11-05-2019, 04:15 PM
She was baffling, this forest-dwelling girl. Much as she looked half starved and more than half mad, she was following their conversation easily enough. His brow raised curiously at her phrasing. It was something he might have taken as an opening in other circumstances, but this creature seemed to be thinking along entirely different paths.
He shrugged as she mulled over his offer, houghing out a sulfurous gust of air. "What's a bite to eat between strangers?" It wasn't like horses only ever grazed aside bosom friends. Not in open places like these. Out here one took companionship when it was offered, if only for a little while. You never knew when your path would be crossed again.
She seemed to put a lot into what had been a lightly spoken suggestion. He'd had no ideas of nobility when he'd said he'd travel with her, only the impulse to defend that which was defenseless. He'd always liked small things, and felt that soft and vulnerable creatures shouldn't have to change their natures just to survive. That it was his responsibility as a sharper, harder beast to protect them. And maybe she was neither soft nor vulnerable, but he had spoken anyway. Just in case.
He knew these things about himself, yet still felt heat rise in his face to have them acknowledged out loud. He rumbled somewhere deep in his chest, a sound far more dragon than horse. "You give me too much credit." His own feet shifted noisily in the leaf fall. "I'm not looking for trouble or reward, just want to get you where you'll be looked after properly. I don't want to return here only to find your corpse half frozen under a tree come spring."
His words were gruff, intentionally so. She had ideas of nobility and grandeur. His train of thought seemed much more practical. She was really in no condition to be traveling on her own, not when it looked like a good stiff wind would be all it took to blow her away. And yet she seemed insistent on venturing even further into parts unknown. What was that nonsense about his honor being her bond or gateway? He shook his head at the idea.
His multicolored gaze fixed her in it's softly glowing power. "If you aren't going to talk sense, I'm going to carry you to Loess and keep you there until you've eaten a decent meal and had a good sleep. Until you look like a horse again, not some sad, wind swept pheasant." He meant it, too. Tana was no gentleman, not really. He was not above snatching the woman up in his claws like an eagle with a fish and dropping her someplace warm for the coming winter. Not if it meant she'd survive it.
@[Eyas]
He shrugged as she mulled over his offer, houghing out a sulfurous gust of air. "What's a bite to eat between strangers?" It wasn't like horses only ever grazed aside bosom friends. Not in open places like these. Out here one took companionship when it was offered, if only for a little while. You never knew when your path would be crossed again.
She seemed to put a lot into what had been a lightly spoken suggestion. He'd had no ideas of nobility when he'd said he'd travel with her, only the impulse to defend that which was defenseless. He'd always liked small things, and felt that soft and vulnerable creatures shouldn't have to change their natures just to survive. That it was his responsibility as a sharper, harder beast to protect them. And maybe she was neither soft nor vulnerable, but he had spoken anyway. Just in case.
He knew these things about himself, yet still felt heat rise in his face to have them acknowledged out loud. He rumbled somewhere deep in his chest, a sound far more dragon than horse. "You give me too much credit." His own feet shifted noisily in the leaf fall. "I'm not looking for trouble or reward, just want to get you where you'll be looked after properly. I don't want to return here only to find your corpse half frozen under a tree come spring."
His words were gruff, intentionally so. She had ideas of nobility and grandeur. His train of thought seemed much more practical. She was really in no condition to be traveling on her own, not when it looked like a good stiff wind would be all it took to blow her away. And yet she seemed insistent on venturing even further into parts unknown. What was that nonsense about his honor being her bond or gateway? He shook his head at the idea.
His multicolored gaze fixed her in it's softly glowing power. "If you aren't going to talk sense, I'm going to carry you to Loess and keep you there until you've eaten a decent meal and had a good sleep. Until you look like a horse again, not some sad, wind swept pheasant." He meant it, too. Tana was no gentleman, not really. He was not above snatching the woman up in his claws like an eagle with a fish and dropping her someplace warm for the coming winter. Not if it meant she'd survive it.
@[Eyas]