The Meeting (Aela Kerr)

The silence fell like cotton. It was an empty place, standing impossibly still like the beginning of something vast and endless. It was where the white wasteland of the plains rolled out from the forest, an endless expanse of sparse white hills and lonely, gnarled trees who stood like sentinels, or blue-brown crows, to rise up solemnly and watch, closely, each creature that ventured there. A place sparse and riddled with hidden dangers and pitfalls.  

Arius, still as a statue at the edge of the forest, hesitated listening. It had been hard going on four claws as she was not eager to fly, aware of the dangers lurking in the endless white openness. Other creatures, older and more powerful then she, were hungry and ruthless, and she was no immortal. It was eerie to be here, a sore green-thumb like her, and she skulked along the whiteness, dreading the crunch of snow beneath her. A dangerous place and one of uncertainty and risk...much like her task. Her stomach churned at this thought; it was unpleasant business, but necessary. Not to take it would have been a mistake.

She shivered and grit her teeth. The green gem of her body twined along from tree to tree.

A shrill cry tore through the muted winter air and traced shock waves of attention through Arius. The Earth dragon startled and turned, instantly swiveling her long thin neck towards the blank and utterly white expanse to to her left, where she judged the source of the sound. Taut and ready to fly, she saw nothing through the emptiness.

Something was out there, and her green stone body was utterly exposed even in the dusty snow. Like a sore green thumb she crouched in stark contrast with her surroundings, taking little comfort in knowing the low visibility of the weather offered her some protection. Her eyes darted over the endless landscape, cold and piercing, and she scanned the sloping incline more intensely, still seeing nothing but preparing for anything. As seconds passed with no movement, she took stock of the situation.

Suddenly she realized that source of the sound was human, and it threw her. Dragons she could deal with, but humans...Fear and hatred boiled in her chest like tar, visions of pits and chains flooding her mind like demons from hell. She struggled within herself, grasping against her internal balance and outward attention. Anger makes you careless, She remembered Cerius' words, and carelessness will make you Dead. Ari: Fear is the mind killer.* Don't let your feelings get the best of you...

It helped to think of Cerius, and she again thought about what she'd heard. Humans....she wanted nothing, absolutely nothing, to do with humans. Ever. She was tired of wanting them dead, she was tired of being afraid and wanting revenge; it was done, and as far as she was concerned, it was. She wanted it to be done. She breathed, and put her thoughts back onto her errand, on her next step.

This was no-man's land, not Human territory; there had been one voice, not a company's worth. She was on equal footing with any creature she encountered here, and though rather medium-sized for a dragon, and non-violent by nature, she was still able to defend herself adequately.

She weighed her options. It was best to face your problems head-on.

Decided, Arius took action and roared, loud enough to be heard through the surrounding hills. With a leap she was in the air, rushing, snow-driven, up the hill to where she judged the source of the cry. When she landed with a spray of snow, she still saw nothing, but knew she was close.

"Show yourself, Human."

((Sorry this took so long to post! HUGE project popped up this week and have been sort of out of commission ;;/ . /))

The human seemed to appear from nowhere, bow taut and aimed at Arius' chest. In that split-second of movement muscles rippled at the base of Arius's own slick green neck and her eyes narrowed; neither flinching or withdrawing. Their eyes met, and Arius stared into her opponents; wild eyes, icy blue.

Then Arius saw a writhing, rippling happening in the human's second skin, how it twisted itself within to subdue a hissing flash of a white muzzle, the flick of a wing. Another creature, somehow familiar.... but in that instant Arius' attention was drawn to the bow, the point of which had drifted away from Arius' chest. Had she intended to strike and kill this was her opening. She considered it.

But the dragon remained standing, observing the human. The smaller creature continued to struggle with it. And then the human turned and roared.

Something about the roar affected Arius. She had not expected it, any more then she had expected the human to be there. It gave all her insides pause. And what was that wriggling creature?

She wanted more time to figure out.

"Who are you, Human?"

Arius I didn't even realize you had replied to this thread! Please tell me if you're still around xD