Wren watched in awe as she jumped up onto the dragon. How had she done that? Adding that to the list of things he'd have to ask her, he shifted slightly to allow her a little more room on the back of the dragon.
Normally, Wren sat astride the ridge on Tala's back that sat between her shoulderblades, giving him a little protection from the wind. Though, since there was no way for two people to fit there, he sat farther up, near the base of her neck, his boots touching where the scales went from the light green on the dragon's underbelly to the patches of dark greens that made up everything else.

He shivered, she felt cold behind him. Though the fact he had thick, fur-lined clothing on that was designed to keep him warm and still be streamline. Wren wondered how long she'd been here, since she was so cold he was curious to know how she'd survived the nights.
The thought was whipped away when she wrapped her arms around his waist. He was never one for touching other people. Looking at Tala as she spread her wings he gently took Varia's hands and set them on his shoulders.

Tala stood up once more and beat her wings as she took the one step she needed to be next to the woorgen. She scooped up the woorgen as she hovered over the ground and covered it with another hand before she rose far above the tree tops. With a little adjusting to make sure the beast was protected Tala headed for to mountains far from the boarder.

The movements of the dragon had made Varia's grip just a little tighter than expected, even after he moved her hands she gripped tight to him keeping against him for both her own safety and balance. This wasn't something she normally did, flying about on a living creature, let alone a dragon. As the beast flew finally she actually pressed against Wren a little more, fingers curling closed and tight. She wasn't afraid of flying but she couldn't help but feel worried about this whole thing, part of her wanted to just scream that this was one of her less-clever ideas.
The wind was catching the back of her hair. Where it had seemed relatively short, it was forcing the rest out of her robes. She had quite long hair at the back, at least down to mid-back, and it flayed out gently behind her like a cape of silver and blue, decorated with the hues of the sky as the sunset reflected of it, producing what was almost a rainbow of color.

Eyes tightly closed at first she finally pried them open, looking out, across the falling landscape. The dark forests she'd just been running through, the distant town at the edge of Gestahl that she'd escaped from. It wa s apity they were such an unkind people, the view of their cities was strangely beautiful to her. She'd only ever seenn such things in old movies, or holovids more precisely since that was the technology all those old movies had been transferred to..
She'd also seen depictions of dragons, but nothing was really like being on one, getting to touch it, riding it.

Wren seemed to treat this all as if it was entirely normal, and it was hard to argue that it wasn't normal, atleas tnot for him, if only she could express just how amazing this was to some-one such s herself. Instead she could only leave him confused. She'd broken too many rules as it was, but so long as she never let on that she was form another world, she could get by on that technicality.
If they used magic she could pretend any technology she had was a different kind of magic.. Yeah that would work.. She smiled to herself a little, but felt bad at the same time.. Because she didn't like lying.. For now, she couldn't wait to get back on the ground, the cold air up there was beginning to make her shiver a great deal.

Wren had noticed her shivering behind him and he leaned forward slightly, urging Tala lower and into warmer air as the finer details of the blue-brown mountains came into view. The dark emerald green of the trees that dotted the steep slope was one of the first things that were clearly visible as Tala glided between a pair of low summits, veins of white and purple minerals visible on the steeper sections of the mountains were trees were unable to root themselves.

Tala banked in close to one of the mountains as they reached the other side. The topography of the mountains changed almost immediately, as if someone had smashed two different mountain halves together.
A collection of buildings made from the white metal on the other side of the mountain that ranged from short and fat rectangular buildings to a collection of graceful spires that obviously marked something important. Those spires were exactly what Tala was heading towards. The spires sat low on the mountain, unlike everything else that was positioned farther up. As the spires got closer it was apparent they weren’t the important part, the collection of buildings below were. With a slow spiral around, Tala landed in a large clearing of thick and short grass that everything seemed to be built around. Wren looked back at Varia before easing his way down off his dragon’s back.
"I'm just going to get Tala settled in and the woorgen's new home arranged-" Right at the mention of the furry creature it was released from Tala's grip and look the few steps it needed to be standing next to Wren. " then we can get you settled in for the night until you can do whatever it was you needed to do." He looked up at Varia on the dragon's back as he ran a hand through the woorgen's fur. He noticed then her hair was longer than before, and that he couldn't see her shivering anymore though that didn't mean she wasn't still cold.

Varia stared down, past the beating wings, past the obstructing shoulder of her would-be savior, at the forest and the mountains that they decorated like a cloak of darkening green. As they passed she couldn't help but take it all in, she'd been on many worlds but the mountains on this one were particularily breathtaking. The glow of the deep purple veins mixing with the white gave the mountain a crystalline pink glow in the light of the setting sun, this alone made this Tygan's territory seem far more enticing. If she hadn't been more aware of herself she would almost have let go.

The sudden changes on the other side, smoothly came into view and she had to change the angle at which she looked. There was several cities on her home-world situated quite similarly to this, which she found odd at first.. but then, in a universe of infinite possibilities, she had come across some of the least likely results. That she should let this surprise her at all would have been foolish, so instead she admired the view. It felt even more friendly, more like a home to her, one she was glad to be near.

As they finally set down, she leaned back a little to let Wren dismount first, staring down at him quietly when he spoke. She didn't really want to be left without him, she wouldn't be alone, after all, the dragon, the so-named Tala, was there. Varia shifted, sliding off the dragon and landing gently on the ground, however the grace left her after a second and she found herself on her knees, before sitting down and holding her head with one hand. The sudden change of altitude inside an atmosphere was a little dizzying, she'd forgotten she didn't have inertial dampeners outside of her ship and her combat suit..
Wren was probably more used to it than she was, which made her wonder if he actually knew about such things or if he would just see this as an indication of her weakening.. She looked up after a moment and smiled,
"I'm alright.. Go, do what you need to.. I shan't have moved far.."

Wren crouched next to Varia, placing a hand on his shoulder. He paused for a moment before realizing she wasn’t used to the changed in altitude. With a soft sigh he shook his head.
“It’s going to get cold, fast. He paused and scooped Varia up bridal style. “I’ll just carry you until you get used to the air up here.” He finished before looking back at Tala who was already at work ushering the woorgen towards one of the buildings. It was a simply two story building with high windows that gave off a purple glow from inside. Wren followed Tala who stopped just outside the wooden double doors. With a push from his shoulder, Wren stepped inside to a small room in which he kicked off his boots, making note of another pair of a similar style, before looking at the woorgen that followed him. With a nod he opened a second set of double doors and stepped through into a stable of sorts. Though it wasn’t horses, the stalls were wider, but there was the same basic design. Walking through one of the rows he turned a corner to find another man running a comb through a silver woorgen’s fur.

He looked up and waved to Wren as he walked closer. The other man stepped around the woorgen, his bare feet making no sound on the thin layer of hay-ish material that covered the floor of everything.
”Another one Wren?” He asked running a hand through the woorgen’s fur, muttering to himself about the woorgen’s condition.
“Yep, I hope we’ve still got room.” The other man nodded, looking back at the silver woorgen and clicking his tongue. The silver woorgen turned had walked off before stepping inside one of the stalls with its door open.
“I’ll just give her a nice scrub-down and something warm to eat before getting her to sleep. You don’t have to worry, the woorgen’s safe with me.” Wren nodded before the blonde haired man ushered the woorgen away and into a room in the back where Wren knew they kept the supplies for keeping the woorgen’s clean. When the blonde man had left the stalls Wren looked at Varia in his arms.
“That-“ He began. “was Kane, we grew up together and he’s in charge of taking care of our woorgen population.” He headed back through one of the isles thinking of the woorgen.

Woorgens, Wren knew, had once been indigenous to the Tygan land on the other side of the mountains. Though that land had once been Gastehl land and they’d hunted the species to almost extinction. When they’d learned they were fantastic as war mounts and naturally became vicious when their ears were pressed against their heads or exposed the high-pitched noises they captured as many as they could and created their vast collection of war mounts they were known for. Then there’d been the war between the Tygans and the Gastehl. The old home of the woorgens had been claimed by the Tygans and they’d turned it into a preserve or sorts, vowing to restore the woorgens to their natural home. Though at the time they were simply working on increasing their numbers and making sure they were healthy.

Varia was actually relatively light, not that it was much of a surprise with her being a bit shorter, however it could be felt under the robes, she wore pieces of armor, a kind of fine plate-mail, somehow fitted to her smaller frame, at least that was what it would have felt like. Particularly noticeable was rounded plates at her hips, thighs and upper arms. It probably begged the question of how she could be so light when she was wearing a suit of armor beneath. She knew the truth of it, but probably wouldn't speak of it yet.

No, she was too busy being a bit stunned at how he'd picked her up like that, she looked up at the redhed quietly as he spoke then nodded her head gently, she trusted him well enough to allow him to carry her like this, though really she could have tried walking on her own. The embarrassment of the situation was actually turning her cheeks a soft pink, though in her position she was leaned with her head against his chest, which in itself made her feel both comfortable AND awkward, cue her face going a little more red.
And he was doing all of this while casually talking with a stranger, at least a stranger to her. So the embarrassment was still piling up rather ferociously, but she didn't want to escape his warmth just yet.. She didn't have anything else to cling to.. Which was when she realized one of her hands, the one furthest away, had reached up to hold onto his shirt.

Her red gaze turned up to the man named Wren once more, this close, in the light, it could be seen that somehting about her eyes wasn't the same, they seemed alive with energy, a dim, very dim glow pinpricks of white within the pupils themselves, moving as she focused on him, taking in his features. She barely changed expression, it was one of wonder, curiosity, a meek look that demonstrated how innocent she seemed, but Wren had seen that she wasn't just some pretty little wall flower. However the vastly contrasting change between confident warrior to shy girl was a little too plain to not see.
And then came the fatigue, she could feel it creeping up on her. So relaxed, so attached to the warmth of Wren's body and so comfortable was she that she felt her eyes beginning to close, her head falling forward a little. Maybe it was an affect of the change in altitude.. But either way, she was showing signs of tiredness,
"Is there somewhere private.. And warm, where I could sleep..?"

Wren nodded and held Varia a little tighter, sensing her slipping into sleep. With a glance over at Tala the dragon gave a nod before heading off to prepare itself for sleep without Wren’s help.
”Don’t fret, you can sleep in my private rooms while I sort out your own guest quarters.” He began walking once more. Heading for a long low building that made a half ring around the outside of all the pillars and the other buildings.
Wren too, was completely and utterly exhausted. Though Varia was his responsibility now and he would make sure she was safe before doing anything else. The building had a chamber behind the door much like the stables, where there was a thick carpet and Wren took off his boots before closing the door behind him and opening the other one into a long hallway that’s ends disappeared around the curves of the building. There was an army of doors that opened into whatever was behind them, there was about six feet of space between each door, and a simple table crafted from the white metal from the mountains stood on three legs between each door. Wren headed down the seemingly endless hallway, as he walked a soft purple light erupted from the candles made from the purple mineral that hung from the ceiling. The material hung in a cone shape, the fatter side hanging down to reveal that the material generated a light that got brighter as he approached, reached its brightest, a faint glow, when he was below it, and dimmed as he walked away.

Wren stopped at a door and pushed the light colored wood open. As the lights in the hallway went off a collection of the purple mineral went off in the room. It was shaped as a tree and it was much stronger than those in the hallway, the light glimmered off the bracelets that hung from its purple branches and lit almost ever corner of the room.
The room was relatively bare, a desk and a three-legged chair of the white metal were tucked away into the left corner below a row of shelves where a collection of natural trinkets lay, a left handed shell, another of the purple rocks in the shape of a dragon in flight and leaves that color must have bent something to the Tygan. A large woven throw rug in a shade of pale silver lay across most of the floor and matched the top sheet that was folded back on the top of the bed. It was a four-poster made for two people and carved from the same crème colored wood that the door and the shelves were made from.

Wren lay Varia down on top of the sheets. He crouched next to the bed for a moment before patting her shoulder and standing back up.
”Dream well, Varia. I’ll see if I can arrange you your own room for any other nights you may wish to stay.” He whispered before leaving and shutting the door behind him. The lights in the room dimmed but didn’t go out completely for a long while before going out all the way when Wren finally stepped away from the door to go see out the elder and arrange a room for Varia.

Varia smiled when he made the offer. Private rooms? That suggested he had more than one.. She wondered for a moment, just what status he actually held among Tygans. After all she didn't know that much about him, but she atleast knew she could trust him and that was good enough for now. She remained amazed by what she was seeing while she was carried down the hall. It felt strangely natural to be in this position, her kinder heart overriding the trained soldier inside. Some races called it Naivéte though.. Which she never really understood..

The purple crystals were strangely welcoming, she'd never considered the color that much before now. It held a gentle end of the spectrum that made it pleasant on her eyes. The room she'd been taken to was just as pretty as the rest of it, her eyes caught particularly on the tree in the center.. If she ever got home, she would want to redecorate her home a little.. Just to match one or two things here..
When she was placed on the bed, she sat up, watching Wren and smiling softly. Truth be told she didn't want him to leave.. But she kept quiet again, raising a hand to softly wave at him before he was gone entirely. She stared up a the dimming lights and watched them finally extinguish themselves..

Now would be a safe moment.
She pulled her sleeves back, revealing specialized bracers, decorated with a single crystal each in the same manner as the headpiece she wore. Varia waved a hand over the right bracer, a holographic sheet stretched up into the air, giving her stats and specifics, the charge level was steadily rising once more, but it had only reached 19%.. By tomorrow it would be full again. The internal generation of the bio-crystals would produce the energy she required.. But it was time to put her armor in standby mode.
She flicked through several screens and finally deactivated her suit. The the armor on her upper arms shrank and withdrew, alongside the pieces on her hips and fore-arms. Las t but not least, the strange boots she wore, they were the last to go, but as the suit withdrew, nanotechnology breaking it apart and storing the information within a single bracelet, her skin became exposed beneath the robes and cloak she wore.. She could feel a rush of cold, but she couldn't risk anyone seeing that armor.. Not if she could help it. Even the headdress had vanished.
She removed the cloak at least, but kept her robes on. Nothing left but her underclothes and the robes, however she at least had the bed, so she slipped under the covers and curled up.

And she would dream, dream of home, her travels and how she got here..