Welcome to Gaia! ::

Rin leaned closer and squinted at the first page. She wasn't a very good reader... as a child her parents had taught her the basics she needed to know but recreational reading was really not something her family encouraged, or even provided for. Then as a squire... well, she never got to that part of her training, not before he died.

Still...

"Those are pretty pictures," Rin said, settling down by the youngling, "Can I take a closer look?" And she flipped to the most recent entry and tried to read a bit.

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Hmph, that's better than some, Maderik replied, Some dragons make the mistake of binding someone who is utterly useless outside of a town. And we can't teach them very well because we are dragons and our methods of survival are quite different from human's. It becomes a burden to the other Dragon-Bound then and honestly, I would rather not have a worthless human in the Ley Suan clan. I certainly hope that healing magic you spoke of is of some value.

Rin flipped back a few pages before sighing and putting the book aside.

"I don't understand this," she said, "It might as well be in a different language." She paused and glanced up at the sky. "Maderik is almost back."

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I wouldn't call this kindness, Maderik replied, But if it makes it easier to think of it that way, so be it. We're here.

And he landed in the ruins, loping a few paces before crouching to let Syla off his back. Rin dropped the journal onto the backpack and stood to greet the two.

Rin edged over to Maderik and let Syla and Ayvia reunite with each other.

"So. What happened?" she asked. Maderik only bowed his head and Rin closed her eyes. In a few brief seconds the memories and thoughts of what had occured at the Circle were passed into Rin's mind across their shared souls. Rin blinked as she sorted through it, a bit disoriented at the sudden influx of experiences that were not her own.

"That's... a solution," she finally said, "A rather benevolent one."

"Kierman doesn't want to see her killed by dragon hunters and he doesn't want to get rid of someone who has ties to another clan," Maderik replied, "Go get rid of them. I'm tired of having to listen to someone other than you."

Rin snorted and walked back over to where Syla and Ayvia were.

"Hey," she said and glanced at Maderik, who was walking off to his favorite sunning spot, "I know you're going to be having to find your own space to live here, but in the meantime, would you like to stay with us? There's not much space in my hut but it'll do in the meantime. I can guide you around our territory tomorrow morning as well."

Rin shrugged and started walking towards the hut.

"I'm not sure. When a dragon fights it usually ends in one of the combatants dying so there are few injuries to tend to here. Those that do happen are usually cared for by the other dragons as they can use magic too and are able to intuitively understand their injuries better than humans can. You might be of some use to us Dragon-Bound though, as we have trouble with dragon magic unless a dragon is helping us." She shrugged. "I try not to use magic at all though. Bring your things - I don't have a spare room so we'll have to rearrange mine a bit so you'll have a space to sleep. Hope you don't mind some blankets on the floor."

She walked inside the hut and left the door open behind her. It was small with one main room that served both as a kitchen and living room at the same time, the furniture rough wood with some cushions here and there. A firepit was at one wall, a crude chimney built into the ruins itself, and further in was a second room that was more part of the ruins than what Rin had built. A bed was inside, as well as a chest and a table with a lantern on it. A sword was in one corner and it seemed to be in good condition.

Rin stood at the doorway to the hut for a moment, watching Syla.

"Well, that's fine," she said, "Ah, if you get cold or anything, just let me know..."

And she vanished inside. Maderik just grunted at Syla's comment and rolled onto his side so that his back was towards her.

Inside, Rin walked over and carefully took the hilt of the sword, picking it up and reaching for a sheath that sat nearby.

"This shouldn't be out," she told the youngling, "but I was oiling it earlier today. It's not a toy and it's very sharp. It can hurt you, okay?"

She sheathed the sword and placed it on some hooks hammered into the wall, up out of the youngling's reach.

((I'm ready to pass time until morning if you are))

Maderik rose early and vanished into the surrounding forest without a single word. The sun was just coming up when Rin woke. She stretched and dressed for the day, buckling up her sandals and then headed for the door. She grabbed a simple fishing pole on her way out and carefully shut the door behind her. She looked around for Syla and Ayvia, trying to see if they were awake yet.

"That was the plan," Rin replied, "catch a couple fish, hang 'em to smoke, and then wander around the local territory until Maderik returns for a proper tour of the land. That sound alright to you?"

She grinned over at Ayvia's direction.

"Maderik will be glad to help you find a place to live, just to get you out of here. He's not happy I invited you to stay but he won't do anything about it. We've reached an uneasy truce about him being a loner and me wanted to actually talk to people once in a while."

She made a face and shrugged, heading towards the stream.