One Step Forward
While Solath had originally found himself at Nidus Corona, it wasn't long before the huge dragon was directed northward to the arboreal heart Nidus Silva. It wasn't so much that the natives of Corona hadn't wanted the trade: silk and cashmere came far to infrequently around the pioneering Nidus for anyone to want to turn its nose down. However... all of the dragon-powered Ala's of the Nidus were overworked as it was, clearing earth for the homestakes further in-land and for themselves, erecting niduli from hewn rock and wood, dealing with the unsteady ground that came with living on the edge of a river delta that led to the sea...
Solath headed North with the firm promise that when the Ala's could be spared, Corona would lend as many as needed. All the delights that the dragon had offered were too much to pass up.
The teal mutt, unfortunately, found himself misinterpreted when he arrived at Silva; he had meant to trade labor for resources but the dragon that saw to him perhaps had a secret agenda. Not particularly enjoying all of the humanoids that had come skulking through the Nidus recently, she had been hoping to have one of the Supernal children impress itself to another dragon. One less to worry humans, one more child that would have a proper rearing.
And so it was that Solath found himself with both a sponsor and labor, rolled all into one.
He was ushered into the clearing occupied by the Supernals. Well, it usually was. At the moment, most of the family was out. Dimasasehiel was teaching his children how to hunt, but two had remained behind. One older, one younger, the former was watching the latter in the lazy sort of sense of an elder-sibling baby-sitter. It was she who noticed Solath first, her charge being busy digging holes around the den. "What do you want?" she asked directly, "you're not from around here."
And he wasn't, and he explained his situation, somewhat at a loss as to where his guide had gone and why she'd left him here with two dragonets. The truth came out when the elder of the Supernal children revealed her intention, quite straight-forwardly, of taking off to help build those western cliffs into a home... when the rest of the family got back, of course. Cliffs, she said, were something that she hadn't seen before!
(Written by Dray, of the Nexus)
"That's the cliff face?" Karsorael breathed in wonder, looking up (and up, and up...) at the cliffs that Solath had brought her to.
She was young yet, and hadn't reached her full growth, but still...
And then Solath calmly stood on his hind-legs, stretching his front paws up and hooking his claws into the skree of the cliff. He stretched to his full extent, and still the cliff went on and on, rising perhaps an entire body-length beyond the tip of his muzzle.
"That's the cliff face," Solath finally responded, a smile on his face as he dropped back to all fours. "Cetirnen thinks the land sheared off right here after an earthquake centuries ago. Whatever happened, this is all, or mostly, bedrock."
Karsorael pawed absently at the ground, shaking her still-growing mane. When Solath had explained his mission to her at the clearing, her mind had whipped up an image, but nothing could compare with the reality of the chosen cliffs. They were magnificent, rising so high they appeared to be mountains (from this approach, at least), banded with striations of red and grey, studded with large quartz crystals that caught and refracted the light, sending it out again in hundreds of dancing shimmers.
"I can't do this alone," Karsorael finally spoke, dragging her eyes away from the shimmering display before her.
Solath knelt next to her and nuzzled her reassuringly. "I never expected you to do it alone, Kara. We have a promise of future aid from Nidus Corona, and I think I'll check with the Federation next, to see if I can wiggle a bit of assistance free from them to start this whole mess."
"The Federation?" She tilted her head in question, "What's that?"
"It's where I was born," Solath said, as he settled back on his haunches and stared up at the cliff thoughtfully. "I'm not sure how they'll treat with us. I never stayed long enough to be a citizen, and while I know the basic laws, I don't know how they deal with situations like this." He chuckled, "Fury, I'm not even considered an adult by their standards. That might be a problem."
Karsorael snorted, "Well, then they can bite their tongues. Different cultures, right? And Cetirnen made you his official ambassador, right? I don't see as they have anything they can say."
Solath grinned. "Oh, you'd be surprised. But we'll see what happens... and if they refuse me, well, I guess it's no loss to us in the long-run. We can always make do."
Solath grumbled, tapping his way through the various screens that the computer kept bringing up. Did he want this, was his reason for visiting that, did he know about his rights, why did he want to meet the Minister of Trade...
::I think I should remain happy that they haven't told me to bugger off yet,:: Solath muttered privately to Karsorael. ::I had forgotten how... orderly everything was in the Federation.::
Karsorael covered her mouth, trying to muffle the giggle that threatened to erupt. Solath eyed her out of the corner of his eyes, proud that she had finally gotten accustomed to the human form she was now in. When she had first shifted, it was all she could do to stand, and walking had been rather beyond her (something about that ungainly two-legged posture not working too well for someone accustomed to walking on all fours).
But now, she stood calmly at his side, looking around with wide-eyed fascination at Aanu'sil. The computers were such an odd concept, and so much else here was completely different from what she had grown up with and from the little bit that Solath had shown her of Ja'amus.
"Oh, fury. Fury, fury, fury, fury," Solath began chanting under his breath, as he desperately tried to undo his last choice.
Blinking, Karsorael stood on her tip-toes, looking at the screen that Solath had been working at.
"'Your application for sponsorship has been accepted and will be processed as soon as possible'?" She read off the screen. "That's not meeting the Minister of Trade, Solath."
He snorted, then reached a hand out to ruffle her black hair. "I know, I know. I hit the wrong button. Don't, uh, don't tell Cetirnen about this when you meet him, eh?"
Karsorael couldn't help it, she burst into laughter at Solath's slightly panicked expression. "The great Solath, ambassador extraordinaire! Sponsor to any and all who want a new home!"
"Shush, you," Solath huffed. "I'll just have to make sure I get to meet with someone important, talk some trade-talk, then claim everything else I did was on my own time. Or... something like that."
"Maybe you are too young to be out here," Karsorael teased him.
"Just be glad I look like an adult, or else we really wouldn't be taken seriously around here." Solath said as he poked Karsorael in her chest, "You're just a scrap of a kidlet, in any of your forms."
"Nyeh," She stuck her tongue out at him. "At least I'm not the one who submitted an application for sponsorship while trying to meet with some high muckety-muck."
Solath just rolled his eyes and resumed his attempt to wrangle a meeting with someone important enough to strike a deal with. This time, though, he made sure to read everything before continuing...