A clear conscience is the sure sign of a bad memory (Rhi)

[paganchick]

Sapphira knew she was being hunted, there wasn't a question about that, she did have one advantage, having the ability to fly. It was hard fan an enemy to keep up if they couldn't fly as well. So she had ended up spending a lot more time in her dragon form than she liked, she muched preferred her smaller, safer form, but when being followed you had to do what you had to do, it was that simple.

Still with all of this weighing on her mind she tried to enjoy all she could while she could. Eventually she was going to have to figure out why whoever this person was following her, who wanted her head, Now though, now she soared through the sky lazily, loving the heat of the sun on her back as she flew above the green canopy of the forest, stretching her big wings. Sapphira was rather relaxed, more relaxed than she should be but she had killed over ten dragon killing wizards and that was just in the past three months. She was letting her confidence get the best of her and of course that was a big mistake.

[Rhindeer]

Finally, he had the beast in his sights and had a clear shot.

One shot was all he needed.

Crouching low in the cover of trees and bush, Malak loaded his crossbow and took aim. There were gaps in the canopy above through which he could see the dragon, but he was a smaller target and it would be more difficult to see him from above, especially if one didn't know where or what they were looking for. Taking a deep breath and steadying his bow, he waited for the creature to make another pass overhead before, finally, he loosed that first bolt.

He didn't aim for the dragon's body; there was no point to that, because it wouldn't kill it and might not even cause significant damage. No, what he needed was to get the dragon on the ground so he could kill it--if the fall didn't do the trick.

He aimed for the dragon's wing.

[paganchick]

Sapphira let out a deep roar as the arrow ripped through her wing her body almost instantly starting to tumble down through the air. She beat both wings hard trying to regain control but it was no used, the torn wing could not support her, it would only rip, plus her body was already out of control as it tumbled and twisted to the canopy and the earth below.

Sapphira had to think about how she wanted to land now, had to decide if she would want to land as a dragon or as her other form.

It didn't take long for her to decide, she just had to wait for the right moment to change. She knew in her human form she would be a harder target to find, she would be much smaller. Second, she knew her human form wouldn't fall as hard and that her hardened bone, even in the weaker form could withstand that fall. No, she wouldn't be broken, though she knew she would have injuries.

So when her body reached the canopy she changed, knowing that whoever shot her wouldn't be able to see her do so, then her body tumbled hard down through the trees and landed with a deep thud. The blackness took over her consciousness instantly.

[Rhindeer]

Got 'im!

The dragon roared as the arrow struck true, and then it was only a matter of time. He watched it spiral out of control, following its descent as best he could until the trees blocked sight of the body, and then he just had to rely on his ears. There was a telltale crash, the sounds of rustling leaves and cracking branches, and then nothing.

Sounded like it landed over to the east.

Sliding his crossbow back into its carrier and strapping it to his back, Malak drew his sword in preparation and headed deeper into the woods. He kept his eyes skyward, looking for signs of damage in the trees, broken branches and twigs that would let him locate where the dragon had fallen. Ah! There!

He spotted a disturbance in the canopy and quickened his pace, pushing aside branches as he went, and then--

...What.

Where there should have been a dragon, instead he came across a human girl.

A human girl who was unconscious, fallen leaves scattered around her and in her hair and broken twigs laying nearby.

It wasn't difficult to put two and two together, not for someone who made his life as a hunter, and more specifically a hunter who wasn't content to stick to mundane beasts.

He was dealing with a shifter.

Just his luck.

With a sigh, Malak sheathed his sword, untied the rope he kept coiled at his belt, and approached the girl, nudging her with his boot to be sure she was out before rolling her onto her belly. Ah. Look at that. Blood on her back, spotting through her clothes. This was his dragon, all right.

Kneeling beside her, he tugged her hands behind her back and tied them securely, and used the same connecting length of rope to tie her feet together as well. She wasn't quite hog-tied; she would be able to stand straight. But if she was hoping to run, that just wouldn't be an option.

He tied the remaining coil back to his belt, then rolled the girl onto her back, slid his arms under her, and hauled her over his shoulder like a sack of potatoes.

"You're still a dragon," he muttered, standing with her. Now he'd just have to decide exactly what he was going to do with her.

[paganchick]

Sapphira woke up sore and over someones shoulder, not the best way to wake up, at least in her opinion. Her head hurt the most, her stomach rib and back a very close second, she would have much rather slept through this. It didn't take her long to notice her hands were tied, she frowned feeling the pull in her shoulders  from the way she was tied.

If she tried to untie herself she had a feeling that the man would notice, but she didn't feel like she had much choice. So as easy as she could, trying to be a subtle as possible she began to try to untie herself, a slow almost painful process, she just hoped he was too lost in thought to notice. She wondered why he was hunting her, she considered turning, knowing if she did that then and there it would break the ropes yes, but did not know what this man had up his sleeve. He was smart enough to shoot her wing instead of her armored body, he wasn't completely stupid, that was something.

With her hands nearly untied she started to wiggle, trying to fall from his shoulder not think his grip on her was tight.

"Let me go you stupid fool!"

[Rhindeer]

Malak felt the first stirrings of life, but ignored them--at least until the dragon-girl spoke.

A smile curved his lips tugged at his lips.

"Ah, so you're finally awake!" he said, voice chipper and cheerful. He had covered decent ground between her capture and her awakening, moving deeper into the woods and nearer to his camp, and he showed no sign of letting her down. "You slept well, I hope."

[paganchick]

Sapphira thought about changing once more, what should stop her after all, but after looking she knew it wouldn't be the best idea. They were too deep in the forest, if she didn't kill him as she turned the tree would act like a catch to her, they were too thick.

She let a deep growl escape her chest as she continued to wiggle, working on the last knot on the bindings on her wrists.

"Put me down!" Sapphira yelled, completely ignoring his words. She leaned forward, biting into his back intending on doing damage, aiming to draw blood. She wasn't fond of being held against her will.

[Rhindeer]

The bitch BIT him!

Malak yelped in surprise and pain and, well, needless to say the dragon-lady got her wish. With a loud string of curses, he slung her off his shoulder and threw her to the ground, not caring how that hurt her. Then he rounded on her, glowering down at her.

"Are you rabid, girl?" he snapped, and twisted to try and feel where she'd bitten him. He was pretty certain she'd drawn blood, or at least ripped his clothes, goddamn.

[paganchick]

Sapphira landed with a hard thud, and considering she hadn't finished undoing the knot that held her hands, the fall hurt, her head hitting the ground hard. Instant karma.

"If I am you are soon to be," Sapphira retorted looking up, fresh blood running from her nose. She didn't focus on him long though, she didn't care he was glaring down at her, she worked to untie her hands, she didn't want to feel helpless and she knew she couldn't turn.

It only took a few seconds for her to finally work the last knot loose and free her hands, she then started working on her feet, she couldn't fight or run if her feet were bound. Looking up quick at the man she stopped, seeing the dragon teeth, she felt the rage start in her belly and work its way up. Fire sparked from her finger tips, burning the ropes on her feet and she was standing in a moment, ready to rip the mans teeth from his mouth.

[Rhindeer]

The girl burned the ropes and was on her feet, and Malak reacted fast. It was only years of dealing with dangerous and unpredictable creatures that had prepared him for this.

In an instant, he'd slipped his hunting knife from his belt and lunged forward to meet her, thrusting the knife just under her chin.

"Whatever you were planning on doing just now, I suggest you reconsider," he said, voice steely calm and level.

He probably should have expected her to have fire--most dragons did--but she was the first shifter he had dealt with and, to be honest, he had no idea how that worked, exactly, or what the limits were. In that way she was a puzzle to him--but also a prize. Because as human as she looked now, there was still a dragon somewhere in there.

And he couldn't afford to let the human mask fool him.

[paganchick]

There was no fear in Sapphira's eyes as she looked up at him, she thought about putting on an act, crying, begging for mercy but she didn't.

"I hope you plan on keeping that knife right there while dragging me to where ever you plan on taking me, because if you don't, you will suffer pain that you didn't even know was possible. I have lived a long life. I do not fear death, the question is, do you?" She growled her body tensing as she looked at the man with narrowed eyes.

[Rhindeer]

Malak's eyebrows rose. "Oh. Well, if the lady insists..."

Grabbing her by the arm, he wrenched her around roughly and yanked her up against him so that her back was flush to his chest. One arm went around her, holding her in place, while the hand that held the dagger slid it up and against her throat, just below her jaw and pressed against her jugular.

"We will have it your way, then. Since you were kind enough to spill your intentions like that, we'll just have to walk to camp like this. It's not ideal. I mean, lovely as you are and womanly as you feel, you are still a scaly beast. But fine. I will keep the knife right where it is, and we'll just figure out where we go from here when we reach our destination."

He shoved her forward a little, intending to march her to camp like that.

"As for your question? Only a fool doesn't fear death, dragon. It's fear of death that keeps us alive. You could have done well to fear it more."

[paganchick]

Sapphire took her time dragging her feet, making it take as long as she could to get to where ever he was heading. The longer it took them to get there the longer it would take for him to collect whatever bounty was on her head, which she was sure was a hefty one.

"Death comes knocking no matter how much you fear and try to avoid it. I can tell you are human, only a creature as a young as you would say such a childish thing. I might be a scaly beast as you call it, but you are a little boy not yet out of diapers in more ways than just intellectually," She retorted, clearly not fearing his blade as she leaned heavily against him, making the trip very slow.

[Rhindeer]

Malak laughed lightly and rolled his eyes. "Oh, whatever you say. I'm not particularly interested in a philosophical debate--I suppose I'm far too stupid for one anyway, you are clearly the superior species here. Clearly. Which is exactly why I was able to fell you, but it must all be part of your great plan, and I walked right into it. Ah, yes. I am such an ignorant fool. You'll have to forgive my slowness."

Speaking of slowness, she was sure dragging her feet. He gave her another hard shove to get her going.

"Now, if you don't start picking up your feet, I'm going to have to carry you again. And you're not going to like that very much, because so help me, I'll gag you this time so you can't bite."

[paganchick]

Sapphire stopped completely, laughing as if this man had told the funniest joke known to the earth. Was the child becoming frustrated with her?  She couldn't help but lean into his knife slightly as she laughed, a small line of blood falling down her neck as she continued to laugh, her body trembling with the laughter.

"I dare you to gag me, let see how much fun that would be, I might like it, but I doubt it. I think it would be entertaining just seeing you trying to get a gag on me," Sapphira added seeming extremely amused at the thought.

[Rhindeer]

Malak's eyebrows climbed. She might like it? What?

For a couple seconds, he just stared at the back of her head. She seemed to find the whole thing utterly hilarious, to boot. "You're crazy, Dragon Girl. Methinks you hit your head too hard on the way down and rattled something loose."

But even though he had decided against the gag, he was serious about the carrying and he was growing tired of her lip. Moving quickly, he drew the knife back and slammed the handle of it against the side of her head, intending to knock her out cold.

[paganchick]

Sapphire ducked, yanking herself from Malak's grip and getting herself a healthy distance away before turning to look at the man, drawing a sword from her back, her weapons he had failed to take from her.

"Let's see how you like to play fair, I don't need you to answer that by the way, that was completely rhetorical, I know you don't like to play fair," Saphira said watching him for the slightest of movements, ready to defend herself now.

[Rhindeer]

Agh! She ducked and yanked and with only one arm holding her, Malak lost his grip on her. For a moment, he thought that was it--she would bolt, he'd have to chase, and it would be one annoyingly chaotic scramble through the woods and gods above did he hate running. There was a reason he was a hunter; hunters stalked and trapped, they didn't run around like idiots.

Instead, she drew a sword.

Sigh. Well, that was slightly better, but of course this couldn't go smoothly. But what could he expect? Animals were easy. Dumb, stupid beasts, most of them, even the mystical ones. They were predictable. But humans? Well, she wasn't really a human, but she was close enough to one, and humans were the tricky ones.

Which was why he dealt in hunting animals instead of taking bounties and tracking criminals or something.

For a moment he watched her, one eyebrow cocked. She was either especially overconfident or had a very sort memory because she'd said it--he didn't play fair, and he didn't intend to start. Shaking his head, he sheathed his knife.

"You think you're very clever, don't you?" he said, and then he reached back and drew his crossbow. He loaded a bolt and took aim.

"Your move, dragon."

[paganchick]

Sapphire laughed once more, he had forgotten one thing, she would manipulate fire, and in this form she didn't have to have it coming out of her mouth like she did in the other form. She shook her head.
"Yes, that might work on me when I am not expecting it," She said before her eyes moved to the crossbow, setting it ablaze with scorching how flames. The arrow was the first thing to burn up and it only took a few seconds, the heat coming off of the crossbow would be enough to burn him.

[Rhindeer]

Malak had only a split second to think, Well, damn, before his crossbow was aflame. With a loud curse and a pained yelp, he dropped it like it was hot (and holy hells, was it ever) and scrambled backwards from it. "Gods be damned!"

Too late, though. The flames had already gotten him, branding his palms an angry bright red that flared up with burning, stinging pain. It wasn't a deep burn, thank the gods, but it was enough to be a problem, and Malak cursed again and clutched one hand to his chest.

Worse yet?

The bitch wrecked his crossbow!

"You stupid, scaly wretch! That was imported!"