[h1]Edolas[/h1][h3]Mayat --- Edolas Phoenix Wing[/h3] Mayat chuckled softly. [b]"My 'jets' haven't even gotten started Damian. And watch what your saying a little more. You never know. I might be an agent for Iron Enigma, I was with them for many years you know."[/b] She pushed herself up and reclined on the counter, putting one fut on it so her leg makes a triangle with it, and her other hanging off it. [b]"Have fun stormin' the castle."[/b] She said softly after he left. She sat there a few moments before getting down and making herself another drink. She pointed a finger at Sayuri. [b]"And aren't you supposed to head back to the other room?"[/b]

[h1]Earthland[/h1][h3]Melina[/h3] Melina looked over James. [b]"Well the simplest reason is I enjoy killing, and your guild seems to be vehemently against that. Second of all, I have my own agenda and travel a lot, meaning I'd be joining a group I'd be visiting once in a blue moon. And while I couldn't possibly harm your reputation any more after today, would you really want a murderer in your ranks?"[/b] She shrugged, and unhooked their arms, stretching. [b]"As for not joining a dark guild, I don't want to hang around a but of assholes either."[/b]

[h3]Mithera and Hemlock (Collab)[/h3]
Mithera let out a small gasp of surprise as the dragon came into view, and when he spoke directly to her, she put one leg forward and did her best version of a bow, lowering her head to near the floor, and looking as submissive as possible. [b]"I-I apologize if my form offends you, sir D-dragon. I saw one of your kind when I was young and was utterly awestruck. L-later in life, long after it was thought y-your kind were gone, I made this form in memory, and i-in my own way, a tribute to your kinds majesty."[/b]

[color=Purple]Hemlock's glare didn't end as he moved further into the cave. He easily towered over even Mithera. It was amazing. She was the size of a Legion and still, Hemlock was easily twice, perhaps three times her size. Were this cave not so large, he'd likely be unable to enter at all. Still, he did not interrupt. He allowed her to speak. He was judging her based on her words.[/color]

[b]"I-I'll be the first to admit my actions in this form were not all good or venerable, but I promise I have not trashed the name of dragons. At least not as much as humans themselves have. A race I have not been in so long I can no longer count myself as one of those. In fact, I do not count myself as any species as my form are not truly them. I implore you to forgive me for my transgression of appearing as a dragon to those who have never seen one, and if it would please you I can choose to never be of this form again. I would hate to continue offending something who's legacy I shouldn't of taken into my own hands but have. I apologize yet again and ask for forgiveness."

"It had been j-just so long since I had seen a dragon. At the time I thought that maybe, j-just maybe I could make a form like one and see one again. So I toiled for years, remembering all I could about the dragon I had once seen. I didn't have any reference books or anything like that, I-I had been living in the wild for so many years since... Well since magic became distrusted. I had run away from civilization so that I could practice my magic in peace, I lived alone for a long time. Eventually I created my wolf form, and lived in a pact for many years, glad to have a new family that accepted me, even though I knew it would only last for so long."

"And then eventually I started to make other forms as I became more knowledgeable about life and how it works. I traveled the world as many different animals, many forms of which I decided to discard eventually, all of which culminated in me learning something new about life and how life worked inside and out without ever having to dissect a single living thing like humans. I-I was free in every sense of the word! I felt amazing the entire time I was free from restraints, something even as a little girl I had enjoyed. Not considering rules and blowing caution half to the wind. As a child I always felt like I could conquer anything in my way, b-but I know that's not true now. I came to understand that."[/b]

[color=Purple]Even now Hemlock did not stop the smaller creature. This female, was interest and yet still so infuriating. Her form. Her reasoning. She was selfish. At least that was how he'd felt so far. And yet even in this form she grovels. Showed no courage, no pride. And yet she wished to be a dragon. He laid before her. He exhaled through his nose, his snout just before her.[/color]

[b]"But when I lived in the wilds, I truly was invulnerable to almost any enemy. Any wound I sustained I could simply shift to a smaller form and heal it in the process. I was unstoppable, I was the queen of my domain, of the wilds, and I stopped considering myself human. While yes I did sometimes interact with humans, I only did it out of curiosity of what was going on. I learned a lot about the numerous kingdoms of the world and I felt like I could recite the histories of any place at any time without fail and only minor errors. Yes, I was very arrogant at the time and wrongly felt unstoppable. At any time the right wizard could've come by, hunting or something, and ended my life with a wave of his hand. Though after one bad run-in with one, I chose to avoid their kind and the guilds, in fear of that happening. While my vision of invulnerability had been shattered, by will hadn't been, and I kept learning new forms, surviving, and defying death at every turn."

"Eventually I stopped counting the decades that had passed since my running away. And I thought that, if I became one of your kind, s-sir Dragon, I would've reached the epitome of my ability. I toiled for well over four decades working on a dragon form. Studying lizards, watching birds, experimenting. But what I ultimately ended up with left much to be desired, and it took me at least another decade before I realized I could never be of the size of a true dragon, and created the form that is bowing before you now. S-so once I had accomplished that I took it upon myself at the time to re-invent the legends of dragons and go down in history as one of your kind. I wished to be immortal in books and paper like other dragons had been. I felt that I could... I could, for all intents and reasoning, become a dragon myself."

"I started by trying to assert myself over a small town in the middle of nowhere. Cut off from the rest of the world by miles of travel. I didn't remember then, but it had been the town I was born in. And I had been preparing my flight into town when I had spied an aging couple bringing flowers to a grave in the woods. I had been... I had been nesting near there and had watched the event from not too far away. They never noticed me, or never showed that they had noticed me, and after they left I couldn't bring myself to charge into town and impose my strength and will like some dragons of legend. M-my humanity began to return."

"S-so I chose to simply create a form that was like a... A pet, I guess, that shared the likeness of a dragon, but much much smaller. Another choice that I made, thinking I still could become a dragon. So I became a small little dragon, and I landed on the elderly couple's roof every day, and sat there. Listening to their daily conversations and their lives and their wishes. They eventually noticed me, and over time I became almost their pet until they died of age. During that time is when I took the name I use now, Mithera. I had left markings in the ground outside their door indicating that name, and sat there until they saw it, and started calling me by it. It... Felt oddly satisfying to have a name. Like a name made me fit somewhere. Until they died that is..."[/b] 

[color=Purple]Having heard all of that he decided to speak. He had enough. "You." He lifted his head narrowing his large eyes as he looked at her. "You say you wished to be a dragon. And yet you really had no idea of what you were doing. Do you truly believe a dragon's life and sole desire is to impose its strength on those around it?" He was serious. His voice was calm and yet it gave the feeling of anger. "Perhaps some wish to do this, but not all. We all wish to live. Like any other creature. And yet we have been demonized." He growled. "You may no longer consider yourself human, but you once were. You bow before me and grovel. No Pride, or conviction. You beg for forgiveness and apologize over and over. And still wish to be a dragon?" 

Hemlock lifted his claw and brought it down just beside Mithera causing the cave to shake. "In all the time you've lived, have you truly learned as much as you say?" He had barely lived one hundred years and he looked down on her. "Dragons to you are mere beasts. Known for their power and form. Your thoughts line up with any other human. The same humans that awoke me and my brethren from our eternal slumber. The same humans who gave us new life in order to turn us into their personal weapon." He snarled and leaned in closer the hatred evident in his eyes. Not towards her of course. It was all brought up in his words regarding his past. "Your vision of dragons is no different than the rest of your former species who allowed my brethren to die. Who tried to kill me and my remaining family when we attempted to gain freedom of our own. I watched my brother die. We had just barely lived for 6 years." He finally stopped.

"Even now. Can you truly call yourself a dragon? Can you bring yourself to even consider living this fantasy you've come up with for yourself?" He stomped once more beside her. "SPEAK!"[/color]

Mithera would lower her head to the ground as Hemlock spoke, pulling her head away a little with each stomp, wincing. When she spoke, her voice was quieter then before, but she sounded like a child realizing what they did was wrong. [b]"No. I wouldn't dare call myself a dragon."[/b] She shivered a little, her eyes unable to pull themselves away from him. Her voice became a little louder. [b]"I haven't dared in years, and I never will dare again."[/b] She slowly raised her head up a little, but kept it near the ground to continue to show submissiveness. [b]"I will always be a part human, and I must accept that I tried too hard not to be, and thought I was something I wasn't. Or maybe I was just running away. Regardless, I do not deserve the honor of being called a dragon."[/b]

[color=Purple]Hemlock became visibly calmer after his small lecture and he lowered his head slightly. "You have lived a long time. I can see that much. Longer than myself even. However, you've much to learn about this world and even yourself." His large maw formed a grin as he looked down as her. "Still, you may very well become a dragon yet. One day." He didn't know why, but he felt that even if it hadn't been in the past, her heart was in the right place. And even he would consider her a dragon. Maybe.[/color]

Mithera lifted her head a little, but stopped, her eyes meeting his. [b]"Age doesn't denote wisdom. Another lesson that was not easy to learn. As for being a dragon... I can't truly be a creature I was not born as. I will always be smaller, weaker, and frailer, and so I do not delude myself anymore. Your kind are simply... Are beyond any wizard's capabilities."[/b] She let her head drop again. [b]"I... Appreciate you trying to cheer me up however. And I am honored to meet one whose kind I once strived to become."[/b]

[color=Purple]Hemlock nodded listening. "It is as you say." He said calmly as he chuckled a bit. However, he lifted his head and lifted his head once more. "Now. When will you be returning to your home?" He asked getting a bit more relaxed as he laid down. It was probably better if she and Karn didn't remain too long.[/color]

Mithera made a soft shrug, laying down as well, and rested her head on the ground near Karn. [b]"We were on our way to where Karn here is staying when a ball of poison flew past me, I investigated, turned out to be your pupil here, and that's how we ended up in your cave. So we can head off whenever you feel we should, we don't really have a time limit."[/b]