Elenor opened and closed her mouth a couple of times, shrinking back. They both looked at her with scrutinising gazes. She turned to the fuming one from before, managing to get a few words out.

"Y-you know Lazi?" she stammered, deciding just to look at her claws. They were dug into the sand, which was probably for the best - the others hadn't noticed yet, but she was pretty sure they were still a tad stained. The wet, silty sand should take care of that.

---

"I'm Kai'hel," he said with a warm smile, taking that as his cue to step into the tent. He nodded to Cesura in greeting before focusing back onto the white dragon who had questioned him. "As Cesura says, I'm part of this movement. Nice to meet a fellow rebel." He noticed the little dragon on the bed and wondered who she was with.

Cesura noticed his nod and nodded back before returning to what she is doing. She surveyed her items:

Two large empty satchels for the food, Her potions belt, the smoke elixirs, two blue-ish poisons, the box of crackers, her pouch with the amber inside (it had become a good luck charm for her), and two vicious looking karambits.

Just like a scythe, the curved karambit knife is designed for slashing. The blade is often used with a hooking motion, similar to the sweeping movement one might use while cutting through dense foliage or through heavy material. Her karambit had a black hilt and body, with a red stripe along the edge. It was her weapon of choice if it came down to combat and her magic failed her.

Kai'hel peered over Cesura's shoulder for a second, admiring her weapons. "The last time I saw one of those it was in the possession of a very skilled fighter," he said a little wistfully, sitting and making sure he was taking up as little space as possible. "An old friend of mine - we parted ways a long way back though, and I haven't heard of him since. But he never told me where it came from."

Vernik growled softly, of course he knew Lazi, but he decided to play it off, "Yeah, I know her, how do you know her?" He said trying to keep his voice low and level, as to not scare the poor dragon off, not like he was in the mood to chat, "You didn't hurt her did you," A hint of doubt crept into his voice but he pushed it away, Lazi could take care of herself.

"Hello," She said dipping her head polity as she watched them carefully, "I'm Lazi by the way and that is Mali," She motioned to Mali, who was still sleeping, Lazi smiled as she listened to Mali's snores before turning back to the map, pondering what to do in her head, "I hope we can come up with a good plan and fast!"

Elenor frowned, baring her teeth for a second. The accusation that she had hurt Lazi provoked her enough to carry on without a stammer, and the dragon's barely restrained, patronising tone annoyed her.

"Why would I hurt Lazi? I risked enough to get her out, what fool would then attack her? I thought you'd like to know where she was." She was too put off by this dragon's attitude to bother answering the first question fully. If Lazi wanted to tell him, she could.

---

Kai'hel turned back to Lazi, keeping his eyes expertly trained on the ground in front of him as he dipped his head in greeting back. He shook his talons loose from a tangle of pea plant vines. They hadn't been there before.

"She's a cute little one, isn't she? Who's the lucky parent?"

His experience with children had been that of a happy one. His family back home had four little ones of his brother's. The little balls of energy had filled their clan house with laughter and light, and he'd never seen his parents so cheerful in the long while before his brother had visited. He hadn't been himself for a while either, but meeting his nieces and nephews had got him back to his usual optimism.

He realised he was frowning, his heart heavy with nostalgia, and he plastered a faint smile on his face again. "A plan! What happened to to the underground tunnel idea?"

(Ack forgot to ping, sorry)

Vernik rolled his eyes as he showed his fangs, a threat, "If you say so, but I won't trust you for a second!" He hissed softly under his breathe before perking up as he heard that Lazi was safe, that was good, "You helped her," He said in awe, she had saved his sister from the prison, "How is she?"

Lazi nodded at the comment about Mali, "She is cute," She froze at the other question, doubt and fear filling her, "She's mine," She said quickly, glad at once as the doubt and fear drained away, leaving only sadness "I adopted her," She didn't dare say any more, but just stayed quiet, not answering the other question.

Elenor was about ready to growl back a reply, feeling like the best response was to stand her ground. But then she was taken aback as he spoke with respect.

"Yes, I did. Uhh... she's alive?" she tried. "Not dead? She wasn't down there long, that's good, right?"

She looked at the other dragon, squinting against the sun reflected in his gemstone tail and against his vibrant blue wing webbing. She couldn't ignore the strong smell of ash and fire that hung round him like cloak.

---

Kai'hel gave Lazi a sorrowful expression. "There are too many hatchlings that aren't so lucky to be taken in these days. That was kind of you."

He spoke without directing it at anyone: "Are we changing plans because of the increased guard activity?"

"Guards happened." Cesura said bitterly, putting the small pouch around her neck, "We have three new tunnel options now. And the karambits are common here they originated in the desert. I am far from a skilled fighter but I can handle myself." She put on the belt of potions around her chest and the large satchel around her waist like saddle bags. She put the crackers in there. She grabbed two leather sheathed and put the around her wrists, slipping the karambits into them before rejoining the others around the map.

Kai'hel scratched at a loose scale, mulling over their new options. "Whichever one let's us sneak by unnoticed, I would say would be the best option. Being caught by guards is the end of this whole operation."

He listened intently to the origins of the weapon. "I never knew. I always like to get to know weapons so I know if there's one I might be good with."

He examined the map closer.

(Is the map one of the city or of the continent/world?)