Training had gone questionably. As they dispersed the makeshift grounds, Kjors led his charge to his newly moved den. The discovery of Zephyr Rill had prompted this slow move originally, but it was not the only inspiration. His second den was dug deeper and wider – it was a project taken on over the course of many days, and without assistance. With Hearthwood River finally founded properly, his little princess had begun to refill her stores necessary to pursue her desired position. A bit foolish, he reckoned, but saw no reason to argue against it. Once he considered the new home satisfactory, he introduced his darling gem to it – and now, he led them to this shared ground.

The male slipped into the den in silent, quickly moving to the area he'd bedded with a few soft pelts and fallen pine needles. Karina was welcome to join him, should she want company, but the dragon was just as content to tuck his legs beneath his frame and settle into a sleep meant for processing. He did not stir for hours, single eye only beginning to blink open as dusk began to fall. The unquiet of his mind indicated he'd stumbled upon something interesting, and he chuffed softly as he curled his tail around haunches. Waiting for the princess to properly enter the land of the living, he motioned for her to move closer, that he might groom her properly.

"Feelin' better?" he inquired, eye half-lidded as he hummed. "Y' did a good job. Th' calm thing, love, tha's good. Y'gotta remember t' be calm an' y'll get outta hard situations. Y'got 'ny questions?"

With Karina stumbling along behind him hardly more than a zombie, Kjors had led the pair not to the den she expected—the one by Turtleback Lake--  but to his new project out at Zephyr Rill. Despite her exhaustion, a tiny smile flickered across Karina’s features as she recalled her mentor’s excitement when he first showed her his discovery; this churning little creek chock full of fish. Back then Kjors had still been putting the finishing touches on his den, but now it looked to be complete. “Y’ finish’d it,” she sleepy girl had slurred, chuckling as her word came out sounding like Kjors’ heavy accent. It had taken Karina no time at all to find her chamber in the den, seeing as it was already lined with lavender sprigs—Kjors must have transferred them for her from the old den to the new. Karina curled up and sank into the deepest sleep of her life, her mind whirring as her thoughts turned back to the lesson at the lake.

When the girl awoke, she felt better rested that she could ever recall feeling when she woke up back in the community den. There had been no muted footsteps as wolves sneaked in or out of the den, no hushed conversations, no jostling as someone repositioned themselves… there had been no interruptions at all and Karina had slept soundly with the song of the babbling rill as her lullaby. The princess stretched and yawned, feeling very peaceful, and her periwinkle gaze found her teacher in his adjacent chamber. He was already awake, and he uttered a gruff summons to her when he saw her stir. Karina was happy to oblige him, and she curled up once more beside her swarthy companion, reaching up to lick him beneath his jaw and he tended to her fur, which was somewhat out-of-place after such a deep sleep.

He mentioned the “calm thing,” which Karina could only assume was referring to the trance-like experience she’d had during the lesson. She certainly hadn’t felt calm.. she hadn’t felt anything at all, and least none of her own emotions. There had been no room left to feel her own feelings when she was completely consumed by those of Kjors. Her teacher prompted her for questions, and Karina asked the one that was at the forefront of her mind. “What are you?”  The query hung in the air for a moment before Karina clarified, “I mean, the angry shadow... there’s something ah, inside..” Having absolutely no words to describe the shadow-creature within Kjors’ aura, the child’s speech faltered. “Never mind..” she finally spoke, realizing that she was sounding crazy.

The princess came without question, and she was rewarded with a warm sound. It was easier to curl up with a wolf his size – this was something he had never enjoyed with the badger woman. She was enormous as she was chilly, and there was something about this lackadaisical embrace he'd never shared with anyone before. Ears flicked out to the side as he continued to groom the younger wolf, content to smooth her hackles and the fuzz atop her head until Karina posed a question.

"Ah'm a dragon," the male answered simply, as if it were the most natural thing in the world. He continued his grooming as he spoke, casually as if they were discussing the weather or catching fish in the evening. "Ah am angry, love. Ah've been robbed, stepped on, thrown away. Ah'm angry, and that's how Ah stay alive – because Ah'm a dragon. An' tha's wha' we do. M'father was much th' same way, an' Ah imagine if Ah had pups, they wouldn' be much different."

It was a curious thing, he noted, that his gem had realized this without ever being told. He tipped his head, finally ceasing in his grooming to eye the younger wolf. "Ain' nothin' t' be worried 'bout, doll. Y'ain't ever wronged me. A'sides, yer a fuckin' treasure, y'know tha'? An' dragons take care a' their treasure," he hummed, putting his nose into her ruff. After snorting a few times, he spoke back up. "So, wha' was tha', 'nyways? It was good. Y'did good. Bein' calm makes a clear head – clear head will 'lways prevail."

“A.. dragon?” Karina echoed skeptically, craning her neck to turn and better see her companion.  The dragons in the stories—the ones that kidnapped damsels and hoarded treasure and breathed fire and ate children whole— they were always described as scaly creatures with big claws and teeth, like giant lizards with wings. Now that she was a little older, Karina understood that there were more to fairy tales than the surface story. There were lessons behind them, and even if fire-breathing dragons only existed in stories that didn’t mean there weren’t “dragons” out there in the real world, disguised as regular wolves. Now that she thought about it, the shadow-thing beneath Kjors’ aura had ebbed and flowed, like wings rustling in the wind. And when it got mad… she’d had to hold on for dear life as she was enveloped in a scorching inferno of rage. If she could be born with the soul of a deer, then Kjors could certainly have gotten the soul of a dragon. Karina was just glad to be considered the treasure and not the roasted-alive child or the kidnapped damsel.

Kjors started listing out the reasons he was angry—very good reasons that Karina had heard before—and she recalled that as a child listening to fairy tales, she had felt incredibly sympathetic for the dragon.  For all his strength and cleverness, all that the dragon ever wanted was to sit in his cave with his shiny treasures and not be bothered... But then some hero would come along and ruin everything by trying to steal from him. Perhaps the dragon ate children whole because he knew they would someday grow up to be heroes who would try to slay him for his treasure.   Perhaps he kidnapped damsels because he was bored and lonely, and wanted someone with whom he could share his treasure and his time.

Karina buried her face into the fur beneath Kjors’ chin, overwhelmed with compassion for the plight of the fearsome, clever, lonely dragon.  Her teacher’s tongue continued to sweep across her neck and shoulders, grooming and comforting her as a parent might a young child. Kjors said something about his own pups turning out angry like him, and Karina’s ears twitched to attention. She wanted to tell him that of course his children would be different—children weren’t born angry after all. They were blank slates, who grew up strong and confident when raised with love. Karina knew Kjors was capable of this kind of love because she had experienced it, and she also knew that he would be very careful in choosing a mother for his future cubs.. Because of the way his own mother had been…  Karina got a strange queasy feeling in the pit of her stomach when she tried to picture Kjors’ future mate, and the only image that came to mind was a vague portrait of what she envisioned the badger woman to look like—in her mind’s eye she appeared more badger-like than woman-like, truth be told.

Kjo turned the conversation back to the lesson, and Karina sighed lightly, sensing that her teacher really wanted to get back around to doing the teaching thing. “I saw your dragon,” Karina told him, adopting the same nonchalant tone as her swarthy companion. “I also felt what it wanted. And what you wanted yourself.. you’re separate, you know..” Did he know?  The way he talked about being a dragon, Karina realized that Kjors might not be aware that he had two auras. Without waiting for him to confirm or deny, she rambled on, “.. It was easy, when my thoughts all went away. I think I could have dodged the attack completely, if that had been the goal.” As soon as the words were out of her mouth, Karina realized Kjors would want to test her on this. She swallowed nervously, wondering how she had even found the Calm Place to begin with and how on earth she could find it again.

"…you saw…th' dragon?" he rumbled, rearing his head back.  Now that had caught his attention.  Both auds strained forward as he studied the youth, perplexed not only what little convincing she took, but that she may have actually seen beyond his earthy pelt and scarred muzzle.  It did not occur to him that anyone would ever be able to see the beast that lived inside him – but the Mother worked in mysterious ways.  He should not doubt the princess' gift, nor the Mother's generosity for blessing him with her companionship.  Perhaps he had lost the badger, replaced by not another dragon, but a woman so wildly different and still capable of becoming his equal.  Not a dragon, but a…priestess.  Yes, the dragon priestess.

Kjors' track of thrown off for a second time when the youth revealed she had not only seen the shadow creature, but believed them to be separate.  At this, he narrowed his eye, not entirely sure he fancied that notion.  "Ah-"  But she gave him no room to talk, describing the Calm Place in more detail.  A curious thing, like nothing he'd ever experience – and probably not something he ever word.  It did not seem like a place for such a wild creature.

"Good.  Tha's good, Karina – tha'll be wha' keeps y'safe.  Now, if y'can see th' dragon, y'can see all manner a' things.  Ah suppose th' Mother rather fancies you, darlin', t' be so gifted.  Th' thing t' do is t' understand how y'found it.  Ah scared y'real bad, didn' Ah?  An' we were gonna try again – an' y'found yer steel an' yer Calm Place.  Did…'nythin' weird happen?"

Karina nodded as her mentor repeated her statement, yes, I saw the dragon!--  and it finally struck her how unusual her experience must have been when she heard the incredulity in his voice.  It was easily read right there in his golden eye... No one had seen the dragon before, but even more than that.. no one had ever truly believed it existed, not before Karina. Kjors recovered very quickly from his shock, deeming the Calm Place a good thing that would protect her. That was a relief to Karina, who until that moment hadn’t quite known what to make of the experience.  Kjo said it was a gift, but deep in her heart Karina wondered if it was a double-edged claw. In her Calm Place her conscious thoughts were unreachable.. What exactly was she capable of without her conscience’s council?  Could she hurt someone?

Kjo impelled her to say more, to think back to how she had entered the Calm Place, reminding her of her first failed attempt at fighting him off. Karina answered him reluctantly, still unsure of whether being in the Calm Place was really a good thing, and if it was someplace she actually wanted to revisit. “Not exactly..” she shook her head at his suggestion that she was scared. Fighting didn’t scare her; she’d told him that before. “Just.. surprised,” she said, finally settling on the right word. Kjors’ demeanor had changed so suddenly, she hadn’t even had time to process it before she reacted. Once the initial surprise had worn off, she was left still on edge, with elevated senses. The deer within her had urged her to run, or make it all stop somehow, but Karina had ignored her inner doe knowing that she had to continue-- she had a lesson to learn.

The pup realized that her deer had then left without her. The wolf Karina had stayed to fight, but the deer had run far, far away. Without her doe present, filling her with terror and panic and what-if’s, Karina had been empty of emotion, and it had been second-nature to want to fill that emptiness by reaching out to internalize the emotions of others around her.  Not only had she felt Kjors’ emotion though, she’d felt his intention, and she had used that to her advantage without a second thought. “It was all weird,” she answered, unsure of what her teacher was asking exactly. “I don’t think I could go back to it all on my own. I don’t know how to get there.” Kjo had frightened her doe away with his first attack, but Karina wasn’t certain she could chase it away all by herself.

"Mhm."

How curious. As well as he thought he knew the younger wolf, perhaps he still had lessons to learn about the gem he had currently wrapped himself around. Wasn't it a pleasant place, he thought, curled against the slender form as he continued to lavish attention and affection upon her. This was how all dragons sought to be, at peace in their cache with their treasure safe. If he could stay here forever, Kjors just might - but the Mother had more in store for her favorite children, and the earthy timber wolf knew his harmony would not rest eternal.

Humming, he tipped his head as he listened. The male rested his head over the Baranski princess' shoulders, his tail wrapped around her haunches as he mulled over her explanation. Being able to explain the entire episode was too much to ask, he realized, the sensation just as new for Karina as it was for him. Perhaps even more so, as she was the wolf who'd lived through it, stepped into a realm not dominated by mortals, and stepped back out untouched. She was special – he didn't have a word for it, not yet, but he would find one for her in time.

"It'll come," he reassured his student, eye shut as he continued the casual conversation. "Can't force these things, gifts. Th' Mother gives us these things fer reasons we don' always understan' – Ah'm a dragon, an' tha's me gif' t' use, 'er waste. Bu'…Ah didn' understan' it, right away. Takes time. Ah can't 'splain wha' y'saw, bu' Ah can tell y' it was real. Y'saw th' dragon. It was real. Bu' y'can't be afraid of it. It's you. An' ye'll never git 'nywhere if yer spendin' yer whole life tryin' t' fight who y'are, an' th' gifts Mother gave ya. Savvy?"

Oh, his beautiful girl.  It seemed a tragedy to him that no one had ever taken the time to explain to her who The Mother was and what she stood for.  While it took someone who understood what she expected, had been taken into the gold, the fact that such a thing wasn't common in this part of the world often blew the dragon's mind.  Mighty as he was, he would be nothing without his Mother, and that was the same for every living creature he knew.

Sighing softly, Kjors allowed himself a moment to gather his thoughts, nibbling again upon the yearling's ruff.  It was a very serious matter, the deity, and it was of utmost importance he did both The Mother and his student justice in this displace. "Ah don' much 'spect y'would.  She don'…don' reveal herself so explicitly to folk, she works through circumstance an' intervention." On rare occasion, she worked through divine miracle.  Perhaps she did reveal herself to a pious few, but he'd never heard such a story.  

The next question was a little more curious and, were he not such a sharp lad, he might have thought the question arbitrary.  Prying his single eye open, he would have studied her expression if he could crane his neck around – instead, he huffed a sigh and stared into the darkness of their communal nest.  "Th' Mother is th' All-Mother," he explained to his little tenderfoot.  "Naw jes' wolves.  Wolves, ducks, lynx, spiders…'nythin' tha' lives an' breaths, she's their Mother, too.  Tha' includes deer.  If y' were blessed wi' a deer, than it was meant as a gift.  's'jes' up t' us t' use th' gift, yeah?  Th' Mother is loving – she dun' curse her children."