Druid and the Dragon

      While they had stayed in inns mainly the past several weeks, possibly months, today their stop left them in the woods. Karith organized her things as she usually did while setting up camp while Zephaniah went about his. She raised an eyebrow as, at most, he set up his mat to sit on. The Elf looked up, eyebrows furrowing in confusion "What?" he sounded... Annoyed? She almost regretted questioning his "royal highness" on his setup, but she decided instead to roll with it. With her hand, she motioned to his rather lackluster bedroll, missing a pillow at the moment "You're a bit short on supplies there." But she was stumped when the Elf blankly stared at her, then furrowed his eyebrow and stared at her past annoyed half-lidded eyes.
      ".... Elves don't need to sleep. Do you even know what an Elf is?"
      Karith shrugged "How well would you have taken it if I walked up to you and asked 'Hello! How does an Elf sleep?' out of nowhere? Boundaries!"
      Zephaniah's expression quickly shifted to unfiltered discomfort. He sighed in defeat and went back to methodically putting away his extra gear. "We don't have to sleep, four hours of meditation, and we'll be fully rested. We *can* indulge in sleep, but I won't risk it out here."  
      "Are you always this uptight?" Karith blurted out, unable to stop herself before she even realized what she said. It was more obvious after she blinked and let out a quiet "Ah."
     The Elf's left ear visibly twitched as he sat and began to carefully tie his hair back. He had his eyes shut, so thankfully he probably missed her very very obvious wince. The Elf calmly spoke "I'm not uptight, I just take things seriously, and don't bother with all the pleasantries. It's a waste of time."
      Now Karith was the one that was annoyed. He can't normally be like this! The man had to have some sort of humor in that Elven soul of his, no one was this stiff all the time! Physically impossible!
      She settled down on her bedroll, but propped her chin on her elbow "Holy shit, you Elves don't have souls."

      Bewildered, Zephaniah's eyes shot open and he snapped "What kind of ridiculous observation is that!? Elves meditate to reach the spiritual realm that we use to communicate with all kinds of—" he looked startled as Karith laughed heartily, and motioned towards him with her free hand.
      "Oh, so you do have other emotions besides angry, annoyed, frustrated. You know what we'd say if we ran into you?"
      Zephaniah visibly braced himself, tensing up as he narrowed his eyes.
      "We'd say 'He needs to find a real good time!' that's what!" She could feel herself grinning as she snickered.
      The Elf had been about to protest, but he blinked brows furrowing thoughtfully now, instead of creasing in anger.
      "You've mentioned 'we', or 'us' a couple of times since we started traveling together. Who's 'we'?"

      Karith felt a pang of guilt form in her chest, and she looked away from the Elf, disguising it by laying on her back and putting her arms behind her head to look at the night sky "Oh, my band of knights, used to be a high ranking Officer." She could feel the piercing gold eyes focused on her, and she caught herself glancing a couple of times. She might as well tell him a little about herself, they had been traveling for a bit of time together, uneventful, but still traveling together rather amicably. She scratched her chin as she thought "We all trained together from a young age, those who decided we wanted to be knights."
      Zephaniah asked the question she had been dreading. "What happened? Why are you here instead?"
      Karith shrugged and responded with a well-practiced "I left to do some soul searching, all that fun adventurer stuff." She quickly suppressed the images of her comrades that were appearing in her mind. It would inevitably lead down a trail of memories she'd rather not revisit "Druvull's where I'm from. You probably haven't heard about it.”
      His sudden shifting around grabbed her attention, he was leaning forward slightly where he sat "I've read about it being a mystical land, but all there is are books. There's no Druvull on any map."
      The sparkling curiosity in his eyes made Karith smirk, it was like looking at a young child listening to a story. She sat up again, pulled out her own worn leather scroll map of Druvull, and began to describe the island to the Elf. She was always eager to talk about her home. "We sit on a massive long dead volcano, where the Great Mother lives in. She's the leader of our island, but she can't ever leave. I don't know if you've read, but she's attached to the giant tree within the crater of the volcano."
      Zephaniah nodded quickly "Yeah! Uh, it's called the... Uh, 'Drak'talrah'. Boundless magic, tied to the island, related to dragons and Dragon-kin."
      Karith was amused by his clumsy pronunciation of the Great Mother's tree "Yeah, well our entire city is built around the volcano. We got some cities and scattered towns around the island, it's pretty massive. As for population, we got a few Elves, mostly Dragonborn, a few Dwarves, some variety of Dragon-kin, Dragons themselves, a sprinkle of all other sorts... All depending on the regions you go to, you'll see more or less of them."

      This got Zephaniah going about his home, Albersend in the Salram Glades. She remembered hearing about that town years ago, but not much else as of late. He lit up with a newfound excitement as he began to describe his home "There were plenty of giant trees, who knows how old they were. While everyone hears 'swampland', it didn't look terrible. We had a village there within the area, built around the vegetation as well, we *did* have a lot of Druids." He went on to describe a central large tree and the plaza around it, as well as the various Druidic Circles that resided in the town.  Each with their own schools to visit and train at, maybe reside in while training, and their library full of all sorts of resources. Their homes made primarily out of natural materials, or shaped by magic, keeping the destruction minimal whole making their homes as comfortable as possible.
      If only Karith didn't have to sleep as much as she did, she could have gone  on all night about her home and customs, and hearing about Zephaniah's. She had been in the middle of her explaining the variety of hot springs and heated pools in her home when she let out a sudden loud yawn. Involuntarily, a couple of sparks of flame flickered from her mouth.
      Damn, she really felt like she had gotten quite a bit out of the Elf tonight, but she needed rest. He was well aware of it as he motioned to her bedroll with a jerk of his head "Get some rest, I can keep watch." Karith nodded in defeat, feeling as if her brain was sloshing around in her skull in a near dizzying manner in her drowsiness.  
      As soon as her head touched that pillow, she was out like a light.

......

      It felt like she had slept for a long time when she awoke, and found Zephaniah sharply focused on the woods, any little movement making his eyes dart in the direction of it. He was almost unnaturally still, save from his breathing and eventually a slight shift in his position. She lifted her hand slowly as to not startle him, and the Elf's eyes instantly focused on it. He motioned with his hand as she sat up and stretched, making sure even her yawn was quiet. While she got her bearings, it was Kairth's turn to motion to Zephaniah to get his rest. She thought, at first, that he would lay down to rest, but he did otherwise. The Elf shifted around in his seat, getting comfortable, yet in an obviously learned specific manner of sitting.
      His legs were crossed, elbows rested on his thighs, and fingers lightly interlocked on his lap. She thought she'd be staring at him with his eyes open the entire time, but he slowly shut them. After a moment, his breathing slowed significantly, and Karith found herself raising an eyebrow at him. It was interesting seeing him enter this state, the Dragonborn raised a clawed hand, and waved her four fingers at him.
      Nothing. Maybe if she tossed a little pebble at him... Nah.
      Was it a prank? How odd, she almost expected him to react and open an eye in her direction. But nope, he just kept on doing his thing, as if...
      He was truly "asleep" in a sense, but not on the traditional one. How weird. Elves were definitely something else, she almost wanted to poke his face to make sure he was really "asleep". How'd he manage anyway? Everyone needed sleep, he can't just be running on fumes.
      She was only gradually amping herself up to throw a tiny rock at her charge's head, so she did them both a favor and turned her attention elsewhere.

      Karith lit up the campfire slightly brighter. He had left it on dimly overnight, and she had felt the warmth of it throughout the majority of her sleep. Her tent had been left with its fabric door slightly open, and the Dragonborn was thankful for the modest gesture. They had only just camped a handful of times, she could count it off her fingers, and she had less than a typical human did. She didn't like sleeping with her campfire fully snuffed out, she felt... Vulnerable. Somehow he seemed to have caught on, highly observant that one. It was a wonder that he even really needed her around with how alert he seemed to be, but then again... Karith looked down at her arm, then at his. She almost felt sorry he was so thin, almost. Back home they all set out to help these poor weaker races, if they didn't, who would? They were all much frailer than a being descended from dragons, that's for sure.
      She flexed her muscles at the thought, siting back and beginning to tend to the maintenance of her sword. She couldn't let her mind wander, not too far. It would make her tired to redirect her thoughts like this all the time, but she had to. If not—
      The faint distant memory of the lifeless eyes of a Dragonborn knight staring up at her threatened to overtake her mind. It must be great to be able to just shut off that way, she was envious of the Elf before her. Karith grabbed a small rock and with all her might hurled it at a tree.
      Zephaniah didn't budge.
      Anger swirled within her chest, misguidedly trying to claw its way towards the Elf, whispering anger and jealousy in Karith's ears.
      The Dragonborn heard herself quietly growl as she watched him.
      No, why would she be getting angry at Zeph?
      But...
      She could easily just strike him and knock him out of that peaceful trance of his. Why could he afford the comfort of not struggling against the memories of dead comrades—

      No, her thoughts were going out of control.
      Before it could get any further, Karith grabbed the metaphorical beast by it's neck and slammed it back where it belonged: in the back of her mind.  

      Karith blinked and forced her gaze back to the campfire. She silently apologized to the sleeping Elf.

..........

      It was the morning hours when Zephaniah opened his eyes again, stretching and letting out a satisfied "Hmm." with a muffled pop from his back. The campfire had long been snuffed out, and Karith had been staring off into the woods up until the sounds of movement caught her attention. Her eyes were already focused on him, oddly more clustered with thoughts and unreadable emotions since the night prior. It wasn't his part to pry, but he did worry about her snapping and doing something reckless, or downright dangerous in her sleep. How did one bring that up to a person that towered, and could easily snap someone in half?
      He settled with a simple "You alright?"
      Karith sighed and ran her hand over her face with a nod "Yeah, just wishing I had a bit of booze around."
      Again the mention of booze. Zephaniah clicked his tongue as he reached over to don his armor "Well, I'm sure drunk and keeping watch is quite a difficult situation."

      He swore that Karith looked like she had been about to say something, but with a "Hrrmph!" that rumbled deep in her chest, and smoke rising from her nostrils, she packed up. They both gave each other time and space to bathe at a close by river Zeph found, although he snapped at Karith as she casually walked with her shirt halfway on as she trudged back to their camp. She gave the Elf a confused look as he threw his arm up in her direction "What are you doing!? Don't you have any decency!? Don't walk around like that!" It infuriated him further when Karith seemed to understand him less.
      "I don't get it," she started "I don't even remotely look like you."
      It became a one-sided argument by the end, and Zephaniah dropped the topic with a huffed "Just don't do that around me, alright? I'm just giving you a tip." He did get a glance at a particular three-clawed, and very old, scar that sat on the left side of her hip, and ended shortly at the beginning of the curve of her abdominal area, at an upward angle.
      Those were scars from a Dragonborn's claws.
      They finished up, and without further incidents, the duo set out on the road.

      Zephaniah thought that she'd give him trouble with her earlier annoyance, but she instead kept her somewhat indifferent attitude.

      That is, until they arrived at a rest stop and she heard a bard singing a tune she was familiar with. It was Draconic in language, a Halfling sang proud and with much fervor inside the rest stop, surrounded by merry folks, and the sweet sweet smell of baked goods. He must have had a look on his face, because Karith lightly slapped him on the shoulder and began to head indoors "Come on, my treat."
      Zephaniah had been about to argue against halting their advancement, but following behind the Dragonborn, the smell of baked goods almost overwhelmed him. As he entered further into the restaurant, he realized there was no alcoholic beverages in sight, and instead a mixture of families of all ages, more than likely all resting for a moment. The sight of kids made him uncomfortable and annoyed, they were loud and frail little things, useless and defenseless... But mostly aggravatingly loud. He turned his attention back towards Karith's hard to miss figure, looming over most of the crowd. She had stopped at the counter.

      For a moment, Zephaniah forgot about the noise and music around them as his eyes focused on a glass case full of baked goods. Karith ordered something for herself, and motioned with her head for Zeph to order as she stepped aside. The Elf barely kept his composure as he ordered some muffins and pancakes for himself, and of course, a juice to down it with. The baker behind the counter quickly grabbed what they wanted, and told them to sit as he'd have their drinks prepared. Karith sat, thankfully, at a quieter corner, although he noted that she kept eyeing all the merry crowds and kids with a smile. He couldn't help but bring up the question "Why not sit closer to them? You seem to enjoy the company."
      Karith glanced at him and her smile faltered slightly "Ah, some people don't like our kind, too scary. Or I'd just get in the way, besides you seem like the type to not like crowds."
      Zephaniah frowned, snapping back a bit quicker than he'd liked "What makes you think I don't like crowds?" he didn't like people assuming things about him, no. That was a dangerous rope to tread, jumping to conclusions was not a thing that the smart population should do.
      Karith motioned to Zephaniah "I've been noticing you tense up around larger crowds with their noise, and when you heard kids, you looked like you'd smelled the most rancid shit in existence."
      Zephaniah blinked, and averted his gaze to the Halfling, who was now singing along with a child next to him. It was adorable, but he was still happy to be as far from the child as physically possible.
      "They're... too weak and frail. Naïve, loud... I would never want to be taking care of one." The Druid quietly responded.

      It didn't take much longer for their drinks to arrive, and Zephaniah was inwardly giddy as the sweet smell of bananas, strawberries, and kiwis hit him.  What surprised him was how vividly pink Karith's drink was, the smell from her drink was just as sweet, but not as complex. His brow furrowed as he watched her take an eager gulp, confused as to what was the source of the bright color. Karith stared back for a brief moment, holding out the cup towards him "Wanna try? I promise it doesn't bite." Zephaniah frowned, looking down at the cup, be had been about to protest, when Karith spoke again "Don't worry, princess. Us Dragonborn don't have cooties, I'm not sick, you won't spontaneously die. Just drink some. I didn't spit. Promise."
      Princess. Zeph could say a word or two bout that little nickname Karith just threw in there.
      As if to double down on her point, Karith grabbed the clean napkin from the table, and used the side that had not touched the table to wipe the rim of the cup.
      Once more she held it out, and Zephaniah begrudgingly took the cup, chancing a quick drink. His head was lecturing him on the unhygienic facts of drinking from someone's cup, but it ground to a halt as the flavor registered. It was a strange new sweet flavor, although not too strong. It almost reminded him of a light syrup but at the same time slightly like watermelon, he blinked in surprise, staring wide-eyed at the cup in his hand "What is this?"

      She took back her cup as she took another gulp, not bothering to wipe it down again, which slightly bothered Zephaniah. With a satisfied silent sigh, Karith responded "Dragon fruit. It's one of my favorites, and no it's not just because of the name. Although I'd say it's a bit ironic." She chuckled and motioned to Zephaniah "That's a lot of pancakes, you gonna be okay with that?" It was the Elf's turn to be at least a little smug "One of my favorite's foods, why wouldn't I be?" He took a piece and noted that when he ate it, the dragon fruit's lingering taste went rather well with it.
      Karith raised an eyebrow at him "Huh, dunno why it surprises me to see you eating baked goods and pancakes." She nodded to herself with her scaly eyebrows raised.
      Zephaniah smirked "I'm full of surprises."
      "Oh! You do smile, and here I thought you were just perpetually angry!" Her voice held no sarcasm, although it was slightly difficult to tell.
      Zephaniah rolled his eyes, eating another mouthful of pancakes before speaking "Of course I've got emotions! I'm not some kind of lifeless slab of rock."
      Karith grinned widely, the first time he had seen her do so since they began traveling together. There was something child-like and mischievous, yet welcoming about it... despite the pointed teeth and tusks. "I'll tell ya what," she started "I'm gonna get you to laugh. That's one of my goals while we're traveling together."
      "What kind of ridiculous goal is that?" Zephaniah scoffed "Of course I'll laugh at stuff and smile, like I said: I'm not emotionless, I just don't waste my time."
      "Let me clarify myself, then. I'll get you to lighten up a bit, let loose! You're too uptight all the time. I promise I can get you to laugh. I'll make you a happier guy." Karith held up her drink "Toast on it?"
      He rolled his eyes but held his cup up "Fine, try your best. I'm not emotionless, I just hate wasting time, I'm blunt."

      The two cups audibly clinked as they came into contact with one another.