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Sephiroth frowned at Seferia’s statement. “And to think we chased after this fabled Tiamat.” He shook his head. “I don’t know how I could have been so naive to agree to it…”
He sighed, rubbing a hand through his hair. It felt strange to pat at a large amount of fur on his face, but it was not uncomfortable, nor scratchy to the touch. His facial hair was soft and well-oiled, and he was amused by that. He briefly wondered if he would have as much impulse to groom as a regular house cat would…
“We’re moving again soon, aren’t we,” He sighed. “I shall have to get more water before then.”
Seferia sighed before responding, “Yes, we all have chased after Tiamat, but she has still yet to be found. Rumors and stories, that’s all we have to go on. For all I know, she died when the great revolt happened. If there even was a great revolt..”
Shrugging, overall feeling quite indifferent concerning the subject of the myths of dragon origin and Tiamt, she shook her head. She then lifted her head as she heard Sephiroth mention water.
“This is a collection of human stores, Sephiroth. The water may still be running. Even if it isn’t, there is the chance that you might find bottled water. Go, find it. It’ll give you time to get used to walking before we head out.”
Sephiroth was quick to his feet. As soon as Seferia had mentioned bottled water, he left his spot to go find some.
*”I must seem so ignorant.”* He frowned as he sniffed through the camp, heading into the stores. *”Do we need anything else? I suppose I can take something to carry the eggs in now… that is if you feel confident in putting them in some kind of carrier.”*
Seferia sat down in between her two eggs as Sephiroth’s form retreated from sight. A very faint grin graced her lips as she looked between the two eggs. The dragon stroked her unhatched whelps as she waited for Sephiroth to return. The entire time, she sent psychic songs to her two eggs.
Once Sephiroth began telepathicly transmitting to her, she lifted her head to look in the direction where he had left. After a moment, she responded, ~If you can find enough materials for such, go ahead. Who knows how many times these stores have been ransacked, though.~
She paused and thought over Sephiroth’s afflictions concerning the heat and sun. After a bit, she added to her previous statement, ~If I may, I wish to suggest you either find a large hat or an umbrella.~
Sephiroth released a loud laugh at the thought of carrying an umbrella or wearing a hat. The mental picture seemed so ridiculous that he couldn’t help but grin and chuckle.
*”You must be kidding…”*
The shops had been ransacked, it was true. All the food was long since gone, as well as most of the bare essentials people would normally use from day to day. He found a plastic carry container and dragged it out into the open with him, nodding in approval at it.
*”We can use this.”* He told Seferia telepathically, showing her a picture of it. *”There will be other things too.”*
Seferia couldn’t help but release a rumbling chuckle as Sephiroth’s mental imagery flashed past her own mind. She then shook her head before she responded. Try as she might, she couldn’t hide the mirth from her mental communication.
-I am not kidding, Sephiroth. You ears and nose might still get burnt. So, it is worth a thought.~
She then tilted her head as he brought out the container. After giving it a good look-over, Seferia finally responded, ~Yes… that could work. However, I would feel more comfortable if the eggs were carried in some sort of sturdy cloth. I do not see how carrying that thing would feel comfortable at all.~
Sephiroth entertained the thought of wearing a big floppy hat for Seferia, telepathically transmitting the images of what he thought it might look like. When he actually found a battered old hat amongst the mess in the ransacked store, he picked it up and shook the dirt and dust off it before putting it on, grinning.
*”It looks quite ridiculous,”* He admitted, *”But at least it is functional….”*
Seferia continued to softly chuckle at the images that Sephiroth sent her. It had been a long time since she had a good reason to laugh, and this felt very refreshing. Once Sephiroth actually mentioned finding a hat to wear, she commented to him.
~I should hope that it’s not a baseball hat and one that will actually shade your head. The silly caps that I’ve seen will do nothing for you.~
Sephiroth stepped out of the shop again, adjusting his hat with a slight tip forwards on his head to shield his eyes from the sun. He smirked at Seferia as he made his way back over to her, and then lightly elbowed her in the side.
“All I need now is a horse.” He mused. “Though, if we had a horse, I am sure the camp would have eaten it by now….”
Seferia tilted her head up to look at Sephiroth. Soon enough, her mouth twitched into an uncomfortable looking smirk before she rumbled out another chuckle.
“Ah yes, I can see that. However, I have not known many felidae to ride horses, Sephiroth,” the dragon did her best to quite down her laughter as she spoke to him. Between her normally monotone voice and the rumble of her laughter, her voice was quite odd at the moment. “However, I had been used as a mount in the past. Though that is not generally advised for a number of reasons.”
“I’m not going to ride you.” Sephiroth smirked back at Seferia and tipped his hat to her. “Good day.”
The male then headed away again, this time walking towards another of the ransacked stores in search for some bottled water. The male couldnt help but wonder to himself if such things were not available. He guessed that water would have been the first thing to be taken out by travellers, thieves, and all manner of visitors who came here before his group did.
Seferia’s lips continued to twitch as she smirked with humor at Sephiroth’s actions. Eventually, her face returned to the neutral expression that she usually wore. However, her humor was still coloring the landscape of her mind.
~Well, as I said, it would not be a good idea for you to mount me. Some could say that my mo- queen was a masochist, for my scales are razor sharp and thick. Any wrong move would have caused rather painful abrasions. However, Clawina did have certain gifts from a god, which countered the threat of pain when riding me.~
She shook her head as she watched where Sephiroth disappeared to next. She herself considered what chances there may be at finding water. While it was true that she didn’t have much hope of him finding water; she did think that it may be plausible that a case or two might still exist in back rooms. Perhaps behind a counter? She was not certain. She also still thought that the plumbing may still work.;
Junk. Junk. More junk. There was a loud plastic squeak as Sephiroth stood on a squeaky toy. He openly frowned as he stumbled over it, and continued to walk through the rubbish scattered across the floor in the new shop he had just stepped into.
He picked up the squeaky toy and checked it over. It appeared to be a dog’s chew toy. He turned it over in his hands before pocketing it – deciding that it might come in handy one day. There was nothing else in the shop he could use. Most of the things on the floor were discarded food wrappers and unusable junk from squatters who must have lived there at some point.
The feline was quite dissapointed as he exitted the shop again with the squeaky toy in his pocket, otherwise empty handed.
Seferia had turned her attention back to her eggs as Sephiroth checked the stores. The disguised dragon carefully checked over both of the eggs, confirming to herself that neither had suffered any damage. As she checked them over, she once again sent out a telepathic song to the fetuses within the eggs. The song stemmed mostly from her primal instincts, so she barely even understood where she learned it from. However, she was certain that she should be broadcasting it to her future hatchlings.
In time, she picked up Sephiroth’s water canister and looked it over. For, Seferia had decided that it was time to think of other things than her eggs. A frown tugged at her lips as she examined the canister, for she was not certain if Sephiroth would find water in any of the stores. Perhaps she could use magic to conjure some?
With that thought in mind, she lifted her head to get a feel for the surrounding air. Unfortunately, the dragon soon found that the air was dryer than a fossilized bone. There was no chance that she would be able to force any amount of magical condensation from the air. After coming to this realization, Seferia snorting in distaste, for she didn’t like the thought of being proven wrong.
Sephiroth returned to Seferia empty-handed. He shrugged his shoulders as he made his way back over to her as if announcing wordlessly that his search had found nothing. He sat down on the ground in the shade and pulled his hat down, deciding to cat-nap until the group would move out again.
Seferia tilted her head to watch Sephiroth. She then rolled her eyes before she got up to tap the brim of his hat.
“You know that you do not need to wear that until we are on the move with no shade again, right?” Another rumble vibrated through her chest as she spoke to him.
With that said, the dragon got to her feet before she treaded back into the bathroom. She then tested out the tap on the sink. At first, all that happened was a few gurgling thumps through the pipes. Then, a black sludge spewed out from the faucet.
On seeing the initial sludge, Seferia backed away from the sink. Few things disgusted her, but that water most certainly did the trick. Luckily, after a minute of running, the water cleared up. So, the commander quickly filled up Sephiroth’s canister before she performed the same sterilization spells that she had performed at the river. After repeating the process with her own canister, she moved back to Sephiroth’s side before she knelt down and offered him the water.
Sephiroth flicked an eat involuntarily under his hat hen he heard a loud gurgling sound and a splatter. He screwed up his face in utter disgust as his mind could only wonder what had made that kind of noise. When Seferia came out to him with the water canteen, he reached up for it, seeming pleased.
“Where did you get that?” He asked in curiousity.
Seferia shook her head at him before she sat down in front of him.
“I did suggest for you to check the faucets for running water,” she explained. “You were in luck. The water still runs. However, I would dare say that it hadn’t been used in a long time. I would not suggest drinking directly from them either. However, I did sanitize your water, so you need not fear.”
Sephiroth wrinkled his nose again as he glanced back towards the area where he had seen the water faucets, but slowly nodded in agreement.
“If it wasn’t for you,” He said quickly, “I’d probably be dehydrated or already sick.”
He took the lid off the water-canteen and sipped the contents for a moment. Some of the water dribbled down his chin because he wasn’t used to drinking as a feline just yet. The water tasted like dissolved minerals and somewhat metalic but Sephiroth didn’t care and and just continued to drink until his thirst was quenched.
Seferia sadly shook her head at Sephiroth’s comment. She then spoke in very firm terms, “If it wasn’t for me, you would still be crying out for vengeance concerning your mother’s death. You probably would have destroyed the camp then flew to Nemesis’s lair. Then, you would have either died, or become a captive yet again.”
“If it was not for me, you would kill every human on sight, even though most here have nothing to do with your planet’s humans. If it was not for me, you would not be an expecting father and would still appear to be an adult.”
As she watched him drink, she leaned forward to gently lick off the dribbles of water from his throat. A faint smirk graced her lips as she performed the task. Once he finished, she took the container once more before she left to refill it. By the time she returned, Sekhmet had determined that there was no point in having the troops search the town any longer. So, the call to move out was made.
Sephiroth lowered his head slightly, even looking humbled. Seferia’s words were true, even though he didn’t really like to hear them. He slowly nodded his head, then sounded out a simple and short grunt.
“Yes. It’s true.”
His heightened hearing meant that he could easily hear Sekhmet up ahead. She was moving again. He rose to his feet and nodded a second time.
“We need to keep moving.”
Seferia pushed herself to her feet before she reached down to grab onto her pack. After strapping her pack up once more, she grabbed her egg. Once she was all set, she nodded at Sephiroth.
“Well, let us move on then. Stay close to me, not that you haven’t already. But if you loose your footing, at least I’ll be there to help you save your face.”
A slight grin was plastered on her lips as she spoke her last sentence. Soon enough, she headed out to follow after the rest of the group.
Sephiroth nodded his head and followed after Seferia in silence, treading along carefully. This was in part due to the fact he was still getting used to his new feet, and because he was feeling somewhat unhappy now.
Seferia had just casually said so many things that were true, and although they were most certainly words of truth, he had not entirely desired to hear them. He dragged his feet slightly as he walked along, hauling his stuff on his back.
Seferia took note of Sephiroth’s languid pacing as they continued on. Several times throughout the following hours, she would tilt her head to look over Sephiroth before releasing a soft sigh. Even though she had made statements that predicted a possible outcome if she had not interfered with Sephiroth’s path, that future never would come to pass. She had entangled herself with Sephiroth, in more than one way. So, she saw no reason why he should beat himself over things that would never be.
By the time the sun set for the evening, the troop had managed to make it to an area that they believed was close to what was once the state border. Since an area that was once a national park happened to be in the way, they decided to set up camp in an abandoned camping site. Sekhmet predicted no less than a day more of travel before they reached their destination.
After Seferia set down her egg and assisted Sephiroth in setting up their tent, she escorted him inside. Once in privacy, she spoke to him, “Do you want to remain that way overnight, or do you want to sleep as yourself then decide whether you want to be a feline or yourself tomorrow?”
Sephiroth made his way into the abandoned camping grounds, glad that their day’s worth of travel was over. He moved over to a clearing with Seferia and unrolled the tent, beginning the process of setting it up. He had done it so many times now, he could do it blind… or in his sleep. If somebody had told him that the tent had fallen down in the night and he had ‘sleepwalked’ to put it back up again, he would not be surprised.
Once it was up, he left his lesser important things outside and moved into the tent, unrolling the sleeping mats.
“Do I want to stay this way?” He frowned in confusion. “I suppose so…” He thought about it. It was bad enough transforming into the feline. He didn’t particularly want to go through that again so soon. Being a cat also had a major upside – his hormones were not pestering him to go check out the ladies or get involved with said ladies either.
He shook his head finally. “I want to stay like this for now. I can decide what to do in the morning.”
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