she did have a question. She pointed at Trottingham "This." she then pointed at Manehattan "Big like this?" lastly pointing at Ponyville "Small like this?"

Ætheron thought for a moment, he pointed to Ponyville, "Bigger then here," He pointed to Fillydelphia (Which is what I recall as their prior destination, page 4) "Smaller than here. It is in between, but only little smaller than Fillydelphia."

He decided to approximate with circles in the dirt. He drew a small circle, "Ponyville", he drew a large circle, "Fillydelphia", he drew a circle between the other two, a little smaller than the Fillydelphia circle, "Trottingham."

If Ædriga didn't ask for his help in learning, he would settle in to sleep for the night.

[Catpone Cerberus 23,591]

@Illiad Easle
(my bad, mixed up cities.)
Ædriga nodded at Ætheron's explanation, so she would need to just wait and see, she hoped that the streets at least were bit more quiet, the smells she could tolerate but when it was combined with too many sounds she lost it, since those two were her main senses, sure she had a good vision too and she could even see in the dark, but she used her vision least from her senses since it was the easiest to trick or straight up eliminate. 

She didn't need Ætheron's help right at this moment since she had gotten hang on the whole reading thing, but she would bid him good night in slowly but surely developing accent when he started to settle for sleep.

 

This time it wouldn't reach morning before Ætheron would be woken up though, as at sometime in the night Ædriga would gently poke him until he woke up and quietly say in calm tone, "It here again." if he took the time to look around him a bit, it could be gathered from the position of the book and other small details that Ædriga had also headed to sleep at some point before waking him up. Ædriga would point in a direction when Ætheron looked like he was woken up mentally too, and if he was to look there, he would be able to see two glowing red points not too far from where the light of the fire ended. 

At first they may have looked like they were just two weird magical orbs or something, but considering their placement and the way they moved, one could assume they were the eyes of something tilting its head, and if one was to look really hard, they could maybe notice in the dim light that the assumed eyes were emitting that they seemed to be inside something not too different from the eye sockets of a skull.

Ædriga didn't seem too threatened and was mostly just tilting her head curiously, she may have been able to see the thing better than Ætheron.

[Illiad Easle 3,131]

@Catpone Cerberus

Ætheron was a bit of a light sleeper, so it wouldn't be difficult for Ædriga to rouse him, and when she did he moved surprisingly quietly for someone of his stature, quickly drawing his bow and aiming towards the eyes, ready to let loose an arrow if it turned violent.

He would whisper to Ædriga, "Can you catch it? Not hurt it, see if friend?"

He doubted this creature that had apparently been following them had good intentions, but there was always the chance.

[Catpone Cerberus 23,591]

@Illiad Easle
Ædriga didn't have time to answer before an echoing unnatural sounding male voice was heard from the general direction of the eyes "Don't act like I don't see you, just shoot if you're going to." the voice lacked any real emotion, but sounded like the source tried to sound less threatening than it was. "I mean no harm" The eyes would then start coming closer slowly but not slowly enough to indicate that they were being stalked, Ædriga didn't do anything, but if Ætheron decided to shoot, there would be a sound that indicated that he hit something, but the thing wouldn't react in any way. 

Since whatever this thing was couldn't care less about arrows, and Ædriga seemed too confused to consider it a threat, it would eventually reach the light of the fire. First it's head would come to view, and it was just a skull, equine skull to be exact, and in its empty sockets were two red glowing dots, on the skull was a mutated looking unicorn horn, then rest of it would come to view. 

It looked like a pony, a bit bigger than a big stallion, but its proportions were unnatural and its body was mutated and rotten, though it wasn't currently rotting as evidenced by the lack of smell, or at least lack of smell for Ætheron, as Ædriga looked disgusted to say the least. Besides the rotten state and the weird sharp bones coming out of it, the most notable detail was probably its black wings and hind legs, that both seemed to end to what looked like red and black veins.

If Ætheron had shot at it, the arrow would be sticking out from its chest and it would pull it off and offer it back to Ætheron.

[Illiad Easle 3,131]

@Catpone Cerberus

8 hours ago, Catpone Cerberus said:

"Don't act like I don't see you, just shoot if you're going to." the voice lacked any real emotion, but sounded like the source tried to sound less threatening than it was. "I mean no harm"

Ætheron briefly considered taking the creature up on its offer, but decided that anyone asking to be shot either had a trick planned, was confident enough to take no damage, or was simply crazy. It would be best to wait until more information was available before considering an effective attact.

He kept his bow ready just in case.

8 hours ago, Catpone Cerberus said:

then rest of it would come to view. 

Ætheron was visibly repulsed at the sight of the creature before him, and seeing it did little to ease the tension he felt, zombies and other such perversions of nature often disgusted Fey creatures like himself. Nonetheless, arrows would not be very effective against the undead, he would use more stabbing and slicing implements if it came to a fight.

"What do you want Lich? You've been following us for some time, too long."

[Catpone Cerberus 23,591]

@Illiad Easle
"Lich? that's a first, with all the variations of monster I have heard I'm frankly surprised I haven't heard that one before." though it was hard to tell what the undead was feeling since it didn't have a face and the voice had only a little variation, it sounded like he wasn't too fazed by Ætheron's reaction "While it's true that I have been watching you, I haven't followed you, i wander around the forest and have just happened to encounter your camps." "Nor do I want anything from you, quite the opposite, having nothing to do in my endless existence, I have made the decision to protect those not from the forest against the forest." "At least I will do so until I lose my mind, which is bound to happen eventually." 

Ædriga didn't have much input for the conversation, she was still trying to wrap her head around what she was looking at, everything about this creature told that it was dead, yet here it was, walking and talking.

[Illiad Easle 3,131]

@Catpone Cerberus

Ætheron lowered his bow and switched it for his polearm, he had it ready, but not in an obvious aggressive nor defensive pose. He held it more to say: 'I have a weapon and am capable of using it.'

9 hours ago, Catpone Cerberus said:

"Lich? that's a first, with all the variations of monster I have heard I'm frankly surprised I haven't heard that one before."

"Good, I'm glad there aren't enough like you for the locals to recognize your kind."

9 hours ago, Catpone Cerberus said:

"At least I will do so until I lose my mind, which is bound to happen eventually."

Ætheron leaned on his polearm, "So, you do this to yourself? A mage looking for immortality? Or were you the unfortunate subject of another mage's experiments? I assume the second as the first rarely claim to be so nobly intentioned."

[Catpone Cerberus 23,591]

@Illiad Easle
The undead shrugged "I don't know, or the more correct way to say it is probably that I don't remember, " "I remember nothing before the point I assume was my body's death, and even things after that are just a blend of memories without clear timeline." "For example, I can remember when I was actively rotting, but I don't know if it was a week ago or thousand years ago." "I'm not even sure how long I have been like this" 

[Illiad Easle 3,131]

@Catpone Cerberus

Ætheron shrugged, "If you remember rotting then you probably didn't do it to yourself. The dead seldom reanimate themselves. More than likely you were reanimated by someone else, and they either destroyed or you already lost your long term memory, hence why you can't keep track of time or events beyond the past few days."

He turned his gaze to Ædriga, "Sense danger? Is threat? Seems harmless."

He turned his attention back to the lich, "So, you just here out of boredom? Or do you want us to find someone to help you move on?"

[Catpone Cerberus 23,591]

@Illiad Easle
Ædriga seemed to think for a moment before shrugging confused, this creature? being? this thing went way past her understanding and she didn't really have the words to express what she was thinking, other than that it smelled bad, which she didn't communicate but could be assumed from her constantly letting out bit of smoke from her nostrils to block out the smell. Though she also did keep her distance, but it wasn't necessarily because she saw it as a threat, since she also avoided things she didn't know if they were a threat or not.

"I'm here because I just happen to be here, though it's also party because of boredom, since that's why I wander around, there's no much point to stay in one place when you don't eat, sleep, or do anything else that would require not moving." "But if you happen to know someone or something that could help me with getting away from this cursed existence I'm happy to hear it." "I have tried to destroy myself in several ways but I always come back."