Rosalie warily made her way to the flame, sitting at its edge where it was near enough that its warm, and gentle touch would be able to reach her without causing harm. The heat that radiated from it was welcomed and she sighed a little, focusing only on the heat that was slowly travelling up her arms. Rosalie would have allowed this moment to relax her if she had not been with Gore. Instead, she looked across the fire at the dragon, seeing claws slowly digging into the ground, the dragon clearly tense. Did she mumble? As the girl studied him, she realised that he seemed somewhat hesitant in answering, almost as if he were slightly conflicted. She did not play too long with the staring game and glanced back down at the flickering flame for a bit, rubbing her hands before raising her gaze again. Shadows created by the flames danced about to no clear rhythm, and Rosalie was almost transfixed by its strange movement - especially the shadow cast by Gore as he shifted back to his human form. It was interesting to watch when she did not have much of anything to entertain her at this point. Listening to him speak, however, gave the ‘human’ the idea that this legend was only defending his honour and dignity. 

She knew humans sought out the dragons, but it was they who won in the end, and that was all that mattered, right? ‘It was either them or us’, was what the books would often portray, and dragons, with their incredible strength and ability, were ‘outwitted’ by humans. That was had gone down in history, that was what has been taught and [i]that[/i] was what Rosalie believed. The moment he began to trail off, Rosalie was tempted to prompt him further by simply repeating his last word. She instead sighed and decided to ask about, “the battle, then. That can’t be right because what’s been taught is that there had been a fierce battle between us.. and.. well, you guys. You’re expecting me to believe that? Our history says otherwise, as you’re more than aware.” 

“Hah, keep me safe. Hmm..” Rosalie watched Gore’s retreating figure fade into the darkness, biting her lip. The thought of leaving the fireside did not cross her mind. Did he really care about her safety to warn her like that? It was almost similar to Gore blowing flames around her with the message to ‘run’, and ‘stay safe’. That accompanied with him saving her and keeping her safe during that battle only served to make the frown on her face deepen. To think about it carefully, opinions of each other, both from humans and dragons, might even be biased. Why Rosalie would even begin to consider such a minor and unimportant detail was because the crimson beast known for destruction -and she had seen it herself- utterly confused her. Perhaps he was just performing his duties for his owner, but she couldn’t be entirely sure until she had a better glimpse at what this dragon was thinking whenever he wasn’t speaking about the past and how humans ‘unfairly’ approached them to build the world she knew today.

A roar coming from somewhere near the direction Gore had disappeared in made the girl tense and look around warily. It was faint, but Rosalie still shuffled closer to the fire, staying still and quiet for a while as she strained to hear what was going on. She would be able to defend herself using the flame, but that was as much as she could do out here on her own. People did say never to venture near the mountains or forest alone in the dark, reinforcing that rule with dark tales and sightings of dangerous animals. At the thought, Rosalie half rose out of her seating position, staying in a crouch. Even then, a figure that later turned out to be Gore still gave her a bit of a fright. What she had to say to Gore for leaving so quickly died down when she saw that he was bleeding. Asking about it, however, only resulted in a nonchalant shrug from him. Did he really think she would just let it slide? “That could get infected, you know. Will you be okay until Sigmund and Eric get here?” She added the last sentence a little quietly as an afterthought. 

Taking the skewered fruit, Rosalie mumbled a ‘thank you’, fanning it with a hand to cool it down a bit before biting into its flesh. There really was no hesitation when she ate this time, the girl only thinking to settle her stomach. Her eyes momentarily lit up at its taste but she hid it quickly. What Gore said gave her a few things to think about and as much as Rosalie would hate to admit it, he was right. Was it enough to get her to doubt everything she’s heard and been taught? In her book, no, not really, but Gore’s behaviour intrigued her. “No, it was either you or them, I suppose. You’re right for defending yourself. Hearing it from your perspective is Interesting.” She chuckled dryly to herself. “I never really thought about it that way. I don’t know if I want to believe you, but.. you could also be telling the truth.”

Rosalie could faint voices approaching. Though usually this would make her duck behind the nearest tree, she smiled and looked over at Gore. “They’re here!” She quietly said in a tone that barely concealed her excitement. She stood up and moved back so she wouldn’t be spotted so easily, planning to sneak up on the brothers. Rosalie decided that she would give Gore this chance to show her that he could keep his word. She wanted to see how the two brothers would react just as much as Gore did, she believed.

__

Sigmund marched on ahead of his brother. Being the oldest did not necessarily mean that he was the most courageous, but he wanted to know why Rosalie would ask him and his brother to meet her out of town. It was one thing if she had asked to meet in the outskirts, but this was odd. What could have happened to prevent her from heading home like she usually would? He was beginning to worry. Once he found her, he was going to scold her. If not, his father would.
“Sig, don’t stray too far!” Eric hissed, adjusting his glasses as he squinted through the darkness. “It’s always most dangerous during the night.”
“That’s exactly why I’m hurrying, Eric. I just want to get this over and done with. The sooner we find her, the sooner we can head back. She shouldn’t be too far now..”
“You are sure that she said this spot specifically?” The shorter of the two asked, stopping for a moment when he thought he heard something. He stared in the direction the sound had come from for a long time before a hand clapping on his shoulder urged him that it was time to move on. He could have sworn he saw something move, but with such limited light from the flashlight he carried, he couldn’t be too sure now. “Brother? Be careful.”
“Got it. Thanks.” Heeding the warning, Sigmund began to move more slowly and quietly, checking for anything that looked suspicious. He was unnerved, that much could be said about the expression he wore, but he was also confident that they would be able to handle themselves well.