~~Let The Training Begin~~
The evening was long and rather on the nippy side. Luckily Grievous had no issue with the cold, and the small house had heating of some form or another. What plagued his mind however was the human's parting words, what training did she speak of? He had no clue of what she was speaking.
Throughout the night he had decided to explore the home, but found little of interest. There was indeed a guest bedroom, and a refresher, but unfortunately no skeletons in the closet, and the whole place was rather dull and lifeless to say the least.
For a while he simple paced backwards and forwards, trying to busy his mind, and at one point had even considered going back outside to investigate the marketplace further. He wanted to see if there was anything he required, but decided against it, concluding that the best course of action was to simply sit and wait.
He had been relieved to look out the window and to see the first rays of light peaking over the horizon, knowing that soon he would have something productive to do.
It was only a short while after she dawn had officially broken that the young adult had finally made an appearance. She came directly down to the kitchen, and at first had seemed a little surprised to see him still there. Perhaps she had thought the previous day to be nothing but a hallucination; after all, they were in the middle of a desert.
From a glance she appeared to be wearing the same attire as the previous day. "Morning," she greeted simply taking only a fleeting glance in his general direction before setting off to break her fast. She was part way through rummaging through one of the nearby cupboards when she abruptly stopped and looked in his direction, "Do you…" she started, trailing off.
She gave a gesture to him with her hand as though that was enough information for him to give an appropriate answer. "Do I what?" he asked rather impatiently with a scowl.
"Eat." She stated simply she responded, using her hand again to gesture at the kitchen cupboards.
"What does it look like?" he asked rhetorically in a rather aggressive tone, "Of course I don't eat." He retorted with a thrash of his hand to the side, adding a low growl for emphasis.
She held up both hands in the sign of defeat, "Alright, alright. I was just asking, I didn't mean to insult you," she quickly replied before returning to her endless rummaging in search of consumables.
Grievous simply ignored her 'apology' and proceeded to stalk over to the window staring out at the vast dunes that were visible. Despite it being is early in the morning the sand seemed to already be radiating with heat, rather uninviting indeed. He mentally sighed, he was not in the mood for trekking through the desert, although, when did he ever want to go walkabout in the middle of nowhere?
He had a few moments of further aimless staring, allowing his thoughts to wonder before he heard an "ah ha." from the human. He turned and noticed she had some sort of white bread-like food in her hand that she didn't hesitate to take a bite from.
Once she had finished the mouthful she turned her attention to him, "You ready?" she asked, taking another bite of her strange food.
"Ready for what, if I might inquire?" Grievous asked, growing tired of her tendency to expect he knew exactly what she was talking about at all times without fail.
She rolled her vibrant blue eyes and cracked a smirk at him, "For your training of course." She stated, crossing an arm over her chest, while continuing to hold the food in her other hand.
"What training?!" he demanded for the second time, narrowing his eyes at her jesting behaviour.
Her face lost all evidence of a smirk from her lips and was replaced by a thin pursed line at his voice, "Well, I presume you're going to want to ride a dragon to the capitol rather than walking all the way there." She stated, waiting until he gave a nod of confirmation before continuing.
"In order to ride a dragon you need to train," she continued, "Though it should be simple enough." Was the last thing she said before pivoting on her heel and walking away from him, effectively ending their conversation before he had the time to question her any further.
He gave an agitated growl which ended in a sigh of defeat as he followed after her. She stopped next to the door and grabbed a large wooden staff of sorts. On it was carved intricate designs of flames and dragons, all singed in black. She then proceeded to open the door and walked out into the street.
Grievous followed after her, taking a moment to take in the busy streets. Apparently the people on this planet woke early seeing as there were just as many people filling the marketplace as the day prior.
The human proceeded to lock the door after he had exited before she led him off around the perimeter of the dragon stables and out the back. She stopped at a paddock and gestured for him to enter. He gave her a suspicious glance, but did as requested. The fence that cut off the area was almost four metres tall, and made of blackened iron, presumably from flames.
She closed the gate behind him and scampered off back towards the front of the stable. The paddock was connected to the barn by a duel set of large wooden doors.
It was only a few minutes before the human skipped back. She joined him in the paddock before moving towards where the barn door connected with the paddock, reaching up and yanking the doors open.
Without warning a large reptilian creature charged out and into the enclosed area. It was a bipedal dragon of deep brown in colour. The creature was easily taller that Grievous by almost an arm's length, and seemed to look down on him as though he were some insignificant insect.
A long forked tongue trailed lazily out of the beast's mouth, flicking in the General's direction as it tasted the air. "Easy." Alimae stated, appearing to be talking to Grievous rather than the dragon, "Calm your mind." She instructed, standing a fair distance away from both dragon and cyborg.
"Why?" he snapped back at her. On instant the creature reacted to him aggression and let out a deep guttural growl, narrowing its eyes on him with malicious intent. Grievous was started by its sudden change in temperament towards him, only moments ago it seemed only curious, but was now baring its teeth and swishing its tail.
The human held up her hands, "Dragons can instinctively sense your emotions, if you're angry, they're angry," she explained in a calm voice, "Just calm your mind. Open it up to the dragon and it will do the same to you." She told him, keeping a close eye on the creature.
On closer inspection; the creature had long claws on its from arms and two large tusks that produced from its lower jaw, giving it a far more intimidating appearance. He looked closer, and to his surprise the dragon's teeth were not sharp, they were in fact rather smooth, designed for grinding rather than tearing flesh. "Is that… a herbivore?" he asked is disbelief.
Alimae only nodded in return, "Yes, she's a really gentle creature if you manage to bond with her." She replied, seeming impressed by his observation.
Grievous eventually did as she instructed, trying to banish all thoughts and emotions from his mind, to be calm, but it just seemed to not work. No matter how hard he tried he simply couldn't relax, and the longer it took the harder it was to not become aggravated.
He continued for what felt like hours to no avail. Eventually he growled and threw up his arms in defeat, turning away from the creature and unleashing a string of curses under his breath in Kaleesh. "It's impossible." He stated, glaring in her direction.
The human simply sighed, giving another roll over her eyes. She had by then long finished her food, and was armed only with her wooden stick. She approached the dragon, which hissed at her, but she seemed unphased. Clutching her wooden staff in hand, she reached it out to the dragon and gently tapped it on the beast's forehead. On instant the creature lowered its head in submission, giving a gentle content hum.
The General merely watched on in bewilderment. How? He thought; how was it possible for her to tame the creature in but a second?
"It's far from impossible; you're just not doing it right." Was the human's response to his statement. "Now, do it again." She ordered, placing a hand on her hip.
Who was she to tell him what to do? He thought, letting out another irritated growl, using a hand to brush his cape behind him so it was out of the way. He approached the dragon again, and again he tried to clear him mind and 'open' it to the dragon. However the result was again unsuccessful.
The human eventually sighed heavily, "Alright, that's enough. I doubted you would even be able to do it. It's just something outsiders are unable to master." She stated, walking over to the gate and walking out, holding it open for Grievous, but eventually noticed he wasn't following.
Grievous was determined to prove her wrong. Perhaps her doubt was the exact thing he needed to motivate himself. He looked the creature deep in the eyes, but remained calm in both appearance and mindset. He took a deep breath, "Easy," he called softly to the dragon that was eyeing him suspiciously.
He slowly closed his golden eyes, but extended an empty hand, allowing himself another deep breath. It was impossible to think about nothing, so he began delving back into memories of his homeworld, recalling its tranquillity, how it felt to be home with those he cherished.
And within a few moments of thinking about it, he felt something, a presence; he felt a similar set of emotions to his own. Slowly he cracked his eyes open and was astonished to see the dragon gently resting its forehead on the palm of his open durasteel hand. It gave a similar hum to the one it gave to the human.
He felt accomplished, but at the same time placid and relaxed. He felt the dragon's emotions. He felt its curiosity, gentleness, and surprisingly there was a hint of loneliness.
Grievous was started when he saw Alimae was now stood beside him, having moved from her position at the gate. "I told you it wasn't impossible." She reminded him with a smile, giving the dragon a pet of her own before heading back towards the gate.
The General moved to follow her, but was surprised when the dragon followed his movements, walking beside him. He looked to Alimae for guidance, but she only laughed, "She's never going to stop following you now," she teased, leaving the gate open and walking off.
Now Grievous was beginning to feel his agitation returning and growled in irritation, but surprisingly, the dragon mimicked his actions, also growling at the receding figure of the human. He placed a hand on the dragon's snout and gave it a pet, causing the dragon to hum happily in response.
The Kaleesh warlord quickly walked out the gate, closely followed by his new reptile companion, who easily kept up with his pace. He noticed the human in the near distance and picked up his stride to catch up with her, which he eventually did.
"What do I do with it now?" he asked once he was walking beside Alimae once more.
The human thought for a moment before looking up at him, "Well, what's her name?" she asked, coming to a standstill right in from of the stables and turning so she was looking him in the eyes.
"How should I know?" he demanded, narrowing his eyes in vexation. He clasped his arms behind him back and leaned in closer to the human's face.
"Ask her, with your mind." She stated, lifting a finger and tapping it on his faceplate.
Before her arm could retract his own arm shot out and grasped her wrist tightly. "Don't you dare do that again." He warned her in a low voice. She tried to wrench her hand from his vice-like grip without success, and for a fleeting moment she appeared genuinely scared of him. "Got it?" he asked, tightening his grip.
She gave a single nervous nod and he released her arm. She immediately pulled her arm to her chest and began rubbing it, all the while keeping a cautious eye on the cyborg.
He came to the conclusion that his actions were rather rash, even if an adult should have known better. Her nature seemed to be playful and being distrusting and fearful did not suit her personality at all.
Before he had the opportunity to admit his unintentional outburst, she turned and slipped into the stable, walking as far away from him as the stables would allow, which was pretty far. She slipped into the stable where she had taken her dragon the previous day, and remerged moments later, leading the Sand Walker along.
Once she had almost reached the entrance of the stables, Grievous went to speak to her, but before he could do so was met with a low growl from the dragon that accompanied her. He wanted to at least follow after her, but the hiss of her creature kept him well at bay.
Obviously she was no longer in the mood to deal with him any longer and that was clearly showing through her dragon's actions.
She knew how to reach the capitol, and she knew how to tame dragons, she was still useful to him, and he needed her if he had hope of getting off the planet and back to the war. Despite the fact her needed her assistance, he was not prepared to admit he was the one at fault, even if he had overreacted.
He had all but forgotten about the dragon that was beside him until it gave him a gentle nudge on the side to try and gain his attention. "Not now, Zerabi," he stated, waving off the creature, before pausing. Why had he just called the dragon that?
Was it the dragon's name? "Zerabi," he called softly, and the dragon hummed softly, nudging him again. Evidently it was the dragon's name, but how he knew what it was, was a mystery.
If only he knew someone with a vast knowledge of dragons.