Dragonkin bonds(Liam/Aria)

[Liam]

Liam had spent some time in Etruria but once the wyvern egg had hatched he began to look out of place. If he returned to Bern he could easily claim to be a wyvern trainer so he chose to return there despite the risk he runs of being found by the group he ran into in the mountain path.

Wyverns were cousin to dragons, they were strong by nature, Liam saw no need to coddle the pup. The first thing the pup saw when it hatched was Liam, he would feed it and carry it until it had the strength to walk on it's own, whenever the two went anywhere the wyvern would follow Liam. He knew he would have to slow his pace of walking when he heard the wyvern squawk, he would turn back to make sure nothing was bothering it only to see it waddle along as fast as it's little legs could move, eventually he would have to teach it how to use it's wings to fly, perhaps the two should travel to Nabata so Liam could transform freely.

He needed a name for the wyvern, it would be weird just to call him pup all of the time. He spent a good part of a day going their male names he could use, there was only one that he kept going back to, Julius, the name of his adopted human son. Thinking of the wyvern pup as his 'son' and giving it the name of his adopted child brought a warm feeling inside of Liam.

Little Julius was a curious little thing, Liam had to keep an eye on him when they were in town. There were so many sights, sounds, and smells that would catch his attention and Liam would have to back track to find Julius, Liam had caught a couple of women giggling at the sight of him tracking down the wyvern pup like a lost puppy only to scold him for running off like that. The pair was a sight to see when they were around humans. Today wasn't any different, he kept an ear out for the sound of the wyvern walking then suddenly it had stopped. He turn only to see Julius trying to get a quick snack from a meat vender.

"Julius! No, you will eat later, now come on." He said in a stern voice.

[Aria]

Another day, another town, another market. Aria had been walking through the streets of this town for a while now, picking up little odd's and ends of things she needed. Chewy followed close behind her as usual. The people of the town were accustomed to seeing riders passing through. The large red wyvern kept her wings tucked in an attempt to make herself as small as possible. As small as a above average sized wyvern could be. Aria trusted Chewy enough not to hold her reigns as she walked.

"Alright, Chew. Quick stop by the butchers to pick up some jerky for the road." The wyvern seemed to pick up her pace at the mention of jerky. The rider had some coin left after her little shopping excursion. She bought some leather to repair one of the harnesses. A bit of oil and stone to sharpen and maintain her lances. And a small bit of needle and thread to repair her clothes. As Aria waited her turn in line Chewy waited along side her. Occasionally, she tapped her tail on the ground to keep herself amused. Chewy knew if she behaved herself Aria would share some of the jerky.

But something caught the brick colored wyvern's eye, a smaller version of her kind. A miniature little wyvern that appeared to try and nip at some of the hanging meats. The wyvern gave a light scoffing like noise, but her nose caught the scent of something else. Or rather someone else. The wyvern's pose changed and she sat straight up looking around. She knew the scent.. she feared the scent... it was the scent of something she had once flown away from. The wyvern growled lightly. Aria turned to look up at her mount with a bit of a puzzled expression. She leaned over to see what the wyvern had seen and assumed she was growling at the little wyvern.

"Oh, a baby wyvern? How cute." If Aria had to take a guess the little thing was only a few months. Possibly three or four months at most. Hang on.. it's not like Chew to growl at that.

Julius! No, you will eat later, now come on."

Aria turned to look at the person addressing the little wyvern. The voice was familiar but she couldn't quite place it. But Chewy did recognize it and immediately tucked herself down and let out a louder growl. While Chew knew she couldn't exactly take on the man-creature that frightened her before, she would try in an effort to protect both Aria and the little wyvern. Then the wyvern let out a light roar and stepped forward. Aria grabbed her mount's reigns And tugged them before she could get closer.

"Woah! Woah! Chew Relax!"

[Liam]

Julius let out a whining sound when he was scolded for trying to get a snack. He turned and began to trot back towards Liam as he heard a new noise. It sounded like him when he growled but it was louder than him, and deeper. He stopped and turned his head in the direction of the sound and saw another wyvern, a fully grown one at that too. It was his first time seeing a wyvern other than his own reflection in the water. Julius tilted his head to the right while examining the creature from a distance.

Liam had shifted his eye in the direction Julius was looking, something was catching his attention to stop like that. He saw a wyvern with it's rider, it took him a few moments to realize why she had looked familiar, she was with the group that was inspecting the cart he stole. His eye began to dart around quickly, to see if there were any other armed soldiers but he didn't see any, which was good. In this form he was close to being defenseless and transforming was out of the question, there was too many people around, Liam did not care for their safety just his own. Transforming in front of this crowd would surely be a death sentience.

Instead he was going to try to talk his way out of this situation. He walked over to Julius while keeping an eye on the wyvern and it's rider, he could tell the rider would be too scared to attack but the wyvern was hard to read. Picking up Julius he began to walk towards the two, while he plans on protecting the pup he's using it as a kind of shield to deter any rash actions.

"It's been a while." Liam said to the rider, looking at the wyvern he spoke once again. "I told you there was no need to worry, didn't I?"

[Aria]

As Aria struggled a bit to control her mount's little outburst a man started to make their way towards them. Aria had her back turned for a bit and eventually she pressed her head onto Chewy's chest and held her close.

"Easy Chewy. Easy." She didn't want to use force on her wyvern. If the outburst got too rowdy she would have to climb up onto Chewy and grab her by the snout. Or turn her head sideways by grabbing one of her head horns. Eventually the brick colored wyvern managed to calm down enough not to attack. Instead the red colored wyvern kept herself low and continued to glare at the one-eyed stranger and the wyvern pup.

"It's been a while." The stranger spoke up. Aria gently patted Chewy on her snout and slowly moving her way up to the smooth part of her head. The rider still had one hand firmly gripped onto the reigns. Chewy let out a snort though her nose, something that was akin to a dog growling lightly at a stranger's hand. Aria stopped petting Chewy.

"Ok. Ok. I'll stop petting you." She spoke to Chew and then sighed softly. Aria finally turned her attention to the stranger. Something in the back of her head was nagging at her. She knew she had seen this man before. And that he had done something.. something regarding wyverns. She stared at the stranger blankly for a moment then turned to look at the tiny wyvern near him. Then it clicked in her head.

"Oh! You.. your the cart-man from the border. Your the guy who did... well.. I.. don't know exactly WHAT you did.. whatever it was you freaked out Chewy." She looked over at her wyvern who did not move from her fixed position. She looked as if she was ready to lunge at the man.

"I almost got knocked out of the sky thanks to you!" She was talking loudy and she sounded upset.

"You have any idea how hard it is to calm a Wyvern down after she's been scared THAT badly?" She could feel her hands curling up into fists. She remembered the aftermath of the events at the border. She remembered how frighted Chewy was, how defensive Chewy was, how Chewy nearly killed Aria after they crash landed. Aria remembered the multitude of songs she had to sing just to get her mount out of a semi-paranoid state. Chewy was picking up on Aria's growing frustration and started to growl again. Aria took a deep breath and sighed. She let out all of the frustration out through that one breath and calmed herself down.

"Letting it.. go. Relaxing." She spoke to herself in a lower neutral tone. She sighed again.

"Well.. at least the wyvern is ok." She crouched down to examine the little creature.

"He's cute. He your first wyvern? How's his diet? Have you been feeding him ground meats? Fresh meats? Ground meat with supplements? Has he been fussy with food? Gassy?She tilted her head sideways a bit and continued to observe the little wyvern from away. Chewy gave a groan like sigh. The wyven knew how her rider acted towards baby wyverns. Aria picked up on it.

"What?" She asked Chewy with a bit of a confused expression.

[Liam]

Liam remained silent as the woman spoke. He waited a moment after she was done before he began to speak. "You may fear me, or even hate me. But like you I was doing what I thought to be best for this pup, in the end the stronger resolve won. For that I do not care how you feel about me."

He then looked towards the rider once again and put some thought into her questions, he had quite a bit of memory to shift through but to the best he could recall this was the first wyvern he had attempted to raise. "Hm. I cannot say I have raised a wyvern before. I do remember the subject coming up once or twice with my wife early in our marriage when we weren't able to have children. Much like when you people can't have a child you go for the next best thing, a puppy."

It was almost like Julius was purring when Liam began to pet him. Julius wasn't used to this kind of affection from Liam but he enjoyed it.

"So far I've allowed him to eat what ever scraps from my meal. It's generally wild animals, I want his diet to be what it would be as if he were wild. For now I'm focusing on training him to respect the human's boundries before how to hunt and fly. The worst thing that can happen to a young wyvern is to cross paths with people."

Okay, that was enough, Julius was wanting more attention from other people. He began to reach his head out towards Aria sniffing, hoping she would pet him or even give him a snack without papa Liam noticing.

[Aria]

“I don't hate you. You spooked my wyvern. At most I'm mildly annoyed. She clearly got over it.” Aria pointed her thumb at Chewy who was now lying on the ground watching the little wyvern. Her tail gently thumping at the ground as if to try and get it's attention. Her whole demeanor was more relaxed than when it was a moment ago.

“I can't hate anyone that magiked their way out of a standoff to save a wyvern egg.” Aria kept her eyes trained on the little creature. She smiled as it cooed and clamored for more attention. The little guy was attached to its owner and seemed to be in good condition.

“I am sorry you and your wife could not bare child. But a dog or a wyvern is no replacement for a child.. not when this world is full of orphans.” She fussed. Chewy sometimes acted like a child but she wasn't one. She was a large wyvern. Who required large quantities of food, housing, and exercise.

“A wild diet huh.” She paused for a moment.

“Did you chew for him and pass it along?” The question could be interpreted as either serious or sarcastic.

"Well either way his baby teeth are in… So at this stage.. Mothers would drag freshkills to the den. You'd also have to supplement him... teach them to lick rocks for salt and certain dirt for other minerals.” She held her hand out and kept it out so the wyvern pup could sniff, investigate, or rub his head against it. If he rubbed she'd pet him.

“From what it sounds like.. you aren't planning to ride him.” She was confused at this. Most folk rear wyverns for riding or to sell to the breeders for stock.

“Are you really raising him as some sort of exotic pet?” She looked up at the eye patched man with a bit of a furrowed brow.

“You seem to be doing a fantastic job the no human boundaries thing.” The fact that they were having this conversation in the market of a town reflected Aria’s sarcasm. But then she frowned softly and spoke with a mix of hostility and somber tone in her voice.

“You two have already bonded. Julius sees you as his mother. A human looking mother. He's already growing up trusting people to an extent. You can't raise him wild like that.”

[Liam]

The young woman had thought Liam had been talking to her, while he was talking to the wyvern. It had seemed as if she were answering for the wyvern as well.

Julius had began to stiff the lady's hand when she had reached out to him. He turned his head to rub her hand, she had smelled of wyvern and he liked the scent she gave off.

"Eh? Magic'd out of there? I wouldn't put it that way. I may not look like it, but I'm just pretty strong for my size. All I did was intemidate my way out of it."

Liam had let out a sigh when she mentioned adoption. The young couple did in fact go that route, but not of their own kind.

"We knew getting a 'pet' wouldn't replace having a child but it was our next best option to sooth her need to take of something small and precious. I guess I was too old for her to take care of." He let out a small chuckle. "Orphans weren't as common back then, plus knowing her she would have taken them all home with us. But we did end up saving a baby from being murdered and raising it as our own. That seems like it was centuries ago."

It had seemed as if the danger of the wyvern attacking him was over, Liam had felt Julius had been spoiled enough by the young lady and him so he set him on the ground. Julius has trotted over towards the wyvern named Chewie, staring at her for a moment before he began to mimic her by tapping his tiny tail on the ground.

"And no, I do not chew his food for him. He's a big boy, he can eat on his own. I just cut out what I'm going to eat and allow him to get his fill from the rest of the body. I live off the land, so I don't go into towns very often. I want the little lad to respect human boundries and also desensize him to humans as well. Once he's old enough I'm releasing him into the wild, I view wyverns as equals and to ride them shows dominance."

Liam had reached his hand out towards the woman for a hand shake. "I never introduced myself, the name is Liam."[/b][/b]

[Aria]

Aria got up off the ground after petting the little wyvern.

"You.. have one hell of a means of intimidation." She stared at him for a bit. But then the eye-patched man spoke more about his history. How he and his wife managed to adopt a child and rear it as their own. Although Aria was left confused with his comment about "back then". Hmm.. Then again.. the whole countries are embroiled in war now.. monsters are roaming around... I.. guess if he means it that way.. then..that makes sense.

The rider let out a light chuckle at Julius' imitation of of Chewy. The rider knew it was play behavior from Chewy. Chewy wanted Julius to chase after her tail. This behavior in the wild would help to strengthen a wyvern's legs and little wings as they would chase and jump after the tail. Chewy let out a bit of a huff but then moved her tail closer towards little Julius in another attempt to coax the wyvern to play.

"Julius is supposed to chase her tail not imitate it. Every wyvern pup plays and acts differently.. but I will admit this is the first time i'm seeing a pup do that." Aria shook Liam's hand.

"I'm Aria. And that's Chewy. Nice to meet you." She let go of the gentleman's hand. Chewy let out a bit of a roar as a greeting then returned to entertaining the pup.

"I.. don't.. quite understand. You are raising him to release him? How?" Aria was curious to hear this man's plan on raising and releasing wyverns. Aria knew that sometimes riders would release wyverns. But they were also problem wyverns used to human contact. Wyverns who would go and seek human settlements often raiding livestock for free food. Wyverns who would react poorly towards other wild wyverns.

"I'm sorry you feel that way Liam. I understand that.. there are riders out there who would feel as if they held some power over wyverns. I don't. Chewy here is my partner. Actually.. given our history.. she's like a sister to me." A large scaly sister. With terrible morning breath.

[Liam]

Liam could sense the maternal insticts that Chewy had given off. He knew since she was meant to be a tool of war the chances of her having pups of her own were low, he doubted Bern would want to lose a single combat trained wyvern to breed them. He figured giving Julius some time to play with her would do both wyverns good.

"I never put much thought into that yet, I'll figure it out when the time comes." Liam had began to think of something to extend their time together, he would feel awkward asking her if the two could have a 'play date'.

Julius had slowly began to approach Chewy. He started by extending his head towards her with the first couple of slow steps sniffing at her. After a few moments he was in front of her, still sniffing. He nipped at air next to her face, ready to spring backwards if she moved.

"Say, I know you're part of the Bern army but do you have any time to spare? If you do, would you like to join me in getting some lunch? I'm sure those two would enjoy some extra time to play." Liam gave a quick nod to the pair of wyverns. "It would be nice to get a meal that I don't have to prepare myself and I don't have to worry about Julius being unattended." The only worry Liam had was Julius would get too attached, Chewy was the first of his kind he met.

[Aria]

"You'll figure it out when the time comes? That's a unique approach to the situation. You don't know what you are getting yourself into." Aria scratched the back of her head a bit. The man seemed to talk as if he had all the time in the world to train a wyvern to be wild. The breeder turned solider knew the life cycle of a wyvern well. She knew all of the needed milestones that a healthy wyvern needed to hit in order to survive the wild or training. This man was going to be stuck raising Julius for at least a year, provided the little guy survives the winter. Then a few more years in order to reach adulthood. Aria's mind went though a mental checklist of all the things that could potentially kill a young wyvern. Illness, parasites, people, other wyverns..

Part of her was relieved to hear that the man wanted to spend more time together. Perhaps though conversation she could inform the man on the basic's of wyvern care for Julius's sake. She glanced over at Julius and Chewy. The older wyvern gently puffed some hair out her nose in order to startle the little thing a bit. To teach it that it's probably not wise to be nipping around the nose and mouth area of a larger wyvern.

"I am freelance.. not military. I've got the time for lunch. I'm afraid i've only got enough coin to feed myself at the moment. Unless you don't mind eating half a pound of Jerky in a quieter part of the town. It's not pub food but it should be enough to fill the belly." She remembered she needed to actually go back and buy the jerky since Chewy had forced her out of the line before.

"But yes.. those two should play a bit more. It's been years since Chewy had a chance to play. Most wyverns we meet are adult's who have forgotten how to play."

[Liam]

"I don't think it's they 'forgot how to play', they're like people. They have their own personalities where some are more playful than others. Then some are trained not to play." What Liam had really wanted to say was they were slaves, anything outside of their job was punishable.

He was somewhat delighted to hear that she was freelance, and not part of the army, the chances of another person from the mountain that actually saw him showing up was lower. "Don't worry about my money situation, I earn some gold here and there for such times. I'm a pretty lousy seamstress, walking around in the nude isn't the best idea either so I pick up odd jobs here and there when needed. That or I could intemidate my way out of the bill." He said the last part with a small chuckle. Times like this he misses his lost eye, he would have gave a wink with it but it would only come across as him blinking.

"I think I saw a pub that way" Liam said while jabbing his thumb in the direction he had been traveling from before running into Aria "not too far from here."

Liam had turned and began to walk in that direction as he continued to talk. "So, what brought you to that mountain path that day? Were you hired to look for the little one's stolen egg or something? Or was it a 'wrong place at the wrong time' type of thing?"

[Aria]

“Oh.. trust me I know all about wyvern personalities. Grew up rearing wyverns. Each wyvern is unique in its own way. Chewy here is the princess of childish stubborn personalities. Much to my grief.” She spoke to Liam with a voice that had a mix of pride and lament. The wyvern in question perked her head up and gave a growl. Almost as if to argue that she was not so stubborn. Aria tilted her head so she could see Chewy and cut her off mid scoff.

“Yes. You are. But I love you anyway.” Chewy let out a snort, grumbled a bit. then went back to entertaining the little one. Chewy was not an easy wyvern to manage. Aria’s father did not expect Chewy to ever be deemed fit for military service. And if Aria hadn't been so attached Chewy from the begining then there was a good chance the wyvern wouldn't be here right now.

“No wyvern ever forgets how to play. It's an instinctive behavior. They aren't trained not to play.. just play differently.” Aria crossed her arms a bit.

“Any animal that has truly forgotten how to play is either very sick or a monster.” She looked at the ground for a moment at that. The rider smrked and tried to hide her laugh at Liam’s comment on clothing.

“If you want to make money walking in the nude you have to know where to go.” She commented casually. Aria knew of brothels and of certain “luxuries” of the rich. She grew up with many brothers who talked. Other knights would gossip in the barracks. A rider had to be resourceful as feeding and maintaning a wyvern was not cheap. Singing songs at a few pubs here and there also expanded her knowledge on certain shady actions.

“Hmm.. given your physique.. and Julius adorableness.. I'm sure you'd charm a few ladies of..” She stopped talking when she realized that this was not the best time for this conversation. Curse you money making knowledge.

“Forget I said that. Uh.. anyway.. right the pub that way.” She started to follow Liam.

“Chewy come on we're moving.” Aria motioned to her wyven. The wyvern looked at Aria and then at Julius. The brick colored wyvern guided Julius up onto it's wing then nudged it towards her back where the saddle was. Then started walking behind the two of them. Chewy’s protective instincts were strong, she didn't want the little guy to get lost or stomped on in the busy market.

“Hm. Well I was just on simple border duty that day. Saw the commotion from the post and went out as a scout. Then Chew started sniffing around and well.. you know. Initially, I thought she was wanting the spices.. as I sometimes put it in her food. No idea it was cause of an egg until.. you did that thing.” She paused for a bit.

“Safe to assume you aren't with those guys anymore. So.. What made you settle on Julius for a name? It's a lot nicer then Chewy.”Then again I was five at the time...And Chew was at that bitey phase.

[Liam]

Liam had listened to Aria talk, it had sounded as if she respected wyverns as an equal. He guess not all humans these days were so bad.

"If you want to call murder playing, then I guess so." The way she spoke about how he could make money in the nude... Was she flirting with him? The whole subject she spoke about came across as... odd. The way Aria said you did that thing had Liam curious of what she thought he did.

The two finally made it to the pub he saw. Liam had opened the door for Aria and entered behind her. The two took a seat at a small table. He took a deep breath through his nose, trying to figure out what they served by smelling it as he sat. "I was attempting to get to Etruria, who had closed their borders to normal people passing. I was using them to get passed their lock down by posing as a body guard, so no I am not with that lot anymore. Say, what do you think you saw out there?"

Before Aria could respond a waitress had apppeared at their table asking for their order. "I'll take the roasted boar, easy on the spices, it smells like you drown the meat in it. I'll also take a roll and ear of corn, as well as the largest ale you have." Liam waited for Aria to order and the waitress to leave before speaking once again. He kept his eye on the table as he spoke.

"Julius? It was the name of my wife's grandfather... It was also the name of my son, who we named after her grandfather."

[Aria]

Murder playing? This caused Aria to frown slightly before returning her expression to neutral. Aria didn't understand Liam’s mentality over wyverns and riders. A wyvern murdering another wyvern was uncommon in the wild. Most wyverns recognized defeat in territorial or breeding battles and flee. The wounds often get infected or the wyvern is injured to a point where it cannot feed itself. That’s usually what causes most wyvern deaths. Wyverns scavenge carcasses or hunt fresh game. Some wyverns cannibalize younger wyverns when the opportunity presents itself. But, she had never heard of a trained wyvern killing another trained wyvern during playtime. She kept quiet while following Liam towards the pub. Eventually, getting there and sitting down in the seat across from him.

Fortunately, her seat was a window seat so she could peek outside and check on the two wyverns. Chewy was too large to join them inside. And Julius seemed to be entertained by Chewy’s antics. The two of them plopped down in an empty space behind the pub. Aria trusted Chewy to watch out for the little one. The brick colored wyvern knew her way around towns. She knew where to go to be out of people's way.

The waitress came around and asked for their orders. Aria liked Liam’s order so she got it for herself. Except she swapped out the mead for tea. Can't fly drunk. And was fine with the spices. Aria responded to Liam’s question when the waitress went away.

“What did I see? Not much. You held the wagon over your head.. declared its contents yours… Then Chewy freaked out and I didn't see much after that. I couldn't see much between you and the other folks with Chewy flailing about. And then she er We flew away..”

She listened to Liam talk about Julius name.

“That's a nice way to honor them. I hope little Julius grows up strong and gives you plenty of joy.

[Liam]

Liam listened to Aria tell him what she had saw. Luckily she mentioned she lost track of what happened after he lifted the cart over his head. Even though the woman sounded like she was a good person, he exposed himself to too many people that day.

The woman had returned with their drinks, Liam had a look of disapointment. The ale was smaller than he had hoped so he asked for a second. He took a drink from the mug and set it back down.

The past few weeks he has been thinking of his wife and son more often than he normally would, some people drank alchol to forget their pains, maybe Liam should do the same once the two parts ways.

Liam let out a sigh before removing his eye patch. There was a small scar as if somebody, or something, had scratched below his eye socket and moved upwards leaving a scar there as well. Despite it appearing something was in the eye socket he kept it closed tightly. He set the eye patch on the table, with the inside facing upwards revealing two names written on it. Julie and Julius, he pushed towards Aria slightly. "Other than naming the wyvern pup after my son, this is the only thing I have left to remember them. I'm sure little Julius will grow up strong, even though I may not know a whole lot about wyverns in general, I do know a thing or two." Liam turned to look at the window to check up on the two wyverns.

(OoC:I'll leave how the two play up to you)