[PRP] Little Boy (Serrekhar, Sura, Esurienth)

[demon_pachabel]

Esurienth was in one of those moods. The kind where Sura could understand why those unfamiliar with dragons feared them so. Rather than her usual steal of one of the unfortunate wherries from the pen, the gold had gone out of her way to bring something larger home. The blood-dripping herdbeast had been carried across the bowl to a spot by the weyrlake, where Esurienth had settled to make a spectacle of pulling it apart.

Sura had been left to clean up the mess, but such was life when the actual embodiment of a beast was half of your very being. While blood was fortunately one of the easier things to clean up in the sand, Sura also knew that there was new blood of a different sort to keep an eye out for.

Forbid a candidate or unfamiliar dragon approach her Esurienth - they'd be in for a nasty surprise. Harmless, but nasty.

Tsunake

 

[Tsunake]

Gutting fish had never been Serrekhar's favorite chore, but it was something he'd quickly gotten accustomed to. So as he idly wandered about the Weyr, the sudden sight of a spot of blood in the sand nearly had him tripping over himself. That... was a lot of blood. A lot more blood than was in a fish. The young man just stared for a moment, feeling increasingly nervous. Scenarios of being mauled by wild felines raced through his head, and with a shake of his head, Serrekhar decided to hurry on to the lake.

The last thing he expected to see while rounding the corner was the gory remains of what had once been a herdbeast and an enormous golden dragon. No one could blame him if he let out a manly kind of scream, right?

Alright, so maybe it was more of a yelp. Anyone would have done the same in his shoes!

demon_pachabel

 

[demon_pachabel]

The sharp interruption of her meal had Esurienth looking away from her meal to peer, red and yellow eyed, at Serrekhar. Even as the Gold drew her wings out in warning for the boy to keep away, rumbling deep in her chest, Sura looked from her cleaning to see.

Dropping it she made quick steps to the young man's side, resting one ginger hand on his arm. "No need for that," whether she was talking to Serrekhar or Esurienth wasn't clear. Perhaps it was both. Esurienth leaned back, rumbling growing quiet under command of her rider, though her piercing gaze didn't change.

Tsunake

 

[Tsunake]

If he thought the dragon was big earlier, that was before she flared her wings out and made a noise that he could feel deep in his chest. Serrekhar tripped over himself as he tried to back up, not hesitating to scramble backwards on his hands and knees. He was gaping like a fool, making strangled little sounds in the back of his throat--and suddenly, there was a hand on him. He looked up a bit wildly at the small woman, and it took a moment for her words to actually process.

"I-I--I didn't mean to get in th' way!" He gulped, still fighting the urge to haul butt out of there.... but the dragon had quieted at least, even if she still didn't seem pleased.

demon_pachabel

 

[demon_pachabel]

Sura offered a smile down towards Serrekhar, giving a soft squeeze of her hand. "I meant you don't need to be afraid of her, dear. She's startled, that is all," it was a grievous understatement of what Esurienth was truly feeling. She took another vicious bite of her meal, maintaining an unbroken stare.

"Put that down and come here," Sura commanded. Esurienth stirred, uneasily circling around on the side of her rider, still looking at Serrekhar. "Esurienth is truly more scared of you than you of her. Would you like to say hello?"

Tsunake

 

[Tsunake]

Maybe it was the smile. Maybe it was the gentle squeeze, or the way she called him dear. All Serrekhar knew was that he slowly relaxed under the woman's touch, trusting her words without a flicker of doubt. "R-Really?" He would have shot a skeptical look at the dragon, but she was still staring at him, and it was making him sweat bullets. Those teeth were no joke.

He watched with a bit of awe as the queen obeyed her rider as meekly as a kitten, slowly and carefully getting to his feet. It was hard to imagine a creature that big being scared, but Serrekhar accepted it without even a flicker of hesitation. "Uh... Uh, yeah. Sorry Esurienth. I really didn't mean to scare ya. I've got a lil flit who's just as gorgeous as you are, but she's... y'know, a lot smaller." Wait, that wasn't an introduction.

"Uh--I'm Serrekhar!" He blurted out. "And I promise I won't hurt ya! I mean, I ain't real big compared to you, but I'm a man of my word!"

demon_pachabel

 

[demon_pachabel]

Reaching out a palm that seemed to draw the massive gold's head in, Sura rested a palm against her snout before guiding Serrekhar's hand to rest on it as well. "See, my love? He's perfectly fine - and he's certainly got no interest in your meal." Not that there was much left to even scavenge from. Though a certain blue firelizard would have been very tempted by it.

Esurienth didn't seem to settle comfortably despite this reassurance, the reds in her large eyes only fading to orange with the smallest tinge of greens around the edges as she made her silent judgements upon the young man. She leaned her mental presence into him, as though she was poking around inside of his head.

Sura pat Serrekhar's arm gently. "Give her a moment. She just wants to look and see."

Tsunake

 

[Tsunake]

If his hand trembled a little, well, he'd never admit it, but Serrekhar allowed it to be guided until it rested against the warm, soft skin of the gold. "Nope! I already ate!" He added his voice to Sura's, trying to sound convincing. Honestly though, nothing about the remnants of a herdbeast sounded even slightly appealing...

"Uh. Whaddya mean by look?" He started to ask, and then felt something inside of his head. Serrekhar froze, eyes wide with shock at the strangeness of the sensation, but didn't move. The last thing he wanted to do was upset Esurienth further...

Hopefully whatever she found in there (and some would say there wasn't much) didn't tick her off further.

demon_pachabel

 

[demon_pachabel]

"Have you touched an egg before? It's very similar to what the unhatched will do to see who you are," Sura explained, stroking her hand along Esurienth's nose while she waited for the gold dragon to finish her rummaging. "I think that's enough, dear. Don't you?"

Esurienth rumbled in answer to the question, but her prodding came to a stop, leaving nothing but a lingering feeling of satisfaction. Whatever she had or had not found in there, the large queen had been appeased for the time being. "That's right. Good girl," Sura soothed - mostly out loud so Serrekhar could have some idea of what was being said between woman and dragon. Not that Esurienth spoke much, offering back only brushes of feelings. Satisfied, however, she pulled away from both hands and returned to the unfinished herdbeast to finish it off.

"Now, are you holding up alright, son?" Sura asked, gently taking Serrekhar's hand with both of hers and offering him a smile. Esurienth wasn't exactly a delicate dragon to begin with, and well.....he had responded by screaming in surprise.

Tsunake

 

[Tsunake]

"Nuh-uh," He breathed, still a little distracted from the unfamiliar sensation. Slowly, the alien presence withdrew from his mind, and Serrekhar could only blink with confusion. The enormous queen pulled away after Sura praised her, returning to the gory mess that was her meal. He stared after her, still slightly shell shocked, and blankly looked at her rider once she spoke to him once more. Slowly, the words processed, and Serrekhar had the sense to look ashamed.

"I-I'm fine! I just--well, the dragon that brought me here wasn't nearly so big, and I'm used to fish, not herdbeasts!" He blustered, not upset with her, so much as the thought that his courage might be called into question.

He scowled over her shoulder for a minute, composing himself. "She's really big." He finally grunted, as though admitting to some kind of personal weakness.

demon_pachabel

 

[demon_pachabel]

If Sura read what Serrekhar said as a show of weakness, she didn't show any amusement in knowing it. "She is - very few golds come close," certainly, there were several who were just as long. But both as long and as strongly built wasn't as commonly together as it was in the feeding gold, who was now making a show of her eating as she had an audience for it now. Any hint of nerves from the young man seemed to amuse her - though not in a sadistic way.

"Would you believe she hatched out of the smallest egg on the sands?" Sura mused, offering Serrekhar an amusing anecdote at the very least.

Tsunake

 

[Tsunake]

He knew she was big, but maybe he hadn't realized she was that big. As big as golds got, huh? He blinked, his earlier desire to prove his bravado vanishing at once with the tidbits of information Sura kept offering him. And from the smallest egg? "You've gotta be pullin' my leg!" It was almost impossible to imagine Esurienth as she was being so... well, so little!

Somehow, that made him feel real good. "Just goes to show that you can't judge people! Or, uh, dragons!" Good for her! She showed everyone just what she was made of!

demon_pachabel

 

[demon_pachabel]

"I'm not! She wasn't a little thing in there either. It's hard to get out of a small place when you're too big to fit it. Easier to get stuck. Literally and figuratively, I'd think," but Esurienth was the perfect size for all around her now and she seemed content for it.

"Now, did we interrupt you with your little spook?"

Tsunake

 

[Tsunake]

"Oh man," Serrekhar seemed to have realization dawn on him. He'd had that happen to HIM before! "Yeah! Like you're so cramped up that you can't even turn around!" So being stuck in a tiny little egg that was too small for her... ugh, the thought made his shoulders hunch.

His incredulous expression quickly changed to indigence before it finally became a bit more sheepish. "No, ma'am. Not really. I was just tryin' to get familiar with with the place. Wasn't doin' anything important."

demon_pachabel

 

[demon_pachabel]

Sura laughed as the young man shared his own size-related woe. "Well, at least you can call out here and maybe someone just as big as you will give you a hand - I'm sure Esurienth would have had better luck if she'd thought to ask her mother for help."

Esurienth looked upon her rider with an expression colored in offense, then turned back on her meal.

"I see! Do you need a tour then? I'd be happy to have a handsome young thing on my arm for a little while, hmm?"

Tsunake