Expectations Subverted
More canon writing of Caelin and Barsaen's first encounter. Short, but it gets the point across. My next work shall be another tf that I though of while writing this.
He could smell them outside, their anger and the smoke from their torches, while he realized there was the possibly they might actually be a threat, he still couldn't help but be amused that they wanted to threaten him with fire. It almost made him want to go out to meet them and feign terror at their torches, but he could smell something foul in the air, something that sent a chill down his spine. This wasn't the first time they had attacked, but this time was different. He could smell someone new, a woman definitely, but she smelled of adrenaline and far away lands.
Even so, Barsaen couldn't just sit in here and wait for them to charge in, that would be rude. Grumbling to himself he lifted himself from his belly and stretched himself out, making sure his muscles were loose in case of a fight. The copper dragon was absolutely not in the mood to fight these people again, but there was someone new....who did not smell as if they were from here, and had to be assumed as a hired blade. As he unhappily drug himself to the opening of the cave, his suspicions were confirmed, in a half circle around the mouth of his cave. And there, standing halfway between the villagers and himself, was a woman toting a foul feeling blue blade, and completely outfitted in menacing steel. Now Barsaen fumed mentally, fantastic, they hired a dragon-slayer.
"Dragon," Spoke the armor clad woman. "I have been called here to discern why you attacked the village, and if you prove to be in the wrong..." She moved the blade so it could be quickly swung at the beast as she hefted her shield as well, not taking any chances with him. "I will have no choice but to enact punishment by our laws."
Barsaen's guard didn't waver despite, to be honest, he was extremely surprised. In fact, he was just as surprised as the many villagers who had gathered here. They hadn't heard of a slayer asking the dragon for his side of the story before, same as Barsaen. The dragon kept his stance ready to swipe with his claws or unleash a torrent of flame since he didn't want to be the victim of deceit, but he spoke in a calm tone to this woman.
"I'm willing to talk....on one condition, and I'm thinking you'll accept....I'd ask that the villagers be told to leave. You look like you can talk in a civil manner." Barsaen gave a sort of grin, well, as good a grin as one without actual cheeks could anyways.
The woman smiled and without turning, called up the lord presiding over the nearby village that these people resided in. Even if Barsaen hadn't met him before, he still would have been able to tell who he was by the fact he was the most well dressed, cleanest, and the only one with a well kept blade at his side among the rabble. He talked with her shortly, before waving off the villagers, leaving only himself and the woman before the dragon. Barsaen didn't complain that he remained, since technically he only asked the villagers to leave. The woman was pretty by human standards at least. As soon as the villagers were at least a good distance away she nodded to the dragon, inclining to begin.
Barsaen cleared his throat and began his story when he changed dens after a change in power cost him his last home. "Well, first off young one, my name to be handled by your kind is Barsaen, and I am here recently moving in." He ignored a foul look from the lord and continued. "I know there are no other dens nearby so I'm not encroaching on anyone's land, there is plenty of wild game nearby so I don't need to pay the farmers for their livestock, and I was fairly sure that I was outside of the jurisdiction of the humans land since I walked about as a human among their cities asking. I even checked with the steward for a map..which I still have. So I was surprised that after a week of living here, I found the villagers at my doorstep claiming I'd been striking their livestock.....yet I have been hunting venison. Wonder how that rumor started.." He gave a side glance at the residing lord, but neither the woman nor the lord missed it.
Indignantly the lord stepped towards him, mouth opening in protest, as Barsaen opened his mouth to meet that protest with his own heated exclamation. Almost as quickly as it took for the man to become angry, he retreated, and it took just as much time for the woman to extinguish the spell she'd began conjuring in her shield hand. As it was her turn, the woman nodded and began to speak.
"I am Caelin, dragon-singer of Hacin. I've been called here because of your unlawful trespass, which has already been dismissed by Lord Tagon here, and the claim that you attacked the village, which I also disproved by the fact every building is standing and the only site of battle is here at your own cave."
Again the lord spoke up, "Well Ms. Caelin, we were given no warning of his arrival. He admits to moving about the town in a human disguise, but he did not approach me for a release of the land."
Caelin wished that she could face palm, She just shook her head and asked the lord to wait at his manor. She could take it from here. The man mistook it as a sign that she was going to battle, and full out sprinted in the direction the peasants had set off in. As soon as he was gone, she took a few steps back before sheathing her blade in the shield bore scabbard in case Barsaen went hostile. She moves to her bag and pulled out a book. She sat down far enough away that he couldn't reach her with his body, and he'd have to use the flame. She cast her eyes to the book and began browsing it, turning pages as the need arose.
"So," She spoke up, "did you kill any of the villagers?"
The copper male shook his head seriously, he explained he scared them off with scary words and a display of strength. He didn't move towards or away from her, and a good couple of minutes ticked by slowly as she browsed the book. He would deny it later, but he winced reflexively when she suddenly snapped the book shut, and moved her blade from her shield to the scabbard at her side and gave a sort of bow to him.
"Well, I'll be taking my leave of you Barsaen, you obviously aren't fell, or even feral and you didn't do anything wrong yet....it's been a pleasure to have such a nice first day on the job."
Despite the situation at hand and how easily it could have gone badly, Barsaen erupted in a deep, hearty laugh. She had seemed so posed, so calm, and so careful. It hadn't occurred to him that she had never faced down a dragon before. It just struck him as increasingly amusing, The more he thought about it, the funnier it was and the louder her laughed. It wasn't until he stopped laughing that he noticed the woman was already gone. Collecting himself, he eyed the area, but he could hear her walking away, by smell, towards a mare not too far away. In a far more pleasant mood, he moved the rest of the way out of his cave, he spread his wings and took to the air for breakfast.
"Caelin.." he murmured to himself. He'd remember that name. She was a funny one, but he'd have to do a bit of research on these "dragon-singers"