Life returned to normal with the departure of DG, though both the strange draconic entity and the young dragon had overlooked a key bit of information... what was a month? For a dragon that lived in bouts of activity the concept of time was rather vague. Sure she could recognize the passing of days but keep track of them and realize so many days comprised a week and so many weeks turned into a month? This concept... was completely foreign to Destorianaxe.
Thus every few cycles of light and dark the young dragon took to the sky and searched the grass plains for her perspective teacher. Though considering she was way too early she started to grow more and more wary as each search turned fruitless. Rather then slip into brooding she focused on the kobolds instead, reducing her trips to the plains as she studied the things she had long considered vermin. Why DG favored these savages she could never guess, they were one step up from worshipping rocks and eating dirt after all.
While she wasn't ready to reveal herself to the tribe, she instead focused on learning more about these little things. For an example, normally she just let them jabber on in the odd noises they made but when she actually listened it was rather similar to the dragon tongue. There was of course notable differences, and the kobold accent made Destorianaxe want to chew off a few heads just to force the little bastards to use the noble language the right way but she forced her way through.
It came as little surprise for her that the tribe was savage through and through. They were of the belief their god was a great bone diety that provided them the great materials that made up the majority of their living conditions and tools. The main ceremony was typically a beseeching of favor, for the Bone God to grace them with fine weather, strong bones and plentiful food. Since their god was of bone naturally offerings should be of flesh and blood, something their priests believed their god thing needed great quantities of.
The tribe was mostly subterranean and nocturnal, part of the tribe lived in a large open air cave which explained why Destorianaxe had not come across the things sooner. Her forays into the world tended to start at day break and last until the sun set. Where as the kobolds rose as she turned in for slumber and turned in themselves when she had left to hunt. Little wonder it had taken being rained in to discover she had beings so close at hand.
The next day she had flew out and swung around the base of her mountain, it did not take much effort to find the tribe's cavern but what she saw made her really question again what value DG saw in them. On the perimeter of the camp, pretty much along the yawning maw of the cavern entrance was a tumble of stones, bones and sharpened wood stakes. This 'wall' looked like it had all the stopping power of one of the kobolds themselves. A slight touch would be all it took to shatter this tumble of junk that was suppose to be a defensive structure.
The living area of the kobolds wasn't much better, tents were haphazardly erected inside the wide cavern made mostly of mud and hides. Towards the depths of the cavern she could see what must have been the leaders tent as well as what could be their second and keepers tents. These ones were mostly bone with hide covering, not much better than the mud huts of the common kobolds. Shaking her head the young dragon retreated, unwilling to show herself to them, after all they'd likely up and die if she flew in, the simple beating of her wings would likely bury the tribespeople in the crap they called lairs.
Taking wing she abandoned the kobold camp and flew out over the forest, she was in the mood for some fleetfoot meat and they were always a delightful challenge to bring down. As Destorianaxe scanned the forest she came upon an odd sight, despite it being day time one of the stark white kobolds was up and about out in the woods. Gliding amongst the clouds she watched the little thing skulking through the forest with a strange bone and senew thing across it's back and a bundle of twigs behind it. Observing its movements she surmised it was hunting... but why? In prior visits she had seen their hunting parties at the break of dusk go hunting, why was this one out when the sun was in full brilliance?
Considering the strange nature of the kobold, Destorianaxe reared back her head. Could this be her 'guide'? DG seriously couldn't have sent one of the savages to guide her right? While she knew little, these things were one step up from eating their own crap! No way! There was simply no way the little hunter could possibly be her new teacher. Frowning to herself she reflected on what she knew of DG, as silly as it was to consider a kobold savage a teacher it could well be up that bastards twisted mind to put one of the little rats above her!
Growling to herself she stared down at the pale white reptile, sadly there would be only one way to find out, grumbling to herself she banked on the wind. Locking onto the kobold she dipped down, wings folding to bring her into a steep dive. Cutting through the air she dove down, only flicking her wings open at the last moment as the kobold lifted itself and it's strange twig thing towards a boar. The boar, startled by the sudden appearance of the young dragon tore through the underbrush like its hairy arse was on fire, too many of its kin had seen that dark shadow loom over them moments before their abduction and this Mr. Pig was having none of it!
Lucky for it, pork was not what the wyrmling had her sights on, rather had it looked back it would have seen a terrified kobold clutched in Destorianaxe's fore claws, gripping its scrawny shoulders as it was snagged aloft, dragged into the air as the young dragon flew back into the sky with her screeching prize. The kobold itself was terrified, wailing and begging in it's own tongue. Pleading the bone god to not let its indiscretion result in such a death, if god would save it, it would devote itself whole heartedly to the priest leader!
Pity the god it prayed to was currently the one dragging it through the upper air currents, winging back towards the mountain. Destorianaxe paid the screeching and whining little thing little mind, though all the yapping did make her consider snapping off its head in her jaws just to get it to shut up. Thankfully the kobold took a look down at some point and saw just what situation it was in, promptly passing out after soiling itself, which made the dragons nostrils twitch. Bad enough it smelled unwashed but adding the pungent scent of urine to its legs really made her want to drop the thing.
As she closed on on her lair she 'carefully' dropped the kobold on the cavern mouth's ledge before landing herself. Leaning her head down she grabbed the stinky thing by the scruff of the neck and carried it down into her lair. While the foul smell of soiled kobold was making her nostrils itch she couldn't help but be curious why this thing had been out during the day. The more she thought on it the more sure she became that this kobold, was not in fact, her new guide. Recalling DGs words the teacher should be something not draconic so that should rule this oddity out right?
Yet this thing was out during the day, at the same time that it was indeed one of DG's 'children' it sure didn't seem to follow the rest of the tribe. Shaking her head she dropped the smelly thing in the middle of her lair and curled up on her bed slab watching it. She could tell it had woken up, but the silly kobold was trying to feign unconsciousness to fool her. The question was, where did it think it could escape to? Neither her main entrance nor the waste pit would support the thing, trying to climb down either was a definitive death sentence.
Shifting to look at the kobold, Destorianaxe carefully adjusted her speech as she tried speaking the kobold dialect for the first time, though what came out of her maw was more a disorganized tumble of sounds that sounded like a cross between a burp and a hiccup. Frowning at her failure she lifted her head and tried again focusing more on copying the sounds she had heard the others speak, growling out slowly, "Fool me not, you have. Stop game you shall. Lift head you shall."
As Destorianaxe slowly worked her jaw from the discomfort of forcing out the words which even by her ears hardly made coherent sense, she noted the kobold bounce up but only to drop into a prostrating form where it was constantly bowing its head rapidly. A loud shrill whine of what Destorianaxe thought was begging could be heard but the kobold was speaking so fast none of it sounded like anything she could use to communicate.
Roaring over the whine the kobold gave a shrill scream and bowed even faster, its snout tapping the floor as the grovelling did not stop but actual increased in both speed and pitch, sounding alot more like the screech of a bat than anything of draconic descent should have spat from its mouth. Growling Destorianaxe finally yelled loudly, "STOP YOU SHALL! DEATH YOU SHALL FIND IF SHALL NOT!" By whatever was out there, the kobold language hurt to use! Her jaw felt like it was being dislocated every time she tried to mimic their sad, pathetic spiel.
Her cry however, had the intended effect. The miserable kobold was still kneeling but rather than bowing fast it now held the back of its head and trembled in fear. Destorianaxe nostrils cringed as she lifted her head and could see a puddle expanding around the things knelt hips.. the little bastard had pissed itself. On the floor of her lair! A low growl rumbled up her throat as the thought of smelling kobold piss in the center of her home brought a great rage upon her. "Hunter I thought you were?! How you hunt if fear you grip so tight? Answer this one, your Bone Goddess you shall, eat you I shall if speak slow you do not."
In truth Destorianaxe was thinking of eating it anyways. It was entirely too cowardly, noisy and had pissed on her floor. Better to be done with the thing she had considered, what would her actual teacher think when her learning wyrmling home smelled of kobold pee? Sighing to herself, Destorianaxe was about to step off the slab and make good on her throats, screw DG's request in light of the little bastards relieving of its bladder when the sounds of crying reached her ears. Turning to regard the kobold she frowned, it was bawling. Why the hell was it sobbing like that? None of the hunters she had observed before acted like this! Even the younger ones didn't act like this!
Stilled in her approach looming over the sobbing kobold she heard another strangled sound come from its maw, "Oh Great Bone God! Oh my sin is being punished! Not a hunter am I! Am breeder outside my place! Wanted to prove I was more than what tribe said I had to be! Do not eat me great god! This one not worthy to soil you for not listening to your guidance!"
Destorianaxe looked down on this kobold with bewildered confusion. It wasn't a hunter but a breeder? What was it talking about? Frowning to her self, at least it wasn't shrill and pissing itself at the moment, but Destorianaxe meant to have it answer her questions!