Nokae shook her head. “Humans have not been here in centuries. How could this one have gotten here?”
Vasuki paused. “I don’t know,” she admitted, switching over to Draconic. “But I’m sure we can figure it out! He’s fine. He’s in no place to be attacking any of us either, I think he could be injured.”
Naokae stopped, sniffing the air, and turning to her accomplice. The two lowered their voices down to a mere whisper, a feat for speaking in Draconic since it was a loud language to begin with.
Vasuki turned back to Max. “Don’t worry, I’ll get you out of this. Nokae’s nice, I promise you. We just haven’t seen a human…ever. Well, I haven’t seen one.” Until now, of course.
Max didn't respond to Vasuki, a swiss army knife held tightly in his hand as he watched the white scaled dragon. They still were speaking in the rough guttural noises that he assumed were a language, though they definitely weren't one he was familiar with.
These new dragons were still terrifying, no matter what Vasuki told him to assure him that they weren't. Until he knew they weren't going to hurt him, he was going to be on constant guard. No matter if that meant he was up for hours at a time or had to ignore whatever injuries he had, he wasn't going to give them a chance to harm him at all.
"What are they talking about?" He slowly asked after a moment, the tiny blade still clenched in his hand.
Vasuki debated on what to say. “I don’t know. They’re just discussing on what to do. There isn’t really a protocol for humans. But don’t worry,” she repeated, “Nokae’s my aunt. She’s pretty reasonable.”
Her eyes watched his knife, but she said nothing.
At last, Nokae returned to them. Her voice switched back to French, and she announced her choice. “The human may stay, but Queen Vellayl will make the final choice.” Wariness was still in her tone and stance. She looked to the other brown dragon and nodded to them; who headed off, leaving Nokae alone.
Against a dragon, Max was sure his knife wouldn't do anything but annoy them, but it made him feel safer with it in his hand. At least then he had some semblance of protection.
"Who's this Queen Vellayl?" He asked after the dragon he assumed was Nokae spoke and the brown dragon left. Max watched them the entire time before glancing up at Vasuki for a split second, then his eyes focused back on the white dragon, who looked no less likely to eat him. At least she had spoke in a language he understood. If anything that made him relax a tiny bit.
“Queen Vellayl is my mother!” That was the first answer that came to mind. “She’s also what you would call the leader around here,” Vasuki quickly adds.
Nokae approaches, her movements slow, as if she were cautious. “Correct. And she is the one who will be judging if you can stay here or not.” Though her tone carried a sense of harshness to it, it wasn’t necessarily aggressive.
Max slowly nodded at Vasuki's words, then shot another wary glare at Nokae before glancing at the more familiar dragon once more. "When do I have to meet her?"
He didn't like Nokae still, and it took willpower and force to keep himself from moving away from her as she stepped closer. Still, she looked like she was ready to bite him in half at any second, whether he did anything or not. It didn't help that her words held a hard edge to them, much different than Vasuki's tone, and Nokae's french in general sounded slightly more guttural and rough, like the language she had been speaking to the other dragon.
"What will happen if she decides I'm not allowed to stay? I can't fly home. My plane is wrecked," He continued, pointing at the flaming wreckage with his small knife for emphasis as he continued talking to Vasuki, "More importantly, what will happen if I do stay?"
Vasuki glanced back at the plane. So that’s what it was called. She returned to give her answers. “If you stay..your injuries will probably be treated for one, and we’ll decide what to do from there. If you don’t..well..” she hummed, unsure. “..I don’t know?”
Nokae didn’t have much to add, as it seemed she too was unsure of what lie ahead. But she did interrupt by saying, “We should begin to head towards the city.” Her black eyes flicked towards the flaming wreckage of the plane, wondering just how that thing might’ve flown before.
Max nodded once more, the movement familiar and easy enough for a response. He knew getting his injuries treated was a good idea, but going to whatever city was mentioned sounded terrifying. Was this city going to be one of dragons. "Do I have to go into the city?" He asked, not letting his fear into his voice, "I can stay here if it's easier, Then as soon as I get a way to leave I'll be out of here."
He glanced at Vasuki for response, tapping the blade of his knife against his boot in a soft pattern. Anything to take his mind off the idea of an entire city filled with dragons, especially ones like Nokae that would crush him in an instant.
Vasuki made a move to answer, but it was not her who spoke. Nokae was instead, stepping forwards and shaking her head. “No. I am sure the Queen would like to see any and all foreign arrivals to her land, especially humans.” Noticeably, her tone had somewhat relaxed, but she was definitely still cautious.
“Don’t worry,” Vasuki was well aware that was a term she’d repeated many times. “Camiguin city is fine. Everyone is careful about where they’re walking, and most people don’t retain a dragon form while within the city,” she added, without considering the fact that the human might not know what she meant by ‘dragon form.’ Nokae glanced up at her.
"Dragons have different forms?" He asked slowly, most of the rest of the information flying by him. There were different forms that these creatures could take on? Were any of them more deadly to him?" Max didn't hide his still wary glance at Nokae, especially as he tugged his bag closer and fastened it shut. If he was going to go into the city of dragons, he would have to be prepared.
"And do we have to go right now? I suppose the faster we meet this Queen, the faster I can get back here and work on trying to get home." He kept his knife out even as he pulled his bag slowly onto his back. That much was easy, but getting up with weak legs was going to be a different struggle.
“Mm..well. Yes. We do. Only two though.” Vasuki has probably been talking a bit quickly before, not taking into mind of what she was saying. She had to remember - this was a human, someone that had never been on the island, thus had no knowledge of what went on around here.
Nokae walked forwards. “It would be preferred, yes. The Queen would be interested in any arrivals to the land, especially a human one.”
Vasuki nodded in agreement, then turned her focus back to Max. “Apologies for not checking in on you sooner, but are you alright? Can you walk fine?”
Max nodded slowly, focusing on getting up as best he could. "I'll be fine, at least for the time being I'm fine." He huffed when he finally stood, legs noticeably shakey but holding him upright. "Let's get going," He said once he was sure he could walk, or at least stay standing for more than a minute. Hopefully the city wouldn't be horribly far away, but he couldn't be sure, and if it was, he would more than likely need to take a break along the way.
Already he could feel the edge of his vision bluring out from the sudden standing, but he ignored it, just like he was currently and actively ignoring the pounding headache that had become a constant. It would go away he figured, or at least hoped. If it didn't…he would have to find something to make it die down.
Vasuki held her gaze for a few moments, but said nothing as she lifted her neck and began to walk. There was still a metallic aftertaste in her mouth - the heat had mostly left her senses by now. Not that it was much of a bother to begin with.
“So..this war. You came from it, yes? In that..contraption?” Her eyes flicked back slightly. “What is that thing called? The thing that was on fire, I mean.” She clarified. She’d never seen such a thing, and she was guessing Nokae didn’t either, given the latter had just arrived to the scene. Nokae was silent as she trailed along.
The forests around them were noticeably untouched - of course they were, without much human interaction. But there wasn’t much visible wildlife either. Any animals had probably scurried off at the first sight of the strange object that came crashing down to the land.
"I came from the war, yes, in my plane," He replied, rubbing dried blood his forehead as he nodded, caught off guard by the need to multitask while focusing on staying upright, "The engine failed, I was lucky it didn't blow up in the air…and I'm here now." There was still a fair amount of not dried blood pouring out of the gash on his forehead, sticking his hair to his skin, but he didn't touch it. All he did was try to brush off the dried flakes that were far away enough that he wasn't in pain while doing so.
Max sighed, faltering in his steps for just a moment before speaking, "Can we…wait to talk until we get to whatever city you mentioned? I don't feel the best." He didn't look up from the ground, just put one foot in front of the other as he battled with the excrusiating headache that wasn't going away.
Plane. That was what it was called, then. Vasuki had no clue how such a thing could have once soared the open skies, but then she realized, it had crashed. So it must’ve looked far more different when it..well, wasn’t crashing.
“Oh,” Vasuki glanced back. “Yes, we can wait.” She had slowed her pace slightly, in order to match the human’s. “I’m sure it isn’t much farther.”
Speak of the devil - as the trail began to get clearer, as though it had been used often, the hints of neat, stone walls came into view beyond the trees. And then there was the rest of it.
The city that Vasuki mentioned was a grand, ancient looking place - one could see the structures within it from just outside the city. An open archway was ahead of them, quite a tall and wide arch at that. It made sense, though. Given it was a city of dragons and all.
Except..there were humans. At the archway. One could view the humanoid figures standing and speaking, only stopping when they’d noticed the group approaching. Among them were dragons, though, and upon getting closer to the city, you could easily realize it was bustling, full of life.
((Bump, don’t feel like you’re in any rush to respond though))
(Oh crap…I though I replied to this already >_< I’ll try to get a response up soon..sorry for the wait)
Max was more focused on his steps than the sights before them as the city first appeared in his view, but after he caught a glimpse of it, he was in awe. Nothing at home could rival the sight before him, besides maybe the confusion he felt at seeing humans and dragons together at the gate.
"This is your home?" He asked slowly once he got his bearings on reality again and his same aching headache made itself ever present, "I've never seen anything like it."
He was sure his mouth was open in amazement, even as his steps faltered. A part of him wanted to ask limitless questions about the city, but the others clouded his questions, reminding him that he was simply here for medical help….and maybe to learn more about the terrifying creatures he thought were myth.
Max found himself sticking closer to Vasuki as they neared the gates, eyeing up both the dragons and others with the same wary look that he had given Nokae.
Although the inhabitants did not approach, one could assume interest was on their minds, maybe even worry or fear. The looks that they had seemed that way, but not everyone stopped what they were doing to look at the arrivals to the city.
What seemed to be a genuine smile appeared on her scaly lips. “It’s a beauty, isn’t it? It’s been our home for..centuries.” At the very least, Vasuki knew that her mother had witnessed its foundation, which meant the city was quite old.
Vasuki tilted her head to Nokae. “I believe we should get him medical attention before we see my mother. He’s been injured for a while.” To Vasuki’s surprise, Nokae had nodded.
“We’ll see to it at the medical centre in the citadel,” Nokae said. “That way, it shouldn’t take much time for the audience to come along.”
Max couldn't have cared less about the conversation between the two dragons, caught in the wonder of studying the strange city. If he wasn't sure he was awake, this certainly would be a believable dream. Still, as much as he tried to take in the sights, he eventually had to focus on his dragon guides…as well as not falling over.
He couldn't quite comprehend the idea that this city was centuries old. Yes, Europe had old buildings, but no cities that seemed this old. There was all the possibility that he was wrong though.
Blinking, he finally looked back to Vasuki, barely hiding his nervous look at being around so many other dragons. And those were only the ones he could see. The fact that there seemed to be other humans around with the dragons calmed most of his worries though.
Vasuki lifted her head again, taking a look at their surroundings. Indeed, some were curious at the newcomer, but most went on with their day. She turned to Max. “I wouldn’t be worried. The island is a very peaceful place, and folks are simply curious about a visitor to the island.” She assured him.
“We’re heading to the citadel. We’ll treat your wounds first, and then we’ll hopefully get an audience with my mother.” Vasuki paused, then lifted a claw, pointing in direction of a tall building in the distance, that stood above all other buildings in the town. From a distance, it looked grand, even ancient, but one could only imagine what it would look like up close. “That’s the citadel.” She explained.
He simply nodded at her words, looking fairly wary at her assurance. Then again, she hadn't yet hurt him, so a bit of his trust returned. Max looked up as she pointed out the building, nodding once more while he tried to form the questions settled in his mind.
"How far of a walk to the..citadel, is it?" He asked first, tipping his head up so he could see Vasuki as she talked, "You never mentioned that there are other humans here."
Pointing to the city, he gestured to some of the human figures with the dragons, sure that they could only be humans. The thought that they could be another species of animal or even dragons never crossed his mind, only the self assurance that he wasn't the only human here.
“Not long.” She replied. “It looks farther than it actually is, we should be there within the next few minutes should we start moving now.”
Vasuki looked up, her jaw momentarily parting in a silent ‘oh.’ “Those are..” she drifted off, looking at the ‘humans.’ “I’ll explain the humans to you when we get to the Citadel,” she responded. They weren’t really humans, of course. Max, as far as she knew, was the only human on this island.
