Spirit ~{Friends or Foes?}~ Liz

A gentle wind blew over the rolling hills of the countryside, making the tall grass sway slowly from side to side. Soaring over the terrain, barely paying its beauty any attention, Temero the Wolf Dragon was looking for something to do. While it would be easy for him to find a settlement to raze he did not want to, feeling strangely considerate of others for once. Not that he wanted to go find a human to talk to, not at all, but neither did he feel like drifting around aimlessly.

So, he was stuck. Unless of course he could find another of his kind, which did not seem likely to happen. Even though it was a beautiful day he was a little out in the wilderness for most, especially since he was right next to the mountains. So many dragons have found humans and moved to the cities, he thought with a silent snarl. Well, there has to be something to do.

Having wings was a Godsend! Windy days like this were perfect for flying about, especially to a tiny little dragon like Hydra. The less she had to walk on her back leg the better. Days like this also reminded her of her time with her new companion, Measle. Whatever made her like him was something to investigate for sure, but she had no idea how to go about something like that! She caught wind of a familiar yet alien scent and groaned. "Better not be that Desert Chaser again." she muttered. She fluttered down to the ground and looked around. "Is anyone around here?" she called.

Temero dipped his left wing, going into a long turn that carried him further out over the field. It was then that a gust of wind carried a voice over to him and he whipped his head around, almost crashing into a hill before he righted himself, only to roll down the other side when the wind went out from underneath his wings. Well, he thought, getting up and dusting himself off, that was not the most dignified of landings but it was not the worst I have ever seen.

Looking around the Wolf dragon tried to locate the source of the voice, hoping that it was a dragon and not a human. While he did not particularly like humans he could occasionally deign to talk to them, but today was not really one of those days when he wanted to. "Well, there is someone around," he replied. "But it remains to be seen how long he will stay."

"Not the best of landings I must admit, but well done on actually getting to the ground and not getting hurt. And why wouldn't you stick around here? It's a bit windy but it's a decent day to be out and about." said Hydra as she walked into his line of sight, or thereabout seeing as there was a size difference no matter how small. "I'm Hydra. Do you have a name, or are you the type of person to not introduce yourself?" She was simply speaking from experience and was hoping he'd be polite instead of rude, she'd had enough of rude for one lifetime as it was. "I-It's not that I think lowly of you, but I've had some bad luck lately with meeting new dragons." Of course her physical handicap was about the most embarrassing example she had for that statement, which warranted the grimace on her face as she glanced at the ground.

Temero growled mentally, hoping no one had seen his landing. Well, too late now. Looking over at the female Temero quickly saw that she posed little to no threat, unless of course she had others with her, and judging by her words she did not. A name? "I do have a name," he replied, sitting down on top of the hill and spreading his wings slightly to let the wind catch them. "It is Temero, since you asked." He considered her, wondering what she was doing so out in the country while she was injured, at least he assumed she was injured for something was not right with her gait.

"Sometimes I do not get along very well with others," he said slowly, one of his ears going back before he righted it. "Humans especially. If you had been a human there might have been problems, but you clearly are not." He did not care if she thought he would have attacked her, which he probably would not have had she been human. Just because he did not like them did not mean he had to annihilate every one he saw. No, if they were polite and did not get on his nerves often they would walk away unscathed. "Bad luck?" he asked curiously. Clearly this female had a story to tell.

"Well. . .Yes, I got stuck in a "bear trap" trying to help a very vain dragon that was stuck dangling over a pit. He now effectively wishes to kill me I'm fairly sure. My leg didn't heal properly so now I have a permanent handicap, it's embarrassing." she said with a snort. "I mean I wasn't a sprinter before, but now I'm certainly not in any position to run for any reason." She sighed and sat on the cool ground making sure to move one of her wings to hide the nasty scars on her leg, before looking up at the dragon in front of her. "What kind of dragon are you, Temero? I mean obviously you were built with practicality in mind since you have wings, but some of you seems to look more canine than dragon." Secretly she hoped she wasn't pulling a "pot calling the kettle black" as humans put it, for she knew her own behavior was much like that of a dog in the way of curiosity and thinking patterns.

Temero raised an eyebrow at the female, folding his wings back while he considered her words. So, caught in a bear trap? Well, that would make her easy prey to anyone interested in a quick meal. Luckily Temero was not one of those dragons. The fun for him was in the challenge, and he could see no such thing here. "You might want to be careful about who you tell that to," he advised her, his tail twitching from side to side idly. "Some would use it as an opportunity to attack you. And that dragon should be honored that one would deign to save his life."

Strange that she would not know what I am, he thought, though at least it was not a question of whether or not I am even a dragon. "I am a wolf dragon," he replied. "And you have wings too I might point out." Dragons without wings are at a bit of a disadvantage, he thought. Although, generally they had adapted in other ways such as moving more quickly or having a heavier build. Still, the ability to simply fly away from a conflict was a nice one to have at times. "So what are you doing out here away from civilization?" he asked. Obviously she was enjoying the day, but still.

"I'm a nomad, I don't exactly have a home. And I'm not exactly defenseless, I can freeze living things solid. I'm an ice dragon after all." she said with a small smile. "Civilization hates me for one, and for two I get stepped on frequently in cities." She turned a bit of her attention to the ground as she curled her tail around her side. "Not many humans like their little ones treating me like the family pet. Every so often I find little ones that aren't scared of me, they're so peculiar compared to the adults who watch them. The little ones are open-minded to just about everything they come across in their tiny little world, while the adults fear just about everything that comes across as 'not normal' or 'dangerous' whether it actually is a threat or isn't. Most fellow dragons can look at me and discern I'm no threat both due to my size and my ill-healed leg, but large humans who can easily kill me given the chance tend to run from me or chase me away from their little ones. I don't understand..." she finished quietly.

"Some dragons give others a bad name," Temero commented, neglecting to mention that he was often one of those dragons. Not always of course, but usually. Humans tended to annoy him more than anything else, but there were some he could stand for short periods of time. No, better just to stay away from them altogether in his mind. "I have not really tried human food," he replied. "They generally do not want me sticking around long enough to try it." Although he had stolen food before so he knew what it was like. Some of it was good but others... not so much.

"Children find small things like toys," he added after a moment of thought. "Whether or not they actually are. Some decide they want to ride on me like I am an oversized dog or undersized pony." Again he neglected to mention that they did not hold that idea long. Not that he would hurt them, but he would make his displeasure known. "Children just annoy me," he said finally, shaking his head slightly. "They lack logical thinking skills it seems."

"I think it's their lack of logic that makes those tiny little creatures so interesting. They're always asking questions and exploring and learning new things. It reminds me of the trouble me and my siblings. . .-" she cut herself off and sighed. "M-Me and my siblings used to cause our mother as hatchlings. . ." She shook her head. "Back home I escaped death by being too curious. And now as I near adulthood I've made a habit of never staying in one place for too long. Drives my humanoid pet a bit nutty but she has a home up further north of here." She stopped talking for a long while and glanced at Temero. "I must be boring, I'll stop now. . .Tell me a little about yourself?"

"That is more an annoyance to me than anything else," Temero replied with a slight shrug. He raised an eyebrow at the mention of her pet. So... did she mean it as a rider or not? Clearly she did not seem that attached to it, otherwise she would have described it differently. Okay, he thought, just let it go. As long as she doesn't want you to meet it then it's no big deal. "Boring? No, hardly." He was being serious, though it might not come across that way.

Hmm, but this was a problem. What to tell her about himself? Obviously he had to be careful about what he said. Telling the female just anything would be a horrible idea. "Well," he started slowly. "Obviously I am a wolf dragon. I too have no permanent home, mostly because these pesky humans keep coming along and disturbing me." He stopped himself from saying that he would very much prefer it if they would all vanish off the face of Dragon's Cove. "So for now I am trying to find a secluded place where they do not come." What else... "I do not really want a rider, in case you cannot tell, but I can stand humans to a point." He was exaggerating slightly there, but it was true that some of them he could.

She gave a small chuckle and eased into a more relaxed posture. "She's simply a mute travelling companion. I call her my pet because it's sort of how she acts. She has to act out what she wants to say, sort of like a domestic pet. She doesn't take much for granted and I think that's why she's one of the few adult humans I don't mind much." She stretched her wings and relaxed again. "Of course then again. . .There are vile dragons just like there are vile humans, very few and far between but the few outshine the many. When I got stuck in that trap and had that metal clamp literally cutting through my leg I nearly ripped off a human's leg." Here she gagged. "Disgusting muddy flavor and the iron taste from the blood is as unappetizing as edible things can be. I'm human intolerant, the flesh makes me sick if I eat it in any portion. Dragons that eat those bony creatures have never ceased to make me ill at ease."

"Traveling companion you say? Well that is an interesting choice of one," Temero commented. Well, better than a rider I suppose he thought, looking over his shoulder to see where the sun was. He would have to find a place to spend the night, and he did not want to do that in the dark, though he had often enough. "Well of course there are vile dragons," Temero agreed, not stopping to ask himself whether or not he was one of them. He had never actually killed another dragon or human, not yet anyway, but he was willing to if they stood in his way.

However he did smile at her description of the human. While he had never killed one he had attacked them before for getting too close to him while he was sleeping. And because they irritated him of course. "Admittedly they do not taste good but it gets easier to ignore that," he said, without really thinking about it. "Of course, seeing as you are intolerant I suppose that is not an option for you anyway." Realizing what he had just said he added, "Not that I make a habit of biting them. Only if they decide to push me around."

"I suggest sleeping in a hardwood tree. Nice and sturdy, little chance of its branches breaking under your weight." She lay on her side and yawned as the sun sank a little lower in the sky. "Reminds me of the sunset I saw at the lake with Measle." she mumbled. She looked at Temero and blinked. "Don't look so rigid I'm not in any position to attack you, nor do I wish to. Are. . .Are you a bit shy. . .? If you are I understand if you're not I shouldn't have asked." She hated making awkward small-talk and she cursed her own introverted personality for it. "You really don't like humans very much. I guess you'd be happy if they didn't exist right?"

Temero actually burst out laughing when she asked him if he was shy. Shy? Not at all. Not wanting to sound rude however he stopped himself and cleared his throat, shaking his head slightly. "I think shy could never be used as a word to describe me," he told her. "Withdrawn or distrusting yes, depending on how you want to see it. I just do not feel the need to tell people everything about myself." Hmm, he thought, sounds like she has another dragon in her life. Instinctively he looked to the sky again as though expecting a dragon to drop down on top of him. There was nothing there besides the clear blue sky, slowly changing colors as the sun set.

"As for humans, I would rather they not exist here," he explained. "If they would leave us alone and go back to wherever they came from, that would be nice. They seem to cause nothing but trouble and fighting. You cannot say you have not seen this." Of course, he knew that she could. Some dragons adored humans so much they simply could not see the bad side of them.

She flushed red and sort of hid her face thinking she'd said something stupid. "I've got to learn to keep my mouth shut." She glanced at him and sighed. "I'd go with "withdrawn" just to be polite but distrusting would probably be the best fit." She honestly thought 'paranoid' was better but given circumstances that wasn't smart to say. "I think they deserve a chance just like everyone else. Yes, I've seen the fighting but there are some that would rather have peace. Total peace is unachievable yes, but we can at least get along 'some' of the time can't we?" Seeing as she'd seen every side of the story now about humans she though that they deserved a chance at life like the rest of the world.

Temero shrugged slightly, not bothered by her questions. She seemed honest and nonthreatening enough, and he could always handle it if things went badly. "Distrusting would be best," he replied simply, "Though I do have good reasons for it." Oh great, now she will ask about those too he thought, though it was too late to take the statement back now.

"Perhaps we could get along better if they did not take all of our land and leave those of us who want to be left alone no place to go," he replied. "I can find no place, not even deep in the mountains, where those creatures have not gone." He sighed and shrugged slightly. "Anyway, to each their own." There certainly was no way she was going to change his mind, and he was not going to attempt to change hers. There was no point in it as far as he was concerned.

"Point well taken, I'll admit that." She looked around. "Everyone has reasons, some are just better left unsaid." She wasn't about to ask any more questions of him, it would be rude. "I just try to stay away from the kind that hates me and tolerate the kind that doesn't." She stretched her legs and hid her displeasure at the odd cracking in her back leg. "A curse on human animal traps. . ." she muttered. "I feel like I'm never going to get past this at this rate." In her mind she felt like she was less of a dragon because she was, for all intents and purposes, an invalid. It deeply saddened her to think of it that way.

Temero shrugged slightly again. 'If you can manage that then more power to you." Studying her he added softly, "Though I hardly see how you can have that kind of attitude after what happened to you." If the same thing had happened to him he would have hunted down the human who had made the trap and torn him limb from limb. "If some dragons can get along without wings you can survive with a damaged leg," he told her, not exactly trying to be helpful but not trying to be unhelpful either. It was just a statement of fact. "I suppose you saw a healer about it," he concluded.

"Didn't see a healer, tore a huge chunk out of the human's leg and left him probably unable to use it for the rest of his days." She was a bit ornery from the pain but she shook it off. "I actually did something rather stupid looking back; I used ice as a brace so it would stay in place and heal like it was supposed to. It didn't heal right obviously but that's my own fault." His statement about her attitude shocked her a bit. "Well not all humans are the same, so I figured condemning the whole race is worse than just killing the ones who cause you trouble."

"Well that could be part of your problem," Temero commented. "But at least you tried to help it." Then again, he was not sure if he could have brought himself to see a healer either, at least not a human one, and he did not know of any dragon healers, though he figured they were out there. Temero was just too much of an independent dragon to allow others to help him. But then, he could be friendly if he wanted to, it just appeared slightly awkward.

"Not all humans are the same I suppose, but it was their fault you got hurt," he said, laying down. It was as much of a show of comfort that anyone was likely to get from him. "But then again, some people are more accepting than I am. They just get a bit frustrating to me you see." It wasn't to say that he couldn't get along with them... they just had to have the right personality, and it was a fine line to walk. Even finer depending on his level of patience at any given moment.

She gave a small smile. "You're definitely an odd dragon to please." She curled up and shut her eyes. Temero was alright, she guessed. He was a little odd to her but maybe that was just because he was the happy medium between Measle and that Chaser to her. He didn't necessarily hate humans, but he didn't like them much either. She sighed and drew some random little thing in the ground before brushing it away. "You ever get lonely, Temero?" She hadn't a clue why she asked that, it just sort of slipped out. Guess she was just that relaxed, but it felt odd to be so relaxed. She made herself comfy and perked an ear so she could hear him better.

Temero considered this strange question. Did he ever get lonely? "No, not really," he admitted. "I can function quite well on my own, I do not need anyone else." In fact, he could live high up in the mountains all his life and never see another soul, and be completely happy with that. Cities were not his thing, nor were any other gathering place of humans. He steered clear of them as much as possible. "I suppose you do though, judging by how quickly you sought me out." And how long you have stayed, he added mentally. It was a curious thing to him, that she actually seemed to want to talk to him.

"My kind tend to be solitary, but I've been the exception since I was little. How you can stand to be alone is a mystery to me. I'd almost think you tire of everyone too easily to keep friends." She didn't take company for granted anymore, not after losing everything she cared for as a little one. "How can you take things like that for granted? I mean I agree humans aren't the perfect companions but there are other dragons and other kinds of creatures in the world. I guess I'm still the exception for wanting to keep friends in a world like this, but no one can say that I take anything I have for granted."

"I do not tire of people," he replied, though in a way he did. "I am just particular of the company I keep. There are some I enjoy having around, and many I do not. But whether I like them or not sometimes I prefer to be alone." Most of the time in fact, but he did not add that. Truthfully, this conversation was the longest he had partaken in for a while.

"Take what for granted?" he asked, slightly confused by her question. "That people want to talk to me? I think nothing of that. If they wish to speak to me then they will, same for if I decide to speak to them." A rare occurrence if ever there was one. "I suppose you mean friends," he concluded. "The few that I have, I do not take for granted." Especially considering he really could not think of one true friend, though he had acquaintances in ME. Actually, they were the only ones he really got along with, because they shared the same ideals. "It just depends on how they act and treat me."

» Darkness falls. Jaej meets his end, another finds more friends.
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