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Tangerine followed reluctantly behind the horned horse - what had one of the others called him in their language? A unicorn? A strange creature, one she'd only seen a few times - cunning and elusive, so naturally, she didn't trust him. Not even a little. She'd eaten plenty of feral horses before, but her brood stayed away from hunting two-legged creatures; the risk was often not worth the effort, when larger meals were more readily available from the livestock the two-legged creatures kept for a food supply. The dragoness let out a big breath, acutely aware of the limitations the shackles put on her stride length and her ability to spread her wings. They were starting to ache now from the days of being bound tightly against her sides. Surely this unicorn would let her stretch them?

He seemed different than the others, her captors. She remembered being mid-flight and hearing a distant blast, then moments later wrapped in heavy ropes and weights, tumbling to the ground, terrified. Her scales were still covered in dirt and muscles sore from the fall. The two-legged hunters showed up shortly after with their hovering ships, binding her with metal shackles and carrying her away, left to lay bound and still for several days during the journey. And then, she had ended up in the unicorn's hand. Tired, sore, and hungry, she put one claw in front of another, hoping that she'd have an opportunity to escape or at least rest and recover soon enough.

The scene from the big building played through her mind repeatedly - something about the unicorn's actions still tickling her mind. It was as if she was looking into the mind of one of her clutch-mates, a moment of recognition of being in the presence of another skilled, intelligent predator, and she knew he thought the same, in that moment. And then he'd somehow gotten the upper hand with her. She shivered involuntarily, remembering the feel of his soft finger tracing along her jaw. The feeling of a burning desire deep inside that she'd not readily acknowledged before. His exposing her like that had made her angry, enough to lash out. And then... she hadn't expected any kind of affection from him, but that is what he'd offered in return, much to her surprise. As wary as the dragoness felt about this horse, she couldn't help but admit her curiosity - that a part of her wanted to feel his touch again, in that way.

She shook her head. What would her clutch-mates think of her if she'd told them that? They'd never let her live it down - a dragon wanting affection from her prey. Perhaps it was just a moment of confusion. Her mind was awash with questions, emotions, and concerns, swirling around in her head as she followed the unicorn. For now, he was just another captor, something standing between her and her freedom. So much had happened in the last day that she was still trying to process. She'd never before seen the technologies of the two-leggeds up close, only ever from a safe distance as they flew by in their powerful ships. Nor did she ever wish to see them up close. But now... she'd been rapidly introduced to much in a very short amount of time. A part of her was still in shock at it all; it didn't feel real.

The dragoness snapped back to reality as her nostrils flared wider, picking up the familiar scent of feral horse - of course she'd been forced to breathe deeply of the unicorn's masculine scent as she followed behind him, but the overwhelming musk of feral stallion filled her nostrils now, suggesting there were more than one of them nearby.

A large building soon appeared, the unicorn leading her up to a large side entrance before playing with his wrist briefly, causing the entryway to open. The large metal doors parted to either side, retracting into the wall and revealing a high-ceilinged space filled with sand, with wooden walls up to her chest height and metal bars above it. If she felt overwhelmed by equine musk before, it was only stronger coming from within. The chains jerked, and the dragoness followed as the unicorn led her into the spacious area, the doors closing and locking behind them with a heavy thunk. Once inside, it was clear that she was surrounded on all sides by feral horses, likely stallions, locked behind bars, each with their own space. The sanded area was large enough for her to spread her wings easily and then some, and the ceiling high enough to at least hover in a kind of flight, but not much else. Finally, the unicorn turned to her for the first time since they left the metal place.

"This will be your space, Tangerine," the stallion said, walking up to her but respecting her space. "I know you must need to stretch out at this point. I don't know how long they've had you bound up like this."

Tangerine regarded the horned horse suspiciously, curious to see what he would do. So far, he hadn't given her a reason to lash out at him, but she certainly didn't trust the little horse. Her muzzle still bound, she only stared at him, not making any effort to respond. Her eye followed him closely as he stepped around to her side.

"I'm going to replace your bindings and shackles with something else, dragoness," he said, entering a few things on his wristband as he talked. "This will allow you relative freedom in this space, however you should know that they can instantly be locked again to restrain you, automatically, faster than you can harm me. I want to make sure you feel comfortable here, but you're also a dragon, and I need to take certain precautions. Is that agreeable to you? The alternative is to leave you as you are."

She listened to the horned horse's proposal and paused to consider it. Trading one set of bindings for another did not sound like a desirable deal, but she so desperately needed to stretch her wings. She supposed it was a necessary compromise then, at least for now. Still warily eyeing the unicorn, she nodded, watching as he smiled and pushed another button on his wrist.

"Just stay still, my dragoness, and you'll be feeling much more comfortable shortly."

Multiple drones hovered out with a hum, and the dragoness initially flinched away, but remembering the unicorn's words, she forced herself to keep still. Each of them attached to one of her shackles or restraints, replacing them with small metallic bands. The chains were removed, and the dragoness could now move freely, the bands around her wings cut off by the drones with what looked like little beams of light. More two-legged magic? Similar to the ships, she supposed. The stallion walked up and looped a rope head restraint around her head and horns with similar metallic buckles placed along it, before the strap around her muzzle was freed. The stallion stepped back a dragon's distance from Tangerine, giving her plenty of space.

Still with an eye on the horned horse, she started stretching herself out, her green-gold wings unfurling, jaw opening to reveal her impressive set of teeth, and legs stretching out like a cat. She huffed in a mix of pain and relief, feeling the pull on her tight muscles, sore both from her fall and being bound for so long. She worked her jaw around, making sure the horned horse got a nice view of her razor-sharp teeth before closing her maw, giving herself a nice shake, and regarding the unicorn once more. Even with her muzzle freed, she had nothing to say to the unicorn, at least not yet. The two-legged horse smiled at her - for what, she did not know - and gestured around the large building.

"This space is big enough for you to at least get off the ground briefly, if you choose," he said. "You can also stretch your wings freely of course. This is usually an area for riding horses; however, it is yours now. I'm sure you've noticed the many horses around, behind bars to keep them in, so please don't consider them food. We'll make sure you have plenty to eat."

The stallion pressed yet another button, and half a cow carcass was lifted in and placed on a concrete portion of the arena, just away from the sanded space. She eyed it ravenously, not waiting for the unicorn to give her permission to start walking over to the pre-butchered carcass.

"Please, eat," the unicorn said behind her. "I know you must be very hungry."

Tangerine snorted and rolled her eyes again, pinning the carcass down with a large claw and starting to rip muscle off of it, hardly chewing with how hungry she was. For how pitiful these two-leggeds were from her predator standpoint, they did know how to raise tasty meat. Her mouth watered at the rich flavors, blood coating her muzzle as she ignored the horned horse, focusing completely on filling her belly. Only once she'd started to slow down, halfway through the meal, did she flick an eye back to the two-legged horse, turning her head briefly.

"Thank you," she said quickly, before returning to her meal.

She continued ripping flesh off of the bones in front of her, taking more time to chew now, and watched the stallion walk around towards where she was eating, giving her plenty of berth. The unicorn leaned up against one of the wooden walls, letting the feral horse behind him idly sniff his hand and neck as he watched her eat.

"It looks like they kept you from food for longer than I thought," he said, frowning. "I'm sorry that you had to endure that, Tangerine. But I promise you won't be hungry here."

His cat-like, tufted tail flicked side to side, clearly thinking before saying more.

"I'm sure you're confused and wary right now," he said. "Are there any questions you have so far?"

Though grateful that the stallion kept his distance, she certainly wasn't on good terms with him. She flicked her tail in irritation at the question, continuing to chew for a few awkward moments while she stared at the horned horse before replying.

"Not many that I don't already have an answer to," she said. "Why bother with a warm welcome? It seems your kind have made up your minds that breaking those of your 'property' is more effective than charming them. Why would I be any different? Or, why are you any different?"

The words felt strange on her tongue, but for her kind, she knew a good number of words in their language. She hadn't spoken it in a very long time. She supposed that was something she'd have to get used to. Her eye twitched back to the unicorn as he chuckled.

"All fair questions and observations," he said. "And I'm surprised you speak my tongue as well as you do; I didn't think your kind had much exposure to our ways of life."

The stallion stayed where he was but sat down against the wooden boards lining the arena wall.

"To answer your questions, I'm offering you a warmer welcome than just about anywhere else you would have ended up," he said. "And I do that because I put high value on the wellbeing of those under my care, and that now includes you."

The horned horse looked around the arena at the various feral horses, clearly deep in thought.

"But... you're a different one, my dragoness," he said, looking back into her eyes. "You're something special in a way I haven't quite determined yet. And that intrigues me. In some way, we were meant to meet, I think. We understand one another on a level that others do not, and I think you realized this yourself, otherwise you would have put up much more of a fight while coming here, no?"

The dragoness licked the bones before her clean as she listened to the horned horse's words, considering them before brushing off his suggestions. She knew exactly what he was talking about, the moment back at the metal building where she sat chained and imprisoned. His touch on her chin, then the kiss on her snout. She wasn't about to admit to any such accusations though, instead giving the unicorn a terse snort in response.

"I am simply realistic about my situation, horned horse," she said. "There's no point in fighting if there's no chance of escape. I choose not to waste my breath."

The stallion chuckled again, seemingly not surprised by her admission.

"Oh, I completely agree, my dragoness," he said. "No sense in wasting energy in a hopeless situation. But, I think you'll find there's more... interesting things here to discover. And I know there's more to you than what you're letting on; your eyes told me as much earlier today."

The stallion picked himself up, walking a bit closer to her as she finished eating.

"My name is Rayne," he said, offering a hand for her to sniff. "Your actions over the next several days will determine how good of a time you have here, dragoness. Don't make it harder on yourself than it needs to be."

As the stallion approached, she tensed up, still wanting nothing to do with the unicorn being in her personal space. With a distasteful look at his outstretched hand, she begrudgingly forced herself to stretch out her neck, gently touching her nose to the stallion's hand and sniffing, nostrils flaring lightly. She knew the horned horse's scent well already, having been made to breathe it the entire walk here, but she figured this was some strange two-legged ritual he wanted her to partake in. And she supposed he'd been benevolent enough to her up to this point. The equine seemed to find this satisfactory, as he smiled and then reached up to caress her muzzle as he had done before, then stepping closer to her shoulder.

Tangerine called on every ounce of willpower to not snap at the stallion, but as he moved nearer to her, getting increasingly handsy, she bared her teeth in a snarl, cursing under her breath at him in draconic, her hackles clearly raised. She'd given this horned creature plenty of unwarranted respect, far beyond what any other dragon would have offered, and yet he kept pushing. Though he stopped approaching, she continued to glare at him until he stepped away, only then letting her snarl return to a more neutral expression, body still tensed.

"It's alright, my dragoness," he said. "Take tonight to get comfortable, rest, recover, and explore your space here. You'll have fresh food in the morning, whatever you'd like to eat, should you have preferences. And we'll talk again then."

The dragoness relaxed a bit, appreciative of the respect the stallion seemed to have for her space, even if she had to ask for it. At his words, she did feel a little remorse for her aggressiveness, given how he'd treated her so far, anyway. She dipped her head in a small bow in response.

"T-thank you... Rayne. Rest well."

The unicorn returned a brief bow to her - given the stiffness of the motion, it didn't seem like it was something the unicorn did often - and smiled.

"You as well, dragoness," he said.

With that, the stallion turned and walked out of her space, closing a door behind him, effectively locking the dragon into the space. Shortly after, the lights dimmed, matching the brightness outside, throwing the space into relative darkness. The dragon's eyes quickly adjusted, the lack of light no impediment to her species' vision. With a tired sigh, she started digging out a space for herself, her claws moving the sand around with little effort. Once she had enough space dug out, she quietly curled up, resting her muzzle on a foreleg, and tried her best to sleep, listening to the occasional snorts and stomps of the many horses surrounding her new lair. Though far from being her home, it at least was a place to rest with a full stomach in relative safety, for the first time in days. As she drifted off to sleep, images of the horned horse, soft muzzle pressed against her nose, replayed repeatedly in her mind.