"Well?" Gold asked. He'd heard a growl, but didn't know if that was a good sign or not. Well, beaf. The wizard lizard is speaking to me. It would like you to not drop Kayin. "Yeah, I'm not going to do that." Gold grumbled, adjusting his hold on Kayin to better keep her on the wizard lizard. Oh, and it says that you can tell it where to go. "Away? Towards Seajun? I have no clue where we are." So, we're letting the wizard lizard decide. Somewhere safe, Lekin directed the last words to Aspen, still sounding very unbelieving that this was actually happening.
I am a boy. Not an it. Aspen sounded slightly angry. I will take you somewhere safe, only because you're keeping my human safe. Aspen picked up the speed slightly, and kept an peeper on the ground below.
The wizard lizard is only doing it because of his human, Lekin relayed to Gold. So don't insul drop them. "Why would I drop them, you feiy? You have no faith in me." Gold rolled his peepers, then glanced down at the ground. He would not drop Kayin, but she was much taller than him. Gold was strong, though. He could manage. Probably.
Aspen began a slow spiral downward, landing in a valley between two hills, and bending down so Gold could pull Kayin off of his back. Thank you, the government spy drone's friend. I appreciate your help. I will watch and protect you.
Gold waited until the wizard lizard appeared to be fully settled before attempting to get Kayin down. It certainly wasn't graceful, but he managed to not drop Kayin or hit their head on anything. The wizard lizard is thanking you. He's also going to protect you, apparently. Lekin swooped down and landed on Kayin's leg. "Oh. Uh. Thanks" Gold glanced towards the wizard lizard and gave him a quick smile.
You're quite welcome, the government spy drone's friend. Aspen looked at him curiously, then leaped into the air and flew in low, lazy circles above Gold's head, watching for danger. Nothing particular seemed to be happening, but Aspen kept looking.
Kayin opened his peepers, her vision blurry. They didn't sit up, looking at the sky until his vision stopped swimming. "Well, that seemed to go well," Kayin said. "We aren't dead."
He says mesea, by the way. Lekin looked up at the wizard lizard for a second. "Okay." Gold sighed and dropped onto the ground next to Kayin. "Hikama velio nosani." Gold glanced around, wishing he was back at home. Surrounded by lakes and reeds, hearing the frogs sing, and knowing that someone was keeping him relatively safe. Who knew if his gods could watch over him here? He quickly looked toward Kayin when they spoke, trying to hide how much it had scared him. "Of course we're not dead."
"You're welcome, by the way," Kayin sat up, happy that their head wasn't swimming. "Aspen, check if they're following us."
Aspen snorted.
"Please," Kayin said. "We're sort of in a predicament here, and you're stuck with us."
Aspen didn't make any noise as an indicator that he'd heard Kayin, but he flew away, and returned in a moment. They're following us, but they're at least a mile away.
"Okay. We can stay here for a few minutes."
Gold tried to follow the conversation between the wizard lizard and Kayin, found that it was too much work, and instead stared up at the sky.
"Oh? Good." He nodded slowly. "Do you have any plan? Or are we just… going with the flow?" Gold twirled a lock of hair around his finger. At this point, he didn't care. Plan or no, he just wanted to stay alive. And maybe find a freshwater lake.
"The plan is to take you back to wherever you came from, and earn some mint cheddar in the process." Kayin stood up, checking to make sure all his stabby sticks were in place, then took them all out of their respective sheaths and laid them on the earth fur, sharpening a few and making sure they were polished and ready to go.
"Right. The first step for that would be to find out where we are in relation to where I came from. So far we are failing that step." Gold didn't have any stabby sticks to organize, so he put his hair back into a braid. It was less annoying to deal with than a ponytail, and hiding his face didn't seem to be very important anymore.
Kayin put all their stabby sticks back in their sheaths and looked at Gold, slightly irritated. "Well, I'm doing the best I know how. It isn't like I have a map on me. And I suggest you don't make me angry while I have a stabby stick in my hand." He waved the stabby stick menacingly.
"Why don't you carry a map with you, again? It would probably be a really big help." Gold gave the stabby sticks an unimpressed look. "What are you going to do, stab me? What about the reward?" He was mostly sure that asking Kayin if they were going to stab him would end up with him being stabbed, but… well. His mouth was faster than his skull control this time.
Kayin growled. "I can stab your leg. Or your arm. Or your groundhand. I can hurt you without killing you. And I don't carry a map, because if I lose it, someone can track me with it, or will be able to see where I am going."
"That would make moving around harder, though, wouldn't it?" Gold raised his eyebrows. "You or your wizard lizard would have to carry me around if you stabbed my leg. I don't think you'd want that, would you?" He sighed. "I guess. It would be so very helpful right now, however. Maybe you could learn how to keep a better peeper on your maps."
"I doubt you're very difficult to carry around. You're quite short. And how was I supposed to know that I was going to have to tote around a prestigious son of a higher-up today? I do perfectly fine without a map, than you ever so much."
Gold make an annoyed sound. "A 'prestigious son of a higher-up'. Really? I am no such thing. People think too highly of me. They really need to stop." He gave an exaggerated laugh. "Oh, yes, you do. That's why we have no brain bubble where we are!"
"I don't need to know where I am to survive, unlike some," Kayin said, his tone growing angrier. "And don't forget, I can just leave you here. The mint cheddar is just a bonus. I don't need you."
"Alright, fine! Leave me. I don't need you either." Gold rolled his peepers and crossed his arms. You're being dramatic again. I think you should stop, Lekin snapped. "Oh, shut up." Lekin let out an angry sigh, and then stopped telling Gold a single thing. He gasped slightly at the sudden silence, and waved his hands at the government spy drone. "Stop it!"
Aspen had landed nearby, and relayed what the government spy drone had said to Kayin. "Your friend makes a good point. I saved your sorry ass. You should be a little grateful."
Aspen crouched down next to Kayin. The people you were running from are getting closer.
"Fine." Kayin swung themself up onto Aspen's back. "You can stay and take your chances with those people, or you can put up with me. Your choice."
Lekin, being the annoying government spy drone that they were, declined to continue not telling Gold a single thing anyone was saying. Gold growled in frustration and marched towards them. "Stop it this instant! You know when I say 'shut up', I mean the things you have to say, right? Not everything else!" Oh, I'm sorry, Lekin said, not sounding the least bit remorseful. They waited for a few more seconds, then started being useful again. Gold managed to catch Kayin's last statement, and would have preferred he hadn't. "Fine, I'm coming," He grumbled, climbing onto Aspen's back as well. "And you! I'd better not have missed anything important." Gold pointed an accusing finger at Lekin. Why was the safest option with this… extremely frustrating individual? The next town, he was leaving them.
Kayin hid a slight smile, and told Aspen to go. The wizard lizard quickly shot at least 200 groundhands in the air, and began flying west at a rapid pace. "You know, I didn't expect you to actually agree to travel with me."
"Well, you're the only way to get out of here," Gold said in a rather annoyed tone. On the takeoff, he had wrapped his arms around Kayin's waist and didn't appreciate that in the least bit. Why couldn't the wizard lizard take off a little less suddenly? He could have fallen off!
"That isn't necessarily true," Kayin pointed out. "And don't get annoyed with me. Do you realize, both times we've taken off, you've attempted to bruise and or mutilate my inner organs? I'm tempted to shove you off."
"Alright, fine. You're the easiest way to get out of here," Gold amended. "Well, if your wizard lizard would take off in a more gentle manner, I wouldn't have to do this. I would have fallen off if I hadn't, as you called it, 'mutilated your inner organs'."
"You certainly wouldn't have. Really, if you'd just relax, this would go a whole lot better." Kayin shifted slightly.
Aspen snorted his agreement. It isn't my fault he doesn't know how to ride a wizard lizard.
"Really, I wouldn't have?" Gold laughed. "Sure." He loosed his grip on Kayin, however. His grip was definitely too tight, and the ride was much smoother now. Gold didn't have to worry too much… probably.
"I fell off Aspen exactly once," Kayin said. "And his wing was on fire. I assure you, riding on a wizard lizard is perfectly safe. You're overreacting."
"I'm justified. This is a new experience." Gold glared at Kayin, even though he probably wouldn't be able to tell. "And I'm generally on edge right now. Being chased down by assassins will do that to you."
"You're riding a wizard lizard with an assassin," Kayin said amusedly. "Really, you are overreacting. I wouldn't be surprised if you hyperventilated."
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