The Last Dragon King

[Orithyia]

Cassie was still kneeling in front of Terumnaxis when he stood up. The way he looked down at her and how the brightness of the stars haloed his body and cast some of his face in shadows had the young girl staring up a blush creeping up her face. He really was hot wasn't he? Cassie asked herself the blush deepening at the inappropriately intimate position she was in. Knelling in front of him like this made her wonder if this was something he already knew about. She swallowed and it went down the wrong way and sent her into a coughing fit, something Cassie was happy about. It distracted her enough to stand up without a blush on her face and her mind clear of blow jobs and other sexual actions.

"Yeah, okay." Cassie agreed after pounding her check a few times to clear her airway. She looked him over again but not with a mind stuck in the gutter but about things like blue jeans and Ray Bans. "I'm not quite sure what I can teach you but if you have any questions I'll make sure to avoid they with much less grace and ease as you do." Cassie teased standing up.

"On a serious note, when we get back to the site I'll-" Cassie was going to say 'cash in a few unused weekends' but she fell short. This site was her big break, this find was going to write her name in the history books. She was going to be famous, rich and have her pick of any area to study. Sucking her bottom lip in she chewed on it deep in thought. She had promised Terumnaxis she would help him. She wasn't sure yet what she could offer him that no one else could but he had asked her, true it was because he came across her first but still. Her bottom jaw moved left to right in a saw like motion. Ah! She shouted in her mind. Being the nice person sometimes sucked.

"Yeah, we'll get to the site let everyone know that I'm leaving and show you around I guess." Cassie shrugged. "Is there anything that you want to know?" She smiled. "I'm only asking so I can get some practice in avoidance." It didn't bother her anymore that he still had only answered less then half her questions. It just seemed like every time she got an answer to one question three more would follow and she wasn't a fan of the feeling lost in a subject she spent her entire life being in love with and being a know-it-all about.

Cassie looked around and didn't see the silver mirror disk thing and wondered how they were going to get back. Would Terumnaxis have to draw the circle again? "So..." Cassie rocked back and forth on her heels. "Are we doing the circle spell thing again?"

 

[Baelnorn]

He held out his hand, offering her his aid in standing up from her kneeling position.

"Yeah, okay. I'm not quite sure what I can teach you but if you have any questions I'll make sure to avoid they with much less grace and ease as you do."

The old dragon could not help but smile at her comment. He was well aware that he still owed Cassandra many answers to her questions, but these could wait until they were in a more comfortable and safe environment. He offered her his arm to walk her back to the place where they had arrived.

"On a serious note, when we get back to the site I'll- ... Yeah, we'll get to the site let everyone know that I'm leaving and show you around I guess."

Her pause surprised him. It was obvious that she said something else than what she had originally intended to say but he accepted her statement and decided not to press the issue further. If there was something about her activities she wanted to tell him she would do so on her own.

"Is there anything that you want to know? I'm only asking so I can get some practice in avoidance."

He nodded at her with a completely serious face.

"Indeed I have many questions. About your culture, your government, your neighboring provinces, your tools and weapons, how you commence trade, what you consider art and how you perform it. And not to forget the historical events since my slumber. As said, I have much to learn about your world."

He waited for a moment, on purpose giving her the impression that he had missed her joke. When her expression was about to change he finally smiled at her.

"But do not worry, I know you also have many questions and I want to reassure you that my promise is still valid. I will answer each and every of your questions in time. Once we have moved to a more hospitable and private location you will get the answers you seek."

"So... Are we doing the circle spell thing again?"

The dragon nodded again.

"Yes, we are. A portal only stays open for a very limited amount of time. While one can move from either location to the other the ritual's duration is usually not sufficient to travel through it more than once."

With these words he knelt down at the very place where they had arrived, took a chip of rock and started scratching a new ritual circle into the ground. It took exactly the same amount of time for him to draw the circle with all three layers. Terumnaxis was just about to start the casting of the ritual when his stomach growled very audibly.

He raised an eyebrow and looked down on his body a little dismayed, but he had to admit that by now he was definitively very hungry and would need something - something much - to eat, soon. The amount of magic he had performed was putting a strain on his reserves, even more when he was basically the sole source of magic on the whole world.

"Perhaps we should acquire something to eat before setting off to ask our questions?"

Having said that he started casting the ritual and opened another portal that would take them back to where they left earlier.

 

[Orithyia]

Cassie took a deep breath and forced her body to relax in hope that it would make the magic trip more enjoyable. While the first ride left her feeling like she was floating in a pool of soda only this time the tingling bubble had turned into angry ants. Ants that accompanied once beautiful flashes of lights that made her sick with motion. The moment Cassie was free of the sliver dick she stumbled away and doubled over hanging her head between her knees. Was it possible to get motion sickness while still? She wondered only to debate the fact that they had indeed moved so it could be possible.

"Urg." Cassie moaned straightening up when cowering before the queasy feeling didn't seem to help. "I've decided that I'm not a fan of that." Her hand waved in the general direction of where the magic liquid mirror once was. "I vote flying next time." Cassie said trying for perky as she looked over her should with a smile. Of course Cassie was talking about a place or a helicopter and hadn't realized that Terumnaxis would have a different method when it came to flying.

With the smile still fresh on her face, Cassie's stomach decided it was time to put in it's two cents and chimed in with a hungry gurgle of it's own. "It seems that I agree with the plan." Her hand rubbed her suddenly talkative tummy. "So food- No. Change of cloths, food then questions." Cassie nodded to herself. Terumnaxis seemed to be the same size of Eddie, she would just steal his clothing for the time being.

"Okay." A quick look around and Cassie was already planning a route that would avoid people and questions about the strangely dressed man she was with. With another smile this time more nervous then faked perky Cassie jogged off. "Come on this way." The path that she took went to the fill ditch which she quickly hopped. From the ditch she made a wide circle around the busy parts of the site to where the Jeeps where parked. Past that and between the camels and Mich's tent they had to pause as members of B&H passed by. From the tent that they were hiding behind there was a loud sneeze. Mich was in him tent, it made Cassie smile. He was spending more time in his tent claiming that it was too hot to do anything and as the site's transport manager and mechanic there really wasn't much for him to do, but Cassie figured that it had more to do with certain things that seemed to go missing while he was gone. 'We're almost there.' Cassie mouthed before making sure the way was clear before sprinting down a row of tents to her own while she quickly slipped inside and held open for Terumnaxis.

Once Terumnaxis was inside Cassie closed the doorway. "See, wasn't that fun." Part of her felt bad that she had darted and hid on their way here like a mischievous teenager but she really couldn't afford the questions that came with a new face. Everyone was bad enough with pictures, videos and the press that she didn't need to hear about an unauthorized person in the dig area. That was a red flag for sure.

"So... This is my tent." Cassie waved her hand around oddly proud of her setup. The tent was Prof. Quinn's, she had begged him for days before breaking down and cheating. The big sad puppy dog eyes had won and scored her this larger then she had hoped for tent. In fact she earned herself some hard looks she it had been set up as each person was given 'x' amount of space and she had gone out of her lined out space, by a lot. It didn't help that when she was issued the most broken down cot the immediately next day mailed herself a pillow top hammock and returned it with a smug little smirk. It currently took up the back wall of the tent with just barely enough room for the stackable storage drawers that Cassie used to put her clothes in.

"I'm going to get you something to change into and I'll be right back." Cassie turned to leave, stopped and looked back. "Don't touch anything." Her hands waved around the tent but lingered on her Cassie-made desk on the left side of the tent. One side of the desk's leg was a side tool box that had walked on it's own from Mich's tent to her's, Mich wasn't buying the 'I don'y know how it got here' look but hadn't done anything about it. Which Cassie was happy about because she didn't know what she would replace it with. The other side was propped up with a base layer of cinder blocks and Eddie's mini fridge that he kept there because he didn't have enough space in his tent and used it as an excuse to come in and take a naps in her hammock. The desk surface was a large plywood board that had once been a box but was broken down and going to be burned. She had saved it and it was now home to open books, notepads, free floating pieces of papers, her laptop and a random collection of empty wrappers.

With that she hopped out of her tent and into Eddie's which was right next to her's. There had been a moment of doubt about things fitting so Cassie just took one thing of everything. There was a pair of worn blue jeans, Kermit the frog sleep pants, camo cargo shorts and a set of Quicksilver board shorts. The array of tops were just as bad ranging from a hoodie to a button down collar shirt and a plain white tank tops to a Boondock Saints shirt. It left Eddie's spread of remaining clothes pretty bare but Cassie figured she would return what Terumnaxis didn't like before Eddie noticed. About to leave Cassie noticed a box of nature valley granola bars and took that too not at all feeling bad.

"I didn't know what would fit so I kind of brought everything hoping that something would work." Cassie proudly showed Terumnaxis her stolen goods. "But that's not the best of it." From behind her back she pulled out the box of granola bars. "We can snack on these to hold us over as I try to get a Jeep so we can go into the city to get some real clothes and some non-camp food." She wiggled her eyebrows with glee waiting for a reaction from her dragon friend.

 

[Baelnorn]

Terumnaxis was standing upright and keeping an eye on their surroundings when suddenly Cassandra stumbled away and bent down. With a few quick strides he got close to her, holding her shoulders. "What happened? Are you hurt? Cassandra, talk to me!" A moan escaped her lips and she straightened up, trying to smile at him. "Ugh. I've decided that I'm not a fan of that. I vote flying next time." The dragon looked at her, considering her confirmation that she was alright and released her shoulders from his hold. "That is very strange indeed. Using a portal should not have any aftereffects on the travellers at all. I will need to study you before we travel by portal again. I don't want to see you get hurt... or worse."

Then she - or rather her stomache - notified him that she was also hungry. He couldn't help the smile on his lips when he heard the muffled growl from her belly. "Come this way." Terumnaxis nodded and followed her. The path she had chosen quickly led them down and away from the entrance to his lair and approached the dig's field camp from the side where strange machines and some camels were located. Curiously he eyed up the unknown objects, their metallic skin and glass windows. They had wheels so he guessed that they were some sort of vehicles, but that was about all information he could derive from their appearance alone.

Finally, after a short hide and dash between some larged tents they were inside. "See, wasn't that fun. So... This is my tent." Terumnaxis took a look around. "I'm going to get you something to change into and I'll be right back. Don't touch anything." He nodded and before he could say anything she was already gone again. He stepped closer to what seemed to be her working place, a crude desk that was crowded with sheets of paper, books and a strange grey box with a smooth surface. It all looked so incredibly messed up and chaotic... and also primitive. The simple nature of her desk belied the appearance of the vehicles outside. While he had agreed to not touch anything, his curiousity got the better of him and carefully he moved some of the papers and books around and read them.

The spell he had woven earlier to understand Cassandra also allowed him to read her language and he shook his head again. The notes and books were simply lists and reports about the excavation progress. He wasn't that interested in reading pages and pages of how the humans had dug out another ruin in the proximity of his lair so he let his gaze wander around on her desk again and found a very interestingly looking folded piece of paper. He took it in his hands and started to unfold it carefully, revealing a slightly bleached world map with a mark and note about the excavation site. His eyes went wide. His single great realm had dissolved into hundreds of different nations.

He was standing there, still holding the map up, when Cassandra hopped back in with several pieces of clothes in her hands. "I didn't know what would fit so I kind of brought everything hoping that something would work." Taken by surprise he almost dropped the map, caught like a little child with his hand in the cookie jar. "But that's not the best of it," she continued and then showed him a paper box - apparently some sort of food. He folded the map and put it down, "I apologize for not following your request, but I could not contain my curiousity. I hope I haven't disturbed your notes too much."

"We can snack on these to hold us over as I try to get a Jeep so we can go into the city to get some real clothes and some non-camp food." He stepped closer to her, examinating the clothes she presented to him. He took the cargo shorts and the white tank top from her hands and nodded. "As foreign as these clothes seem to me, I think these will fit me the best." He had barely uttered these words when a soft blue flow emanated from his armor and a split second later was gone, leaving him standing butt naked an arm's reach away from her. She could clearly see every inch of his front, the well defined lines of his muscles and his flaccid manhood hanging between his legs. Without any sign of shame or embarrassment he stepped into the shorts and put the tank top on.

He looked at her, smiling. "I think I am ready for departure."

 

[Orithyia]

Cassie wasn't quite sure what he was talking about. Everything looked to be in it's same cluttered organized mess. It wasn't until his hand moved to put the map down that she noticed anything. The small empty flash of wood should have been the first clue. "Oh. That's okay." She waved it off. "You can have it if you want." She wasn't quite sure why he would want a faded old map but he was a dragon and there was a lot of things in his world that she would never understand. "I'm sure everything looks different." With quick nimble fingers she tore open the top of box, fished out a bar and ripped the foil wrapper along side the seam flap. One of the bars she held out to Terumnaxis.

"Eddie has horrible taste in fashion but-" The offered granola bar dropped to the ground, quickly followed by it's twin still in the wrapper and the box. Terumnaxis was naked. Really, really naked. Cassie blushed a full flush of reds that started at her chest and moved it's way all the way to the roots of her hair. 'He looks good naked.' The thought didn't help and only made the blush turn a deeper shade of red.

"Ah. Yes. Well." Cassie coughed turned away as Terumnaxis stepped into his shorts. There wasn't really a way she could hide her first reaction to seeing all of him so she didn't even try to hide it. As her mind calmed down it started to nag her about something it had seen. It wasn't the first time she had seen a man naked but every time that she had they were all full attention and ready. That had been the first time that she had seen a man flaccid. Cassie chewed on her bottom lip annoyed that her mind was going there but not being able to stop it. She looked down at herself, Danner Desert TFX boots, cargo shorts and an UA BFE tank. Cassie frowned, maybe she should have put more thought into her look this morning. Because she was pretty sure if she looked at her calender it was clearly marked that today would be the day that she would awaken a dragon, who would turn into a man and then get naked in front of her.

"I think I am ready for departure."

Cassie was in the middle of recalling the way his large warm hands felt on her shoulders and the worry in his voice and how it had made her feel better earlier when she came out of the portal.

"Here." Cassie quickly turned scooped up the granola bar box and pressed it into Terumnaxis' chest without looking at him. For a reason she couldn't understand or didn't want to, she was mad and she wasn't sure if it was at herself or at Terumnaxis. "It'll take use about an hour and a half to reach the Oasis." She made the mistake of looking up at Terumnaxis and saw that he was smiling. Unfortunately the picture of him naked was still fresh in here mind and even though he was wearing clothes she still saw him naked and stormed out of the tent.

Arrogantly confident that Terumnaxis would be following in his own time Cassie strolled into Mich's tent without so much as a hello grabbed a set of Jeep keys and walked out to the sound of Mich calling after her about signing the Jeep out.

Jeep three was the best Jeep and as luck would have it, it had a full tank of gas. Cassie knew she was being childish but she hadn't expected for Terumnaxis to get naked while she was standing in front of him or for her to be so hurt that he was limp when he was naked. Cassie was sure it had nothing to do with liking him, because she didn't but it was still a blow to the ego to know so up front that she had no effect on him. Maybe it was a dragon thing. She told herself starting up the AAV TJL with the turn of the key. Pushing aside the matter with the simple explanation that it was a dragon thing Cassie waited for Terumnaxis ready to apologize for her rude and strange behavior.

 

[Baelnorn]

"Here. It'll take use about an hour and a half to reach the Oasis."

Terumnaxis turned towards her and smiled softly. The clothes were very foreign, both a cut and a material he had never seen before, but they actually fit very nicely. Although he didn't exactly look like a king he still considered himself appropriately dressed for their trip. Therefore he was a quite surprised when Cassandra suddenly pressed the paper box into his chest without even looking at him and then stormed out of the tent. He called after her, but she didn't react. "Cassandra, wait! What...?"

The old dragon stood there, not knowing what he should do for a second. He looked down on himself, wondering if he had somehow made a mistake. He had selected from her clothes offering and he also hadn't said anything bad about these strange things that supposedly were some sort of food. It then dawned him that perhaps she had reacted badly to the way he had changed clothes. Perhaps undressing in front of her had not been the best course of action. But she had wanted to leave as quickly as possible, and therefore he chose the most direct and pragmatic way to get dressed.

He just stood there, wondering when she would return. His gaze fell on the unwrapped bar on the ground and his nose picked up the unfamiliar smell emanating from it. He picked the bar up and shook most of the dirt and sand sticking to it off. Smelling on it again, he took a bite and chewed. It didn't taste bad and soon Terumnaxis was eating bar after bar. He put the wrappers on Cassandra's desk in a neat pile and reserved the last three bars for her.

Waiting for a bit longer, Terumnaxis wondered where Cassandra went and what took her so long to return. This delay didn't fit into her plans and he was getting worried that something happened to her. Finally he decided to go looking for her and carefully peeked out of the tent's opening. He stuck his head out and noticed one of the strange vehicles nearby. He took a closer look and saw that Cassandra was sitting... inside? The old dragon looked around, making sure that nobody was paying them any attention and quickly jogged over to the metallic vehicle. But once he got there he hesitated, not knowing how to get in himself. But before he had solved that conundrum Cassandra had leaned over and opened the door for him.

He climbed inside and sat on the passanger seat, pulling the door shut after he got in. He turned to Cassandra, who still seemed upset and agitated. "So, pray tell me how did I call your anger down on me?"

 

[Orithyia]

Cassie had been talking to the steering wheel when out of the corner of her eye she spied Terumnaxis jogging over to her. "You weren't very much help." Cassie sighed giving the inanimate object and shove. She hadn't expected the wheel to comfort her in anyway but she thought speaking her mind out loud would make her feel better and at the time it did until she saw Terumnaxis.

The blush was back but it was just a light dusting of what it had been back in the tent. She still hadn't looked at Terumnaxis worried that she would still see him naked. It wasn't made any better when she opened the door for him and he now was sitting about a foot from her. There was a heat radiating from Terumnaxis' body that Cassie was willing to bet was just her mind making it painfully obvious that he was so close to her.

"So, pray tell me how did I call your anger down on me?"

Her eyes snapped up to glare at him. Was that a tone? Was he going to be mad at her for being mad at him? Cassie sighed and looked away. This wasn't the way she wanted to start a 90 minute car ride. "Look," She started slowly. "There are rules to going around naked. It's not something you just do." 'No matter how good you look.' Cassie added to herself biting her tongue so it wouldn't come out of her mouth. "And, well!" She turned her head so she was looking at him again and was waving her hand up and down his body. "It's just not something you do." She ended calmly her waving hand now forced to grip the steering wheel so as not to embarrass her anymore. "And there might be a grain of girlish pride mixed in there somewhere." Cassie all but whispered and she put the Jeep in reverse and gassed it a little harder then she had wanted.

 

[Baelnorn]

"Look, there are rules to going around naked. It's not something you just do."

Terumnaxis listened to her while being very wary of the vehicle. Back in his own time they did have ships and wagons that were driven by elementals and not by animals. But this thing was not even remotely similar since he could not feel the slightest hint of magic around them. His attention still devided between her and her jeep, he respnded with a calm tone.

"I assumed you wanted to leave as soon as possible and therefore chose the fastest way to change my apparel. Properly removing and storing my armor normally takes around the same time as drawing and preparing the ritual circle I used earlier. I guessed you did not want to spend so much time with me around so I did what I did - especially considering the questions that would be asked if I was discovered in your tent. I apologize if that caused you any discomfort."

"And, well! It's just not something you do."

The old dragon looked at her, still irritated by her sudden adversarial behavior. Was she really chiding him for undressing in front of her? Apparently there was a thing that has not changed a bit in its predictability - a woman's unpredictability. "Well, you absolutely did not seem to have cared about my nakedness earlier. You remember my true form? In my true form I am not exactly wearing a loin cloth either. So why does it suddenly bother so much to see my body unobstructed for a moment or two?"

"And there might be a grain of girlish pride mixed in there somewhere."

Not sure if she had intended him to her that or not, but his sharp senses have still picked it up. "What do you mean, 'girlish pride'?" He had barely said that when suddenly the whole vehicle launched itself backwards, forcing him to put up his arms and hold on to the console in front of him to stay in the seat. His irritation growing some more he threw here a very "not amused" glare from the corner of his eyes.

 

[Orithyia]

"I don't have a problem with you being around." Cassie told him truthfully. Today was by far the most exciting, new and very confusing day in her life. It kind of sounded sad when she realized it but then figured that it couldn't be that bad if her best day involved a real life dragon. She huffed and shook her head, part of herself was still waiting to wake up or find herself at the pearly gates. "And as long as you're not dressed as if you just stepped out of some King Arthur movie or you're not seen walking out from the dig site I'm fine with being seen with you. It's not you that I was worried about it was the questions that came with the way you were dressed and where we were coming from." Cassie could just see it now, Eddie walking in as Terumnaxis stood there without a stitch on. "And as long as you have clothes on." She added knowing the rumors that would come with that finding if it had ever happened.

"Well, you absolutely did not seem to have cared about my nakedness earlier."

"I've never-" She started to correct but he kept talking.

"You remember my true form? In my true form I am not exactly wearing a loin cloth either. So why does it suddenly bother so much to see my body unobstructed for a moment or two?"

He was right but Cassie didn't think pointing out that his man parts weren't out before made it a different story completely. "I don't know how it was back then or how dragons go about it but in this human world we wear clothing and only get naked in front of people in, when, um..." She paused for a moment not know how to put it without sound crude. "It's just a very intimate thing and we've only just met and you've yet to even take me on a date." She was masking the uncomfortable conversation topic with jokes, a normal reaction in her world that she hoped Terumnaxis caught because she just couldn't imagine what his idea of a date would be. Kidnapping damsels? Setting villages on fire? Swooping up small children in the middle of the night? Cassie didn't know if dragons were responsible for the last one or if it was gremlins or something but she figured that someone must have done it at least once.

Cassie caught the look and stilled. The look on Terumnaxis' face wasn't thrilled. There was a twitch on the corner of her mouth and before she could stop herself she was laughing. The mighty magic wielding dragon was scared of cars? The laughter grew when Cassie shifted and took them forward. "That there." Cassie pointed at the seat belt. "It crossed over your body and clips in there." She pointed again a huge smile on her face as she wondered how he would take to duneing. There was a rode that they could take but it would add time to their journey and everyone knew that the fastest way to get somewhere was straight to it. "It's called a seat belt and it's used for your safety. Not that you need it, I'm a great driver." And then she was laughing again.

Girlish pride. She wanted to ignore that question knowing that it would ruin her now better mood. Cassie didn't want to have to explain how it 'wounded her pride' or whatever to see that he was the least bit interested in her. So she sat there for a while thinking of a cover story that might sound believable. Too bad she was such a bad liar.

The road was well worn as this was the only entrance in and out of camp. Sand drifts marked the sides of the road and there were tire marks form the other vehicles. It would be like this for the first ten to fifteen minutes before she cut off the road and switched it into 4-wheel drive. Then it was simply following the markers on her android but she had driven to the Oasis enough times by now that she hadn't even bothered to take out her phone.

"I guess it's because you didn't seem to like the granola bars." She said at last when the camp was behind them. "You know how women do the cooking and cleaning and you didn't seem to like the food I had gotten you so, yeah. Girlish pride." It was a horrible lie and Cassie knew it the second it fell out of her mouth but she hadn't come up with anything else that would make sense.

Cassie sat there waiting to get caught and changed the subject. "Is it time to play question and answers yet?"

 

[Baelnorn]

"I don't have a problem with you being around..."

Terumnaxis sat there and quietly listened to her tirade. She still was going on talking about him being naked in front of her. And he really did not understand what the problem was. He had even already apologized for his behavior and she still could not put it down. His mood was visibly suffering with each second and he silently prayed that Cassandra was not a typical example of a female from this culture and time. He was very sure he would not tolerate that sort of complaining for long.

For a moment a dangerous thought crossed his mind - would he perhaps be better off by exploring this strange new world on his own? He had seen on the map that his kingdom had literally fallen into pieces and he did not know if all those nations were at peace with each other. Until he knew more about this world's politics he needed to restraint the use of his power and magic lest he was utilized or deceived into doing the wrong things. This meant that he should not trust anybody - including Cassandra - until he had an opportunity to consult a neutral source of information.

When she started laughing he was about to tell her to just shut up when she explained to him how to use a seat belt so that he did not have to hold himself in place with his hands all the time. At last she had said something useful and with a loud sigh of relief the old dragon snapped the belt's clip into place.

Finally she stopped laughing at him and steered the vehicle out of the camp - with impressive speed and accurace as he had to admit to himself. But then he heard one of the worst lies ever presented to him. The tone of her voice, the nervous flicker in her eyes, the way she suddenly gripped the steering wheel. Even the words themselves did not make any sense. Everything belied her statement. She was the leader of this expedition, in charge over several men and an impressive amount of equipment and yet womens' duties were cooking and cleaning?

A sharp retort was already forming on the dragon's tongue when he decided that it was not worth the trouble. Calling her out on her horribly bad lie would only lead to another very likely rather pointless discussion and he was really tired of these right now. So he decided to let it slide. But he would never forget that she lied to him this time, obviously trusting him with her life but not a truthful answer to - to him at least - very harmless question. This reinforced his stance that he should not trust her fully.

"Is it time to play question and answers yet?"

Terumnaxis turned his head, looking at her. With a rather cold tone he answered her. "Yes, what do you want to know?"

 

[Orithyia]

It had hurt hearing that tone from Terumnaxis but it wasn't undeserved, she had been caught and let pass on a lie. She would probably react in the same way if not worse. She turned her head and looked at him, only to turn away just as quick when she saw that his face matched his tone. 'Fun.' She cheered in her mind. Not even a fraction of the way there and she had already gone and messed things up.

The split was coming up and Cassie stopped turned it to 4-wheel drive. There was a little sand drift but the jeep easily climbed over it and on to the seemingly endless shifting sands. She accelerated and the cloud of sand kicked up, leaving a tawny trail behind them. She didn't know why but she felt as if she needed to explain where they were going and why they turned off the road but didn't. Being at a loss for words didn't happen very often to her. Much less often was the itching burning feeling that she had messed up. And with nothing useful to say she just stayed silent.

Wasn't today just a roller coaster of emotions. Just a few hours ago she had uncovered the greatest find in mankind's history. The overwhelming high feeling should have lasted at least a solid week. Instead she was sitting here feeling as if she was getting yelled at by her dad. How did it get this bad this fast? Cassie knew the answer to that and could see the big neon flashing sign over her head marking her as the one guilty.

Cassie opened her mouth to say sorry but nothing came out. "What do you feel like eating?" Her voice wasn't cold but it had also changed. It was her professional voice, one that didn't speak of her feelings or thoughts. "There isn't much to chose from but what is it that dragons like to eat?" She suddenly didn't feel that she had the right to know anything more personal about him then that and all other questions just didn't matter anymore.

 

[Baelnorn]

Terumnaxis raised an eyebrow when Cassandra suddenly stopped her vehicle, but then he realized that she was going off the road and calmed down. The silence in the jeep was almost tangible. Two times it seemed as if she wanted to say something, but then her lips shut without spilling a single word. Finally, she said something.

"What do you feel like eating? There isn't much to chose from but what is it that dragons like to eat?"

The old dragon turned his head and looked at her, a slight expression of disbelieve on his face. All the things she could have asked and she wants to know what he likes to eat? He took a deep breath and let out an equally deep sigh before he responded. His gaze drifted off into the distance out of the passanger door's window, tracing the line where sand meets sky in the far distance.

"Very well, an unexpected question but I will answer it nonetheless. The answer is basically very simple: almost anything. It obviously depends on my current form, but in general I am capable of eating most things and also have done so. I've consumed rocks, trees, cattle, humans, swords and spears, books, pillows... if you can name it and it has existed in my time I have very likely taken a bite out of it."

He straightened his position and continued his explanation.

"Obviously, my draconic form is capable of consuming much more and much larger objects than my current body. As a human, I prefer to eat what other human's eat since it is somewhat uncomfortable to chew on a piece of wood or a raw piece of deer with human teeth. However, ignoring my physical size I generally eat much more than a normal human. What I consider a normal meal would easily feed three to five humans. And the volume again increases a lot when I eat in my true form. The reason is that I conve..."

He stopped in the middle of the word and remembered what had just happened minutes ago. Could he really trust her enough to tell her this aspect of his physiology? The knowledge of the magical organ he was about to mention would allow others to launch more lethal attacks against him. He started the sentence again.

"The reason is that I need so much food to fuel my draconic and magical abilities. Does that answer help you in any way?"

 

[Orithyia]

Cassie smiled a bit when he listed off the things he has eaten in his life and figured that as far as food when with Terumnaxis she couldn't go wrong. Which was good because there was the old market place that sold you the animal and while you shopped around it was cleaned cooked and then you went and picked it up. She loved it but Eddie thought it was cruel. In fact we still had a goat back at camp when he bought it the first time we went to the market and didn't have the heart to kill it. He ended up naming it Nine Lives no matter the fact that goats only had one life and it was cats with nine.

"Yeah. I wasn't sure if you would have liked it but the old market place is defiantly better then trees and rocks. At least I think so. Eddie might think other wise."

Looking over at Terumnaxis she thought of his armor and where it had gone. How the outfit now made him look like the rest of her college diggers. The look wasn't very Terumnaxis though it looked good. "We'll maybe go by Halzar's to get you some clothes of your own." Cassie mentally counted what she had in the bank and was positive that she would have more then enough for food, clothes and other necessities. "We'll also get you a toothbrush and whatever else you might want or need while we're in town as well."

Without anything more she felt like asking the jeep ride was quite. "That button there turns on the radio and that turner dials in on stations. I don't know if you'll like our new version of music but you're welcome to turn it on and see if you can find anything you like if you don't have any question you want to ask me." Cassie offered not liking the silence in the jeep.

 

[Baelnorn]

"Yeah. I wasn't sure if you would have liked it but the old market place is defiantly better then trees and rocks. At least I think so. Eddie might think other wise."

Terumnaxis mused what she would offer him for food. But he did not expect anything great - if the humans living in this time did prepare meals the same way they speak, their sophistication and quality have suffered greatly through the ages. His inner cynical self would already be impressed if what she gave him was not raw or still alive.

"We'll maybe go by Halzar's to get you some clothes of your own. We'll also get you a toothbrush and whatever else you might want or need while we're in town as well."

He agreed that she had a point. If he wanted to get by in this world he needed to grow accustomated to the commonly worn clothing as well as the personal customs, especially cleaning and hygiene. The only part that worried him was her "whatever else you might want or need" because he already had the impression that this was going to be less about what he needed but rather what she decided he would want to have. He let out a long sigh.

"I agree that I indeed need some things, but I would prefer our trip to the merchants to be focused on the really needed items."

"That button there turns on the radio and that turner dials in on stations. I don't know if you'll like our new version of music but you're welcome to turn it on and see if you can find anything you like if you don't have any question you want to ask me."

He looked at the device she pointed at. He was unsure whether this was genuine explanation or just a desperate attempt to pacify or distract him from her previous lie. Either way, he really was not in the mood for music or entertainment at all, so he politely declined her offer.

"Thank you, but I will study your world's art and artists at a later time in a more peaceful and focused environment if you don't mind. Music is a delicate thing and carries so many subtleties and nuances that need to be considered. And even for me this is sort of rather difficult right now."

He had barely finished when the jeep jumped violently over another dune and they were both bounced around in their seats. If he had not fastened his seat belt as Cassandra suggested, he would probably be positioned upside down by now on his place.

--[ OOC: Scene abandoned ]--