An Unexpected Meeting [Private/Rihz, Imperia]

The feeling of the surprisingly warm wind brushing past her brought a wide smile to her face, which broadened further as she anticipated the majesty of the library. Having grown bored of the books in the library closest to her home, she had decided to pay a visit to the library in the Twilight Palace, rumoured to be several storeys high and filled with books containing all types of books. Caramina had successfully emerged unharmed from the Tempest Ring - she did have her wind shields, but still, her heart kind of died each time she entered the Tempest Ring and braved its storms. Putting that behind her, she let anticipation wash over her the way the warm wind was currently doing, and hoped that the library wouldn't disappoint her.

A few minutes later, she was in the palace, feathered wings neatly folded by her side as she walked through brightly lit corridors, whose floors were tiled with simply decorated white marble tiles, gleaming brightly in the sunlight, which poured from the numerous windows dotting the cream-coloured wallpaper. It was obvious that this place was well-maintained, and Caramina's high hopes for the library rose even further. Eventually she came upon the library, her way blocked by a massive wooden door; like the floor, it gleamed, and Caramina was positive she could see a bit of her reflection in it. Shaking her head at the cleanliness of her surroundings, she pushed the door open, which swung away to reveal a massive room.

Caramina was not disappointed as she stared around at the shelves; the sight of row upon row of books of all shapes, sizes and colour, contained in tall, elegantly built shielves, awaited her, and she sucked in a gasp. Eventually her gaze, forcefully torn away from the beautiful sight of books, wandered over to the single occupant in the room - two, she corrected herself, as her gaze passed over to a dark lump in the corner. She'd greet him, or her, later -, sitting on a plush, mauve-coloured cushion, a worn book clutched in her hands. Imperia. Caramina made her way over, bowing her head in greetings. "Hello~" she greeted warmly, unable to resist adding,"This place is wonderful, it's like heaven to me. Do you come here often?"

Imperia reclined lazily on her cushion, she was mouthing words to herself, trying to practice her Ki'Shan language. She knew the theory, but there were many words, sentences and pronunciations that she needed to learn. Often she would take books and retreat to one of the towers where she could listen to the rain, the library was deep inside the palace and slightly underground, where it was safe from any possible weather event, and Imperia didn't want to run back and forth finding books if she took away the wrong one.

A dragoness entered the room, Imperia recognised her after a few moments and got up, smiling brightly. "Hello, Caramina, dear! I do come here quite often, although usually just to browse the shelves. I do most of my reading in places that tend to be... quieter." She put down her book gently. "But I can come back to this later. I'm in a talkative mood! How are you?"

Humming a quiet song to himself, one he had picked up from a rogue whom he had travelled with for a time, Rihzome lifted his head at the sound of the door opening. A pointless and ignored sound to some, a long ago ingrained mantra to know every sound still plucked at him, forcing him to take note. Taking a few moments, his golden silver eyes quickly examined the newcomer. Roving over the graceful limbs, a green mane and feathered wings, he was thoroughly intrigued, simply due to the fact that he had never met this individual. Noting her (for such a graceful and lithe figure must have been female) odd proportions, his intrigue only deepened. She seemed too… long to a western, and much too short to be an eastern. Maybe a combination of the both? Musing this over, he watched her walk towards the only other occupant of the library, at least, at the moment. He also jumped to his feet, to warn her who exactly it was she was talking too, but it was already too late.

Curling up a little tighter, he returned his gaze to the book in his paws, and almost yelped. He needed to hide it, and fast. If Imperia saw it… by the goddess, he would never live it down. Rising to his feet, he made to move deeper into the library, forgetting, in his ‘panic’ his satchel had arrived with him. As he had settled himself and gotten comfortable, its strap had gotten tangled around two of his paws, as sturdy and effective as any chain. Falling heavily to the ground, the book slipped from his grasp, thankfully sliding under one of the many nearby book racks. Of course there, was only half his troubles. He was now lying on the ground, after having tried to stealthily make his way away… Sighing, no point in trying to slip away now, he curled his head around, and gave Caramina, more than Imperia, a warm smile. “Uh… Good evening.”

Caramina smiled at Imperia's chatter, before lifting her slim shoulders in a shrug, in response to Imperia's question. "I've been doing fine. Hunting for a good library, and found the perfect place, as you can see. I hope I'm not disturbing you by forcing you to put down your book just to entertain me." She glanced over at the book, and though she had no eye ridges, she would have lifted one if she did. "Are you learning Kishin? I am, too! Perhaps, if you didn't mind, we could study together," she suggested, inspecting the yellowish pages, faded black ink written in Kishin scrolling across the delicate paper of the pages. She leaned over, hoping that it wasn't too rude a gesture, and squinted at the words, trying to bully her brain into focusing. She was just starting to be familiarised with Kishin; unlike the languages of the Vuari and the Kaamil, she couldn't read Kishin without a lot of concentration. "I...cannot help. My brain is currently refusing to cooperate."

The sound of a thud and the hiss of an object sliding over the smooth floor drew her attention to a dark lump sprawled onto the ground. "Oh my goodness," she said, her voice partially alarmed and worried, partially exasperated, at the fact that the dragon could fall down even when the floor wasn't that slippery...right? She tested the gleaming, pale gray tiles with her own paws, rubbing them against it, finding them slightly slipperier than what she'd thought, but not so much that someone would fall down. Moving closer, she realised that the dragon had tripped over his own satchel, which had been tangled around his lean, muscled limbs. It peeked out from the sprawl of limbs and body, and, looking closer, she found that the dragon's scales were littered with scars, but it wasn't very obvious; only the bright light and her closeness to his body had helped her to see it. He must've been in several battles, and judging from his lean body, he was probably part of an army once. She also noted his black scales - odd, she thought. Most dark-coloured dragons came from the Xoyan Tribe, so why was he here? Still, there were a few exceptions here and there, and this dragon could be one of them, she supposed. "Are you okay? Nothing broken, I hope...?" she asked, gently placing a paw on his back.

Imperia waved a paw airily. "My mind is in a similar state. I don't think today is the right day to learn Ki'shan." Imperia closed the book with a soft snap and left it on her cushion.

A sudden sound drew her attention; Rihzome, who she had noticed when she'd came to the library several hours ago, but who she had since completely forgotten about, had managed to trip over his own satchel.
"You klutz!" Imperia giggled, she bounced forwards cheerfully and offered a paw to Rihzome, glancing across and noticing that he'd also dropped a book. Oh well, the library dragons would put it back in it's proper place.
"Caramina, meet Rihzome. He's usually quite charming, so don't let this first impression get in the way too much." She flicked her tail playfully.

With a small sigh, Rihzome quickly untangled his paws, quickly snatching up the book as he did and shoving it into the depths of his satchel, hopefully before the two female's saw. He really didn't need their input. Shrugging off the paw on his spine, more out of habit that anything else, he ignored the offered paw, and pushed himself to his feet. "Good evening Queen Imperia." He responded to her, with a deep inclination of his head to the much smaller female. Having learnt the silvery female's name from Imperia, he then turned and offered her a slightly less extreme bowing of his head. "Caramina. A pleasure to meet you." He greeted, before answering her question. "Nothing is damaged, other than my pride." He told her with a half-smile.

Glancing between the two, he felt oddly out of place. The dragonesses shared silvery scales and relaxed, yet regal stances made him more aware of his pitch-black armour and his lazy, almost bored stance. Straightening himself, he glanced idly between the two, not knowing how to continue their interaction. Normally, he would have just left, and would have if it was just Caramina, but with Imperia there, it would only be the height of offense. "I've never seen you here before… Are you a new member of the family?" He asked Caramina, trying to make some sort of small talk, making sure to glance at Imperia every few moments.

Surprise flickered across Caramina's face as Rihzome shrugged off her paw, but it was quickly replaced by her usual polite, but otherwise smooth and unreadable expression, appearing on her face out of habit. She watched as Rihzome got to his paws, surprisingly gracefully for one his size, though the smile she bent upon him was filled with warmth, not one bit mocking or sarcastic. Returning his bow, she said, "It's a pleasure to meet you too, Rihzome." As she spoke, she regarded him thoughtfully, through eyes that most would call dreamy, because she often had that faraway look in her eyes. "So it seems," she said, in response to Rihzome's comment about his hurt pride, allowing a soft chuckle to escape her lips. Caramina noted the way Rihzome's eyes flicked between the two, and guessed that he probably felt uncomfortable or out of place; after all, he was confronted with two females - and in the cases for most males she'd met, they didn't like being the lone male among several females. Alongside that, she and Imperia shared similar scale colours, and were both shorter than him. These differences probably made him feel like he was standing out, any not in a good way.

She couldn't help but wonder which Tribe he originated from. Maybe Xoya, since he had black scales? It wasn't right to randomly assume that 'Rihzome originates from the Xoya Tribe since he has black scales' without solid evidence, but still, she couldn't help herself; she generally associated dragons with dark-coloured scales with the Xoyans. Despite her wandering thoughts, she was still focused enough on Rihzome that she heard his question, and responded, "Hm? I've been part of the Stormcallers ever since I was born, though I did go rogue at some point of time, returning within a decade, as I missed this place." She smiled around at the library, and added, "You haven't seen much of me, probably because I live in quite a remote area, and I rarely visit the Twilight Palace. Even if you had visited the libraries around my area....I'm often hiding in a corner of a random library, buried in books. You could've missed me." She confessed her love for books with a bit of embarrassment.

Imperia's face fell slightly as her offered paw was dismissed, she used it to rub her nose instead, then began to lick her claws. "You know that I don't need you to bow to me, Rihzome." She laughed slightly. She watched him neaten himself up, seeing he was uncomfortable from that and from the glances he shot her way.

Time to make matters even worse for him.
A playful grin flashed across her face as she posed sweetly.
"Come on! Neither Caramina nor I are quite in the mood for reading at the moment, despite how much we love books, and judging by how fast you put away your book I'd say you're not in a reading mood either! Let's give her a tour."
Imperia filed away memory of Caramina's slight embarrassment for later, it would probably be good information to remember for socialising with her in the future. Since beginning her adult life Imperia had never been shy, even when she pretended to be, but she remembered being shy as a child and understood how Caramina might feel.

Smiling politely, and nodding to Caramina, Rihzome hoped that as another reclusive book lover, she would realise how awkward and uncomfortable the situation was, for him at least. “Ahh… Regardless, it is still a pleasure.” He replied to her, the lopsided smile having grown to a grin. “Others tend to miss me, even without being buried, a benefit of darker scales.” He chuckled, before freezing at Imperia’s words.

Stuttering, Rihzome realised Imperia had him in a corner. What could he possibly say? Sorry, I was just putting the book away so you don’t see it. Or, maybe, No, I just wanted to get away from you. One rude beyond anything acceptable, especially given the stature of one of his companions, and the other just digging himself into a larger hole. “That sounds like a grand idea Imperia!” He replied, just the smallest amount of annoyance in his eyes at the last word, which was directed solely at the small, silver scaled female. “Personally, may I suggest we start with the kitchens? I haven’t eaten since midday.”

[Sorry for flop post. xD]

Caramina brightened upon hearing Imperia's suggestion, her embarrassed blush fading away as she flashed the smaller female a smile. "That'd be great!" she said happily. "I was thinking that I'd have to get lost again on my way out." Her smile faded a bit when she saw Rihzome stiffen, almost imperceptibly; but Caramina noticed it anyway, her pleased expression changing to one of curiosity and surprise. His response was casual, normal, but Caramina detected the undercurrent of annoyance buried beneath the name of her companion, and bit back a laugh. Obviously he had been reading something private, and Imperia words were chosen well, for they obviously had an impact on him, bringing out annoyance - probably what Imperia had intended. "The kitchens? Alright, let's go."

Imperia merely looked smug at Rihzome's annoyance. Seeing that Caramina had noticed something was going on she made no attempt to hide her amusement at what she'd done to Rihzome. She enjoyed spending time with him, and she knew he enjoyed spending time with other dragons (and hopefully her in particular); however sometimes he needed a bit of encouragement.
Imperia returned a delighted smile to Caramina. "It's quite a maze isn't it? Especially with no open sky by which to tell what direction you're facing. However there is a really simple trick to not getting lost: most of the corridors make huge circles around the centre of the palace, so if you head inwards you'll reach the central stairs up and down. From there you should be able to find your way to most places. Just a little hint from someone who spends a lot of time strutting around this castle."

She began to lead them out of the library, but did a double take as Rihzome's words sunk in. "That's impossible. You were already here when I arrived, and I arrived just before midday." She giggled. "You skipped lunch, didn't you? You've been here since breakfast!" She clicked her tongue. "You can't just miss meals like that, you're one of the first dragons who I'd go to if I needed protection, you have to stay ready for action!" She smiled, she was just teasing him. Imperia would be terribly hypocritical if she told someone off for missing a meal. She did the same thing every now and then, whenever something more interesting than food caught her attention.

Cocking his head, confusion evident on his maw, the annoyance in his tone and eyes quickly faded. “Before midday? My Queen, we were at lunch at midday.” He replied. “Seasoned and lightly seared veal, with rather fruity wine. I could have cooked it a little better though…” He muttered. “But regardless, my Queen, I think you really must keep better time.” He chided, teasing her back, a real smile on his maw. Even thought she was an annoyance, at times, she certainly knew how to pull a smile, even from those who didn’t want to…

Keeping that smile, which, admittedly, had just a hint of superiority in it, he gestured to Caramina. “If you would follow me, Ma’am?” He asked with respect and courtesy, learned and ingrained from an early age, adjusting his satchel to (hopefully) not end up wound about his paws again. “The kitchens are surprisingly close, but yes, as Imperia said, it is quite a maze. If you require it…” He ducked a paw into his bag, rummaging around a pulling out a shockingly large and almost perfect black star sapphire. Glancing nervously between the two females, he slowly placed it back in the satchel, before pulling out a rather large and tightly rolled scroll. Quickly making his way towards one of the nearby tables, he pushed a few books that were still decorating it’s surface to the side, planting the scroll down and undoing a small clasp, the parchment quickly unrolling, revealing a minutely detailed map of the current level of the Twilight Palace, minus a few more… hidden places. “Don’t ask.” He said with a chuckle, before they could, as he moved several books back, placing them on the corners of the page to keep it flat. “Take a look Caramina. It should help, if just a little.”

Caramina had originally arrived with anticipation and excitement at seeing the library pulsing through her body, which quickly settled into politeness and just the hint of tenseness upon interaction with Stormcallers. Even when she was first approaching Imperia, she had still carried the tenseness of slight apprehension, but now, the well-concealed stiffness drained away from her, leaving a genuinely smiling. She felt at ease around the two, who were lightheartedly teasing each other, and realised how much she missed being in the company of others. With no family members, or any Stormcallers living near her area, she'd had to settle with books as friends, which was fine; she could pretend to be in the stories, pretend to be the characters and hold all their good, certainly admirable traits and good deeds, or maybe hilarious sarcasm.

But it still got lonely sometimes. And she missed her parents so much.

Her eyes began to take on a faraway, dreamy quality, but it quickly came back into focus when Rihzome spoke to her, and she shook her head, the smile still on her maw. "No..." she said softly, giving him a smile that was meant to be happy, but came out a bit sad, but mostly wistful and hopeful. "Don't call me ma'am. Call me Cara. Or Caramina, whichever you like." The sudden moment of oddness passed, and Caramina quickly eased back into her old self, brightening visibly. "Kitchens? They'd better be full of food," she teased, a quiet giggle escaping her when Rihzome told her not to ask as he drew out map from the depths of his satchel. She leaned over to peer at the worn parchment, faded yellow due to age, fraying slightly at the edges, but its print still clear. "It does, a bit," she admitted, "but I don't think I'll be able to remember this very quickly."

Imperia grinned, putting together what must have happened. If Rihzome said that was the last meal he'd eaten then he had been at the library for one entire day, apparently without eating or sleeping. She let him have his victory for now, knowing that she had perfect ammunition for messing with him later. "You're quite right. Many dragons have trouble keeping track of time."

Imperia had turned back towards them to continue playing with Rihzome, and was able to read every moment of Caramina's changes in mood. She'd clearly started to daydream for a moment there, Imperia wondered what was going through her mind. Caramina's smile removed most of the doubt from Imperia's mind, the other dragoness was lonely.
Soon her mood brightened, and Imperia's mood brightened too. She had a new friend!
"Your name is lovely, I think I'll call you Caramina. But that might change to Cara later on. And don't worry about remembering it quickly, I'll probably be around more often than not."

Imperia returned her focus to Rihzome, her curiosity piqued by the black gemstone. He knew how curious he was, and if he really didn't want to talk about it he would have gone to any lengths not to let her see it. That meant, as far as she was concerned, that he did want to talk about it.
"That gemstone was beautiful! What was that?"

Chuckling, Rihzome glanced over at Caramina, a small smile on his maw. "I hope so as well. I believe it's lamb for dinner tonight." He replied, licking his lips a little, finding it odd just how hungry he was, more so than usual. Returning his gaze to the map, he stepped back, and waved a paw to it. "Take it. It's just a copy, after all." He told her. "Admittedly, an old copy yes, almost the same age as the original, but a copy none the less. We have… ohh… a hundred of them? Give or take a handful." He informed her, with a little pride, turning his head to gaze at Imperia, shaking his head in fake exasperation. "I will never understand how you can so quickly go from not knowing someone to acting as if you're old friends…" He muttered, both annoyed and amazed, as per the usual, his own friends consisting of books, books, the odd artefact and some more books.

"That gemstone? Nothing, really." He replied a little too hastily after Imperia's question, the smallest hint of crimson on his otherwise pitch black scales, and the smallest tint of embarrassment in his voice. "Just a… uh… Little something I found while out adventuring." He replied after a smaller pause. "As I said, it's really nothing. Just an… oddity."