Shadows of Vengeance [Private Primalus]

"Whoa," Ferrum remarked as he stepped inside the seemingly small cottage, "It's like it's bigger on the inside."  Looking over all the shelves in the house, he saw plenty of herb and spice books, but nothing about mechanics or the inner workings of machines, which was his main interest.  As Ferrum followed the overly excited NightWing to her kitchen table, he said, "Sure.  I'll have some tea.  I mean, if it's not too much trouble for you.  What kind do you have?"

"Do you happen to have any Earl Grey?" Ferrum asked.  She was being so nice and kind to him.  He had never experienced this feeling before.  It's almost like he felt...  Loved.  As he looked around, he saw many teacups.  There were ones embroidered with flowers, others depicting mountains and rivers, and even some with dragons on them.  He didn't really care which teacup he got.  They were all so beautiful and he would no doubt be entranced by whichever one he got.

Ferrum took a sip of the tea.  It had a slight bitter taste to it, but other than that, the tea was perfect.  "I've lived here my entire life," he explained, "My parents...  Weren't around when I was younger and I raised myself."  He never let anyone know this much about him.  What was going on?  It was almost as if...  Ferrum was getting to like her.  Shifting awkwardly as he drank the tea, his nose began to twitch, like he was going to sneeze.  He only had one sip left of tea before it was all gone, and he planned to get it down before the sneeze came.  Just as he was about to swallow the last of the warm drink, he felt it coming.  It was too late to take down the tea now.  He bent his head backwards and let out a sneeze that sounded like a tree had just fallen.  Tea went everywhere.  It splattered all across the table and some even got onto the floor.  Ferrum's eyes went wide as he began to profusely apologize, "Oh- Oh my goodness.  I- I am so sorry for that."  Looking around for a towel or something to dry it up with, he resorted to just using his forearm to wipe it all up.  The tea was absorbed by his scales, just like water normally was.  It would keep him hydrated for a while, at least.  Looking up at Nightflare with shame and embarrassment, he said, "I- I should go.  Thank you for the tea.  And... I'm incredibly sorry about that."  He stood up and made his way to the front door of the house.  As he opened the door, a cold breeze blew through the house and Ferrum's vision began to get foggy.  "Wha-?" he managed to get out before he collapsed on the ground,  fast asleep.

Ferrum woke up coughing.  That nightmare.  What was it? he thought.  Looking around, he saw Nightflare looking at him.  There was a damp towel on his head.  He shook it off and looked around.  Where am I?  How did I get here?  All I can remember is...  Staring at Nightflare with a puzzled expression on his face he asked, "What happened?  All I remember is that I was about to leave... And then..."  He drew a blank as he tried to recall what had happened.  The dream was fading from his memory fast.  Trying to hold onto it, Ferrum tried to remember all the details of the monster that he had seen in his dream.  He could only get a faint outline from his memory, but that was more than enough for him to go into town and ask someone.  Or I could just ask Nightflare.  She seems to know a lot about herbs and stuff.  Maybe there's something that I ate that gave me that nightmare.  He never suspected that Nightflare had caused him to pass out.  She was too nice to do anything like that anyways.  Right?

Ferrum felt his head. His scales were beginning to dry out from his high body temperature. "I had no idea that I had a fever," he said weakly. Still wondering what was going on. He felt like he was laying on his rock on a hot night, but his scales were never this dry. He was incredibly parched and asked Nightflare, "Do you have any water? My scales are drying out again." Getting up slowly, he groaned in exhaustion and said, "I'll just get some myself." He had to keep pushing himself to go on. He wasn't the kind to lay around and do nothing. Inventing was his muse, and Ferrum couldn't let that slip away from him, even if he had a slight fever.

Ferrum's head pounded like there was a drum inside of it. Drinking the water, he coughed once more as he began to choke on it. He sighed gratefully as his scales were rehydrated and laid down on his stomach. He didn't know where he could have gotten the virus from. He was hardly around any other dragons, and he could smell sickness on his prey, so he would never hunt sick animals. Oh, gods. I feel awful, he thought, feeling his body temperature rising. He coughed again and looking into Nightflare's eyes, obviously in pain. I need to push through it. I've still got so many things I need to do.

Ferrum reached out and grabbed the herbal paste in his mouth. Wincing at the awful taste, he swallowed it down. Within minutes, he began to feel a little better. Looking into Nightflare's eyes, he asked, "How long have I been carrying this virus around?" Coughing once more, he rolled over onto his back and stretched out, feeling like he was well enough to go, even when he wasn't. "I should really get going," he said, worried that the sun might be out.

"No, really, I'll be okay," Ferrum said confidently. He couldn't let a little fever take him down. He had to go do something. And he still had many things involving war to plan for Oculus, the Nightwing leader. Struggling to get up, he looked around for an exit from the cold room that he was in. There were visible doors or anything that he could see immediately. How do I get out of here? he thought, slightly worried for his safety.

A concerned expression would flash across Nightflare's face, as she stared down at Ferrum. This expression of concern would flash away for just a moment, to one of contemplation, then mold back into understanding. Then a small smile would trace itself across her lips, and she would let out a low, soothing laugh, seeming to fill the room with its warm embrace.

"Are you sure, my dear? You don't even want to stay for a day or two? My, are you really so eager to get rid of me?" she would say, a slight playfulness to her tone, "It really will do you some good to relax for a couple days and let this fever go down. You underestimate the dangers of a fever. However, nonetheless, I cannot keep you locked up in here. If you wish to go, I can escort you to the location where I found you."

Ferrum, feeling slightly guilty for wanting to leave so quickly, decided that he could maybe stay for a few more hours.  "Well," he said, sitting on his haunches, "I guess I could stay a little longer.  I don't have anywhere to be right now."  He looked around and asked, "Where are we?  I don't remember this room in your tour of the cottage."  He sniffed the air around him and smelled the same tea that they had been drinking the previous night.  Right before Ferrum's embarrassing moment.  His mind was instantly clouded with negative thoughts about his past.  The first thing that he had ever remembered was the feeling of being alone.  Brushing the thoughts away, he looked into Nightflare's kind eyes and softly smiled.  She was beginning to feel like a sort of mother to him.  She cared for him in a way that no one else had.