Re: Wandering Through Wolsic - 119 4A

[Nara-pyon]

Shoneah looked down at the dragon and chewed her lower lip thoughtfully. It was looking back at her as well. She kept petting it, and it made the happy sound again and snuggled into her lap.

"I don't know," she murmured finally. "I ... suppose I have a few names in my head, but ... to choose one ..."

Name meanings were important to her people as well, and she wanted to honour that aspect. But she knew almost nothing about the dragon yet. What sort of name then could she give it?

Then again ...

"I suppose it's between two names," she said at last. "Two that I think would suit him ... Iwatoke" - she pronounced it ee-wa-toe-kay - "which simply means serpent ... and Xipil" - she pronounced it zee-peel - "meaning noble fiery one ... he did climb quite a ways to get to me, on his own ... and he is a Volcano Dragon ..."

She tilted her head slightly and looked at Miyuki. "What do you think?"

[Kara Winters]

Miyuki thought about it carefully, both names were interesting in their own way. Tilting her head she looked back at Shoneah.

"Xipil sounds fitting," she replied.

It didn't hurt that it meant more than just serpent and most people could pronounce that.

"I wonder what you think about that," she looked at the dragon, not sure when dragons gained the ability to speak or understand.

[Nara-pyon]

The dragon looked at Miyuki through half-lidded eyes, and Shoneah chuckled softly and stroked its head.

"Xipil?" she smiled, tipping its head towards her with one finger under its chin. "Do you like that name?"

The dragon made a little clicking noise in its throat, and it nuzzled against Shoneah's hand. Shoneah laughed again and nodded. "Xipil it is."

She looked up when Wren approached her with a bowl of food, and accepted it with a smile. "Thanks."

"Welcome," Wren grinned. "And what does the little guy want?"

Shoneah looked back at the dragon, then looked to their guide. "Kyrie?" she asked sheepishly.

Kyrie grinned. "Whatever you eat, he'll eat. Small bites to start out with, though, dragons aren't much for chewing. And watch your fingers, until he gets used to you."

[Kara Winters]

"He'll bite them?" Miyuki asked for clarification.

She did beg the question, if that was the question, if that was the case, did that mean Uruloki did the same thing at one point.

[Nara-pyon]

"He might," Kyrie nodded. "Not intentionally of course, but he's just hatched - he does need to learn."

Shoneah nodded and fished a piece of meat out of her bowl. "Here you are," she murmured to the little blue dragon, holding it in the middle of her palm, which was open flat, and holding it out to him. The dragon sniffed at it, then snapped it up and gulped it down.

[Kara Winters]

"Does he like it?" Miyuki asked.

She had already eaten before, so she could just sit next to Shoneah and watch.

[Nara-pyon]

Shoneah smiled sheepishly. "I suppose so," she replied, not really certain one way or the other. Still, the dragon had eaten it pretty quickly, so maybe it did. It certainly looked as though it wanted more.

Wren chuckled. "I'll cut up some meat for him. Be right back."

Shoneah glanced up at Wren and nodded, then fished out another piece of meat from her bowl and fed it to the dragon as well.

"I've never had an animal as a companion," she admitted to Miyuki with a smile. "I must admit, I'm not entirely sure what to do with it ... I don't know how much I can train it, or ... or whether or not it understands me ..."

Life back home had been very predictable, but in this world so many things were different she had no idea what to expect to happen next.

[Kara Winters]

"I know all dragons do have the gift of languages, so even if he can't understand you now.... since I don't know what is the mental level of a baby dragon, he will be able to understand you," Miyuki replied, "Though other than that I don't know. You would have to ask Kyrie, it varies from creature to creature. Andarien and I train our Pokemon, but there's a winged cat named Senka who naps and is pretty much a lap cat."

Senka liked staying in the tent and could be found napping just about everywhere. On the floor, on the table, on a bed (mainly Miyuki's), on someone she knew....

[Nara-pyon]

Shoneah chuckled. "Yes, I've met Senka. But you're right, I should ask Kyrie about him. Who would know better than she?"

"Who would know what better than me?" Kyrie asked, appearing suddenly beside the girls with her own bowl of food.

"What to expect from Xipil, when he will understand me, those kinds of things," Shoneah replied, looking up at their guide. "When were you first able to communicate with Uruloki, for instance? How fast did he grow? What was he capable of, and when?"

Kyrie chuckled and sat down. "It's a good things it's a time for rest," she grinned.

[Kara Winters]

"I take it, that means there's a lot of information then?" Miyuki asked.

It sounded like Kyrie had a lot to say, but to be fair enough Uruloki had been with Kyrie for a long time.

[Nara-pyon]

"As much as you care to listen to," Kyrie agreed cheerfully. "How should we do this, then? I just talk and see what information I can give you? Or you ask questions and then I answer them?"

Shoneah considered for a moment. "How about you talk first, and then if there's anything you don't cover, I can ask afterwards?" she suggested. "That way you might tell me about something I wouldn't have thought to ask about, and I could get more information that way."

Kyrie nodded. "Sounds good to me. Miyuki? You all right with that?"

[Kara Winters]

"Sure, that works since really I don't very little about a dragon's life cycle," Miyuki replied, "So I wouldn't even know what to ask."

It was also just interesting to hear. Then again unlike back in the Four Lands or Caras Galadhon, dragons had just been accepted to be part of the environment like the way wolves or moor cats would be.

[Nara-pyon]

"And dragons are different than most other animals," Kyrie smiled. "All right then. I suppose I don't have to say anything about how they hatch, since we're past that stage already ... and Shoneah, I believe you saw it happen."

Shoneah smiled and nodded, and Kyrie continued.

"For now, he doesn't even have scales, just a leathery hide - really not much different from say ... a regular lizard, so tougher than skin but still quite vulnerable. He's a baby, so he depends on you for food and protection, and that won't change for quite a while - possibly a few years, I can't quite remember exactly."

She paused and closed her eyes, thinking back. "As for talking ... I believe ... Uruloki started talking in my head ... after about a month or so, and aloud ... nearly fifty years, I think, though it's possible he might have been able before that and just didn't."

[Kara Winters]

Miyuki giggled, because she knew sometimes Uruloki was a bit mischevious that way.

"Why do you say that?" she asked just out of curiousity.

[Nara-pyon]

Kyrie pursed her lips to think about it. She didn't have any proof, but a gut feeling, and gut feelings were difficult to put into words.

"Because ... of how suddenly he began," she decided at last, "and how perfectly he spoke. Vocabulary, intonation, inflection ... he spoke as well as anyone. No hesitation, no stuttering, no pausing to think. And perhaps the way he took it so matter-of-factly. Just an 'I told you it would be just a matter of time', or something like that."

[Kara Winters]

Miyuki giggled, "I can see why you thought that then."

She wondered if dragons were like the stage growers like her mom. Some stage growers started out as babies, and so they learned to talk like the way normal babies do, but she knew those like her mother know how to talk from birth.

"That must have been a surprised for you."

[Nara-pyon]

Kyrie laughed. "Well, considering it was at the same time that he first changed sizes, I'm afraid that was the more impressive surprise. And we were come upon quite suddenly by my niece, Lily - Miyuki, you know who she is, of course - and it was her first time meeting Uruloki, so it was a full and fun day."

"I don't suppose you showed him to her the way you showed him to me," Shoneah smiled thinly.

Kyrie giggled. "No, nothing so fun as that. He woke me up and Lily heard his voice and came in to see if Ahkshi had shown up in the middle of the night. I was half asleep, still in bed, so when she joined me Uruloki shrunk down and crawled into my lap because there wasn't much room left on the bed for him anymore. That part I think startled me as much as it did Lily."

[Kara Winters]

There was a laugh, the idea was just far too amusing.

"He's just full of surprises, but I kind of imagined Uruloki likes it like that."

[Nara-pyon]

"He is a tease," Kyrie agreed, laughing again. "But it's fun."

Her laughter died slowly, and she looked thoughtful. "Hmm ... where was I ..."

"When he started talking and changing size is as far as you got," Shoneah offered helpfully.

Kyrie nodded. "Right. He was only a few years old when he started to grow scales instead of skin - I think ... from what I can remember, he breathed fire right from when he hatched, so we might have to fireproof your room ..."

Shoneah chuckled softly. "There's a cheerful thought."

[Kara Winters]

"Well that's easily done," Miyuki replied, "I can do that before Shoneah goes to sleep tonight."

The outside of the tent was already fireproofed and so was the forge area. It wouldn't take much to do Shoneah's room.

[Nara-pyon]

Shoneah smiled warmly at Miyuki. "I'd appreciate that, thanks," she said sincerely. 

Suddenly Xipil, who seemed to have finished eating, started crawling quickly all over Shoneah. He scurried up her arm, crossed from one shoulder and back again, then poked his head up over top of hers. He remained there for a brief moment, then scrambled back down to one shoulder, lying down and curling his tail loosely around her neck.

Shoneah giggled and put one hand up to stroke his head. "Silly."

[Kara Winters]

Miyuki giggled, "Looks like he just wanted to get comfortable."

It was adorable really.

[Nara-pyon]

Shoneah giggled and kept petting the little dragon. "He's actually rather ... snuggly," she murmured. "He's softer than you'd guess."

"Just wait a few years," Kyrie grinned. "You'll get that feeling inside and out. Really, that's what it's like to bond with Uruloki. And then of course you get all the other perks of bonding, too, which is really fantastic."

Shoneah grinned. "At any rate, I'd best get this stuff soaking so I can get the saltpeter out of it." She rose carefully to her feet and hefted her bag. "Miyuki, I'll be in the forge for a while, if you want to add those runes to my room."

[Kara Winters]

"I'll do that while you're working then," Miyuki replied as she got up.

Now that, that talk was over, she should probably get on with that work if she wanted it done by the time Shoneah was ready for bed. It wasn't hard work, just tedious since she was still doing runes manually.

[Nara-pyon]

It took another three days before Shoneah and Kyrie felt they had enough of the materials they needed, and another two days before the materials were ready to use. At that point, Kyrie told the group that they would one final day to rest and prepare once more for travel. They had plenty of food, since Daeron had taken advantage of their time there to do some hunting (though game was scarce in the region, with how rocky it was.

Andarien of course did more training with his Pokemon, and Shiro and Kaito went on more hikes, leaving in the mornings and returning only late in the day, while for the others things were more or less the same.

Then, on the morning of the sixth day, they started packing up and prepared to leave the volcano.

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