Solinaria ((Ath and Amlynd))

[Athilea Majiri]

The girl was running as fast as her legs would carry her, and trying desperately to think of a way of escape that would not expose the location of her companions. She only barely paid attention to where she was going, and when the man pulled his beastly stallion in front of her she had to slide to a stop, which left her on the ground panting and looking up at him with more then a hint of fear in her eyes.

The fear only grew as he spoke, he was right. There would be no place to hide. Why was he offering to help her though? Wouldn't that just cause him trouble in the end? She did not wait to ask though, but pulled herself up onto the horse behind him and gripped his waist tightly. Her eyes were on the men that were still chasing them, and one had a bow drawn. Callista hid her face against his back, and it took every ounce of will she had to keep from screaming again, "Run, run now. We only need to get out of sight of them."

Even now she was speaking mentally with the dragons. Her thoughts reaching out and desperately telling them not to reveal themselves, that she would be alright. The girl did not believe it, but she could not bear to see the dragons brought into danger, or hurt.

[Amlynd]

Though Alton's father had accused the horse of many unsavory traits (laziness and a foul temper among them), no man, not even the king's knights themselves, could ever have called Boris slow. At a snap of the reins, he bolted down through the streets, which were now filling with curious merchants and customers who wanted to know what all the fuss was about.

A man behind him gave a shout of frustration and lowered his bow.

However, contrary to the young lady's instructions, when Alton hit the town's less guarded secondary gate, he kept riding with little respect to the tiresome guards who might have closed it on them if they had been a little more attentive.

Alton wasn't going to get cocky. He accounted all of this to beginner's luck and left it at that.

When they were long out of sight of the small town and Boris seemed to be running out of breath, the inventor pulled off of the road, taking a horse trail that was far more seldomly tread. There was no point in being along the main road when the company of guards that would surely follow them got that far.

"Ouy, Boris," he said, running a hand along the stallion's sturdy chest, "that was overdoing it, buddy."

Though tired, the horse still managed a defiant look.

Alton didn't make eye contact.

"You should be safe now," he said, because that sounded like what needed to be said. "What did you do to earn so many fans?"

[Athilea Majiri]

She was surprised at how fast the animal ran and when he slowed down enough for her to drop off the animals side, she did. Callista did not answer his question at first. How could she even begin to explain what she did not fully understand herself. With a shrug she started off simply, "My companions are dragons. Apparently that makes me a criminal."

There was confusion in her eyes at the very thought of it, "Thank you for your help. It's probably best if you do not get involved with me though. I would bring you nothing but trouble, a lot more then you have already gotten yourself into." She raked her fingers through the curls of red hair that hung well past her shoulders.

"I just need to find my way home now." The woman seemed to be talking to herself now. Her eyes looked towards the north, "I do not know where it is though. It's becoming too dangerous...."

[Amlynd]

Alton took a moment to process what she had said, thought about what he'd read on the poster, imagined the reaction he was going to get from his father for leaving a girl who seemed so very inept to fend for herself against the king's guard. And then, without a word of explanation, he laughed--a good, hearty laugh, from his diaphragm. If he hadn't choked on it slightly, he might have sounded like his father.

At least a little.

"Sorry, I just--" His eyes were beginning to water. He wiped them and tried to compose himself. "Let me get this straight. You, a young lady I hardly know, are willing to turn down help from an amicable stranger because it's too dangerous, but you're also inclined to go walking around in bad disguises? I don't mean you any disrespect, madame, but--"

He paused in thought.

"But I'm probably in enough trouble now that no amount of caution is going to do me any good. Mum was a traitor, and we're on close watch. I'd bet Dad's gonna have to publicly renounce me before the end of the month, now, else they're going to take his head off too. You've probably realized it's a crazy world we live in."

It was an unfortunate fact of life that Alton was always much more eloquent when he was being cynical. He was also currently suffering from the sudden reminder that actions had consequences. Hysteria lingered at his hip, ready to pounce.

He chuckled again. Oh gods; he'd really just done that.

"I guess that means we're both stuck out here, in what happens to be the same wilderness, trying to keep our heads out of the hands of what happens to be the same tyrannical government. Probably better to stick together, considering fight or flight only works when you actually move faster than your enemy." He patted Boris's head lovingly. The horse nosed the waterskin at the boy's hip, indifferent to the attention he was being shown if it did not involve a sufficient amount of water.

[Athilea Majiri]

The girl looked at him in shock when he started to laugh and took a step back. Her eyes seemed to dig into him like she thought that the man had gone made. When he spoke, though, she listened carefully. He was one of the few people that had helped her.

"It was the best I could do in a short amount of time. I wouldn't have entered the village at all if it had not been for the guards." She began to pace a little, and looked off in the distance again. "I have to go to them."

Callista seemed to consider something before she looked back at him. "If you want to help, then I will welcome it." With a gesture at the horse she continued, "How do you think he will take to dragons?" From this point forward, she decided, more travel would have to be done with her companions. As much as she did not want to put them in danger as she tried to find a way to get home, she had little choice. They were stronger together, then when they were separated.

[Amlynd]

"Who, Boris? Oh, this old beast has seen his fair share. No dragons, but he'd take on a mad woman with a lantern in a dry cornfield. What do you expect from a purebreed?" Boris's careful breeding had made him the fastest horse Alton had ever laid eyes on, but the animal's speed said little for his intelligence, which tended to get him backed into a corner. He wasn't stupid--just a little crazy, if horses can go crazy.

Boris looked mildly offended; Alton made a mental note to apologize as soon as he got back, and set off at the young woman's heels. "Erm, I'm Alton, by the way," he said conversationally. "Alton Erhieard. My pa's a blacksmith and--"

He paused.

"Gods above, he's gonna be so angry."

Daniel Erhieard was an intimidating figure by far, a burly man who towered above those around him. Alton was not looking forward to the punishment he would receive if all involved parties somehow managed to survive.

[Athilea Majiri]

She nods, "If you are certain, then I suppose that we could see how they react to one another." She paused in her pacing as he followed on her heels and looked at him, "I suppose that you know my name, then, but I will tell you anyway. My name is Callista Milanore."

She could not help but raise an eyebrow at him as he talked about his father. The Araliss sighed and looked away from him, "You do not have to join me. I can find my way." The girl had, though, been looking forward to the company. She would not, and could not, deny that. It had been so long since she had traveled with anyone.

"The King...he will never stop his search for me. I...I need to go home." There was a longing in her voice that was undeniable. She was not used to this world, not used to the treatment of dragons. Callista had grown up with the beasts. She did not know where another portal was, or if one even existed any longer.

[Amlynd]

"What, and face my father's wrath? Like anyone would ever choose that. Ever. He'd be even angrier if I abandoned you, anyway, so it's probably better if I stick it out. Less dangerous that way." He grinned, allowing the girl time to imagine a father who was more dangerous than the mission she had currently set out on. "Besides, Da always says if you don't like the world you're in, the easiest way to get it to change is to heat it up a bit."

He paused for a moment.

"You know, him being a blacksmith and all that." That sounded a little stupid, he thought in retrospect, but there was the life of a blacksmith's son for you. After all, his entire education had been self-motivated, learned out of old books with scraps of unusable leather. It was a damn good education, if he did say so himself, at least considering the circumstances; he could read and write and do basic arithmetic in his head, and though he had skipped the middle bit, the idea of engineering had plastered itself to his skull like old men clung to tradition.

Quite ironically, actually.

But that still didn't mean he had a way with words, which was what he was fretting about now, the poor boy. He'd always heard that women naturally had a way with words, and now, faced with someone female whom he would have to deal with long term, he was trying too hard (and failing) to prove that words were his strong point also.

He made the mental note to stop.

"You're not happy with this world, I'm not happy with this world..." He shrugged. "Ma wasn't happy with this world, Da's not happy with this world...So why don't we just fix it, instead of piddlefarting around?" Alton was mostly talking to himself, or at least intended to be. It was more than likely that his words were loud and clear, however.

[Athilea Majiri]

The girl could not help but to smirk about the comment regarding his father. She would be glad to have his company, but his fathers wrath would be nothing compared to what she was facing. Callista knew this, but she said nothing. He seemed set on coming with her, and she would only refuse aid so much.

"Perhaps, I do not see how to change things in your world though." She shook her head and started off towards the north, "Come, I must see to my companions." Their thoughts were ringing in her mind, their worry of her, and something else. The Araliss could not quite make out what it was, but there was something behind their thoughts that made her want to reach them all the faster.

"Once you see them, you will wonder why I do not simply travel with them. I cannot risk the dragons though. Not anymore then they wish to risk me, and I am able to hide more easily among your people without them then if they were to tag along." She pulled her cloak around her, there were the beginnings of a chill in the air. Winter would soon take hold of the land. She was not certain how her companions would take to the chill of winter, or herself for that mater.

"I am sorry for dragging you into this, Alton. Perhaps I should have pretended that I was a mute, rather then to answer you." Callista chewed on her lower lip for a moment before she shrugged, "It may not have done me any good though."