Testing a new format so this can also be uploaded to my AO3 that goes by the same name.
Hope it's not too cumbersome.
--
Lilth awoke to the feeling of a certain hybrid on top of her underbelly, said underbelly having shifted to point at the sky in her sleep. She blinked slowly, eyes taking their lazy time in trying to focus in the cave. She heard the hybrid above her snore lightly and she grinned devilishly, her tongue stuck out and she licked a nice firm solid stripe of saliva right from the tip of his nose to his horn. She hissed out a laugh, chest heaving as she felt him flail about and whinny in disgust. She felt a couple hard smacks to her chest and felt him slide off if her. She kept up with the hiss laughter, even going so far as to point a little.
"Aaz! Aaz, davoh-key!" (Mercy! Mercy Dragon-Horse!) She let the words slip from her maw on accident, and for a split moment worried, but when looking at his bewildered face she couldn't help but fall further into nearly careless hysterics.
He had an udderly ridiculous and very wet cowlick thanks to her application of her saliva. She snorted a bit, huffing as she calmed down before she slowly got up, stretching a bit in the cave before settling back into her natural stance and gazing at him curiously. Her tail idly thumped the floor, she could see the curiosity brimming in his eyes and her tongue stuck out playfully in his direction.
--
He glared back playfully, huffing a bit before promptly fixing his issues by becoming a Nirik, flames coating his now much darker form and the sould of the magic fire covering up the sound of the other beings movement for a moment. He blinked a bit, looking from side to side, not seeing her and quickly shedding his Nirik form.
He felt a huff of heated air right above his shoulders and squeaked, promptly whipping his head to look behind himself and up. He indeed saw the strange creature looming over him. He saw a twinkle in their eyes that he didn't like. He only got to open his mouth before he felt himself being pulled against her under belly and being promptly squished to the cave floor. He gave a flat look, ears pinned back.
--
Lilth enjoyed the heat greatly, it felt almost akin to radiation but not quite when a fire had flashed over him. She nuzzled and purred, getting the cheekiness out of her system, she got off of him after a bit and stretched, horns nearly scraping the ceiling. She has had somewhat of a meal, she didn't want to head further up the mountain and into the settlement, probably too many people but the smells still beckoned. She knows she needs more food, fish wasn't going to quite cut it. Something fatty, thick, brahmin were a good start, fish helped with missing fats and oils, pork. Pork would be wonderful if it's still around. Judging by everything else alive that had at one point been declared dead and gone she would figure swine would've most certainly been around.
She heard her temporary companion getting up and going to his cart, she glanced over, watching him hitch himself up to the cart. She considered following but she doubted his kind ate pork if they only ate small amounts of fish, their fangs were only slightly developed, she needed to be near a people with more teeth. She watch him wave and she came over to lick his cheek then start making her way back down the mountain.
She heard his wheels start going once she had left and hopped down to a farther down curve of the road, she could still hear the squeak of a wooden cart moving, and was silently thankful that it was going up the mountain instead of down. A brief but friendly acquaintance and that's how she'd like to keep it.
She checked the saddle bags attached to her tail, seeing the map and compass thankfully intact after her high-induced run, the things she encountered in the swamp, and climbing up a good portion of mountain. Looking over the bags attached to her tail proved to her that whole sturdy they still got relatively scuffed up. She doesn't exactly have the items or a Pip to be storing things she finds so she supposed she'll have to be more careful in the future.
She eyed the cliffs and crags in the mountain side, seeing a vague unused path and started using it, not afraid to hop on occasion or even climb to a degree. The hooks of her claws gave her plenty of grip, even if they still didn't quite agree with stone being a solid object. Perhaps strength control was in order... or stronger rocks. She snorted a little, getting a fallen pebble out of her nose.
She wasn't quite used to climbing in this way, but it wasn't out of her body's realm of capability either. She scaled it a bit like a gecko. Funny in the irony of it. At least she was getting a work out.
--
It took her until almost sunset for her to eventually decide that enough was enough and she leaned back, judging the cliff face on the opposite side of the mountain to be smooth and sheer enough so simply slide down, letting her claws act as anchor points as she did a controlled slide down the cliff. At least that was the plan before the claws on her feet met open air and due to the sudden increase in weight, the claws on her hands were next to meet open air. She twisted around in the air, spying the ground a decent ways away.
She flailed a bit, curling her body in the air, she managed a shaky and rough landing on chalky partially white, brown, and black patched dirt and ash, the surface pressed flat from use. She shakily sat herself down, looking herself over.
She had landed a bit hard on her arms, legs, and tail, her chin taking a little bit of the brunt as well. She thought she had braced better but then again it's been who-knows how many years in a hole in the ground. Nothing was broken though thankfully. She idly remembered jumping from buildings taller than that jump and landing on much harder and more uneven materials just fine. She supposes the muscle atrophy really showed then, she wonders how much longer she'd have to have slept for the muscles in her heart to wither away from low use.
Her tongue flicked out slowly, the resulting scents she caught causing her to visibly perk up, the spikes on her back flexing like when a cat's back twitches. She scented the air again. Deathclaw? No. There were slight hints of sulfur, ash, definitely ash. But it smelled so close to another Deathclaw it had temporarily blindsighted her with a whole wash of emotion and relief, only for it to quickly be nipped in the bud.
She got up, shaking off the dirt and debris. She looked behind her landing spot when the scent had come from and saw a large slightly gray and brown scaled dragon staring at her from an open cave. She snorted lightly, eyes roving over them. She could see the cracks in their worn and graying scales, the slightly blunted claws and teeth, the loose scales and skin around the soft spots on their face and near where their joints connected. The huge slightly tattered and dirty wings definitely helped seal the deal that the dragon she was looking at was old. She wondered, if Spike had understood her then perhaps this one will as well. She cleared her throat, making unflinching eye contact with the curious dragon in front of her as she spoke.
"Drem yol lok. Dov do woth, zu'u yah reyliik ahrk drem, praan, ruz slen. Krosis kruziik dov, fah zu'u volaan nau hin sul."
(Greetings. Dragon of old, I am seeking my kind, peace, rest, and flesh. Apologies ancient dragon, for I'm intruding on your day.)
Her voice was rough from years of simple screeching, roaring, and only ever muttering to herself or that rare Deathclaw scientist she only had the lucky chance to cross and lay eggs with a few times to refresh the sentient part of the deathclaw population. She watched the dragon blink at her in surprise.
--
"How do you know our old tongue so fluently? Only those trained to speak it are allowed to use it for fear of hurting another with the magic embedded in it's form." Magma Greyscale snorted a small plume of smoke, surprised beyond belief, even moreso at the formality and politeness coming from the creature in front of her. She almost feels bad responding in Equish but it wasn't her place to speak draconic back.
She stood up in her home, squinting at the creature in front of her, her tongue flicked out. She could smell it smelled almost like a dragon minus the sulfur scent that tended to cling to other dragons, but there was a different scent to. It sparked something in her, not quite fear per say but definitely a great deal of apprehension and oddly enough respect. Something old was poking at her memory but it wasn't coming quite yet. She stepped out of her cave and into the light, joints and back popping while she stretched out the kinks in them. The other words registered as she stretched and she found herself raising a brow.
"You need help finding more of your kin and a place to call home? An odd request to make and even odder to ask it of me. Did you seek me out?"
--
"Fin dov zul nol Keizaal, jul ahrk ruz, Dinokclaw... Heim, mindok, mindoraan. Heim lingrah vod." (The dragonkind voice from Skyrim, humans and then, Deathclaws... Forged, known, and comprehensive. Forged long ago.)
Lilith cleared her throat, grimacing a touch, she felt an odd sensation in her throat now with some words. She guessed it was the magic this dragon mentioned. But it may have been a lack of drinking water or simple misuse of her throat for the longest time. She decided to simply nod at the next question, deciding to roll with it.
"Kiir-dov lost ni dii wah ofan heyv nau." (Child-dragon was not mine to bestow duty on.) Lilith nodded sagely, huffing a little.
--
Greyscale looked upon the Deathclaw with heavy interest, letting all the words piece together. What came to mind were the positively ancient cave markings from back when dragon society was more put together. She got to see them as a hatchling, carvings and painting on the walls depicting an ancient type of dragon, looking much like this Deathclaw. The origin of all dragon-kin. She wonders if this one woke up from a long heavy Wyrm-sleep, if so what knowledge they held of the world that was whispered about amongst the elder dragons of that time. Goodness knows how many of the elder dragons have gone through with doing their Long-Sleep by now though, given she was readying herself to do the same in this cave.
This was something for Torch to see, and she was inclined to help this Deathclaw. But she was more curious about when they woke up, and if they were able to speak any Equish at all. Hearing the thu'um rumbling in her throat at times made her hackles raise, if only due to the power the rumbling alone threatened to release, she could feel it.
"Can you speak any Equish, perhaps tell me when you last awoke?"
--
She nodded, she could switch to English, but it was going to be very broken. Lack of lips will do that, and she's not going to lie she's a little jealous of the fact dragons have lips.
"I awok a cou- thew days ago." She grimaced, having to flick her tongue in a way she hasn't had to do it forever it felt like. She cleared her throat and shook her head.
--
"From what date do you remember sleeping?" Greyscale asked almost hesitantly, watching and hearing the struggle, sensitive ears picking up the soft hissing and whistling coming out from between her lipless mouth. She remembers some elder dragons having the same struggles when she was a child. She watched the Deathclaw struggle for an answer.
--
"Lingrah vod. The year- lost- two-thousand-eighty-seven when I- lost nahlot. I niss twenty-sehventy-seven..." (Long ago. The year was 2287 when I was silenced. I miss 2077.)
Lilith cringed and managed to hiss out some words, thankfully numbers were slightly easier, but she still has to haltingly pluck some words in draconic. Sadly there were no words for mourning or missing, so she had to carefully attempt an M sound by pushing her more serpentine tongue against the roof of her mouth and the back of her jagged teeth to form something similar enough to get the message across.
--
Greyscale tried to wrap her mind around the timeframe, she decided to ask something else.
"Were there ponies or dragons at those times?"
--
Lilith shook her head.
"Nii, nii key, nii dovah." (No. No horse, no dragon.)
--
Greyscale sat up on her haunches, absolutely floored by the information.
"O-Only Deathclaws?" She asked tentatively, almost squeaking out the question. She has to get this one to Torch, that or attempt to wake an elder from their Long-Sleep. She doesn't know which would be better or worse. Ember certainly wouldn't be any help, she's practically a welp.
--
"Arhk jul!" (And humans!) Lilith nodded, getting somewhat of a guage on the time frame she's been asleep as the dragon in front of her completely lost their mind in front of her. She backed up a few steps as she watched the dragon leave their cave fully, giving her room. She watched her stretch, anticipating being with led or picked up. The pick up was still a surprise though.
--
"Come with me, I'll take you to the dragon lands, plenty of food on the borders and hard stone to make a home out of." Greyscale wanted to wake an elder. Torch may be old but he's by no means an elder dragon by draconic standards, he'd probably try to squash this Deathclaw if anything, and it might just work in this one's weakened state. She knows how bad the hunger is after a Wyrm-Sleep, and judging by the baggy skin, she feels they need meat and gems desperately. This one may have woken for some reason during the process of a Long-Sleep.
She quickly got out of her cave fully, stretching out, and pumping her wings a few times to pop and stretch them properly. She didn't wait for a response before plucking up the Deathclaw, going a bit wide-eyed at the unexpected density and heaviness they had. It was almost like carrying lead or gold, she shifted her grip more securely and took off with her unexpectedly heavy cargo. She'd definitely have to take rest stops as they made their way south east.