{Liz & Kat} Non-muddy forest explorations! {Hydra & Measle}

"The smell of food cooking is all." she replied quietly as she moved closer to him. The brightly colored person wandered down by the building they were atop and she smiled. "It's a human girl, but what's she doing going into a dive like this one?" It didn't look right; a small brightly dressed gypsy girl wandering into some low-end bar. "She smells weird too. Like some kind of burnt wood and. . .a dragon?" That couldn't be right, there was no way! Was there. . .?

---

Out of the blue someone made to pull a sword on her and she hid around the corner of a building, fearing someone was going to come after her. When he wandered into the same place she was headed, she thought of just going somewhere else. Ah but what was a little coincidence in the grand scheme of things? She headed in anyway and ordered a glass of wine, ignoring all the weird looks she was getting. Couldn't a girl just drink in peace?!

“Well, the burnt wood could be sandalwood – it’s used lots in some of the outlying camps around here, I think, but I couldn’t tell you about the low end bar. Maybe she just likes cheap, watered down booze? Jack certainly does.” he laughed, snuggling closer. The cold from Hydra’s scales cut through the warmth from the smoking chimney nicely; he was growing to prefer the cold to the heat now as he grew used to Hydra’s presence. The tavern was a surprisingly tall building, for saying that it was probably a smokey, low-ceilinged dump inside, and he wondered how many levels there were. In the grand scheme of things he supposed it didn’t matter much, but for some reason it seemed worthy of note.

“I still don’t understand why Jackdaww likes these places so much – he always drinks himself under the table, and ends up ill the next day. And it’s not like the ale tastes nice either. Madness...” Measle sighed, snorting a little. His energy was slowly filtering back, and he realised that his reserves of energy from the week before had been larger than he had thought. He wouldn’t be very lively that day, but tomorrow could mark another playful, childish spell. He’d just have to wait and see.

--

As he lost sight of the brightly dressed person, Jackdaww lowered his hand, shaking his head, before walking into the bar. He had already bought a new drink and settled himself down by his old table, planning to resume his card game on the next round when a woman walked in. She was dressed in brilliantly coloured fabrics, and Jackdaww realised she must have been the source of the flash he had seen outside. He relaxed, realising that there had been no threat, and stood up, meaning to apologise to her for acting so aggressively.

“Good day to you, Ma’am. I’m terribly sorry for my actions moments ago – you startled me. How about we start over? I'm Jackdaww, it's a pleasure to meet you.” he smiled pleasantly, falling back on the way of speaking he had picked up in the palace when he had lived there. It was always weird, switching between the two sets of manners, but somehow his anti-social, generally childish nature that he adopted out in the woods didn’t seem to fit the city at all. He took a gulp from his drink, enjoying the cheap, watery ale that most serious drinkers avoided like the plague. He was glad that his tastes were so cheap – it made his nights out much more exciting, even with his general lack of money.

"Well there's more to a bar than just cheap ale. Some people prefer fermented fruit juice, otherwise known as wine. Now why humanoids make themselves sick over bad tasting liquids just for a few minutes of numbness I'll never understand." She didn't mind the warmth coming from Measle, in fact it made a rather nice balance to her constantly chilled scales. Having someone like her lightning bug around made it easier to be away from the ice plains.

---

She turned to him, glass of red wine in hand, and smiled. "The pleasure's mine, I'm Silence." She glanced at his drink and almost visibly cringed. "I see you prefer ale?" she questioned. The stuff was awful if it wasn't good quality, much like what she was drinking. There were certain parameters for what made a drink good and what made it absolutely horrid. This man in front of her probably couldn't handle a strong drink, being so skinny. "What brings you to the city?"

“No more will I. Sometimes he likes to drag me along with him, and it’s tedious.” Measle complained, remembering nights spent crouched underneath bar tables uncomfortably while Jackdaww himself wasted their hard-scrounged money. He’d started hiding some of their gold now, so that the stupid man couldn’t get at it all.

“Maybe we should go somewhere else – there’s a big looking tower over that way, which looks like it might give us a better view of the city.” He suggested, deciding that Jackdaww could look after himself. If nothing else then Measle would at least know where to come looking for the unconscious man later on, so there was no harm in leaving him be. It made him happy, and they so rarely got to spend a night within the safety of a city that Measle wouldn’t deny him a night to himself.

--

“What I prefer is subject to change, actually, but ale always seems a safe bet. I gather you’re no fan?” he asked, perching on a tall stool near the counter. His mail shirt looked out of place now, marking him as someone from ‘out of town’ to say the least, but he was beyond caring about that. He wasn’t letting that shirt, complete with the royal stamp, out of his sight – it was too important.

“What sort of wine is it?” he asked, nodding towards Silence’s drink. He recognised the smell of the rich liquid, but never cared to pay the extra for a glass for himself. It was hideously expensive, and the dirt-cheap ale he drank did the job just as well. When you lived as Jackdaww and Measle did, it was difficult to harbour expensive tastes. “My father used to brew his own cherry wine.” He added, just so his question sounded a little more logical. He remembered his father showing him around his makeshift brewery once – it was just really a couple of barrels in a cupboard, but the wine hadn’t been half bad. He’d tried it the year before leaving the castle, and although the memory was faint by now he could remember being impressed.

"Lead the way lightning bug." She suddenly felt so tired. Was probably just the fact of all the excitement that had already happened. She stretched her wings and looked to her companion with a yawn. It'd be a better day if they didn't have Jackdaww to worry over, but then again they'd taken days off from worrying about him before.

---

"Not a fan of most cheap alcohol to be honest." she replied shortly. "I think it's strawberry and grape, I can't be sure though. I just asked for run-of-the-mill wine and this is what I got." He mentioned cherry wine and she made a bit of a face. "I prefer cherries before someone decides to make them into wine. They just don't taste right after they ferment." She took another sip of her drink and smiled. "You still haven't answered my question though, Jackdaww. What brings you to this city? A knight of your standing must have important business here, yes?"

Measle nodded, launching himself into the air before falling into an easy glide to preserve his energy. “Come on then, my little snowflake. It doesn’t look far.” He called back, floating softly on the slight breeze. It was a pleasant day, all in all, and he was happy to just drift about for a while, happy in the company of Hydra. The memory of the odd stone had almost left him, but the lightning still dancing just under his scales wouldn’t let him forget completely. That thing had really shken him up, and he hoped Jackdaww was going to sort it out properly. He didn’t like the thought of that thing being around the city for much longer.

--

“I’ll take cheap ale actually – I prefer to save my cash, and it does the trick.” He said, shrugging. He knew that his particular taste in alcohol wasn’t held by all, so it didn’t surprise him that Silence didn’t agree with him. However, he felt taken aback when she mentioned her dislike for cherry wine. His father’s word (and therefore taste) was like law to Jackdaww, so it didn’t quite sit right with him that someone might disagree. However, he managed to let it go, and didn’t as much as flinch visibly. He accepted the change of subject gladly, and smiled.

“Oh, nothing much – just picking up supplies and the likes. What about yourself? You certainly don’t look like the normal sort you find in bars around here, if you don’t mind me saying.” He commented, deciding not to mention that he was pretty much dragged into town by two excitable dragons, and definitely deciding not to mention that he wasn;t quite a knight. It seemed better to have Silence believe he was for the time being – it was flattering.

Hydra took off after him and yawned again mid flight. Wasn't expecting to lose most of my strength so early in the day." She ducked under a sign and ended up snatching a fruit from someone's stand in the market. "Ooh some kind of fruit!" she remarked happily. It'd be happily shared with Measle when they landed.

---

"I'm with a traveling circus, actually." she said quietly. She hid half her face behind her hair and glanced up at him as she sipped the wine. "I looked for the quietest place around and this is where I ended up. Truth be told I dislike the kind of attention I get when I walk into a bar." Upon gathering a little nerve she looked over at him. "Would you perhaps like something of a bit better quality? I'm sure you'll like it." She'd managed to find a little extra money earlier that day and decided it was a good day to drink.

“Where did you get that from?” Measle asked in surprise when a piece of some nondescript kind of fruit appeared in Hydra’s claws. He hadn’t been paying attention, but its sudden appearance shocked him. Maybe she’d had it all along..? He wasn’t sure.

Either way, the tower was coming up ahead of them, and he was more than ready to rest his wings. He crumbled onto the roof, before quickly picking himself up and settling into a comfortable position, lying down on the sun-warmed roof. He was tired, but undeniably happy. Today was going /well/, even if they had hit a bit of a hiccup with the anti-magic stone. They hadn’t found anything to scare Hydra away from cities again yet anyway, which meant that things were going better than they could have. They /could/ have run into someone from the black market, which would really be awkward, since it wasn’t uncommon for people to sell dragon horns there…

“’You O.K., snowflake?” Measle asked softly, deciding that he liked his new nickname for Hydra.

--

“A traveling circus? It sounds fun, actually. Do you enjoy it?” he asked politely, making conversation semi-successfully for once. It sounded much better than his current occupation really, but he knew he couldn’t manage to join a circus. He didn’t have the common sense it would require, even if he was light enough to do some sort of trick.

“Don’t worry about the attention – people loose interest after a while when their card game or drinking contest becomes more interesting.” He added comfortingly. He was managing to be civil that night (he usually had little respect for women when it came down to it, but he didn’t feel like making a fuss), which was impressive for saying he’d been drinking hard for a good portion of the day.

“I’ll try it if you’re offering.” He smiled, fighting the urge to accompany the comment with a wink. Never refuse a free drink from a pretty girl – that had been some of his father’s clearest advice, and he was /definitely/ not going to forget it.

"I nearly ran into a fruit stand and this got stuck in my claws on the way past it. You want it?" It didn't smell like anything she'd had before and fruit to her tended to taste sour, not something she liked. She landed next to him and sighed. "I don't hold energy well and getting it back is a bit of a trial. I'm okay though, really."

---

"I like it quite a lot actually. I'm a fire breather." That last part typically made people nervous and made her more enemies than friends. Jackdaww, strange name but she put that aside, seemed to be struggling just a wee bit with something, but she couldn't put her finger on just what it was. She opted not to ask and simply handed him his drink. "Here you are, hope it suits your tastes." She could hear the starting of an argument over a 5th ace and laughed to herself. "Amazing how many fights start over a deck of cards."

“I’ll give it a try. It looks like it’s just ripe too – you’d probably like it.” He smiled, sniffing the fruit. It smelled unlike anything he’d eaten before, but it didn’t seem dangerous. He took a tiny nibble out of the side, and managed to get juice all over his face in the process. He looked up at hydra, licking his lips, and smiled. “It’s nice!” he grinned, before trying to lick the juice from the rest of his scales. It didn’t go well, and he ended up just making some odd faces.

“I wish I could lend you some of mine, but sadly it doesn’t work like that.” He said, stopping the faces in order to look a bit more serious. His energy levels weren’t all that great, but at least he knew that he could gather bits of static electricity from things as he brushed past them – Hydra had no such guarantee.

--

“Fire breather? I never understood how that worked – surely you burn your throat?” Jackdaww said, puzzled. He’d seen fire-breather acts before, and they never failed to amuse him, but he didn’t understand how it worked at all. Well, he wouldn’t pry any further – after all, there had to be some secrets in a circus act, didn’t there?

Jackdaww accepted the drink gladly and swirled the glass, pretending he knew anything about the dark-coloured drink he’d been handed. He knew how to make it, certainly, but how to drink it? No idea. Oh well, how badly could it go?

He took a sip, looking thoughtful, before nodding slowly. “It’s good, actually – a little sharp maybe?” he said, before taking another, bigger mouthful. It was certainly stronger than what he’d been drinking that day, but it wasn’t necessarily a bad thing. It made his ale taste like water, and reminded him of his father’s makeshift brewery perfectly.

“It’s funny – when you’re playing things like a 5th ace seem so important.” He commented, smirking. In the last town he and Measle had stopped in, he was sure he’d gotten into quite a serious fight about someone cheating, but it seemed so pointless when you weren’t at the table.

She took a bite of it and laughed involuntarily. "It's definitely sweet!" She had the same problem with fruit juice but it instead froze and fell on the stone. "Think there's much of anything we can do to pass the time? Flying around all day is probably not the best course of action." Her mind wandered for a moment back to that brightly colored girl from the streets then shook her head. "Shall we watch the day go by from here? There's sure to be something interesting going on somewhere in the city."

---

"Never gotten burned from it before. I've burned lots of things around me though and it's always embarrassing no matter how many times it happens." At least he chose not to ask further questions, even if she gave him a proper explanation it was unlikely he'd ever believe her. This "Jackdaww" seemed like a closed-mind sort of person, and with alcohol in his system who knew what else might be negative about him. "I also know card tricks." she remarked with a sort of quiet confidence. "It'd be a proper lousy hand if anyone played a hand with me using my own deck of cards."

“Watching the day go by sounds fine to me – It gives me an excuse to spend more time by your side.” Measle said softly, crunching one of the frozen juice droplets that fell off Hydra. It was tasty – like a really cold, crunchy fruit all on its own. “Why doesn’t anyone do this with fruit juice? It’s nice…” he commented absently, trying to take another bite fo the fruit itself now that his frozen droplet had gone. He managed not to get it over his scales quite as much, which was a bonus at least.

“So how’re you finding it here?” he asked, relaxing as the city buzzed below them. This felt /right/ somehow – he liked cities, and seeing all of one at once was great. He almost wished Jackdaww would let them spent more time inside them, but he was so damned concerned about looking for his father. Not that Measle could blame him, of course, but he had already lost all hope of ever finding the man. And what was worse was that he was sure Jackdaww had too, somewhere deep down.

--

“Yes, I can imagine how that would be a little awkward.” He grinned, remembering all the times he had accidentally sliced something in two while training. It was always a bit embarrassing reporting the breakage to a more senior knight – they had thought of him as a stupid little brat already. Accidentally burning something had to be on about the same level of awkwardness.

Jackdaww raised an eyebrow when Silence mentioned card tricks. “I always wanted to know how to do card tricks.” He remarked. He knew that any sort of slight-of-hand trick would get you thrown off a card-table, but he always wanted to know how to pull a trick hand, just in case it ever came up. He took another sip of his drink, letting his trail of thought drift off. The wine was growing on him – it felt somehow more sophisticated than cheap, watery ale, and he could see why Silence chose it over whatever else the tavern served. /still not as good as dad’s cherry wine, though/ he thought, before laughing inwardly at the thought.

"It's been nice so far aside from Jackdaww being a pain." She curled up where she sat and watched the day to day activities of the busy city below and let her tail swish much like a cat's tail would. "So long as we stay on the roof I don't think we'll have any issues." After a few moments of discomfort she pulled her tail around and nursed the burn on it carefully. "Where do you suppose we'll stay for the night?" she wondered. "Supposing Jack doesn't drink all our money."

---

"You won't be learning them from me, that much is certain. I won't be responsible for you getting your scrawny rear handed to you over a bad hand of cards." After finishing her drink she set her glass down and turned her full attention to Jackdaww. He was the scrawniest thing she'd ever seen! Did this man ever eat?! "You sure you're a knight? You've less muscle in your whole body than I have in my right hand." Nevertheless he was company, but she wasn't spending her whole day in a low-class tavern.

Measle smiled wryly, and winked. “Jack /can’t/ drink all of our money – I have most of. He thinks we’re penniless, and I keep hold of emergency gold in case we get into trouble. We can stay wherever you want, really, but Jack will probably try to find us a room in the back building of a tavern somewhere.” He explained, moving his shoulder blades to reveal a black leather pouch that blended in perfectly with his dark scales. It chinked softly, and Measle figured it probably had eno0ugh gold to buy them a decent meal or two, as well as their lodgings. Not that he’d ever let it be spent without reason, however – he was a real miser when he felt like it, so they would be getting basic supplies as ever, with the added bonus of a place to stay.

--

“Fair’s fair, then, I suppose. I’d rather be allowed to play than able to deal a bad hand anyway.” Jackdaww said, happy to accept that he wasn’t going to be learning any dodgy card tricks that day. He took a sip of his drink again, but nearly inhaled it as Silence commented on his figure. “I have muscle enough,” He said, sounding more than a little offended, “It’s just my bones – they’re thin and … hollow.” He still found it odd that his bones were in fact hollow, and wasn’t sure he believed it yet, but when he had seen his knee shatter after the battle at Racksom it had been clear that it was true.

“Anyway, I’m stronger than I look.” He added, puffing out his chest a little in an attempt to actually fill his chain mail. It didn’t quite work, and he looked a little ridiculous, but in his mind it was close enough.

"Sly move, let's hope Jackdaww never figures it out." she replied moving her tail to curl it around her forelegs. "I'd be content to sleep right here where you have a panoramic view of the city. Jack can sleep where he likes but I think I'd like to spend tonight under the stars." Secretly she also didn't want Measle to spend hard-saved money on something trivial like a roof and something softer than roofing shingles or dirt to sleep on.

---

She smiled when he said he'd rather play fair. "Now, on that note I can teach you how to play properly instead of just getting lucky." When he got his feathers ruffled over her calling him skinny she rolled her eyes. "It's not like I've insulted your honor, Jackdaww. If that's just how you're built then I won't bother you about it again, okay?" She got plenty of flack for things about her own appearance that weren't exactly normal. "Not like I called you ugly either, keep that in mind." she remarked.

“he never has yet.” Measle winked, smiling softly. He shuffled closer a little, so that their scales just touched, and lay his head on his paws, watching the city. It was just pleasant up that high – a cool breeze, with just enough heat from the sun to warm his black scales comfortably.

“Are you sure?” Measle asked as Hydra mentioned sleeping out under the stars. He had never tried it before – usually he was crammed into a room with Jackdaww, and stone floors were never as comfortable as soft grass. After a moment he nodded, agreeing that it would be nice, but felt uncertain. “There are plenty of nice little taverns around – cleaner than whatever dump jack crawled into. But if you’re sure…” he trailed off, smiling to show that he didn’t mind, and was just wondering for Hydra’s welfare.

--

Jackdaww smiled a little. “I’ve never met a woman that can play a decent hand of cards before,” he admitted, “But I’ll take you up on that offer, if you don’t mind.” He was curious as to how Silence had learned to play, and if she really did have anything to teach him, but decided that a ‘lesson’ couldn’t hurt.

Howevever, when she extended the mildly insulting comment from a moment ago, he felt his cheekbones flush red for a second. He hated it being pointed out how thin he was anyway – after all, he had been ridiculed for it when he lived in the palace. It took him a moment to realise she had just implied that he was ugly too, but when he did realise (a little too long after the implied insult that was really acceptable) he reddened again. However, he didn’t say anything, and tried to swallow his pride. He told himself that it was just the ale making him feel a little red, and sat down at the nearest table, leaving a seat opposite him for Silence to take.

“You’ve got one heck of a tongue on you, haven’t you?” he said stiffly, before laughing. “It suits you. Now, let’s get on with those cards, shall we?” he forced the cheerfulness a little, but he figured it was better than starting an argument. However, his pride was severely dented, to say the least.

"Unless you think it'll rain, then I guess we should sleep indoors." she said with a yawn. "Up to you lightning bug. I'm likely to just sleep right here." She shuffled her wings and rested her head on Measle's shoulder. "Besides there's no need for you to spend any money, we're dragons! Our kind have been living in every kind of habitat imaginable since the dawn of time. From lava flows, beaches, and caves to ice tundras, storm clouds, and the most inhospitable deserts. We should be fine sleeping on a rooftop."

---

"I said you were attractive; I wasn't aiming to insult you." This guy was dense as a brick wall! He took insults too seriously and took compliments like insults. She dealt a hand of five cards each at the bar and smiled. "Thank you for the compliment though. I didn't mean to insult you earlier; it was just that I turned all my focus to you and suddenly realized you were slimmer than I thought previously. No hard feelings?"

“The sky’s perfectly clear, so we can probably stay. And if you’re staying out here, I am too – I wouldn't leave you for the world.” He smiled, settling down. Storm clouds… how long had it been since he’d actually seen one for real? Jackdaww was so worried about his clothes getting wet, since he only had one pair of spare trousers, so they never got to see the really spectacular storms. He’d been missing so much, he realised, all on account of Jack. Maybe he should have more days off… no, that would be ridiculous. Jackdaww would get himself killed without Measle, and they both knew it.

--

“Oh…” Jackdaw said quietly. Damnation, he could have hit his head off the table in frustration. Why was it he always managed to get himself muddled up with things like that? It wasn’t like he was an idiot…. Well, it was, but he wasn’t thick! Way to go, Jackie, you’ve blown your first impression now, he told himself, before sitting back in his seat a little awkwardly.

As Silence handed out the cards, however, he relaxed a little, and smiled. “Of course, no hard feelings. I fear I may have had one too many ales this afternoon – it must have gone to my head.” He laughed a little, watching as the cards were dealt properly. He could already hear Measle mocking him, and decided that the dragon and his new-found lady friend could make their own way back that night – he wasn’t going looking for them, that was for sure.

"That's sweet of you, Measle." she mumbled listening to the sounds of the city. It was midday to early afternoon by this point and she wasn't sure what the night would bring, but if it started raining she'd find a dry place to pass the night. Her lightning bug liked storms, so for his sake she secretly hoped that it would storm so he'd be the happiest dragon in the world. If Jackdaww could be selfish then so could Measle by gosh! It seemed that Jackdaww put lots of restraints on the storm dragon, and they were all completely unnecessary.

---

She got a little laugh out of him admitting he'd had too much to drink. "At least you're honest about it. Most men deny having one or more too many drinks. Must say your getting flustered so fast is a charming quirk though." She explained how different card combinations determined the winner of the hand, and what you should and shouldn't do in a game at any time. "Feel free to stop me if you have questions, okay? Also, if I'm not making any sense, tell me. Embarrassingly enough I tend to ramble." she admitted quietly.

"Right-o. Now, choose whatever you wish to discard and place it here." she stated placing her finger on the two jokers stacked face down next to the draw pile. "Word of advice, only save lower cards if you can make something with them, like straights, flushes, or full houses. Otherwise try to get face cards, aces, and tens. The hand to beat all hands is a royal flush of any suit. It goes: ace, king, queen, jack, and ten all of the same suit. You have the option of discarding up to four cards here, but sometimes the dealer isn't always that gracious and may only allow three."

She chose two cards and set them on the discard pile before drawing her replacements. "Once discarding is done then bets are placed, it's important that if you're bluffing you learn to keep a poker face. Don't get baited into betting more than you're comfortable with; unless you're sure you can win the hand fair and square never go over the top with your money. For this game that's about all I can teach you, so how about after this practice round we play one round for real? Hmm?"

Returning the smile she shrugged her shoulders. "I have to say I don't really have anything to bet with. So how about a little wager instead? If I win you let me come with you wherever it is you're going next, city-wise. You decide what you want if you win the game. Best two out of three hands wins." With that she got it in her head to show off how well she could shuffle cards. She shuffled three different ways and dealt the cards. "Deuces, aces, and one-eyed faces are wildcards, they can be anything you wish."

After looking at her cards she wasn't exactly too happy, her hand was a jumbled mess and she had to do a little finagling to figure out if any of it was salvageable. Finally she chose the three cards she wanted to get rid of and glanced at Jack. "You discarding or are you keeping your hand?" It wasn't out of impatience, she had all day, it was just a question. One that he was probably going to take as her getting impatient.

-Time Skip, about 10 minutes later-
"Well, well, looks you're taking me with you when you leave Caspan my drunk friend." She leaned back slightly with a cocky smirk and collected her deck before reshuffling them and putting them away. One glass of wine hardly did anything to her, and any effects she'd had were likely to have worn off most if not all the way by now. Never did it occur to her that Jackdaww had any pets, yet the one pet he had was within the city walls and worse yet for her this pet was a dragon.

---

Time passed rather quickly as apparently Hydra'd fallen asleep resting against Measle. With a great wide yawn she stretched her wings and back before looking around. "I guess I fell asleep. Hey Measle you awake?" She turned and gently nudged his side before licking his cheek. After a moment or two she thought he'd gone to sleep as well and decided not to pester him anymore and let him wake up on his own. He seemed to have a tendency to get cranky when woken up involuntarily.