[The Dragon Queens Lament]: (Sakura and Birichino)

[Birichino]

The young man pouted, but set off towards the slayers, anyway. Looking them over, he quickly noticed that their weapons were elementally water-based. That would put them at a hilarious disadvantage if it came to a fight, at least. The next thing he looked for, out of habit, was a cute girl among their numbers. He'd always had a tendency towards women, since their navels were never hairy, and beauties, who tended to be more hygenic, but since making the human form his default, he couldn't help but feel that his interested had gained a dimension. It was only after a few seconds of checking around that he remembered his objective and gathered up the various bags before hurrying back to Archa on cloudwalking footsteps.

"What's the teleportation scroll look like?" he asked as he rummaged through the first bag, pocketing anything exceptionally pretty and discarding the rest upon finding no scroll, "and if there's any gold in here, would that help? Also, how hasn't V...Virus? The copper dragon noticed me yet? Am I invisible to her, too?"
His speaking volume was just slightly too loud to be called a whisper.

[SakuraHanaryuu]

*Archa spoke at about the same volume*, "Teleportation spells tend to have black scrolls, dimensional magic is a part of the void branch of spell-craft, tricky to get a hold of. It should be labeled with the word Teleportation, though it may be in divine language. To use it, hold it open and speak aloud the spell with whatever location you want to go to in mind, in this case, think of Droana, its an abandoned city in Cladaka, I have a gold cache hidden there assuming no one's plundered it yet...and make sure your touching my body flesh to flesh when you cast the spell. If you just grab my clothes or shackles it wont work."

[Birichino]

"You have clothes?" he asked as he rummaged through a few more bags, "Hmm...I kind of wanted to meet this mighty stealth dragon...oh, by the way, there are multiple divine languages. I can only read two...and I have no idea how to think of a place I don't know. Can't I just press the scroll against you to use it?"
He was trying to think of a way to add a nice navel to sleep in to his irrational requests when he found the scroll. "Can you...at least tell me what Drawer...wait, Droana looks like?" he asked as he pressed a hand to Archa's snout, "...and is this part of you, or do I need to do something like shove my hand into your mouth...?"

His thoughts drifted to his unanswered question from before. How had he escaped the notice of the cunning copper dragon keeping watch? Or, possibly, why was she allowing them to escape?

[SakuraHanaryuu]

"The answer is simple...your a divine beast, these dragon-slayers were sent by the gods, she assumes your with them...and yes, putting the scroll in my claws will work very well...now then hand it here when you find it. If it isn't there, check whoever has a hammer. Someone hit me with something heavy, a hammer, a club, something along those lines, I'm guessing their a trusted member, they were very quiet during the whole interaction, their probably the responsible type."

*Finding no tele-scroll Nevi would see that there was indeed a slayer who had a pole-hammer, clothed in heavy armor, he now stood watch over the camp fire, no one had yet realized the carts door had been opened.*

[Birichino]

Annoyed to see that the black scroll he had found was unrelated, he tossed it aside. "Our clothes don't even match..." he murmured, "well, she can think what she wants. I need to sort this out first."
Pulling up the hood of his robe to conceal his golden hair, Nevi slipped into the darkness of the night. He had tread upon clouds and stalked through forests, so it was safe to assume that the one woken guard heard no trace of his presence as he emerged behind the man, only the gentle flicker of the fire allowing one to see that he was there at all. With a delicate hand, he reached into the pouch, extracting the first paper object he found before withdrawing into the shadows.

It dawned on him that he hadn't slept well in a while as he inspected the scroll. "It's too bad you weren't a cute girl," he thought, "but I guess, if those get eaten by dragons, there will be fewer of them...such terrible creatures, if they're all like that..."

[SakuraHanaryuu]

*Two things happened here, one Nevi would find the Tele-scroll...and two...he would feel the gaze of something upon him, laser focused on him alone, the intent was so potent that it practically changed the temperature of his body...by pickpocketing the hammer wielder, he had inadvertently revealed that he was not on their side...true he aquired the prize...but he also gave too much away...the copper dragon was on to him, a beast of unknown size and apparently supreme power, far more than anyone else there could handle, not the slayers, not Archa, not him, hell even a full fledged god would have trouble in this situation...the dragon was not just invisible, she was indetectible. His eyes may have been divine but this was a wyrm who dedicated years upon years to perfect an ultimate shroud, it was like realizing death itself was preparing to strike him down...he couldn't just return to the cart at this point, he needed to sneak past something that could not be detected...what a conundrum.*

[Birichino]

Crossing his arms, Nevi took a moment to think. This creature was certainly confident -or careless- to make its presence so obvious. On the one hand, he could play innocent, threatening the guard with hidden claws to try to trick his observer, but he had always been a bad actor. He could also simply shoot over to Archa, with speed rivalling true lightning itself, but he didn't know if that would be moving away from the threat, or towards it.
His foot tapped impatiently. He didn't feel threatened, himself, between his speed and digestion-proof body. He had even wanted to meet this dragoness. However, he had business with Archa, and if what she said was true, her death would mean that even a journey to a world of souls couldn't make her pay her dues.

Diplomacy came to mind. After all, it was entirely possible that not all dragons were as selfish and petty as the one he was stuck with. This one was clearly powerful, but mighty company was nothing new to him. This was just a bit more hostile. Besides, he only had two other plans, and he couldn't really remember how to make paper airplanes.
"Can I help you?" he asked innocently.

[SakuraHanaryuu]

*There was no response, the invisible force simply ignored his words, and there was no sign at all where she was or the level of power she possessed...but she had Archa running scared...the former dragon queen. If he put two and two together, he should understand that this person threatened not only him but entire cities with their presence alone...but copper dragons were metalic right? They were supposed to be good...at least thats how it was a few thousand years ago, last time he checked.*

[Birichino]

The boy huffed a bit at being ignored. She could clearly see him, so she should have been able to hear him, meaning she was just rude. However, her ability to see him also meant that her eyes took in a great deal of light, and no matter how hard even they were to damage, she was probably unable to see well after Nevi's body suddenly erupted into an explosive blast of lightning, which vividly shot off into the distance. Treading the maelstrom of the sheer air pressure he'd forced from that point, Nevi himself gave off no light as he dashed to Archa's side at nearly the speed of sound and hastily shoved the scroll into her claws. It was only hesitantly that he kept a hand on her muzzle, rather than stand his ground against the forces he'd surely just upset.

[SakuraHanaryuu]

*Nevi would bolt straight into an invisible claw, held over the open carriage door, which snapped shut the moment it sensed his touch. Like a venus fly trap. Rather than use her eyes, she used her sense of touch, the neurons firing at lightspeed as well as his own momentum and surprise at smacking into a surface at such speed easily being enough for her to catch him.*

*Her body was massive, and only when he touched her could he actually see just how huge. Varusia was a full grown Elder Wyrm, meaning that her body was like a mountain, Nevi would find himself as a mouse staring at a lion, she held him like a toy in her claw, the copper scaled visage hissed with a breath and spoke*, "Your an ally of the caged one eh? Let me guess, you picked a teleportation scroll from the camp? Eheh...well", *she squeezed Nevi hard enough to cause pain*, "That scroll is your only way out of this...use it, and your life is spared...of course that also means damning the little queen in this cage, she'll either be sacrificed to the gods, or eaten by me...I win either way...oh no worries, no one can hear us...my magics will ensure that." *Virusa had been right beside the carriage the entire time, her enormous body layed across the road, several trees bending out of the way to make room, her expression was rather boored, as she held Nevi, as if he were the least interesting thing to her.* "Honestly you know zilch about stealth, don't you...if you'd have grabbed the bag rather than search through it, that would be one thing, but the fact that you were clearly stealing gave you away...couldn't you think of any less straightforward way to get that scroll? I don't think I've ever seen something as dumb as you are...well...anything with an actual brain at least, slimes not withstanding."

[Birichino]

"How is stealing the entire bag less obvious than taking one thing?" he asked, audibly disappointed in Varusia's smugness, "And what do you stand to gain from her death, anyway? I still have her atonement to collect, so you can't eat her until I'm finished! And even then, if she ends up more innocent than you..."
Despite the pain, he gave the titanic beast a grin. "Why drag it out, anyway? You just like the fancy ones back where I'm from? Making sure everything is done with the proper formality? Or maybe you're being careful. That's why you're hiding from these nerds who get pickpocketed by a puppy? Sure, I don't see them as a threat, but I guess they are dragon slayers...it's just strange to see, I guess. You're being as subtle as a mountain spirit despite all of this power...ah, or are you just fast? You grabbed me pretty quickly -well, you guessed which way I was going and made that work for you- so I'll admit it's impressive how sensitive your nervous system must be. Can your scales feel things? They look just like this really lovely metal I'm familiar with, but I never knew copper to be sensitive..."

All the time he talked, he didn't mention that the scroll was no longer on his person. Although in a few seconds, it would be on Archa's. As it turns out, his paper airplane studies had come back to him, and a floating piece of paper didn't offer much to detect for any massive dragon, even without the distraction of a chattering raiju's goading.

[SakuraHanaryuu]

(Paper airplane, now there's a smart move. Nevi clearly has the fine muscle skills to make the plane at extreme speeds, and the coordination to land it inside the cage, plus you've already stated his divine eyes allow him to see in the dark.)

"By taking the entire bag, it appears as if you don't know what your looking for, but taking a single item it shows that your a practiced thief...there were no theives, rogues, assassins, bards, or striders in this party, I double checked them all. Two Warriors, a Ranger, and a Black-Guard(dark paladin), I had originally assumed you to be the Rangers summon, or perhaps a friendly companion...but now I see your an ally of the old queen there...the devils in the details my little toy." *Virusia produced a wide, highly smug grin, her eyes raising in delight.*

"As for my motives for not ending you, I obviously can at a whim. It's because I'm a Copper dragon...if you knew anything about us Coppers, you'd know we love to talk...this maw 'would' just love to gobble everyone up here...but I want to chat with my food first...I could talk with you while your in my belly, true...but then I wouldn't get your full reaction, your expressions, ecct." *Virusia shifted Nevi over to her tail, wrapping the tip of her sinuous tail around his body, still keeping him well under control as she dangled him in front of her face. Turning him about like a new collectible figurine, just opened from its package*. "So how do 'you' know little Archa? You mentioned something about repentance or redemption?"

[Birichino]

Nevi merely raised an eyebrow at her superfluous run-down of her reasoning. "I'd still be a thief whether I stole the bag or one thing from it, though," he replied simply, "but you'd be...okay with someone stealing from their own team...poorly..." He exaggerated his confusion, as if her logic were utterly moronic. Doubt was a powerful force, and even a creature as smug as Virusia may experience it in the right circumstances.

The question made him wince. Talking about Archa with too much length or depth might prompt the Copper to look over at her, and while he was forced to meet her eyes, he couldn't check to see if that was safe yet. Would Archa simply leave him with the scroll? He wouldn't mind, or expect much else, but if he was left with the monster clutching him, it was only a matter of time before he ended up in a draconic stomach once more. Although, staying with Archa seemed to lead to that just as invariably.
"She devoured an entire village because I let her go," he replied, doing his best to make himself the interesting feature, "I crafted a statue for her to pray for the souls she had sent from this world, but she smashed it! I'll never forgive her until she's done what's right and allowed them a just reincarnation! I've seen the world of gods firsthand, and I know its systems of woe and weal."
Her tail's grasp made him squirm in discomfort, but at least he had her interest. "How long do you expect me to last in that fat gut of yours?" he asked bitterly, "It's not like I'd make anything of a decent meal for you. Even if you ate every slayer here, how long would it take before their souls need praying for?"

[SakuraHanaryuu]

"Hmhmhm, you know, its funny. I've never known mortals to be anything but petty, selfish beings. You preach salvation perhaps because you do not know the limits of their malice, how do you know the souls that were eaten deserve reincarnation? How do you know that destiny has not decided that they rest in a dragons belly for a time?"

*Virusia clamped her lips over Nevi, a maw easily large enough to fit the entire party and their wagon inside, ran its tongue over him, fangs the size of wagon wheels carressed his back and neck, a single jerk would rip him in half, yet she was so careful and tender with her movements that it left not a scratch.* "You'd better use that scroll you silly thing. Leave the queen to her fate in my clutches...save yourself. Its a better deal than most of my victims receive."

*Virusa had failed to notice though, that Archa had long since escaped from her shackles, and had shrunk to an even smaller size than before, in fact she'd become so small that she could be compared to a mouse and had flown up to gently rest on Nevi's head while the blabermouth had her eyes in another direction during her gossiping, she nestled in his hair hidden from the copper giants view*, "I'll explain later, time to go", *she whispered before changing her voice to impersonate Nevi's and speaking aloud*, "Transactiosa". *and in a flash of light, the two were gone. Leaving the copper giant thinking he'd taken his chance and left Archa for death.*
-

*When next they blinked, they would find themselves in an old ruin, surrounded by rocky terrain and red waxy leaved trees. Archa promptly retook her largest current size again, at one thousand feet, and let loose a great heated sigh, as she dropped onto her huge rear end and let her big belly bloat out to its full volume.* "It looks like we made it...the soul tracking magic won't be effective within Cladaka, assuming that idiot on the throne hasn't removed my spirit wall. Now then." *Archa shook off the stress and pronounced herself regally, standing in poise before Nevi, her body upright, stance noble and proper*, "I Archa Eterna Draconica, tenth queen of Cladaka, the Great Devourer, hereby absolve you of all crimes towards Cladaka henceforth, I grant you diplomatic immunity within this countries walls upon my reinstatement as queen, so long as you, the divine creature Nevi, do not take up arms against Cladaka or its people. In short, you are absolved of all crimes aside from high treason."

*Archa leaned forward*, "Its a bit more than we agreed with, but I think you'll be more help to me this way...do keep in mind, until my reinstatement, I can't absolve you of anything, these words apply to me alone for now. In the meantime, is there anything I can do for you? A more immediate way to repay you? Archa Draconica does not leave her debts unpaid."

[Birichino]

Plenty of banter was already swirling in Nevi's mind, along with a mix of emotions at the gargantuan tongue that had been stroking him, when he was suddenly elsewhere. Taking a moment to look around, he eventually turned to Archa in stunned silence. "...you saved me?" he finally asked, incredulously.
The ceremony of her speech was familiar, but incredibly unexpected. His dedication to his resentment struggled with his newfound respect for the dragoness, with her nobility he was just now seeing. After what felt like minutes, he bowed to her with a motion clearly copied from a full-fledged god. "I apologize for misjudging you, Archa Eterna Draconica," he replied formally, "I do have a...request, but it appears as though you are not at liberty to fulfill it...I still want you to restore what you can of the innocent lives you've claimed. I don't care how, and the guilty can stay wherever they've ended up, but...perhaps someday soon you can do something to that effect."

His formal reply complete, Nevi sighed loudly as he fell back onto the floor. He hadn't slept in a while, and while his body possessed immense longevity, he still required and enjoyed food, if at longer interverals than most creatures. "Actually, I don't suppose you have a bed and some wild game to spare?" he added, back to his casual tone, "I'd settle for fruit, really. This human shape has some strange options I kind of like...no rush though. This floor is kind of cool."

The young man spread out on the floor, contemplating the last hour. His encounter with Virusia had rattled him more than even he realized, and between that and the twist of Archa proving herself trustworthy, he was somewhat numb with shock. Every time he thought he had stopped being a novice, reality seemed to get stranger, and he still wasn't sure if it had always been like that or changed to confuse him. "...I'm a raiju, by the way," he finally corrected, not changing posture or intonation, "we accompany lightning gods. That reminds me, a nice navel also works for sleeping in."

[SakuraHanaryuu]

*Archa waited for Nevi to finish his requests, she was already thinking of helping him into her belly for his request of a place to rest but hearing of a Navel she actually giggled*, "He-he-he, is that all? Here, I'll make one for you right away." *Archa stuck her tail into the middle of her belly and with a wet "POP" she had a cute little belly button for him to climb into*, "This leads right into my belly, hop in. I'll be sure to let you enter and leave whenever you wish. I really don't mind, in fact I prefer having you in my tummy, I'm quite a glutton after all." *she stated presenting her belly quite proudly with her claws atop the bulging balloon of lava and dragon blubber.*

"I'll go a hunting soon, while I'm actually quite fine as I am, I prefer to keep my belly well stuffed...a big belly is a dragons pride after all, I can't stand to be called thin or scrawny...Ugh, the humiliation...I'd have to eat the accuser...if only for a while."

[Birichino]

The raiju sat back up, surprised at his host's creation, and its purpose. "I've never seen a navel in anything other than a human..." he mused, "interesting. Human bellies don't get so big without ending up all hard to get into and out of, either..."
Kicking back onto his feet, he curiously approached the pronounced gut Archa was so proud of, gently rubbing and prodding at it to test its malleability. A bitter thought came into his mind when he recalled what that blubber was made from, but he still planned to make things right. It wasn't wrong to use what was left, was it? "Well, you're definitely not thin," he admitted, still shoving at her fat with one hand, "but it's really hot in there, you know? And, human navels aren't connected to their stomachs, but..." he trailed off. Considering that he'd been devoured twice, a passage OUT would be useful, even if he didn't expect to use it in. He'd also gotten used to altering his form to fit into navels, but Archa was so massive that he could try hers at his natural size.

"Do you taste much?" he finally asked, "when you gulped me down, both times I barely touched your tongue, but that other dragon was licking me...do you just eat for your pride, or do you really enjoy food?"

[SakuraHanaryuu]

"I do taste, but my taste buds are mostly inside my stomach and lining my throat. We dragons 'do' have taste buds on our tongues but not as many as humans would. Their also not as sensitive." *Archa rolled her hips about as Nevi played with her belly*, "If you'd prefer a different setting, just say so, I'm fine with shifting my figure around to suit my...friends?" *Archa played with the word 'friends' as if she weren't quite used to using it properly.* "Is my blubber to your liking then? For the heat, no worries, you felt hot because I was trying to digest you, I'm fully capable of swallowing anyone without inducing heat. I can make you or anyone I wish, immune to the heat imposed by my body. A trait of being a fire dragon."

[Birichino]

"Tasting what you've already eaten..." he rephrased in surprise, "but, isn't the juice in there gross? I guess it's just what nothing tastes like to you..."
He tilted his head at her offer, hesitating to choose which element to comment on first. "...we're friends now?" he questioned, "I...well, maybe we're on the right track, at least. I can't stay angry at you after you risked your life for me like that...but, what do you mean by 'shifting your figure'? I know you can change size, but what else can you do? This is all very new to me."

As he pondered her question, he leaned on her soft belly. "Well, it's really comfortable, and it seems dragons like being big, so it suits you. It's hard to choose a preference when humans don't really get this fat. At least, not without being repulsive in some way, as well...but I'm glad it's not always that hot inside you. Another few hours in your stomach and my body would've become like bronze. That happened to someone once. I guess...I can try sleeping in there?"

[SakuraHanaryuu]

*Archa went through several transformations, from absorbing her wings back into her body, to becoming a dragon snake, before returning to her normal form.* "Transformation is a cardinal technique to all dragons, I don't usually shift myself just to please others...but I find you to be worth my time." *Archa next, slipped her tail around Nevi's body and squished him to her navel*, "Oh quit gawking at her and climb in you silly boy."