The Starting Line [Vik/Dragon/Sarkany]

[Sharei]

Silence stretched beneath Koji's judgmental stare. The juvenile shifted under it, scuffing the toe of his sneaker to avoid looking directly into the yellow and orange gaze surveying him from the porch. The weight of it was a naked scrutiny that took in all his faults at a glance. 

The elemental had been outside when he and his father had walked up the overgrown hunter's trail. It better resembled a drive now that the long grass was beaten down by the tire treads of Koji's old jeep. Said jeep, a lackluster brick red vehicle that had seen better days, was parked at the side of the cabin beneath the shade of a tree. Two huge bags of topsoil were sitting in the back seat, presumably for the new garden that had sprouted up tiny picket fence and all.

It was all very unassuming, especially because he could smell apple pie cooling on a sill somewhere, but the dragon was nervous all the same. 

"Vik!" the redhead called through an open window. "Sarkany and your new student are here."

[MP]

"And we've brought bribes!" Sarkany called.

He raised a large duffel bag of ingredients, bottles and wrapped items clinking and rustling inside. It was an incredible amount of food. But then, none of them were light eaters. A predator's nose could pick out the faint scent of seasoned meats and marinades through the material.

"I could use that fire of yours, if you get bored," he said to Koji. "There's a little thing I want to try."

The food would be his only contribution to these sessions, as far as Sarkany was concerned. The promise of a fresh meal - and the smell of it, once they got cooking - would lift the spirits better than a spectating parent. Let the pup try his strength without scrutiny. He trusted that Viktoria would assess and take care of the rest. Sarkany glanced at the dragon with a small smile, his body language relaxed and entirely at home.

"Make sure to work up an appetite. This'll be a good one."

[tsukikoko]

Her cabin-mate’s call was unneeded, as she’d heard Sarkany’s familiar footfalls a fair few moments prior as he approached the house, muffled though her hearing currently was. His companion’s footsteps were less known to her, but it didn’t take much to figure out who they belonged to, given a few conversations between the feline and seraph leading to this day. Still, she appreciated it. Koji’s arrival in her cabin had been unexpected and rocky, but she’d watched him emerge from a secluded shell in the time he’d been with her, especially where the garden was concerned. Given how many similar experiences and outlooks they shared, she felt a kindred spirit in him and it was… pleasant, to see him grow.

A grey face appeared out of one of the cabin windows, though one of Viktoria’s most prominent features, her large ears, were missing from their usual place atop her head. Instead, she sported a deep blue and white bandana, a clothing type the humanoid had not worn for a long while. Across one shoulder she had slung a tea towel and when her hand raised to grab it, water dripped from her skin. Caught in the middle of washing dishes, the feline looked a like strange blend of 50’s housewife and scarred war machine. She flashed a fanged half-grin and threw out a hand in a wave that silently said ‘be right there’.

Only a few moments passed before Viktoria came to greet Sarkany and her new ‘student’, sans towel but still wearing the bandana. She eyed the bag of food appreciatively, muzzle twitching and nostrils flaring, but fixed her attention on the awkward-looking youth her friend had brought along not too long after.

Emerald eyes stared, neither judgemental, nor exactly friendly. Her expression was one of deadpan assessment, giving away nothing on animalistic features.
“Jacket off, arrrms up.” She instructed suddenly, raising one of her own arms up to a 90 degree angle in the manner she clearly wanted him to replicate.

Straight to business. She needed to know exactly what she was working with here.

[Sharei]

At the mention of possible cooking, Koji perked up from his place against the railing. "Sure. There's a meat pie I was working on that I want you to try, anyway," he said, indicating the front door with a tilt of his head. "Inside, or out on the pit?"

The dragon was less enthused. He watched Viktoria warily as she approached, although it was not the first time that they'd met. She was a friend of Sarkany's, which endeared her, but she was still a stranger and an intimidating one at that. He side-eyed her like an animal might, sizing her up, and when she ordered his jacket off he only begrudgingly obliged.

Not that it helped. The jacket zipper came down and an oversized hoodie with sleeves so long they went to his fingers spilled out of it. The heavy fabric obscured most of him and hung off his frame when he lifted his arms to either side. Viktora raised an eyebrow ridge, made a gesture with one finger in a motion that implied she'd like if the hoody beneath came off too.

A second later, she explained in her usual gruff manner, "Zhat too. Must be knowing, ah, size and veight of you. Iz harrrderrr vith," she indicated the baggy clothes, "-zhat."

The dragon grumbled under his breath - a teenager's rebellion - but grabbed the bottom of his hoodie and pulled it over his head with irritated motions. The wind was chill against his bare flesh even though it was still early october, and he really wished they'd do this inside. He tied the white and green fabric around his waist and held out his arms again, revealing both the long scars elbow to wrist and the numerous healed wounds of narrow escapes long past. It also revealed his surprisingly narrow frame. He had the look of someone previously malnourished and out of shape rather than someone naturally trim, and a keen eye would see the bigger build he might have had with the right attention.

[MP]

“Let’s see the pie then, and we’ll set up there,” Sarkany said, seemingly oblivious to the pup’s reluctance.

He shouldered the bag and started toward the porch, noting the sprouts and other touch-ups to the place with an appreciative glance. He’d never been much for homebuilding himself, but he’d enjoyed watching the project take shape.

“I hope this one doesn’t run away on you again,” he added, hands in his pockets and the very picture of innocence. “Flighty things, pies.”

The apple pie, for example, smelled liable to leap right off the sill and disappear - to where, who could say? Certainly not into a seraph’s belly.

[tsukikoko]

For a moment or two, Viktoria thought perhaps the youngling was about to refuse. She saw the indignation in his face, but the teen relented, rather than making both their lives more difficult. She didn't think he'd have liked her follow up suggestion any better, which involved getting her hands on him to feel his stature through the baggy material.

As it was, the feline was able to begin her assessment, a steady appraisal from his head down to his feet, with only a passing glance at Sarkany and Koji as they vacated. A low, thoughtful hum began to rumble from the muscular humanoid as her arms folded over her chest.
"Da. Can vork vith." She stated, but there was a slight edge to her tone that warned of the upcoming clarification before she uttered it. "But not lyike zis." She gestured to the young dragon's body with one hand. Her tone geared towards being harsh, or unfair, but there was a bluntness to it.

"You arrre underrveight," she continued, "-can, ah, tell frrrom face.. and ozerrr zings." The slightly sunken cheeks, the prominence of neck tendons and wastage of muscle she could see on his arms. Viktoria had seen it before, either from starvation or those locked away for long periods; even the most hardy, muscular of organisms could wither without correct nutrition and exercise. That was what she saw in front of her. Not a small weakling, but an underdeveloped frame that was clearly built for strength - she could tell from the set of his jaw, the width of his chest. Certain features couldn't be denied even after malnutrition.
"Vill not starrrt trrraining vithout veight. Animal fat. Prrrotein. You vill fail, get tirrred, discourrraged vith, ah, no rrreason. Iz pointless." The feline cast a glance back in Sarkany's direction, the bag he still held. That would be far too easy. She wanted to see what this youngling had to offer aside from his poorly developed body. The animalistic muzzle tracked instead in the direction of the woods. With Winter approaching but not quite upon them, the most fertile months of Summer behind them, fauna would be starting to slow but not yet have lost the all important fat she was looking for. Turning her gaze back to the youth, she stated,
"You vill hunt vith me. Vill get morre zhan vhat hyave herrre, vhat Sarrkany iz, ah, prrroviding."

[Sharei]

"Flighty pies, or sneaky Icarim?" Koji countered with a tolerant smile. He wasn't bothered by the veiled threat. It had actually become something of a game between the two of them. A contest. If Koji couldn't protect his pie then he clearly didn't deserve to keep it.

He lead the other man into the cabin's generous kitchen. The counters were cleared already from the baking Koji had been doing, clean and fresh and dishes newly washed. The meat pie in question was still in the oven, with a timer about to ding. Koji opened the oven and reached in barehanded to pull it out, filling the whole cabin with the delicious smell of baked crust and chicken vegetable stew.

Outside, the dragon hurriedly tugged his hoodie on and stuffed his hands into the deep front pocket. He wasn't self-conscious about his body most of the time - dragons didn't do clothes normally, so why bother worrying about nudity? - he felt a flush of it under Viktoria's blunt accusation. She said underweight and he heard not good enough. The dragon's shoulders bunched.

"But we already-," he started to protest.

Remember you promised dad that you'd at least try, he reminded himself with a guilty pang. Uuuugh.

"... Fine. What do you want to hunt?"

[MP]

"Pies have so many natural predators," Sarkany sighed, shaking his head. "I guess we'll never know what got it in the end, poor thing."

He eyed the oven as it cracked open, breathing in the warm, savory scents. A golden crust. And a faint spiced edge. The Genasi had been working on his recipe.

"It smells even better than the last one," he commented. "- Which I did not eat."

He could hear the exchange through the window and was content with what he heard - grudging though it was. A good hunt would clear that up.

[tsukikoko]

Again Viktoria’s eyebrow ridge quirked, but she didn’t say anything to his initial attempt at argument. The dragon had agreed in the end, after all. Albeit with reluctance. That was fine too; resistance wasn’t an unfamiliar experience.

Shrugging off her own shirt and leaving it on the wood railing of the front porch, since she didn’t want to bloodstain yet another top, the feline answered her new student’s question,
“Deerrr vould be good. Biggerrr, morre efforrt. Good meat also.”
Despite the chill in the air, Viktoria seemed completely nonplussed - both by the cold and her bare, scarred skin on show. Even her feet were bare; the thick, sandpapery skin perfectly tough enough to deal with whatever was thrown her way underfoot. Her gaze turned towards the nearby woods, which were looking far less luscious as a consequence of the changing seasons.
“Iz still some coverrr, but less.” She began to explain, already making her way towards the trees. “Vill be, ah, spotted easierr. Good prrractice.”
Fighting was not all about strength, a series of lessons she intended to instil within Sarkany’s young dragon. Balance, surety of step, a keen awareness of one’s surroundings, all were key and she intended to gather a baseline of his skills from their little excursion. Even if he failed to land the deer, that was alright for the sake of her information gathering.

After all, she would not. They would still eat.

The feline turned her head in the youngling’s direction, flicked her chin sharply in the same direction she was headed.
“Come.”

[Sharei]

Koji's low chuckle was the only answer Sarkany earned for his jokes. He placed the pie on the cooling rack, which in turn had been strategically moved to sit just below the cupboard where the plates were kept. It prevented Koji from having to turn his back on the pie and lessened the scenarios where he 'accidentally' lost it.

"I changed the recipe a little bit," he said and obtained a knife from a nearby drawer. His other hand practically cupped the outer edge of the pie protectively as he started plating slices. "Beef and veal with grated potatoes and grated onion. Minced garlic, a little salt and pepper, dried savory, egg, and a little Worcestershire sauce and ground clove for added flavor."

---

The dragon regarded the damp and damaged woods turned orange and brown by the season's climb into autumn. Nothing about his coloring would help conceal him in such an environment and he got the distinct impression that turning into his natural form and hunting that way was out. This was supposed to be about learning to fight in his smaller forms, after all. Viktoria could hardly teach him the particulars of dragon battles.

The juvenile sighed and toed off his sneakers and removed his hoodie. When he put his feet down into the soft earth they were scaly and long-toed, clearly the feet of a dragonkin and not a human. The transformation vibrated up his body, changing skin and limb as it went. Soon the young man was standing in his Saljir form, wings tucked tight against his back to ward off the cold in the thin-webbed limbs. He shivered more bodily now without the clothing to protect him from the elements, but he dutifully followed after his new instructor.

[MP]

Sarkany seemed tame enough as he accepted a slice. No hint of mischief. After all, why steal a pie that was already offered? Especially when there was a second one for the taking - and much less guarded too.

"Coor!"

It was a small dove-like sound, oddly reminiscent of his natural shape. By now, his packmates were familiar with it - a sound of surprise or enthusiasm or, in the case of food, delight.

"I like the change! Where did you get the meat?"

Sarkany paced as he spoke, a slow, casual circuit around the kitchen that put him in convenient view of the pie on the windowsill. He glanced at it in passing, his expression the disinterested look of a cat contemplating a glass on the edge of a table. But there was still perfectly good pie on his plate. He took another bite. Another few steps, getting a better angle of the place.

[tsukikoko]

Aside from a quick glance at the Saljir to ascertain his natural weaponry, the size of his wings and colour of his scales, the hatchling's new teacher neither said or did anything. Viktoria continued to say nothing for a good long while, as she led the young dragon through the woods. Should he be paying attention, he would note that despite the size of her and the variety of leaf litter, sticks and stones strewn about their feet, the humanoid moved with a quiet, stalking grace that accented her feline roots. One ear was always cocked in his direction while the other listened to the woodland around them, taking note of the youngling's movements and any excess sound he might make, though she didn't comment on it. The time for review would come later, she needed him to be as natural as possible for the moment.

Only when they had been travelling for a good fifteen or so minutes, did the muscular hybrid stop and sharply turn towards a row of densely clustered trees, some of which had fallen and were rotted. She leapt upwards, both hands grabbing hold of a lower branch, claws latching into the bark, before she swung her entire body up and into the boughs. The faintest creak and shaking of leaves marked her progress along the branches.
"Now, you making firrst choice," said the scarred feline from above, withdrawing a bow, a quiver and a number of arrows from within a hidden cache amongst the scarred remains of a damaged, but still quite tall tree - either struck by lightning or snapped in the high winds of some past storm. Kept dry by a sealed container and bound leather hide, the bow was relatively simple; a single piece of curved wood that Viktoria had fashioned herself. She had tested it, many a time, ensuring the bowstring was of the correct tautness and despite it's simplicity, the weapon was nonetheless deadly. With a dull thud she dropped to the ground, holding out the bow for the Saljir to inspect.
"Vill you be using, ah.. claws, teeth, or you arrre prreferrr bow?" She shrugged a little. "Iz no wrrrong answerr."
Whichever choice he made today, next time she would take him through the other.

[Sharei]

"There's a butcher shop on the edge of town," Koji said. "The quality is top notch, and the price isn't bad. Beats going all the way into the city."

The Genasi regarded Sarkany's wandering with veiled skepticism. At the casual glance, he realized his mistake. The apple pie was sitting on the windowsill, opposite where he'd placed the meat pie, effectively splitting the two targets. He'd meant to move it. He'd forgotten.

Koji moved to pull out one of the chairs at the kitchen table. "Why don't you have a seat?"

-------------

Viktoria was stealthy, he had to give her that. She walked like she belonged in the woods, alert and aware in the same way that his father was, and he could find no criticisms there. The dragon was no slouch himself, though. He'd spent his life fleeing rather than fighting, and learning to move carefully and cautiously had been a significant part of that. What he lacked in physical prowess he made up for by being quiet, and he was almost as comfortable navigating soundlessly through the underbrush as she was.

"Claws," the juvenile said, eying the bow as if it had grown warts. A human weapon, he thought, trying to hide his distaste. But even if he hadn't cared, he still couldn't have chosen it. "I don't know how to use that."

[MP]

"Butchers," Sarkany said thoughtfully. In a small act of mercy, he turned his back on the windowsill. For now. "All these years in the human world, and it's still such a strange concept to me. Someone to pick the carcass for you like you're a pup. And then charge you for it! But if the animal is well-chosen and fresh, it may be worth a visit."

It was the same casual tone he used when stealing pies - a sure sign he found the recommendation interesting. Truth be told, the seraph didn't always come by his meat fairly. He didn't mind gaminess, but certain dishes called for certain breeds or standards. He saw no harm in stealing a tender beast from the local stock, especially when humans bred so much excess. The only caveat was not to steal too often, so as not to alert them - and that often meant supplementing with sad, watery old market flesh in between. Any place with quality meats had his immediate interest.

"Tell you what. I'll make you an offer." Sarkany made another idle circuit around the island, leaving Koji room to rescue the apple pie at the cost of leaving the meat pie open. "Take me by this butcher's shop sometime, and I'll let you in on a little culinary secret I've been working on. I've an old dish from home that would be heartbreaking with a good pie crust."

[tsukikoko]

If she noticed the juvenile's obvious distaste for the weapon, Viktoria gave no outward sign or comment of it. She nodded acceptance, secured the quiver over one shoulder and then, should the dragon be taking notice, he'd see her nostrils flare just a little wider as the feline caught scents on the wind. She knew general haunts and routes of the local deer population and with most all human Hunters kept off the mountain, due to Marchelute, had the added benefit of their behaviour not being constantly impacted by the scent and presence of man. While she wouldn't necessarily make the juvenile track from scratch, this time, she did at least want to know a couple of things.

Viktoria abruptly tapped the side of her muzzle, asking,
"Vhat iz.. ah, sense of smell forrr you, vhen lyike zis?" She gestured to his Saljir form with an up and down motion of one hand, then followed with, "hyave beforrre trrracked on grrround? Orrr, ah, morrrre frrom airr?"
From their journey here, she'd already ascertained that he could move with the silence needed - both to hunt deer and to evade most enemy's auditory detection - which was certainly a good start.