The Demon in the Corner [JackieCat] [Open]

[Fukurou]

The sound of merriment filled the tavern as the bard strummed his lute. The long shadows, cast by the warm light of the fire, danced along the walls and clinked their glasses together just like their human counterparts. There wasn't a seat open in the whole tavern except for one area: in the back left corner, several tabled were empty except for one person. He sat with one hand resting on his cheek and the other holding a long ornate pipe. A large, leather-bound book covered in runic inscriptions floated by his head as a phoenix-feathered quill scribbled words in a foreign language. He appeared to be quite demonic looking with his charcoal-colored skin, silver horns and ruby eyes. The man sucked on the pipe as he watched the quill scribble things into the book. People kept their distance, eyeing the strange man nervously as if he would devour all of them whole in the blink of the eye. But the man just sit there, smoking his pipe and staring into his floating book.

[JackieCat]

Jiminie, as always, was unintentionally looking for trouble.  The small dragon zipped around the tavern, trying to talk to anyone while flying in circles around their head, and usually being batted away.

The dragon had heard about a strange man who had taken residence in the small village, and Jiminie was asking anyone who would listen (and even those who wouldn't) about the man.  What confused the little dragon was that most people seemed afraid of him, and didn't even answer her questions, the just looked at her as if she was crazy and turned back to their friends.

The one person who would talk to her said this. "Ye'd be wise to stop askin' questions about that man, little dragon, or he'll be likely to us ye in his demon rituals!"

At that, Jiminie was even more eager to know more about this man.  And then she saw him.  He had been in the tavern this whole time!

That had to be him, the mysterious awesome-looking figure sitting in the corner, smoking a pipe with a book floating by his head, and a magic quill!  Wow!

Thinking nothing or her own safety, and if the warnings had been true, Jiminie flew without hesitation over to the man's table.

She landed on the wood across the table from him and looked up at his red eyes.

"Hello!" she exclaimed, her high voice cheerful. "I love you pipe!  It's so cool!  I also really like your book and your quill!  How do you get it to move by itself?  And how does the book fly?  Are they magic?  Are they alive?  Are you in control of them?"

As the dragon rambled on, a few of the patrons looked at her like she was crazy (people always looked at her like that!  But she didn't know why. . .) before turning back to their fellows, not want to be caught looking at the dragon and the strange-looking man.

[Fukurou]

Rylzyr was so involved in his notes that he didn't even notice the small dragon flying around until it landed right in front of him. As the small dragon started to babble Rylzyr's gaze left his book and rested on the creature. The scratching of his quill paused but remained floating in mid-air along with his book. With a mixture of irritation and confusion painting his face, he watched the creature prattle on.

Will this creature ever shut up?

The people in the tavern pretended to be disinterested in the odd couple in the corner, but they were all secretly watching and listening over their cups of brandy, whispering to their neighbor about their guesses on what would become of the dragon. Some of them were even placing bets.

"Whose pet is this?" Rylzyr pointed to the dragon and looked around the tavern, his scarlet eyes narrowed with irritation. "If this thing defecates I am not cleaning it up."

[JackieCat]

Jiminie was so enthralled by the man she didn't notice the patrons behind her.   She kept prattling on until the man spoke, and she stomped her front foot indignantly at his question.

"I'm nobody's pet!" she said, a small scowl on her face. "And I don't just poop anywhere!  I'm a sentient being, mind you!"

But despite her frustration, Jiminie was not going to just leave this man now, she was still very curious about him, and a small insult like that wouldn't stop her!

[Fukurou]

Rylzyr was pleasantly suprised at the small creature`s nerve. It had been a while since someone had approached him for a conversation, let alone stand up to him.

This didn`t make the creature any less annoying.

"Okay, small dragon." He folded his hands and rested them on the table. "I`ll humor you. You have five minutes."

[JackieCat]

"Jiminie," the dragon said as he addressed her.  And then she took a deep breath, then began speaking very, very quickly, barely able to be understood as her voice grew more and more exited.  "Like I asked before, is your quill magic?  And you book?  I mean, I suppose they are, but do they have a mind of their own, or do you control them?  Is it a spell book?  Does it have good spells or evil spells?  if they're evil, are you evil?  Or are you just studying?  I heard people say you're a demon, are you a demon?  I've seen demons before, and they can all look very different, so I guess you could be a demon.  But do you do experiments on people?  You don't look the type, but I guess that's just what I think.  Demons come from other planes, sometimes, are you from another plane?  Where are you from?  Did you move here to stay permanently, or are you just passing through and are staying here for a while before moving on?"

She cut herself off rather abruptly.  She was still bursting with questions, and it was quite apparent, but she supposed that the five minutes she was given included his answers, so she forced herself to snap her muzzle shut and gazed expectantly up at the man.

[Fukurou]

Rylzyr sat in his seat for a couple of seconds, looking up at the ceiling and gathering his thoughts. He looked back down at Jimine. The expression on his face looked vaguely irritated, but perhaps that's just how he normally looks like.

"OK, Jiminie," he said to the small being. "I control my book and quill through magic. They are not sentient. Most of the book's contents consists of arcane research of various kinds. Even if you could read X'zyrian, you probably wouldn't be able to understand its contents." He paused for a moment. "I wouldn't consider myself evil, but perhaps whether or not you would think that would depend on your definition of what 'evil' is. If it tells you anything, I do not commit murder, rape, or kidnappings. I wouldn't hurt another being for the sake of hurting them. I do conduct research on sentient beings but whenever I do, it is voluntary and they are paid well. Also, I am not a demon." His eyes narrowed in exasperation. "I am X'zyri. Our ancestors are the Elvaahni. You know what Elves are, right? They are similar. Anyway, early X'zyri did breed with demons for a while, but most of our demonic traits have been bred out save for a few physical traits such as our horns and eyes. My ancestry does not make me a demon." Rylzyr sighed and shook it head. "I am from X'zyr. It's on a different continent. I don't know if I'm staying." He looked back at his hovering book. "Now where was I...?"

[JackieCat]

Jiminie listened with rapt attention as the man spoke and when he was finished she sat back on her haunches.

"Wow," she said, her voice slower now. "That's really cool!  You should stay here, you know.  Le'raana's not all that bad, you just have to get used to it, and adapt.  The awesome thing about it is the variety.  I mean, seriously, think of a kind of being, race, or personality type, and somewhere on Le'raana you could find that being.  We've got good guys, bad guys, neither guys, everything!  I, personally, love it here!"

For once, the dragon had actually sounded somewhat intelligent.  She could be when she wanted to!  Sometimes, at least. . .

"So, X'zyrian from X'zyr, five minutes will probably be up really soon, so one more thing.  What's your name?  Or, what are you called?" Her voice started to pick up speed. "Because I know a lot of beings have names but they don't often use them, and they go buy a nickname or something like that, do you do that?  Do your people do that?"

She cut herself off, realizing if she wanted any answers to her questions she couldn't ask too many.

[Fukurou]

Rylzyr's eyes flicked back to the dragon, his expression unchanging. "Rylzyr. My name's Rylzyr." He took a drag from his pipe and exhaled delicate, wispy smoke in which smelled faintly like an exotic incense. "We have full names just as humans do, and I suppose some people also have nicknames."

What an odd little dragon.

[JackieCat]

"Oh, okay," Jiminie said somewhat quietly.  She really, really was interested in this man, she hadn't met anyone like him ever, and hadn't found someone so interesting in a long time.

Usually, Jiminie might have burst out more questions, but she could see that Rylzyr would not appreciate that.

So her next question came out single, and in a quite timid voice for the little dragon. "So. . .  where are you headed to now?"

[Fukurou]

Rylzyr studied the way the small dragon's peppy demeanor wilted. Yes, she was obnoxious, but he couldn't help but feel a little bad for the creature and by the way she babbled on she must be quite lonely.

Rylzyr let out a long sigh. He couldn't believe what he was about to do.

"I'll be heading into the mountains tomorrow to look for magical artifacts. If you really wanted to, you can join me. But," he gave Jimine a stern look. "This isn't going to be a stroll in the meadows. The mountains are filled with danger and I will not be babysitting you so don't get yourself killed." His book and quill drifted onto the table. He shoved his belongings into his satchel, got up from his table and headed towards the stairs that lead to the rooms. As soon as he reached the foot of the stairs he turned back to Jimine. "Oh, and also, could you at least try not to babble on too much tomorrow? I know I'm asking a lot but the mountain trolls aren't quite as friendly as I am." And just like that, he walked up the stairs and into his private room.

[JackieCat]

Jiminie positively swelled with happiness as he invited her along.

"Oh!  Oh!  Thank you so much!  This will be awesome!  I can't wait!  That's okay, i'm good with danger, I can fly really fast, and people always try to kill me for some reason, so I'm good at getting out of the way!"

She talked on until he reached the foot of the stairs and turned back, asking her not to babble so much, at least tomorrow, and she shut her mouth, but her eyes were lit with happiness and what could be called a grin was plastered across her muzzle.

She flew in big happy circles around the barroom as he went upstairs.  She landed on the bar, barely able to contain her excitement.

"Can I have some water, please?" she asked, and the bartender set down a tiny bowl of water in front of her.  She drank it all, then was about to fly around again when someone sat down and grabbed her tail.

"Hey!" she cried, and the man let go, but motioned for her to stay, she turned to look at him. "What?" she asked.

"I heard you're going with that man," he said, and he was a farmer, but the looks of him. "You'd better not, he's trouble for sure!"

"Aye!" a woman sitting by said. "He's probably just trying to lure you away and then he'll use you in one of his evil rituals!"

"I don't think-!" Jiminie started, but was cut off as everyone around started to try and persuade her not to go.  She flapped up into the air.

"I'm going!" she said. "And there's nothing you can do to stop it!"  and with that she flew out the door.

When the people inside had quieted, she snuck back inside as another patron exited.  Unnoticed, she flew up to the rafters and laid down, resting her head on her front paws and drifting to sleep, keeping one ear open so she would awaken when Rylzyr came downstairs the next morning.

[Fukurou]

It was early. Too early. The sun hadn't even broken through the horizon yet, but they needed as much daylight as possible for their excavation into the mountains. So, and early start it was. Rylzyr walked down the stairs, his eyelids still heavy from sleep. He wasn't a morning person, but what can you do? He stopped in the middle of the tavern, placing his hands on his hips.

"Are you in here, Jiminie? It's time to get going."

[JackieCat]

Jiminie's sharp hearing heard the creak of the stairs as Rylzyr came down into the main part of the tavern, which was now empty, even the bartender had gone to bed.

She flew down and hovered at Rylzyr's shoulder level.  "Good morning sleepyhead!" she said, her voice chipper and not showing an ounce of sleepiness.  "I thought you'd never wake up!  Are we going now?"

[Fukurou]

Oh great. She`s even more annoying in the morning.

Rylzyr looked straight forward, his face dark with exasperation.

"Did you even sleep last night?"

[JackieCat]

"Yep!  I slept!" she said, landing on his shoulder, and not even wondering if he would mind or not. "Though I kept having all theses dreams about when we would finally leave!  it seems like we've been waiting for days and days, you know?"

She flapped her wings once in excitement. "So, where are we headed again?  I forgot."

[Fukurou]

Rylzyr closed his eyes and rested his fingers on his temple. "Into the mountains." He opened his eyes amd crossed his arms. "If you're ready we should leave now. I would like to get in as much as we can today."

[JackieCat]

"Ooh!  Cool!" Jiminie said. "And I'm ready, I don't ave anything to pack.  I don't have any clothes or anything, and I can catch mice and other small animals when I'm hungry."

She took flight again, unable to keep still for more than a few seconds.

[Fukurou]

The two of them left the tavern and headed in the direction of the mountains. Just as the reached the edge of the small town, the sun started to peak over the horizon, casting beautiful orange and pink hues all over the sky. Rylzyr had remained silent, basking in the beautiful scenery.

Mornings are quite awful, but I guess sunrises are nice.

The two of them continued on the road for some time. After a few minutes of silence on Rylzyr's part he turned his head to the small dragon. "So, little Jiminie." His expression had a small hint of warmth to it, but otherwise remained stone cold. "Why is you're so interested in me?"

[JackieCat]

Jiminie did not mind mornings, and she did appreciate the beauty of the sunrise.

"Because. . ." she started to answer the question slowly. "Because you're so interesting." When she realized that wasn't actually very descriptive, she continued. "I just don't know about you, and I like getting to know about people, and things, and everything.  And I like being with people, and why not be with someone super cool?"