Tall Tales [Nayru/Gar C]

[Gar]

Gar woke up in a hammock at sea. That made sense. His last orders were simply get off that corrupted island. That gods-forsaken island where Gar almost died, twice. His eyes traveled around the room. The remnants of his coat were folded and laid on the floor by his side. Atop of that sat the new form of Junzentaru. Gar ran a couple fingers across the weapon to see if it had anything to say. Nothing came.

Still sleeping eh? Fair enough, the magical weapon had been through a lot in that fight. Shattering to pieces being just one of the ordeals it went through. Gar sat upright on the swinging hammock. He placed his feet on the deck of the ship. They were back where they belonged, it felt right. Gar pulled his boots onto his feet and rose. Gar's muscles almost rebelled against the act, but he powered through. Sore muscles were nothing to stay in bed for.

Gar's torso was bandaged. His left arm was held in some sort of makeshift sling. Perhaps it was dislocated in the fight. Gar didn't care at the time but now it was a tight, persistent, numbness. The berserker knew not to fight an injury like that. Just let the healers do their jobs and give it time. He'd be back in fighting shape before too long.

Gar walked out of his quarters, opening the door to a barrage of blinding light. Gar rose his free forearm to block the sunlight from entering his squinted eyes. After his eyes adjusted he liked what he saw. His crew was performing fine, even without his supervision. Blue water as far as the eye could see and the salty smell of the air also helped to relax him.
The captain traversed the deck, greeting his mates and getting reports of food stores and whatnot. Nothing too out of the ordinary. Typically, they wouldn't have been prepared to feed the extra couple mouths but this was originally supposed to be a rescue mission so they had brought extra supplies. This did get Gar thinking however, how were those two landlover's faring at sea?

Gar's eyes found Nayru first. The dragon. Apparently, she was up in the crow's nest, running lookout. Maybe she had a sharp eye. Maybe she didn't like being around his crew. Did those idiots say something while I was asleep? Gar gripped the rope ladder with his good hand and climbed. The motion was already forcing him to relive recent events. Gar hopped into the crow's nest. " Ahoy Nayru. Hows the pirate's life treating ya?" It was a simple question, more of a greeting. However, they had other matters to discuss. Luckily, things up here were private enough to really speak their minds. Not that any of these pirates would believe the things had they overheard them. Sailors made up and shared stories of fables and myths all the time. A story of a dragon and a cyclops would just seem to be another tall tale.

[Nayru Al-Saiduq]

Well, on the bright side she'd had PLENTY of time to regret all of her life decisions, consider jumping off and swimming to Etruria, feel sorry for herself, enjoy the view, feel like a total badass, and argue the pros and cons of having transformed. Not in that order, but most assuredly each and all of the above. It had been uh, a bit of a wild ride, so to speak. The kind of ride that you never got off of. Mr. Bones Wild- anyways.

Anyways, aside from all that she'd ended up volunteering for watch duty. The guys around these parts seemed okay, more or less, but she could tell most of 'em didn't really know what to make of her. Which was fine, she didn't either. 'Least she knew that keeping people alive was apparently a pretty big deal for her now, but if it had been in a less desolate area, would she still have transformed...? The idea that the benefit to herself would be weighed against the lives of those she could save seemed wrong somehow, but the pragmatic reality of the situation was that sacrificing herself to save a few people and dying unable to continue saving them would be hurting Elibe even more. But could people really be boiled down to numbers like that?

And maybe more importantly, at what point did the mental math of life and death expand to judging and killing those she deemed as causing more harm than good? A bandit, sure. Simple moral math. But a corrupt guard? Or hell, why not go ahead and make the obvious comparison, Kraft? Was making herself the enemy of the world in order to try to save it a good move? A wise one?

All things considered, the arrival of her new pirate(?) friend(?) was as much a welcome breath of fresh air in a muddled maelstrom of mentality as it was a bit of a surprise, but not a terrible one. He wasn't wandering around trying to axe her a question anyways. Though when she got a better look at him, and his hand, the question did arise of how the hell he got up the ladder with just one working hand. Maybe pirates really did have superpowers. Or uh, maybe she was an idiot, and he just had enough experience with the ladder and other ship related stuff that he could pull it off with some effort. Heh. "...You know, I've never actually been up in one of these things," she obliquely responded to his question, searching for an actual answer in the solace of sidestepping. Nayru brought her right hand up to her left shoulder, where the cyclops had struck her, massaging it lightly. "Whenever I start thinking I've done 'bout everything worth doing, I get reminded there's always something else out there on the horizon. Greener grass, an adventure waiting, or just a new experience."

It wasn't the first time she'd been in a ship obviously. Live a few centuries, travel Elibe enough, go on a BOAT to Vinland, obviously to have to, uh, ride a boat somewhere in there. But up here, it was actually pretty cool. Felt like she was flying. And for a dragon who couldn't fly, and who pegasi and wyverns both treated like the devil, that was worth something. "But yeah, I'm fine." The usual deflection... not malicious, simply the truth of how long she had had to get used to no one really caring about what happened to her. Being an outsider. Even now it still took some effort to remember that Remus existed, to a degree. Not out of dislike, just... the idea of someone actually being there for her. "How's the arm?"

[Gar]

Nayru's response actually triggered a bit of nostalgia in Gar. He recalled when he was a boy, the first time his father brought his up to a crow's nest and showed him how truly vast the ocean was. Gar remembered how often he would ask his father and his crew to take him up. To the point where they would ignore him and he would forge his way upward on his own.

But Gar stopped reminiscing and listened as Nayru spoke of her thoughts on her past experiences. That was right, dragons were a lot older than they appeared. "Aye, ain't that the thing about horizons?" Gar pointed toward the horizon in the direction which the ship was moving. He closed one eye and squinted the other. "You're never gonna reach it, but you just keep going." Gar wanted to expound upon the thought a little bit. " There has to be something interesting between where you are and where you're going. Right?" Even if that something interesting was an obstacle to get past, a boon to receive or even a chance to offer help, Gar would keep moving. Not to extend the thought too far, but as long as one is moving, they are approaching some sort of horizon.

Gar smirked at the next question. He briefly flexed his uninjured arm and replied. "Never been better." He feigned surprise at figuring out that she was actually referring to the one in the sling. "Oh you meant this arm? Hahar. It's alright. Nothing I can't handle." Gar smiled mostly to convince himself his little act was actually humourous. Luckily there shouldn't be any lasting damage to the arm. Otherwise he might've started needing to wear some armor to protect it. But that was never a berserker's style.

Gar scanned Nayru's shoulder as she rubbed it. That revealed something that Gar hadn't known. Damage while in a transformed state translated to analogous parts on the untransformed state. But that raised a question in the berserker's mind. What would've happened if her tail got hurt? Gar chose not to ask this question, replacing it with another.

"I know you said you're fine but what about your shoulder? I saw you take a shot there when you were in dragon form. Well, before you ripped the monster's arm off and dropped it on me." Gar laughed, he didn't take it personally. Gar understood it was in the heat of a battle, not to mention the difficulty of tracking the much smaller humans. Also this was right after she had saved him from falling to his death. Still, it was nice that June/Xig had busted out that new magic when it did. Otherwise, Gar would likely have a few more damaged organs than he already did.

[Nayru Al-Saiduq]

Never gonna reach it, huh?

The funny thing was, that about wrapped it up. Everything she wanted, everything she needed to do, had no ending. Atoning for her past, building a future, protecting others, none of it really had an ending. Oh, it didn't make the process of trying to reach those goals meaningless, not by any means, she'd keep working at it as long as she still drew breath, but it was a little weird to think that there was not even a possibility of an actual ending. Wasn't a thing she had never thought of before. Just a truth she had kinda avoided trying to think too much about. Nayru wondered if her resolve would last that long. Eternity was a pretty long time, even for someone like her. Sure she had been alive a lot longer than most humans, Athos excluded - but compared to a really old dragon she was still a dumbass kid. Well, teenager anyways. Not much better.

"Interesting..." Nayru snorted at the thought, chuckling in its aftermath. "Yeah, I guess. All the little stories that pile up along the way. Chance meetings. Trying new foods. Farming, baking, monster hunting. Elibe these days is a pretty interesting place, for better or for worse. Not as peaceful as it used to be." And not as, uh, at war against dragons as it used to be even further back. She decided not to bring that part up.

Apparently Gar was a funny guy, or at least thought he was. She could empathize with that at least! ...Both parts of it... dammit she was gonna make herself cry at this rate. "Uh... sorry about the arm thing." crap. She hadn't even been paying attention. "Still getting used to the, you know, teamwork thing." Nayru chuckled dryly. Needless to say it wasn't something she expected to get a great deal of practice with. She had only fought alongside an ally twice while transformed now, Veigue and Gar, and neither time had she been able to exactly coordinate that much. Though that did bring up the question she'd been wanting to ask, waiting to ask - as obvious as tactless as it might be. Curiosity killed the cat after all. "You seem pretty blase about all this, though."

[Gar]

"Don't sweat it. If I had to guess, you probably don't get much practice fighting alongside humans." Gar understood that dragons stayed in human form for their own protection. There were plenty of people who would wish harm upon the creatures. Then Nayru continued on to note how Gar didn't seem very phased by the fact that she was a dragon. Gar had seen one before. Up close and everything. There was no denying that dragons existed, but to be fair that a different type of dragon. Nayru's transformation was different and Gar thought for a moment that she was some type of a Taguel. Gar had met Rhea, a bear Taguel on Vinland so even if that were the case he wouldn't have been too shocked.

But how would Gar explain this knowledge that he had? He promised to keep Aeos' secret. To him that meant keep it secret from everyone, even other dragons. Who knows? Maybe some dragons had vendettas against others. Gar didn't want to stir up trouble between dragonkin, that just seemed foolish. Gar did however, want to explain why he was comfortable around her, even in dragon form. "I got a friend like you. Best friend really. I once said dragons were a myth and, well, we can say he proved me quite wrong." Gar thought back on the first time he saw Aeos transform. It was moments after he was considering taking the Nabatan out permanently. Good thing he let calmer minds prevail, otherwise... Gar didn't even want to think about it.

"That is not to say I wasn't impressed. I've still never seen what a dragon could do in a fight. At least not first hand. And you sure could do some damage. Remind me to try and stay on your good side hahar." So now there were two dragons that Gar knew. Hell, there could be more. Ones who just haven't transformed around him. Did it even really matter though? Aside from combat capabilities, humans and dragons were essentially the same in Gar's mind. But that was the crux right? That was why the heroes took up arms against the dragons in the first place. Dragons were just so damn powerful in their fighting form.

"So that beam attack you pulled off against the cyclops..." Gar wanted to phrase this as best as he could. "Any dragon can just do that to anyone, anytime right?" Not the greatest display of eloquence but he wanted to know. If that was what Aeos had done to those ships, he could understand why he felt so bad. It was destructive power that very few humans would ever see.

[Nayru Al-Saiduq]

"Heh." Nayru grinned wryly at the thought... and the humor in the very IDEA of her disagreeing with that. Even just a few years back she would have laughed in the face of anyone who said she'd fight alongside a human for more than one accidental meeting. "You might be surprised. But in that form, no. And I was a little preoccupied with tall, dark, and ugly at the time. I've, uh, never actually seen a cyclops before. I thought the writings were a bit exaggerated, but apparently not." It was a bit, oh, she wouldn't say discouraging, but... eye opening maybe? Of late there had been so few enemies that could REALLY do anything to her at full power that she had gotten in the habit of just... assuming she'd automatically win if she went full power. Even the scorpion in Nabata that had very nearly killed her - in human form, and because she had been a complete moron about it. She couldn't /really/ blame it for what was, in the end, her fault.

But that cyclops? It could have easily killed her. Just straight up, taken her apart, figuratively and literally, if she hadn't been fighting it to the best of her ability. Definitely a bit sobering. Speaking of sobering, Gar's initial answer did a lot to explain his reaction, or at least lack thereof. So he knew a dragon. She tried to think back of the dragons she had know, which humans they had mentioned. Aerious, Locke, Aeos, Lynessa, Zahhak, that ice dragon guy in Ilia whose name she kept forgetting, none of them had mentioned any pirates or even sailors. So either this was a dragon she hadn't heard of, or someone hadn't been entirely forthcoming. Which was fair, honestly, it wasn't like she listed EVERY SINGLE HUMAN she ever met to every dragon she met. Just woulda been nice if someone had mentioned a name so she could nod and smile and be all mysterious like.

"Well. I'm just a monster hunter. Aside from trying to help people out. I figure that's a pretty non offensive, morally OK stance. Lot easier than trying to figure out politics anyways. I uhh..." she chuckled, "realize that might not sound entirely reassuring, but it's the truth." Yeah, she'd just go ahead and walk up to Kraft and be all like 'yo dawg I'm a dragon, AKA the kind of infidel your saint spent her life murdering, but it's cool 'cuz I only kill obvious bad guys.' Should go fine. Just another reminder that things were whack and no amount of fancy sounding nice things would make the world fine.

Didn't mean she wasn't gonna try, though. Though the beam discussion was a little... mmm... hard to answer exactly. It wasn't a huge problem, just weird since she didn't really know the reason for it, exactly. "Not... exactly. Most dragonbreath is far more spread out. I've just always done it like that. More concentrated, piercing. Couldn't tell you why. Just how I was born." It was something she wondered, certainly. As far as she knew almost no dragons worked like that. Slightly ironically, her style was about the worst setup possible for taking on large groups of humans - great against single tough targets, useless for area. But why? f**k if she knew. She certainly hadn't decided to develop her breath like that, that was just how it had always worked.

"Though... I'm glad you have a good friend like that. Funny thing is I'm the same way. Both the people I'm closest to are humans. Both have saved my life too, even knowing what I am." Nayru paused, leaning back into the hardened wood of the lookout, staring up into the sky as she thought. "You know, few years back I would have laughed in your face if you said that that was a thing. Not out of spite, just spent most of my life assuming it was impossible."

[Gar]

Nayru claimed she was just a monster hunter. Gar understood that was necessary, especially with these super strong monstrosity’s that have been stalking around. He too wasn’t great at politics. Most of the /politics/ he dealt with was posturing around other ships to convince them they didn’t want to try attacking. Sometimes it worked, other times Gar had to defend his ship the old fashioned way. “Politics ain’t my favorite either. That said, I know a bad guy when I see em. Can't just sit back and watch em terrorize innocents.” If Nayru had seen Bullring, she probably would’ve known how bad he was too. For all intents and purposes that man was a monster. Gar scratched at the bull brand he had on his hip. “But I get it. It’s probably easier for me to engage with the scumbags of the world. You have… other worries.”

The berserker nodded as Nayru spoke on her dragonbreath attack. Her’s was indeed atypical. Gar assumed it had something to do with the lightning that she seemed to almost radiate. As opposed to, fire for example, which would be more widespread. It was the speed that lightning travelled at that didn’t allow for the dispersion.

Gar smiled at Nayru’s final thought. “If only our ancestors could see us now. Humans and dragons. Dragons and humans, getting along better than ever in their storied histories.” Of course, these few cases of humans being on good terms with dragons were all probably edge cases. Most humans would sooner start a witch hunt, but it’s a start.

“Who are your friends? If you don’t mind me asking that is. I travel a fair amount. I guess there might be a chance I’ve heard of em.” Gar didn’t chance considering he knew maybe three people outside of pirate towns, but worth a shot at least.

“Either of em from the isles? Or Badon maybe? I grew up there you know, when I wasn’t at sea. But I guess that probably isn’t too surprising. Yar.” Speaking of politics, Gar heard that the Lycian port town had certain naval technologies. One that even Etruria didn’t know of. Gar would love to take a peek at them one day. But for now at least he had to focus on ridding the slave lords from Caledonia. Bullring was down. Black Bart was next on the list. The third one was a hooded person. No determining features which obviously made it difficult to figure out who they were.

[Nayru Al-Saiduq]

"Well, it's a start at least. Supposedly, long before the Scouring, there was actual, wide-scale peace. A few friends here and there isn't quite on the same level. But... it's a step down the right path." It was a bit close to defeatist to her, but the idea that humanity and dragons had once been closely knit had always intrigued her, given how long it had been before her own time that it almost came across as just as much of a legend to her as the very idea of the Scouring and its heroes could to a human child. Sort of the irony of perspective. Something that was lost all so easily.

Of course she wasn't just looking to argue with him. But she had wanted to say her piece. Rather than continuing on that subject though, Nayru chose to respond to something else he had noted, questioned rather, the subject of her human friends. How exactly would she answer that? The metric of danger to them - seemed minor, if he was telling the truth. Remus was the question. If it came out that an Etrurian priest was supporting a dragon, it... could cause him certain degrees of trouble back home. Veigue wouldn't care. But it wasn't like there was any PROOF that they were consorting with her, either, so even if he did say something it would be an inconvenience at worst.

...And in its own way, she supposed, as manipulative as it sounded, this could be considered a test of sorts. If she heard from Remus six months down the road that he had been getting hassled in Etruria with dragon questions, she would know just how well Gar could really be trusted. But for now, she would try. If only to narrow the gap between kinds. "...Remus and Veigue. A priest and a swordsman... Veigue is, was, my partner in monster hunting, and Remus and I... mostly get into trouble in dusty old ruins. We discovered lamias a while back. That was a really crappy journey. I don't believe either have been out to the Western Isles before, though." But Badon? Maybe. She didn't, couldn't, know that for sure. Both had been in Lycia certainly.

And she was... curious about one other thing. Well. Two. The dragon friend's name, certainly. But more important than the content of Gar's response was the manner in which he did so. Nayru did not care for games of the mind, or of manipulation. She preferred to be straightforward. Blunt. Honest. She was, for better or for worse, pretty simple in that regard, and did not regret it. But when it came to matters of trust, sometimes it was necessary for even her to open her eyes and ears a little bit. "And what of your friend, Gar? This mysterious dragon you speak of? What can you tell me of him?"

[Gar]

Remus and Veige. Gar sifted through his memory banks to see if he recalled anything about the apparent priest and swordsman. But there was nothing. "Don't think we've met. Maybe one day we'll cross paths though." Gar imagined the stories they'd be able to tell. Apparently one of these potential stories could be about Lamias. "Lamias? Never heard of them, what are they?" Gar was learning quite a bit from Nayru. But that was to be expected. Suffice to say Gar didn't do too much reading.

"I told him I'd keep his secret. But it isn't like I'm outing him to the whole world here.So I guess I can give you a few details." Gar thought about where he should start. He didn't want to be too specific but also not too vague. " He's a friendly guy. He meditates every so often, I tried a couple times. It didn't work for me. Anyway, hes a great hand to hand fighter. Nabatan. He speaks with some type of accent, as if he were from another time. The mate is remarkably kind and sometimes playful but there seems to be a little, something beneath the surface." Gar may have been enough for now. Perhaps had the two dragons met his explanation would've been enough to guess who Gar was referring to.

While he was on the topic of Aeos, Gar had to think about what their next move was going to be. Hopefully, the dragon was still resting at the fortress. He had been through quite an ordeal recently and Gar did feel kind of bad for having to leave in the middle of his friends recovery. But that was the problem with being a captain. Sometimes you have to search for a scouting party and fight a cyclops. Well Gar made a plan to return to the fort, get some training in with his new weapon and spend some more time with Aeos. He was certain the Nabatan would enjoy hearing stories of the monsterous cyclops and the dragon that took it down.

"Maybe you two could meet sometime. Have a little dragon play date." Actually that may be a terrible idea. "Well, assuming dragons typically play nice with each other." Gar thought there were nice dragons and mean ones. Just like with humans. But perhaps also like humans, there were types of tribalism that kept the dragons from seeing themselves as a unified species.

[Nayru Al-Saiduq]

"Lamias are -" Nayru caught herself before she went into a long tirade about how they were vapid, senseless, hypersexualized, obnoxious, idiotic, frustrating, needlessly curvy, unlikable, intolerable, and literally worse than Kraft multiplied by Hargus. "...Snake people," she said instead, though there was an undercurrent of distaste in her words. "A lesser known tribe of Taguel, it seems. Obsessed with knowledge, but fiercely territorial." She would have liked to meet LITERALLY any lamia alive other than Lafiel, perhaps even one who was actually intelligent and willing to trade knowledge as their tribe seemed to do, but life hadn't turned out that way, and she hadn't wanted to leave Elibe behind for too long. Her tone morphed as she continued though, leaving behind the vitriol and growing gradually more dreamy. "Vinland was an... incredibly place, though. The air was alive with magic. Constant danger, and constant discovery. I would like to visit it again sometime."

Well, she'd rather LIVE there if anything. Hell of a place to live free. Long as she didn't transform she'd be pretty happy there, and well, it wasn't like she particularly wanted to transform in the first place. That only seemed to come with trouble. But it was necessary sometimes. And she had a LOT of work to do on Elibe before she could even dream of retiring to Vinland.

As for all this talk of dragon buddies, uh, nothing came to mind immediately. 'Friendly' could work for most of those she'd met... outside of Aerious anyways. Meditating... she didn't think any of the dragons she knew meditated. Or did they? It wasn't like she magically knew EVERYTHING they did, just the subject hadn't come up. Hand to hand fighter, Nabatan, accent... well, those three could all work for Aeos, but none of them were actually unique to Aeos. Taiel had talked with a bit of an accent, Nax too, and if you considered Nabatan/Arcadian dragons - hello Shara - accents were probably the norm rather than the exception. Conversing on Low Draconic certainly had very different word structure than typical Common.

Remarkably kind, but something beneath the surface...? Nayru couldn't actually tell if that was a ringer or a confusing variable. Most dragons WOULD have something to hide. From how Gar described it, she couldn't be sure if he was talking about something akin to Aeos's dark side as they had discussed it way back when, or Marcus, or... bah. She was probably overthinking this and it was just Aeos. The anachronistic speech patterns had bugged the living crap out of her at the time, it reminded her too much of one of her really old teachers at the Mamkute Academy.

Also she was trying really hard not to giggle immaturely at Gar constantly referring to another guy as his 'mate.'

"So this uh, this mysterious friend of yours, is he a big food aficionado too? Especially the kind that never shuts up about pie? And, uh, big on the wind stuff?"

[Gar]

Gar had to assume he wouldn’t get along well with these Lamias. Nothing against Taguel in general, but territorial knowledge seekers didn’t really seem like Gar’s cup of tea. Snake people kind of made Gar imagine mean mermaids or sirens. Gar didn’t want anything to do with that situation. He shrugged when Nayru spoke of Vinland with such praise. To Gar it was just another island. Well one with shapeshifters. Perhaps Nayru was able to sense something that Gar couldn’t. “I’ve been to Vinland before. Didn’t seem like anything special to me. Then again, I’m no magic user. Aside from my axe of course. ” That said, sometimes spirits took interest in Gar. For example, he thought that was why he was able to use Sacrifice. But when he was on Vinland all he seemed to attract was boars, bears and mauthe doogs. Constant danger was right.

Gar didn’t think he would go back there. Vinland was interesting for the uncharted exploration of it. But now that he had been there and seen what there was to be seen, Gar didn’t see any reason to return. Besides he had his own islands to take care of.

Gar smiled. Nayru’s next two questions were spot on. “That’s the one. So I take you’ve met before.” Gar still didn’t say the dragon’s name but he knew that Nayru knew who he was referring to. “Seeing as how you’re friends with my dragon friend…” Gar gave Nayru a friendly smile. “I guess that means we have to be friend’s hahar.” Gar was glad that she knew of Aeos. Of course, they would probably have become friends in their own right, but it was nice to have a mutual friend to grease the wheels a little.

Gar was happy to reflect on his times with Aeos. “Oh man I could tell you some stories. First one that comes to mind is this one time, we travelled through the desert in Nabata and found a tomb for spirits.” At least that’s what Gar had come to think of it as. “ We freed the spirits and collapsed the ruins. There was this gigantic tornado that erupted from the spirits. Dust and debris went everywhere. It was super cool. Have to assume those wind spirits were happy to be freed after who knows how long.” Gar was grinning at his retelling of the story. It was always nice to relive epic moments in life.

[Nayru Al-Saiduq]

Nayru snorted at the pirate's no-nonsense response. P-SHAW. "Nothing? Really? Crazy animal people, entire civilization we didn't even know existed, hints to Elibe's pre-Scouring history, lost knowledge, giant monsters, none of that appeals to you?" Her voice was a little sing-song, teasy, but with an element of disbelief to it as well. Nayru was uh, aware that different people had different perspectives on things, that was kind of how individuality worked. But it was hard to imagine that he really hadn't found ANYTHING interesting there. Whether your interests were knowledge, diplomacy, fame, or just punching a f**k**g snek in the face, Vinland had something for everyone... long as you didn't end up dead first anyways.

She shook her head, still grinning. "I actually met Aeos shortly after returning from Vinland. Another reason I remember it fondly, I suppose. He seemed like a nice guy. I bumped into him while daydreaming, knocked the crap he as carrying out of his hands, and ended up helping him carry it to this tavern he was working at. Didn't realize 'til later he was, you know..." If crow's nests were lighthouses, Nayru could have lit them all simultaneously right now. "We sparred a bit too. That was fun. And argued about pierogi vs pirozhki."

A tomb for spirits, huh? Nayru was by no means an expert on the subject of spirits, but she was... vaguely... aware that they could die, or go boom, or something. So it KINDA made sense that a tomb of some sort coulda existed. Though at the same time she wondered if there was another explanation. For example, if the spirits had been sealed there by a mage looking to make a flying ship, or a tornado-in-a-can. Not really something she could check on now though. "Heh. Spiritnado, huh? Wish I coulda seen that. Wonder why the spirits were trapped there in the first place though. I know they can be sealed in magic weapons, but not a lot else. Supposedly they didn't start existing until after the Scouring, so the First Age research community never got to take a crack at figuring them out. It's kinda cool that there's still stuff to figure out though, you know?"

[Gar]

Gar made a face when Nayru snorted at his Vinland commentary. She didn’t seem to believe him. Well she had a point, it certainly was special. Gar had misspoke. “Sure, it’s a special place. What I should’ve said was there wasn’t anything for me there, personally. I can take or leave the animal people. They’re just like you or me. I’ve never been much of a history buff.” As much as Gar’s father had tried to teach him about his ancestors with stories while they were at sea. “As for giant monsters.” Gar looked backward toward the island they had recently left. There was still a rising plume of smoke in the air. “You can get those just about anywhere these days.” Gar smirked lightly. If he did find himself back on Vinland he would probably ask a bear if they could arm wrestle. Just so he knew where he stacked up. In that regard perhaps there was something for him on the natural island.

Gar listened as Nayru told her account of meeting Aeos. It was shortly after Vinland. Since Gar had met Aeos on Vinland, they must have just missed each other. Nayru and Aeos also apparently sparred. Gar had the thought of two dragons duking it out. This provoked an inquiry. It may not have been the most appropriate question, but Gar’s curiosity got the better of him “Oh yeah? Who won? Or was it a draw?”

Nayru seemed to show interest in the spirit tomb. Gar listened to her musings about spirits. It was interesting hearing possibilities of the origin of spirits. Apparently, Nayru had a sense for figuring out mysteries. Gar did too, in a sense. Not so much mysteries as riddles and puzzles. “Anything that you could find on a treasure map I’m down to figure out.” That provoked yet another question from the seafarer’s mind.

“Hmm. You know how legends always say dragons have huge stashes of gold hidden away in some cave? Well, is there any truth to that and would you have any idea where I might be able to get my hands on a map?” Gar was smiling, almost laughing at himself for even asking. But again, his curiosity got the better of him.

[Nayru Al-Saiduq]

"Their culture is so different though. It's intriguing!" And apparently wasted on this conversation. She wasn't calling Gar dumb or uninteresting, it was just not usual for her to, uh, actually spend much time around people who weren't that interested in learning. Though there was something to be said for taking everything in stride in a matter of fact way, pure pragmatism, she supposed. Nayru just didn't think she could live like that. There were too many interesting things in the world.

Ah well. A tale for a different time. No value in trying to push the subject here if Gar didn't care for it. Might as well answer his questions. Though the way he phrased one was interesting. Nayru considered it for a moment before responding in her own way. "Sparring isn't really about winning or losing, but learning. I was trying to help him learn his body and abilities better, not beat him down." Well... mostly, anyways, but she didn't want to admit THAT bit to Gar. "Strength isn't everything. He can actually transform without, well, that," she trailed off with a lopsided grin. The storm WAS a little... distinctive. "And raw power didn't help much in that other big war I can think of."

"...I am stronger than him though," she appended at the end a little defiantly, admittedly SLIGHTLY weakening her point, but all that crap on the way to Arcadia had more than slightly assaulted her ego. What a terrible loss. Um. Anyways. Right! Dragon gold. "I'm sure there are. Same as any human, there are dragons who like hoarding." Nayru giggled. "I used to wear a lot of jewelry, but didn't really have a treasure trove. I mostly just keep enough to get by now. And monster hunting pays... okay." She didn't think to clarify the difference between what she and Gar might consider 'enough,' what with having been born in Arcadia and more or less completely inured to wealth - ten thousand gold pieces wasn't that much compared to what she had seen. "You could ask Aeos. Maybe he has a stash of golden idols somewhere that he'd be willing to share. Though I am curious. You keep referring to treasure and gold. Is it that important to you?"

[Gar]

Nayru responded to Gar’s inquiry about which of these dragons won the spar. She claimed sparring was less about winning and more about learning. Gar agreed in a sense. Learning how to win. But that was just Gar’s competitive side thinking. He understood that strength wasn’t the only important factor in combat. Although he may seem like a musclebound brute, his training also emphasizes speed, endurance and snap decision making. So yes, Nayru was correct in saying strength wasn’t everything.

But once she relented and said she was indeed stronger, Gar gave a combination of a smile and an eyebrow raise. He didn’t really have any words to say, but hopefully his expression said it all. Moving on to the treasure conversation, Gar had managed to get a picture of Nayru’s dragon form wearing ludicrous amounts of jewelry in his head. It actually a cool look, the way he pictured it. Maybe Aeos did have a bunch of gold hidden away somewhere, but that wouldn’t be quite as much fun to track down.

Then came the question, why did Gar even care about treasure and gold? Gar was somewhat passionate about the subject. Maybe that passion would come across in his words. “Treasure hunting has always been an interest of mine. It’s never even been about the treasure itself you know? To me at least, its more like paying homage to those who roamed the sea before me. They have left their life’s work out in the world, waiting to be found. Everything that they accomplished in their time, their legacy, is just there to be tracked down. Following a treasure map is honoring the lives of these predecessors. As if saying, ‘I acknowledge and respect what you have done.’” Humans didn’t have the same lifespans as dragons. They had to leave their mark on the world one way or another, lest they be forgotten. There were multiple times where Gar thought of gaining riches and burying treasure for future generations to find.

Gar’s eyes wandered among the blue ocean around for a moment, lost in thought. Then they snapped back to meet with Nayru’s. “Oh and there is the whole adventure aspect to it. Travelling to these places often leaves you with a story of your own. In that sense it’s a little like monster hunting. I guess?” Gar shrugged, trying to relate it to something Nayru was familiar with. Gar wished he had more time to hunt down treasures these days. He's just a little preoccupied with the remaining pirate lords on Caledonia.