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year 5, quarter 3
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Just outside of Torensten, Caius walked alongside Vordun to an open field with intentions of meeting with Yuna. His fellow Dragonblade had experience with riding large, winged creatures and had suggested that Caius even consider doing so himself when Vordun was big enough. Looking up at Vordun who was now bigger than he was - about the size of a horse, come to think of it - Caius felt this was a good time to start. Thus the meeting was for him to start work on learning how to ride Vordun, with Yuna's help.
Caius had to admit, he was nervous. Sure, he'd rode chocobos many times since coming to Zephon, and had driven a car back in Eos... But this was a completely different thing entirely on account that this was a dragon and it could fly. And Vordun was not trained to take a rider. So that was also a problem. This would be just as much teaching Vordun as it was about Caius learning to ride. Luckily, Vordun had already been proven to be able to sustain Caius' body weight during a prior battle, and during a time where he was much smaller than he was now. So he was definitely capable of pulling this off. But being capable and actually doing it were two different things.
As they arrived at the meeting place, Caius couldn't help but look to Vordun a moment. And look up at Vordun, to boot. It was hard to believe that this was the little hatchling that had been born the same hour the Dragonblades had been formed. This was the little guy who used to ride around in Caius' jacket. The little guy he had taught to hunt, to breathe fire, to fight, to do so many things. This was the little guy who it felt like it wasn't so long ago when they had fallen asleep in the fields together with Vordun snuggled up on his chest, barely the size of Caius' torso.
------
~Before, Dragon's Light~
"Aye, I'll write you some extended notes" Caius answered then. At least before the grin came. "Then maybe one day if I do write that book you can help" The glaive joked then. She was right though, raising a dragon was nothing like a sword. But like with a sword, it was a challenge he welcomed. Especially now that he had the time to. Time without having to spend every waking moment in fear of daemons.
Either way, it seemed Celes was ready to head out and help out some recruits. He smiled and nodded his head then. "Let me know if you need a hand" He offered as he waved to her as she headed off. "I'm sure Vordun would like that. I'll catch up to you when I'm finished here."
As Celes walked off, Caius let out a yawn as he looked to Vordun. "You look like you're done" He spoke toward the dragon, who opened an eye to peer up at him. It didn't look like they would be getting anymore training done, he supposed. Oh well.
Inching back until he was leaned against the nearby tree, Caius would stare up at the sky, feeling the most relaxed he'd ever felt for the first time in a long time. He could just fall asleep here, he realized. Nothing and nobody would attack him out here with a dragon present. He had all the time in the world to just... To just...
He could feel Vordun climb onto him and snuggle into his chest as the dragon curled up, and it wasn't long before Caius' own eyes would begin to slowly droop.
He'd check in on Celes later, he supposed... For now he wanted to just...
Be.
It would be evening by the time he woke up, and the glaive along with his dragon would make their way back to the city.
------
~Present~
Caius couldn't believe how much Vordun had grown up since. They had been together for far longer than it felt like, he knew. But he still felt as though it had gone by so fast, maybe too fast for his liking. He almost missed how small and adorable he'd been. But make no mistake about it... As he would reach up to pat Vordun's head, Caius was very proud of the big, strong, proud dragon that Vordun had become.
Final Fantasy X
19
YEARS
Female
Tidus
Heterosexual
294 POSTS
Erin
I live for the people of Spira, and would have gladly died for them, but no more!
Yuna had come to know the streets of Torensten rather well at this point. It was the first city that she had woken up in after all, and she had grown to love its friendly inhabitants and its loud marketplaces. As important as her work was in Provo with the plague victims, she had been itching for a moment to rest, so she had been happy to receive a message from Caius that he was ready to start trying to ride on Vordun. She couldn’t believe that the dragon was so large already! She was eager to see it with her own eyes, so she packed up and headed back south to Torensten. Yuna was happy to help out a friend, and truth be told, she was more than ready to forget about the yellow-eyed man for a while.
Yuna had stayed overnight at an inn before setting out early to meet Caius on the outskirts of the city. She had her bag slung over one shoulder and her staff gripped in the opposite hand as she carefully walked through the tall grasses outside of Torensten. The morning wind rustled her sleeves and skirt, and she tipped her head back a bit and enjoyed the morning light until she caught sight of the figures waiting for her in the distance.
Yuna felt her lips part slightly in surprise at the sight of Vordun, a laugh escaping her as she approached them. “He’s huge!” She called to Caius, cautiously holding out a hand to the blue-scaled dragon in case he needed to sniff her to remember her. He was starting to approach the size of an actual dragon, and she supposed that she might have been a little nervous if she hadn’t have met him when he was smaller. She had faith in Caius’ ability to train him though. She hadn’t seen Vordun do anything too wild yet.
“How have you been?” She finally asked, shooting Caius a smile. “It should be a beautiful day to go up in the sky.”
He’d probably fall a lot too while they were learning, but she left that part unspoken until they got down to business. Hopefully Caius wouldn’t break anything, but that’s partly why she was here, after all.
Caius knew Yuna had been busy over in Provo, trying to cure the plague that had spread across it. Caius didn't go to Provo much these days, for whatever reason the plague there stirred up terrible memories that caused Caius to stay as far away as possible if he could help it. It was just too familiar to him, and he found himself really not wanting to be there.
But the presence of that plague still made him more grateful than anything that Yuna had taken the time out to help him. There wasn't really anyone else he could ask when it came to riding atop a winged mount, especially something the size of a dragon or Yuna's aeons. And he couldn't ask that Kuja fellow, he was... Kind of a dick. Caius knew it would be a lot of trial and error for him, just as it had been for raising the dragon already. But he was happy to have at least some sort of guidance. And he figured he couldn't ask for a more gentle tutor than Yuna.
Caius had started on a few warm-up stretches, knowing this would likely put his body through the wringer while waiting for Yuna to arrive. When the Summoner would arrive, he greeted her with a warm smile. "Yuney!" Caius would respond to the cry of "He's huge!" which he assumed was meant for Vordun. The large creature would stare Yuna down as she approached, but as she held out a hand to him, he reached forward and sniffed her hand. Seeming to recognize her from when he was small, Vordun would stomp forward to lick her face. Something that elicited a laugh from Caius.
"Guess he still likes you" Caius joked in turn. "I've been good, still doing what I've been doing. Vordun's shaping up beautifully as a combatant and our chemistry is good, so I figured now was as good a time as any" He spoke as he patted the scales on Vordun's back. "Any tips to go with before we start?"
Final Fantasy X
19
YEARS
Female
Tidus
Heterosexual
294 POSTS
Erin
I live for the people of Spira, and would have gladly died for them, but no more!
Yuna flushed slightly when Caius referred to her as ‘Yuney,’ shooting him a slight smile as her thoughts turned to her Al Bhed side of the family. Rikku had often referred to her by that nickname as well, so she was surprised but pleased to have someone in Zephon start calling her that. It made her feel like she was really starting to form a home here.
Still, finding her place came with its own drawbacks and complications. Yuna knew she shouldn’t get too comfortable. She couldn’t give up on her goal of returning to Spira. They still needed someone to defeat Sin. She doubted that another summoner had managed it in the brief time that she’d been away, and that meant that she could never truly settle down here.
She hadn’t meant for her thoughts to travel in a sad direction, but thankfully Vordun distracted her by returning her greeting. The dragon moved forward to lick her face, and Yuna laughed as she tried to duck away, not quite succeeding as his tongue swiped across her cheek. “I really can’t believe how big he is,” she commented, wiping her cheek off on a long sleeve as she patted his neck. “It doesn’t feel that long ago that he was riding around in your coat. Now his teeth are getting pretty scary,” she joked with a slight smile, glancing at the dragon’s mouth. She felt bad for any animals he came across while hunting now. She doubted that he’d need Caius’ help with a deer anymore, like he had during their first meeting. Time really flew.
Caius seemed to be in good spirits, which didn’t surprise Yuna. Who wouldn’t be excited to learn to fly? She hadn’t tried it often with Valefor, but she’d always loved how the wind felt swirling around her on those rare occasions. “Hm…” Yuna leaned around Vordun to consider the layout of his back when Caius asked her if she had any tips. “Try to always hold on with your hands if you can. It can be hard to grip with just your legs when they’re moving so much.” Impossible really. She suspected that she’d have fallen off at some point were it not for the aeon doing her best to shield Yuna from the elements and to keep her in place. Caius would likely have a much harder time. As intelligent as the dragon was, he still didn’t have quite the same level of awareness as a summon.
“Oh! We should lay something down for you to sit on.” Yuna glanced between the blue-tinted dragon scales and the fabric of Caius’ pants. “His scales will rub. I think your legs will get raw pretty quick if we don’t. If only they made saddles for dragons.” Yuna shot him a slight smile. “Maybe we could get one commissioned for you? I’m sure someone could make one if they just measured…” The idea of asking a leather worker to come into the wilds of Torensten to measure a dragon was pretty funny, and Yuna put a hand in front of her mouth to stifle her laugh as she tried to get serious again.
“Do you want us to try to secure you down? I can try to heal you if you fall, but I don’t really like the idea of you getting hurt in the first place,” she admitted, lightly stroking a hand along Vordun’s scales as she waited to hear Caius’ preferences.
Caius wasn't aware that she'd had the nickname used before, it was just an affectionate nickname he'd thought up on the spot. Either way, he laughed as Vordun licked her face, though nodded in agreement when she brought up just how big he had become. "He's matured quickly as well. I'm sort of curious how time works in this world. It feels like its been forever since I hatched him, but... I'm not so sure how long its been. Certainly not as long as it feels, but he's grown quickly, and matured quickly too. It's very easy to fight with him as an equal these days, instead of as a mentor and student, if that makes sense."
Yuna seemed to grow quiet for a moment, but while Caius regarded her with a curious expression, he didn't press the subject and figured if it was something she wanted to talk about, she would. He'd tried to make it no secret he was here if she just needed to talk about something that was on her mind.
Yuna leaned around Vordun as she began to make some suggestions. She said to hold on with his hands, which he took note of. But the one thing that definitely got his attention was the note that without a saddle or anything, those scales would rub his legs raw. Caius quirked a brow at that. He hadn't thought of that before. Riding a chocobo was very different from riding a winged, scaled creature, he knew... But he hadn't thought of those smaller details. It was good of Yuna to bring that up, and he nodded his head. "I'll invest in a requisition. I've got some hide that I was intending to sell in town that might do for the time being, and I might be able to use it for a saddle."
Snapping his fingers, a large lump of behemoth's hide would appear above Caius, which he heaved on his back until he could make it to Vordun and slide it onto him. "It fits... Well enough, I suppose" Caius remarked. "I fought this one near Torensten not long ago, alongside Vordun. Imagine my surprise when it turned out that it used magic. I didn't know behemoths could do that."
Yuna suggested securing him down, and he nodded his head. "I do need to learn how to hold onto Vordun, but odds are I'd be having the custom made saddle come with something to tie me down along with it. Anything you can suggest as a substitute in the meanwhile though, would be appreciated. I don't think having this piece of hide fall off everytime I fall, or causing me to fall, is going to do us any good."
Final Fantasy X
19
YEARS
Female
Tidus
Heterosexual
294 POSTS
Erin
I live for the people of Spira, and would have gladly died for them, but no more!
Caius seemed to agree with her suggestion of getting Vordun a saddle so that the scales wouldn’t hurt his legs. He mentioned that he had a behemoth hide with him that he’d been meaning to sell, and Yuna jumped a bit when he made it suddenly appear in a flash of blue sparks. “More of your Lucian magic?” She asked, leaning forward curiously as he hauled it over to Vordun and carefully arranged the hide across his back.
“I think that should work fine in the meantime. It looks thick enough. And as long as it protects your legs.” She gave Caius a slight smile as he regaled her with the tale of how he’d killed the behemoth. “They could use magic on Spira. They can be really dangerous though. I’m impressed you killed it alone, but I should have guessed that you could. I’ve seen you fight.” Caius would be a formidable opponent. She thought that he would have made a great guardian if he had been born on Spira.
Caius pointed out that they needed something to secure the hide with so that it wouldn’t fall off with him or slip, and Yuna hesitated as she considered the possibilities. “I do have a small length of rope. I use it to secure chocobos at night when I rent them.” Yuna set her travel bag down on the ground as she started to rifle through it. “It’s definitely a temporary solution since his scales might cut through that too eventually, but it should work until we can get you a more permanent saddle.” Yuna handed over the circle of rope to Caius, deciding not to mention that she’d bought it after her encounter with Ardyn. He was an unsent, and a powerful one at that. It would be hard to beat him and even harder to contain him when he could warp in a flurry of shadows and red sparks. But with all the people in Provo that were coming down with the plague that he was spreading, Yuna was going to secure him and send him to the farplane or die trying. Sin might not have been in Zephon, but she still had her duty as a summoner.
“Other than that, I guess the only way to learn to fly with him is to try it out,” she said with a slight smile. “Ready when you are.”
"Yeah" Caius responded when Yuna asked about how he'd managed to carry the thing that way. "It has its limitations, though. But it's incredibly useful for lugging trophies and the like when I don't have a wagon."
Caius could admit to being a bit apprehensive abut this whole thing, but he was also really excited to get started. It was a new challenge, just as much of raising Vordun had been and Caius enjoyed these sorts of things. As he got to work on placing the "saddle" on Vordun, Caius listened in the background to what Yuna was saying as he worked. Though his biggest concern was patting it down, and asking Vordun "Is that comfortable for you?" quickly. Vordun was clearly unaccustomed to this weight on his back, but didn't seem overly bothered by it either. He would probably adjust, he figured.
"I didn't kill it alone" Caius did decide to correct. "The man it was chasing gave me a hand. And of course, I had Vordun with me."
He knew he probably should have just taken the compliment, but Caius wasn't the kind to falsely boast. He preferred things as black and white as they could be. Either way, Caius nodded his head when Yuna mentioned having rope to secure him with. The scales would cut through them eventually, but it would probably hold for at least a bit. Long enough to get in some practice. It was time to get rolling then.
Once Caius had finished securing the rope, he would take a deep breath before holding out a hand to Vordun. "Alright buddy, easy does it" He spoke softly as Vordun moved forward to sniff his hand. Caressing his hand against his head to keep him calm, Caius gently climbed onto the back of Vordun. Vordun did shift and buck a bit, but Caius kept a hand on him, and continued consoling him until the beast calmed down. "Alright, that's good" Caius spoke up, as he adjusted himself on the saddle. "A bit of apprehension, but Vordun seems to be taking to this well."
With that, he looked toward Vordun. "Alright bud, let's fly" He encouraged the dragon. At the word "fly" Vordun took the hint as his wings began to flap. Caius steeled himself, at least somewhat used to riding chocobos at this point, so he knew how to hang on tight.
Except in this case he didn't.
Vordun shot upwards like a cannon, and Caius immediately lost his grip, letting out a yelp as he slid off the saddle and hung down the side, the rope untangling around him except for on his leg, which it tied around. Hanging upside down, Caius tried to wriggle free but realized at the last second just how bad of an idea it was. Sadly it was a second too late as the rope came undone and Caius free fell several feet and faceplanted into the ground.
"Mrrrrggghh..." Caius groaned into the grass. Luckily Vordun hadn't gotten very high before Caius had fallen, so the damage wasn't too bad. Slowly sitting up, spitting out grass as he placed a hand on his head -- now nursing an irritating headache -- Caius looked up at Vordun who hadn't actually noticed he had fallen.
"Pfft" He let out as he spit out dirt. "Bloody overgrown lizard."
Apparently hearing that, Vordun stopped in his tracks and let out a series of growls toward Caius that almost sounded like the lizard was complaining.
"I bloody know you heard that!" Caius called out to Vordun. "How the hell did you not know?"
The lizard began to descend as Vordun continued to complain. But believe it or not, Caius wasn't mad. Actually, he looked very well like he was holding in laughter.
"You need to mind your surroundings better, bud!" Caius called to Vordun, muttering a "blegh" as he cleaned grass and dirt off his tongue. "Get down here, we're gonna try again!"
Final Fantasy X
19
YEARS
Female
Tidus
Heterosexual
294 POSTS
Erin
I live for the people of Spira, and would have gladly died for them, but no more!
Caius was cautious as he climbed on Vordun’s back, and Yuna wondered if it was the first time that he’d ever ridden on the dragon before. Vordun did seem a little uncomfortable with the additional weight, but he quickly calmed down as Caius did his best to soothe him. “At least he trusts you. That’s half the battle,” Yuna said with a slight smile. She wasn’t surprised. The two of them had a strong bond, and it didn’t feel like so long ago that the dragon had been small enough to climb inside Caius’ coat. She was sure that Vordun wouldn’t mind having Caius ride him too much.
Stepping forward, Yuna did her best to help arrange the rope around Caius’ waist, before she took a few steps back to give them room. “Good luck!” She called to them as Caius gave the order to fly.
Caius must have done a lot of work with Vordun since the last time that she’d seen him, because the dragon obeyed immediately as he spread out his wings and took to the sky. For a moment, she thought that Caius had it, but then he let out a yelp as he was buffeted with wind so hard that he lost his grip. The rope at least held his weight, but as he fell to the side, it latched around one leg until he was left dangling from the saddle.
With one hand to her mouth, Yuna snatched her staff from where she’d laid it in the grass and tried to rush over, but Caius had yanked himself free and fallen to the earth with a thump before she could make it over.
“Caius! Are you okay?” She asked in concern, as she fell to her knees next to him. “Is anything broken?”
It had been a high fall, but thankfully not lethally so, and Yuna was relieved when Caius sat up and spit out a few blades of grass before yelling an insult up at Vordun who was still in the air. The dragon seemed to understand the tone behind his voice even if he didn’t know the words themselves, and he let out a series of growls as he descended towards the ground. The two continued to growl and shout at each other until it almost sounded like they were having an argument. Yuna felt a giggle bubble up in her throat, but she didn’t want to be rude, so she did her best to hold it in until it became clear that Caius was laughing too. That was when she lost it.
“I’m sorry,” she said in between laughs as she leaned on her staff for support. “Are you hurt?” The question probably sounded a little insincere when she was laughing so hard, so she put one hand over her mouth as she did her best to calm herself down. She didn’t normally lose her composure like that, but she’d never seen a man argue with a dragon before either. One more snort escaped her at the thought before she smoothed down her skirt and gave him her best professional look.
“Well, that was…a start,” she said with a slight smile. “On the bright side, we can see what needs adjusted. Maybe we should sit up you a little higher so you don’t get caught as much in the pull from his wings.” She paused for a moment to take in the unraveled rope still hanging from Vordun. “To be honest, I’m not sure if the rope was too loose since it didn’t hold you or too tight since it left you dangling from one leg,” she admitted, doing her best to stifle a slight smile. “What do you think? Anything else need changed before you try again?”
“Argue with dragon”, huh, he’d have to check that one off his bucket list. Vordun finished his descent as Yuna rushed over, stifling her laughter, and asked after Caius' welfare. Between laughter. “I’m okay” Caius promised Yuna as he gave the dragon a scathing look. “A little battered and bruised, a bit of a damaged ego, but nothing that will kill me.”
But something had indeed gone wrong, yet it wasn't all that clear just what was wrong. Caius began to examine the saddle and hanging rope a moment, before shrugging his shoulders.
"Sitting a little higher up might be good, but honestly I just wasn't ready" Caius admitted in turn. "I've rode chocobos before, but never a winged monster."
Taking exception to the word "monster" seeing as Caius used it so often to describe their opposition, Vordun reared back and released a jet of flames at Caius. Caius quickly rushed forward, grabbing Yuna and getting away from the flames as quickly as possible. Luckily Vordun was not intending to hurt either of them, and the flames disappeared quickly. It was a warning shot, at best. Or for a dragon, a signal of displeasure.
"Not all monsters are bad, Vordy" Caius remarked toward Vordun pointedly, with a quirked brow as he checked himself for any scorches or singed pieces of clothing. Vordun let out a snort though, as steam billowed from his snout. "Fine, fine. I won't call you that word anymore" Caius responded with a resigned sigh as he reached over and scratched the top of the dragon's head. "Are you happy now?" He asked Vordun, who immediately turned his head and opened his mouth to slobber Caius with his tongue, knocking the mercenary over as he let out a balking sound.
"Come on, I wasn't ready!" Caius complained with a laugh as he wiped his face on his sleeve. Caius couldn't tell if the dragon could understand him fully or not. Sometimes he seemed to be able to, sometimes he didn't. As he got to his feet, he turned to Yuna.
"That ascent wasn't anything like I'd ever experienced before. It completely blew me backwards. As for the rope... Honestly, it's just a regular old rope on something not meant to be used as a saddle. On a dragon. Hopefully this won't happen again when I custom order the real thing. But for now, I just need to get better at not falling off."
Taking a deep breath, Caius turned to Vordun and attempted to climb back on. Seeming to be in a forgiving mood, the dragon lowered himself down to allow Caius to climb up, surprising Caius in how quickly he'd learned to register that Caius was climbing on and aid him in the attempt. He hadn't needed to coax him down this time, instead the dragon had figured it out on his own.
"Good" Caius praised Vordun as he climbed aboard, taking a deep breath as he took hold of the rope to try and hang on a little tighter. "Rope isn't the best substitute for proper footholds and the like, but if I do hang down like that, it might be best to try and communicate with Vordun. I don't know if he'd be able to help me right myself, but at the least he might be able to position himself if I fall" He remarked as he looked to Yuna. "Any last minute advice?"
Admittedly, Vordun's understanding of his statements still rang in his head though. Caius hadn't encountered any dragons in his world, was it possible that they were far more intelligent than most beasts? It would certainly explain a lot... Something to experiment with later, he supposed.
Final Fantasy X
19
YEARS
Female
Tidus
Heterosexual
294 POSTS
Erin
I live for the people of Spira, and would have gladly died for them, but no more!
Yuna was happy to see that Caius wasn’t hurt besides being a little banged up, but he did seem a bit dispirited by how quickly he’d been thrown off the dragon’s back. Yuna wanted to console him and point out that it was a lot harder to ride a flying creature than a chocobo, but Vordun seemed to take offense at Caius’ use of the word ‘monster.’ Before she could say anything, Caius had to quickly grab her arm and drag her out of the way as Vordun snorted fire in their direction.
Surprised, Yuna glanced a bit nervously at Caius to see if he thought they should flee, but it looked like Vordun had only been throwing a tantrum as Caius was able to calm him down fairly quickly. By the end of their exchange, she was fighting back laughter again as the dragon gave Caius a fond lick across his face and the man was almost knocked right off his feet.
“I’m sorry. Your bond is just really cute,” she said with a laugh, doing her best to somber up as they got back down to business. She nodded as Caius pointed out that the rope wasn’t keeping him on too well.
“No, that makes sense. Do you want to postpone until you have a real saddle made, or do you want to just do what we can until then?”
She wasn’t really surprised when Caius climbed back onto Vordun in spite of his bad fall. In the time that she’d known him, he had never been one to back down from a challenge, so she hadn’t really expected him to now. Still, that must have taken an immense amount of courage to get back on the dragon, so she gave him a slight smile, feeling her respect for him go up yet another notch.
“I think that’s a great idea,” she gushed as he brought up that he might try to communicate with Vordun in the air. “Honestly, 90% of the time, the only reason I could stay on Valefor was because we had a direct link between us. And really, that’s your biggest strength here. Riding him might be harder than riding a chocobo, but you two have a really powerful bond. I’m sure he doesn’t want you to get hurt...”
Trailing off, Yuna gave him a slight smile as she backed up to give them room. “Good luck!” She called. “I’m here to heal if needed.”