Vernik was so flabbergasted by his words that he didn't seem to her the last part, to the dragons luck, there was water... with powers?
"I'm coming," He grumbled, though there was a curious look that twinkled in his eyes, "And you better not be lieing!"

Kai'hel looked at Cesura, a sympathetic grimace on his face. "I had a family too. I lived with my parents, and my brother would come and visit whenever he could. We came on hard times, and my only option was to join the local militia. And when the Empire went to war, I was called up. I had no choice. And now we are like many here - we have nothing. I suppose what I'm trying to say is thanks. I will try to get back your home. I promise." He hesitated as if he had more to say, but then turned to Lazi as she spoke.

"I should have. I'm sorry," he apologised. He wouldn't make excuses - he should have. He then remembered about the fallen jars and began to apologise to Cesura, stooping down to try and pick them up in his clumsy talons.

---

Elenor stepped into the tent, assessing the situation. The large male from before was fumbling with little bottles on the ground and the baby dragon was distressed about something. She looked down at the bag of... Empire armour. Sergeant level, by the looks of it. The male must have brought it - immediately she was cautious again. She looked across at him, squinting at the mark on his side that was in full view.

"What is going on?" she asked Lazi, stepping over to her.

He noticed that the dragon was slightly intrigued "I'm not lying I can promise you that." as he's taking the dragon near the river he reaches into his satchel and pulls out a container of a luminescent liquid he then proceeds too hold it out for the dragon too take.

Lazi drew Mali closer to her, turning her head when she heard Elenor ask her a question, what had happened?
"He works for the army... or well used to," She trailed off, looking back to Mali, unsure of what else to say, "Yeah... what are you doing back here?"

Vernik grabbed the bottle hesitantly, looking at it before opening the bottle and hesitantly drinking some, knowing this could be a drink. He then waited, seeing if there was any side effects.
"Who are you?" He asked gruffly, not meeting the dragon's eyes as he shuffled his talons, "I am Vernik."

"I am Meliodias, nice to meet you Vernik." He said hesitantly hoping the dragon didn't recognize his name
"Thank you for letting me apologize." he said as his eyes shifted to the dragon

Cesura gracefully picked up the remaining jars, setting them where they were before. She hesitated before saying, "Your welcome... and thank you for offering. I doubt it will ever be the same..." She sat down and looked at her clenched her talons, suddenly filled with grief. She tried not to let it show.

When the blue dragon came back in she almost jumped. She had not been expecting the dragoness to come in like that. She hadn't known she was there. Guess that's the problem with a sound-proof tent. You can't hear outside.

"Sorry about being grumpy," Vernik growled drinking the rest of the water, wondering what it did, "What does the water do anyways?"
Maybe it was like an energy booster, though he doubted it, it was probably poison, that meant he was going to die and he was not going to die unless he was sure Lazi was okay.

"It's ok too be grumpy we're all tired of being treated this way" He said hoping the dragon wasn't part of the empire. "The water is just a stimulant to calm your nerves"

Elenor was alarmed, but judged from the situation that the issue had been resolved by the others. She tried to calm her nerves but vowed to keep an eye on the ex-Empire dragon. Her ears twitched as she was asked why she was here - she'd been busy observing Cesura's reaction to her appearance.

She realised at some point her core training would cut in around Cesura - she was clearly the leader of this group, even if she didn't realise it yet. Elenor knew she should probably slide into the guardian role rather than blunder into it like she did with normal conversations.

"I brought back another dragon. He's interested in what's going on here. I don't believe he works for the Empire," she explained, turning to the male by the entrance of the tent. She remembered about Lazi's friend, the irritable dragon from before, but decided to leave it for now.

What she didn't tell Lazi was she had left to get some breathing space. She still wasn't ready to face her past.

---

Kai'hel gave a sheepish grin as he was easily put to shame by Cesura's finesse in simply picking up a bottle. He almost dropped his a couple of times before daintily plopping it back on the shelf.

He listened to Cesura as she stared at her clasped talons. He sat down next to her, shrugging. "Well, whether it's the same or not doesn't matter. Home is home, and if you have it back then that's what's important," he said cheerily. He'd seen fellow soldiers with haunted looks like this before - he hoped his optimism would help. He didn't press her about what was bothering her, she could tell him if she chose to.

Vernik gave him a skeptical look but pushed his thoughts aside, he would feel better later.
"I feel sleepy," He let out a yawn to prove his point, swaying on his talons, "You put sleep powder in this didn't you," He mumbled sleepily laying on the ground as he let out another yawn, the dragon had tricked him! He had been to trusting, this will never happen again, he promised himself.

Lazi watched them all silently, not feeling like speaking, she had a plan, a stupid plan, not like it mattered. She stood up slowly, stretching her sore legs before walking around, Mali jumping on her back and clinging on like a fledgling.
"I think I can do," She mumbled to herself, remembering why her parents had named her Lazi, "Good thing I was born with an important talent."