A Quiet Afternoon. (Adurnak)

[Xenoxice]

There wasn't much to do in the forest on Myoujou, at least not for Gal'Zorath. The skyscraper like sequoia trees that littered the landscape left little room for other species of flora to flourish in this area save for the occasional bush here and there or moss patch. Still, the towering trees had a rather strange appeal to Gal'Zorath. Game life was rather scarce here so it wasn't so great for food, but the trees themselves were what captured his attention anyways. They made for a good obstacle course for speed flying and were quite a sight to behold from any angle, be it from the creatures of the ground or sky. Gal'Zorath had been flying high above the canopy of the sequoia trees enjoying the view as well as the fresh clean air this area of the world seemed to offer so freely. It wasn't long before the relaxing cruise at high altitude and the gentle gliding of the wind under his wings came to an abrupt change when he tucked his wings in and went in for a nose dive straight towards the tops of the trees. Slipping through a narrow opening in the tree tops, he sped towards the ground before he extended his wings just enough to straighten out his flight and slow himself down.  There was a small opening in the trees just a short flight ahead which he frequently visited.  The quietest place in the forest, the only sound usually to be heard being ones own breath and the gentle breeze that managed to squeeze its way in to this small area.  The ground here was usually well saturated and borderline marshland, but due to its location it was always nice and cool.  It was this secluded little haven among a few others in various parts of Myoujou, in which Gal'Zorath found himself completely able to just think and reflect upon anything and everything.  With eons of knowledge in ones mind at birth, it only becomes even more troublesome to sort out new thoughts and memories.  But still, sometimes a distraction was welcome. It wasn't often that he left Myoujou and even less often creatures were even able to reach the floating island.

Finally reaching the clearing Gal'Zorath beat his wings to halt his momentum entirely landing softly and lithely.  His slender frame was one that may not be so intimidating, but it was one to marvel.  While most dragons seemed like giant mountains with wings or small flying snakes, he was somewhere in between.  His height not all that impressive by draconian standards nor his girth, but his movements.... his movements were as smooth as the softest fur and his actions flowed into one another seamlessly, perfectly even.  Like the running water of a river flowing down through the hills of a mountain.  It looked almost otherworldly as some would say, for any being to move in such a manner.  His flying was no different when he wished it to be.  He fanned his wings out and let them stretch to his sides to their full span.  A 'measly' twelve feet or so from tip to tip.  The translucent webbing of his wings allowed the sun above that was able to peak through the opening in the tree tops to shine brilliantly, creating a shimmering across the ground under them.  He eventually came to a stop as he tucked his wings in and laid softly upon the cool, wet ground.  It wasn't long before he caught himself closing his eyes and simply listening to the sound of his own heartbeat and breath, somewhat meditating as he calmly awaited to see if this day may turn out to be more eventful than the past few weeks have been.

[Adurnak]

--I would much appreciate it, star-flier, if you would be more careful where you dive through the canopy in the future.--
A slightly amused female voice swirled through the dragon's mind, cool and clear as a mountain stream.
--You almost blew my bedlinens off the line.--

A patch of air on the far side of the clearing seemed to ripple, and a humanoid being faded into view. It (or rather she, going by the voice) was tall, more than two and half meters. Strange yellow eyes gazed at him from a sharp, canid face. Long, pointed ears that added several centimeters to it's height flicked this way and that. Dense black fur seemed to cover its body, although much of the torso and upper legs were covered by a sleeveless tunic and short pants. A long, powerful tail coiled lazily back and forth behind the being, a wicked blade glinting at the tip. Powerful digitigrade legs carried her with an easy grace as she began to circle the clearing, stray arcs of crimson energy playing along her hands and forearms.

[Xenoxice]

Gal'Zorath remained with his eyes closed for what seemed only a brief moment before a voice filled his mind with clarity.  The words it spoke amused him slightly.  How very interesting... he mused quietly in his mind.  He heard what sounded like a small shimmering in the air across from him which was quickly replaced by the ripple this creatures emerged from.  It's appearance not necessarily shocking him, but rather intriguing him greatly.  Standing up slowly, Gal'Zorath began to stride just as lithely as before, with the same finesse no less, towards this creature.  Blinking slowly several times, each time his eyes began to shift to an ever so slightly different color.  His head quirked to the side just a nudge as he did so.  It wasn't long before he began to speak softly as he approached.  "I do beg your pardon, I'm afraid I did not see you upon entry.  Now the name star-flier... I haven't heard anyone call me that in.... Lets see, how many stars have died si---" Gal'Zorath interrupted his own thoughts before continuing.  "Details, details... let's just say a VERY long time.  I am also curious as to how you knew to call me by such a name and I am a little on the edge as what to call you.  It seems a little... rare... for a creature on this planet to have markings visible only on an ultraviolet spectrum so I can tell you're unique.  In addition I'm highly intrigued by your entrance so to speak."  He paused only but a moment to slightly narrow his eyes in thought.  "Cloaking perhaps?  Vibration frequencies beyond normal eyesight capabilities or perhaps bending the light around you?"  Gal'Zorath's mind worked in a very simple manner, usually whatever he said came straight from his mind without a filter in between.  That did not stop him from showing his immense knowledge of the world as well as the things outside of it however.  "No matter the case, let me properly introduce myself.  I am Gal'Zorath.  Astral dragon and star traveler of the third eon.  Born in the Messier 82 galaxy about..."  His thoughts and voice once more trailed off for a moment before he resumed.  "If my math is right counting travel and settling times.. roughly.. 16 million years ago?"  His eyes narrowed once again as he double checked his own calculations.  "Yes... that seems about right.  Give or take about a hundred thousand.  You'll have to excuse me if it takes me a moment to get details out like that.  When you live this long you can't measure time in a matter of minutes or hours.  Rather distance you have traveled and life cycles of certain stars and planets.  Now I must apologize for rambling, I'm certain you may have questions for me or at the very least something to say about my nearly causing the loss of your bedlinens."  He smirked slightly as his sentence finished, figuring adding a slight bit of humor may help to negate his run on talking.

[Adurnak]

Anara narrowed her eyes almost imperceptibly as she felt the energy dancing along her arm flare. She had been hunting near Spirit Lake last night, and had absorbed enough ambient magic that her Gamarye was spiking almost uncontrollably. She stabbed her tail-blade into the ground, hoping to ground herself out, and pushed. Much to her relief, she felt the tide ebb, flowing out through the limb.

--It is an honor to meet you, Gal'Zorath. I am Anara tsan Mya'Kal, mercenary and Huntress of the eighth rank.--

She had questions, yes. So many questions that she couldn't ask all of them. There were too many to ask in any reasonable amount of time. She should choose just a few to ask but which onestherewasonlysomuchtimeandshem̷̤̺͕͖͗͑̄̒ightnǫ̴̡̧̧̪̟̗̘̭̘̖͍͎̍̀͐̆́̒͛͠ẗ̷̼̳̳̗͓̦̱̳͓͇̱̲̤͓́̊̑̉̀̈́see̶̢̱̭̦͌ţ̵̛̗͖̳̦̼͓͔̠͛̃̀̅̋ḫ̸̛̣̰̣̝͒̆͊̒̿̎̂͗̓͝͝ͅi̴̧͖͕̱̣̅̋̃̏̎͋́̓̇͒͝͝s̴̙͔͍͚͇̗̣̻̄́̎̃̍͘̕͜͝G̵̛͍̞̤̱͕̹̭̠̯̀̃̆̄̿͐͛̃̿̒́̓̕á̴̱̙͕̙͈͖̝͇̲͍̮͖͂̇̈́̅̐̉̈̚͘͠͠l'Zorat̴̢̛̫̬̭̠̺̝̥̩̫̦͆̐̒̽͗͋̋̇̎͂h̴̪̟͈̮͛̿̎̌͝ā̸̙̽̏̆͆̀͑̋̿̈́̔g̴͉̖̩͆̓̽̑͆̕͘ȧ̶̮̖͕̼̹͚͒̓̕ḯ̴̛̻̪̫̯̯̼̩̱̣͈̆̎͐̎͒̈́͗̄͂̊̄ǹ̸̡̧͉͓̝̭̺̥̇͋̊̉͒͛̽͗͐̕͠͠s̶̢̨̻̬͎͖̥̦̙͚̰̣͚̿͗̏̓̐̐́̐͛̍͝͝͝o̶͈̳̬̳͍̜͖͋ͅş̴̻̤̥̭̝̻̝̬̙͇̦́͊͑ȟ̸̛̛̖̘͕̳̻͎̱̥̜̜͑̐̔̽̿͌̏̚͜͝ẻ̷̱͔͇̮͎̒̑̍̽͋̈̌͛̐̽̒h̶̬͖͋̋̓̈́ą̴̡̡̙͖̫̜̬̙̘͙̟̱̱̝́̈́̋̔̿̃̊͋̃̽̃͝͠d̸̨͈̹̫̼̬̪̩͓̣̍͋̽͜t̸͕͈͕̕ͅo̴̫̯̝͍̳̟͉͉̪̮̭̣̝͌͑̇̅̈́̇̈́̋͌m̵̺̼̜͓̝̜͖͎͖̦̪̦̹̒̋̓̀̂a̶̡̼̺͙͆͋͐̈́́̄k̵̫̣̆̓͌͑̇͂̈͆̏͌̈́͌̾̚ȩ̴̧̛͖̣̞̟̩̮̱͙͂̀͊̔̉̍̊̃̈͘͝t̶̡̞̖̅͋̃́̇̓͂̄̋́͒͐͊̓̚h̸̛͉̱̤̟̣̹͍̳͌͊͆̈̾̀̌̇̃̍͗̕͝ȩ̸͇̙̯̗̟͕͛͂̏͒m̷̨͍͕͖̣͈̘̀̍̐̓́͆̆̉͠͝͝ͅc̷͇̞̾̌̊̈̀̾̒̌̈́͝ͅo̷͕̠͍͑͒̎̍̔̀̊͗̏̉̌͂ṳ̶̡̺̩̬̦̗͎͍͍̟̐̿́͊̂͠n̴͈̜͙͎̎̈́͂͊̌͂̑̿͛̈́͜͠ṱ̵̨̧̡̩̺͉̼̖̬̫͋̎̎̽͂̔̂̃͑̀͛͘͜a̵̢̛̭̱̼͚̩͗͆̈́̊̇̽͐͝n̵͕̗̙̉̾̏̈̎̈̉͛͂͜d̸̨͙̘̠̦̈́w̴̡͖̹̭͕̦͋́͆̆͌͐͛̎̂́̽̊͗̕͜͜͝h̶̠̤̖̲̠̩̼̹̻͆̂̈̌̊͝a̶̡̨̡̞̜̟̥̼̫̭̦̥͎̫̫͐̈̋͆̿͊̈̏͑̍t̸̳̭̞͚̗͎̘́̔́̎͊̎́̈̔͛͛͜͠͠i̷̡̼͙̯͚̕f̴̧̨̡̜͎͉̰̟̦̬̫̋̈̎̒̿͋

An arc of dull red plasma leaped from her hand and shorted out on her hip. The sudden jolt was enough to break the runaway thought, and she shook her head violently. The surges were affecting her mind. Again. She should change; she always felt calmer, more centered, in her Ancestral form.
But the surges could make it dangerous.

Change now.

Where had that thought come from? She shouldn't change.

Change now before you set the forest on fire you alien-eyed-

Anara realized with some irritation that the errant thoughts were Xiu yelling at her through the link they shared. What was more irritating was that she was right: a stray bolt could indeed spark a forest fire.

She shifted. black mist swirling around her, obscuring her form as she felt the change sweep over her.

The surge hit full force.

Anara screamed.

She dropped, thrashing in pain, as the mist vanished. Blood was seeping from her eyes, her ears and nose, even from the base of her tail-blade and talons. Errant blasts of Gamarytic plasma erupted from her mouth in spasmodic fits, scoring and charring the ground in front of her.




<{[Not my best work by a long shot. sorry.]}>