Spirit ~{Friends or Foes?}~ Liz

"There is nothing wrong with that," Temero replied, turning back to her. "And no, I did not even notice the temperature to be honest. I was just keeping watch." He tilted his head slightly to one side, studying the cricket as well. He was half tempted to catch it, but decided against it, flicking his tail as it hopped away. What did he like? Well... the obvious answer he discarded instantly, not feeling it fit to say. Telling her that he enjoyed destroying human towns did not seem like a good idea.

Instead he said, "Well, flying for one thing. It is so freeing. As for hunting... I like a challenge there. Unless I am starving then I do not care as much. But I would like to try to hunt a big cat once, or perhaps a bear of some sort. It would be quite interesting I think." He shrugged slightly. "And you?"

"At the moment I'd be a dead dragon walking if I attacked something as big as a full grown bear. But something like a big cat might be of a more interesting challenge, even a wild horse sometimes requires more than one hunter to kill." She moved over closer to him and stretched her wings. "Have you seen lots of dragons around here? I hardly see anything but insects and small furry creatures aside from humans, but I don't really count them anymore since they're everywhere these days." She followed a small firefly through the air with widening eyes. "Why do these puzzling little bugs glow?"

"Well the challenge is the fun," Temero replied. "Besides, I have gotten into tussles with dragons that were bigger than bears and I am still here, so I think it would be interesting." Of course, he also liked to fight, liked to challenge himself, perhaps she did not. It certainly was not for everyone. "There are more dragons in the towns and cities than in the wild," he said, considering her question. "But I have run into quite a few lately, though not necessarily around here of course." What bug, he wondered, glancing over at her. "Well I do not know for sure, but I think it has something to do with the chemicals in them," he replied, half remembering something he had heard from a human once.

She laughed a little and tried to catch the bug. "Well whatever it is that makes them glow it makes them fun to chase!" She listened for a moment or two and looked at him before returning to stalking the insect. "I hardly ever go into cities anymore, too many chances to get stepped on and whatnot. Besides cities are nowhere near practical in terms of living space. Why bother making a fenced in area for creatures to live when you've got the whole blinkin' world out there? It makes absolutely no sense. We dragons don't need cities to survive, why do humans?"

"I suppose," Temero replied, not entirely familiar with the concept of fun. He knew what it was, but did not seek it out. Or at least, not in the way most people did. Call him a bit of a sadist, you would be right. "People are weak, that is why," he said, thankful that she had asked a question he could answer. "They cannot stand the elements like we can, like other animals can even. They have to lock themselves away in their houses to survive. Take those away from them and they generally die."

He had seen it happen before, that was how he knew. In his journeys deeper and deeper into the wilderness he had occasionally come across the skeletal remains of humans who had attempted the same journey, but found themselves ill supplied. Was it sad? Perhaps, but not something Temero cared about.

"I've seen humans up in the ice plains, but they act much differently than the ones around here do. I suppose they do like the rest of us and adapt to the environment to a certain extent." Rolling onto her side, she looked up at Temero. "I agree humans are rather pathetic looking, but I have to say some of them are very tough little creatures." Humans didn't seem like the smartest of creatures in her experience, but some were smarter/tougher than others and some just didn't need to exist in her opinion. With a big yawn she sat up and watched the sun continue to sink.

"Those humans had to have some sort of shelter," Temero replied with a short nod. "From what I have seen, they cannot survive without them. Unless they have many excess layers of clothes. They are quite fragile really, it is strange." It was true, he knew, that some of them were stronger than others. But none of them seemed to be able to compare to dragons. At least to the bigger ones anyway. Some of the smaller dragons were weak as well.

"I tried to live on the ice for a while, but when they followed me up there I gave up on trying to stay away from them," he added with a slight shrug. "I figure they need to learn that they cannot own everything. After all, everything needs space to live."

Hydra nodded quietly and listened as the crickets started their twilight symphony. "Everything has a breaking point, you just have to find it." She knew her own breaking point, and she hoped nobody else figured it out. She had several things that just made her snap. Regret was one thing, stress was another, and other creatures making fun of her just made her purple with fury. She'd killed a good handful of things for underestimating her due to her size. Her physical handicap was a different story, but not entirely; everyone still tried to pity her and help her because of her leg and she didn't want that kind of treatment.

Temero smiled weakly, knowing that his breaking point was far to simple to reach. Well, perhaps he had good reason for it, but then again... innocent people had died at his claws while he brought their village down. And while that was bad enough he did not really care either. Most people might have felt guilty about the things he had done, but Temero did not really care. In his mind humans needed to go away and leave him alone. Then he would be happy, and they could live in peace. But until then he would continue to terrorize them.

"I tend to snap at people more easily than I probably should," he admitted, knowing that the things he did would be excessive to most people. "Then again if they did not bother me I would leave them alone." The Wolf dragon shrugged nonchalantly. Sympathy was not one of his strong points. In fact it was dubious if he even knew what that emotion was like.

It was then that he heard the dogs again, and this time the people who were with them could be heard shouting to each other. His tail lashing from side to side angrily Temero snorted, turning to Hydra again. "Fight or flight, you decide," he told her.

She rolled her eyes and looked toward the noise. "Whatever is likely to cause the least hassle. Flight." She warmed up her wings with a bit of flapping. "I'm not going to sit around and listen to them go on like that and send hounds after us." She hadn't a clue where they could go out there in the middle of nowhere. "You're choosing direction though Temero. My sense of direction is horrendous though, I'm not sure if I mentioned that before." She was a bit on edge hearing humans this close, and with CANINES at that! It was enough to make her queasy.

The Wolf dragon snarled and looked around, sniffing the air as he pivoted his head, searching for any sort of scent. "There is a town or something in that direction," he commented, pointing his nose in the proper way. "Or something smaller or farther away over there," he finished, indicating another direction. "Whatever you prefer. I on the other hand..." Temero glanced in the direction of the dogs and their owners. "Those hounds have caught our scent, they will not stop until they catch us."

Returning his attention to Hydra he smirked, tail twitching eagerly. "So I'm going to give them a bit of a chase if you don't mind. That way you can get out of here." Such a display of chivalry was rare for him, but the female certainly had shared some of his ideals, if not quite to the extent he took them to, but still. "I am sure we will run into each other again. I might just follow you once I lose these pests. Granted I'm not that fond of places where people congregate but I suppose I could manage it." Temero shrugged, hearing the dogs getting closer and closer. "Now if you will excuse me... I should probably get going," he said, nodding slightly at her.

"Smooth flying to you my friend." she said quietly. "I don't like towns either, but find a river and roll around in the water a bit, dogs lose your scent quite easily that way." She crept off through the grass and flew off in a flash, hoping her friend would be alright. She looked back and smiled. "A sly little snake he is, he's not a wolf he's a snake." She laughed to herself and shook her head. He was at least somewhat normal for a dragon, even if his opinion of humans wasn't so positive at her own. Then again, she had seen more humans that liked her rather than hate her.

"Same to you," Temero replied, accepting her suggestion with a nod of agreement. Flicking his tail by means of farewell Temero dashed off over the grass, clearing the hill and leaping over the group of dogs, flaring his wings to make it across. Once he had caught their attention Temero sprinted off in the opposite direction that Hydra had gone, leading them away from her. Naturally it would be simple to attack them and destroy them all, which he might actually end up doing, but what was the point? The dogs were just as controlled by the humans as he was. Actually... he almost felt sorry for them.

So while the humans earned a burning hatred, Temero would leave the dogs alone. And actually, it seemed as though these humans would survive as well. It was a rarity, but Temero did have a heart somewhere underneath his hatred and fur. Strangely enough he actually did hope he would run into the female again. She had shared some of his ideas, and had provided some interesting conversation. No, he would not mind running into her again at all.

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