[Kallile]

Jael watched the Sailfin with curiosity and a hint of disappointment. While he had in no way expected every creature here to be the picture of the mythical dragons humans often told stories about…he hadn’t quite expected to meet one like Makari. As the Sailfin seemed to be in the midst of an inner battle, Jael just waited quietly and politely. He was still trying his best not to be a huge brute and scare the other off but it was proving hard with the adrenaline of battle and coming one step closer to achieving his dream coursing through his veins.

“The nursery?” Now it was Jael who echoed Makari. It was, to be honest, the last place the Voidbringer wished to see. He was expecting no hatchlings and had no room to even consider finding himself a nice female to settle down with. So the area itself seemed rather pointless to introduce him to. “The nursery doesn’t exactly top my list…” Jael began as gently as he could possibly muster.

Maybe it made sense to the Sailfin—life started as eggs and hatchlings so why not begin the journey of teaching a newcomer with the first place their younglings started. Jael closed his upper set of eyes out of stress and weariness and decided to try something else. “Perhaps we could meet in the middle somewhere…is there a watering hole or other area I might need to make a daily visit to?”

He made sure to add the part about a daily visit to try and guide the Sailfin to ‘important’ landmarks. He would certainly not be visiting the nursery daily anytime soon to his knowledge.

[Jaykobell]

Jael's disappointment hit Makari like a rock hitting a bird in flight. Actually, make the rock an entire avalanche. The image of the crushed little bird was basically the state of the Sailfin's self-esteem as the Voidbringer gently denied the Nursery idea. "A-ah..." Makari answered quietly to Jael's disapproval, looking away in shame. "I... I-I guess we can start... elsewhere," he mustered the courage to say, although now he was even less enthusiastic about the whole thing. Why had he been picked to do this? He wasn't anywhere near the level of expertise as some of the other Paragon here. Why give him such a huge responsibility? He could barely get around the Hive himself!

"The... watering hole... A-ah..." Maybe that would work, the Sailfin thought. Not a lot of Paragon stayed around the watering hole or anything, so maybe there wouldn't be anyone to judge him or anything like that. That's what he was afraid of: he was afraid of Paragon judging the fact he was supposed to guide another one. Not to mention that this Paragon wasn't from here, so it was even more responsibility. Ah, what was he supposed to do? It was so hopeless right now.

But as Makari tried to awkwardly guide Jael about his new home, some action was happening not to far away from the two as two Paragon seemed to be making their way through the others, and whom looked like they were going straight for Jael and Makari.



"Hey!" the Deserthorn of the pair called out first. "You, the Voidbringer there. You Jael?" he asked as the pair reached the two male Paragon. "We're lookin' for Jael."

"Red wingless Voidbringer with some Flame tail," the dark purple-tinted Voidbringer described, narrowing all four eyes at Jael. "Sounds like him to a T. Don't know any other red Voidbringers 'round here," he added with an excited grin.

"Radical, we got him," the Deserthorn rejoiced as the two newcomers bumped their fists together in a sort of victory. "Super. Hey there, kid," he continued, craning his neck closer to Jael. "I'm Tyrone, and he's Colby," he introduced, flicking his Slicer tail towards the Voidbringer as he introduced him. "We heard some new kid came about here and that, lo and behold."

"He was from the human areas beyond this here clan," Colby continued, the two Paragon sounding like they'd been together for quite some time, if they could literally finish each other's sentences. "So we thought, as two 'gon that come from the human culture too, that we could totally become buddies."

"You know what we're saying?" Tyrone added, eventually turning to Makari, whom the two newcomers had completely ignored up until now, but probably because they already knew him. "And hey, Mack," the Deserthorn greeted in passing before turning back to Jael. "Hey! I know! We can totally guide you 'round this place! Get ourselves some bonding time. Yeah?"

"That would be great, man," Colby approved, quite literally smacking the Deserthorn on the shoulder, seemingly his version of a good old friendly pat on the back. "You in?"

When it came to him, Makari simply smiled awkwardly as the Deserthorn greeted him, although his expression did change when Tyrone and Colby offered to guide Jael around. While he didn't want to drop the job so he wouldn't be mocked by the others, the Sailfin did find this to be a great opportunity to avoid all the stress. Ultimately, though, it would be up to Jael since Makari didn't have the guts to speak up about it one way or another.

[Kallile]

For a long moment Jael felt rather guilty for asking the other male to change his plans; especially after seeing how the Sailfin seemed to shrink before his eyes. But he remained firm—he didn’t need to know where the nursery was. Not now, not for a long while. He needed to keep his mind focused on tasks and not where any future hatchlings of his might be staying. “If it’s not much trouble. The battle and fire-breathing this morning has made me quite parched.” He tried to give good reason for it, to help the Sailfin feel like he was really leading his new charge somewhere helpful. And he would be, but Jael felt the need to point it out anyway.

The two males closing in distance were not of concern to Jael until one happened to call out his name. The red male turned his head to face the two newcomers who at least seemed pleased. Though it was a distant thought, Jael didn’t completely trust Harlow not to rally an offense against his being in the Hive. With a nod he greeted the other two, though it seemed that they had already confirmed his name themselves. “Yes, I am Jael.”

The way the new males spoke was not at all what Jael had been expecting…that is, until he heard their story. More human-born paragon. Their speech patterns made much more sense now but it did leave him wondering why they hadn’t willingly dropped that crude form of banter. When Tyrone began talking again Jael was very sure that he did not know what they were saying. Buddies? He could always use some extra support to fit in, but he was not sure that these two would be the best candidates. Then again…they were bold and enthusiastic whereas Makari was hard pressed to even be around him.

“I have been assigned to Makari as my guide, though I am sure extra helping claws wouldn't be a problem. Might help lessen the weight of the task.” He hoped he had worded that so not to offend the little Sailfin. But this would be perfect for Makari, wouldn't it? He didn't want to be a guide, and now he had the opportunity to back out of it entirely if he so desired. He gave the Sailfin a glance and small smile of encouragement.  While he wasn't so sure about the whole bonding time issue, he was certain that two enthusiastic guides would prove more helpful than a nervous one who seemed to melt at the slightest correction to his plans.

[Jaykobell]

The two newcomers waited patiently for Jael's answer, the two Paragon looking almost identical to one another, except for their obvious species difference. One could think the two were brothers, although the truth was that they had just known each other since the very beginning of time. Well, maybe that was a little far back, but the point remained the same.

When Jael agreed to hang out, the two partners high-fived in victory. "Score!" the two exclaimed in unison as they turned back to Jael.

"Awesome. We'll show you 'round these parts," Colby added with an expression that, unlike Makari's, showed that that he wasn't afraid to pull off the job. "We might be from those human places too, but we've been here for a pretty good while, man. We can get ya around just fine," the Voidbringer assured, slipping between the two younger males.

With Jael pretty much confirming that he thought the Sailfin wasn't fit for the job, Makari didn't know whether he was supposed to feel relieved or devastated. Izotz had entrusted the job to him, but he had ultimately failed to give a good image. "A-ah, it's okay... I-I'll leave the job to... to you two," Makari managed to mumble at the two newcomers as he slowly started to step backwards and away from the group.

But it didn't quite turn out that way when the Deserthorn quickly snatched the smaller Sailfin back to the group by wrapping an arm around his neck. With a loud and high-pitched squeal, the Sailfin was dragged back to the group. "No, Mak, man," Tyrone started, bringing Makari back to his original position, "hang out with us too. We can all have some bonding time together, it'll be loads of fun!"

Having used his little amount of courage to try to get away, Makari was unable to deny the invitation. "S... S-sure," he agreed, although his voice had given off the feeling that he really didn't want to be involved in this whole thing anymore.

"Okay, man," Colby started again, now with the group starting with Jael on the left, Colby next to him, Tyrone following Colby, and finally, Makari closing the line of the right. "There's a whole bunch of good stuff to show you here. First, we can separate that in three categories."

"One: fundamental areas," Tyrone started after Colby, and the Voidbringer raising a finger as the Deserthorn listed the different categories. "Two: Paragon classes and ranks, and three: extra or optional areas that are good to know about."

"And from those areas, we'll start with the fundamental ones! Cause how can you get around this place if you don't even know where to feed or water yourself, man? They're important. So, from the fundamental areas."

"We have the water hole, the food storage, the dens, and the healer's den too," Tyrone continued again, and with the Voidbringer raising a claw at every listed item.

"And once we're done with that, we can start showing you what kind of tasks you could do here! Ya can't just stick around and sleep all day, ya gotta work it out. So from there we'll show you the main Paragon classes."

"Which are Scouts, Hunters, and Keepers for the main classes, and then some extra sub-classes like the Sky Flyers and the Ground Runners if you'd be interested."

"And then finally, if we still have some time, we'll show you around some extra areas that you might or might not necessarily need to know about."

"Like the nursery, the Advisor's den, and the hunting grounds."

With everything explained and listed out for Jael, the two Paragon turned to him. "So? What's it gonna be first?" Colby asked, with the Deserthorn looking as well just beyond the Voidbringer.

"U-um... H-He wanted the... the w-water hole," Makari piped up suddenly at the end of the line, which got the two males turning their heads toward him. How surprising to see the Sailfin speak up, but it had been useful this time, right?

"Oh, okay then. We can start with that, no prob," Colby confirmed, with a nod from Tyrone to approve. "All right then! To the watering hole we go." With that, the group started heading that way, with the Voidbringer more or less leading the little newly-founded group.

"So, what got you thinkin' about leaving the human territory, Jael?" Tyrone asked beyond the Voidbringer, craning his neck beyond Colby so he could look at the other Voidbringer.

[Kallile]

Unfortunately for Makari, there was no way for him to know that Jael did not feel that way at all. He would have done fine, the Voidbringer was mostly sure of that, but it was his lack of confidence to even show him around that spurred the red male to take other opportunities. He had not walked across the Plains as a gleaming beacon that both alerted every possible adversary to his position and chased away all possible food sources to be left visiting the nursery. He would have to earn his respect here, of that he was very aware, but he did want to be given a little more credit for the pure amount of guts and bravery it had taken to even come this far alone. It seemed the two fellow human-born males would fit what he desired much better.

The red male had to offer a small grin when Tyrone roped Makari rather forcefully into the whole thing. It was comfortably familiar—these two and their mannerisms. He had hated it, yes, but something familiar was always nice to have when one was taking a complete leap of faith. “Sounds promising, some friendly faces here would be a very welcome addition.” Jael commented, hoping not to sound too off-putting to Makari. The Sailfin hadn’t done anything wrong, after all.

As the other Void and Deserthorn listed off the areas, classes, and other things of which there were many; Jael had to admit that he was completely impressed by their presentation. They seemed so laid back and yet they had quickly and systematically spread out a mental map of the things they would show and teach. That was what the Voidbringer had wanted all along. That was what he had hoped for. His smile brightened and became more relaxed; as did his posture. He was going to like it here with the likes of these two around, he could feel it.

When Makari answered for him the smile only grew. He wanted to give the smaller male a bright ‘that’s the spirit’, but felt it would be inappropriate. He merely nodded in agreement before taking off at the easy pace his fellow Void set.  The question did not surprise him; he was actually more surprised that it hadn’t been asked earlier.

“Well, as you can imagine, I was born and raised to be some prized pet. Sit there and look pretty, if you know what I mean.” He began, looking to Makari and hoping that he could understand at least a little. “My human owners had a child and because of my presence the boy was fascinated by fairy tale stories dealing with knights and Kings; princesses and dragons. He would often read them out load to me in hopes it would spur some sort of…playful imaginary battle.”

His smile turned a little sheepish…oh how he hated recounting his life with humans. It had been such a bland existence. “But really, all he did was plant the seeds of thought into my head. Why was I living with humans when there was an entire world out there that could be mine to experience? Why be hand fed when I could hunt? Why be handed everything? I felt so far removed from the creatures in my human child’s storybooks; it began to feel as if I was letting my ancestors down.”  His eyes roved around to take in every sight and possible landmark they passed along the way, every now and again focusing forward to give his attention to his newfound companions.

“So I left on a whim and a dream to find somewhere that I could do all those things. Be free, live among my own kind, and truly shape m own life.”

[Jaykobell]

As Jael told his story, the two bigger males were staring at him with much anticipation and focus. From what they could tell, Jael wasn't all that old, and still early in his prime; Tyrone and Colby were maybe twice his age, although it was always hard to tell exactly just by looking at a Paragon. To imagine a young male taking this trip alone all the way here was quite the interesting story.

"Y'know, I get what you're saying," Colby told the red Voidbringer once he was finished with his story, with the bigger male wrapping an arm around Jael's shoulders. "I was kinda like that too. I was born in captivity, so really, I wasn't anyone's pet. Just got to live my life around with humans, that sort of deal. They would study me, ask me questions; it was different every day, but it got boring after a while. Tyrone and I met at that captivity center. Mostly, I got my idea to leave because of books too."

"They had those books about Paragon, and from them, they listed different breeds and species, and also certain areas where wild ones lived," Tyrone picked up, craning his neck towards the other two. "We hadn't heard of this tribe itself, since it's really secluded and far away from humans, but we did get the information that wild Paragon clans existed, as small as they were. Basically those breeders tried to breed different species and attributes they would see from those wild Paragon in the study books."

"I got the same motivation as you; got tired of the whole thing after a while. I wanted to do more. It was a comfy life back there, but this here place is exciting," Colby added, ending the sentence with a laugh. "Tyrone doesn't feel the same way, though."

Humphing, the Deserthorn rolled his eyes. "I was kinda happy with humans. I didn't really care either way; I liked being able to tinker with their weird thingamabobs they had." The Deserthorn was reminded of all those funny potions and items they had back at that weird breeding center, where they would test them on Paragon and other creatures. He loved the stuff, and while he was satisfied with the scavenging and experimenting he could do here, it would never be the same. "But we're buddies, so I followed this big log all the way to this here place."

"And I dragged the burden all the way here, can you imagine?" But despite the name-calling, one could tell it was all in jest.

While the three older males spoke and interacted, Makari was quietly following them, keeping to himself. He'd heard Jael's story, something that left the wild-born Paragon intrigued, the same way Colby's and Tyrone's story did. Mostly, it was the feeling of family they had all gotten that perplexed him; even made him feel the smallest bit of jealousy. Makari's father had died when he was but a small hatchling, and ever since then, his mother had stopped caring for her hatchlings. That left the small Sailfin with a wing handicap, a dead father, and a mother that might as well be dead as well, considering she had absolutely no attachment towards him. This left the Sailfin feeling pretty depressed, his head hanging low and his expression looking both heartbroken and hurt, all in silence.

[Kallile]

Jael gave a small wince as the arm was tossed over his shoulders, but he took it all in with a grin. Humans had a saying: what didn’t kill you made you stronger. If nothing else he would take that little thought onwards with him. The pain he had endured today was going to make him better in the long run. “It must have been very nice to have a companion to travel with. Something I admire at least. I really had no friends or family that I was ever well aware of.”

The friendship these two harbored left the red Void male feeling a little green with envy. Even if they hadn’t shared the same dream, they had made the journey together. He certainly wished he would have had the same support. It might have made his acceptance all that much sweeter if there was a long-known friend here to celebrate with him. But there was plenty of time to create friends to share in what he accomplished; these two were already filling the niche nicely. “I don’t remember my keepers having such study books; though I was mostly subjected to their children’s fantasies of being knights out to slay a dragon.” He admitted after a long moment.

He turned and looked to Makari, giving a slight grin. “And what of you, Makari? Any dreams you hope to accomplish?” It was a stupid question, Jael was well aware of that, but it might at least help the Sailfin feel a little more included with these three human-born creatures he had seemingly so little in common with.

[Jaykobell]

"It was when Tyrone would do his part instead of scavengin' for trash," Colby commented as he rolled his eyes at the thought. That was pretty much the reason why neither males were hunters: the job just didn't suit them. Colby got to have it easy by being a Keeper, and Tyrone could satisfy his desire for trinkets by being a Scout. The two could hunt, they just didn't enjoy the deed at all.

"Trash?" the Deserthorn echoed indignantly, blowing smoke from his nose. "It would've been better if you could hunt period," Tyrone retorted, giving Colby a hard stare. Whereas the Deserthorn often and easily got distracted by the desire to scavenge and explore, the Voidbringer was hardly any better himself. "All you'd do all day is sit and sleep; that's why it took us ages to find this place," Tyrone added, turning his head and giving out a small humph.

Since the conversation wouldn't be going anywhere, Colby just rolled his eyes and focused on Jael's story instead. "Eh, ours didn't have all that many good books, either. I think our find was just a lucky one." Most books had been about breeding and genetics, abilities, powers, and other such things. It had been luck to find a part about wild Paragon and their environment, really.

While the three human-born Paragon continued their conversation, Makari was still quiet and timid, trying his best to hide in plain sight, somehow. That failed miserably as Jael suddenly turned the conversation around to have it focus on him. Even though they'd been previously talking about everything else, even Colby and Tyrone piped down and turned to the Sailfin as the question was asked. Of course, that was a question Makari had no answer for, and he honestly wasn't sure what to say. His only hope was that they were quickly reaching the water hole, so maybe then the conversation would turn to something else.

Since he had everyone stare at him, waiting for an answer, Makari just looked quietly and stupidly at the three other males, his small personality and size, and his bland character looking beyond dull compared to them. The Sailfin eventually just stared down at the ground, trying to ignore the piercing stares of the other males. "I... I-I don't really have any," Makari eventually managed to answer, although his voice was so quiet that it had been hard to hear.

Upon hearing that answer, Colby and Tyrone looked at each other in silence, the two seemingly exchanging a few silent words. Unlike their usual casual and happy expressions, the two looked neutral and concerned over that answer. Regardless, the two didn't say anything and turned back to Makari, waiting for the small Sailfin to add something. However, the small male added nothing more to his answer, instead just continuing to stare down at the ground.