Submission (#561) Approved

450 words

+5 shards prompt
+4 shards (400 words)
+2 shards (NPC - Sparrow)

: 11 shards

Taming Alorus' (Wool-255) Drakern (He has it in his inventory!)

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Having decided on a Drakern had been difficult for Alorus. He'd known he wanted a mount, yes, but was unsure which one. The Racing was what had initially made him decide in that direction, but that no longer the only reason. He simply loved the way the creatures acted, their grace, their colors.

He'd been to see Sparrow before, and had been banking on buying the rented Drakern he'd been working with for a few months, but upon arrival in Odysse, Sparrow had told him in no uncertain terms that she simply could not part with her rental Drakerns. Those creatures were specifically chosen to be so because of their willing disposition and ability to bond with many riders. It made them lovely mounts, yes, but it also meant that they were not nearly as attuned to one single woolyne.

She'd spoken rapidly, fleeting from one thing to the next, but Alorus had managed to more or less deduce that the orange wool wanted to observe him with her flock. She wanted to find the perfect partner for him, and well... Alorus was game. Why not? Sparrow knew best after all. As such, the white wool had followed Sparrow into the fields, and when she'd told him to walk the perimeter, he'd done so.

He'd moved slowly behind the wooden fences that separated him from the flock beyond while the owner stood in the distance, quietly observing. It had taken a while, but eventually a few Drakern had separated themselves from the flock and ambled over, inquisitive and curious. Eventually, after investigating, only one remain, and the creature regarded him with smart, alert eyes.

Sparrow had given him some feed, and had instructed him to offer it to a Drakern if it drew close and stayed nearby, and so, he did, stretching his hand in the way the flock owner had instructed him when she'd been talking to him, fingers splayed down so the large bird did not accidentally bite him in its enthusiasm to get to the food.

It watched him for a good long while, tilting its head to one side and then the other before lowering its jaws down to his hand and taking the food with a relatively placidity that Alorus almost could not understand; he himself was very food motivated, and he found it ludicrous that the bird in front of him remain so calm.

Sparrow, who had been standing a good distance away, allowed the interaction, and it wasn't until the bird had finally walked away from him that she approached, "That one," she said, "You two compliment each other."

And that was that.