Chance encounters...or something (Brisinger987)

[SilverShadow]

Storm sat by her tiny campfire, deep in the Draconi forest, lost in thought. She gazed unseeingly into the flames, thinking about her family. Or, rather, lack thereof. She thought about her father, wondering who he was, if he was still alive, if he knew she existed. She wondered if he had any other children. Her mind drifted to her mother, telling her stories about her father in the evening light, but she quickly stopped that train of thought. She didn't want to think of her mother right now.

She let her mind continue to wander on its own, drifting over the world, lulled into distraction by the quiet of the forest around her. She didn't even realize how unaware of her surroundings she had become, which was very unusual for her, but she was weary.

[Brisinger987]

Icyck had been wandering for gods knows how long, just trying to find somewhere to lie. Someone's camp fire had caught his attention. He wanted to approach, but was afraid. Finally, he willed up the courage, and silently approached, his feet like snowflakes on the grass. Just silent.

Of course, his human form was still cold, and he was a bit annoyed that he had to stay in human form around humans. They had some big prejudice against dragons.

"Hello? Are you ok?"

[SilverShadow]

Storm, startled, jumped nearly a foot in surprise as he spoke. She was on her feet in a blink, whirling around to face him, her hand on the short-sword at her hip, her muscles tensed to defend herself.

"Who are you?" she growled, her green eyes narrowed, "And why are you spying on me?"

[Brisinger987]

"I'm Icyck, I'm just looking for somewhere moderately warm to stay. I saw your camp fire and thought I would ask..." His white/grey irises with they black outline would be startling, and his snow white skin and hair. He might have been mistaken for a ghost if he wasn't warbling and waving in figure.

[SilverShadow]

Storm's eyes narrowed, taking in his appearance. Human form, for sure, but definitely not human. Being half dragon she had an extremely strong sense of smell, and she could detect a faint trace of something...it reminded her of...she paused, then realized that it reminded her of melting snow. Dragons generally have a faint odor in their human form, so subtle that most people can never tell. She didn't have one, since she was as much human as she was dragon, but she could smell his. It was much different, though. Most dragons smelled like char and ash, but...she glanced at his white hair and strange grey eyes...not if he was a frost dragon.

She pulled her sleeves down further on her arms and jerked her head toward the fire. "You may sit, dragon." Her voice was low, wary, but not hostile. She relaxed her stance, lowering herself back onto the soft forest floor, but her bright, watchful green eyes never left him.

[Brisinger987]

Icyck stood, stunned. He should have smelled of frost and snow, not char and ash like most dragons.

"Nice trick mage. Yeah, I smell the magic witch. Don't think I won't hurt you if you try anything." Icyck was hostile suddenly, afraid this witch would hurt him in his sleep. He was already a eunich for angsar's sake.

[SilverShadow]

"The...promise...is mutual" she assured him, her voice so low it was almost a growl. "And don't think I can't defend myself against someone like," she gave him a once-over, "you."

She of course didn't mention that it was less due to her magical "skills" than due to the fact that she was as much dragon as she was human.

[Brisinger987]

Icyck wasn't prepared to lose any more body parts, and seemingly exploding into mist and steam, before revealing an icy dragon, snarling at the girl.

"I'd love to see you try sweet heart..." He snarled down, blowing a cold mist from his mouth at her.

[SilverShadow]

Refusing to react in the expected way, she climbed to her feet with almost a lazy air. She stood straight and stared evenly at him, her muscles ready but not tensed. She was not afraid of him, but she didn't want to fight him if she didn't have to.

"Why so hostile?" she inquired, her voice level and calm, neither hostile nor friendly. "You came in search of warmth and I offered you a place by my fire. Now you seem to be threatening me. Why?"

[Brisinger987]

"I've had issues with mages and witches in the past... They cut things off that I had rather been hoping to keep, so excuse me for not trusting..." He would leave in a minute. He would leave when he was sure she would not follow him.

[SilverShadow]

"Oh, I see. So all human magic-users must be evil, of course." she remarked sarcastically, pointedly sitting back down. "I have no vendetta against you, Icyck. You are welcome to share my fire if you wish. I have no desire to fight you. But not" she met his eyes calmly "because I'm afraid of you. Nor do you have any reason to fear me."

[Brisinger987]

"Just the ones that aren't straight up with me. What are you? Something about you seems off... You don't seem human. Humans would be afraid of a wild dragon... Yet you are not... Why?" He sat down in dragon form, refusing to sleep in a form where she could attack him.

[SilverShadow]

Storm actually let out a quick laugh. "Wild dragons? You mean as opposed to the giant population of tame ones?" She chuckled again to show she was teasing.

Even as she joked with him though, her mind was moving a mile a minute. Should she reveal herself? Keeping her 2 forms, 2 identities, separate had always worked for her. Why should she change that now?

"Give me a reason I should explain myself to you. I have no more reason to trust you than you have to trust me." she pointed out, her voice not hostile, simply matter-of-fact. Although if you'd seen me in dragon form first you wouldn't be nearly so quick to distrust. she added in her head, mentally snorting in disgust at how often different species seemed to have difficulty relating to each other.

Being literally both human and dragon was more of a curse than the blessing it might initially appear to be. If different species tended to distrust each other, they would probably harbor even more hostility and distrust toward someone who was both, and therefore neither, such as herself.

[Brisinger987]

"You couldn't understand human, you've not lived in a cage for 100 years of your life..." He grumbled and sat down. He had literally lived in a cage for 100 damned years. Beaten, cut, tortured. He had suffered.

"If you truly understood what I meant, then you would not be making jokes." Out of everything in the world, this subject was his most heated.

[SilverShadow]

Storm shrugged. "Perhaps not," she said neutrally. "But I know enough to know that that's no reason to take your trauma out on random strangers who share their fire with you on a cold night."

She fished around in her bag before pulling out two rather pathetic looking slabs of dried venison. "It's not much, but it's all I've got. Want a piece?" She held up one of the pieces, offering it to him.

[Brisinger987]

"No thanks, it's not mine to take, and I'm a vegetarian anyway..." He admitted, taking her words, and shifting form before sitting a distance from the fireplace which was just right.

"I get so hostile and defensive around your kind, because I've only ever been treated badly, and then one of you expects me to be normal... Can never satisfy you humans, can we?"

[SilverShadow]

She chuckled at his comment as she wrapped one of the pieces of venison back up and slid it inside her small knapsack, handling it like it was one of her most precious possessions. In truth, she had been relieved he didn't want it. It really was her last piece, and she didn't want to go hunting until she got out of the forest, if she could help it.

She slowly nibbled the piece she'd kept out, watching him contemplatively. "I don't blame you for being hostile, if you speak the truth." She remarked after a moment. "Have you really never met a single decent human?" Her voice had a note of incredulity in it. She had traveled all over the world, and there were plenty of places where dragons were revered and respected, sometimes even worshiped, by humans.

[Brisinger987]

"Everywhere I go, I'm treated with hostility and fear. They think I've come to murder, rape and pillage gold, when I just want a hay bale. It's stupid." Icyck sighed, picking up a plant and eating it.

[SilverShadow]

"You can't have been that many places..." she mused. "I mean, there are so many places where people respect and revere dragons of all kinds..." She paused, then added "In Adela dragons are considered to hold the very world itself in balance! To kill a dragon, sometimes even to harm one, is punishable by death. You should see more of the world before you judge a whole species to be evil."

[Brisinger987]

"I've been to Adela. They tried to kill me. And Connlaoth, and La'marri, and Serendipity, Thanatos, Hyoite. Everywhere I go, I'm met with guard forces or my former captors. And sometimes even people who want to capture me to do their own mutilations and experiments." Icyck sighed throwing his arms up.

"You humans are a violent, greedy, bloodthirsty species in my opinion. You're the first to show me any kindness. And that makes me wonder if you are truly human."