Spirits of the Earth

"Fuck."

Eckhart sprinted down the road as fast as his legs could carry him. The sun had just about set, with only a sliver peeking out above the horizon. "Ansgar damn it, this is just my luck." thought Eckhart miserably as he ran. "First that godawful party, now this?" An arrow whizzed past his head, causing him to flinch. "Where the fuck is Belladonna? She usually teleports me if I stray too far away from her." From behind him, Eckhart could hear the bandits jeering.

"Oy, you little shit! Come back 'ere, we won't hurt ya!"

"Yeah! We just wants to have a little discussion with you! You're bein' downright rude to us!"

"This is it. This is how my story ends" thought Eckhart bitterly. The bandits had spotted the earring on his backpack about five minutes ago, and they were apparently convinced that Eckhart had more valuables stashed away somewhere. "I should have sold that damn thing." he thought angrily. "All it did was get me into trouble."

An arrow suddenly hit the back of Eckhart's leg, causing the healer to cry out in pain and collapse. He tried to get back up, only to feel a blade press up against his throat. "Yeah, that part where I said we wouldn't hurt ya? Well, I was lyin' about that. Life's a bitch, eh lad?"

As he felt his heart drop like a stone, Eckhart closed his eyes. "If this is fate, then so be it."

She wasn't sure if she were looking for him just to spite Hildegarde, or perhaps just to ease her own rising curiosity. It had been a while since she had last seen Cranberry and after following what Jaela had reported and asking around Kaida had been able to at least get an idea of where he was at. Of course, she was hesitant, afraid that Emelia may be with him. However, based on what she was seeing now it was clear that was not the case.

Several clones had been wondering about the area and finally one saw him, and as it slinked from the shadows Kaida had seen all she needed to. The moment Eckhart started being pursued the clone burst out of existence, alerting the real Kaida to what it had just seen.

"Well that's inconvenient"

Immediately she made the rest of her clones disappear, pulling the energy for herself as she began to sprint towards the location. They wouldn't hear her, probably didn't even see her as they were too entranced with Eckhart on the ground before them.

"Ahem" she cleared her throat, standing in the road about 15 feet from them with her classic Kaida stance. Her arms were crossed, the majority of her weight shifted to one side, an eyebrow raised.

"I won't lie to you..." slowly a smile began to creep upon her lips.

"This is going to hurt." Her eyes then flashed towards Eckhart, hoping he would catch the hint that perhaps it would be best to clog his ears as he had done before. "This is going to be fun"

All in an instant Kaida began to shift into her true form. Jagged turquoise scales on the tail whipping back and forth behind her as sharp teeth protruded out from her maw. A low growl vibrating from the depths of her throat as the scales seemed to fall flat and then rise with each breath. Slowly, her head twisted to the side, the dragon clearly amused with what was about to happen.

Taking one final deep breath Kaida then outstretched her neck as she released an ear deafening screech. By now the bandit's eardrums should have burst, their sense of balance shattered in a matter of seconds. This, however, wasn't enough, Kaida needed more... she wanted to do more.

Crimson eyes shifted to lock with the men just so she could make their worlds fall apart. Pulled into an illusion Kaida constructed the dungeon from her past. Each brick covered in darkened splatter, blood of victims past. Chains hung from the ceiling and bones lay on the floor, incomplete skeletons scattered everywhere.

"Welcome to my playroom"

As the man with the knife began to make the cut, Eckhart heard a voice he never wanted to hear again in his life.

"I won't lie to you... this is going to hurt."

"Oh Ansgar, please don't tell me it's her again. I wouldn't know how to deal with that." Allowing himself to glance upwards, Eckhart saw that it was, in fact, her. "Fucking hell, really?" The bandit, distracted by the girl, began to laugh. Seeing an opportunity, Eckhart managed to wriggle free of his captor only to see his old foe shoot him a nasty grin. "Shit."

Whatever Eckhart expected, it wasn't what Kaida Black-Hearth would actually do. Her body began to twist and morph into something much larger- Eckhart found himself staring into the eyes of an actual, honest to god dragon. Eckhart's eyes began to water, and he broke into a cold sweat. As the dragon opened her mouth, Eckhart quickly brought his hands to his ears and clogged them, like he did the first time they'd met. The blast of sound that came a few moments later was still deafening, but he was pretty sure his eardrums didn't rupture. The bandits weren't so lucky, and both collapsed.

In a panic Eckhart attempted to stand up, only to collapse again. The arrow was lodged in his leg, which was at risk of becoming infected if he didn't take care of it soon. As he unclogged his ears, he could hear the the bandits scream in agony. Glancing to his side, Eckhart saw one of them writhing on the ground, eyes glassy. His pants were wet, having apparently pissed himself in fear. Eckhart began to slowly crawl backwards, never taking his eyes off of the turquoise dragon in front of him.

Ekhart's mind was white with fear. He couldn't think of anything but survival- something that looked to be impossible. Finally, he was able to stammer out some words, tears forming in his eyes..

"Sh-she said you leave me alone! Why did you come back!"

The illusion only lasted for a few seconds but would feel like an eternity to the two men. In Kaida's dungeon, they would be submitted to tortures unheard of and unimaginable to anyone but the young dragon. She really did have a knack for torturing humans to the brink of insanity and these two were no exception.

Still in her dragon form and the two men stuck in an illusion Kaida found the rest of disposing of them quite easy. The first she stomped up to bending her neck to grab in her jaws. Her teeth sunk into his flesh, the venom of her saliva causing further paralysis to fall upon him. As she turned the second fell victim to a swipe of her plated tail, the pointed scales ripping at his skin and causing corruption to slowly begin to spread.

With the other still at the mercy of her jaw, Kaida flung her head upwards, flinging the man as she finally released him. His body hit the soil with a loud thump a few meters away, the life gone from his eyes. Turning back to the remaining man he seemed to fall victim to her corruption sooner than she had hoped, both of the men now gone from this world.

Her attention then turned to Eckhart, who looked like he was about to wet himself as one of the men had. Slowly her body began to shrink, features becoming less reptilian and more human. Eckhart would soon find himself cowering before the small girl once more, a smile on her face as she looked again at the two men lying lifeless on the ground... almost disappointed they had fallen so easily into her hand.

"I've still got it"

"You're sister and I have come to an agreement. I assume she would not have an issue with me saving your life." Kaida pretended to act annoyed while her gaze locked onto the arrow in his leg. "Well, are you gonna fix yourself or not?"

Taking a few more steps towards him she crouched down, slinking her arms over her knees as she stared at him fascinated. "Go on then... do it."

Eckhart watched in fear as Kaida proceeded to kill the bandits she had just incapacitated. It seemed so... unnecessary, and yet she did it anyways. Particularly horrifying was the man she seemed to have dissolved away with her cell destruction ability- and yet Eckhart found himself unable to look away. It was was the antithesis to everything Eckhart knew how to do, and yet he found himself morbidly fascinated by it. "Sweet Ansgar, that could have been me... I wonder how she gets it to work on it's own like that? I can't heal people without constant skin contact, but she only touched that guy once."

The dragon began to shrink back into her human form, and she was soon standing over Eckhart with an annoyed expression on her face. Then she said something that was both relieving and  horrifying at the same time- his sister and the dragon were apparently working together. Still, he couldn't say it surprised him. "Hilda was always good at making friends. Still though, with her of all people..."

The dragon then sat down and asked if Eckhart was going to heal himself. Eckhart gave her a confused, scared look- he really couldn't comprehend why she'd care about his injuries. Still, she had a point. "Um... yes, right." he said nervously as he snapped the shaft of the arrow with his hand. He slowly pulled himself up into a sitting position, then pulled his scalpel out of his coat pocket and began to cut the arrowhead out of his thigh, using his powers to stem the bleeding. After a minute he had managed to get it out, then quickly regenerated his cells to heal the opening. As the blue-green light faded from his hands, he turned to look at Kaida. "Why is she just staring at me like that? That's fucking creepy."

"Well..." Eckhart said cautiously. "Uh, thanks for the help, but I need to go now." He attempted to stand, but his leg was still too weak. He collapsed again, wincing in pain. "Damn it, why? Why can't anything ever go right?" Laughing nervously, Eckhart put on a false smile. "Haha, I still don't know how to numb pain. Gimme a moment and I'll be out of your hair." Pulling off his backpack, he'd push aside the earring he had tied to the button and begin to rummage through his herbs. "Come on, I must have some arnica petals in here somewhere." he muttered to himself. "Please get bored and leave, I don't want to be around you. Like, ever."

Watching on in awe Kaida's eyes locked on the blue-green light as Eckhart healed himself. Nothing else mattered as she took in the sight of it, clearly enchanted by the ability the boy thought as nothing more than healing.

However, when he said goodbye Kaida tilted her head, clearly disappointed by his want to suddenly depart. She was about to speak up, no doubt say something snarky and condescending to get a rise out of him, but then he fell. Of course, she didn't move to help him and had a half smile when he winced from collapsing.

Still, she remained silent, studying the boy as he pretended that getting away from her was because he was afraid of being a nuisance. Kaida had seen this before, the way his body language displayed clear discomfort from her very presence. "Black Pheonix" she muttered, moving from her crouched position to sitting cross-legged in the dirt in front of him.

"The feather is a black phoenix feather. It was a gift from my eldest brother."

What was this? Kaida was sharing personal information with Cranberry. Perhaps it was a break in her normal mentality, a silent cry to finally talk to someone who didn't see her as an enemy... or pure boredom. Maybe even a way of her trying to show Eckhart that even she has a family and that somewhere in her chest was a heart.

"I imagine that was why they were chasing you." Kaida then gestured towards the two bodies laying in the background, as if they were nothing more than part of the landscape. "I suggest you hide it better." She wouldn't ask for it back, despite the meaning it carried. The meaning of a family once with strong ties, siblings once living together as a happy family. The earring was a trophy now, a prize for the battle Cranberry had won against her.

Eckhart froze when Kaida brought up the earring. "Shit, here it comes. I should have sold it." After the initial shock that came when he realized she didn't want it back, Eckhart was able to process what she had actually said. "Wait, phoenix feathers are a reagent- it like, cures everything." As he looked at the dragon, Eckhart's eyes lit up. "This is worth a small fortune! And she's letting me keep it? I'm set for life!"

Slightly less frightened now, Eckhart slowly began to speak. "...Your brother, huh? He's the vampire, right?" Getting a bit flustered, he scratched the back of his head. "Ah, um, Jaela told me about your family. She talks, like, a lot."

"Okay, this is really weird. Am I actually having a conversation with her?"

Eckhart went quiet for a few seconds, staring into his bag. "This is wrong. Why is she being... not terrible? Is she just afraid of my sister?" Finally, he mustered up all his courage and looked Kaida in the eyes. His voice trembled as he spoke, and he began to fiddle with his necklace nervously. "So, uh... are you... do you not, um..."

"Sweet Ansgar, spit it out already. I look like a fucking idiot."

"...Don't you hate me?"

Still sitting in the dirt across from him Kaida listened curiously as he asked first about her brother and then talked about Jaela.

"Hate is such a strong word. Perhaps entertained would fit better." One thing Kaida could always be known for was her brutal honesty. "I don't hate someone unless they give me a good reason to." Again, Kaida being honest.

"For example, my brother Electi... I hate him" Despite the grim topic Kaida remained cool, acting as if it were just a casual conversation. "He is the one who gave me the earrings, not Aeizith." She had hoped Eckhart would catch on to what she was saying. Aeizith being the 'vampire' brother.

"I think you would have hated him. He had the ability to bend your will and twist your emotions. He could make you think you were not mad about a situation or make you calm when you had every right to be upset."

Kaida scoffed as she recalled the time Electi tried to calm her down with force, something that ultimately made things worse in the long run.

Jumping back to his last question Kaida added to her statement of him being entertaining. "However, if you ever attack me again I won't be so nice." She glared at him, making it known that while now it was funny to look back at what had happened, it would not be tolerated a second time around.

A bead of sweat ran down the back of Eckhart's neck as Kaida told him that she wouldn't tolerate another attack. "You attacked me, you bitch." is what he wanted to tell her, but common sense held him back. He instead nodded hurriedly. "U-understood Miss Black-Hearth. It won't happen again." He cringed internally when he called her "miss", but he felt it was a smart move. "Dragons have an ego in almost every story they appear in. Assuming Kaida is the same, I may be able to schmooze my way out of this."

Cautious, Eckhart decided to keep the conversation on the subject of family- it was what she had chosen to talk about, so he figured it was a "safe" topic. "She dislikes her oldest brother, so I'll build on that- make her feel like I'm a person she can vent to." As he thought this, he felt a pang of guilt for scheming to manipulate the dragon like this. "I'm not like her." he tried to tell himself. "She does it to gain power over people, I'm just trying to survive."

"She already made it clear she wouldn't kill you though." a small voice in his head reminded him. "You have no reason to play with her emotions like your sister would, so why would you?"

Now feeling very unsure of himself, Eckhart tried to engage with Kaida anyways. "Your brother sounds like a real piece of work." he told the dragon truthfully. "I thought my sister was overbearing, but Electi sounds like he takes the cake." As he mentioned his sister, he felt a pit begin to form in his stomach. "I'll be just like her if I do this. I need to stop, now."

Laughing nervously, Eckhart began rummaging through his bag once more. "Haha, I'm sure you knew that already though- about both of them." He realized that he must have run out of painkillers at some point, and set his backpack to the side. Curiosity getting the better of him, he turned to Kaida.

"So... How is my sister? She's doing okay, right?"

Kaida scoffed at the mention of 'miss Black-Hearth'. All formality aside she could never stand being called that, seeing it more as a title with no meaning behind it. It was as impersonal as you could get as far as she was considered and almost found it insulting.

"It's Kaida... just Kaida" she corrected.

At the mention of Hildegarde Kaida's mood continued to visually sour. Of course, she had made a form of truce with the woman, but that was it. Hildegarde thought of Kaida as nothing more than a pawn in her game and Kaida knew it. She could see it every time she visited her, that hunger to control that her own sister held at one point.

"She seems well enough"

Leaning back on her hands the girl shifted her weight, clearly trying to get more comfortable with the fact she was actually managing a casual conversation with someone for once. "I guess this isn't THAT horrible"

"I do have a question though. If you and your sister get along then why are you not with her in Zannrick with her little misfit posse?" Smirking she continued. "Seems like you would fit in well enough..."

"If you and your sister get along then why are you not with her in Zantaric with her little misfit posse? Seems like you would fit in well enough..."

Eckhart stared at the dragon for a few seconds, trying to think of a way to answer her. Finally, he spoke.

"My sister... is a bad person." he began. "I know that. Everybody knows that. Um..." Eckhart faltered. "When... when she left, I tried to go with her. I wanted to be there for her, make sure she stayed safe. She wouldn't have it. Told me I was worthless." He smiled feebly. "She was probably right. I can't see myself being anything more than a burden to her."

"To anyone, more like. You can't even mend broken bones."

"Honestly... I'm probably better off." he continued sadly. "People like her... when you do bad things, fate finds a way to pay you back. Someday, she's going to meet somebody she can't control. I... I don't want to be around when that happens." Tears began to well up in his eyes as he spoke, and his voice trembled. "H-have you ever known that somebody was terrible, but y-you couldn't stop yourself from loving them anyway?"

"What am I doing telling her this? She doesn't care, you know that."

Eckhart looked at his feet. "I'm sorry for bothering you. It's not my place."

The atmosphere quickly shifted as Eckhart responded, the topic clearly more delicate than Kaida had anticipated.

"At least he is not in denial" she thought as he stated Hildegarde was a bad person.

In an attempt to show some form of grief for the poor boy Kaida merely pursed her lips, doing her best not to insert some form of a witty and heartless comment. However, with his question, it struck Kaida somewhere deep. It made her chest tighten and hurt at the very mention of such a person, someone so horrible yet you loved them still.

Standing up she brushed the dust off of her clothing before turning away from him, her arms crossed over one another as she stared down the path she had come. "You would think that if someone that terrible were in your life that you would step away. That you would turn your back and not bat an eye at such a horrific being..."

Flashbacks of memories with Emelia flooded her mind at the very thought. Images of a young Kaida smiling on as she watched her sister mercilessly terrorize and ruin everyone, including her family. It was all too easy to fall into place in a situation like that and Kaida knew it.

"If it helps.... I think that people like that don't realize how awful they really are. They don't realize how much they hurt the ones that love them most by doing it. You are a strong person for not falling into place beside her." 

Kaida's shoulders lifted and fell as she took in a deep breath before turning back around, a fake smile plastered on her face. "One day your sister will need you Eckhart, and on that day you will have to decide if she can be saved or if you should just walk away."

Taking a look at him she could tell he needed some form of comfort and other than her words she had nothing. Kaida had only every hugged her family, and even then it was almost unbearable.

"And stop apologizing. It is really annoying."

To Eckhart's surprise, Kaida didn't mock him. He had been sure that she'd blow him off, but the way she reacted was entirely different from what he expected. What surprised him even more was her assertion that Eckhart was a strong person. It took everything Eckhart had to not burst into tears at this- nobody had ever said that to him before now.

When Kaida turned around, Eckhart recognized the smile on her face. "I make that face all the time- it's fake. Something is upsetting her." Still, what she told him about having to determine if his sister could be saved hit him hard. Rubbing his eyes with his sleeve, he pushed the thought to the back of his mind. "I can't think about that now, not in front of her."

As the dragon chastised him for apologizing, Eckhart went red in the face. "Sorry- I mean, no, not sorry. I-I'll try to stop." Looking Kaida in the eyes, he tried to gauge whether or not she truly understood how he felt. "Do... do you have somebody like her? The way you speak, it's..."

Eckhart could hear horses in the distance. "Shit, we need to get out of the road." he said as he picked up his bag and attempted to stand up once more. Eckhart could only made a few steps before collapsed again. "Damn it, why?" Looking a Kaida with a desperate expression on his face, he'd ask her for help.

"Could, um, you please help me? I don't want to be seen with the dead bodies, that'd be really bad. We could go sit by that tree over there, see?" he said while pointing at the tree in question. "I really don't want to get in trouble."

Her eyes narrowed at his apologizing again, though he quickly recovered but throwing her off with another question. Her eyes went wide and the young dragon found herself wondering what she had done to give it away... how did he know?

Before she could even answer though another distraction hit them, sounds from up the road of someone coming down the road. Again her agitation was evident as he failed to stand and then asked her for help. "Idiot... just fix yourself" Kaida, of course, knew his real potential and was disappointed that he had yet to figure it out.

Sighing she looked down the road, gauging just how much time they had before Cranberry became a flattened pile of flesh. "That tree does like quite lovely" she mumbled, stepping off the road to walk towards it. Turning to look over her shoulder she could see that Eckhart had still failed to move, causing her eyes to involuntarily roll.

Walking back up to him she grabbed the hood of his coat and started dragging him, making no effort to be sure she was gentle about it. "You know that this is now twice in one day...." Even when they were off the road she continued to drag him all the way up to the tree, finally flinging his hood over his head before finding her place on a stone.

Sitting down she placed one elbow on her knee, propping her head up as she went back to staring at Cranberry like he was an idiot. All in all, she had hoped that the interruption caused him to forget he had even asked her a question.

"I swear to god if you ask to ride me next I will leave you to die."

"Wh-what!" Eckhart cried as he was dragged through the dirt by the hood of his coat. "Hey, stop it!" Upon reaching the tree Kaida unceremoniously dropped him, causing his hood to fall over his head. Wincing as he pulled himself up against the tree, he shot the dragon a look. He would have said something too, but she cut him off before he could speak.

"Um, right. I'm pretty sure I'd need some kind of saddle for that anyway." Eckhart said nervously, looking back at the road. The carriage he had heard approaching had just come into view, an it appeared to be slowing down at the sight of the two dead bandits. "... Thank you." he finally said, looking at the dragon. 'I... I owe you. I know it's not much, but if you ever need healing, or somebody who knows how to cook..." He paused. "Sweet Ansgar, I'm doing a terrible job selling myself here."

"... I'm your guy."

Her expression only grew darker at his mention of a saddle. Such deplorable things meant for livestock and horses never meant to be on the back of something as majestic as a dragon. Her gaze then followed his as the carriage began to slow down by the dead bandits.

"Get out and trying something you idiots" Her thoughts a silent dare to something that would likely not happen. Kaida was not in the mood to deal with any further disruptions today, and the next group of trouble makers she ran into would not find a death as merciful as the bandits did. This, of course, meaning Kaida thought the bandits had died easily....


Clicking her tongue on the roof of her mouth the young dragon set her sites on Eckhart once more, deciding now was the time to bring the question lingering in her mind to light.

"You always seem so concerned with feeding me," Kaida smirked, her current attitude almost unreadable. Was she angry? Annoyed? Perhaps perplexed? Maybe even nostalgic.


"I will make you a deal Cranberry. When I was with your sister she received the report that you had gotten her letter. The boy who brought it to you... he said there was a woman with you." Kaida stood up and began slowly pacing, a hand held to her chin as she tried to determine how best to approach the question.

"If you tell me her name I will let you make me a shepherd's pie. It's really quite simple... a name for the pleasure of knowing I am trying your food. And if that is not enough I would even go as far to say that your debt to me would be settled. "

To say Eckhart was taken aback by Kaida's question was an understatement. "The- the person I was with when I got the letter from Hildegarde?" he repeated back to her, feeling very confused. "You need her... name?"

"Eckhart, this is Kaida taunting you." a small voice in his head told him. "She knows you can't answer such an absurd question, so she's holding it over your head. She has no intention of ever letting you repay your debt."

"Um... let me see. She was blonde, I think?" Eckhart began, unsure of why he was even bothering to answer. "Uh, she never gave me a name..." Trying his hardest to remember what was truly an insignificant moment of his life, details of the encounter slowly began to resurface. "Okay, yes. I remember that she was homeless, and that she had multiple infected wounds. I used a poultice made from licorice root to treat the infections. She called me a worm, and she didn't pay me." Smiling sheepishly, he shrugged. "That's all I remember, sor-" he cut himself off before he could apologize. "Ah, yes, that's everything."

"Wait! She had a really big chest!" Eckhart suddenly remembered. He cupped his hands in front of his of his torso as if to show how big the injured woman's breasts were. "Like, just massive!" Suddenly remembering who he was speaking to, Eckhart went red in the face and looked away. "I-I suppose that really doesn't help. Sorry."

"Wow. I actually just said that to her, huh? Sweet Ansgar, I'm fucking stupid."

Crimson eyes narrowed as Eckhart began doing everything but saying Emelia's name. "Just fucking say it" He was avoiding, telling her everything she needed but those simple sounds. Yes, she would call him a worm and of course her chest was rediculously sized. However, Kaida couldn't help but wonder if he was making up the infections part.

"Wait... Infections?" Taking her place back on the rock Kaida now seemed more confused than ever. "Emelia doesn't get infections, you must be confused." And without knowing it Kaida had just told Eckhart that she knew the name she asked.

As far as his display of displaying just how large Emelia's breasts were Kaida merely shrugged it off, that kind of display being something that would probably never bother her. Growing up with her sister you get used to that sort of thing.

Eckhart's raised an eyebrow when Kaida gave him the name she herself had been asking for. Even more bizarre was the assertion that this "Emilia" didn't have any infections. "Um... Do you know her? Because I can tell you that she did, in fact, have infections. There were three, one on the small of her back and two on her left foot." Eckhart was beginning to remember the encounter a bit more visibly now. "Come to think of it, when me and that kid in the makeup were talking about you she got really pissy."

Eckhart suddenly remembered the shocked expression on the dragon's face when he asked if she had somebody like Hildegarde in her life. "Kaida?" he'd ask, a serious expression on his face. "Who did I meet?"

As Eckhart continued to relive his encounter with Emelia Kaida fell deeper into despair. By now her head was buried in her hands as strands of her hair fell over her shoulders. Her shoulders were slumped and the young dragoness embodied everything but the poised girl she always led others to see.

"Emelia Black Hearth. Thousands of years old Void Dragon. The leader of a once-powerful army. Destroyer of anything good. Enslaver of nations." Quietly Kaida added a bit more to her speech, although Eckhart probably wouldn't hear it. "....allegedly."

Slowly she lifted her head, peeking through her fingers at the boy sitting in front of her.

"You met my sister."

As Eckhart watched the girls demeanor change, the color flooded from his face. "Your-your sister?" he asked nervously. "B-but she was a human. My powers work funny on non-humans, I can't clot their blood- and I was able to clot hers."

Giving her a gentle smile, Eckhart would attempt to calm the girl down- as funny as it was for him to admit, he liked the snarky Kaida better than the mopey Kaida. "Maybe it was just somebody who looked like her?"

"Human?" the very idea so absurd that perhaps Cranberry had a point. There was no way this woman was her sister, despite the evidence pointing out that it was. Aiezith had confirmed Emelia was alive, and she was in the region no less. Then to top it all off a sighting not that far away from her with Eckhart.

Shaking her head she dismissed the thought. Never would Emelia allow herself to become such a thing, probably would have killed herself if it ever happened.

"Maybe I am wrong" she breathed sitting up straighter.

Taking a moment to gather herself Kaida stared at the boy as everything continued to play behind her eyes. This was going to take some time to sort through and clearly, Jaela was needed right here in Serendipity rather than the citadel watching it. If anyone could find out the truth it would be her.

"A deal is a deal. Although you never gave me a name your information was useful enough I guess."

Her eyes then trailed towards Eckhart's leg. "How long until you are no longer a useless gimp? A few hours? A day? If you are going to bake me a shepherd's pie then I assume we will need ingredients."

To Eckhart's surprise, it worked- Kaida's mood seemed to lighten up a bit. When she asked how long it would take for his leg to heal, his eyes widened. "Does... she actually want to spend time with me?"

"What are the chances that she'll kill me if I refuse?"

"Um, well..." Eckhart began, using the tree to help him stand up. "Could you get me a stick I could use to prop myself up? We could leave after that, I guess. Pinemill isn't that far off..."

"This is going to get really weird, I can tell."

When Cranberry mentioned a stick Kaida almost fell into a fit of laughter. Seriously? A Stick!? Who did he think Kaida was? Like she would ever resort to slowly trudging beside some cripple. No, Kaida had her own definition of class and stick hobbling was not in it.

Without a word she started off towards the road, walking straight up to the carriage that had paused to look at the bodies. "Easy enough..." she thought as she made her way around it. Two commoners were standing outside it, talking as they looked over the bodies strewn to the side.

As she walked Kaida began to shift, transforming into her true form from the small girl to a snarling beast. By the time she was visible to them she was the vision of perfection in her eyes. Pointed scales, bore teeth and a whipping tail. It was no surprise the two took off running as they screamed on in horror. The horses strangely enough barely even reacting, animals always having a knack for picking up on her lack of ill intent in this case.

As soon as the two were out of sight Kaida shifted back, her face bearing a smirk. "Fucking humans... should have bowed down to my beauty."

Eckhart watched on in horror as Kaida approached the two women who had gotten out of the carriage. "Oh Ansgar, she's going to kill them too!" he thought, trembling. As Kaida began to shift back into her dragon form, Eckhart would attempt to rush over to her in order to stop the attack he was sure was coming.

He of course stumbled and fell as pain shot through his leg. "Shit! Ow... ow, fucking damn it!" he muttered as he slowly crawled to the carriage. He was about to call out to Kaida, demand that she stop, but her following actions surprised him into silence. Instead of killing the two as he expected, she merely... scared them away. They ran away in a panic, and Kaida returned to her human form with a satisfied expression on her face.

Finally reaching the road, Eckhart looked up at what he supposed was his new traveling companion. "Um... are we just... stealing this?" he asked, a look of deep concern on his face. "This is really bad, I don't like it at all." he thought worriedly. "But I really don't see a way I can get out of it, not yet. Maybe I can lose her in Pinemill..."

"O-okay..." Eckhart said timidly as he managed to pull himself into the carriage. "Um, lets go before they come back."

Hopping onto the carriage Kaida waited for Cranberry to follow, of course offering no help in him climbing in. If anything she almost seemed irritated that she had to wait. Once the two were ready to go Kaida stared ahead at the stallion as it awaited command, and so she gave it.

"Onwards!" she shouted, the only reaction being a flick of the horses tail.

"Move on!" she tried again, with nothing more than an ear flick in response.

Almost growling she turned to Eckhart clearly irritated that the stupid beast refused to listen. "The horse is clearly broken. We must kill it so that it may at least die with a little honor. Shall I do the deed or do you want a go at it?"

Upon pulling himself up into the carriage, Eckhart sat down next to his new "friend". The wooden seat wasn't exactly comfortable, but it was much better than walking. The dragon then commanded the horse to move.

Eckhart looked at Kaida in utter disbelief. "Um, that's not how horses work. You need to uh..." In truth. Eckhart had no experience dealing with horses- he was just as useless as she was. "Um, grab the reins?" he finished, a confused look on his face.

"This is going to be a long trip to the market, isn't it?'

"Reins?" Kaida asked herself as she looked at the two leather straps attached to the horse. "OF COURSE!" Now she was feeling a bit silly, the horse clearly not as 'broken' as she had initially thought.

It was obvious these two divine straps of leather were meant to in some way channel her inner thoughts to the steed. I mean... what else could they possibly be for? Taking hold Kaida then tensed her face, clearly pouring as much will as she could into them to get the horse to move. And of course... nothing happened.

Throwing down the reins she returned to her first initial reaction. "Yep. it's broken."

"I'm going to kill it."

Hopping off the carriage Kaida then strolled up to the horse and without notice lifted a hand to smack the beast. "USELESS!" she screamed as her palm slapped down onto its hide, causing the horse to buck before charging forwards.


Of course, Kaida's initial reaction wasn't to worry for Eckhart. No, instead she was smiling as she had finally figured out how to make it move.

"Nailed it."

Eckhart watched in disbelief as the dragon held the reins momentarily and promptly give up. "Okay, nobody is this clueless. Who raised her?" Before Eckhart could say anything, Kaida proceeded to get out of the carriage and strike the horse in anger, causing it to break into a full gallop. The sudden speed nearly caused Eckhart to fall out of the carriage in shock. "Gah! What the hell did you do!" he screamed in a panic.

Eckhart reached for the reins, only to find they had fallen out of place- they were now being dragged through the dirt under the horses feet. "Shit, now what do I do?" Looking behind him, he could see Kaida in the distance doing nothing. Even from this far it was easy to make out the smug expression on her face. "Oh, I get it!" Eckhart thought with a grim smile. "This is her idea of a practical joke! Except the punchline is that I die!"

Eckhart slumped back into his seat, half laughing, half crying. "Why is this happening? Does fate have something against me or what?"

It seemed as though Cranberry was enjoying himself as well, or at least Kaida thought he was. She could hear him laughing as the carriage was whisked away and was happy the two had finally found some common ground on the definition of fun.

"Fun" she thought, her face suddenly turning serious.

"No time for that" she muttered to herself while pushing off her heal, slowly walking in the direction of the now runaway carriage. Of course, she was in no real hurry to save Eckhart, and if anything the worst possible scenario would be the contraption crashes and he is gravely wounded.

While others would see this as a problem Kaida saw the opportunity behind it. Maybe, just maybe he would then realize what it is he could actually do. "No time for that either", her pace suddenly quickening as she began to transform again. It was the only practical way to reach him in time, flying clearly the faster form of travel.

Now airborne Kaida flew above the carriage and then past it, landing in the path the horse would surely take. Just as quickly as she had turned into a beast she turned back, confidently standing in the path of destruction with one arm outstretched in front of her, palm flat as she commanded for the horse to stop.

Most others would probably even show a flicker of fear in their eye but not Kaida. Even as the stallion barrelled forwards towards her she did not even flinch, still holding her hand up for the beast to stop. Her eyes though were locked on the horse and a small flicker of life played behind them.

Suddenly the horse halted, completely calm as it acted it was never in fear, to begin with. Again Kaida displayed her triumph with nothing more than a smirk on her face. "Cranberry? You still alive?"

Making her way around the carriage she stood on her toes to look inside, seeing Eckhart laying back within. "Shall I try to make it go again or do you want to give it a try?"

With a sudden jolt, the carriage came to a halt. The sudden stop caused Eckhart to fall out of his seat and onto the carriage floor. "Ow! Ansgar damn it!" Slowly pushing himself back into his seat, Eckhart turned to look at the dragon, who was now peering into the carriage to stare at him.

"No. I'm dead. You killed me." he told her flatly. "I'll handle the carriage, just get in and try not to break anything else." Grabbing the reins, Eckhart would wait for Kaida to enter the carriage. When she had, he would pull gently on the reigns, causing the horse to break into a steady trot. Surprising himself with how easy driving the carriage was, he turned to look at Kaida in shock.

"Wow. I'm having a lot of trouble here Kaida, maybe we should try it your way again."

Despite his arrogance, Kaida complied, climbing back into the carriage without another word. It wasn't until he picked up the reigns and made the horse move forwards at a steed pace Kaida felt she had been duped. Did he know how to make it go the entire time? "Asshole"

At his remark of trying things her way again, Kaida smirked, trying not to show how much his comment had hit a nerve. "Well, my way would have gotten us there faster... even if you were dead by then."

The way she spoke of Eckhart's death was as if it would not even bother her. As if he would be nothing more than a name to add to the long list of casualties she had caused in her lifetime. Leaning back Kaida relaxed, almost enjoying the slow pace they were now moving at.

"So Cranberry tell me something. What did you think of Jaela?" It was visually evident that Kaida was entertained at the very mention of her former death guard soldier. "She is quite entertaining is she not?"

"Jaela."

Eckhart's eye twitched. "I really liked her. She was really nice to me, and she was funny too." His eyes focused on the road ahead of him, and Eckhart's voice grew noticeably bitter. "That's why I was disappointed to find out that our friendship had been built on false pretenses."

Eckhart went quiet for a few moments, then continued. "Y'know, it takes a certain kind of person to do that. Just... pretend to like somebody like that." He turned to look Kaida in the eyes, a stoic expression etched onto his face. "Next time you want to spy on me, do it yourself. I don't like feeling used."

With that, Eckhart would turn back to the road and continue driving.

Kaida scoffed at his accusation. "Well if you really knew her you would know I only sent her to keep an eye on you. Whatever conversation transpired beyond her watching you was completely on her."

Pausing to recall Jaela's report a sly smile appeared on her face. "But I wouldn't put anything past her. She is the best at what she does because honestly..." Kaida finally turned to meet his gaze only to find that Eckhart was now looking ahead.

"... Who is going to suspect a dimwit like her of anything?"

Eckhart let out a small huff. "So she's a bitch all on her own then? That's lovely." He wished Kaida hadn't brought her up- just thinking about Jaela made Eckhart mad. "I don't wanna talk about this, okay? Look, we're just about there."

After another few minutes of travel, they had arrived. As he brought the carriage to a stop, Eckhart looked around in awe. The town of Pinemill was bustling with activity. Colorful flags and banners lined the main street, and in the distance Eckhart could hear festive music being played. "I guess there's some kind of event going on today." he said quietly. "I wonder what the occasion is?"

Stepping out of the carriage, Eckhart noticed that his leg felt a bit better- he could walk on it now, albeit with a limp. He turned to Kaida. "Shall we? The market can't be too far from here."

Even Kaida was almost taken with the sight of Pinemill so alive. "Clearly it is a celebration in my honor." Kaida joked, knowing full well that even she wasn't respected enough to receive such a fanfare.

Following behind Cranberry, the young dragon took note of his ability to now walk, however, crippled it may have been. "Progress" she thought as he turned to her, clearly more intent on getting to the market than she thought.

"Just follow all the noise, I am sure we can find it." Kaida then pulled her coin pouch from a pocket inside of her tunic, the small ornate bag plump with coins. "Spare no expense as my pallet is extremely sensitive." Her eyes then darted towards him, letting on that he best not feed her horse shit or something like that.

Narrowing her eyes she then began to convince herself that he would do such a thing. "I'm watching you" a hiss within her mind.

Eckhart's eyes widened as he took the coin purse from Kaida. "It's so heavy! There's gotta be a few thousands bits in here, at least!" He flashed a goofy smile at the young dragon. "Sure! I've never had expensive food before! This should be fun!"  As Eckhart began to walk in the direction he assumed the market was in, he daydreamed about cooking. "It's really been too long since I was able to make something good." he thought wistfully. "Man, I cant wait!"

"Oh, there you are. I was wondering where you'd run off to."

Looking down, Eckhart saw his familiar approaching him. "Oh, hey Belladonna. I, uh, got sidetracked."

Belladonna gave him a funny look before jumping up onto his shoulders and making herself comfortable on top of his backpack. Eckhart slowed down his pace so she wouldn't fall off. "I see." she said dismissively. "So, who's the porcelain girl? She looks kinda pissed."

Eckhart grimaced. "That's Kaida. I told you about her, remember?"

"The dragon who wants to kill you? I thought you made that up." Belladonna turned to look at Kaida and purred in amusement. "You should see the look she's giving you right now."

Eckhart went red in the face. "Shit, that's right- only I can understand what Bella's saying." Turning around to face his new traveling companion, he gave her a sheepish grin. "Haha, sorry! I forgot to tell you about Belladonna..."

"Never had expensive food before? What in the hell has he been eating then!?" the very thought of Cranberry sneaking horse manure in her food blurring into Eckhart eating manure himself. "Poor kid"

As she was lost in her own thoughts Kaida missed the entrance of the black feline now sitting on Eckhart's shoulder. "Kill it" the first thought to cross her mind as she stared down the feline. However, her complete hatred towards the rodent shifted to confused as Eckhart began talking to it.

"What in the ever living..." Her head even twisted a bit as she tried to process what was happening. He was speaking to this feline as if it were a person and pointing out Kaida to it like it had asked.

Her eys then narrowed on the beast, Kaida almost jumping back when the cat caught her staring at it. Clearly, she was embarrassed she had been caught studying it. Immediately she looked over her shoulder as if the cat may be looking at someone else, but no... it was her.

Finally, Eckhart began speaking to her, telling her the cat was named Belladonna. "Listen, Eckhart..." Kaida took a step towards him, making sure to situate herself on the side of him that the cat was not. Leaning in she then whispered, looking like an idiot trying to keep something secret from the feline.

"I know you think me to be an animal but..." her eyes flicked towards the black thing and then back to Cranberry. "... I do not eat cats. Can't you find something else to put in the pie."

Kaida appeared dumbfounded, just as Belladonna had said. She slowly walked in front of him and leaned in to whisper into his ear.

"I know you think me to be an animal but... I do not eat cats. Can't you find something else to put in the pie?"

Eckhart's eyes widened, but Belladonna's purring got louder. "She knows I can hear her, right? Let me talk to her, she's funny."

"Oh, um, right." Eckhart said. "I forgot about the permission thing. Ah, you may talk to her."

"Thank you." Belladonna purred. She jumped off of Eckhart's backpack and onto the dragon's shoulder. "How's it going, China Doll?"

Anxiety shot through Eckhart like a knife. "Sweet Ansgar, don't antagonize her! You'll get us killed!"

Acting as if she had not just spoken Cranberry began talking to the... thing.... again.. "No it may not!" she thought as he gave the feline permission to speak to her. "What the hell does he think I am? An animal whisperer!?" The entire time her face reacted to her most inner thoughts, presumably making her seem a bit senile at this point.

Her crazy expression was only worsened when the cat purred again, except this time she heard words behind it. "What!?" Her exclamation not only from suddenly being able to understand a creature as foul as this, but also because it had just so rudely jumped onto her shoulder.

Swatting the cat off of her shoulder Kaida's eyes shifted, looking less human and more reptilian than they normally appeared in this form. Something about this creature repulsed her deep from within.

Clearly agitated Kaida stood with one fist clenched as she swept some cat hair off her shoulder with the other. Completely ignoring the name she was called her gaze then found Eckhart and it was very clear that she was not happy.

"If that beast jumps on me again I will kill it. Do you understand?" Her eyes then trailed towards the cat. "I am not a tree! You do not climb on me!" A low growl then escaped her throat, almost as fierce as if she were in her dragon form at this moment.

"I retract my previous statement. You may put the cat in the pie."

Just as Eckhart expected, all Belladonna had done was make Kaida angry- almost unnaturally so. "What were you thinking! She's a dragon! A dragon! She's more than capable of killing us!"

"But, um, I..." Eckhart stammered. "I can't put her in a shepherds pie! Shepherds don't herd cats!" Giving Kaida a sympathetic look, he'd try to calm her down. "Look, why don't we just keep moving? I can see the market stalls from-"

Belladonna laughed gleefully, cutting Eckhart off. "Woo! I haven't had that much fun since Vanya and I figured out how to cast silencing wards on people!" Jumping back onto Eckhart's bag, she purred loudly. "Tuna Fish lets me climb him. He smells nice too- unlike you, flower child."

Eckhart went red in the face. "Bella, shut uuuuup." he whined. "You're gonna get us killed!" He hurriedly began walking towards the market stalls, looking out for the ingredients he'd need to get. "Come on, lets just get the food and pretend this never happened."

Internally she was laughing that Eckhart took her so seriously about putting the cat into the pie. Clearly, Kaida would never eat a cat... at least she never planned on it. Even she was happy he turned the conversation towards moving in the direction of the stalls. Maybe, just maybe, she could find someone willing to buy a magic cat. She would give them a good deal of course. "I'll show you flower child you stupid feline. Probably trade you in for some actually"

The wheels were already turning on how to get rid of this horrible beast.

"Tuna fish?"

As she walked she looked over her shoulder at Eckhart, hoping he would explain this one to her. "Why does it call you tuna fish?" Blinking she looked him up and down as if she had missed him having scales or a tale or something.

"Oh, um, well..." began Eckhart, a bit thrown off by Kaida's sudden question. "My jacket, it belonged to a fisherman before I got it, like, ten years ago." He scratched his head. "I guess the smell never washed out of it or something?"

"Nope!" Belladonna chimed in. "It smells amazing."

"I can't smell it anymore." Eckhart continued. "A lot of people have pressured me to get rid of it over the years, but it's a perfectly good coat y'know? It's warm, big enough to be used as a blanket, and and it was only twenty bits!" He beamed at Kaida. "If I were to buy a new one, it'd probably cost seventy bits, and I don't have that kind of money."

Suddenly Eckhart saw the stall he was looking for. Various cuts of meat were laid out on the counter for display, all of it fresh. Eckhart's mouth watered- he'd never had enough money to afford high quality meat like the stuff being sold here. He turned to Kaida.

"What kind do you want? The recipe normally uses mutton, but I could easily swap it out for beef or venison if you wanted."

"Practical I guess"

Even Kaida could see that sometimes you have to make the best out of a situation. She wouldn't judge him for his jacket as he may have thought. He had no money despite the fact his sister was living it up in Zannaric, perhaps she should keep that bit to herself.

As they approached the stall of meat Kaida's stomach churned in the most unpleasant way. Turning away from the stall she placed a hand over her lips as if she may vomit. "I don't care just pick one and get on with it." She couldn't bring herself to turn back around and look at the meat and so started walked towards another stall.

Nothing really caught her complete attention as she walked along the line of stalls, her eyes peering in and skimming each and every single one of them. She had hoped that while she strolled alone Eckhart would finish up getting whatever it was he needed for the pie he was going to make.

Kaida did though stop at one stall and purchase something...

Eventually, she made her way back towards the feral beast and Cranberry with an almost smile on her face. "I found something useful" Kaida then patted a package she held at her side but did not reveal what it was.

With Kaida seemingly sickened by the sight of the raw meat, Eckhart was left alone to purchase the ingredients. He ended up settling on mutton- it was what the recipe called for, after all. He then purchased an onion, three large potatoes, two carrots, and some corn. "I already have the salt, pepper, and broth in my bag, so all I need now is a dish!" he told Belladonna excitedly as he put the ingredients in his backpack. "This is going to be awesome!"

"Why are you cooking for her again?" the cat asked. "She doesn't strike me as the type who likes human food."

Eckhart paused at this. "I'm... not actually sure." he confessed. "She asked me to? It was all a blur." He scratched the back of his head. "I suppose it's better than her trying to kill me again."

"Why did she try to kill you the first time again?"

Eckhart paused again. "... I have no idea."

Belladonna scoffed. "Sounds like a complicated broad. You seem to attract the crazies, you know that?"

Eckhart went red in the face. "Let's not talk about that."

It was then that Kaida reappeared with a small parcel at her side. "Oh, um, hey!" Eckhart said. "I only have one thing left to get." He eyed the package with interest. "I don't suppose that's a casserole dish?"

When Eckhart pointed out the package held at her side Kaida jerked her head to the side, keeping her gaze from his.

"No... no it's not."

She didn't really have anything else to say about it and honestly didn't want to leave the conversation hanging like that.

"Let's go get a casserole dish then."

And then Kaida reverted back to her normal self as she eyed the cat next. "I see the thing is still with us."

"Did you think that I was leaving?" Belladonna said snidely as Eckhart began to make his way to the glassblowers stall. "Eckhart is my human now, so he stays with me." She gave the dragon a look. "Did you want some alone time with him?"

"Oh, knock it off Bella." Eckhart grumbled. "Could you at least try to be nice? Please?"

"No."

Eckhart sighed as he purchased the rectangular dish. "Sweet Ansgar, this is getting ridiculous. At least Kaida seems to be taking it in stride now." After paying the man, he turned back to Kaida. "Okay, that's everything! Now we just need to find someplace with a wood stove we can use!"

Eckhart's cheeks flushed a bit, and he looked at his feet so as not to meet the dragon's gaze. "Thank you for lending me the money. I... I really appreciate it. I don't have much, my family never has." He looked up, but he found himself unable to look Kaida in the eyes- so he looked at her nose instead. "It really, um, means something to me. I promise that when I have the money, I'll pay you back, okay?"

Feeling slightly more entitled than the feline Kaida only lifted her nose in the air. She wasn't going to give it the satisfaction of getting a rise out of her even if we all know it did.

Her snide attitude though quickly crumbled when Eckhart turned bashful. The very reaction caused her to stop in her tracks as she was confused. Was someone thankful.... to her? This surely was something new for the young dragon. Never had someone thanked her for anything... ever.

When he mentioned paying her back one day with money though the wheels began turning in her mind. It caused her way of thinking to revert back to the very first day she met him. "How about instead you can just owe me a favor." This favor, of course, being that when he realized his true potential that he would join the ranks of her future plan.

Despite how much good or bad she did Kaida would always carry the same plan in mind. Special beings deserved to be recognized and so she would forever seek them out. She would lead them on the path they were meant to stride down instead of living in fear or confusion. And then, when she brought them all together she would make sure they showed the world how truly 'special' they were.

Eckhart's eyes widened. "She... really doesn't want the money back? Just a favor?" He nodded hurriedly. "Yes! That sounds great!" He gave the dragon a genuine smile. "Thank you!"

"Y'know, maybe she's not terrible." Eckhart thought. "She seems to understand my money situation at least."

Eckhart remembered passing an inn that had a communal kitchen, so he led Kaida there. Upon reaching it however, he realized it was packed. He turned to Kaida with a disappointed look on his face. "I think we'll need to wait. Hopefully the meat won't have gone bad by the time it's our turn."

As they walked down the street towards the inn Kaida couldn't help but eye the cat in disgust. She would never understand why people kept such menial company. First her brother with that mutt and her clone and now Cranberry with this fuzzball. Before she knew it Jaela would be towing around some horrible creature.

"What is this world coming to?" she sighed to herself, barely audible for anyone to hear but herself.

When they arrived where Eckhart was leading them Kaida's frustration only worsened when she saw the line. "Have you not been paying attention Cranberry? I wait for no one.."

Kaida's mouth then curled into a sinister smile as her crimson eyes scanned the crowd. "Plug your ears."

From her small frame, a growl then escaped her throat and almost immediately the line of people were grasping at their stomachs. It really was quite simple making someone feel sick with a bit of vertigo. In a matter of minutes, the crowd had cleared, the lot of them probably rushing to the nearest outhouse or bush to upchuck their meals.

"Seems like it's our turn now."

Eckhart's eyes widened as he lifted his hands to his ears. "Kaida, why can't we just-"

Kaida interrupted him with a low growl. People in the crowd began to get dizzy and fall over, and many of them ran away clutching their stomachs. "...wait our turn." Eckhart finished, feeling dejected.

Eckhart heard Belladonna laugh from behind him. "Ha! You need to keep this girl around, Tuna Fish! She's hilarious!"

Eckhart craned his neck to look at the cat on his shoulder. "Wait, I didn't clog your ears. How are you-"

"Oh yeah, I can use any spells you know. That's part of being bound." She scratched her ear. "I never told you that?"

"You haven't told me a lot of things." Eckhart muttered. Sighing, he walked through the doors of the inn. "Come on, before somebody realizes we were the ones who did this."

Kaida followed Eckhart inside with a wide smile on her face. She really was feeling quite accomplished with all the problems she had managed to solve throughout the day. First, there were the horses and now this.

"You worry too much." She chimed in as she jumped up to take a seat on the counter. "You really have to learn to let loose. Use your abilities to your advantage and make your life easier. Everyone does it."

It was her own way of justifying her actions. Take a step or be stepped on... or at least that was what Emelia had always told her.

Kaida then eyed the cat who unfortunately was still tagging along. "Pets aren't allowed in kitchens... SCRAM."

As Belladonna scampered off, Eckhart looked at Kaida in confusion. "Let loose?" He took the ingredients out of his bag and set them on the counter next to where the dragon was sitting. Taking out his scalpel, he began to peel the potatoes. "I'm, uh, not sure I can." he admitted. "I know I'm not the most fun person to be around. You're not the first person to tell me."

"I'm not sure why I'm telling her this.' Eckhart thought to himself. "Although I got to admit, she is really easy to talk to."

Echart laughed quietly as finished peeling the first potato and began working on the second one. "You should've seen how my sister treated me. She'd call me on it all the time." He picked up the last potato. "Although I think she just liked putting me down, y'know?"

He looked up at Kaida. "What's your sister like? Like, I get she's evil, but when she's not doing that world exploding whatever. Is she as bad as mine can get?"

So they were going to talk about sisters now.... lovely.

Taking in a large breath Kaida prepared to unleash the story that was Emelia Black-Hearth on him.

"If I ever showed more attention to any of my other siblings they usually got in trouble in some messed up sort of way. Emelia was possessive over me, which as a child I did not mind. I could literally do anything I wanted with no repercussions."

Kaida smiled, self-reflecting a bit now on why she was the way she was. "I didn't really know what the word 'no' meant."

"However, as I got older and began acting on my own I noticed how much Emelia thought she had her claws in me. If I ever had one on one time with Aeizith she would always appear. Or if she got wind of me having a heart-to-heart with any of my siblings without her I was suddenly betraying her."

Kaida then paused as she eyed the potatoes he was peeling. ".. then there was the food."

Immediately her face twisted as if she were going to vomit. "I didn't realize it when I was younger, but looking back now I noticed how she was always pushing me to eat... people. Like I think she got some kind of rise out of it."

Kaida then visually gagged as her complexion fell even more pale than normal. "Now every time I eat I think that somehow someone is getting off on it."

Putting down the peeled potato, Eckhart stared at Kaida with wide eyes. "Holy shit, that's fucked up." he said after a few moments. "And this person is still out there somewhere?"

"Wait, does this mean she doesn't eat people anymore?" Eckhart thought. His shoulders- which had been tense all morning- began to relax. "I feel for you. I'm not sure how I'd deal with a person like that in my life." he said as he filled a pot with water and began to boil the potatoes. He began to use his scalpel to chop the onion next, trying his hardest to ignore the fumes.

"Hildegarde wasn't quite as bad, though she had her moments. You know how some people are, like, born lucky? That was her." Finally finishing with the onion, Eckhart wiped the tears out of his eyes and got to work chopping the carrots. "Her powers made her the pride of our family, and she really enjoyed pointing out that I was nowhere near her level. Every day there was something." He began to speak in a passable imitation of his older sister. "Eckhart, you can't mend broken bones yet? That's like a seal who doesn't know how to swim!"

"And you still can't mend them." a small voice in his head reminded him.

Eckhart smiled meekly. "I mean, she's not wrong about me, I've always been a bit of a joke. I'm not even sure why I'm trying anymore." He finished cutting the carrots and turned to look at the dragon. "Do you want corn, or no corn? Not everybody likes it in shepherds pie."

When Eckhart mentioned those who are born lucky all Kaida could think of was her own sister. Even now she was 'lucky', getting to live despite the wrongs she had placed on the world.

"I don't think Hildegarde quite knows what you can really do Cranberry." Kaida then reached down and picked up a piece of the potato Eckhart had discarded and immediately regretted it. Unbeknownst to him, she spit it back out and then flicked it across the kitchen. "I'm going to die eating this... I know it already."

"Don't cut yourself off from the world just because you think you're not good enough. Take it from someone who knows. If you are constantly comparing yourself to your siblings then you will get nowhere on your own. I mean... look at me! Electi with his emotional bullshit, Emelia with her power trips, Eira with her little garden and Aeizith with his ice. All of my siblings did something different and never once did I think I was inferior to them."

"I may not be able to suck someone into a void or freeze them solid into a human popsicle but I can do great things all on my own. And that is exactly what you have to do.... make those abilities of yours your own."

It may have sounded like Kaida was giving some kind of inspirational speech, and maybe she was a little bit, but there was more behind it. She was pushing him towards something. Something that only he could discover if he looked hard enough.

"No corn please"

Upon hearing Kaida's motivational speech, Eckhart's face turned a deep shade of red. "Th-thank you for believing in me." He said quietly. "It means something."

Abruptly Eckhart looked up from the counter. "Wait. Eira is your sister?"

Here she was, laying out this wonderful inspirational speech for Eckhart and all he could focus on was Eira. Immediately Kaida's expression reflected the pure disdain on what had just happened.

"You and every other boy in the world..." Kaida presuming Eckhart had a small crush on her older sister now.

"Yes, Eira Black-Hearth is my sister. You know... the delicate and fragile girl with locks of flowy hair." Kaida ran her own hands through her hair as she began to mock how she saw Eira. She even shifted her voice into a higher pitch to insult her further. "Oh no, Kaida! Don't hurt humans... I want to study them because secretly I wish I were one."

And if Eckhart didn't laugh... it didn't matter. Because by the end of it Kaida had amused herself plenty enough to be caught in an inescapable fit of laughter.

As he put the chopped onions and carrots in a pan, Eckhart's mind flooded with memories of the girl he had met in the woods a few months ago. Some of the stranger aspects of the encounter made sense now that he knew who she actually was. "Randomly cutting yourself is totally a Black-Hearth thing." Eckhart decided. "I could easily see Kaida doing that too."  He put the pan on top of the wood stove- which was conveniently already lit- and then leaned against the counter as he let the vegetables cook.

Eckhart's eyes widened as the dragon began to mock her sister. He shook his head. "Kaida, I agree with you that your sister is kinda weird but... why would you want to hurt humans? What makes you think that's okay?"

The fit of laughter was short lived as Eckhart's question had killed that mood. It seemed as though he was looking for conversation of a more serious variety and so Kaida happily obliged. Her demeanor changed in an instant from the laughing girl to someone who was more than annoyed but enraged by a single thought.

"Why would humans want to hurt dragons? What makes them think that's okay? What makes humans think they are so high and mighty that they can strap a saddle to our backs and ride us like horses? What makes humans think it is okay to wage wars against other creatures simply because we are different?"

She didn't mean to seem so harsh when she said it but Eckhart had just uncovered the very basis of Kaida's ideals. This was why she hated humans on most days because they were so incredibly stupid. Well most of them were anyways...

"So why not torture the ones that would do the same to me if they could? Why not kill those who would see my head hanging on their wall as a prize? It's self-preservation Eckhart and the sooner you realize how ugly this world really is the better off you will be."

"I am not afraid or ashamed of what I am. I am a dragon that would kill a human in an instant if it meant I could put at least a small dent into the deluded fantasies carried about my kind. Would you?"

Eckhart stared quietly at the dragon as she went on about her beliefs. When she had finished, he spoke.

"Kaida... Maybe that's what you tell yourself. Maybe you even believe it. But I never did any of those things, and yet when we first met..." Eckhart trailed off before continuing. "That wasn't about self-preservation. How many others like me were there? Ones who couldn't fight back?" He shook his head angrily. "Don't pretend to have some kind of moral high ground when you clearly don't."

Suddenly realizing who he'd just said that to, he quickly turned away and began to unpack the meat. "I'm sorry." he whispered timidly. "I'm really sorry, I shouldn't have said that. It's not my place."

"Your damn straight it's not your place!" Oh, how he had just struck a nerve.

Part of Kaida knew that Eckhart would never understand the road she had been down. He had only met her once on a bad day if that was what you would even call it. She was still trying to figure out what path in life she wanted to take. Humans were still a matter of amusement to her... nothing more and nothing less.

"When we first met I asked you to kill yourself yes. Why? Because I was bored!" Shifting on the counter Kaida then whipped her head back to laugh. "If you had met me before that I wouldn't have asked."

"You don't know me Eckhart and you probably never fully will. I used to kill people just for looking at me the wrong way." Tilting her head back up to look at the meek boy Kaida blinked, realizing that she actually had come so far.

"If you had asked me that same question I would have said because humans are nothing more than insects in the world I live in." Her tone was dripping with hate as she continued. "That perspective has changed, but the way I see some of you would be the same way you would look at a slave owner."

Once again Eckhart was quiet, although his eyes widened a bit when Kaida admitted that she used to kill people for no reason at all. "So that philosophy of hers is recent then. That's... good to know, I guess." When the girl had finished speaking, Eckhart managed to sputter out a quiet "Y-yes, right."

Eckhart remained quiet as he added the meat to the pan. He seasoned it with salt and pepper before sitting down on the counter as Kaida had. Desperately wanting to change the subject to something less emotional, Eckhart began thinking of things they could have a conversation about. "Um, so, Kaida?"

"Whatever you do, don't ask about her family or her own personal morals. Get her to talk about something else."

"Did you know the minister of this county is a murderer? Bella saw her do it! Isn't that crazy?"

"Yeah Eckhart, I'm sure human politics is something she cares about. Good going."

It was clear that Kaida had intimidated him, his sudden change in topic telling her so. Maybe she had been a bit harsh and felt the need to defend her actions more than she should have, but if he was putting that conversation behind them then so would she.

"And?" They way she said it made it seem like she didn't even care. If anything it was a perfect example of how humans did nothing more than destroy one another.

"She sounds delightful." Okay so now maybe she was pushing it a little too far. "Stop acting like a monster Kaida. Get your shit together!"

"I mean... it's really not that uncommon for someone to become a murderer, is it? Seems like everyone I have ever talked to has killed someone at some point in their life."

As Eckhart thought, Kaida didn't seem too interested- she actually seemed to find it funny, which Eckhart honestly found to be very disturbing. Then the dragon stated that she'd never met somebody who wasn't a murderer, which caused Eckhart to slowly raise his hand.

"Me. I've never killed anybody- I mean, I have life magic. How could I? It fixes thing, that's all it does. All I can do." He lowered his hand and smiled. "I like that about me though. It's like, my sister got all the bad magic in our family, and I got all the good magic, y'know?"

"Life magic? Seriously?"

Kaida couldn't keep herself from bursting out in laughter again, almost falling off of the counter from shaking so hard. It was obvious that he wouldn't get why she was reacting this way which probably made it even more comical.

"If you say so" she managed to get out between chuckles, a hand moving to her side as the pain of laughing so hard started taking its toll. It took a minute, but she had managed to calm herself enough to speak more clearly.

"It's definitely true that you and your sister got something entirely different... that's for sure."

Eckhart was taken aback by Kaida's sudden laughter. "Is there something funny about never having killed somebody? I don't think that's funny." He swallowed. "Oh god, is she going to ask me to kill somebody now? Because I won't do it."

Eckhart nervously tried to laugh along. "Haha, yeah. Our powers really are polar opposites- though I guess you know that. I, um, heard about your encounter with her." He gave Kaida an understanding smile. "If it makes you feel better, she beats everybody. Most of the time she doesn't even try, she just uses... Chloride, I think it's called. I've ever only seen her go full ham on somebody once, when a pack of werewolves tried to attack town. It was like something out of a child's power fantasy." Eckhart shuddered. "I trained myself to hold my breath after that. My record is three and a half minutes."

Eckhart looked at Kaida, curious. "What kind of magic did your sister have?"

Kaida recalled her first run in with Hildegarde and smirked. To this day she couldn't get over the fact that she let someone get the best of her like that. Apparently is was a Von Musel specialty.

"She was a pain that's for sure. But nothing physical ever came of it. Both of us walked away with something far more important to worry about. No time killing each other just yet... we have business first."

Well, that was an inconvenient question...

"Void magic." One of the most powerful yet unsustainable abilities a dragon could hold. Kaida, of course, wasn't blessed with such a gift and other than Emelia and Aeizith none of the other Black-Hearth siblings carried it.

"It's a bit overrated if you ask me. It's dangerous and unreliable, completely useless in some cases and overkill in others. Definitely not something I would classify as 'unique'."  That was all that Kaida cared about after all. Individuality, uniqueness... something that no one else could duplicate.

Eckhart's brow furrowed as he took the potatoes out of the pot and put them in a bowl. "Wait, what the fuck is void magic? Doesn't "void" mean, like, nothing? How can you have "nothing" magic?" He began to mash the potatoes with a fork, adding salt and pepper for seasoning. "Come to think of it, Eira's magic didn't make much sense either. Like, how do you heal people with earth magic?" Eckhart shook his head. "Your family is weird."

Suddenly remembering a question he had asked himself a few hours ago, Eckhart turned to Kaida with a look of child-like curiosity on his face. "Hey, so, uh, I was wondering..." he began, shifting his body weight a little. "That thing you did to me when we first met, where you toched me and I kinda dissolved a little bit? What is that?"

"Poison..." Kaida straightened herself on the counter, happy to talk about something that could lead Eckhart to realize something all on his own. "You saw me use it again on those guys earlier that were attacking you didn't you?" Thinking back now she had actually only used it on one of them, and he wasn't even conscious for it, how unsatisfying.

"Ever heard of a poisonous frog? They emit some kind of nasty slime that could kill you. A natural defense. Mine causes your flesh and healthy tissue to decay at a rapid pace." Kaida then lifted her hand, facing her palm towards him before wiggling her fingers. "It comes from my skin. Nothing magical about it really."

"Imagine trying to play tag when I was younger. No one ever wanted to play with me..." Kaida then pouted. "Well except Emelia. She wasn't afraid of me."

Eckhart's eyes widened. "But that's really cool! I love nifty biology stuff like that! Did you know that there's a species of bird Thanatos that does the same thing as dart frogs? Except instead of mucous, the dander from it's feathers is toxic!" Eckhart paused to take a breath. "Y'know, a lot of toxins can be used as reagents in potions? Have you ever had your venom looked at by a alchemist? I know a woman who does stuff like that if you were interested."

"Actually..." Eckhart said, outstretching his arm. "Can you show me again?"

For some reason, Kaida suddenly felt like some kind of science experiment to Eckhart. Immediately she pulled her hand back, holding it to her chest. "What do I look like to you? I am not a bird, or a frog, or any of those things."

"No one is ever going to analyze and deconstruct my venom. It's mine!"

She truly was insulted by his simple question. Maybe Eckhart wasn't as special as she thought he was. "You don't see me wanting to rip you apart and see what makes you tick do you?" Okay, so maybe a while ago that was exactly what she would have done. I mean, the is what she did to Jaela in a sense... but this is different. Kaida is different now.

Leaning her head back Kaida sighed, knowing that Eckhart would have no idea what she was talking about now. "I really was quite sickening then... wasn't I?"

Eckhart stared at Kaida in shock. "She's offended? I thought she'd jump at the opportunity!" He slowly retracted his hand. "I-I'm sorry! I didn't mean it like that!" Eckhart's face flushed red in embarrassment. "I-it's just that I only ever learn new powers when I'm in danger. I just- I just thought that if you tried your venom again, maybe I'd figure something out!" He hung his head, staring at his feet. "I didn't realize..."

So that was it? Eckhart simply wanted to see if he figured something new out... interesting.

"Well, why didn't you just say so then?" After that Kaida slid off the counter and walked up to Eckhart with no warning. "If you die it's not my fault.." the only words before she grabbed his wrist, squeezing lightly as the venom began escaping her skin.

Eckhart's eyes lit up as Kaida grabbed him and let her venom seep into his arm. Grinning madly through the pain, he began to regenerate his cells at a slow pace that would allow him to study how the corruption took place while still keeping him safe from any lasting consequences.

Or at least, that's what Eckhart thought. As he watched in fascination, he suddenly felt the tips of his fingers go numb. He shrugged it off until he he couldn't feel his pinky finger anymore, and that's when he began to panic. "Oh, shit! That's not good!"

Gasping in shock, Eckhart shook Kaida off of him. "Sweet Angar, why didn't you tell me this stuff targeted the nervous system too?" he yelled in panic as he regenerated the rest of his cells. As he feared, healing his flesh did nothing to stop to slow spread of numbness through his hand. He couldn't feel his ring finger now, and Eckhart began to get very scared. "I-I don't know if nerve damage is something I can fix!" he thought- then he realized that this was exactly why he had asked Kaida to attack him in the first place. "Oh Ansgar, I'm so fucking stupid. Why did I do that?"

"Look at the face she's making right now. If you don't figure something out, you'll cement your status as a joke of a human being. Do you want that"

Eckhart's demeanor changed completely. "No. I'm sick of being seen as weak." he thought, and his expression became one of determination rather than fear. Lifting his non-corrupted arm to the back of his neck, Eckhart's fingers began to glow a pale blue-green. It was an act of desperation- he didn't expect it to work.

Then it did work.

Eckhart could feel it- as if his fingers had extended inside his body, allowing him to touch his central nervous system. Eyes wide, a small smile began to form on his face. "Ok, this is new. I like it." After maybe thirty seconds of fiddling, he felt what he thought might control the nerves in his arm and pulled.

Immediately Eckhart couldn't feel his arm at all, and it fell limply to his side. Looking at the dragon with tears in his eyes, his voice trembled. "I just gave myself ataxia. Please help me."

Taking a step back Kaida watched as Eckhart tried to fix the damage she had just inflicted hoping he really would gain something from this. While her face appeared entertained deep down Kaida was studying him, her eyes watching his every move as she prayed he would come closer to the truth that she knew.

"You can do it Cranberry... I believe in you." Of course, she would never say that out loud.

When Eckhart reached behind his neck Kaida's brow raised, curious as to what he may be doing. As he smiled Kaida came to the conclusion that he was figuring it out. "Yes that's it... now what?" She was growing excited for him, thinking this may finally be the moment he figures it all out.

However, when his arm fell limp she tilted her head.  "I told you that if you die it wasn't my fault. I'm not a doctor... I don't know how to fix this." She then smiled, having just fed him a partial lie. No, she couldn't fix what he had just done however, she could easily retract the poison simply by touching the afflicted area but... he didn't need to know that.

"Best figure something out quick... the clock is ticking.."

"You- you can't help?"

Now feeling very frightened, Eckhart reached for the back of his neck one more. Before he could try again, a sharp voice from the doorway stopped him dead in his tracks.

"Eckhart!" hissed Belladonna as she limped towards him. It would appear that the bond they shared had cause her front leg to go limp as well. "What the fuck are you doing?"

Eckhart's eyes widened. "Bella! Thank Ansgar you're here, I accidentally gave myself ataxia by messing with- OW!" Eckhart yelped as Maladies Most Unusual lifted itself of his bag and threw itself at Eckhart's head.

"Page sixty-seven, now!" Belladonna meowed angrily as she began rummaging through Eckhart's bag with magic. "I can't believe you sometimes, you can't just experiment like that! You need a proper test environment, which I do not see here. Now, please tell me you have basil in here somewhere."

Eckhart awkwardly placed his limp arm in a position where is could hold the book open and began flipping through the pages. Suddenly he looked up at Kaida with an very serious expression on his face.

"Could you please take the meat and vegetables off the stove before they burn? Just... just put them on the counter or something."

This wondrous moment was about to go perfectly. Cranberry was about to figure out his special gift and Kaida was about to be able to tell him she knew all along. A very faint smile rested on her lips as she waited in anticipation. However... then the fucking cat came in.

Immediately the slight of a smile shifted downwards and Kaida found herself restraining from reaching out and strangling the furball in question. A very deep and annoyed sigh escaped her lips as her eyes darted between the two. "He was so close"

Eckhart then asked Kaida to take the meat and vegetables off of the stove and part of her was offended again. "What the hell do I look like to him? I am no one's fucking assistant!" Yet she still moved towards the stove, grabbing the pans in question and moving them to the counter.

Her eyes were then on him again and Kaida wasn't sure if she wanted to cry or just kill them both. That stupid cat had just ruined everything! So much time she had invested in watching him grow and now the perfect time came and they were so close! Clearly, he wasn't ready... would he ever be? Already Kaida was questioning if her interest in this boy was just a waste of time.

"I need to go.. umm..." It was obvious that Kaida was upset. "... I have somewhere else I need to be."

Eckhart looked up from Maladies in shock. "B-but... I thought you wanted to try my food..." It was odd for him to admit, but he was beginning to get used to Kaida's presence. She scared him sometimes, but Eckhart could believe that deep down, she was an okay person. "Do you really want to argue with her though? You've see what she can do."

Before Eckhart could speak, Belladonna replied. "Leave then. The boy doesn't need any more stress in his life." Levitating some herbs and a pestle out of the bag, she began to crush them into a fine powder. "How long does it say to mash these for? It's been a while since I made this one."

"Um, forty-one seconds." Eckhart said, looking back down at the book. Glancing back at Kaida, Eckhart felt a pang of guilt. "What did I say? I thought I was doing... kinda well? I mean, she was being nice-ish to me."

"B-before you leave, um..." Eckhart said sadly. "Did you want... something different?"

"No..." Kaida's tone was emotionless as she made her way towards the door. "I'll be back in a bit, just have to take care of something is all..." and then she slipped out, completely ignoring the insult the feline spewed at her. If anything it helped Kaida confirm that she hated that cat and if she had anything to do with it... she would find a way to get rid of it.

She walked out of the inn, stepping into the street before her eyes flicked both way down the street. The stupid festival was still going on and Kaida wanted nothing to do with any kind of joyous celebration. Instead, she opted to go the opposite direction, soon finding herself walking down a dark street barely illuminated by the lanterns lit for the festival.

"Finally some peace and quiet" she mumbled, taking a turn to lean against an empty building. Over and over again Kaida then lightly thumped her head against the stone, debating on what her next step was.

"Maybe all of this was useless. Maybe I am wasting my time trying to do this..." The moment her head began to hurt she stopped, deciding just to rest it there as she looked up at the stars. "Emelia was so much better at this than I was."

She would be lying if she didn't say it was times like these that she missed her eldest sister. At least then she had someone to talk to that didn't see her as some kind of monster. Yes, those were the days when everything just fell into her hands at the snap of a finger. Everything was so much harder now without having someone to talk to. Even Aeizith had turned his back on her, of course, it was her own fault but still... it was clear blood did not run thicker than water.

"Emelia... if you're out there... I miss you..." Kaida talked to the stars as if somehow her message could be heard. A small tear then began to build in her eye as she continued. "At least you cared..." Kaida's face then fell as she looked at her flats on the pavement. Emelia cared, yes that was true but Emelia also had her own selfish reasons too. "... too bad your dead." So what if there were rumors she was alive? Apparently, there was even a human strutting around who looked just like her. But Kaida knew there was no way Emelia could ever get an infection... Eckhart said it himself that this woman had one. For now, she was just going to pretend it was all coincidence... Emelia was dead.

Emilia cursed loudly as her left foot got stuck in the mud. "Sweet Nevira! This swamp is a genuine travesty! Beauty in nature? Ha! That's a laugh." The human woman struggled for a few minutes, desperately trying to pull herself free. It was to no avail, and she angrily sat down in the muck, a look of defeat written upon her face.

"Defeat." That was a word Emilia thought about often. Had she been defeated? It would certainly appear so to the average onlooker, but Emilia knew better. After all, defeat had conditions that needed to be met.

Who had she been defeated by? Certainly not Aeizith, that wasn't right. He had never truly challenged her and won- even their most recent encounter had ended in a decisive victory for Emilia. More importantly, defeat only came after surrender. With nobody to surrender to, Emilia's "defeat" was impossible. Victory would come- so long as Emilia kept fighting, she'd win.

Emilia pulled herself out of the mud, a look of renewed determination on her face. Looking up at the night sky, she outstretched her hand and clenched it, as if she was trying to grasp the stars in the palm of her hand. She slowly brought her fist back to her chest. "This will all be mine again." the woman said in a barely audible whisper. "That's who I am, and it's who I'll always be- the one on top."

The human resumed walking, a small smirk on her face.


Eckhart looked at the food he had made, a sad expression on his face. The cure from Maladies had worked- they always did- and he flexed his arm absentmindedly. "Do you think she'll come back?"

Belladonna gave Eckhart an incredulous look. "Why would you want her to? She's nothing but trouble, you know that."

Eckhart sighed, and began to put the meat and vegetables in the casserole dish. "I don't think she... understands, really. Like, I don't think she's a bad person..." He paused. "...lizard. A bad lizard." He shook his head, and began to put the potatoes on top of the meat. "I think we just... I dunno, have different perceptions of morality or something."

"I'm pretty sure she's just a bitch, Tuna Fish. You know some people are just bad eggs, right?"

Eckhart put the pie in the wood stove and sat down on the counter. "Yeah. You're probably right. She was probably planning on eating me or something, I don't know what her deal is."

"She did save my life though- and she let me keep the earring. That has to mean something, right?"

Still looking down at her flats Kaida contemplated if she should even go back inside. She was sure Cranberry was relieved she was gone anyways... If anything she was beginning to feel more like a bother to him than anything. Maybe, that was why he hadn't realized his true potential yet... because she was standing in his way.

Kaida may seem like many things. A monster yes, a selfish person yes, an entitled brat...yes. But what someone seems to be like and who they truly are can be two separate things. Deep down all Kaida wanted was to be recognized which was hard considering the curse Emelia had placed on their name.

Looking back up at the stars Kaida then reached up, unknowingly mimicking the same exact thing Emelia had just done. "One day every star will have a name... a name that I helped them find." Closing her grip she then lowered her hand, a newfound determination emanating off of her.

Wiping her eyes Kaida straightened herself up before she began making her way back towards the inn. It was a short walk and as she closed the distance she could hear the festival and its occupants again. "Still annoying"

Walking back into the door she made her way towards the kitchen and leaned against the doorway taking notice that Eckhart was using his hand again. "So you fixed it then?" Her tone was curious although she knew he probably did it with the help of that stupid book and the irritating cat.

"Glad to know you're not dying today... I guess."

Shocked, Eckhart turned towards the door. "You- you're back!" he sputtered. "I thought you'd left..." On being asked about his arm, Eckhart gave her a thumbs up. "Um, yes. The cures in Maladies, they're very easy to make. Some of them are really useful too- there's a cure for vampirism is there!" He beamed at the dragon. "Now that I know how easy it is to repair nerve damage, I can practice that new power you helped me learn without having to worry about shutting off my entire body!"

From behind him, the cat sighed. "I know you're excited, but please don't overuse the book. You know who it might attract."

Eckhart looked at Belladonna with a disappointed expression on his face. "C'mon Bella." he whined. "Think of how useful that power will be once I figure it out! Next time I need to preform an operation, I can numb the part of the body I have to cut open so they won't feel any pain!"

Before Belladonna could object further, Eckhart turned back to Kaida. "I put the pie in the stove, it should be done in fifteen minutes!"

The young dragon really didn't have anything to say towards Eckhart's excitement of her return. Instead, she simply pushed off the door frame and made her way back towards the counter she was sitting on before.

As she walked Kaida listened to Cranberry speak to the cat about the book that ruined everything. She couldn't help but roll her eyes when he talked about how useful that ability would be if he could just figure it out. If anything it reminded her of an old saying. "You can lead a horse to water but can never make it drink..."

Jumping up onto the counter she sighed. "... even if shoving its face in the water would save me a lot of fucking time."

"I can't wait..." the lack of enthusiasm in her tone was evident.

So in fifteen minutes she could eat the stupid pie and be done with this. After that, she figured Eckhart could go on his merry little way with the feline. Speaking of which, if this cat was so awesome then where in the hell was it while he was being chased. "Probably off licking itself in some dark alley" she responded to herself, causing an amused smirk to appear on her lips.

"Well!" Belladonna said as she stretched her legs. "I'm going to see if I can't find the rat I was chasing. Later, Tuna Fish!" She scampered out of the room, leaving Eckhart alone with the dragon.

Eckhart was very confused. "You were the one who asked me to make this for you? Do you not want it now? What's your fucking problem?" After perhaps five minutes of silence, he finally spoke.

"Kaida? Are you..." he began, then shook his head. "Did... Did I do something wrong?"

Kaida leveled her eyes on Eckhart, his question causing something to stir deep down. "You remember Jaela don't you?" Yet again Kaida slipped off the counter and began walking towards the oven. "Did you know that Jaela is actually quite extraordinary?"

Kaida then knelt down and felt the heat of the oven touch her face. "She can control magma... something not very many elementals can do." It was now that she stood back up, placing a hand on each hip as she stared him down.

"I like extraordinary things Cranberry. I like to help them become the gems they were born to be." Her subtle expression then turned angry. "However if that gem is an idiot then there really isn't much I can do about it!"

"You are not a healer Eckhart... stop trying."

Eckhart stared blankly at the dragon. "What?"

"This isn't happening. I want to be a healer."

"You're joking, right?"

"I need to be a healer."

"Don't say things like that. I don't think it's funny."

"No. I am a healer..."

Tears began to stream down Eckhart's face when the dragon's expression failed to change. "You're lying. I heal people all the time- I healed myself earlier today! You saw me do it!"

"My powers can't be bad. I need good ones, or I'll become like her..."

"So tell me. What am I really?" Eckhart spat angrily, still crying. "The answer had better be the punchline to a joke, you scaly asshole."

Kaida flinched when he yelled at her, feeling a pang of guilt in her stomach. "I'm not quite sure exactly but I do have an idea. I noticed the very first time you used your light in front of me. That is why I retreated without harming you."

All at once she began to feel horrible for telling him. The entire time she had kept telling herself torture was not the proper way to bring it out, yet somehow just by her words alone she had sent this boy into his own personal hell.

"I-I'm sorry Eckhart. It's just that you were so close." Taking a deep breath Kaida's hands then fell to her sides in clenched fists. "That stupid cat and that ridiculous book ruined it!"

"You can be so much more than you are! So much more than your sister!"

Eckhart balled his fists, face wet with tears. "What do you mean you're not quite sure? Why would you tell me this if you didn't know?" Pulling his legs up onto the counter, he hugged them to his chest. "And how dare you call Belladonna stupid? You know nothing about the hell she's been through. Nothing!"

He shook his head angrily. "What makes you think I'd want to surpass Hilda? I'm fine with being number two. Only bad people are blessed with the power to make things change in their favor. I'm not bad, so I must be weak. That's how the world works."  Eckhart began to cry once more, burying his head into his knees. "If I'm strong, I'll become exactly like she is! Power corrupted her, and it'd corrupt me! I-I want to be weak!"

Tears flowed freely from his face as he looked at his knees. "J-just leave. I-I don't want you here a-anymore."

By this point Kaida had turned a bit from Eckhart, hiding her face as she battled the emotions building within herself. "Only bad people are blessed with the power to make things change in their favor" That statement alone enough to send what felt like a knife stabbing into her chest.

But then again, she could see why he thought that. Even Kaida had not been the penicle for good behavior to him. She has killed people in front of him, affiliated herself with his sister... need she go on? What was she supposed to say to something like that? There was no possible way for her to defend anything and make him feel better.

And then he was asking her to leave, telling her he did not want her around anymore. Honestly... she didn't blame him. "L-listen.." Kaida only turned herself more, now staring at the stove all to keep from having to meet his eyes and see the hell she had just unleashed on him.

"I'm sorry. I shouldn't have told you. But I don't think you're ever going to be capable of being a bad person." She then laughed, trying to imagine Eckhart as evil and then for some reason Eckhart dressed in a frilly pink dress came to mind.

Eckhart looked up at Kaida, eye's brimming with hatred. "Why are you still here?" he said, his voice soft. "Why are you laughing at me?"

Eckhart grabbed one of the pans from the counter and flung it at the dragon. "I said go away!"

Appalled was one word to describe how Kaida was feeling as she sidestepped the pan. Angry could be another, but also in some way she felt like she deserved the outburst. "I don't have time for this..."

"You know what! Fine!" Kaida huffed as she made her way towards the door, pausing just before stepping out.

"And people like you wonder why creatures like me act the way they do." Her eyes narrowed as hate began to build in her own chest. "Excuse me while I go be the monster you think I am. Clearly, I am not capable of anything else to you!"

Eckhart may have been dealing with some inner turmoil right now but Kaida was hurt. She was hurt that despite the kindness she had shown towards the boy that in the end he still hated her. Again she was asking herself if maybe all of this was a waste of time. All she did was try to be honest and help him in the only way she knew how and yet.. it still wasn't enough.

"Fine! I hope some hero fucking slays you!" Eckhart screamed back as the dragon stormed out. He  couldn't believe her nerve... And yet, he felt like he had done something wrong.

"...Tuna Fish? I heard yelling." Belladonna poked her head into the kitchen. Upon seeing Eckhart in tears, she rushed over to him. "Hey, hey, what's the matter? Did she hurt you?"

Eckhart shook his head. "She- she told me that- that I'm not a healer" he said in between sobs. "A-and that my powers are-"

"Eckhart, she's full of shit." Belladonna said, cutting him off. "Look, I've seen you do wonderful things for people with your magic. What she says and what you've actually accomplished are two very different things." The cat's eyes glowed, and the pie was levitated out of the oven and onto the counter. "I know I give you a lot of shit, but... I'm honestly impressed how you've turned out." Briefly glancing out the window, she continued. "And I think, if she ever met you, Vanya would be impressed too."

It was then that Eckhart broke. Tears flooded down his face like rain, and he scooped Belladonna into his arms and held her tightly. "Hey! You know I don't like snuggles." the cat protested, but Eckhart didn't care.

Maybe ten minutes later, Eckhart calmed down. The cat squirmed out of his arms, hair matted. "Ugh! Now I need to give myself another bath! Nice going, Tuna Fish."

Eckhart sniffled. "S-sorry Bella." He gave the cat a small smile. "You know, something good did come out of all this bullshit."

"Oh? What would that be?"

Eckhart took Kaida's coin purse out of his pocket. "I never gave it back after I payed for the ingredients."

Belladonna's eyes widened. "What! That's fucking legendary!"

Eckhart grinned wildly. "We don't need to worry about food anymore! And we could pay for a carriage instead of walking!"

"You could buy me some red snapper! I fucking love red snapper!"

"I suggest we celebrate by eating this pie Kaida so graciously bought for us!" Eckhart said with a smug grin.

The two friends would continue to mock the dragon for the rest of the night.