It was a puzzling answer for sure- in Axia's experience, what Eln had described was quite often very much not the way of things. Maybe that was just the way they did things in... wherever the heck it was that he was from. Yet another bit of information she'd have to add to her gradually growing knowledge base about him. It was progress, at least!

She nodded and began to follow behind when Eln told her to follow, only to quicken her pace a moment later to walk along side him, tilting her head up to offer him a smile. "So. Do you know how to start a fire? I'm guessing you do, right? You do seem like the type. But if you do need any help with it, well..." Her eyes lit up with an excited (or perhaps mischievous) sparkle. "Just give me the word. I'm pretty good at that kinda thing."

Clover frowned to herself as she stared down at her pendant, resting gently in her hand instead of its usual position around her neck. It had certainly seen better days- while the pendant itself was relatively unharmed, the chain responsible for actually allowing her to wear it had been damaged in a recent encounter with a less-than-friendly wild animal. It was for this reason that she now found herself wandering the streets of Ketra, searching high and low for somewhere she could get the chain repaired. Asking some of the locals for advice would probably go a long way towards finding one, but so far, her attempts at doing so hadn't gotten her any closer to her goal.

Theoretically, this was one of the few places where it should be relatively easy for her to communicate with others, many of the locals didn't seem particularly keen on interacting with her for whatever reason. A few of them even looked like they were afraid of her, which she really didn't get. Gods, what was with that? Did she really stick out so much for it to become this frequent of an occurrence?

She looked up from her pendant at just the right moment to witness a man stepping out into the street- perhaps she should try approaching him next. He certainly looked friendly enough, and his appearance stood out almost as much as her own- maybe he'd be a bit more sympathetic towards her?

Coming to a decision, Clover began to approach the odd man. She gave him a warm smile as she bounded up to him, raising one hand in greeting while the other maintained its grip on her pendant. It caught the light in a particular way as she approached, letting off a subtle glimmer as the light scattered off of it.

There it was again- Lady Axia. It still felt a bit strange to be referred to in such a manner- the number of people she'd come across that respected her enough to grant her a title like that were few and far between, and she still couldn't get a good read on how exactly Eln felt about her. At first it was borderline worship, then it was treating her like a child, then it was trying to kill her, and now... well, she supposed that if any version of Eln was going to stick around for good, she'd much prefer it to be this one, so it was probably best for her not to complain too much.

Axia acknowledged his warning about the hunters with a brief nod, but all things considered, she couldn't bring herself to get too concerned about the idea. She found it highly unlikely that they would risk their lives anymore that they'd already done, so while she did keep an eye on their surroundings while Eln got to work, she wasn't specifically watching for hunters. Instead, she took a moment to quietly scan the forest for anything interesting, her eyes lighting up ever so slightly whenever they caught a glimpse of a small animal or odd plant before her gaze finally landed back on Eln. The man hadn't said anything for a while, and he did look pretty focused on the task at hand, and maaaaybe she should try not to distract him too much, but...

Oh, screw it. She just couldn't help herself.

"I have a question," she blurted out suddenly, not bothering to wait for a response from Eln before continuing. "Why is it always 'Lady' Axia? You don't need to say that if you don't want to, you know. I'm not actually a 'Lady'." Okay, nope, that definitely didn't sound right. It was probably best to clarify what she meant. "Wait, no. I mean, I guess I am a lady. Just not, like, a 'Lady' lady. Like a 'proper' lady? Um... what I mean is that people don't usually call me 'Lady'. I'm not a noble or anything, soooo... usually it's just Axia. Or, uh... sometimes decidedly less nice names."

Tighearnán's movements did little to rouse Katarina from her sleep- if anything, she only ended up leaning in more heavily as time passed. It was only when she was verbally addressed with a question that she finally began to stir, her ears twitching as they picked up on his voice.

"Mmm... what? I am Kat. The hell kind of question is that...?" She quietly mumbled back at him, apparently still half asleep. It was at least enough to get her attention though, and she slowly shifted her weight off of him, stretching her arms up and letting out a massive yawn before one eye peeked open to shoot him a skeptical look.

"Wait. How'd you even know my name, anyway? I never told you that."

He didn't know. Again. It sure seemed like there was a lot about himself that he didn't know. Could it really be that he'd forgotten all of it? Or was that just the excuse he was using in order to avoid giving her any real answers?

It really did seem like Axia's questions weren't going to get any answers at this point, and every attempt to press him further only seemed to make him even more reluctant to respond. Maybe the best solution would be to leave it be for now and give him some time to come around, but... well, it wasn't like she could just call him nothing, and "Eln-of-I-forgot-the-rest-of-it" wasn't a particularly appealing alternative. She supposed he'd just have to be "Eln", at least for the moment.

She tensed up slightly when Eln asked permission to retrieve his axe, clearly not too thrilled with the thought of him with a potential weapon back in has hands. On the other hand, allowing him to take it would probably help to build up some trust- maybe there was still a chance for her to get some answers after all! Besides, surely he wouldn't be cruel or foolish enough to swing at her again, right?

"...Alright, you can take it. But..." She swiftly pushed herself off the ground and up to her feet, managing a hopeful smile despite the uneasy atmosphere. "I do want to go with you. Can't have you wandering off on your own, now, can I?"

The situation was only getting worse- a group of guards had placed themselves in her way, blocking her path to the wagon. Realistically speaking, there was almost no chance that she could take them all down without being fatally wounded herself, even with Lesley's help. That was what her brain told her, at least, but her heart was telling her something else- that if she didn't do something now something drastic, she'd never see him again. And while she wasn't sure what exactly it was that she wanted with him, it certainly wasn't that.

She made one last attempt to stand, only to collapse back down a moment later- but there was something distinctly different about it this time. The air around her rapidly heated up to a nearly unbearable temperature, and before long a circle of flames erupted around her, making it nigh impossible to approach her for the moment. The crackling of flames was soon accompanied by the sound of her cries as her body began to morph- dark scales erupted along her arms from seemingly nowhere, while a pair of matching horns grew atop her head.

Valerie lifted her head as her transformation came to an end, revealing a bright, almost reptilian eye. As the flames surrounding her died down, she was finally able to stumble back to her feet, her gaze fixed firmly ahead of her. She let out what could only be described as a roar before her half-draconic form charged forwards, her newly-formed claws fully prepped to tear through anything- or anyone- that got in between her and the wagon.

His answer was as frustrating as it was cryptic as it was frustrating. What on earth was she supposed to make of that? She supposed that she couldn't force him to give a proper explanation if he wasn't capable of doing so, but it did little to improve her mood or satisfy her curiosity.

Once again, she found herself watching Eln dig away at the flowered plants. The situation was now quite similar to how it had been just a few minutes ago- if it weren't for the newly formed air of unease, there was shockingly little evidence to show that there had ever been a fight between the two. She briefly glanced over at his axe- still lying harmlessly in the grass. If he really intended on trying to hurt her again, he was certainly giving her plenty of time to prepare herself.

"You're right, I won't listen. Not if all you're going to say is that you want me to leave, at least. I think I've made it pretty clear that I can take care of myself. Even if you... well, you know." She shifted around a bit uncomfortably, bringing her knees up to her chest and resting her arms on top.

She knew it was probably a bad idea to push him further on an answer for his attack, but she couldn't bring herself to put it completely out of her mind- at least not yet. It certainly didn't seem likely that she was going to get a clear explanation for it, but... maybe she could get idea about it if she knew a little more about him?

"If you don't want to talk about that anymore, maybe we can talk about something else. Like, hmm... oh, I know. Where are you from? Eln-of... of..." She tilted her head slightly as she racked her memories for the name he'd told her earlier, but ultimately found herself coming up short. "Um. I... may have forgotten the rest of it. Sorry."

His initial response only served to get Axia even more worked up. Was he lecturing her again? Really? After all this, he still had the audacity to tell her what she was doing wrong?

"Don't you dare try to tell me who I should and shouldn't trust. You'd be dead if I hadn't trusted you from the beginning." She snapped at him, and immediately felt bad for doing so. She wanted so badly to dig for something more hurtful, to wound his feelings in the same way that he'd done to her, but she found her will to fight draining quickly as his apology began to sink in. He really did seem like he meant it, like he was just as lost and confused about his actions as she was.

His answers weren't enough to satisfy her, though. She needed more from him- both her curiosity and her wounded trust demanded it. He'd told that she should stay away from him, but she'd never been the type to let someone else's advice get in the way of her doing what she wanted. And so, after taking a moment to wipe the tears from her eyes before they could fully take form, she made her way over and took a seat in the grass next to the boulder, her back and head resting against the rock.

"...Why are you so afraid of me? I never wanted to hurt you."

Axia's kick struck true and Eln stumbled away from her, his axe landing dangerously close to her after slipping from his grasp. She took the brief window of opportunity to put some distance between them, scrambling backwards while still keeping her eyes on him- she wasn't about to turn her back to him after that. Her arms remained in their defensive position, and the scales running along them began to emit a subtle glow, preparing to release a blinding flash of light if Eln were to attack again. The attack never came, though, and eventually she let her guard down slightly to find Eln struggling to get back on his feet.

Truth be told, it probably wouldn't be particularly difficult for her to kill him at this point. He was clearly in no condition to continue fighting against her if she shifted again, and even if he did have the strength to do so, he didn't seem to be making an effort to claim his axe. He was just sort of... sitting there. Like all of his will to fight had suddenly left his body, and he was just waiting for her to finish him off. Had she really hurt him that badly? He wasn't exactly in the greatest condition after the whole forest fire incident, so she supposed it was possible, but something about the way he'd looked at her... something just wasn't right about it.

Finding herself at a complete loss as to what she should do with him, Axia simply sat still for a moment, eyes shifting back and forth between Eln and his axe until she was convinced that he wasn't about to try attacking again. Once she was, she allowed her arms to lower a bit more, settling in a crossed position over her chest.

"Why?"

She tried her best to keep up a brave face when she finally gathered her composure enough to speak up, but there was no hiding the shakiness in her voice.

"Why? It wasn't enough for you to just let me die when you had the chance? I thought I could trust you!"

Remaining quite oblivious until the very last moment, Axia had little time to react to Eln's sudden attack, but she managed to get her arms in position quickly enough to block it. A metallic clang rang out as her scales thankfully did their job, preventing the axe from slicing into her flesh, but they couldn't do much to absorb the force behind it. She found herself being knocked to the ground, barely keeping the weapon from sliding down and burying itself into a more vulnerable area. A flash of pain shot through her arms, and she once again had to hold back tears- though she couldn't be sure if they were due to the physical pain or the sting of betrayal.

It didn't make any sense. Was he just another would-be dragon hunter like the others they'd encountered? If that was the case, why would he bother going through the effort of protecting her earlier? Was he really so obsessed with getting the kill himself that he was willing to put his own life on the line for it?

She struggled to look past the axe and catch a glimpse of his face, only to be met with the same expression she'd witnessed earlier after attempting to lead him away from the fire. Not greed or cold indifference, but pure rage and hatred. Whatever this was about, it was definitely personal. Something she'd done had made him angry enough to want to kill her, and she wasn't particularly keen on letting him have his way. Summoning the resolve to fight back, Axia desperately kicked upwards at Eln's body, hoping that his enraged state was enough of a distraction for him to leave himself vulnerable.

She watched for a moment as Eln began to dig away at the plants, making a mental note to herself to try them out for herself in the future if she found herself looking for food- if Eln was confident enough to eat them, that probably meant they were safe, right? Truth be told, she was curious to discover what they tasted like, but she really didn't want to give off the impression that she needed to rely on someone else for survival- she had enough trouble trying to be taken seriously already. Instead, she managed to tear her eyes away and refocus her gaze on the distant smoke, resisting the urge to turn back even when he addressed her with a question.

If he had any hostile intent towards her at that moment, she was blissfully unaware of it. She'd never been particularly good at picking up on that sort of thing- partly because she tended to pay less attention to it than she probably should, but also because most people were quick to realize that trying to mess with her was way more trouble that it was worth. It probably didn't help that he hadn't expressed much towards her other than confusion and what she could only describe as disapproving-parent-voice. She didn't have much of a reference to determine what angry Eln was supposed to sound like, so when he asked if she was a witch, she was earnest and chipper in response, quite pleased to be moving on from the whole... goddess thing.

"Sure, you could call me that. At least, I'm not not a witch. I do use a lot of magic, soooooo... yeah! Witch, mage, whatever you want to call it. I'm not particularly picky. It is sort of an odd thing to ask, though, don't you think? I would have thought it'd be obvious from all the transforming. And the light magic from before, remember? Er, do you remember? I guess you did hit your head pretty hard when that tree fell, so it's possible that you forgot. Here- like this, see?"

With that, she held her hands out in front of her, palms facing the sky as a soft glow gathered and swirled around them. With a few subtle movements from her fingers, the light twisted and separated into a multitude of colours, arching to form a miniature rainbow that stretched from one palm to the other. Satisfied with her work, Axia finally turned to face him once again, an expectant smile on her face as she anticipated his reaction.

"Plants? I mean, I suppose so. Usually I'd just go hunting if I got hungry while out in the wild like this. Like, go catch a deer or something. That is what dragons usually do, after all. But this form can eat all kinds of different foods! That's one of the perks of being able to change back and forth like this- I can usually find something that one of the forms can eat."

She watched intently as Eln whittled away at the wood, wondering what exactly it was he'd been creating. Some sort of harvesting tool, she supposed, if he was indeed intent on foraging for some plants to eat. Apparently he also intended to feed her, which she wasn't really sure how to feel about. Insulted? Maybe a little bit, but she couldn't bring herself to be too angry with him given what they'd just been through.

"You really don't need to try to find food for me, though. You saved my life, I saved yours. I'd say that makes us about even. Besides, I wouldn't have lasted long on my own if I wasn't able to find food for myself, right?"

Her chatter came to a small pause and she took a moment to stretch out her arms, her eyes briefly falling closed as she attempted to shake off the last of her fading tiredness. It was only after a few seconds of stretching that a particular word Eln had used finally registered in her mind, and her eyes snapped back open to shoot him a puzzled look.

"Wait a minute. 'Goddess'? That's a little..." There was something about that term that made her massively uncomfortable, but she couldn't quite put her finger on why. Was he really that fond of her? He'd been protective of her, sure, but she hadn't really gotten the impression that he particularly liked her. Or... maybe she should be interpreting it literally? Adelans did tend to hold their dragons in deep reverence, so it was possible that this was just his way of expressing a similar sentiment. Still, though...

"Um. Don't you think that's a bit too... generous? You can just call me by my name, you know. I'm not all that special."

It wouldn't be too long afterwards before the dragon stirred from her own slumber. Axia released a great yawn before lazily climbing to her feet and stretching out her massive body in a manner much like that of a cat. Next came her wings which briefly extended out to their full length, a variety of colours dancing across her scales as they caught the rays of sunlight in new ways. She brought one claw up to her mouth, beginning to lick idly at the wounds she'd sustained while pulling Eln away from the fire, only to freeze completely in her tracks as she caught a glimpse of the man out of the corner of her eye.

Oh. Right. She'd brought him here, hadn't she? He must have woken up before her.

...How long had he been watching her for?

Her claw abruptly planted itself back down in the grass as she whipped around to face him, getting her first real look at the full extent of his injuries. To put it lightly, it looked like he'd suffered a lot for his attempt to keep her out of danger. Yet for whatever reason, it seemed he'd decided to stay long enough for her to wake up. Was he too badly injured to keep travelling on his own? Had he stuck around just so he could yell at her? Or... did he really care that much about her safety?

There was a part of her that wanted to remain in her current form and try to avoid the awkward conversation that was bound to happen if she shifted back. But she couldn't very well pretend like nothing had happened between them, could she? It would only get more awkward if he decided to start talking anyways and she had no way of responding other than vague gestures. And for whatever it was worth, he didn't actually look like he was angry with her. Maybe it wouldn't actually be that bad?

There was a peculiar burst of light that by now must have become quite familiar, and Axia once again returned to her human-ish form, revealing a variety of minor scratches and burns dotting her arms and back around her patches of scales- probably the best outcome one could have hoped for, considering how much danger she'd been in when they were inflicted. She sat in the grass for now, gazing blankly up at Eln as she struggled to shake off her sleepiness.

"Good morning," she eventually managed, offering a small smile which faded almost immediately as she took note of the sun's position in the sky. "I mean. Afternoon? Wow, I must have been totally wiped out. You haven't been waiting for too long, have you?"

Axia paid seemingly little attention to him or their surroundings as he responded, but it was less easy to ignore when he suddenly shouted for her to move and came barreling towards her. She was caught way off guard and offered barely any resistance as he shoved her out of the way, giving a startled cry as she immediately lost her balance and tumbled hard onto the rocks next to the shore. A few of the sharper ones drew blood as they dug into her back, but all things considered, she definitely got off easier than Eln. Her eyes lit up with worry as the fallen tree crashed into him, and she hurriedly clambered to her feet, stumbling up to the fallen tree and spotting her unconscious saviour through the cover of branches and smoke.

Oooooh gods. Don't be dead. Don't be dead...

She reached down and grabbed at his body in an attempt to drag him away from the fallen tree, struggling in vain to move him before letting out a startled yelp and pulling her arms back as the growing flames hungrily lashed out at them. It was a good thing that some of her scales persisted in this form, seeing as they protected much of her arms from the fire and left them with only light burns when she could've gotten much worse. It was obvious that she wasn't going to be able to move him in her current state, and it was doubtful that she had enough energy left in her for another shift.

But just maybe...

She had an idea. It was an incredibly dangerous idea, but it was all she had at the moment and she didn't exactly have the luxury of spending time coming up with something better. In order to get the transformation to work, she'd need to gather a lot of energy very quickly. And if she recovered energy by absorbing light, well... it only made sense that the closer she got to a light source, the more she'd absorb from it.

She moved to lean back over Eln, her wings curling around his body and forming a makeshift shield. The wall of scales would serve the dual purpose of protecting the two from the approaching flames as well as collecting as much energy as possible. They were fireproof enough to prevent her from getting seriously injured, but the rest of her body was hardly equipped to handle such temperatures. Within moments, she found herself blinking back tears, though she couldn't be sure if they were due to the smoke, the blazing heat, or simply the distressing nature of the situation she'd placed herself in.

Come on... just need a little bit more...

Her scales began to glow with a white-hot light, quickly outshining the advancing flames before finally enveloping the girl as she made one last shift into her natural form. Her claws just barely avoided putting some nasty holes in Eln's body as they dragged him away from the burning tree. At least the immediate danger was over with, but it clearly wasn't safe to stay put and wait for him to come to- if the fire or falling trees didn't do them in, surely the smoke would get to them eventually.

She curled one claw underneath his body and scooped him up as delicately as she could manage, which was easier said than done seeing as he wasn't exactly a small guy. Once she'd secured her grip on him, she turned to follow the creek and launched herself as best she could with her remaining legs, narrowly avoiding another disaster as she tore through several branches and came far too close to clipping a few trunks on her way up. She flew high up enough to clear the treeline before shifting her focus entirely into keeping herself airborne and flying straight forward, quickly losing track of how long they'd been airborne. It was only when she spotted the trees in the distance give way large open field that she allowed herself to relax a bit. She knew it was around her somewhere! Kind of. Definitely didn't just get incredibly lucky.

She eased up as they began their decent, hoping to slow down enough for a relatively gentle landing by the time they reached the ground. Of course, a "gentle" landing for a creature of her size was still going to be somewhat destructive, and her claws still ended up tearing a short line of grass and dirt as they touched down and brought her to a grinding halt. She laid Eln down into the grass, nestling her head against his chest to confirm that he was still breathing before circling around him and unceremoniously collapsing on the ground, one wing coming to rest protectively over his body. She was fast asleep mere seconds later, finally having the chance to recharge her energy as she basked in the sunlight.

Axia returned his frown, instantly recognizing the sentiment behind it. Yet another expression that she'd become intimately familiar with over the years. This one meant that he was about to start patronizing her. Usually she'd be happy enough to just tune it out and continue on with whatever it was she was doing without a care in the world, but this one felt... different. Like she was supposed to feel ashamed that she'd already failed to meet some unspoken expectation of his, despite the fact that they'd only just met and she was the one who'd stepped in to save him.

No, this time she wasn't willing to let it slide.

"I most definitely am not lost! It's a really big place, okay?! I just needed a moment, for gods' sake!" She snapped at him, her words underlined by the quiet rumblings of what sounded like a low growl. "Besides," she continued, "explorers are never lost. The whole point is to go places that you don't know everything about. If you're getting 'lost', that means you're doing it right."

She realized a bit too late that she'd been taking a harsher tone than she had originally intended, and she decided to back off a bit, crossing her arms and purposefully avoiding looking him in the eye. It was less of an outright angry stance and more... moody?

"Look. If you've got any better ideas, you're welcome to speak up. Maybe you really do know better than I do, after all. But if you don't, then you could at least have a little more faith in me. I'm not a hatchling."

Well then. Apparently trying to be gentle wasn't going to cut it this time. Not that it had worked the last time either...

On the one hand, being able to work on his wounds in complete silence and without any resistance on his part would certainly make the job easier, but Katarina wasn't entirely comfortable with it. At least when he was screaming at her, she was getting some form of feedback. As it was, all she could do was try her best and hope she was doing the right thing. She worked quickly, hoping to get it all over and done with before he woke up and started yelling again. After pushing some bone fragments back into what she hoped were the right places, applying the salve, and finally wrapping up his arm, she scooted back a bit to observe her handiwork.

Silently, she contemplated trying out her healing again- it wasn't like he could object to it at this point, after all- but when she attempted to conjure up the magical energy required to do so, her heart sank as a suspicion she'd had ever since leaving the ward was confirmed. Try as she might, she couldn't get the magic to start flowing again. The healers that had treated her had warned her that her magic could behave in... erratic ways as she recovered, but to have it stop working entirely was another story. What if it never came back?! They'd eventually have to send her back home, and...

Well, she really didn't want to go back home.

Still, though, she couldn't just leave him here all by himself. There wasn't much more she could do for him in terms of healing at this point, but she could at least try to make him a little more comfortable... right?

---

It wasn't long before Katarina came bounding back into the room this time around, this time carrying a blanket she'd retrieved from gods-know-where. She carefully draped it over him and, after a small bout of anxious fidgeting, she took a seat next to him and dug around in her bag for the book she'd been struggling with the day before. Might as well try to get something productive done while she kept an eye on him, she figured. She must have severely underestimated just how exhausted recent events had left her, however, because it was only a matter of minutes before she drifted out of consciousness herself, her head resting gently against Tighearnán's good arm.

"Claws?! What are you... oh!"

Lanai glanced down at her hands and was quite taken aback by what she saw. She wasn't blind to the fact that her appearance had a curious tendency to shift in certain ways depending on how she was perceived by others, but this... well, this was certainly a new one. For the briefest of moments, a feeling that was entirely new to Lanai began to take root- self doubt, perhaps?- but she quickly put it out of her mind. Instead, she directed her attention down towards Simonea, taking note of the protective stance the girl had taken.

That's right. She believes in me...

She took a step back from Simonea and started to take some deep breaths. Slowly but surely, her features would return to their original forms, and once the shift was completed, she forced a smile as she addressed the girl behind the counter.

"She's telling the truth about the demon. Not the cleanest fight I've ever had- the fiend did end up scratching my arms up pretty badly when we were fighting." To accentuate her point, she turned her arms over and held them up, putting her wounds on clear display. There was no telling if it would be enough for the innkeeper's daughter to buy their story, but it was certainly worth a shot, right? "That's actually the reason we ended up coming back here. We were hoping to get them cleaned and patched up before they got any worse."

Murderer, they called him. Given his past with the Bayreds, it wasn't a surprising accusation to be hurled his way, but it didn't make their words sting any less. Valerie's face settled into a frown as the crowd around her let out their gasps and began speaking in whispers and hushed tones.

There was no doubt in her mind that if they made it past that gate, there would be nothing she could do to help prevent whatever fate the magistrate had in store for him. Stepping forwards to stop them would obviously be putting herself in a precarious situation to say the least, but what else was she to do? So much had already been taken from her- she wasn't about to let another slip away when she actually had the chance to do something about it.

Not this time.

Ignoring the stares and pointing from the crowd as she separated herself and began to step forward, inevitably drawing attention to herself as she did so.

"Keep your hands off him. You do anything to him and I'll... I'll..."

Her words faltered as a sudden wave of dizziness overpowered her and brought her to her knees a few steps from the caravan. She willed herself to stand back up and keep moving, but her body protested, and instead she found herself clutching at her head as it was wracked with pain.

Axia went unusually quiet for the short time it took for them to make their way over to the water. It was becoming increasingly obvious that her constant usage of magic was taking its toll on her level of energy. Her movements were becoming noticeably more subdued, losing a lot of their usual bounciness, and she occasionally took a moment to rub at her eyes as if she'd just woken up and was trying to chase the sleep away. Overall, she just seemed a lot less... sparkly.

It wouldn't last too long, however, as her demeanour shifted when they arrived at the edge of the water. She eyed him curiously as he got to work on his boots, her gaze shifting to his shield, then his axe, then back up to him. For someone who didn't seem particularly knowledgable about the area, he sure was pretty well prepared regardless! She made a mental note to ask him about that later before following along into the water, failing to suppress a squeak as the cold bit into her. It would have been a lot more comfortable to travel through it in her dragon form... oh well. At least it helped to wake her up a bit.

"Ah... well. Let me think. I've flown over this area a few times in the past- just trying to get a general idea of the surroundings before going in to explore more thoroughly. Not that I could spend too long up there, what with all the other dragons flying around. They can get reeeeal grumpy when they think their territory's being invaded, and most of them are bigger than me, so... gosh, I'm rambling again, aren't I? Okay, if memory serves correctly... yeah, there should be a clearing up ahead if we follow the water. I think. It is a pretty big forest..."

Axia flinched back and away from Eln as he turned to deliver his death glare, her grip on his arm releasing as suddenly as it had began. She didn't know what exactly it was that she'd done wrong, but she knew all too well what it looked like when she was in trouble, and this was undoubtedly one of those moments. She was half expecting him to lash out and strike her for her transgression, but when he seemingly calmed down and instead began to speak again, she figured it was safe enough to stick around. Well, safe enough to stick around him at least. There was still the whole... forest on fire thing.

"Well, I kind of do? I mean, I definitely have control over some elemental power. Like light! But I'm not, like, a water mage. Or a weather mage. Or a storm mage. Or anything like that, really. Although I guess I could be, with some practice. Almost anyone could be, really- ahem. Anyways, the point is that I can't put it out, so we really do need to get moving, El... Eln-of-Ara-of-Bear-Clan?"

She managed to get the full name out, giving a brief nod and managing a small smile afterwards. Gods, that was quite the mouthful, wasn't it? It was certainly an interesting name, though, which she appreciated. Had a certain... ring to it. Having learned her lesson about trying to physically lead him away, she instead took a small step away (not too far- no sense in risking getting shot if the hunters were still around) and gestured for him to come along, hoping he'd get the message.