[center][h1][color=lightgray]PIPER[/color] [color=palegreen]&[/color] [color=mediumseagreen]CHERYL LUSBY[/color][/h1][/center]

[color=mediumseagreen]Stranger was nothing. He was just a man. A potentially powerful mage perhaps, but aside from magical tantrums, he had nothing else going for him. Cheryl had faced worse than a fool who took things far too lightly.

Despite all that, the weight of the coin pouch rooted her where she was.

She shifted her glare over to Piper, and her expression tensed further. He was crouched low, body stiff. His tail twitched minutely. Something must have spooked him - she didn't think it was Stranger's doing, otherwise he'd have a faceful of claw right now. Besides, the two plates of food scraps between them spoke of a mutual negotiation. She turned to the side, her gaze expectant.

'[b]Piper. Let's go.[/b]'

When he didn't move, Cheryl's frown deepened. She glanced over to Stranger, doubting her earlier assessment. Had he done something after all?

'[b]Pipe-[/b]'

'[/color][color=lightgray][b][i]Cheryl knows human mages.[/i][/b][/color][color=mediumseagreen]' Baffled, Cheryl turned back, facing the duo fully. Piper glanced between them, his paws shifting in a nervous fashion. '[/color][color=lightgray][b][i]They might know what happened.[/i][/b][/color][color=mediumseagreen]'

'[b]Piper[/b],' repeated Cheryl. '[b]What are you talking about?[/b]' If he was talking about human mages, there was only one thing she could think of. '[b]I'm not helping him train his magic. Piper, get over here.[/b]'

Piper took one step, two steps, raised his wings, then hesitated.

'[b][i]Piper[/i].[/b]'

'[/color][color=lightgray][b][i]His daughter is missing.[/i][/b][/color][color=mediumseagreen]' Cheryl's expression remained unchanged. Piper's voice carried on in her head - and, she suspected, Stranger's head as well. '[/color][color=lightgray][b][i]We made a deal. He gave me food and defended me when he didn't need to. All we have to do is take him to some human mages.[/i][/b][/color][color=mediumseagreen]'

'[b]Tough. I wasn't part of that deal.[/b]' She turned away, waving a dismissive hand over her shoulder. '[b]When you're done playing friends, come find me at the stables.[/b]'

The chilled night air greeted her as she stepped back outside. The town seemed to have gone to sleep, with only a single torch winking at her further down the street. The moons, thankfully, lit the path for her, their soft, silvery light blanketing the town. Only the distant flap of wings broke the silence.

She kept walking, and didn't look back.

This was for the best for everyone involved. She wouldn't have to deal with a guy worth an unreasonably high amount of coins and he wouldn't get sucked into the void by mysterious cloaked figures. Win-win.[/color]

[hr]
[color=lightgray]Piper wondered what to do now.

Humans tended to treat him, as they did most pygmies, either as vermin or a blubbering human child. Somehow, his size was the deciding factor on his sentience, telepathy or no. Magelights, pipios, common - once tamed, they did whatever they were told. That was something he knew as true. It happened all around him.

Cheryl was the first one to treat him an equal. So very long ago, she'd told him that if he wanted to survive this world, he had to be smart. And if pipios were meant to be stupid, then he had to [i]grow[/i] smart.

'[/color][color=mediumseagreen][b]Keep your wit close and your sense closer[/b][/color][color=lightgray],' she'd said. '[/color][color=mediumseagreen][b]You need both if you want to keep living.[/b][/color][color=lightgray]'

He wasn't smart. He knew that. But he could observe and put things together. And what he was seeing now didn't make sense.

Cheryl may still be upset with Jack over his outburst earlier, but she wasn't one to hold grudges. Nor was she one to walk away. Nor was she one to be excessively cruel. He was sure she would've at least heard him out. And there was the growing suspicion that she knew something about the dragon who'd spoken to him moments ago.

Power. There had been a lot of it coming from that voice. Telepathy didn't need that much. The dragon - if it even [i]was[/i] a dragon - had obviously been trying to assert dominance over him. Piper suppressed a shiver. He didn't know who or [i]what[/i] it was. He hadn't been able to pinpoint the range of the telepathic link before the beast had snapped it off; the surge of strange power from that link alone had overwhelmed his senses. The message's context was one that was only starting to make sense to him now.

And from all he had observed thus far, there were only two conclusions to be drawn:

One, something had happened to Cheryl in the short time he'd been away.

Two, Jack needed to go to people who could actually help him.

If only Cheryl would listen. When Cheryl had her mind made up like this, Piper didn't know what to do. It wasn't often he went against her wishes. Then again, it wasn't often that a human showed this much goodwill towards him - if it ever happened at all. 

His tail thumped hard against the table in irregular beats. Convincing humans was Cheryl's area. Observation could only take him so far.

'[b][i]Do you have any ideas?[/i][/b]' He looked towards Jack. '[b][i]To change her mind?[/i][/b]'[/color]