[$] The Dragon (Knux33 <3)

[Killer_Kiwi_XD]

knux33

Aerion felt the puff of warm air just before Balrak became angry over his hand. The blond shifted and looked up at that dragon, an eyebrow raised as the beast spoke of his scales, then he sighed and stood. "What? You do not enjoy the sight of blood? It's just a little cut, barely any bigger than my thumb, pardon me for not having scales to protect myself." Aerion sighed in exasperation more then frustration or anger, at this point he was just tired of the dragons attitude, he wanted to go finish fixing some of the books he had so that he could ignore the beast for a while. "And I managed it because I was frustrated. You are a very frustrating creature to speak with for extended periods of time. They should give you the new title of Blarak the infuriating!" Aerion turned and headed for the rooms that he had cleaned out so that he could clean his hand.

"Unless you can suddenly get much smaller I recommend you stay out there!" Aerion shouted from inside his safe little space. He had quite a few oils spread all over the room, books as well, and even some inks. He had a book taken apart on one side of the large front room. He easily stepped over the pages and the books but worried about the dragon trying to shove his large head into the small space. Aerion grabbed some herbs and wrapped his hand after cleaning it off. He sat on the bed for a moment, having chose to sit there while he tended to his hand, the blood was something he was used to in his life.

He had not battled wars, had not killed many people, but fighting was starting up already and he had seen a few brief battles easily won by his people. He wondered though… how long would that last? What would the return of this great dragon stir up and would his father blame the men and their disregard or would he put the blame where it was actually needed. Aerion was not a fan of men, he felt that they would take this grand world and pollute it, but he did not want his father to try and destroy them for something that they did not know. They were still a young idiotic race… all races had been that once yes? Even the dragons had once been nothing but tiny creatures easily blinded by the light.

Aerion ran a hand through his hair, the thoughts troubling him greatly. It was just another thing to block out, another thing he shouldn’t worry himself with, he just didn't understand why peace was such a hard thing… then again Aerion himself was pretty wrathful. At least he knew it though, at least he acknowledged his anger, because it was often misplaced and got him into a great amount of trouble. Aerion stood and put the medicinal herbs away before leaving the sleeping area. He stared down at his hand as he walked out, testing the bandage "I also cleaned up the nursery… That most likely won't interest you beside the point that there was some gold in there. Rattles and jewelry that the children used to wear I think… The cribs are still intact too and they are decorated with gold if that interests you."  

[knux33]

Killer_Kiwi_XD

"I do not enjoy seeing treasure needlessly damaged," Balrak was quick to correct the elf, frowning. "And you think I'm aggravating? Oh, Aerion the Foolish you're just lucky frustrating is all I am to you! Do you hear me?" the dragon rumbled at the little 'nook' (aka room) the elf had hidden himself inside, before grumbling to himself. "Elves. Puh." Well ... at the very least Aerion was cirtainly being interesting. Balrak turned his eyes to the small, insignificant plant that had torn Aerion, and gave a huff. Fragile little flower indeed. At least the elf could take care of himself when fleshy bits started to bleed, Balrag decided, and knew how to flatter. False flattery, but good enough. The little elf would realize just how truly grand he was eventually, no charm necessary.

The dragon looked up at the sun, temper cooling a bit by the time Aerion returned bandaged ... and talking of gold. Balrak's focus sharpened, entire body communicating interests as Aerion explained where the little baubles were. "Ah. Now see? This is much better. Why did you not tell me sooner? Do keep a look out for more little treasures of that nature," Balrak said, moving surprisingly quickly for such a large beast as he turned and began trotting off to the aforementioned nursery. After collecting what treasure was there, he would take it to his main hoard and give his riches an extra look-over, just to make sure everything hadn't been taken in his short absence.

Balrak came to a stop in front of the small, elf-sized doors where Aerion's scent had led him, snuffing and sticking the end of his nose into the doorway to confirm that, yes! There was gold in there! But now ... to fetch it. The old wyrm pulled his snout free and looked around, eyes glowing with anticipation. Every coin; every bit of gold and jewelry was more than a welcome addition to his riches. And only once he'd made certain there was no hide nor hair of anyone else, the dragon shifted a bit and closed his eyelids, dredging up the old memory.

For Aerion's earlier comment about size ... Balrak in fact did have such a means to an end. It was a common trick for only the smallest of hatchlings because, usually, they were the only type of dragon undignified enough to do such a horrible thing as to become something besides their glorious selves. But Balrak was not particularly keen on working to wriggle the gold out with his long claws (that would take far too long) or asking Aerion to get him for him (that elf had served enough snark for one day) so the quickest and least-frustrating way to get what he wanted was to get it himself. The old wyrm exhaled deeply, and kept on empting and ffeeling the very unplesant feeling of breathlessness coupled with pressure in his guts. This magic was old, and secret ... and perhaps one of the least-known facts of dragon kind. Probably because most drakes, once grown, would rather die than become anything smaller and less magnificent than themselves.

Balrak was quite prideful but ... he also quite liked gold. And this very handy option of saving his own scaly skin, should he need to use this trick. Very unlikely though; despite Aerion's words, the wyrm scoffed at such notions. Mankind could be as clever as hell, but he was still a dragon. Nothing on the planet could kill a dragon as large and old as he. These thoughts were pleasant, even as Balrak grew darker and more shadowy in substance in the real world; like smoke, before condensing into a humanoid-sized figure that solidified into what appeared to be a rather average-looking black-haired man ... with a dragon's cocky grin on his face as he opened his eyes and hurried into the long-abandoned nursery, quickly rooting around and sniffing the air, finding the little treasures with a grin and gleaming golden eyes.  

[Killer_Kiwi_XD]

knux33

Aerion was a bit surprised by the whiplash change of the dragons attitude and watched him trot off with a rather confused look. Aerion stood there, staring at the spot the dragon had been in, with his hand still up as if he was inspecting it. His mouth hung slightly open as if he was going to question what had just happened before he suddenly started walking toward the nursery. Peace and quite was nice but he didn't want the damn dragon causing a mess, and Aerion was sure the other wouldn’t be able to reach the bobbles, so he decided that he would go help him. If only so the dragon wouldn’t cause more of a problem for him, because Aerion could hardly stand the disaster of the kingdom as it was no need to add onto it.

Aerion turned the corner and stopped again as he saw black smoke instead of a large dragon. His heart jumped a bit then calmed before suddenly the strange black smoke shifted and shrunk down to a smaller figure. Aerion could see no Balrak, that dragons should have been right there, instead he stared on in wonder as the black smoke compressed into something much smaller and then turned solid. Suddenly there was a man standing in place of all the smoke, a man that Aerion was almost sure was Balrak, the man was quick though not to stand around for too long before he was disappearing into th nursery where Aerion had said that there were gold rattles and things.

There was just no way it wasn't Balrak but there was just no way that it was him at the same time. Aerion stared at the spot in wonder, honestly surprised by the change, it had been so different. Of course by the dress he should know it was Balrak, the outfit dripped with gold and jewels, he made a great deal of noise when he moved around and apparently he wanted to keep that when he looked like a mortal. Because he did look like a mortal, he looked like a the men he had burned, but maybe not quite the besthing to say though. Aerion stepped close when hear heard rummaging then he quickly crept up to the entrance and looked in to see what the other was doing.

Well he was looking for the gold, which was a bit strange, but Aerion had never heard of a dragon doing such a thing as turning into a man. The elf watched, not saying anything, then when the other had collected most of what he wanted Aerion stepped in. "You're missing some." The blond pointed in the direction of a cabinet, he had been finding a few things and putting them in there for when he told Balrak about the gold. Aerion stared at the dragon for a minute, wondering what he would do now that he was found out, it obviously wasn't something the dragon did often… this turning into a human business.  

[knux33]

Killer_Kiwi_XD

The dragon was quite enjoying gathering all his new finds, tilting his head a little as he looked over a golden rattle (not entirely sure why the elves had made something like this or why kids would like it) though in his size the tilting was not very necessary. When his usual glorious self, turning his head one way or another was essential to seeing small things around him, almost like a bird looking for insects ... which was when more of the world's population was to something as large as he. Balrak froze at the sound of a voice, entire body tensing. A familiar, familiar, damningly familiar voice it was. Slowly looking over his shoulder, the black-haired 'human stared at Aerion a few moments, like a feral cat caught out in the open. Shock soon turned to very bothered anger, Balrak frowning but turning away to go get the cabinet open and grabbing the last bits of gold within. There were still gold gilding and decor in the room, but that was too much trouble to pry off of the wood. Too much work for little gold.

"... Thank you. For the assistance, elf," Balrak eventually said, the items in-hand as he turned from the cabinet, staring at Aerion. After a moment, the dragon just huffed to himself and moved to walk right past the golden-haired witness, not happy but also not really wanting to linger long enough for the elf to as about ... well, his transformation. It was not something Balrak was proud of being able to do; therefore he didn't really feel like stoping to boast about it. No, he wanted to get these new treasures to his hoard ... any perhaps lingering a little while longer in this form to look around the kingdom once more. For any other stray bits of gold and goodies he may have missed in his negligence.

((Bah, short. My apologies, but wanted to give you an opening should Aerion want to be a real 'insect' and bug Balrak about it xD ))  

[Killer_Kiwi_XD]

knux33

Aerion watched the dragon in placid curiosity. He seemed rather displeased with this smaller 'human' form which Aerion was not honestly to surprised by considering the way the dragon praised his own looks. Aerion tilted his head, his blond hair falling over one shoulder, but instead of leaving the dragon to do what he wanted the blond followed him. He watched the way he moved, the way he walked, how solid his form was and curiosity won out the anger as he followed and stared. It was amazing, purely amazing, that something so large could be condensed into such a small form. Of course Aerion wasn't going to say as much just yet, not until the dragon was rid of his burden of gold, so he just followed after the dragon as he walked to his horde.

Once everything was dropped Aerion got very close and looked the other over. "That's amazing, you look so… not dragon like. How did you do that? It's very good, you even walk normal, I thought it might be some illusion but your actually smaller." Of course the other was still larger than him, which was a bit aggravating considering everyone was taller then the small elf, but as he circled the other it didn't matter. "You don't have a tail or horns, nothing to suggest what you are, how? I have never seen such a thing!" Aerion bounced a bit on his feet then touched what the other was wearing because it was so strange to see him like this and he just couldn’t help it.

"Do you have scales under your clothes? Claws? They must be smaller if you do, that’s a stupid thing to say of course they are, but still look at you!" Aerion was completely uninterested in his frustrated anger at the moment, more amazed by what the dragon could do, because he had never seen this sort of sorcery. "I have only ever seen Wizards change form like this and even then never to something so much smaller than them… it's like you changed into a flee from being a wolf. Does it hurt? Does it tire you out? How did you do it." Aerion was so beyond excited at the new discovery he almost completely forgot about the situation he was in.  

[knux33]

Killer_Kiwi_XD

The small hairs on the back of Balrak's neck stood on end as he marched his way towards the elven stairway down to his hoard, feeling the elf's probing eyes on him. Ire rose up in the dragon's now-human-sized-chest like a startled cobra, hissing and flaring it's hood at such clear observation of him in such a puny form. Feeling something no self-respecting dragon would ever admit to: unease. As he'd said to Aerion not too long ago, this form was fleshy. Fleshy, small, and quite like a bug ... no, inferior to a bug. Most bugs had hard outsides, as was respectable. Humans were squishy outside with a pleasant crunch when chewed; not at all helpful to survival. How had this species managed to survive at all, let alone thrive? Surely 'ingenuity' could only get them so far?

Descending the stairs, Balrak pondered these things and tried to ignore Aerion's following shadow that he could see creeping down in front of them as they both left the lighted open space to the dark and comfy lair. The dragon calmed as the familiar sight of his treasure (every trinket just as he'd left it), the scent of softly-stirring air and the thick taste of metal to the air. Yes, this was his home, his hoard, his kingdom ... no matter what size he chose to take, in his wisdom. Kneeling down, Balrak placed the golden and jewel-lined trinkets with the rest, smiling in satisfaction to himself. Like a bird that had fetched an insignificant twig to add to the nest, the dragon was quite happy ... until he stood, turned, and found Aerion in his face and remembered the elf was ... well, not ignoring this change like the dragon had hoped he would.

A jolt of anger in a defensive reaction went through Balrak, expecting ridicule or mocking to come out of the blond's mouth but ... it didn't. Balrak blinked, slowly standing up a little straighter and even posing a bit at the genuine-sounding amazement coming from the prince. Of course the dragon forgot his discomfort, soaking all the other's questions and wonder right up. "How did I do it? I am a creature born of Fire and the North Wind, elf. Many kinds of power are strong within me; this is one of the least things I can do with my might. Have you not seen fire leap and roar, but also sit down in a small ember, waiting to set more thing alight? This magic is also in part smoke; as a part of air, smoke can spread wide or be condensed close if stuck within a small space, smothering families in their sleep, or be scattered by the wind to give scent of fire's arrival to faraway beasts. I simply become as smoke, and shape myself to whatever container I wish, such as this one."

Preening as much as any peacock, Balrak put his hands on his hips, golden clothing and the jewels on it lightly clicking against one another. The golden parts were put together like ornamental, woven faux scales, to allow the metal to move as Balrak moved. It was quite satisfying to look down at the elf, even in this form. Though, even if his eyes were still their usual color, the dragon did not have his dragon charm in his form, or the usual glow about them. Sadly, such a complete transformation had it's prices. "No scales, no claws. I do not do imperfect transformations; easier for mistakes to be made that way. Though I do feel quite odd without the tail," Balrak admitted, looking behind himself and swinging his hips with a frown. Then he shrugged and went on; not like the transformation was permanent. "Wizards, though quite interesting, are still bound by their own magical laws. Plus, they are not very large to begin with. I, in my magnificence, have much more fire, energy, and magical content to work with. Much of my body rich in power, and fire is far more stable base to work with. Many wizards are men, and men are of earth or water. A few transcend to shade, then light, which are some of the most powerful Wizards. But none are born of fire, an element full of energy and not bound to existing all at once on this plane of life."

Balrak grinned, liking this side of Aerion quite a lot. Why could the elf not wonder at him like this all the time? "No, it does not hurt. Yes, it uses energy, but not enough to tire me out. Not so long as I don't go from my proper dragon to this louse-sized form too much, anyway. Now. Elf. Answer me this," the dragon turned-man said seriously, bending down and picking up a golden rattle, and holding it out for the blond to inspect. "Why is a trinket such as this only for elf young? What is it's importance?" It seemed Aerion wasn't the only curious one in this abandoned city.  

[Killer_Kiwi_XD]

knux33

Aerion listened to the other intently and was surprised by the so willing answers. He wasn't so surprised by the dragons preening at his words, because he had praised him, he just wished the Dragon was a bit better at hiding the fact that he was preening in such a way. Aerion rolled his eyes as the other went on about himself, not really enjoying that pointless blather, but he was really interested to hear about fire and wizards. He was honestly surprised to hear that the whole reason the other had this power was because he was a dragon and not a wizard, it was amazing, though he wasn't going to say so again. Aerion would have to write this all down when he returned to his room, he would need to record it, because it was good information to have.

Green eyes watched as Balrak grabbed a rattle, a question on the dragons tongue, before he was asked about what the thing was used for. Aerion pursed his lips a bit then tilted his head and took the rattle, staring down at it in a bit of distaste, he still didn't like gold. He had found a few of them clutched in tiny skeletal hands but hadn't wanted to touch them, the thought of pulling a rattle from a child hand -even a dead one- was very unpleasent to him, then again Balrak only saw gold. Aerion ran a thumb over the handle and then put the rattle back where Balrak had picked it up from.

"They are made to calm a child, distract them, and they are not only for elves. Infants like the noise, it distracts them, it's just soft enough that its almost like rushing water or in that case the noise from being inside the womb. It's comforting to them, just the same as rocking and other things, they also tend to chew on them." Aerion reached for a small golden box he new to be a music box. His father had given him one when he was very little and he still had it… well he had. Aerion wound it up then opened the lid "I know the few children I have met back at my home much preferred these than the… rattles…" Aerion stared down at the little music box, a tiny ivory bird twisting inside it, it was an oddly familiar sight.

The song played out slowly and Aerion closed the box "Elvin… Elvin children like music. More than any other really, we love it, it's sometimes the only thing that can calm them." Aerion set the music box back down, staring at it in confusion, because the only one he had seen was the one that he had at home and it was made of wood. Wood resonated better than gold, sounded better around the musical cylinder inside, but Aerion could have sworn he had heard the song before.

"Humans have made rattles as well though, I think I said that, did I? My head seems to… not be in the same place it was before." Aerion looked away from the music box then looked around the large horde and quickly turned to leave. "I need to go back outside." He suddenly felt sick being surrounded by all that filthy wealth.  

[knux33]

Killer_Kiwi_XD

Any misgivings the dragon might've had at Aerion touching one of his things quickly died at the elf's facial contortion into a look of displeasure at even touching the rattle and how quickly the other put it down, though Balrak had not worried much to begin with. This was a very good elf, one that did not have greed like he did. Two wanting creatures could not coexist if their wants were too strong in the same direction. But Aerion's wants were nowhere near what the dragon so jealously guarded, and Balrak listened with a bit of bemusement as Aerion explained. Distract little baby elves? Distract them from what, their parent's food? Or from more precious items the little ones might want to grab? To distract from the discomfort of being a small little fleshy thing?

Holding his tongue, the dragon watched in fascination as a little golden box was picked up and ... played music! Oh, he had not known that could do such a thing! The black haired male blinked as Aerion reacted oddly though, suddenly turning and fleeing the lair as if all the gold was suddenly turned into rotting corpses. Balrak did not immediately chase after the elf, instead kneeling down to more properly examine the box. Upon opening the golden item up again, he was pleased to hear the music start up again and listened to it for a time, watching the little bone-bird dance before it slowly wound back down into silence. Fascinating. He closed the box, made note to look at it again later, and moved to follow the path Aerion had taken back above, seeking out the elf.

"Elf? Aerion?" Balrak had a few more questions he wanted to ask, and a city to search for more little treasures. He needed to secure his wealth from thieves, and the best way to do that--to the dragon--was to find ever bit of gold not bolted down and pile it into his hoard. Having the elf assist would speed things up greatly, plus the dragon desired to make his other questions known once he caught up with Aerion. Namely, what did elf young need distracting from? If babies chewed on the rattles, why were there no teeth marks? What was up with the other fleeing his hoard so?  

[Killer_Kiwi_XD]

knux33

Aerion left the horde slightly dazed, his head spinning a bit, but it seemed he could not leave the song. With the kingdom so quite the little tinkling song managed to reach through the city. Aerion couldn’t quite understand why the song effected him so much, why it seemed so familiar, but it did and it made him almost sick. He shouldn’t know of anything from the city, his parents always told him he was born after they had already fled, but he couldn’t quite remember being young. His memories always started at heading into puberty, when he started to turn into an adult, and he remembered his home he lived in now but nothing else. His father said it just happened sometimes, that it was normal, but all his friends could remember what it was like to be a child.

Aerion rubbed his hands together as he walk, suddenly feeling as if the heat in his bones had left him, he didn't know what this meant. Or well… he didn't want to know what this meant for him because it shouldn’t matter since he was stuck with the dragon but his head felt heavy as if his mind was trying to work through something or bring something up and it was horrible. Aerion headed for the garden, even though it was starting to get dark, he looked up at the sky and through the growing darkness he saw the red of flames from more humans who had started their way into the forest even though the last group had been burned out.

Humans were stupid, they never learned, but then again this kind of thing was always a problem with them. Aerion sat in his garden, because he had brought it to life again so it was his and Balrak could go screw off for all he cared right now, hung his head and tried to block all thoughts. I worked for a little bit but not very long because soon he heard the dragon calling his name and looking for him. Aerion silently wondered what the other would do if he didn't come when called but the thought was instantly crushed down after only a moment. He decided that instead of just not coming he was going to run away, because he wasn't sure he could stand being around the greedy creature at the moment, so instead he went to the nursery. He knew that Balrak would find him and most likely be frustrated but when he came in Aerion was staring down at a tiny little body… he should clear it out some time soon. They would be good to place in the garden, would feed the plants… maybe plant some baby's breath around them.

"Babies need a distraction from the pain. Their bodies grow a lot, all the time, it's painful and when they cry they need to be calmed down. Rattles did that when parents were too busy, the nurse maids were supposed to do that as well. Infants don't quite understand the world and unlike dragons most creature are not born ready to fight. They need to leave the safety of what can protect them before that. But parents are supposed to protect them, mother are supposed to watch over their children, some don't do as well as others though." Aerion leaned on the crib, wondering what this childs name was.

"They needs distractions from being afraid too… from hunger sometimes. Rattles were made to make them quite, patient, so that mothers and fathers wouldn’t have to worry about the noise. You wouldn’t understand, I am sure, because you only lived a solitary life." Aerion reached in and touched the little form. "I guess we are weak though… born like this it's so easy to just reach into a crib… you don't even have to smother them, nothing like that, just press this little spot on the top of their head. Press hard enough and then there you go. It's all said and done." Aerion heard the crunch under his hand before he realized what he did. The tiny little skull crumbling thanks to the age of it. Aerion yanked his hand out of the crib and stumbled backward. Why did he do that? What the hell was wrong with him?!

((Okay so Aerion may not be completely sane.))  

[knux33]

Killer_Kiwi_XD

((>D That just makes things more fun!))

The dragon walked through the streets and halls of the kingdom, following Aerion's scent with his better-than-average-human sense of smell in his current form. It was irksome to have to go looking for the elf, Balrak was more used to his treasures not moving of their own accord. But soon enough he managed to find the blond in the nursery, though the dragon didn't know why Aerion was bothering with old bones there; he'd already fetched the treasures from this room. What more use was there to the impromptu crypt of young elflings? But at least the blond answered his question without much prompting. Balrak stood off to the side, tilting his head at the prince and the other's odd shift of temper. From absentmindedly speaking of elf young and their odd helplessness, to suddenly shocking himself awake at the crumbling of old bone. It appeared to the dragon Aerion must be suffering a bad turn or ill; from what exactly, Balrak had little to guess at.

The pestering humans could wait for now. Walking up to Aerion, the dragon took a light hold of the blond from behind, pressing the blond's back against his chest, grumbling in displeasure at what he felt. "You're cold." Well ... technically speaking, Balrak was running a temperature a bit high for average humans. Not quite enough to be a fever, but close enough to be borderline on it. So of course Aerion would feel cold to him. "Come along," Balrak sighed, holding onto one of Aerion's arms as he began pulling the elf away from the unless nursery, aiming to bring the prince back to the small living space by the garden. Aerion had fixed up his bleeding thorn wounds there, so the elf could probably fix himself now, somehow. "You are acting oddly, elf, and I do not like it. Tend to yourself, and I will go see about our uninvited guests."  

[Killer_Kiwi_XD]

knux33

Aerion was surprised when Balrak came up behind him and wrapped his arms around him, the feeling of it almost made him sick, before he was pulling away and saying that Aerion was cold. He might be, he wouldn’t know, he couldn’t really feel anything at the moment. He felt sick that was for sure, he had just crushed an infant's skull for no reason, what the hell else was he supposed to feel? Aerion felt the others hand on his arm and then he was being tugged away and told to fix himself. How could he do that? He didn't even know what was wrong with himself right now, you can't fix what's broken when you don't know which parts are cracked, but of course Balrak wouldn’t understand that.

Aerion let the other drag him all the way back to his room then he walked in and closed the door, just not sure what to say or think, he laid down on the large bed and stared up at the ceiling. He was in a state of shock he assumed, because elves just don't do those kinds of things, they don't smother children in their beds but his hand crushing that skull felt almost familiar in a way and it made him sick. Aerion listened silently as Balrak left then he started a bath for himself, because maybe warm water would calm down the frantic feeling, he stripped down and slid into the scented water.

He wanted to forget about what had happened, because it shouldn’t have happened, because he was losing his mind wasn’t he? He had repressed so much that maybe he was just creating things in his own head but why did that music box seem so familiar? No, no, he needed to not think about it. Aerion needed to not think about it because if he thought about it then he would surely make himself sick. He could hear the sound of Balrak burning people, the roar of dragon fire unmistakable, and then when that was gone Aerion heard nothing for a while then the sound of wings above the kingdom. H slid under the warm water to block out the sound, to drown it out, because if he could block it out maybe it wouldn’t make his heart race.  

[knux33]

Killer_Kiwi_XD

Deor Rutabaga Deapoul had thought this would be a pretty good day. He'd trailed behind those stubborn souls from town who'd been set on burning out the filth from the woods, the group muttering that the fools who'd come back earlier had been seeing things. Or lightly reassuring themselves that setting the fires by night would make the dragon less likely to go after them, since it would probably be sleeping, or not able to see in the dark. Right?

Deor, a fur-trader who was down on his luck, didn't care whether there was a dragon or not. Either way, those fire-starters would make for a good distraction for dragons, orcs, and whatever else plagued those old woods. So, the man went 'round the long way, heading into the overgrown darkness with hardly more than moonlight to light his way, and a deerfur cloak keeping him warm and smelling thickly of animals and dirt. The man wasn't exactly a young man, nor quite hitting his prime yet either. But his chin was covered in brown patchy stubble that would eventually make a fine bear, and clumsily-cut short hair on his head. Deor was making his way along, grinning and quite certain that was no dragon--when he heard the roar and felt the blast of heat from the direction he'd known the other men to be.

Like any smart man (or rat), Deor promptly ran like the devil himself was ofter him ... only to stumble in shock onto a road ... and saw his first glimpse of the city nobody but the elves knew was here. He didn't have long to gape at it though, and quickly ran for it, heading into the nearest massive roofed space, only to find an open hallway leading in all sorts of directions. Well that was no good! This bloody place was big enough for a dragon to fit in, he was sure! So Deor kept on running until he found a dusty room to slip into and hide amongst what looked to be a long-abandoned lady elf's room. So the little man hunkered down with the patience of prey to wait things out, mind abuzz with a thousand possibilities. There was an honest-to-god dragon. That meant there had to be some honest-to-god treasure somewhere around here, right? Right. Hell, Deol had just been hoping to find some good and proper elf relics or sumthin' in these woods, having traveled far enough to know elf trees from regular trees. Sure, these trees had twisted and gone all frightening-y, but still elf; just like the stuff in this room, Deol was quick to bet. Now ... he just had to get out alive with some of it. Or some gold; because all the old tales spoke of dragons and treasure together. Dragons treasure and death; all here.

The dragon himself, once done scorching the intruders, soared over the kingdom, eyes narrowed and glowing brightly in the dark as he sniffed the air. Had some animal wandered into his kingdom? That's what he smelled the most ... no. It had to be a man. Animals were not half as stupid as mankind. A man trying to be tricky, and trying to steal what was his, no doubt. Balrak swooped down to land gently onto one of the rooftops, perching their quietly with his golden eyes peering all around his kingdom almost like spotlights. He would rather sit and wait than go blundering around his entire kingdom after one little thief. Especially when the little human would have to leave eventually ... and that required going out into the open. Balrak was lazy, and patient. He could wait, while watching the kingdom below like a hawk.

So, a silence fell. And for several hours, Deol did not move, wide eyes taking in the sight of the deteriorated fabrics and such in his dusty space, before slowly creeping out of his little hiding place with some nicked jewelry from a lady's dressing box in one of his pockets. The man crept carefully down the long hall, wanting to stay in a roofed area until he paused, seeing a opening in the hall that lead to a garden. A rather freshly-tended looking garden. Since when did dragons garden? The didn't, the man was sure, caution and hope building up inside of himself. Were there still elves here? Deol knew how to deal with woodfolk, more-or-less. He knew a few lesser elves, and figured if he could chum up with them, maybe he could make a deal with this dragon-hermit. Who knew, perhaps the elf could prove to be helpful in fooling the beast somehow!

Deol quickly made his way to where he saw a room lit up, assuming if any living being was here, it was where the light in this night was. "Ah; hello?" Deol whispered as lowly as possible, eyes glancing around curiously as he crept inside, noting the much more cleanliness of the area.  

[Killer_Kiwi_XD]

knux33

Aerion was under the water for a long while, something he had learned how to do eons ago, he came up a few times but had gone under against just before the stranger entered his room. He liked the water, the feel of it, he knew it was time he be out of it but the water was still warm because he kept reheating it. Aerion was under the water when through the silence he heard a muted voice, a voice that wasn't Balraks, he jerked up out of the water -hands on the rim of the tub- and stared at the man as he rounded to the bathroom like are. Aerion glared at the man, blond hair soaking wet, and shifted in the water like a pissed off snake.

"What are you doing in here?" Aerion stood, not caring if the other saw him, then grabbed a near by robe and pulled it on. The silk was a light purple color, had lasted very well over the years, but Aerion didn't care about any of that at the moment. "Most people would be smart enough that when they saw an abandoned kingdom, heard rumors of a dragon, and saw people burn they would not come to said kingdom and STEAL from said dragon." Aerion crossed his arms as he stared at the man before him. He was young, very young, at least in Aerions opinion. He was nothing more than an infant to him, should still be toddling around if he was an elf, but then again humans grew much fast than other races.

"I recommend you leave what you took and you go." Aerion stepped forward and reached into the others pockets without any warning. He took out the treassures and dropped them on the ground before the human could stop him then started pushing him backwards. "I also don't think he'll be to happy if he knows you saw me… He's very possessive of his treassures and I may be a new one but your presence here is risky to me. He'll burn you when he smells me on you, even more so if you stick around and he find you here, I wouldn’t recommend arguing though to be honest I think you sealed your own fate. I can't help you here." Aerion stepped around the man and started dressing himself, not really caring that the other male was seeing him naked, he had gotten used to such things. Though the markings on his back were very different than most other elves, just the same as the one he had under his eyes, most chose not to mark themselves up but Aerion had always had these.

Aerion did have to wonder though what Balrak would do when he realized that this strange man had found Aerion. Surely he wouldn’t be too pleased considering the man was a thief… the man really had sealed his fate.  

[knux33]

Killer_Kiwi_XD

Deol was scratching the back of his neck, wandering around the living area and wondering if whoever was crazy enough to live here was currently out ... when he caught sight of the bathroom and saw a blond figure rise up from the steaming tub. The man was shocked; for one, to be in such a position. And for another, he'd never, ever seen an elf with the color hair Aerion sported; for a few bemused seconds, Deol was sure he'd somehow angered some water goddess, before Aerion spoke and stood out of the water. Clearly not a goddess, then, Deon thought and averted his eyes, opening his mouth. "My apologizes, but I--"

Of course any introduction he'd hoped to make was cut short, Aerion quite bluntly telling hm in no uncertain terms to get the hell away, and emptying the fur trapper's pockets. "H-hey--!" Deol didn't fight as Aerion pushed him back into the front living area, though the man did not look too happy ... though his disgruntled face was nothing compared to what the dragon outside could do. "Now wait just a second! You think I was happy to see the foresters weren't just raving and there is a dragon out in these woods? I didn't even know there was a bloody city here! But you want to just toss me to the wargs and that beast outside--"

The soft, the louder noise of stirred wings moving into flight could be heard as Balrak began lazily gliding and circling his kingdom, causing Deol to shut his trap tight, eyes wide and looking upwards as if expecting the best to descend in fire and fury any second now. "S-see? You can't just throw me out there to die, now can you? It's moving! Look, can't you at least let me stay till it's asleep or something?" At this point, the trapper knew better than to haggle for riches or relics. A this point getting out with his life would be hard enough as it was, but not impossible ... or so Deol thought. Of course, he figured the dragon to just be a beast with a like for shiny things, not anything sentient. "And it won't have to know a thing; just wash off my smell easy enough--hey. Think you can distract it for me? You know, since it likes you and won't fry you up like a spring chicken?"  

[Killer_Kiwi_XD]

knux33

Aerion turned around and looked at the man then he laughed. "You know nothing of dragons do you? He's not some mindless beast only interested in glittering gold. He's very much sentient and he will know you are here, he will know you were here, and he wont sleep until you leave. He doesn’t need to." Aerion sat down on the bed and stared at the man, running his fingers through his hair, he hated idiots. Honestly he hated humans more than idiots but he didn't want this man dead.. though if Balrak landed and came for him things would get bad.

"You do realize that if he has to come for you things will be worse right? You are a thief and I am one of his possessions, he'll assume your trying to steal me as well, if you do not leave now while he is still in the air I am sure he'll eat you instead of just burning you." Aerion crossed his legs and watched the human who seemed to be rather frantic. He wasn't planning on helping him, he didn't think it would do either of them any good, and it wasn't so easy to wash off the scent of another. It took time to get it off, a great deal of time and scrubbing, and that would mean Aerion would most likely have to speak to the dragon while he was in the bath.

"Don't look so panicked. You chose to go through with all of this, you picked your own fate, to be honest I am surprised Balrak has let you live this long. He doesn’t seem the kind to let thieves run around in his midst." Aerion slid off the bed and headed for the door, this human stank quite a bit of fear actually, he wasn't too sure he could handle being around the man himself let alone if Blarak would be able to handle him being around him. "Look I can't save you if you stay but if you go now, as I am trying to tell you, then you might live. He's flying around and being all temperamental but if you give him more fuel to the fire and a reason to come LOOKING for you then you have a problem. Right now he's waiting for you to come out into the open. As long as you don't leave with anything of his there shouldn’t be a problem, just go and things will be fine, I will even show him the trinkets you found so kindly for him and he might not hunt you down." Aerion looked over his shoulder at the human.