I never asked for this, why me?

[Emiryal ♕]

Caspian nodded. It was sound advice not to stay in the Empire. To do so might make him choose a side, something he didn't want to do yet. The only thing he knew was he was not going to join the Empire. The mountains would be more secluded than the elven forest. Or at least he presumed it would. Besides he did not know if he'd be welcomed by the elves nor not should he go to their home.

The thought of Galbatorix hunting him down frightened him. The king was mad and who knew what he would do to him if he were caught. Freedom came at a cost but Capsian was still not sure he was willing to pay that cost. He wanted life to go on as normal not be thrown into this war.

"I will go to the mountains. I want some time to think on this. I'm not the same person I was and I guess that's why I need to be alone for a while to find out who I am. If I choose to join the varden I'll return in a month," he said. That would be plenty of time to think. Maybe he'd return sooner. But then traveling there would take plenty of time as it was so that had to be accounted for. If he did not return, though he did not say this either he had chosen to hide for the duration of the war or had been captured. The later he hoped would not happen.



The golden dragon held tightly to Nystia's paw and refused to let go. The result was being lifted off the ground when Nystia raised her paw. She squealed in delight. It was a half roar mixed with a kind of chirp noise.



Destrier vaguely noted the other horse, Velox, was not tied up. Why did he not run from the dragon? Sure Destrier was loyal to Caspian but fear overrode that. He neighed a warning to Velox of the danger and pulled harder than ever at his lead. The lead was strong and didn't give away, but the tree branch did. It snapped and Destier took off at full speed away from where the purple dragon was.



Caspian stood up immediately when Destrier bolted. "Destrier!" he called out. But the horse did not return nor seem to hear him. Caspian looked worried. How was he going to catch his horse? Without his horse the trip to the mountains would take even longer.

[fëanàro]

Feanaro looked over at Caspian "take the time you need friend I do look forward to meeting you and your dragon agian when you return.but until then watch yourself keep your dragon safe and teach him/her you will find that dragons are highly intelligent creatures and learn fast so talk with it teach it all you know open your mind to him/her. You two share a bond like none other and your sword it would be wise to keep it safe during your travels ". Feanaro looked over at the two dragons who seemed to be enjoying eachother company when suddenly caspians horse broke from its hold and took off running. Seeing the look on caspians face feanaro smiled and reached out to the horse with his mind feanaro brushed his consciousness against the horses the animal was scared out of its mind. But feanaro spoke to it in the ancient language tell him to return to Caspian and that the dragons ment him no harm.

After a few moments wear Caspian no doubt was wounder how he was going to get to his destination with no horse the animal was makeing a b line to Caspian.feanaro walked over to the horse as it slowed to a trot wile arriving near Caspian an feanaro lightly rubed the horse and smirked at Caspian "problem solved"

[Emiryal ♕]

Caspian was shocked when Destrier returned on his own. The horse was loyal but he was sure that was not the reason. Even as loyal as he was he wouldn't go near a dragon willingly. He stood up and walked over to the horse and rubbed his neck. The horse just stared at him with friendly brown eyes. Turning to look at the elf he said. "Thank you I will keep that in mind. My dragon has surprised me already with her intelligence but if what you say is true she's smarter than I give her credit for," he said.

His hand slipped down to the sword on his belt. And to think he had considered selling it for money? The sword was more valuable than possession he had ever had before. He would not give it up now.

"How did you do that? Get Destrier back here? He's been terrified of dragons ever since a large red one burned down my village," he said. He didn't know who the dragon had been, but anyone who knew the name would probably deduce it had been Thorn.

[fëanàro]

Feanaro continued to stroke the horse gently along its side. hearing caspians question feanaro waited a few momments before answering,Looking at the rider for a second or two feanaro turned his gaze back to Caspian "it is quite simple I spoke to the horse in the ancient language useing a mental link.. the ancient language is what you herd me and our rider friend speaking in a few minutes ago,useing the ancient language one can only speak truth an also all living things understand the ancient language. Maby not get he exact words but its meaning strikes a cord within you that understands. So I told the horse to return to you and that the dragons mean it no harm and thus he has returned."

Feanaro held his gaze unblinkly on Caspian for a time before he looked to the sky and breathe a deep intake of breath and letting it out. Feanaro loved beautiful days such as this it always put him in high spirits. "Caspian if you so choose to join the varden you will be tought the ancient language amongst many other things it is very handy to be versed in the language of the elves and of the times of old.. you will also learn how to touch the minds of others with yours and how to communicate useing your mental link I advise that wile you travel pratice with your dragon for he or she is whom your bond is strongest with".

[Emiryal ♕]

Caspian nodded. What the elf said made sense; however, he would not have believed it a few days ago. At least not before he found the golden dragon. She had changed his perspective on the seemingly unreal fantasy he had only thought a story before.

"I'll keep that in mind. Seems my dragon and I will have a lot to learn if we decide to come back to the Varden. With this mental link? Um how do you...turn it off? And can I do the same to my horse like you did?" he asked. His dragon had never once broken her mental link with him since she hatched. He found it rather annoying to have her in his head all the time but didn't know how to block her out for a moments peace.

[fëanàro]

Feanaro waited a few momments before he decided to answer caspians question. He wanted to see if the rider would answer and not wanting to seem wiser or better equipt feanaro remaind silent gather how best to infourm Caspian on this art. After the breif respite feanaro shifted his duel elven long knives that are always on his back before he noticed that the rider must be deep in conversation with with her dragon mentally so he turned his gaze to Caspian.

Wearing a soft expression feanaro spoke to Caspian "that you do Caspian you will be tought a great many things from swordsmenship to reading and writeing but do not wait to be tought wile you travel teach your dragon all you know an most importantly teach it how to speak..he/she can not speak vocally but mentally and the more you teach the more you will see how quickly these amazing creatures can learn. "

Takeing a breath before continueing feanaro scanned the area they were at out of habbit then he went on and almost as if he could read caspians mind he said"firstly you should never want to completely block your dragon out your mental link with eachother is what makes being bonded as dragon and rider so special but some times you so need time to gather your own thoughts so to sever your mental link you simply draw it back into your own consciousness but don't so so completely with your dragon. You will understand why later on as you both grow.. now yes you can do the same to your horse as well as any other living being if you would like I could show you the basic idea of how this works so you can learn how to use it as well as strengthen your skill it is quite useful when you want to detect a person who has bad intentions.. would you like to learn ?".. feanaro knew he was no teacher but helping Caspian with this can prove valuable for the young boy and his dragon. .

[Emiryal ♕]

Caspian smiled a bit when Feanaro spoke as if there was a joke in his words. "I can help teach her to speak I suppose but I really don't know anything besides farming. I don't think that will be useful to know for a dragon." Caspian had a lot to learn he had grown up in a small secluded village and had no need to learn anything that wasn't to survive. That mainly being farming and a bit of hunting. If not just for the cause to fight the Empire he might need the Varden just to learn how to write as well as other topics.

He nodded at Feanaro's explanation of how to black the dragon out of his mind. He had never tried that but it would be nice to stop hearing her thoughts once in a while. The dragon's thoughts always were in his head and at times it could be quite irritating. Sometimes she would fill his mind so completely he would see through her eyes. That caused problems when she did it unexpectedly and made him run into someone or trip on nothing.

"I would like to learn how to do that," Caspian said. Anything he could be taught about well being a rider would help. It wasn't something he could run away from so he might as well learn what he could.

As Feanaro spoke he tried to mentally pull away from his dragon and was rewarded with silence. He did not hear her any more. Suddenly the golden dragon whipped around as if Caspian had hit her and roared at him. It was a small roar as she was only a baby but it was a roar nonetheless. She darted towards him and placed her two for paws on his leg and let her claws prick him. Caspian yelped and danced a step away from her. When he looked at the dragon she seemed very upset at him and hurt. Sighing Caspian let his mind reach out to her, she instantly embraced him in thought and chided him for blocking her out. Caspian looked at Feanaro sheepishly like a child that knew he had done something he wasn't supposed to. "She doesn't want me to block her out."

[Kathena]

Velox watched Destrier curiously. He understood the other horse's fear of the dragons, but he didn't see a reason to run. He knew he wouldn't make it without the elf who rode to take care of him, and she seemed to have no choice but to stay with the purple dragon. Velox was annoyed by the dragon, but it had never truely bothered him. It may snicker at him or glare at him every once and awhile, but for the most part they seemed to be in agreement: If you don't bother me, I won't bother you. The reddish brown glendling looked over at Destrier and neighed in reassurance to the other horse.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Nystia let out soft laughter as she watched the golden dragon being lifted off the ground. The other dragon seemed so happy playing. She only wished she could have had a friend like this dragon. She hoped the dragon's rider would chose to join the Varden after all. The purple dragon smiled and set her paw back on the ground so that the golden dragon could once more have all four paws on the ground.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Amanes watched and listened as the elf and the human talked. She was trying to pay attention to what they were saying, but for some reason her mind kept wondering. She had always wanted to learn even more about the Acnient Language. The truth was, she didn't even know everything about Ellesmera's history. Being the daughter of a peasant, she didn't get as much education as she had wanted. Her friends had been able to teach her a lot of what she didn't know, but it wasn't everything she had wanted to know. Out of all of her friends, only one of them besides her had been able to use magic.

The elf's stomache had a queasy feeling in it when she thought of this friend. He was the one she missed the most. Amanes shook her head, trying to get the thought away. She had promised ehrself to move on, to try to forget her dead friends. That's when she refocused on Caspian and Fearano.

"Could I try to help out?" Amanes spoke up. She wanted to see if she could help Caspian, but she didn't know why he would want to block his dragon out. The mental link between a dragon and a rider was a beautiful thing, or so she thought anyway. She had thought of it as a blessing when she had become a dragon rider. She knew that elves didn't really have a religion, but she had always believed there was something out there. There had to be, right?

[fëanàro]

Feanaro smirked to him self slightly as he watched the little golden dragons reaction to Caspian withdrawing totally from its mind. He knew this cause the dragon wouldn't have acres as such other wise. Turning his gaze to caspian feanaro told the young rider "well did you expect anything less? I told you you both share a bond like non other.you are partners of the heart and mind together you are whole but apart weather it be physically or mental you are but a shadow if your self.. now if I may ill shall tell you that you should never completely witch draw your concusses from one another.a practice riders of old did was they would withdraw there minds almost totally but left enugh of there mental contact so that they could sense eachother emotions slightly. Try that this time you will still havenyoir mental privacy but you will also know how your dragon feals".

Feanaro was thrown off by the elder riders words not because she wanted to help but cause it was just sudden. Looking over at amanes feanaro bowed his head slightly as "of course shurtugal you need not ask to assist.I never ment to presume I know more about the link dragons and riders hold then you. I jerky seen you pre occupied and since I have been a student thanks to my parients teachings my entire life so I figured I would pass along some of my knowladge to young Caspian here."

[Emiryal ♕]

Destrier nickered softly to Velox. He seemed perfectly calm now after being called back in the ancient language. He was still watching the dragons but wasn't acting nervous now.



Caspian nodded and took in every Feanaro said. He understood a bit that the bond between rider and dragon was special. But he had never been separated from his dragon before until now, when he'd pulled back. The uneasy feeling he'd felt was explained by the elf's words. In that he was only part of the whole, his dragon was the other half. He couldn't separate from her any more than he could from his own arm.

He let Feanaro answer the elf Rider. He didn't mind the extra help at all. He was entirely new to this rider thing and being a rider herself Amanes could probably help him the most. He tried to pull away from his dragon again but only partially. Enough to give him privacy. But the dragon held him tightly mentally and wouldn't let him pull away from her. Caspian sighed. "She won't let me try again."

[fëanàro]

Feanaro shook his head from side to side quickly wile chuckling "nonsense Caspian consider this your first test as a rider. You need to just consontrate harder,focus your mind.an if that fails speak to your dragon mentally send fealings of affection an trust and other such things through your link." Feanaro knew dragons even at a young age were strong there were extraordinary creatures capable of feats with magic even they. Can't fully explain this would be good pratice for Caspian

[Emiryal ♕]

Caspian nodded and tried again without success. His dragon's will and hold on him was too strong to restrict their bond. He was a farm boy and had no experience in magic or mental contact. His dragon was naturally his superior in mental contact by the pure nature of her species alone.

He tried sending her thoughts of trust, affection and peace. However, was unmoving and would not be separated from him physically or mentally. "I can't do it!" he complained aloud. "I just can't. I'm not good at this." Elves had years even centuries of experience with this but Caspian had none at all. This was a difficult task for him at best.

[fëanàro]

Feanaro simply looked down at Caspian studying the boy for a few momments before putting his hand on the boys shoulder."my young friend do not let this undermine you,if you had succeeded on your first or second try that would have been an amazing feat for someone with no training or help in the art of magic or in this case the art of useing ones mental link. You must practice as much as possible in order to grow better,but allow me to try and help you find little bit. Close your eyes,take a deep breath in through your nose then exhale out of your mouth. Now your exhale should take longer then your inhale. This will help you relax, after that focus your energies on the task at hand,erase from your mind doubt,fear,dissapointment,fustration and RELAX.Do not try to yank your consciousness back all at once, this time do it slowly that way you don't feal like a field mouse caught in the talons of a hawk.and remember do not back out all the way leave enugh of your link so that you can still feal eschothers emotions. see if this helps it is always best an effective when you have a clear head "

[Emiryal ♕]

Caspian was frustrated at his failed attempts. He knew Feanaro's words were true. If he had succeeded the first time or second time it would've been unusual. He had never done anything like this before so of course it would be hard. But he was still frustrated. He wanted to get it right so badly. Why he wasn't really sure, perhaps to prove to himself he could do this and he could be a rider. He sighed then closing his eyes did as Feanaro asked. It was difficult to relax and clear his mind to focus on the task at hand. Thoughts of his frustration were most prominent among other things.

Sephora watched Caspian intently as if she was trying to decide what Caspian was doing. She paced around at his feet before sitting down between Caspian and Feanaro. She touched Caspian's mind trying to ask him what he was doing. The young man visibly flinched as she touch his mind, by doing so she had just ruined his focus. "What goldie," he asked. She simply responded with curiosity. "I'm...I'm trying to break mental contact with you, just for a moment to practice. I probably will need to know how to do this later and..." he started to tell her when she cut him off. She didn't respond to him with words very often but more emotions. And she responded now by an emotion of understanding and willingness to help. She sat perfectly still watching him now.

Caspian started again and slowly cleared his mind so he could focus. Then slowly he pulled his consciousness away from Sephora. It was a strange sensation and felt sort of cold as he pulled away. He stopped when there was only a sliver of connection left. Just enough to sense a few things from Sephora but in his mind he was mostly alone now. He opened his eyes and grinned at Feanaro. "I did it!" he said. "Though this time Sephora I think helped me she let me pull away this time."

Sephora seemed uneasy and wouldn't take her eyes off Caspian. She didn't like being blocked out even if it was only partially. However she understood why Caspian needed to, so she waited anxiously for him to let her back into his mind.

[fëanàro]

Feanaro let out a chuckle and foaled his hands togeather "HA excellent Caspian excellent, see all it takes is a little bit if hard work and determination.and as I've told you dragons are not some mer dumb animal they are highly intelligent creatures an the proof is right here. even at such a young age the dragon knew what it was you were trying to do". Feanaro paused for a momment looking over at the little golden dragon "I apologize it seems so disrespectfull to keep revering to your dragon as dragon or it. Does it have a name that I can call it by or have you not had time to name he/she properly".

[Emiryal ♕]

Caspian was pleased by Feanaro's praise. It felt like a huge accomplishment to him and he suddenly wanted to learn more. He wasn't sure leaving was such a good idea. He was sure the elf could teach him a lot.

A slight annoying push kept prodding at his mind. His dragon didn't want to be kept out of his mind any longer than was necessary. He opened his mind and even before he did anything his dragon was there in his mind embracing him like he'd been gone for months from her.

Outwardly the gold dragon was delighted and sort of pranced around doing a little dance of joy. She was glad Caspian had succeeded in it and that he had let her back into his mind.

Caspian laughed at her reaction before answering the elf. "She doesn't have a name yet. I just call her Goldie most of the time, she isn't very found of that though. How do I properly name her?" He wondered if there was some ceremony or something elaborate to naming a dragon or did he not pick the name at all. Actually...he'd never asked his dragon what her name was. Maybe she'd picked one herself.

[fëanàro]

Before feanaro could answer caspians question he noticed the little dragon is jumping with joy and vigor.feanaro began to laph his soft almost musical laph that most elves possess. "Bahahaha I assume you and the little one have joined back fully at the mind judging by her sudden burst of joy". Wile he pondered caspians question feanaro ran a hand through his Mohawk quickly, it was a habbit of his wile he was thinking. After a brief respite he answered Caspian "goldie you say haha well that may be a fitting nick name at the momment but no that name will not do and believe me as she gets older she will pester you like no others till you changed the name" feanaro said with the hint of amusement in his voice.

"There is no special way to name a dragon the best thing to do is just go through names with her till she agrees with a suitable one or comes up with one her self. Is it safe for me to assume that you don't know many if any dragon names?."

[Emiryal ♕]

Caspian smiled and nodded at Feanaro's question of rejoining with his dragon. It was quite an interesting sight to see his dragon be so delighted. After a short while the gold dragon seemed to calm down and sat down near his feet and settled down.

"She already pesters me a bit now. She doesn't like being called Goldie," he said. The problem was he didn't know what else to call her besides Goldie. He knew she needed a suitable name and he was glad it was a simple as picking a good name for her. Kind of like how he had named his horse. He yelped as small teeth pricked his leg. The gold dragon had nipped at his leg and looked at him disapprovingly. She didn't like to be compared to a horse.

Caspian rubbed his leg to ease the slight pain. At least his dragon had taken care not to break the skin and only nip. "Ah no, not really. I mean I know Saphira, Starlight and Nystia. But those names all all taken, it wouldn't seem right to use any of those."

[fëanàro]

Feanaro looked down at the little dragon and chuckled "well I can't blame her for pestering you about that name. Its hardly a fitting name for a dragon,you gota think of something fierce something noble, a name to be proud of something enemies will never forget. Goldie is a fine nick name but on your travels ponder a good name an teach her how to speak she can help you choose a name that she will like".

[Emiryal ♕]

Caspian nodded. When the elf put it that way Goldie seemed a very inadequate name for his dragon. "Are there any dragon names you know that are not taken. Maybe when she learns how to speak I could tell her some you know as options."

Sephora growled at Caspian. "I can speak," she said to both him and Feanaro. She was a fast learner. She had just not spoken before because she preferred to use images rather than words to communicate, it was much more accurate.