sLAY THE DRAGON! (DarkPinkie)

[nicktaken]

Kilian was caught by surprise when his lover just stomped into the cabin and proceeded to kick the outer wall and hurt herself as a result. Good thing too, if she kicked the side wall, she just might have kicked right through it. "Are you okay?" He asked as he climbed down from the top bunk, instantly taking up what little space remained in their very relatively private room. "Just hold on. We should be at port sometime tomorrow afternoon." He said, having heard that directly from the captain. In fact, after his suspicions on that first night, he went out of his way to fraternize a bit and discovered the elf was a fairly pleasant man, if reserved. He even let him borrow a book to read in his downtime, which was helping fight the boredom.

It didn't escape his notice that Chia was getting more angry by the day, but he couldn't really blame her. He was also getting quite antsy from just staying in the enclosed space of the ship, and he didn't have a twin sister who was drowned. Sure, that was a river and this was the ocean, but making the body of water larger hardly helped. Another thing was hygiene; since fresh water was in limited supply, they couldn't bathe like on land. Instead they had to wipe themselves down with wet sponges. Granted, that wasn't as bad as he first thought, but being unable to really rinse yourself left its mark, mostly in the odor.

"That's a bit crude." He commented with a slight smile. Much as he liked her being bold about it he didn't particularly enjoy when she made it sound so vulgar. Well, she had been on edge for a while, and between the sub-par bedding and Vassia mostly hanging around, they hadn't really done much during this trip. "I'm curious if she actually is a child but..." He shrugged. Age wasn't the primary concern, he just wasn't comfortable being intimate with any intelligent spectator. Instead of finishing the sentence he placed his hands on her hips and pulled her closer.

***

While Kilian was being more understanding than Jules considered him capable of, the old wizard himself was growing concerned over Zerechia's behavior. Her constant sour and even aggressive moods had begun at the same time they arrived on the ship, so at first he thought it was a mere coincidence. But then she had significant trouble with magic, well, more than ever before, and helping with the sea sickness didn't actually do much. She got less sick but no less pissy, and it got worse day by day. Her companion suggested there was something about her and large bodies of water from the past causing this, much like her own seal closed up the knowledge but not the associated emotions, but he feared it wasn't that simple. Snapping at him, the sailors and her lover he could understand. But it seemed as though even Vassia, her 'pet fox', was avoiding the dragon. And that's despite the two being basically inseparable before. Perhaps it had to do with the truth of the girl's nature coming out, but why did it only seem to matter on the ship, specifically?

As he watched the distant shore slowly get closer, he worried that he miscalculated. That it wasn't just the ship, but his seal that worked in spite of his expectations. He didn't know what exactly hers was supposed to do. Perhaps, in a sense, he had perfected it. And in doing so he not only prevented her headaches and possible dangers, but took away her feel for magic and some parts of her personality. After all, Kilian was the one who knew most about the Zerechia from before, but even he couldn't really tell what she was trying to achieve by ridding herself of memories and turning human.

[DarkPinkie]

To say she was antsy was an understatement. She was incredibly impatiently watching the shoreline on the horizon grow closer. She was holding Kilian close as she steadily petted Vassia. She was just happy that she had finally coaxed Vassia to come near enough for extended petting. Her other hand held on to Kilian's as she thought a constant battle to not start tapping her foot on the floor. "Come on, come on come on come on! Sail faster!" She exclaimed as she could see the shapes of the dock and the buildings coke into view. The sandstone construction was eyecatching sure, but what she really wanted was to get off the ship.

Chia looked over at Jules a few feet away and she was almost envious of the solemn and stoic look he carried as the ship slowly sailed into port. He and his love for the ocean was almost admirable really. Personally she hated it. Luckily they hadn't encountered even a singld storm during their long trip over. Yet for as much patience as he had, she was all out of it. As soon as the ship sailed up next to the waterfront she lifted Vassia up and almost handed her over to Kilian almost as if giving him a bag or something. "Here." Once he was holding on to the fox she stood up and just lept of the side of the ship, using magic to slow her decent until she made a graceful landing on the sandstone dock. She was nearly ready to just collapse and try her best to make love to the ground as she was finally free of the confines of the ship. Instead she just looked at the dusty stone underneath her shoe clad feet, feeling grateful that it was not the wooden deck of the ship.

Seeing the ship pass her she slowly started following it. Walking down the pier she noticed the people around her that was giving her looks, and she was giving them all as big of a smile she could muster, giving them small waves of her hands. Even if she caught up to the ship when it finally stopped it still took a while before the gangplank fell down letting the people on board leave. She waited for them with her arms crossed and a cocky grin. Even if she kind of wanted them to hurry up, she at least didn't have to wait for it on the ship.

Seeing Jules walk down, steaming as he seemed ready to give her another lecture or something about the irresponsible use of magic and or doing dangerous stunts. She was supposed to be afraid of heights right? Yet as she stood there at the edge of the ship, even though it was far down to the ground she didn't even feel a twinge of fear or worry. Which is why she jumped down in the first place. Putting the potential chewing from Jules out of her mind she looked over at her two favorite people, Kilian and Vassia instead. "We're finally across the stupid ocean. Now if we could only get a bite to eat. I mean, look at these hips, I must have lost a ton of weight on that piece of floatsam." She noted that the very slight jiggle she had built up over the course of her time since waking up in the cave was all but gone putting her back at roughtly the same as when she first woke up.

[nicktaken]

Her three companions watched her with very different emotions. Kilian was slightly amused by her visible impatience to finally get off the ship. Vassia was enjoying the time together to some extent, but something felt off still. Jules, on the other hand, was observing her from a slight distance with a constant worry in his eyes. After analyzing her behavior these past weeks, he came to the conclusion that she had, in fact, changed significantly after coming aboard the ship. The first meeting with the captain and the following couple of days he could forgive, she had a headache and nausea to blame for her foul mood. But even with those two things fixed her disposition did not seem to change for the better. She was still angry and argumentative most of the time.

"Huh?" Kilian wasn't sure what was going on but held on to the fox regardless. It wasn't like he minded holding her, he just wouldn't admit it under most circumstances. And the next moment, Zerechia was off. Literally off the ship because she jumped down onto the dock. That was unexpected. It wasn't really like her to do something like this. Then again, perhaps she really couldn't wait to get off, and there was no harm in it either way. So he just shook his head and smiled at her from the top deck as he waited for the vessel to actually dock. He could probably mimic her small trick, but there was still the old wizard and all their stuff left on the ship. They couldn't very well go off without those. Well, technically...

Jules looked about ready to explode, but simply walked past the dragon, grumbling to himself. He was not pleased with her behavior, but he needed to approach this from a different angle. That and he was still hoping her irritation was largely caused by being out on the open sea, for whatever reason. Kilian chuckled at her comment about her own hips a bit. Well, she did sort of have a point, but with any luck it would all become irrelevant soon enough. "No time like the present, right? Why don't we get something decent to eat? Some proper people food." He added and winked at Vassia. She had proven she could eat raw food like a normal fox would, but it seemed as though she'd prefer something cooked. That and she had been staying in this form for a long time now, even before their little cruise. She was probably tired of it.

"You do that." Jules spoke up. "I'm gonna go straight for the hunter base and get things set up. It's just beyond the edge of town going north-west... that way." He added and pointed his finger in a seemingly random direction. "That citadel over there." He clarified. The stone fort he pointed out stood atop a couple of hills, its back facing some very steep mountains. In fact, the ridge seemed to run along the coast in both directions as far as the eye could see, or at least as far as nothing blocked the view.

Kilian nodded and took in the sights. The cool sea air aside, this place was a lot warmer than Valiria and its neighboring kingdoms. More arid, as well. There were some unfamiliar trees, a bunch of palm trees and cacti, but most of the natural vegetation seemed to consist of small bushes. The sun felt a bit more rough and most of the surrounding buildings had a sandy color to them. Still, if memory served, this place was plenty fertile. "The desert starts just beyond those mountains." He informed his two companions, though they probably knew as much. "So, shall we look for a place to change and eat?"

[DarkPinkie]

Stretching herself Chia looked over at Kilian as he winked to their companion... Pet?... Daughter? Friend? Whatever the fox was to them. The scene brought a small smile to her face. "Alright. Let's see what kind of food this place has to offer." She said proudly as she took her pack from Kilian and was about to walk in a seemingly random direction when Jules pointed out the hunter base. "Alright. Good to know." She added with a nod to him before she stomped off in a random direction, intent to find a place where Vassia could change into a human, followed by the first resturant available. "Let's find that resturant." She said with enthusiasm.

Finding an alley the former dragoness smiled. "In here I think it would do." As such she took the steep turn around and paraded into the alley. it didn't take long until she ran into a surprise. The scene that happened was quitd familiar to the one all those months ago. She walked ahead of the other two into a dark alley, and got jumped by strangers looking to steal her things. The first of the three men spoke in the local language at which Chia just frowned. Well she had no intent on letting this have the same outcome as last time. With a roll of her eyes she commanded her magic causing the air to push down against the three men hard.

She smirked when the three men was pushed against the ground unable to fight the force holding them pinned. Chia then said something in their local tongue after which ths three started loudly reply over eafh other. Judging from the voices two of them was actually women. Interesting. Standing there surrounded by the supposed burglars she smirked. This feeling was great. With just a tiny bit of increase she could take their lives. Such ephoria to simply hold such mastery over their insignificant existances. She was about to increase the power and crush them when Kilian came rushing in. "Hey there Kilian. These three tried to rob me. Well unlike last time were I was left to bleed to death these poor ones had no idea what they were getting into." They were still repeating the same phrase in their local language over and over again. "What they are saying? I told them to appologize or I'll crush them to pulp. Now if you would be a dear and go fetch a guard to take these crooks away and lock them up somewhere." She added with a smirk as she looked at him. "I got to stay here and make sure they won't move anywhere." That she seemed to take a sort of perverse enjoyment over their groveling was not at all why.

So leaning against a wall she waited for Kilian to return with a guard in tow. Took him longer than expected. As soon as she saw him she released her magical grip on the thieves. They still stayed bound to the ground though, out of fear rather than magic. It wasn't until the guard walked over to them and picked them up that they dared to even move. Chia said something to the guard which he nodded to, albeight with a slightly worried expression as well. Pushing herself off the wall she stretched. "Well then. This alley was a dud. Aw well." Her mood seemed to be significantly better now at least. Which was surprising as she was just trying to be mugged. "Maybe we should just
head into a resturant instead, maybe there is a corner where no-one's looking?" She asked as she stepped out of the other side of the alley. "That one over there looks alright." She said pointing to a building down the street with a large sign out front.

[nicktaken]

Between looking around, carrying Vassia, and getting their luggage, which would only increase when they went into the desert, Kilian missed the moment his lover decided to go off on her own again. When he realized she was out of sight he rolled his eyes; surely she remembered how acting this way ended for her before. Almost killed by a random mugger and then caught by Casandra with a similar outcome. On the other hand, it proved to be an invaluable lesson for him: no matter how many people he could beat on his own, it made no difference when he was protecting someone else. It wasn't something he was used to, and in all honesty, he hoped he never would be. He didn't mind saving her, it was her being in danger that troubled him.

And lo and behold, she got into trouble again, within less than a minute of being left on her own. At least this time around she seemed to remember what she was capable of. As he listened to her explanation of what happened he could only smirk. "What are they chanting?" He asked, not particularly troubled by the fate of these would-be bandits. Why should he care what became of them when they considered hurting his Chia? He nodded at her request and went off to find anyone who looked like they were with the law. That didn't take long; explaining what exactly he wanted of the man, on the other hand, proved oddly difficult.

"Seems the people around here aren't great with Commonspeak." He commented as they all watched the guard take these people away. "Most unusual for a port city." He shrugged and just followed her again, this time making sure to stay a little closer. "Maybe you could take her and her clothes to a bathroom? Nobody would question it too much if you came out together." He suggested a place for Vassia to change in two senses of the word. Sure, it wasn't the most glamorous, but it was private and easily available. That said, he was a little troubled to hear mostly an unfamiliar tongue spoken around these parts; it looked like he would have to rely on Chia to communicate with the locals.

[DarkPinkie]

"Not really." Chia shrugged. "It's actually quite few on this continent that speak commonspeak. To have one large unified language was something the people overseas came up with in a period of relative peace. This place is always in some sort of turmoil so the realms have not managed to agree to something like that." She explained. Thankfully she had been able to go over these sort of details beford they lsft for the trip, she was also surprised she knew the local langauge. At this point she was starting to wonder if there was fewer languages she didn't knew than what she knew.

"Alright then I guess." She replied as they entered the resturant. Looking around she tried locating the afofmentioned 'bathroom'. Not finding any marked doors she walked up to a well dressed man and asked him a auestion at which he simply directed her with a hand. Nodding she entered the room making sure to allow Vassia to follow her. Closing the door they vanished from sight for a couple of minutes. Once passed the blonde woman walked out with the readhead girl in tow. Now a human and wearing the adorable little dress Chia picked out for her before their trip. Moving over to Kilian Chia sat herself down with Vassia following. "So. What would you like honey?" She said with a smild trying her best to sound motherly as she looked over the menu. When Vassia gave her a pouty look she just giggled. "Alright alright. I'll translate." She said dismissdingly before starting go go through the descriptions of the menu items in commonspeak so that her two companions understood.

"There, now that you two are keyed in on the menu, I think I would like a lambchop in the spicy marinade sauce." It wasn't a perfect translation sure, but it was good enough. Vassia simply gave her a look before sighing. "I guess I'll just have ehh..." First time getting proper humanoid food and not leftovers in months, besides the day before they left and she was getting indecisive. After hearing Kilian's order she perks up a bit. "I'll just have that too." She say as she gave up on deciding and just go with whatever Kilian took.

[nicktaken]

"Huh. Well, that's not very convenient." Kilian said and crossed his arms. Commonspeak was a simple aggregated language that made communication simple without requiring people to memorize a number of different languages. Some kingdoms had adopted it as their primary language since conception, and smaller and younger countries didn't even have a second one. Everyone used to it to some extent - at least that was what people were taught in schools. But apparently that wasn't true. Even people from a port town, which would have more contact with the other parts of the world than those from inland, didn't seem to have a good grasp of it. That was surprising; how exactly did they conduct business then? Even if this wasn't a very big port.

Vassia looked really cute in her dress. When did Zerechia have time to go out and buy it? Probably just before they left town, when he was kept busy by Jules and all the planning the old wizard liked to do. That was a bit odd now that he thought about it. Why would Jules want to discuss their plans with him specifically and not Zerechia? Because their relationship wasn't the best so they didn't feel inclined to discuss anything but business? Or maybe the dragon didn't take things as seriously as he felt she should? Whatever the case, the hunter seemed to rely on Kilian more than the others. Not that he minded; being translated the menu for was making him feel more than just a little useless.

"Maybe something a little more local." He shrugged when he heard his lover's choice. Lambchops were good and all, but they were probably imported. It wasn't far from here to the desert and he couldn't see where any pastures would fit. "Camel sirloin sounds... interesting." It didn't seem like a particular delicacy, but when would he get to try it again? Probably whenever they stopped for food until they were done with the desert, but he didn't like looking ahead like that. Or rather he had a habit of not doing that after several years where each day could have been his last.

"So I just thought of this, but will you be able to find your way through the desert without your memories?" Granted there was no guarantee the fragments would suffice, but they were better than nothing probably. On the other hand, she could probably remove Jules' seal if it ended up getting in the way. The way she handled was bandits was certainly not at a beginner third echelon level. Granted, she had power to spare, but compressing air to simulate increased gravity was no joke, not to mention an actual gravity spell as that could have been what she used. Why was the old hunter saying she needed more training, anyway? It seemed she was doing far better than he claimed, just as long as she didn't hold herself back.

[DarkPinkie]

"Not really" She shrugged. "Only a few dock managers and traders would know commonspeak I think. Then there is of course the hunter base further off that Jules mentioned. Most people there probably know it as well." Chia added. She wish she had more insight in this area but beyond the language and what they had already gone over before coming here she was unable to recall any kind of information. But even so the amount of people confirmed for knowing the other continent's common langauge was rather small. That made her thankfull that she knew the language. Otherwise they might have just had to stay with Jules at the hunter base.

Thinking over Kilians words she thought for a moment. Lambchops was not local? She couldn't see really why they couldn't be, but then again, her knowledge for animal huspandry was very limited, probably even if she had all her previous knowledge to rely on. It's not like a dragon would know a whole lot about animal keeping right? "I um... Supposed you're right. Camel Sirloin for me t... brrr." She stopped mid sentence as she shivered. She felt as if cold water ran over her body. "I think the caged me knows something about camels that I do not." She sighed. Probably just some trivia about their taste or something.

His question caused her to pause. Vassia looking at her curiously also wanting to know the answer, though she stayed quiet almost as if she forgot she was no longer a fox. After a while of thinking thd former dragoness took a deep breath as she prepared to give them her thoughts. "I hope so. There is supposed to be some kind of protection around the core of the desert but I can't remember what exactly." She frowns at that. That felt like a very crucial piece of information yet she can't remember. That only served to foul her mood somewhat.

Thankfully to her she didn't have to sulk in her now bad mood for long before their food arrived pepping her up a little. At least until she bit into the meat. Instantly she found out just what it was she may have forgotten earlier. She had to pull quite a bit to bite a mouthsized piece off. Such a tough meat. Seeing as this meat would require a lot of effort to eat she looked down at Vassia having trouble to even pull a bite off of it. Swallowing her piece that was a lot less chewed than it should have been she felt it travel down her neck, just a little painfully. But her focus was else. "Here Iory, let me." She said as she tapped into the wellspring of magic as soon as Vassia stopped trying to chew off a piece of meat. Using her magic she carefully cut the meat into mouthsized peices. As soon as Vassia's plate was full of easily managable pieces of meat she focused on her own meal. Her concentration was interruped when a door slammed causing her to cut just a littld too deep causing her to cut not only the meat, but the plate it was served on and the table. Blinking she stared at her plate having been cut in two as well as the gap in the table. "Ehh... Whops?" Was all she could say. At least the cutting had gone by soundlessly so it had yet to draw any attention.

[nicktaken]

"Well, I mean, being imported isn't a deadly sin or anything." Kilian shrugged, kind of surprised the girls followed his example and ordered something unusual to the place they came from but likely quite common around these parts. Well, it was their choice to do that or pick whatever else they wanted, he supposed. He meant to make a comment on the expected quality of the meat, and that it was probably going to be rather stringy, when Zerechia's words cut his hearing rather deeply. Caged. What an odd word to use to refer to herself, and just as apt in their situation. He didn't like the sound of it for one moment. The question was, which cage was she referring to? The unfortunate consequences of her own partly botched spell, or something else?

He couldn't help but feel like it was all his fault. He realized some rather simple and important things all too late, which drove her to make the rather stupid decision of sealing her memories and pretending to be human. How did she put it? "Zerechia the dragon is dead", or something along those lines? He managed to forget the exact words, but their meaning never stopped haunting him. The most annoying part of it all was, it could have been avoided if he was just a little less demanding of himself and gave himself time to grow used to her dragon form. But there was little point mulling that over again; it was practically ancient history by now. It felt as though she just wanted to start over without the weight of her past - not that some elements of it had any intention of letting her go - but he just dragged her back into it. His thinking went in the wrong direction from the start. And despite getting closer to the potential recovery of her memories, he was the one who kept holding it off by various means. He told himself he was doing it all for her sake, but was he really? Or was he just afraid of her remembering why, exactly, she decided to do away with her memories in the first place?

"I could have told you that much." The young man commented, none too impressed by her 'recollection'. Well, at least it distracted himself from less pleasant thoughts. Still, how were they going to bypass a mysterious magic defense that nobody the hunters knew of could in the last several hundred years? They were sort of betting on Zerechia being let through or remembering something, but with a 'safety seal' on her mind the odds of that working were rather slim. Granted, if it was something magical, perhaps he could get around it somehow. But it was just as likely he would make it worse.

He watched with a mild degree of amusement as his lover failed spectacularly to deal with the one thing she always seemed interested in: food. "Kind of tough; I like it." He smirked. He was a bit less amused when she resorted to her usual means of dealing with any issue - inappropriate use of magic - and ended up slicing up her plate. Cutting ceramics so cleanly took a fair amount of precision, but why did she always have to use too much power? "You know, they did give us knives specifically for this reason." He demonstratively lifted his utensils and spun them in hand once. "They are sufficient for a piece of meat, even if you are inclined to think otherwise." He concluded his small lecture and returned to the food. The taste was a bit peculiar, and similar to mutton in the sense of retaining the animal's aroma, so to speak. It was interesting, but not something he would eagerly order again.

***

"So, where is the dragon?"

"She, along with a couple of companions, stopped by the town for a short rest." This was approximately the tenth time Jules had answered a question like that, because everyone seemed to think it their duty to ask it after seeing him arrive alone. This place was nothing like the hunter base at Dragon's Cliff. It was a proper fortress, once left abandoned, that their organization appropriated and repurposed at some point, and one of their largest installations. There were always plenty of people here, especially now that they were preparing for an expedition into the Endless Desert and there was the threat of another turncoat agent aiding possibly the worst traitor in the history of the Hunters. The other contender, whose actions basically made the Hunters what they were today, made a much bigger mess of things, but at least he didn't actively use the organization's resources to break its tenets.

Of course he got some lip for leaving the dragon by itself, but the old wizard had bigger concerns. He started having doubts ever since they set sail and Zerechia's general attitude seemed to shift, and they only got stronger since. Was this the right thing to do? Any of this, really. Helping a dragon regain its power? That was probably going to happen with or without their help, so it was best to get on said dragon's good side, right? Except he wasn't so sure anymore. Then again, the other 'safe' alternative was to get in their way and possibly try to kill them. They've missed the best opportunity for that, and at this point he was no longer certain they could. Zerechia didn't do great in training, but she seemed to utilize complex spells with ease when she didn't stop to think about it, and now that she had some control over her vast power there was no way they could match her in that regard, possibly not even with every Hunter mage together. And her aside, was it a good idea for any Hunters to venture into the desert? He wasn't sure what would be worse: if they found nothing or everything they could hope for. He would never doubt it would be a good thing for them to discover arcane secrets in his youth, but he had learned better since. Many people couldn't be trusted with power; Casandra was a great example.

Still, with no better alternatives in mind, all he could do was prepare to leave in the morning. A trek across the desert wasn't going to be easy even without the unknown force that prevented anyone unwelcome from going to its center.

[DarkPinkie]

The former dragoness simply rolled her eyes. "Yeah yeah, I know. But Jules say I need to practice my finesse every opportunity I get." She raises her hands up and forms puppets with them. "Sloppy! You need to be more precise! This wont do at all, a seven years old can do better." Her right hand say in her best impression of Jules. "But I am-" Her left hand said before getting interrupted by the right. "No butts. If you wont get better at controlling it you might just kill us all by accident." The right hand said to the left sternly. At which the left simply looked down at the floor in shame. Taking her hands back down to a more normal stance she simply shook her head. "That may have been a bit of an overdramatization, but it's kind of what happened." She said, though her face a frown. "Either case. I'll um... Just pay for the table I guess." She finished with a shrug as she carefully tried to continue her meal dispite the cloven plate. This time not relying on magic as she fumbled with the utensils to cut the meat into managable sizes.

At least it looks like Vassia likes the food even if she seems to be struggling with chewing it. That and being amused by Chia's antics put a smile on her face.

- - - - -

It had taken way to long to procure passage over the sea. Even if she could normally easily just seduce a captain or even outright dominate them through magic, her new addition was proving almost as much a liability as an asset. Several times had she covered it up in a long sleave glove only for it to burn through the glove and evaporate it into nothing when she least expected it. This made the seduction part harder. As for the other mean, domination is fine for short durations, but for longer those that know the dominee usually notice something off with them. And a trip over the sea takes months.

Thankfully with the aid of my new... Companion? Hostage? Tool? Whatever. With her aid, I was able to procure a boat under the guise of a frelance mage. I only had to provide favorable winds and they will take us across no problem. Even with my winds it will still take us too long to cross and I hate it. The food is bad, the task mindnumbingly repetative, and the company horrible.

Sitting here on the deck of the boat casually making a gale is really grating. The only thing keeping me sane is letting my mind wander to just exactly that old fool is up too and just exactly they have in store for this trip. Hearing him call me by that old throwaway name caused a rush I hadn't felt in a rong time. Had he not I may have just ended his life right there at our last encounter. But something in me was grateful that he remembered me, even if I left on mostly, relatively speaking, good terms. But thinking about him only makes me think of where this trip is heading. Whatever the dragon is looking for in the desert I hope her new form stops her from getting it. I can't follow her in there. Or at least I couldn't last time. But this time I will make sure to give the puzzle a bit more effort to figure it out if I have to. I won't let something as simple as a magical barrier block me from my goals.

Speaking of puzzles, here comes the one who gave me this information. I'm done with galemaking today, let's see if she have anything interesting to say.

- - - - -

Having finished the camel she leaned back in her chair statisfied. Even if Chia had in the end eaten a third of Vassia's portion as well as the girl had reached her limit before finishing. "That meat was so tough, but very filling. I think chewing gemstones would almost be easier." She adds with a giggle. One with Vassia join in on. "It wasn't that tough." The redhead chime in. At which she only get's a mirthful scowl from the former dragoness. Being off thr boat and getting proper food was definitely what she needed to take loose some tensions. Thinking about tensions she turn to Kilian with a devious smirk. They hadn't been particularly more physical on the boat than the ocassional cuddle, getting intimate was not a priority there. However looking at him she started to draw out plans for tonight. There would be no escaping this one, not that she believed he would even try to.

With a smirk she stood up and put down a generous helping of gold coins on the table, in order to cover their meal and the damages she inflicted. For now her hunger had been sated and now she wanted to find a place where they could simply relax and digest a bit.

[nicktaken]

"Well, whatever the case, you seem to do significantly better when you don't fret over the results too much." Kilian just shrugged in reaction to her little presentation, feeling no particular way about it. His personal relationship with the hunter was such that he would rather put an end to it as soon as possible. In fact, he was very ready to put an end to everything. It felt like a lot happened in the two to three weeks when they first started traveling together, and then everything just sort of stopped for months. It was certainly a good thing that Casandra was unlucky enough to show up when she did and not when he wasn't around at all, but he was really tired of his ancestor's sister. He was tired of all of this. He just wanted to get things done and properly figure out his relationship with Zerechia, and Vassia too. That was more or less all he ever wanted.

***

The renegade huntress - rather, the other renegade huntress - was a difficult person to deal with. Finding her didn't prove as hard as anticipated: standard detection spells proved useless, but good old detective work paid off. It certainly helped that Evelyn knew what the woman looked like and that the latter didn't disguise herself with some illusion spell. Perhaps she simply could not - the deformed appendage refused to be hidden by magic and clothes alike and it certainly didn't look like a banal injury, making most people rather unwilling to talk to her. That was where the younger defector came in. Knowing Jules, he had assumed the worst and advised his colleagues to do the same; he wasn't wrong. Regardless, it was going to take at least a few days for news to spread beyond the organization itself. She could easily get passage on most ships by telling the captains to put it on Hunters' tab; she didn't want to spend what cash she had on hand, fully aware she was going to need it soon.

Her decision was rather spontaneous, but she didn't really regret it. Abandoning the Hunters wasn't a crime, and all her equipment belonged to her: it was partly thanks to the soul enchants that she was accepted in the first place. So at present she was blameless, merely retired without notice. She intended to change that and assist a known criminal, but who was going to know? There would be no witnesses at the end. Sure, abandoning the organization was a big step, but what did she care? She joined up in order to find Kilian and get closure, and the only way she was going to get any now was if he died, preferably by her own two hands. It wasn't going to fix the life he ruined, but at least he'd pay for it. As for the others and what would come next, did it even matter? She was never going to have a proper family. She might find something else to focus on, or she might die before then. It was too early to think about that.

***

"Are we all ready?"

Kilian just nodded, not in the mood to speak with Jules. He wanted their small group to get a room - or perhaps two rooms - at an inn in town, but the old hunter purposefully sent someone to find them and bring them over when they didn't show up "in time". And even though this base was larger, the layout and amount of people staying here made it so they had less privacy than in their room at Dragon's Cliff. He was glad not to sleep on a boat, but the conditions felt similar: bunk beds with rooms separated by rather flimsy walls, not part of the original citadel design. Chia was happy that the sway and seasickness were gone, but as someone who didn't suffer from those, he found the bedding on the ship was actually more comfortable than what they received here.

All of those things were enough to annoy him, and then there was the fact they were about to go into the Endless Desert. While not too dangerous by itself, it was a less than pleasant place and they intended to try and breach the unknown obstacle that killed many people before. Not to mention he still had plenty of doubts about this whole endeavor and Chia's memories. Not that they mattered at this point; if he meant to stop pursuing them, they should have done so long ago.

In light of Evelyn's absence and potential betrayal they were instead accompanied by three hunters he had never met before. All seemed reliable enough, and all appeared to be 'in the know', judging by the looks they were giving Zerechia at first. Luckily they just minded their own business and bothered none of them. This was one of the advantages of working with more experienced people: discipline.

"So, ready to maybe get your memories back in a few days?" Kilian forced a smile as he addressed his lover. There were so many uncertainties that he felt silly worrying over the potential consequences, but that didn't help him stop.

[DarkPinkie]

Thd blonde looked unsure about it for just a moment before nodding. "Yeah." She did hope their expedition into the desert would prove fruitful, but she wasn't sure of just exactly what they would find there. That and the close quarters enviroment with a lack of privacy had started to grate her nerves. Overall she was just glad to be out of the cramped lodging. Altough she was not so sure she liked the idea of not having a bed to sleep in for weeks. But sand was suppose to be soft right?

Overall she didn't like the idea of the three hunters accompanying them, but if it kept Casandra or other potentially dangerous individuals. At least Kilian was there to keep her company, as well as Vassia, even if she was not sure if it was a good idea for the kitsune to follow along into one of the most dangerous places in the world, but every time she was about to suggest that Vassia maybe should stay in the fort a selfish thought compelled her to keep quiet. If she was honest with herself this whole trip was terrifying her deep down. Only the presence of Kilian and Vassia was keeping her on track.

"Yes. Hopefully I will find them there, or some clue on how to bring them back." She said with a uncertain smile. "Just a weeks walk straight into a desert which have claimed more lives than any living person. Easy." She said to reaffirm herself that it was the correct course of action. After all if she gets her memories back then that means she get's her powers fully back too, even if that did not mean all this hunter business if over. She did promise to tell Jules about dragon culture.

Taking a deep breath she looked towards the mountain ridge they would have to pass in order to get to the desert. "Alright. Iory, are you ready?" She asked looking down at the supposed little girl. The escorts did not seem happy to have Vassia around but at least they aknowledged that it was helping Chia relax. After all, her body might be as mortal as theirs, but her magic was such a wellspring of power she could easily overpower them all, at the same time, if she felt threatened. Getting a nod in return from Vassia she looked up ahead. "Okay let's go." She took the first reluctant step on their journey to the desert. The second one was more confident. By the third step all hesistation was gone and she was certain. Whatever they would find in the desert it would be for a gold thing.

[nicktaken]

Kilian squeezed Chia's hand for a moment and gave her a reassuring smile. She was right, the desert was quite the deadly place, in no small part because of the hidden place that they intended to try and reach. But that was why having hunters along was a good thing: they probably knew more about it than anyone else and they had made quite a few preparations for this journey. Their camels were packed with various equipment for the road and ample supplies, just in case things didn't go as smoothly as everyone hoped they would. Of course that meant they had less room for simpler things and would have to sleep beneath mere tarps of tents, not to mention they'd have to walk the whole way, but those were minor issues, really.

The already somewhat barren terrain, at least compared to what he was used to, only got more desolate throughout the first day of their journey. The air gradually turned more dry and there was less and less vegetation of any type. It was all replaced by cacti before long, but even those hardy plants couldn't survive in the dunes that they came upon as they left the canyon leading into the desert proper. That was where they made camp for the first night: right at the edge of the seemingly endless sands. The rocks gave off some warmth after being in the sun all day, but one could still feel the cold winds coming in. That was one of the most troublesome parts of going through any desert: the extreme contrast of heat and cold during the day and night.

That wasn't the only problem they would have to face, however, as Jules informed them the next morning. "It will take us about three days to reach the edge of what is considered the 'safe zone'." He said. "What awaits us beyond, nobody really knows. But there are beasts who actually live in these conditions. The rather infamous sand worms and venomous insects. So stay sharp."

[DarkPinkie]

Unlike the cool spring days they left behind the heat was rather strong here. In fact Chia wondered if she could just reach her hand out and make some cloud coverage similar to how she brought out the sun at the start of their journey, but remembering what Jules had said about using her weather manipulation thingy.... Whatever it was, was a bad idea. So instead she simply decided to suck it up and deal with the heat. Vassia on the other hand seemed to have no issues with the heat or dry air at all unlike the rest of them as she moved along on those childlike legs of hers. It made Chia slightly curious to why, but she decided to bite her tongue in the presence of the many hunters.

Sleeping huddled up next to Killian with Vassia between them she couldn't help but smile as she dreamt about pleasant things. Both her lover and her pet/friend was present and brought joy to her dream. But as all dreams do even the pleasant ones fade once awake and having to once more deal with the desert. At least it was not yet all that warm as they set out. Hearing Jules explain about the living dangers of the desert caused the former dragoness pause. She felt that maybe she should know something about these creatures but she was just drawing blanks. Any knowledge she might have fully blocked by her own seal and Jules reinforcing. However she was not the one to speak up about it.

"Sand worms? That does not sound so dangerous. Worms ars tiny harmless things." Vassia said with a raised eyebrow causing everyone to turn their head towards her. Seeing at it brought everyone's attention to herself her posture shrunk down slightly.

[nicktaken]

Three days of this didn't sound too bad to Kilian. He could handle three more days. The conditions were the same as always - he didn't exactly have a lot of luxury while doing work for the Hunters away from Dragon's Cliff - so that didn't even bother him. The climate was a bit harder to bear, but they had prepared clothes for going into the desert and those helped. The only things bothering him was impatience, as he wanted to get this chapter of their misadventures to be done and over with, and doubts. He decided not to follow the voice of doubt inside his head, but that didn't mean he could just discard it all right away.

It was almost amusing, really. He hadn't felt doubt for a long time prior to meeting Zerechia. When it was just about his own survival, there was basically nothing to second guess. Even when he did have multiple ways he could resolve some problem, he usually came to a decision without stopping to think about it, simply as he went along, and it all worked out about as well as could be expected. She was the cause of his worries, which led him to almost abandon her a few times. But he was deriving an odd sense of pleasure from this: having trouble making decisions meant they actually mattered. Quite unlike the ones he was making previously.

But of course, there just had to be a catch. Despite the open and seemingly lifeless terrain, this place had dangerous beasts lurking somewhere. Things couldn't be easy even this once, and that was not to mention Cassandra. If his worst fears came true and Evelyn did join her, then the damn witch would do everything in her power to prevent them from reaching their destination. After all, their first encounter proved beyond reasonable doubt that she couldn't handle even a weakened Zerechia in a direct confrontation. And the silver dragon had learned some things since.

"Not these ones." The comment came from one of the other hunters, a hulking and rough looking man with armor made of brown scales from some beast and a large axe on his back. "The small ones can easily devour people whole. The big ones... you get the picture." He finished with a shrug. "Worst part, they're basically one digestive tract with lots and lots of teeth. There's no getting nicked or bitten here; you'll get eviscerated and..."

"Vamir!" Jules interrupted.

"Right." The man bit his tongue and glanced over at Vassia a couple of seconds later. "Sorry, kid. Got carried away there."

"Hopefully we will not run into any of those things." The senior wizard spoke up again. "They are rare and we are few enough that we shouldn't disturb the sands too much. On the other hand, if we do get bad luck, the camels should make for good decoys."

[DarkPinkie]

Chia was much less doubtful about their decision, however she still worried for what the aftermath would be once they got what they came for. After all, if she did regain her memories proper would she really be the same person as now? While she supressed those worries they still gnawed at her. That and the heat was really getting to her head. The others seemed to handle it a lot better than she did, but she had to stay strong. Besides it's just a few more days before they reach their destination.

Hearing Vamir's description of the sand worms caused Chia to reach a hand up to her throat and swallow in a slightly worried gulp. Maybe this wasn't such a good idea after all. Getting her memories back is ond thing, but being torn apart by more teeth than one could count as they got swallowed did not sound like a good thing. Jules interrupting Vamir was actually probably more for her unease than that of Vassia's.

Vassia meanwhile was listening intently to Vamir, facinated by his description. To the fox person every animal and plant was facinating and great, even those that could kill her in an instant. Although even so she prefered it to not happen. "Woah. How many teeth do you think one worm have?" She asked with childlike wonder keeping up the facade after Jules described how rare they were. "How big can they get? Have you ever seen one?" She keept going with great enthusiasm. Also the heat didn't even seem to bother her.

While Zerechia smiled at Vassia's enthusiasm she really hoped Vamir wouldn't indulge her, or that Jules would stop him from. While she didn't want to know the answers to those questions she did not have thd heart to say no. Instead she moved closer to Kilian as they continued their treck, letting his presence at least calm her slightly. Hopefully Vamir would not get tol descriptive.

Further in the back the two hunters was on the lookout. Though the one huntress they had simply scoffed at Vassia's enthusiasm. "I bet that if one of those things show up it will eat Vamir first." The huntress, dressed head to toe in white with a shawl covering all but her eyes said to her fellow rear guard. The way she was dressed made it hard to tell she was a woman until one could hear her speak. Close enough to be in earshot of Chia and Kilian. While disciplined, not person was immune to a little friendly bantering. Her green eyes scaned the dunes to their sides in order to try and find any threats, but so far none seems to be coming forth, which suited her fine.

[nicktaken]

"Wow, kid. You're something else." The scruffy hunter rubbed the back of his head, quite surprised to hear such enthusiasm from what he considered a pitiful tag-along, drawn into this dangerous undertaking simply because she had nowhere else to go. "Yeah, I have seen some. And I've heard tales that some of these can grow large enough that they could swallow whole wagons without issue. Which is not to say anything smaller would be left unharmed." He added in a darker tone.

"Wait, hold on." Kilian interjected. He hadn't really been paying that much attention to the worm talk, but hearing about their size raised certain concerns. "These creatures aren't aberrations, are they?"

"From what we know of them, no, they are not." Jules was the one to answer. "They had never displayed the characteristic behavior of such. We believe there is simply a very limited amount of these creatures, but they roam all throughout the desert, possibly without sleep. They either don't live all that long, despite their massive size, or simply devour one another to maintain the local ecology." He explained.

"As if anyone would be stupid enough to go anywhere full of aberrations with her." Vamir spoke again, nodding toward Zerechia.

"What are aberrations?" Vassia couldn't help her curiosity with the term being thrown around and seemingly important for the conversation.

"Bad things." The gruff man cut off.

"It's what people call creatures who shouldn't be able to sustain themselves without devastating the surrounding plant and animal life, thus leading to their own starvation regardless." Kilian answered in his stead. "Instead they are sustained to a significant varying degree by magic. So their one common feature is being drawn to sources of magic, whether living or not, and many exhibit qualities that can only be explained by magic."

"You forgot the other common feature: how easily they are addicted to the taste of people." Vamir showed a rather nasty smile. Kilian didn't forget, he just didn't want to bring it up. "Even normally herbivorous creatures start thirsting for flesh should they get a bite somehow. Those who prefer meat in the first place? Don't get me started. There's no sensible reason for it, but they just can't get enough."

"That's quite enough." Jules said sternly. He wondered what the younger hunter was trying to accomplish by saying all that.

Of course, dragons were the prime example of aberrations. Each adult specimen would be a miniature ecological disaster for the area they occupied if they weren't sustained by magic. And that's just the ones hunters had on file. Unconfirmed tales spoke of larger ones still, as well as implications that their numbers were greater than usually believed. And yet dragons didn't leave a large mark on the world unless they specifically wanted to, which could only be explained if they didn't have to. But they were also exceptional among other aberrations. Their own magic was so powerful that they were drawn only to themselves or each other, and having intelligence meant they weren't as subject to instinctive behavior. But in a sense that only made them more dangerous.

"I'm just saying." Vamir shrugged. Of course, such an obviously feigned ignorance didn't go unnoticed by the old wizard, but he made no further comment. The only thing he couldn't understand was why the warrior even tagged along if he had something against dragons, but he didn't expect to get an answer even if he did ask.

[DarkPinkie]

As it turns out Vamir did get more descriptive and his words made chia even more worried. She wished she could just fly them there. At the very least if they do manage to bring her memories back she might be able to fly them back out of the desert... Maybe. But the thought of running into a sandworm did not let her go off easy.

However Kilian chiming in asking if they were aberrations caused Chia to raise an eye. Not even a a shiver ran down her spine as she wondered about the significance of the word. The back and fourth between the different people caused her to get even more curious about aberrations. Even if it was making her feel slightly uneasy. In fact she was just about to ask about it when Vassia cut her off. The quick response caused Chia to almost shrink back. Her curiosity was sated, she'll figure out more once she felt more comfortable. But even so Vamir and Jules kept going describing them even further. Including the horrible taste for flesh they seemed to get. Made her just a little bit nauseous just thinking about herbivores going bloodthirsty.

Thankfully Jules put an end to the "explanation" rather shortly. But what had been said was more than enough to jog Chia's imagination. She was afraid she would just have these horrid mental images for at least the next few hours.

- - - - -

The rest of the day passed without any incident. No massive sand worms showed up to eat them and so far no Casandra. Vamir was busy spending most of the day indulging Vassia's boundless childish curiosity with stories about his own adventuring career before he became a hunter, whether Vassia's curiosity was genuine or just a front Chia could not tell, but it seemed both Vassia and Vamir was at least keeping themselves occupied.

As for Chia, unlike what she feared her head was not filled with grotesque imaginations of aberrations, but rather started going towards what might just be beyond the impassable. She knew it was not as impassabe as it was supposed to seem, but what the barrier was or what lay beyond it eluded her. Thinking about it too hard sent shivers down her spine as the phantom feeling of cool water being dumped on her head. That night she was being extra clingy to Kilian as they went to sleep.

"Killian... What was that whole thing about aberrations earlier today? I don't like the look that Vamir gave me when he mentioned 'Not wanting go near them with me around.' I know it's because they are attracted to magic and all, but I feel he was implying something else." She asked him hoping for some real answers.

[nicktaken]

Kilian decided he definitely did not like at least one of their companions. On the other hand, the hunter's less than enthusiastic comments about this endeavor reminded him of one very important thing: they were neither friends nor allies. Jules was probably the one he could trust the most, and they had almost ended up enemies at one point; circumstances were irrelevant. And yes, the old wizard had expressed concerns over whether people like his colleagues should be allowed any knowledge that the dragons held - assuming it would relate to magic and such and not just general lore - but that was most likely the very thing the other hunters were after.

With dragons believed to be largely solitary and individualistic, aiding one meant only this specific one would be thankful. For all they knew, no other dragon would give a damn. It was an unpleasant reminder, that even people helping them right now could turn on them at first convenience, but he probably needed it. He kind of relaxed too much after his bounty was dealt with and people no longer wanted him dead all the time. At least not openly. Of course, should it ever be revealed that they tricked the Velirian government, that would certainly create a bad image for them all across the world, but... He caught himself thinking he was relying on Zerechia to keep him out of trouble. And sure, she could, but was that really alright?

"I'm not sure what he was implying." He answered her with a slight sigh. He did actually have a decent idea. "It's just that, normally, people who have a significant aura are quite capable in using magic. Yours is that of a dragon, but whether you could drive off as many beasts as you'd attract is another question. Actually, Jules is convinced you are unable to actually utilize the large majority of power that should be at your disposal, making you a walking danger zone. We're lucky we didn't attract anything out at sea, really." He shrugged slightly. It wasn't just luck; the old wizard was casting masking spells on the already enchanted ship twice a day.

"I think the other hunters are still on the fence about aiding a dragon." He continued. "Your kind, too, are aberrations, if very irregular. And between my awkward lies and their information network, I'm pretty sure the hunters know you are the same dragon we allegedly killed. Meaning they know you've eaten people before, and quite a few at that." He tried to give her a reassuring smile, but he wasn't sure how she'd feel about this news in the first place. The current Chia seemed to want to return to being a proper dragon, but the dragon Zerechia probably wanted to stop being one. There was no way he'd figure any of this out until her memories were back, at which point he'd just have to deal with the consequences, he supposed. "I mean, you did express an interest in eating me more than once..." He added with a short chuckle and instantly wondered if he should have kept his mouth shut.

[DarkPinkie]

Chia replied with a sigh to his first answer. Of course he didn't know, after all why would it be so easy? As he continued she listened to his explanation. She groaned when he mentioned Jules and her lack of magical skill. "Yeah yeah, I know I'm not that well trained in magic yet. I'm sorry for being such a burden to everyone." She did not at all sound sorrowful. In fact she sounded rather annoyed.

The former dragon rolled her eyes as he told her about the hunters unease with helping a dragon. She never requested their help, so why did they choose to come if they didn't like the idea. As far as Zerechia could tell they were volunteers. Shaking her head she scoffed at that as she snuggled closer to Kilian, it was starting to get rather cold after all. "So what if I had eaten people? It's not like I have made any motion at all to show any such tendencies. Also why would I turn on my allies if they can be trusted? But not trusting me sure does not make them appear too trustworthy." She scoffed. By the time Kilian started speaking again Chia had moved on to gently kissing at his neck. "Me eating you hmm?" She let her tongue escape the confines of her lips and run a short distance around where she had been kissing. "Well, you are delicious." She teased before giggling. Chia moved up from his neck and gave him a proper kiss. She was almost a little sad that Kilian was so uneasy about them getting physical around Vassia, and with Vassia sleeping right next to them that was sure to be a factor, but it didn't mean they couldn't be affectionate. Breaking the kiss she smiled at him. "I wouldn't eat you if I didn't have a way to eat the cake and have it too. I love you too much to simply eat you for food."

Seeing that perhaps she have had enough affection she stopped her kissing and simply backed down to cuddling "for warmth". She was afraid that if she continued her kissing she might just become to lusty to back down. "Kilian... What do you think will happen once I regain my old memories?" She asked, but was quickly disappointed by the answer. "No I mean, between us." Listening to Kilian's answer left her with a wishful sigh. Taking a deep breath she steadied herself to say something, but ended up just making a whole bunch of false starts and blushing deeply. "I... I..." She wanted to tell him how much he meant to her. How even if she would not become a dragon again with this mission to regain her memories she would rather spend her mortal life next to him. How she wanted them to have a family. How she would be glad to bear his child with joy. As she thought about it her hand went down and rubbed at her stomach thinking back to the times she had seen pregnant women back in Dragon's Cliff and their rounded bellies. Yet for all that she somehow could not find herself to say how she wanted to bear his child. "Nevermind. It was not important." She finally said with a sigh and leaned in a little closer as the cold desert night was really starting to creep in. After that it did not take too long to fall asleep.

- - - - -

The next morning greeted them just like the one before. With howling winds and blasting sun. At least it was not unbearbly hot just yet. When Chia awoke she found herself laying on her back. Carefully opening her eyes together with letting loose a yawn she found something odd. Her left eye was giving her vision as usual. Her right eye was however covered in something black. This made her curious to what exactly it was blocking her sight, or at least it did until it mooved at which point she screeched in fear and swatted at it with her hand. Knocking it off her face she looked down at it. Some sort of spiderlike crature with a long tail ending in a barbed stinger was quickly skittering out of the tent. She was looking at the tent openning where it had disappeared in abject horror. That is until the others arrived attracted by her scream. "I um... I'm fine. Was just this insect thingy on my face when I woke up. It frightened me." She added with an embarassed chuckle. A moment later Vassia leaned into the tent opening holding the very same creature by the tail. "You mean this one?" She giggled as she handled the struggling scorpion with ease. This causing Chia go nod stiffly. She was not afraid of the scorpion but she was still a little shaken from her wakeup.