[Ger & Sil] A Soldier's Life For Me

Well, this was awkward. She was just about one of the tallest people in the mess hall and that, from her point of view, was just plain weird. Being sociable wasn't all that easy either. 'Mother have mercy, I didn't think joining the army was going to be so nerve-wracking.' Battle was easy to handle, obeying ill-tempered superiors was feasible as well, but having to speak to others now and again was not that easy with everyone being total strangers.

Despite being guarded around so many new people, she was still quite happy to be there. Nobody seemed to have any idea that she was any different from any other soldier in the room other than her height, and that was good enough for her. Someone a short distance away from her randomly spouted out a joke and for all it was worth, crass punchline and all, it earned a laugh or two. 'If only I could find something to pass the time besides sit here and look anxious.'

[OOC: Forgive the crappiness please!]

Upon sitting she first asked a question that in her mind sounded confused, but after being spoken it sounded rather stupid. "Have these men never seen one of their own before? You'd swear I was the devil walking through the door." Of course at the latter part it was difficult to hold back a smile, for there was a time when she'd spar with her older brothers and they'd call her a little devil. Then again, the answer might've been that she was possibly the biggest person in the entire hall.

"So who might you be?" Being the new recruit was usually bad, but being nearly a giant AND being new really didn't make it easy. But when did Geronimo ever want things to be easy? The answer to that question was never. Now to see if anyone knew her commanding officer. "Do you know much about The Lion?" Better to learn about him before running into him, lest she make a horrendous first impression by pissing him off accidentally.

"That'd be my name, and it seems rumors travel fast no matter where you are. I traveled down here from Golam to join the army." She listened intently to what Sildred said about the dragon and about making her superior angry. Then she proceeded to laugh about the dragon chewing up the boots. "Ah, most things that start off little also start as a handful of trouble coupled with many sleepless nights."

"Pissing off my superior shouldn't be a problem then. I'd hate to be this "Atoro" if what you say is true about him." The name itself felt rather slimy when she spoke it, whether it was because it was a foreign name to her or it just didn't sound right she had no clue. Likely it was a combination of both. "And if he works his men that hard then my time here will be well spent." Just the idea of working from sunup to sundown made her smile. Maybe she'd be able to get some time working in a forge.

"She sounds wonderful. I'd be honored to stop by sometime." She smiled for a brief moment then it went away. "I have nine brothers, and a mother and father. No spouse, no children. You could say I'm married to my work. Before I came here I ran a blacksmith shop." When she was told to eat, she did. At least until she heard a ruckus outside and raised an eyebrow. "Now what could that be?" There was a catlike roar and one or two people screaming and she put them together. For a moment she rolled her eyes and wondered why her companions always had to cause trouble.

"Oh perfect. Well Sildred, you might just get to meet the closest things I will likely ever have to children: Orran and Achilles. Shall we venture out to survey the damage?" Meanwhile outside Orran had gotten a little testy and spooked a couple of frightened foot soldiers. That was the commotion, and he didn't see why humans had to be so skittish and panicky.

"The dragon is Orran, and the Jaguar is Achilles." she stated. "Achilles roams where he pleases but he obeys well enough. Orran, well, he's a stick in the mud; he won't cause undue problems." This was very awkward. Orran speaking only made it worse. "You are such a pain to track, Ger, you know that? Sure your hair makes it obvious but can you not sit still for 5 minutes?!"

Okay, that just made this the most awkward 15 seconds of her life. "Very funny Orran, now go find something to eat you're getting cranky again." With that her older companion wandered off leaving just the curious feline predator. "Told ya he was a stick in the mud. You can get a closer look at Achilles if he interests you that much. Though I'm inclined to warn you: you can take an animal outta the wild but you can't take the wild outta the animal."

With a nonchalant shrug, she watched her precious cat for a moment to make sure he didn't try to have a nip at Sildred. Thankfully he lost interest and she easily picked him up in her arms like a child would a kitten. "Well, insane training or not I'm here till I die. We'll just see how bad this training is; life's not worth much if you don't challenge yourself." Achilles gave a disgruntled sort of meow and swished his tail back and forth.

Looking around things were like any other army encampment: soldiers, mess hall, training grounds. There were a few dragons scattered about but that was the only abnormal thing. "So what's your little one like? She must be wonderful." At least she'd made an acquaintance today, that was more than could be said for Orran, who was still a tiny little thing for all his maturity, as he came flying back to Ger and curled around her neck. "So who are you?" he asked looking at Sildred as if daring him to get closer to his beloved human.

She gave a nonchalant shrug. "If he attacks her by all means make him into a coat. He should know better than to do such things, but to remove temptation I'll find somewhere to keep him. Orran on the other hand has no problem with children." On that note she added one last joke. "Or perhaps a rug, I don't think Achilles is quite large enough to be a coat for a grown man."

Even Orran couldn't resist laughing and hid somewhat behind his surrogate parent in doing so. He hated the way he looked when he started laughing, he even snorted now and again. "Where we going somewhere with him, Ger?" he asked curiously. He had heard what Sildred said about having a little one of his own and he was eager to see this tiny Surhanian. Not like he'd let his excitement be known, for in his own right he thought he was a rather tough looking dragon.

"Is she one of those kids what when she finds something she likes she squeezes it to death?" Orran squeaked quietly. It didn't exactly register to Geronimo what her little dragon was asking until she thought it over and laughed. "At first I don't think you'll have any trouble avoiding being crushed to death by a toddler, my friend. Once she gets a bit bigger I don't think much will stop her from wanting to drag you about like a stuffed toy."

That did not bode well for him and he shivered from his place around Geronimo's neck. He then remembered that Tilly was a quiet sort at first and then if she liked someone she warmed up. At either end of the spectrum he was scared he was going to be squeezed and loved to death by a sweet little toddler. With Geronimo around he didn't exactly feel so unsafe, but there was still a small chance that she'd leave him alone with Tilly.

Upon seeing the little one Orran's eyes lit up and he fluttered over to say hello. "Hello there little Tilly." he chirped quietly. He tried to look friendly, and remembered the "no baby talk" warning. He sat fluttering for a moment or two just studying her then looked at Ger. "I like this one already!" Geronimo could see why: little Tilenaia was an absolute doll. Definitely not the type to misbehave from what she could see. "I can sort of see why Orran."

Orran continued to try cuddling up to the little toddler a while longer then returned to perching on Ger's shoulder. First impressions of Tilly were very good for both human and dragon. Sil was raising her well thus far. She followed along behind him quietly and took in the surrounding area once again. "So is there anyone I should avoid around here? Any advice is more than welcome."

"You're easy to get along with in my experience." Sadly she noticed the door frame too late and ran into it. "Low door frames, I hate them." she muttered. Orran flew in behind Sildred and took off after the little human. This little one was a curiously quiet creature, he wanted to learn more about her. Meanwhile Ger sat down and looked around after her vision went back to normal. "Anyone who doesn't like me can tell me to my face. Whether I floor them or not is a circumstantial discretion-based decision. Though I will remember to leave no witnesses." she added with a joking grin.

Through her eyes the Praxus household seemed to be a bit small, but very relaxed yet organized. It reminded her of a smaller version of Bloodmace Hall back in the outskirts of Golam. "On an unrelated note I hope to see Golam raise the Surahnian flag in the near future. It's a short trek through rainforest away from some of the most beautiful beach on the island."

Orran simply sneaked some of the bread and cheese fro Ger's plate and then curled up on Tilenaia's lap. He knew there'd be some trouble when Ger answered that question. Hopefully answering it properly wouldn't get her thrown out on any grounds. He let out something of a soft purr and was beside himself with contentment. This was something Ger noticed right away, and in spite of the deliberately dangerous question she smiled, just a hint. "Now if I'm perfectly honest with that question I would say I have zero interest in women for more than one reason. In fact I have three: one, I'm too involved in work to hold down anything past a friendship, two, women are NOT something I handle well, and three, well. . ." she trailed off nervously.

With a great intake of breath she exhaled the entire statement at once. "I've-no-interest-in-women-because-I'm-a-woman-myself." If he caught any of that and wasn't too happy about it, then she'd be out of a job in a hurry. She had to answer his question honestly, and if that meant she was moved or even discharged from the Surhanian army then so be it. "Please, do not tell anyone. Nobody asked my gender when I signed on. I only told you because your question required an honest answer, and I won't risk honor or friendship over something so stupid as a lie over whether I'm a man or a woman."

She sighed and listened to everything and sat forward. "I was trained for 17 years or more to be a warrior. As a child everyone assumed I was a boy and that was fine with me, because that meant nobody would treat me like I was inferior. I hope sincerely that you don't treat me like a woman; I take offense to being treated like something I wish I wasn't." A smile crept onto her face and she sat back. "Must say you have made an excellent impression on behalf of the Surhanian people. On the subject of how I passed: nobody questioned me. Nobody at home ever did either come to think of it. However, I'm glad I can trust you."

Orran in the meantime had moved up onto the table and was dwarfed by a rather large tankard. "Sildred, I promise she won't get into any trouble. " he piped quietly. "She's also a more than decent person, albeit a bit strange. Nice to know there's more than one good human out there."

"I am a woman who wishes to be a man." she replied simply. "I will take that advice into serious consideration. Now, what sort of dragon is this "Kvinna" anyhow? She must be rather small to still get away with chewing up boots." Orran had at least one thing in common with Kvinna then: they both had chewing troubles. "A bit of wine on his gums and a good bone to chew on does the trick for Orran when new teeth start coming in." She thought over the way he analyzed her and shrugged her shoulders.

"I did have some feminine influence growing up in the form of two women: my mother and a girl named Silence." Orran silently moved across the table and curled up in a vacant corner next to a plate to listen to the rest of the conversation. "She'd be 20 now I do believe." she commented quietly. "An awkward, skinny little girl last I saw of her, but she up and disappeared a few years ago. No idea what happened to her. Ah well, I'll quit rambling on about her. Don't want to bore my host." she said with a half smile.