Chapter 17: Light in the Forest

"You really know where they are?" Goren's voice was muffled from his face being against her mane, but his collar clarified it for her. 

 "I saw a little tent illuminated with a small light on the way in. I thought it was out of place there in the forest, so I am really certain that it must be them. The look on that Karrok's face went dark and almost murderous when he heard she was missing, so I am certain she must have taken those jayune and walked as far as she could. I am very confident it is in walking distance for them." She breathed out slowly, her breath curled around her face in the fog; the collar worked very well. She had been able to hear everything said to the gnolls as if Goren were right next to her and not out of sight a few hundred feet away. 

Eventually, I might want to modify it, though. Hearing him while he speaks with his sisters or perhaps gets into other relationships could get awkward. Hopefully, it was his sisters that they were about to find, at least.

She breathed out again; that was its own complication. There would be potentially three jayune, no warm place available for them, and it was still very much winter and dark already. I took Goren to Arieton because they wouldn't get alarmed by me as long as I did my best to be quiet and unobtrusive. I also believed the collar would help us with the gnolls, which it did. But what do I do about more people? She hadn't thought that far ahead.

Arieton visibly distressed Goren at several points because of the tone of the city and the magic collars. In some ways, it was a legal way of doing what the gnolls had done: stealing the lives of other people. It has to be upsetting to see such behavior be literally allowed. Still, where could she go if not somewhere extreme like Arieton? The Exotic Exchange's presence created the very confidence the city had despite a dragon walking into it.

"Do we need to fly? How far out was it?" Goren asked, bringing her out of all the thoughts that she felt lost in.

"Flying would be faster," she said, "but I don't think it will be so far out I can't walk it quickly enough. I have big steps compared to you. Besides, I feel like I barely let you be free of being hoarded extensively for the last two days. I don't feel like it would be comfortable to leave you anywhere while I fly, since it is still freezing out. I feel you shivering and huddling up there."

Goren huffed. "It's only partially because of the cold." There was a pause as snow crunched under her feet. "You have very little hair or fur; why don't you feel the cold?" 

"I feel it; it just doesn't impact me the same. I am not sure why I stay warm. Some kobolds, lamias, and lizardfolk don't, which is why they only visit this region in the summers, if you see one at all. I have always thought it must be one of those advantages given to me by being a dragon." 

Goren hummed. "Well, I am glad for it. It's been an unseasonably cold winter, I feel like." He pressed cold fingers through her mane. 

Kashira pondered that. "Last summer was drier than normal, and I do think you are right, this is colder than normal." 

"What will we do about the gnoll? Turn her back to Buetarn?"

Kashira was quiet for a moment. "I think, most likely, yes, but we will decide when we get there." 

Goren sighed. "Do you always just decide things as you go?"

Kashira laughed. "And do you over-plan everything?" 

He tugged on her mane. "I'll have you know, I haven't planned a single thing for myself in like two days." 

She laughed again. "What? You didn't use any of that time warming up in my hoard belly to plot?" She smiled. "Good. I look forward to making you more flexible with time, my grumpy bunbun."

"Kashiiiira," he complained. There was a silence because he was feeling sassed, but he didn't have a good comeback for it. She waited. "It's just safer if I know what I would do as much as possible."

She considered that, and she supposed he had a fair point. "Well, moving forward then, you won't need to rely on only your own wits because you have me, now. Eventually, you might even get used to it and become an even more confident bunbun." 

"Even more confident? What's that mean?" 

"You push my nose around, tell me no constantly, and wander off when you are told not to; you are a fiercely confident and independent jayune." She smiled as that provoked almost a groan.  

Goren buried his face in her fluff. His heart was starting to race again. Him? Confident? He wasn't sure he had ever heard anything quite as ridiculous as that. He'd been nothing but a ball of worries since he left his home to pursue becoming an artist. 

"That made you all quiet," Kashira observed. Her regular steps shifted him back and forth.

"I am just confused how you see that in me, that's all. I do not feel it." 

There was another pause as her steps moved them forward, countable by the crunching in the snow. "I think that is relatively normal; it's difficult to see yourself the way others will see you... maybe especially when it comes to seeing good things about yourself."

He felt a tightness in his chest, but also some heat rushing to his face. "I don't know about that." He thought he had to reject the notion on principle or else have his silence taken as agreement. It was... nice. Maybe, a tiny bit, he could see where she had come up with that idea, but also, she had met him in an unusual set of circumstances. He knew that at the time, he was desperate enough to try practically anything to keep himself free from her. 

The heat rose more in his cheeks as she chuckled about his denial. He held his breath to stop himself from huffing at her, which he knew she would use to continue teasing him, and then he breathed out slowly. Goren lay against her mane, pulling his digits through the long strands, feeling them untangle around them. It didn't seem to bother her, and it gave him something to do that helped him feel calmer. 

"How long will we have to walk?"

"A little while. They had a light. You should be able to see that first, since you are up high on my shoulders." There was silence for several heartbeats. Then she asked, "Are you hungry? You have not really eaten since this morning."

Goren was not hungry. He was too nervous about what they would find out in the woods. He felt too shaky after the adrenaline of having a gnoll grab onto him. I got pretty weak and fuzzy feeling yesterday, though. "I can try to eat a little."

"Good, I think it is a good idea. I had originally planned to take a second break on the flight here, but you slept through it."

He huffed. "You try staying awake in warm, humid darkness."

She chuckled as she lay down. "It makes sense, and it was also adorable." She made a small, pleased thrum. "All right, I am going to lean so you can hop down into the snow again."

He didn't look forward to sinking deep into it as he leaped from her shoulders, but it did cushion his fall. She picked him out of the snow. He was almost getting used to her big paw wrapping around him. She perched him on top of her other paw as she had done before so that he was not standing in the snow.

He opened the second bracelet pack. "Would it be rude of me to ask to eat while you keep walking?"

Kashira made a soft thrum. "As long as you do not fall off, I see no reason why it would be a problem. At worst, you'll get a few crumbs that I can remove with a good roll in the snow." She gave him a gentle bump with her nose. "Besides, we should try to get there as soon as we can. If they are not well-sheltered or warm, then this cold weather has its risks for them, right?"

There was no tease in her tone, but sincere concern. Somehow, he still felt sassed by it because he had to be rescued from cold weather himself. He was glad she was concerned for them all. It made it so that she saved him from the cold. He did hope she didn't try to rescue all of them the same way, though. "Thank you."

The inn had provided some sort of bread wrapped around vegetables and cheese with flasks of things to drink. He took one of each; the flask had a strap, so he was able to put it over his shoulder.

Goren balanced carefully as she lifted him up again, and then he clambered back onto her shoulders. He was starting to feel surprisingly comfortable climbing around on her. It is hard to believe that it really has only been two days.

Kashira walked on as he did his best to make himself eat.

I wonder what my sisters will think if we walk up to them with a dragon. Hopefully, it was his sisters...