Syra followed behind Kal, despite his mishap with a spell nearly drowning him she was impressed by how well he navigated this jungle. The terrain was surprisingly mountainous as they went further into the forest, Syra found herself stumbling on the uneven footing, rocks in the dirt and loose foliage and tree roots while Kal seemed more graceful in comparison. "Well, I suppose you can tell I've lived most of my life in a castle from this alone." Syra said to her chagrin. Kal let out a playful chuckle glancing back at her, "I'm sure it'll come to you in time." he said stepping over a jagged rock sticking out of the dirt. The two continued their way up the mountainous terrain, Syra trying her best to keep up with Kal. As they walked a question came to her mind, "You said you had your birthday yesterday?" she asked, stepping over a loose tree root. "Yes my eighteenth in fact, why do you ask?" "Well this might sound strange but I had my eighteenth birthday yesterday as well." Syra responded. Kal looked at her blinking, "What an interesting coincidence, same birthday, meeting each other the day after, and now helping each other out." he let out a small chuckle. The two made neared the top of the hill they we're climbing, as Kal made it to the top he held out his hand for Syra who graciously accepted as she was pulled up. At the top of the hill looking between the trees they saw several mountains ahead of them with large valleys below and a river that flowed around the mountains. Syra looked out towards the land before her in awe, sitting down to allow herself to take it all in, "I've never seen anything like this in my life..." Kal stood next to her surveying the land letting her enjoy the moment. "Where I'm from it's nothing but a hellscape of ashes and lava, with an unnatural light caused by dark magic... I mean this is the first time I've seen what the sun and sky is like." Kal looked down at her with a sad expression, "Wow... that sounds awful, at least your someplace better now." he tried to reassure her. "True, I would call it magical if I didn't know any better, even the inhabitable areas of my family's domain don't have trees or forests as vast as this." "I've heard stories from refugees about the elflands, burnt to nothing by the dragons only for the forests to have to be reborn so they don't starve to death... will take generations for them to be as they once we're." "I know... it's nice to see a place that hasn't been ravaged by my family." Kal his hand down to Syra and laid it on her shoulder in a reassuring gesture. Syra looked up and smiled at the human. After another minute of surveying Kal had a general idea of where they are. "If my sense of direction is correct following this river should lead us to 'Kalderwood' which will have a dirt path that will lead us back to home." Kal said with enthusiasm in his voice. "So Kal, what brought you this far away from your home?" "Well, much to my chagrin I had a mishap when I tried to practice wind magic earlier, ended up creating a vortex that sent me away from my village, tried to find a way to send me back and created that gravity well which dragged me in, not my finest hour I must say..." "That sounds like a very rough morning." Kal sat down next to Syra simply nodding in agreement, "Given my luck so far if we can make it back to my village in a day I can make up for what was lost and be prepared to protect it from any oncoming dangers as my home’s guardian." She tilted her head curiously, "Guardian?" "Right! The reason I was gifted this book was because I wanted to expand my horizons with my magic so to speak and become a protector of my village and the kingdom as a whole." Kal explained with enthusiasm, curious Syra scooted herself closer to him wanting to hear more, her hips gently rubbing against his, "Despite magic becoming more readily available for us mortals it's more of a person by person basis, some people have it, most do not... there are those who have attunement with some forms of magic, druids are in tune with nature and the magic they use reflects it, same with Shamans of various tribes who are attuned with the elements and can manipulate the weather, paladins and clerics get their powers directly from one of the seven they are most devoted to. And then there are people like me, Sorcerers, born with a divine gift by Jarella, while the rest are limited to certain forms of magic or powers given as a favor by one of the gods we are capable of manipulate magic in all of it's forms! It's just a matter of learning how to manipulate the raw magic within us, and the proper incantation and spellwork... I'm a novice still overall, but gods I know I have the potential." After all that Kal blinked realizing how long he had gone then turned his head to notice Syra's hip against his causing him to blush, "Getting a little close, are we princess?" he said with a teasing voice. Syra blinked at him, "Wait what- Oh! Sorry was just getting into what you had to say!" she scooted herself a few inches away so she wasn't brushing up against him, "What made you want to lead such a life fraught with potential danger?" "For me it was three main things that came to play in my decision, one: sorcerers are rare as is so it would be a waste not to try and become a protector of my home. Two: I've grown up on the stories and histories of the seven heroes who-" he paused in that moment looking a bit nervously at Syra. "What? What's the matter?" "Well... I'm not sure how you'll react to me mentioning it in such a light since I'd imagine your family told it from their perspective, but the seven slew your two grandfathers Xyrak and Abyssar." Syra tilted her head, "Given what I heard about them I wouldn't blame them." she stuck her tongue out playfully catching Kal off guard before he let out a relieved smile. "Right, I forget your very unlike the rest of your family. As I was saying before that moment of panic, I've grown up with the stories of the seven heroes who saved the world from Abyssar and Xyrak and ascended to godhood leading all of Isvarla into a golden age, until your family's resurgence. Along with that history I also grew up on stories inspired by the seven, stories of heroes and their adventures all together left an impression on me. Third and most important, I'm doing this for my friends and family... while we've been safe from the darkness to the east it's only a matter of time before they come, that and growing problems in our own kingdom add onto it as well, simply put my family and friends have done a lot for me in taking care of and raising me to be the man I am today, it's time I returned their kindness in helping to protect those I love... should the worse come to pass and our world is consumed by the darkness of dragons of tyrants, then I choose to be a light shining in that darkness." Listening to his explanation Syra can't help but feel saddened being reminded of how much pain and suffering her family had caused both from stories told and from first hand experience, "That's... surprisingly noble, Kal." she paused trying to form words, thinking back to his initial reaction to seeing her, "I'm sorry if I caused you great distress, I know given what I am-" "Syra, Syra! It's okay, you didn't enslave or murder or torture me on the spot so that already makes you better than most your family. Also our time together is giving you a chance to prove to me the kind of person you are, and from this alone I can say this." he turned to face Syra, his eyes looking deep into her's, "You are a one of a kind individual, and I am grateful to have met you." he smiled warmly. Syra froze feeling her heart sink a little bit, while she was wanting to learn how things worked in this land to best take it over his comments felt like daggers to her heart. She turned her head away from Kal causing his expression to shift to that of concern. "What's wrong Syra? Was it something I said?" Syra closed her eyes for a second trying to gather her thoughts together, it's still her goal to claim this land, but she is not like the rest of her family, she will be their queen and their protector from the rest of her family, she looked back at Kal, a tear forming in her eye, "Sorry it's just I never expected to hear someone say that about me. I've made friends with people back home but despite that the power dynamic I had was still evident and everything they said even if honest was laced with fear for their life..." she looked away, "I've always cared about the mortals below us, but what I am made them fear me... and I hate it." she felt her heart get heavy after she spoke, she had never expressed anything like this in her life to anyone. "Oh Syra... despite what you are, despite what you we're meant to be, what matters is what you show about yourself what you believe what you value what makes you, well you!" Syra looked up at Kal wiping a tear away before letting out a raspy gasp, "Kal... is it alright if I hug you?" He gave her a warm smile, "Of course." he held his arms out. Syra scooted closer to Kal and leaned into him wrapping her arms around him, Kal doing the same. Syra let out a soft sigh leaning her head against his their cheeks pressing against each other. The two held a hug for a moment, thoughts of claiming her land fading in that moment. After what seemed like a minute they broke the hug smiling at each other, their eyes fixated on each other, "That was nice, thank you Kal." He simply smiled back at her glad to lift her spirits. In that moment another question popped into her mind, "Kal, what magic do you know? I did promise to help with that." she grinned excitedly, her tail swaying around. "Oh right! Well I am quite well versed in magics of fire and ice, need to work on wind... gravity magic I don't want to attempt for a while." As Kal explained his magical knowledge she grinned drawing out her spell blade which started to glow with cyan fire, she held it up and in a flash imbued it with lightning! Kal had an awed expression as Syra held out her blade and shot a bolt of lightning in the sky. "Of course, lightning magic!" he put a hand over his face, "How could I have missed such a core magic type!?" "Well now is your chance to make up for it." she teased sticking her tongue out at him. Syra went with the hand gesture for readying lightning magic, bringing ones hands together and letting lightning build up from within. For Syra this came before she even got her hands together, being so attuned to magic as a dragon. Kal did the same, his first attempt he got nothing, on his second he felt a tingle, "I think I'm getting there!" On the third attempt he felt a strong build up within, feeling his hands vibrate until in a flash lighting appeared in his hand ready to be cast and he shot it in the air. He took a moment before balling his hands into fists and yelling: "Yes!" Syra smiled warmly at Kal, his enthusiasm with his magical capabilities conjured another thought to her mind, when she is able to become queen, to be come the guardian of this land, he would make the perfect apprentice to follow her, perhaps. She needs to know more about how the land works to be able to properly claim it as her own, not wanting to bring a reign of terror upon the people like the rest of her family has. The two looked up at the sky and saw that it was roughly four in the afternoon. "Ah! We got so distracted we've lost time!" Kal shouted. "Don't worry we'll make it back home soon enough, especially if you know the way." "I know, but it looks like we'll have to make camp somewhere, gonna be dark before we get to 'Kalderwood' so no inn bed for us tonight." "Oh..." Syra felt a strong sense of discomfort wash over her, she had never slept anywhere outside her own soft bed back home, or in a nice room of some form all her life, she never considered this. "Well nothing to it but to get back to it." Kal got up and started heading down the mountain towards the river, minding how steep it was. Syra followed behind him, feeling her body being pulled towards the valley below, she began to walk at an awkwardly leaned angle to try and balance her weight. "Kal? Would it help for me to fly us to the 'Kalderwood'?" "mmm, given that my weight was a lot on you I wouldn't want you to suffer on my behalf, but I appreciate it!" Kal smiled warmly at her. Syra grimaced realizing she would have to sleep outside her comfort zone. The two traveled down the mountain and along the river following Kal's lead towards Kalderwood. The day soon started to dip further and further down, Syra was able to admire the beauty of the afternoon and evening sky, it made her feel at peace in a way. On the way along the river the two found some wild rabbits grazing in the grass and looking slightly skittish. An idea came to Syra's mind. "Kal." she said quietly, "Here's another magic trick from me." She raised two fingers laying them on her forehead till a teal glow appeared on her finger tips and she put her fingers to her lips and there was a flash of teal. Curious Kal did the same, getting it right on the first try. "What spell is this your-" he began to speak. "What was that!?" a small voice called out. Kal turned looking around for a person but found nothing till he noticed Syra was staring at the rabbits. "Just keep low, stay still, don't make a sound, we'll be safe." The two had cast a spell to speak with animals. "Oh..." he said quietly. Syra on the other hand was slowly walking towards the rabbits, "Hello little ones. I've never seen anything like you before, can I pet you?" she moved closer to the rabbits. The rabbits looked at the humanoid figure with draconic features and ran off, "Run! Scary human creature!" "It's a beast with a human disguise, it wants to eat us!" and they we're gone. "Dammit! I scared em off! ...I hope they make it back to... wherever those little critters live." Kal was just laughing behind her, "Commendable effort Syra, but rabbits are very skittish and fearful creatures. Next time we see any let me try and communicate with them first." "...I'll hold you to that Kal." she said smiling. They resumed their travel along the river, the spell lasts for a good few hours so they heard the faint voices of various animals out in the wild, not enough to be able to make out but made their journey a bit less monotonous. The sun sunk lower behind the trees gradually turning the light to dusk, Syra wondered when Kal would want to stop for the night, as they traveled Kal noticed something in the distance and stopped, Syra bumping into him by mistake. "Sorry about that!" "It's fine." Kal said before pointing along the river and Syra saw it, a bridge made cobblestone that went across the river and gradually arched upwards towards the hill on the other side. "Something worth checking out?" "At the very least." The two followed the river making their way to the bridge, it had foliage growing and sticking to it and was old enough for there to be cracks and a few pieces broken off. On the other end of the bridge was a stone keep built into the side of the hill, the structure appeared to be abandoned with the same overgrowth coating parts of it. Kal spoke up "I feel like it would be best for us to look into this place, could be a good place to set up camp for the night, and with a bit of luck there could be some supplies we could make use of." "I'll follow your lead Kal, it looks like it's been abandoned for a long time, do you think there will be anything left in there?" "If nothing else it'll be a good place for us to hold up for the night." Syra nodded and the two crossed the bridge, on the occasional step they heard the sounds of bits of rock falling off the bridge as they traversed it. Upon making it to the entry way the two approached a large double door made of wood and iron. Syra examined the metal on the door tilting her head, it was a rather low quality metal compared to what she had seen back at home, though it could be from it being old and not maintained. She pushed open the door walking in before Kal. She saw a dark chamber made of stone, she held out her sword which illuminated the area with a cyan light. There we're weapon and armor racks lying around along with a large table and various chairs that we're broken, seemed like a fight occurred here some time ago. Kal walked inside conjuring a flame in his hands to further illuminate the chamber. Looking around they saw a set of stairs along the wall that led to the upper floors of the keep. "Let's look around here first before exploring the rest of the place." Kal suggested. Syra nodded and the two further examined the room, finding a pantry door positioned below the stairs. Opening it they found a completely demolished shelf and some demolished barrels with only three intact, but they notice that the food on the floor and demolished remains of the barrels we're covered in a coat of frost, and the wall where the shelf was had both claws and scorch marks on it. "I sense frost and fire magic emanating from this." she said. Kal nodded, "Let's keep quiet in case something is lurking about." he whispered. Syra nodded glancing around the room in case she spots any movement of sorts. Kal quietly looked inside each of the barrels, one was empty the second had two glass bottles of water inside, and the third had what appeared to be large circular and dry bread with holes scored into them. He reached inside and pulled out four of them. "Not exactly the most appealing food but better than nothing." he whispered. Syra looked at the biscuits curiously having never seen them before, but decided to worry about that later. "Let's take a look around the rest of this place." she said before going to the stairs and started climbing them quietly, being mindful of her footing on the old worn stairs with Kal following behind. As they traveled they noticed the iron torches on the wall had smoke and burn marks on them. Kal put a finger on one of the torches leaving a clear spot amongst the soot with that soot on his finger. "These have been used recently..." he whispered. Syra turned back to him, "What do you make of it?" "I don't know, keep an eye out for anything that could've been left behind, mainly traps." Syra nodded and the two continued up the stairs to the second floor finding it to be empty. Small holes we're on the other side of the room looking outside and just the right size to shoot arrows or even spells through. As they walked in they notice more scratch marks along the walls and floor. Taking a step to the center of the room Syra felt herself slip on her feet falling backwards into Kal who caught her. The two looked around keeping quiet and listening intently for any sound. Looking down at the floor the two notice that it's covered in a patch of ice. "Thanks." Syra whispered as she was helped back on her feet. Then the two heard a thud upstairs, something big was moving up there and the two kept quiet as they listened, then a scurrying came the second room on that floor. Syra and Kal looked at each other a wave of anxiousness fell over them. "Let's stick together." Kal whispered before pointing to the other room. The two continued along quietly, they could hear the noise upstairs getting closer towards the steps. Avoiding more ice patches they walk into the other room, it was a resting area with beds and hammocks, some we're torn and overturned to the floor, and they both noticed that some of the destroyed hammocks and beds had claw and burn marks on them. 'What could've caused such a thing?' Syra wondered. There was a loud thud behind one of the beds in the room they we're in, the two turned to the bed seeing a figure moving in the darkness, Syra holding out her spellblade shined a light upon the area revealing a large mountain lion staring at them. The two we're frozen with fear for a moment till they remembered the spell to speak with animals was still active. "Maybe we can reason with it?" Syra suggested. Kal nodded before turning to the animal which seemed oddly calm in the moment, "Hello, we didn't know you we're occupying this place, just don't lunge at out us and we'll be on our-" "Maim..." they heard from the mountain lion. Kal felt fear grip him once more, "Sorry?" "Tear..." it spoke once more, a spark of fire shot forth from it's mouth. In that moment Syra sensed intense fire magic emanating from the lion and more from upstairs. "Kill..." the lion readied itself to pounce at Kal and suddenly there was a roar of flames, "BURN!!!" and it pounced. Syra quick on her feet pushed Kal out of the way just in time as the lion made contact with her pinning her to the ground, it's claws buried deep into her shoulders, a burning sensation could be felt in her body from the claws and she yelled. The lion quickly lowered it's head to bite on her neck but Syra raised her left arm as the lion bit down, transforming it into a dragon paw and she felt no pain from the teeth at lion tried to maim her hardened scaly hand. Kal was on the ground and he quickly sat up and acted fast, seeing the lion was wreathed in fire he conjured up it's opposite component in his hands and shot a bolt of frost with enough force to knock it off of Syra, it's claws ripping out of her shoulders. Letting out another yell of pain she quickly turned to the lion and bringing her left hand down onto the lion she stabbed it in the head with it's claws but it was still moving. Kal shot the beast with another frost bolt, the flames completely died out and the lion went limp. He ran up to Syra as she pulled out her claws blood coating her shoulders. "Syra are you okay!?" "I'll be alright... ah that hurts." She felt a sensation of ice and fire getting stronger, "There's more!" Kal helped Syra to her feet as he did so he noticed that the claw marks in her shoulders we're starting to close, a light teal green could be seen around the edges of the wounds. Syra readied her blade as they looked out to the previous room, seeing three more mountain lions running from the steps, some leaping from them. Two we're coated in ice while the third was coated in fire. Syra let out a breath of fire towards them, the ice infused felines let out a sharp snarl of pain and scurried away while the third had their flames glow more intensely. "Shit!" Syra shouted. Quick to it Kal charged up a bolt ice. Syra following suit infused her blade with ice and she threw herself at the mountain lion and swung horizontally shooting out a crescent of ice but the fire infused lion jumped away dodging the blade. The lion opened it's jaws shooting out a firebolt at Syra which she dodged, dashing towards the lion slicing again getting it's left side and giving it an icy cut. As the beast was distracted Kal had his frost bolt charged to full power coalescing into an icy orb which he held out with both hands shooting out a ray of frost striking the flaming lion, it's flames quickly dying down as the creature grew weaker. The two ice lions began to counter attack both charging at Syra. She held her blade with one and with her free hand called upon the dark magic within. "Konrath!" she shouted and she shot a bolt of black and cyan shot from her hand striking the mountain lion launching it back against the wall. The second lion lept over her, it's claws barely grazing her face as it lept onto Kal knocking him to the ground and biting his arm. He screamed in pain as teeth and ice cut into his arm. "Kal!" Syra held out her free hand once more, "Konrath!" and shot dark energy at the second lion knocking it off. She looked back at the first lion seeing it get back to it's feet, dark energy coalescing around the creature from her dark spell, the lion ran towards her barring it's teeth and claws, Syra thrust her blade forward stabbing it in the head, the dark energy then exploded from the wound with a flash of black and cyan and the lion's head exploded. She turned back to Kal seeing the other lion getting back up and inching closer to him. Once the lion got close enough Kal reached with his good arm grabbing the lion's face and fire formed in his grasp a he burned the ice infused lion, in a second the dark magic from Syra's spell activated and there was a flash in the beasts chest as it's heart ruptured and the creature lay dead. Syra ran up to Kal with a worried look on her face upon seeing the gaping wound of his bitten arm, frost was coated around the edges of the wound. "Gods, teeth and ice, both equally painful!" Kal exclaimed, "If only we had a cleric or something to patch this up... might lose this arm..." he groaned. "No Kal, you are not losing any part of you!" Syra looked at her shoulders that we're still healing from the claw marks and she drew out a portion of her blood coalescing it into a teal orb. Fighting the pain Kal looked at her spellwork mesmerised as she tried to move. Syra guided the orb towards the open wound as it filled the opening and in a flash it began to close as if weeks of healing had gone by but leaving behind bright red marks where the flesh was torn. Kal taking a deep breath looked at his healed arm in awe squinting slightly, a good portion of the pain was still there and frost still covered it. "Syra..." "Rest for a bit, that thing took a lot out of you." she gently took his arm and breathed out a small blue flame melting away the ice and warming up where he was bit. After a minute Kal sat up unintentionally putting pressure on his bit arm causing him to groan, before looking back at Syra with a smile. "Syra... what you did was amazing. I've seen spell work done by healers before, even had them work on some childhood injuries of mine, but what you did was so... potent, it's hard to describe." After Kal recovered the two looked around the rest of the keep, they found no more corrupted animals lurking around. The third floor was another resting area with all the beds demolished along with several storage chests that have been emptied and destroyed. On the far end of the room they found a ladder that let to the top of the keep leading them outside on the roof. The two got a high view of the river and valley below, the two let out a relieved sigh before deciding ultimately to hold up here. Half an hour passed as the two scavenged around the place finding scraps of wood to make a fire as well as taking the remains of the beds to give themselves something soft to lay down on. Syra made a fire with the gathered wood setting it alight with cyan fire and the two sat on the floor, scooting up next to each other. Kal examined his healed injury still feeling it stinging, "Second time you saved me in the same day, don't think I'll be able to make myself even at this rate." "Don't worry about it Kal." Syra said reassuringly with a smile, "I must ask, what we're those things? Why where they so violent?" "I couldn't tell you I'm afraid, the only thing I can think of is another spellcaster of sorts is doing unethical practices with magic, given what we've witnessed from just four of them I'd hate to imagine what kind of damage they could cause to the environment, villages, people." Kal had a worried expression, "We need to get back home soon, if corrupted wildlife like this is lurking about everyone must be warned, not just my village but Asgarna as a whole." "We'll get there soon by whatever means necessary." Syra reassured him. Kal nodded at her, "Right... today has just been, well for a lack of a better word nerve wracking is all." he looked at Syra noticing that the claw marks on her shoulders have healed and the scar marks had begun to fade leaving barely a noticeable trace. "I must say some questions have come to mind if you don't mind me asking." Syra smiled at him leaning herself back with her hands on the floor, "Go ahead." she noticed Kal's cheeks turning slightly red after that gesture. "Well, I was wondering two things that occurred earlier, how we're you able to heal me like you did? and how did your wounds from earlier heal up so quickly?" "Oh that. It's one of the benefits of being a dragon, our very blood is of ancient magic passed down from the first of our kind whenever we are hurt or wounded in any way no matter how severe the blood in our veins keeps us alive and heals any damage sustained. Actually it's one of the main things that makes us so powerful and by extension what your people's heroes, the seven learned, a fatal blow isn't enough to do the job, gotta keep injuring and sustaining wounds to the point where we bleed out or our blood just simply can't heal the damage done." "Of course, that explains why your kind are so nearly indestructible! Though I've never read anything detailing what you did for me though..." "That is something seldom done by my family but we're all capable of it as far as I know. I just weaved my own blood into a form of magic thereby gifting you temporarily with my healing capabilities. I've used it on many servants who we're punished by my family, be it burns, maims, what have you." Kal had a look of awe on his face before he scooted up to her. "Syra... do you have any idea how much good you can do with that?" Syra blinked at him, "Beyond what I've already done?" "Exactly! Granted it's something that needs to be studied before anything conclusive could come of it, but I see great potential to provide the people of this land with something that can reverse so much harm done to them from battle or disease alike!" She sat there listening to his explanation in her own thought, how come such a thing never occurred to her? Then again she usually kept what she did for others not of her kind behind closed doors. "The other thing I wanted to ask, what was that spell you used? I haven't heard of anything like that." "Doombolt." Syra said suddenly sounding uncomfortable, "I'm unable to teach you it cause it's a spell drawn from the inner darkness of a dragon, it strikes your target harming them with raw magic and cursing them to suffer magical eruptions when hurt by another source." Kal blinked at that, "Are you okay Syra? I hope I didn't bother you with that." "I... I try to avoid using that magic whenever I can... seen it used too many times just to torture people." "Oh... Gods, I can see why, no need to explain I understand." he then moved closer to her, "Though some words of encouragement, in context to a situation such power can be used for good despite how limited that is all things considered." "I see, it's just, I don't know... how can something of such dark origin be capable of good?" "Considering you come from a family of tyrants you're proving the good within despite where you originate from." Syra looked up at Kal and couldn't help but smile, "Thank you Kal." The two started to look up at the sky, seeing the pitch black be illuminated by the stars and moon. Syra laid down on her back staring up at the sky in awe of it's beauty. "So that's what's been hidden behind the dark miasma in the ashlands..." Kal watched at she laid down, blushing as he looked down at her, his eyes wandering over her form, blushing lightly. Syra turned her head noticing where his eyes we're, "Something catch your eye Kal?" He turned his head back up looking into her eyes before his face went practically red and he covered his mouth. Syra let out a giggle before sticking her tongue out at him teasingly, "I don't mind just so you know, my outfit does show a bit of me off." After a moment regaining his composure he shook his head, "Well since the cat is out of the bag so to speak I will say you are a beautiful woman, Syra. I've just been so focused trying to get back home earlier that I hadn't really noticed until we had a moment to unwind and, well, you saw where my focus went." Syra closed her eyes grinning at him playfully, "Would you like for us to get to know each other more?" "Honestly that sounds like it could be fun, but I feel that would be jumping ahead a bit too fast, it's only been a day and I need more time to get to know you outside of that first, and I need to get back home first." "I understand Kal, I can wait." she said reassuringly. "Thank you, given how things are going so far a date for us will come soon." he grinned warmly before laying down on his back, "For now we need to get some rest... long day tomorrow." Syra nodded closing her eyes. Minutes upon minutes passed, and she couldn't wind down, not having any blankets not being in soft bed, the sounds of the outside kept her awake on end before sat back up. "How are you supposed sleep out here? I can't get comfortable for the life of me!" Kal opened his eyes back at her, "Try to imagine yourself in some place comfortable and fixate on that." "That's what I did and... it honestly made me homesick in a weird way, or at least bed sick." Kal paused for a moment, thinking about the situation and about Syra, "When you sleep are you usually holding something, like a stuffed toy bed or something like that?" "Not exactly, more like I hold onto a pillow as if embracing it in a hug, provides me comfort at night." An idea popped up in Kal's mind, he moved his bits of straw over next to Syra and laid down next to her, "How about we try this?" he held out his hand next to her for her to hold. Syra blinked, surprised at this, "Are you sure?" He simply nodded at her. Syra gently took his hand as the sense of nervousness washed away. "Thank you Kal." He smiled warmly, "Goodnight princess."