{Spirit} guess this'll be untitled, then... {Katz}

Once the path had widened, Measle stepped to one side so Taya could walk roughly beside him. The deer were probably a way off yet, so they could realistically still talk a while longer, and being in a single file line did spoil that a little.

“Looks like it could take a while to catch up with them – with any luck there’s a big heard so they haven’t gone far.” He told Taya, settling into a comfortable but fast walk so that he wasn’t holding up the larger dragon too much. He often wished he was bigger just for when he did run into other dragons, because he was usually painfully aware that he was, to put it bluntly, a midget. When it was just him and Jackdaww he didn’t mind, but it was difficult to resist the urge to puff out his chest like a bird whenever he was near a bigger dragon.

“Oh, we’re looking for some-” Jackdaww launched into his explanation happily, before falling short and clearing his throat, “… erm, we’re looking for something we lost a long while ago. It was pretty important, so we tend to circle around the woods looking.” He had grown tired of telling the whole truth when he turned 16, after two years of pointless searching. People didn’t need the sob story in the long run, so he didn’t give it. “But we enjoy it out here – it’s nice, and gives us space to spread out.” He added. It really was a dream out in the open – after a very boxed in childhood Jackdaww had grown to love the smell of the woods more than he had ever cared for the noise of the cities.

The Antler joined Measle, walking slightly behind and to the left of him so that she didn't accidentally run into him or anything. One got used to a big, lumbering frame and learned how to make proper adjustments so as to avoid hurting anyone or damaging anything (both of which had happened before despite her best efforts of course). "I have time," Taya replied. "I can find Dawn again without too much trouble. The girl doesn't tend to wander off on her own." She had a few times but that was it; and she had a habit of getting into trouble and learning that she really probably shouldn't leave her dragon's side. Not too serious trouble of course, just little things that once they managed to get out of they laughed about later. But still. "Besides, I'm used to tracking things down," she said with a smirk.

Dawn was a little surprised when his tone suddenly shifted, as did, apparently, his sentence. Strange, but she wasn't going to question him about it. "I hope you find it then," she said. "I can't imagine losing something that important. It must be terrible." She was tempted to ask what it was they had lost, but Dawn sensed that he didn't really want to talk about it considering his change of subject. "Space is most important though. At least you enjoy your life." That was the important part. A person could deal with a lot of things but discomfort wasn't really one of them. Tended to make people unhappy. "Well, you know, if there's any way I can help while we're traveling together just let me know," she added, wanting to be able to pay him back in some way for helping her and traveling with her. It might not be much but at least she could try.

Measle grinned at Taya’ comment. “Haha, that makes one of us then! I have to admit I don’t do this that often – Jackdaww usually just makes traps himself on really long trips. I mean, it’s not like I don’t know how to hunt, because I do, but – ah, I’m getting all flustered.” He puffed, getting his tongue all tangled up. He was terrible at interacting with other dragons: he’d only ever had much experience with humans, and it was completely different.

“What I mean is, we usually both go out hunting, and I only do the tracking myself sometimes.” He corrected himself, nodding and looking off down the trail. He had been a very good hunter as a hatchling, but that was back when Jackdaww couldn’t hunt himself. He had been such a useless human for the first few months, but now he wasn’t too bad. “Does Dawn ever try hunting? I love watching Humans trying to catch things – especially rabbits.” He commented. Jackdaww had fallen over himself chasing a rabbit the first time Measle had seen one of the fluffy cuddly things (which actually wasn't that long ago) and Measle refused to let him forget it.
--
“It was to start with – now I don’t notice so much.” Jackdaww smiled. Not entirely true, but close enough. It was true that time had dulled his views of the search. Part of him had given up on it anyway, and he was easily persuaded to let other things get in the way now. “But yeah, it is rather nice around here. It’s easy to be happy in the woods, where things are a bit calmer.”

He was just about to shake off Dawn’s offer when he remembered something. The hilt of his sword had a message in it, and despite learning to read at a reasonably young age he couldn’t make it out. “In that case, I have something I’d like you to look at, once we’ve stopped. Just a bit of scrawling on my sword, but it would be nice to know what it says.” If he could figure out just another sentence it would be good – that message was all he had to go on in his search. Not that he would tell Dawn they were related – even Measle had taken a couple of years to find out. They were close to the waterfall by then, and Jackdaww was starting to be able to hear it roaring off in the distance so with a bit of luck they could sit down soon anyway.

Taya could deal with Measle not knowing what to do. She was used to dealing with Dawn after all and she generally didn't manage well when dealing with hunting or tracking, anything of that sort in fact. She simply didn't have to handle those things very often. Generally she ate already cooked things, or else Taya cooked what she caught herself before bringing it back to her rider. It was the way of things, how they had always been. "Hmm, I can't imagine working together with a human to bring something down, but perhaps it would work out if they were used to hunting..." She pondered that thought for a long moment and shrugged slightly. "That's a new thought." Did Dawn ever try hunting, ha! "She has a few times but it's not really her sort of thing. It's highly amusing to say the least though. I must try to find a rabbit for her to track sometime, that sounds entertaining." She couldn't even catch one of the little fluffy things, so she could only imagine what it would be like to have her rider try it. The very mental image she got made her want to break out into a fit of giggles.

"If I know Dawn at all, it'll be at least half as entertaining as trying to teach her to fight was," Taya commented with a smirk, remembering fondly the frustration and amusement that had accompanied that time. It had been in equal measure for both of them really, though Dawn had tended to lean more towards the frustrated side. Needless to say, Taya had finally decided it was better for their sanity if she just kept a very close eye on the woman and Dawn had concurred. Much simpler that way. She could turn into a baby panda for goodness sakes, it was easy for her to become unseen by most. "I'm sure you don't have that problem with Measle, he seems the competent sort."

~~

She could only imagine. What was it like, always being on the move but never really going anywhere from what she understood of it? Strange, very strange. Then again, she had seen stranger so who was she to judge? "Calmer, no one to deal with... it's almost perfect." At least in her mind. There were those who wouldn't agree with her of course, those city slickers who couldn't exist beyond the sight of the walls of their home. That would be claustrophobic to her.

Something he wanted her to look at? Dawn was vaguely surprised that he was letting her in on his quest that much, but she was more than willing to help out if she could. Probably not, but it couldn't hurt to try. A bit of scrawling on his sword. What kind of scrawling she wondered. Engravings in the metal or something else? Wait, was there anything else? "I can try," she agreed with a nod, "Though I really don't know how much good I'll be able to do." None if she was willing to bet, and she was. There was the sound of rushing water in the distance, and Dawn began to look forward to being able to sit down for a bit and splash some cold water on her face. It would certainly be nice.

“It’s slower working with a human, because they can’t smell very well, but Jackdaww makes these fancy string traps, and boxes out of sticks to trap things. That way we don’t have to actively look for things.” He explained. It was always exciting finding a trap full, even if it was just a rat. When you were going hungry and had no supplies left, rat soup was as good as anything. “And I’m not surprised – most humans don’t hunt unless they can shoot arrows. Jackdaww only learned because it was that or starve, back when I was a hatchling.”

“You might have a job finding a rabbit though – I’d never seen one before Hydra taught me how to catch them. The one we found was white, and too cuddly to eat, so we let it go again.” He explained. That was a very fond memory of his. Taya’s comment about teaching Dawn to fight distracted him from it, however, and he grinned in response. “Aha, Jackdaww never needed teaching luckily. You know he was going to be a royal guard, but then we ran away. It does come in handy.” He said. If Jackdaww couldn’t fight, the two of them would have been killed within a week of leaving.

--

“Yes, it is lovely.” Jackdaww smiled. “I’m not sure I could manage living in a city long term anymore.” That was true. He liked moving about. But there were days he wished he hadn’t left the city. Maybe one day he could go back.

The path turned suddenly, and led down towards the river. The roar of the waterfall was very loud, and he was certain that the pool it poured into was just a few yards away. “I think we’re here.” He announced as they turned the corner, revealing the waterfall. There was a growth of tulips at one edge of the pool, which was dark but clean enough. There was a tree trunk that had been cut down the middle into the shape of a crude bench, but the whole area was overgrown. Once this must have been a popular tourist location, but now it was disused and secret.

Jackdaww made straight for the bench and sat down, testing how sturdy the old wood was. Although the base was a little rotten, the seat itself seemed in almost perfect condition. It was comfortable too – the slope of the back was just at the right angle. This seemed like the perfect place to spend the afternoon.

Slower, oh yes. Humans were a clumsy lot from what she had seen, though Taya didn't make fun of them or otherwise show any irritation as long as they weren't hostile towards her or her rider. Yes there were those out there who wanted her kind removed from the Cove entirely, but that was their problem, not hers. "Strings and sticks?" she repeated, confused until she remembered the few traps she had seen. "Oh, that makes sense." How else were they supposed to catch prey when they weren't built for stalking? Add noisy to clumsy now that she thought about it. Not that she could sneak around with her large size, but at least the prey didn't hear her coming, they only saw her. Then again, traps only worked if you had the time and patience to set them up and then stick around long enough for them to catch something.

"If I ever do it'll be worth it," Taya commented. "A white rabbit? Never heard of one of those before, at least not in the wild." People kept them as pets didn't they? She wasn't entirely sure. If they did it didn't make sense to her. Why would someone keep prey in their house, that seemed to defeat the purpose. "Ah, you are lucky," Taya agreed, lowering her head slightly so that it was level with his. "Good to have a human that doesn't need to be watched like a hawk. Royal guard even, very noble." It was tempting to ask why they had run away, but if he'd wanted her to know he would have said. "I think Dawn's best achievement is that she can get along with jut about everyone when she can manage to speak. Poor shy little thing."

~~

"Me neither," Dawn agreed, "Not without a lot of patience and time for adjustment. Possibly not even then." Knowing her she would spend the entire time holed up in her choice of residence. "Besides, Taya doesn't really fit in cities as you saw. Wherever I decide to settle down, it'll have to be near some open spaces. I'd hate to not be able to see her easily." They had spent too much time together to split up now.

It certainly sounded like they were there, and Dawn couldn't quite help making a bee-line for the edge of the water. She peered into the pool, ignoring her reflection after she made sure she looked neat enough and looking for any signs of life below. It was too dark to see clearly, but she thought there might have been something moving around down there. Hopefully nothing large and carnivorous, she didn't want to be fighting any crocodiles or alligators. Walking around slowly she crouched beside the tulips, smiling softly as she reached out and gently brushed one of them, feeling the softness of the petals under her fingers. Flowers were such lovely things. As tempting as it was to tuck one in her hair she refrained, not wanting to disturb the bed.

"I like this place," she commented as she returned to Jackdaww, taking care not to slip. It looked like it had seen better days but that was all right.

“Well we were up near the ice plains, so maybe there aren’t any around here. I have to admit, I’ve not seen another like that since,” He admitted, padding along softly as he took care not to step on any sticks or rustly leaves, “But it was all quite exciting, I must say.” The forest was starting to smell like deer, and that meant they must be getting a little closer, but he still couldn’t see any of the beasts himself. Maybe Taya could, from her higher vantage point. He was sure she’d tell him if she spotted one.

“Oh he still needs watching – he’s always getting into trouble, but yes, he should be able to look after himself really.” Measle laughed. Noble… there was a word he’d never thought of in reference to Jackdaww before. It was true that Jackdaww was very chivalrous and honourable when he could be, so maybe Taya was right. It still sounded strange though.

--

“I think I do too.” Jackdaww agreed, looking around the sheltered clearing again, listening to the sound of the waterfall. It was very calm here, and although Jackdaww wasn’t exactly used to hectic places like cities, he was used to seeing over-trodden paths and dying plants from people walking past. This place was different – untouched by all the people passing by, and hidden away from the world. He could quite happily stop in a place like this for a while.

“We should probably wait here for the dragons – they’ll find us easily if we stay in one place.” He suggested after a moment. He didn’t like the idea of the all getting split up for very long, or the idea of moving on just yet.

"That makes sense then, they would blend in with the snow," Taya commented, nodding slightly to herself. "But I'm sure it was, it's difficult to find them to say the least." That was the whole point of their camouflage and Taya knew they were difficult to find anyway. Frustrating to say the least for large dragons like her. Measle would have far better luck with that should he ever decide to go hunting for them. Sniffing the air told Taya they were getting close and she made herself hush so as not to give them away. Much as she enjoyed the little dragon's company and trusted his human, she didn't want to be away from her rider for too long. Still she had to laugh quietly at Measle's comment about Jackdaww. "Yes, humans always do seem to need watching," she agreed with a smirk. Too funny.

The trees got thinner all of a sudden, and she could see through them to what appeared to be a more open part of the forest. Well that wouldn't bode well for her hunting skills. The trees were too sparse for her to use to sneak up on anything, and too close together for her to try an aerial approach. Crud. "There's a small group not too far ahead," she whispered, peering around the trees while trying not to make herself obvious. "Four or five that I can see. Five, definitely five. Two bucks, one younger, one older, and three does." Probably better to leave those three alone she thought; they could be pregnant and she didn't want to take any more lives than she had to in order to feed herself. "I think the older buck will be easier to catch," she commented. He was closer and would probably be slower than the younger one.

~~

Dawn studied the water for a moment, making sure it wasn't moving like there was something underneath it. Getting sucked under by a pond octopus wasn't her idea of a good time to be sure. Everything seemed calm though, and so she relaxed as she walked back around the water. "Yeah, that's probably best. Though Taya is usually pretty good about finding me. Probably because she has to so often," Dawn agreed with a sheepish smile. Usually they didn't mean to get separated but they did. Fortunately they had both gotten a lot better about not freaking out when it happened. For a brief time Taya had considered getting a leash so that she wouldn't be separated, but Dawn had managed to talk her out of it with the argument that it would look really weird. Really, really weird. The sort of weird they didn't need.

Measle nodded, and crouched down in the undergrowth to peer through at the group. Yep, five of them, looking rather settled. Taya’s suggestion of taking down the old buck surprised him, since he always found does easier to catch, but he was happy to go along with her. “Sure.” He whispered, creeping forwards. They were pretty close actually, so closing the distance shouldn’t take long. He would probably let Taya close the gap in the end, since it was polite, and ladies first et cetera, but he did want a good view. Plus that way he could help out if the deer looked like they were getting away.

--

“Yeah, it’s the same with me and Measle – I’m pretty sure he had a sixth sense for finding me now.” Jackdaww grinned, before unsheathing his sword and pulling a rag out of his boot. Polishing the blade was a little nervous twitch of his, and although he wasn't particularly nervous right then, it was his preferred way to fill gaps in a conversation. He wasn't good at sustaining conversations anyway. That reminded him…

“Dawn? Would you mind having a look at this for me? I mentioned it earlier…” he trailed off, turning the sword over. The inside had been carved with a message, but Jackdaww couldn’t read it for the life of him. Not because he couldn’t read – he was very good at his letters, but he couldn’t make it out properly. It was important for him to understand it, but if Dawn could tell him what even one more word said he would be thankful.

After waiting for Measle to agree to her plan Taya slowly began to act upon it, creeping forward as carefully as she could. It probably wouldn't take long for them to figure out she was there despite being able to blend in with the scenery. Thank goodness they were downwind or they definitely wouldn't have stood a chance. As it was, she felt like she barely made a few steps before the heads of the deer came up and they looked around warily, forcing her to freeze. Oh man, this is going to be rough she thought, hesitating until they returned to their grazing. "I'm just gonna go for it," she said, muscles tensing as she gathered herself and then burst from her cover with a powerful shove of her hind legs. Pass or fail this one.

~~

"I think they all get that way after a while," she commented. Especially if one or both of the parties involved happened to get lost a lot. Tilting her head to one side slightly, Dawn watched interestedly as Jackdaww pulled out his sword and started to polish it. She'd seen plenty of swords before and used one herself once or twice, but she was still fascinated by them when they were in the hands of someone who knew how to use them properly. It was an entirely different game at that point. "Oh yeah, that's right," she said, remembering the request he had made. I doubt I'll be helpful she thought, not because she didn't know how to read but because she figured he could too and so there had to be a different problem at hand here.

And, as it turned out, she was right.

"Well that's... odd," she commented, trying to make sense of the markings. They had to be in their language, that much she figured (guessed really, considering she couldn't tell for sure) but for some reason they were incredibly difficult to figure out. Either the handwriting was awful or it was because they were carved into a blade, but she was having some serious difficulties with it. "I'm not sure really. Maybe with more time but just off the top of my head... well it's hard to tell if it's even English," she admitted sadly, making a slight face.

“Yeah, the script is the problem. My fa- the person who gave me this didn’t choose a very skilled smith to complete the carving. It’s a shame, since the sword itself was so well made.” Jackdaww explained, running his finger down the length of the blade. “All I can make out it the first line, and the word ‘starling’. It’s so frustrating!” he grumbled, glaring it the sword as though it was entirely the blade’s fault. Sometimes he felt that way, other times he blamed his father, but quite often he just blamed his own eyes for not seeing clearly enough.

He lay the sword down gently, leaving it out of its sheath, and walked over to the edge of the water. The waterfall was so close that he was sure he could feel the spray from it on his face. It was really peaceful there, and he had to admit that he had never felt more at home in the woods than he did then. It had been hard for him to adapt to the wild, but now that he had, he didn’t feel quite as peaceful in cities as he used to.

--

“Alright, I’ll follow.” Measle whispered back, crouching lower into the undergrowth. He snook through the narrower trees beside the path, matching Taya’s pace but in a slightly more secretive manner due to his small size. He eventually found himself a small hidey-hole between two oak trees, where he could see into the clearing full of deer. He could see the buck they were after perfectly, but he was confident Taya could handle the catch. If she missed, and the deer bolted, then he would play his major role in the hunt. He didn’t have much muscle strength to take down a fully grown deer, but his magic was strong enough to stun one effectively, which solved the running away issue. He stood on guard, waiting to see if he would be needed or not.

"It's odd, the difference I mean," Dawn commented, still examining the sword as though she might suddenly be able to understand it despite the fact that it honestly looked like gibberish to her. At least he could figure out the first line, because she certainly couldn't. "Surely there was a purpose for it." Exactly what that might be she didn't have a clue for she didn't know the circumstances behind the forging, but it seemed odd that the carving was so poor. With as many capable smiths in Cove, why would a person choose the one that couldn't competently carve a sword?

Allowing Jackdaww his space, for it wasn't her place to go after him, Dawn cupped her head in her hands and continued to puzzle over the blade, determined to figure something out. It was like a puzzle, and she loved those. If only she could find a starting point. I'm sure given enough time and pieces of paper I could do it she thought, but neither of those she had. Dawn did, however, have a very persistent way of thinking, and once she got something in her head, particularly if she considered it a puzzle, it was difficult to get it out.

~~

Taya struggled to keep herself from getting frustrated, for it was difficult for her to sneak around. Her coloring let her blend in to a certain extent, what with the green matching the foliage and the white mostly appearing as sunlight streaming through, but if one took a serious look at her she was easy to spot. Besides that she was just a bit too big for the job. The same trait that she loved for its ability to allow her to protect herself and her rider was a serious detriment in cases like this when she was trying to take down larger prey. But thankfully, if she bungled something too badly, Measle was there to take up the slack. Though she hoped it wouldn't be necessary for him to, simply because she was a prideful creature at times and also didn't want to bother him with trying to fix whatever blunder she might make.

And make one she did.

Somehow managing to sneak close enough to the buck to leap out at it, Taya managed to perform the maneuver quite well and bring the deer to the ground, however there was slightly too much momentum behind the attack and she passed over the buck halfway, which allowed it to struggle to its feet and start to limp/jog off at a pace that was surprising to her. Unable to turn quickly enough in order to easily catch it, for the clearing wasn't all that large and moving swiftly in a tight space was nigh on impossible for her at the best of times, Taya was forced to hope that Measle would be able to snag the buck or at least stop him from running off until she could turn herself around properly without slamming anything into a tree. It seemed to be heading his way anyway, if she knew where he had stopped.

Measle watched Taya’s elegant attempt at caching the deer, and genuinely thought she was doing a good job… until she missed. Well, that just meant he would have to help. The buck was big – bigger than Measle most likely, but it’s injury meant it was slow enough to target. He clamped his teeth together, and carefully making sure he couldn’t hit Taya, called on his lightning magic. A blue-white bolt of energy shot from Measle towards the deer. It hit cleanly, stunning the deer so that it stumbled and fell to the ground. The rest of the deer scattered, but the one they were after was rendered immobile for the time being. Measle leapt out of hiding and sprinted towards the fallen deer. He killed it quickly, to save the creature any undue pain, and sat by the kill to wait for Taya. It would be much easier if she could help him carry it, he figured.

“Please tell me I hit the right one? That is the most tiring thing you can possibly imagine.” Measle grinned at last. He was really quite smug, but the magic did drain him, a lot. It was like doing the same thing using his muscles, and his muscles weren’t much to boast about either.

--

“The difference of quality? Yes, I thought the same thing. That was just like him though, hiding things just because he could.” Jackdaww grumbled, pacing slowly around the edge of the waterfall’s plunge pool. He wished he hadn’t asked for help – he always did. Sometimes he got an extra word out of it, but more often than not he just felt embarrased. And angry, and sad, all at the same time.

He needed the message though, so despite everything his emotions were telling him, he cleared his throat and said, “The message is from my father, if that helps it make sense.” His posture had gone very straight all of a sudden, and his voice was cold. There were a lot of memories tied in with that sword, and not ll of them were pleasant.

Blast it all Taya thought, snarling in frustration at herself as she struggled to turn her bulk around in the (to her anyway) narrow clearing. She did manage to get her head around to see where the deer had gone in enough time to see electricity arcing towards it, no doubt coming from Measle though she couldn't quite see him past the brilliance of his magic. Ah, it was quite effective as well, for it quickly brought their prey down and Measle quickly finished it off. For that she was thankful. She hadn't wanted it to suffer, and it hadn't.

Finally she got herself turned around, for it was much simpler when she took her time for a moment and bothered to actually think about what she was doing instead of rushing blindly. Tended to make just about everything that much easier. "Oh, yes, it was," Taya replied with a smirk of her own. "Sorry about that. I thought I had him but I didn't compensate for the small area." A mistake she wouldn't be making again, that was for sure. "Ah, I'm sure it is. Would you like a ride then? I can carry the both of you." She was thinking that perhaps their riders would like to share some of their meal as well. After they cooked it of course. Humans were so particular about that after all. Understandable of course.

--

She thought it had to mean something, but just what she wasn't sure. Perhaps it was a test of worth? That would make the most sense, but what a terrible thing. Particularly to gift upon one's son if what Jackdaww said was true. And why would he lie? "If it's any consolation, my father and I didn't get along all that well either," Dawn said quietly. Nor had she with her mother. Small wonder why she had left as soon as she was able. "But, let me see... you said starling is in here somewhere?" She bent forward slightly, peering at the blade, until she suddenly found the word. "Ah, I see it now. So... this would be easier if I had paper. And a couple months perhaps. But if that's an s..." Dawn fell silent, pondering this mystery.

There certainly seemed to be a lot of the letter s on the sword, assuming she was reading it properly. "This word before starling starts with an s too," she commented. "Actually, an s, something else, than another s, which is odd, but I'm not getting anything... oh, Jackdaww!" Dawn blurted it out before she could even think to stop herself, then realized she'd probably confused him terribly. "Oh, I saw your name a second ago... right here." She put her finger on it to make sure she didn't lose it and then scanned the message again. "Doesn't seem like it says it anywhere else though.

But that was something.

Measle looked quite flustered when Taya offered to carry him as well. “I can keep up! Dragon’s don’t get carried…” he sulked just a little. He knew Taya didn’t mean any offense, but he had gotten used to being treated like a child due to his small size, and it always made him feel quite indignant. “But it would be good if you could carry the deer… I’m not sure I can manage it…” he added, realising he had been a little rude. He was always telling Jackdaww off for acting like that, but it was looking as though Measle’s own manners were equally terrible at times. “Are we walking or flying?” he asked, so he knew how much effort keeping up would take. He was a good runner, as he had been dashing about after Jackdaww all his life, but even with all the practice he had been doing for his flying lately, he wasn't as strong as he would have liked.

--

“Oh no, it wasn’t like that. We got along really well- that’s why it was such a shock when…” He stopped there, still not comfortable with what had happened. Thirteen years should have been long enough to come to terms with his father disappearing, but Jackdaww had never taken it in, let alone the horrible stories that some of the ladies had told him. “I’m sorry to hear about yours, though. I guess every family has a few problems to iron out.” His had been his mother, but she was his father’s problem more than Jackdaww’s own. All things considered, his family had been fairly functional when he was young. The fact that he was the bastard of a minor member of court, with no mother or siblings, never really came into it.

“What- Oh, you mean that…” he jumped as Dawn continued looking over the message. He turned back towards her, peeping over her shoulder to see what she meant. Oh yes, he could see the ‘S’s she meant, and his name must have been the word with the long scribble at the end for the ‘W’s. He could see odd letters everywhere, but never a whole word. “Yes, you’re right, I wonder what that sentence – the one with the bird and all the letter Ss, says…” He was half talking t himself, but it was the sentence he seemed closest to understanding. Each section was split by a clear full stop and a large gap, so at least he new how many sentences he was dealing with.

Taya gave him a bemused look in return, realizing belatedly that she had made a mistake. Fortunately he didn't see, as upset about it as he could have. "I'm sure you can," she replied honestly, not wanting him to think she was making fun of him. "No they don't, particularly not overly large ones like me," she added with a chuckle. "I'd like to see a contraption on this planet capable of even lifting me off the ground." Certainly nothing the humans had made, despite their efforts to be advanced. "Of course, I'd been planning to," Taya replied, carefully picking the deer up in her jaws and draping it across the base of her neck, holding it in place with the joints of her wings. "That ought to do it," she commented. "You might want to keep an eye on it, make sure it doesn't slip." The antler considered it for a moment and then nodded slightly, "Definitely walking." She probably could have flown with the deer but it would be easier to walk at this point.

--

"Ah, my mistake," she said softly, still mostly focused on his sword. A pity she couldn't spent the time studying it that she wanted to. "Thank you but it's all right. It's not such a big deal now that I'm out in this great big world." And now that she never had to go back but some statements didn't need to be said and that was one of them. Her life history wasn't the important thing here. Honestly, if her father had given her something like this he'd better have started running and gone fast because she'd have chased him down and hit him over the head with the flat of the blade. This was ridiculous. What on earth was the point?

But at least she could be of a little use. "I don't know, but it's odd... this s in starling seems to be a little bigger than the others. Is it... capitalized? Why on earth would a bird's name be capitalized, that's not proper English." Dawn shook her head slightly. "At least I don't think it is. But maybe it's the name of a place or something, I don't know. Or maybe whoever was writing this didn't know the rules of our language. There's a lot of reasons it could be that way." But it was rather odd. "It's just so strange. Intriguing but strange." Now here was something she could spend hours, if not days studying. Dawn was rather stubborn when it came to puzzles and mysteries. It was a trait that occasionally drove Taya mad but there wasn't anything the antler could do about it.

Once the deer had been safely placed on Tayas back, Measle kept pace with her, watching the deer as he had been asked to. He had to do three steps to each of Taya’s, but that wasn’t too terrible. He used to have to do the same to keep up with Jackdaww, and he had managed that just fine. “The humans are probably a way ahead of us now, so we should just find the path we left them on and keep a nose out for them.” Measle suggested as they walked. He could smell Jackdaww from a mile off, and he was sure that Taya was just as familiar with her human’s smell too. “They might even have stopped for a rest by now, so they should be easy to find.”

--

“Hmm, that’s odd, my father was always such a stickler for grammar…” Jackdaww pondered. He thought the terrible quality of the script may have been to make it difficult for him to understand, so the message didn’t reach him for a long time, but his father would never have paid good coin for an inscription with a mistake like that.
“No, it must be deliberate,” Jackdaww announced, revealing his thoughts to dawn, “My father had this custom made, and I think the poor quality was to ensure I didn’t read this before a certain amount of time had passed. The message itself however must have been copied from something he gave the engraver, and he would never make that kind of mistake.”

Dawn seemed to be almost enjoying the puzzle, so Jackdaww made no move to disturb her from it. “Take all the time you need, there’s no hurry.” He said, sitting down again now that his discomfort had passed. He had already waited for thirteen years, so no amount of time would really be significant. “The dragons will be back soon, and it’s getting late so I’ll start a fire for the evening.” He said, before leaping up and rushing off to find some firewood. He liked to feel helpful, and he was sure Dawn would let him know if she found anything.

Taya moderated her pace slightly in an attempt to make it easier for Measle to keep up without letting him know that was what she was doing. She didn't want to accidentally upset him again after all. "Yes that's probably the best idea," she agreed. They'd find them eventually. Surely the pair couldn't have wandered off too far. Well, maybe anyway. One never knew how a human was going to act or how quickly they were going to move. Of course, it was nothing compared to the distance a dragon could travel but it was, occasionally, impressive. "They probably have come to think of it. When we're traveling together if we aren't flying we tend to stop a lot." Dawn wasn't one for walking long distances, though she could if she had to. She just didn't prefer to. And they'd probably be somewhere near water if they were smart, which Taya thought they were. Shouldn't be too difficult to find them.

~

In that case it was very odd indeed. However Dawn couldn't offer an explanation for it any more than she could easily comprehend what the engraving said. The reasoning behind it almost made sense however. Perhaps his father hadn't wanted him to read it until he was prepared for whatever the message said. Or else it was his idea of a joke, but who knew. Dawn was willing to bet it was the former however. It was possible the carver had made the error, but that wouldn't be likely either. The engraving might have been of terrible quality, but it didn't seem like it was incorrect in any way.

It was a good thing there wasn't any hurry, because Dawn knew it wasn't going to be an easy puzzle to solve by any means. In fact she wasn't expecting to be able to get much more out of it at this point in time, but she would keep trying anyway. It was the least she could do after all. "All right, thank you," she said, looking forward to having a fire again. The flames were peaceful when they weren't trying to burn down an entire town. At least that episode was over with, thank goodness. She was just thankful her skin had already settled and wasn't hurting anymore, becuase it could make for a very long couple of days with a constantly aching body.

Measle didn’t really notice the change in speed, and kept walking along happily without realising Taya was going easy on him. However, it must have been a relief, because his legs didn’t ache half as much as usual. They made it back onto the main path very quickly, and followed the path along until Measle heard something. “That’s water –nearby by the sounds of it. I think w should look there first.” He suggested, knowing that, even if Dawn hadn’t been keen to stop, Jackdaww always lead them to somewhere with a good supply of water for the evening.

He dashed off, running properly to take the lead from Taya, until he found the narrow path leading to the waterfall. “This way!” he called, bounding down the path with an unusual level of energy, barrelling into the clearing around the waterfall to see Jackdaww and Dawn busy with something.

--

“You don’t have to waste your time with it,” Jackdaww said after a long pause, “You’ve already been really helpful. It’s taken what, thirteen years to get that much? I can stand to wait a while longer.” It was his roundabout way of offering to take the blade back, so he could train at some pint later on.

Suddenly, though, Measle was dashing around the corner, and the atmosphere got a little brighter and less gloomy. “I was just wondering if you’d gotten lost.” Jackdaww joked to the dragon, straightening up to greet him and wait for Taya to follow. Measle scowled at him, but they both knew it was a joke. Sometimes Jack did appreciate the company after all.

The smaller dragon didn't seem to notice or be bothered by her change of pace, for which Taya was thankful. She wasn't wanting to cause any trouble or make him think he was less than her by any stretch of the imagination. He was less than her in that he was, well, less aka smaller, but that wasn't something to be judged for. She was smaller than some of her kind as well. Actually she didn't think anything of it considering she was used to dealing with people that were shorter than her what with Dawn being her rider and all. Not to mention the numerous times she had been in cities and towns and had to be careful not to hurt anyone or break anything.

"That's probably the best idea," she agreed, "That's the smartest place for them to be." Her rider was smart... even if she didn't always act like it. Her common sense was all right, it was her people skills that left a little to be desired. But Taya hoped that the more time she spent around others the better off she would be. It only made sense after all. Fortunately the pair of humans was actually in the clearing when she got there, though what they were doing she couldn't begin to guess.

~

"Oh I don't think it's wasting my time," Dawn replied, "But yes I wouldn't want to keep it from you. At least I did some good." With that she offered the sword back to him, pushing the mysterious writing to the back of her mind so that it wouldn't bug her anymore. It was a nice little puzzle, but highly frustrating considering it had taken him thirteen years to get what he had out of it. Who knew how long it would take to get the rest?

Measle exploded onto the scene a moment later, distracting them from their current conversation but also providing a new one because she knew Taya would be coming back as well, probably with something good for them. And, indeed, when the antler stepped into the clearing she brought with her a deer for their dinner. "Nice catch you two," Dawn said, stepping forward to greet and help her dragon with preparations.

Jackdaww took his sword back quickly, hiding at as Measle came into view. He didn’t want the dragon to notice how much it bothered him that he still couldn’t read it. He should probably have gotten over it by now, and Jackdawww was convinced that Measle believed the stories about his father’s disappearance back in Didienne, rather than holding out any hope that he was still alive.

“I take it you found something then? Always good when there’s something more substantial than rabbit to eat.” He grinned, standing up quickly to help the dragons with the deer (as if they needed the help). He would cut a few strips to dry for the journey later, and then either himself or Dawn would probably try to cook something for that evening. Either way, they were going to eat well that night!

Measle didn’t miss the fact that Jackdaww had been studying his sword, but deliberately didn’t bring it up. Jackdaww was ridiculously sensitive about that kind of thing, so it wouldn’t be fair to mention it around the others. Besides, they had food to prepare. Measle left the moving of the deer to the others, since he wasn’t large enough to be any real help. Instead he scuttled over to the pool of water, and dipped a claw in cautiously. Since he used lightning magic, it wasn’t the safest idea to go for a swim, but Hydra was always bugging him for having dusty scales, so he’d spend a little time cleaning himself off while the others dealt with the deer.

Dawn noticed how quickly Jackdaww put this sword away but she refrained from commenting, turning her attention instead to Taya and Measle to see what they had been up to while they had been gone. It wasn't difficult to figure out considering Taya was carrying a deer, but she did wish she'd carried it some other way simply because she knew she was going to have to help her clean her fur and feathers off later. It wasn't that Dawn minded at all it was simply a labor intensive task at times.

"Fortunately we did," Taya said, flattening herself to the ground so that they could easily reach the deer before she rotated her shoulders carefully so that it slowly slid off her back. "Though you can thank Measle for catching it. If it wasn't for him it probably would have gotten away." She had never said she was good at hunting, and that day had been the perfect example of why. Well, you caught a few and you lost a few. Thankfully this one hadn't been a loss. "Dawn can help cook but she isn't the best at cutting things up," she finished, glancing at her rider who nodded slightly. She knew Dawn wouldn't have said anything herself but it was true that she wasn't good at dissecting animals simply because she was squeamish and didn't like touching dead things. Hence why she had always taken care of dressing whatever she had happened to catch as best she could. Honestly she could just cook things herself and it generally turned out well enough.

"Yes, I can help with drying or cooking or anything like that," Dawn confirmed. She just didn't want to go anywhere near the carcass. It was silly and she knew it but it wasn't something she could get past despite her best efforts to the contrary. "So what should I do?" Probably best to get an idea of what was needed.

“That’s fine, I’ll cut it then, and we can sort out cooking it just afterwards.” Jackdaww grinned. He had been doing his own butchery outside for years now, living on whatever he and Measle could catch, so although the messy task wasn’t exactly is favourite, he was more than used to it. “We could probably do with a fire, and if one of you could find a big flat stone, we can have steaks tonight.” He added, as he dashed over to the dragons to retrieve the deer. He was stronger than he looked, but a whole deer was quite a weight, and he had to drag the creature off to one side to begin his task.

When he was out of the way, he pulled a dagger out of his boot, and wiped it on his trousers. He treasured his sword far too much to use it for cutting meat, so he had a table dagger on his person at all times. It was sharp, and about as clean as you could get out in the woods, so it should do the job just fine. He went to work quickly, stripping back the pelt (it had its uses) and cutting the meat into useful, useable pieces, with a good number of thin strips for drying, and several larger cuts to salt. It was remarkable how much more palatable the meat looked when it was in familiar cuts, rather than the entire deer carcass.

----

Measle flushed a little as Taya complimented him. He wasn’t a great hunter – he was small, and usually failed to take down his prey. It was just because he’d resorted to the lightning magic that he’d helped at all… but in hindsight that had been a pretty useful move anyway. “Well, maybe I helped a little, but Taya did all the heavy lifting…” he said quietly. It was a good thing Jackdaww was preoccupied, or he would have teased Measle to death for being so feeble.

“I’ll go and look for that stone,” He said quickly. Jackdaww liked frying things where he could, and he had very exacting standards for his hot-stone. Plus he wasn’t exactly equipped to build fires, so he may as well make himself useful. He started near the pool with the waterfall, looking for a thin, flat stone around the pebbly banks of the pool, and the stream leading away from it. Hopefully it wouldn’t take too long.

At least Jackdaww was accepting of her limitations Dawn thought. That was quite fortunate because she wouldn't have blamed him for making fun of her but she would have been even more embarrassed about it. She'd have handled it though because that was what she did, but it likely wouldn't have been a pleasant experience for anyone involved. It'd be easier to start a fire. Between Taya and herself they had gotten quite good at starting fires (usually where they belonged too). She glanced his way briefly when he started heading towards the deer, but she knew better than to watch that. So, instead, she set about picking up sticks around the campsite and then gathering leaves, moss, and larger sticks from the surrounding forest that she began to put together a cooking fire. She'd get Taya to light it in a few minutes, for she was certain the Antler dragon was watching her intently, but for the moment she wanted to focus on the design.

It was important to have things laid out properly after all, and if she messed it up things could cook unevenly. She also had to consider that they were going to be using a flat stone for cooking, which made things different. She could hear Jackdaww working nearby but it didn't bother her to listen to him carving. Especially not with Taya sniffing the air periodically as he worked.

----

"Eh, it's about all I'm good for," Taya replied with a shrug. She was too big to move around easily in most places so she didn't mind being the one everyone turned to when they needed something lifted or wanted to be carried. There was a reason why she carried all of their supplies instead of Dawn. Heck, she could manage that and her rider at the same time with no problem. It was what she did. As Measle headed off she turned her attention to Dawn, watching as she worked to set up the fire. Her rider was good at building them because she insisted upon them having one every night they were out in the wilderness, but she couldn't start them very well on her own. Easier to let her do it, though it had taken a while to figure out how to control her flames so that she didn't just turn everything to ash immediately.

When Dawn sat back slightly a few minutes later and nodded to herself the Antler approached and inspected the stack of sticks, trying to decide where the best place to light it would be. A decision and a short burst of flames later, and they had a merry little fire going.

As Taya lit the fire, Jackdaww grinned, looking up from his messy task. “Hey, Measle, you should learn how to do that! It would be so useful to have an instant fire-lighter around.” He shouted jovially. He knew fine well that it would annoy Measle – it had taken months for the dragon to convince his human that he wasn’t a fire-breather, so Jackdaww liked to bring it up frequently.

A short while later, he was finished. The deer hide was set aside, ready for drying (he could sell it back to a tanner in the next city they stopped in and buy some more provisions), and the meat was cut into useful pieces. Nothing was wasted, although times weren’t desperate enough to require him to sort out the offal just then. He stood up, gore up to his elbows, and looked around. The fire was blazing merrily, and Measle was heading back over with a flat rock for them to cook with, so all was well with the world.

He had noticed Dawn’s squeamishness earlier, and quickly made use of the pool to wash the deer off his arms. That done, he headed back over to the main group, to sit near the fire.

---

Measle found the stone quickly, and carefully nosed it into the fire, near the base. That way it would heat up, and they could use it to fry the steaks Jackdaww had been cutting up. He scowled at his human’s joke, wanting to grumble at him, but Jackdaww would only laugh if he did. Goodness, sometimes that man was truly unbearable.

Returning to Taya’s side, he settled down, watching the fire. It was amazing how quickly it had caught – he had seen Jackdaww struggle with his flints for a good half an hour before actually seeing flames before.

“That was incredible,” He remarked to Taya, impressed. His magic may be useful for stunning deer, but that was about it, and it drained him enormously. He always thought his magical growth had been stunted with his size – Lightning Storms normally possessed fairly potent magic, but Measle was near useless. “I do wish my magic was actually useful sometimes…”

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