[private] my, what big eyes you have

[Beyza]

There’s a crackle of electricity in the air of the Cove for a moment and it is followed by a flash of lightning. Not very subtle in the middle of a clear day, nor as effective as an entrance as it would have been at night, but Beyza liked it. She had a fondness for electricity, the first element that had sparked to her call when she had begun to practice her magic with Anaxarete. Not that she was a whole lot better at it now but she was improving. For example, the lightning the yearling teleported through hit sand - nothing living this time. Not all of her made it through, though, much to her disappointment. Her body was hazy and translucent. She had not left behind any organs this time but she was essentially a ghost  of herself. Accidentally astral projecting sort of counted as a success, right? She had her usual soft glow about her as she shifted away from her arrival spot. White eyes glanced around the Cove - hoping her arrival would not ruffle any scales. She had come here at the suggestion of Ana, after all. She was very curious about Ghaul - and about the home he had made for himself here outside of Pangea. It’s only after she releases a soft, polite call that she thinks to be relieved that her voice had come with her through the teleport. BEYZA something borrowed into something new

@[ghaul]

[ghaul]

GHAUL

i can take you there, but baby, you won't make it back

Ghaul does not understand magic or the way the elements bend to someone’s every whim. He only knows the strength of his talons and the heat of his fire, the way he never feels cold even in bitter Pangean winter nights. He noses his eggs, rotating and adjusting them meticulously to ensure they are perfect incubated. But the sound of thunder attracts his attention. The hellbeast does not expect much more than perhaps a fallen tree when he lifts his head. But there is something there – some vague suggestion of a child. His head tilts and his small ears turn forward. Cautiously, he offers a few clicks.

This strange thing should not come too close to the nest though. He carefully steps out of the bundle of twigs and ash to slink closer to the girl. He lowers his head to her level and sniffs carefully. She smells like vanilla and nutmeg, things he does not enjoy, but they are pleasant just the same. Something about her outline is strange though. Ghaul would normally trace a new friend’s face to memorize them but something tells him to refrain from doing so this time.

“Your temperature is weak but warm, like mist,” he observes as he circles her loosely. “Why?”

His wings shuffle uneasily across his back. Something so small should not be perceived as so much of a threat, he tells himself sternly. Still, he cannot shake the feeling something is not right with her. Each time he edges a little closer to examine her, any lock of mane twitching in the wind sends him jerking back like a wary dog.

“My name is Ghaul, ruler of Silver Cove and heir of Pangea. Who are you?” he rasps as he comes to a stop in front of her.

@[Beyza]

[Beyza]

Beyza stands still, not unlike prey, when the creature approaches. She is fascinated by him - her white eyes widening just slightly when he circles her. There is a soft thrum of fear in her heart but she clamps it down. She has met dragons and has been raised with scarier looking creatures. Her magic vibrates within her veins a little but there is not enough of herself to shift as she normally does - perhaps a galaxy marking crafted of stars and crystals would have appeared or perhaps a shimmering collection of diamond scales would have covered her body. But instead she remains as she is, hazy and half-there. She doesn’t blink as often as she should, an odd habit she has picked up. When he asks why she’s like mist, she replies without hesitation. “I messed up and left some of myself in Pangea when I came here.” Her disappointment in herself is obvious in her tone as she pouts over this failure. But she sees no point in not being honest about her failure, even to a stranger. It is a simple fact, after all. He introduces himself with an impressive string of titles she cannot replicate. She is just herself, after all, and does not yet know that just being herself is impressive all on it’s own. Or, it would be if she could teleport with all of her cells in one place. She finds that she does not need to breathe in her half-state but she inhales before she replies all the same. “I’m Beyza, of Pangea. I’ve been studying magic with Anaxarete and she suggested we meet.” She can understand why, since Ghaul is Anaxarete’s heir, and she wonders what she might be able to learn from the dragon creature. Her first question comes out and her voice is bright with curiosity - and she hopes this question is not as rude as the other on her mind (what happened to your eyes?). “Why do you no longer live in Pangea if you are its heir?” BEYZA something borrowed into something new

@[ghaul]

[ghaul]

GHAUL

i can take you there, but baby, you won't make it back

He watches her stiffen and his head tilts curiously, nearly bird-like as he observes her for a while. Her reply is not at all what ha expected. Ghaul steps closer and reaches out, placing his nose where he thinks her cheek should be. But he passes right through her and it feels like silk – like the memory of silk. The scent of her grows thick in his nostrils and he pulls back from the strange sensation. He concludes that she is both here, and she is not. It makes no sense, but little else does in this life.

“What do you think the rest of you is doing? Sleeping?” he muses aloud. He keeps his head lowered to her head as he considers he predicament with a growing smile. She reminds him of his brood and their infinite disappointment that they cannot produce a flame that burns as bright as their parents’ just yet. “You will grow stronger, but only if you continue trying. It won’t be long before your enemies quake with fear at the sight of you.”

These words are inspiring to him, but he forgets that not everyone wants to be so ugly and terrifying. The heart of his words remains true, at least. He nods slowly when she gives her name along with her reason for venturing to the Cove all by herself. Magic. He does not understand it, but he has been told some dark magic is what twisted and bent him into the shape he is. Ghaul wonders if hers is just as dark or if it will shape things some other way entirely.

“I live both in the Cove and in Pangea,” he begins, until he turns his head to gesture at the nest where his offspring nap lazily with bellies full of meat. “My children are still quite small and require constant care, though, so I will return to Pangea when they grow independent.”

Part of him looks forward to being among the canyons and other monsters. The other part of him wants the hatchlings to stay small and safe right here with him, where the world can never harm them. But they already beg for adventure and try to stalk the smallest prey animals of the Cove. Their instincts will drive them from the nest and onto their own campaigns for glory. He brings his gaze back to her at last. He rather enjoys children, he thinks, as they remind him that all his work will be worth it in the end.

@[Beyza]

[Beyza]

Beyza is also curious about what happens when she is touched like this so she does not move - and the softest of laughs escapes her when his nose moves through her cheek. There is just the smallest of sensations, similar to when a feather brushes her side when she decorates herself with wings, and it tickles just ever so slightly. His question is carefully considered and Beyza pauses for a moment while she ‘checks in’ with the rest of her cells. “Something like sleep, it moves when I do here, but is essentially dormant back in Pangea. Like a shadow, just far away.” She does not fear for her other-self, not in that place. There are far too many that she loves there, and a few more that would look out for her anyway. She has not guessed that the armoured creatures that stalk and guard the kingdom are also her kin - that she is sister and aunt to the eldest of the pair. Beyza does feel a small flush of pride at the encouraging words from Ghaul - they’re similar to those spoke to her by Ana. She does not have enemies beyond death but (for now) that is a worthy enough cause to encourage her to train. She had fought against it once and won by accident, but should those skeletal hands come for her family again, she does not intend to let any one slip away. She strains her head a little to peer at the nest when he glances back to it - curious since she had never met anyone younger than herself - but does not move to investigate and quickly returns her attention to Ghaul so she does not seem rude. “I like that set up.” She muses in her calm, matter-of-fact voice, tilting her head in a manner similar to the way he had regarded her as she considers it. “It seems smart to keep your family somewhere safe.” Although she is very curious about his children and almost asks about them, Beyza asks something else. Perhaps it is a strange thing to ask, but she has not been discouraged from curiosity before and follows it willingly. “Do you have enemies?” Is there someone other than mountain lions and wolves he wishes to keep his children safe from? If so, she does not find it hard to believe that they would tremble before him and leave his hatchlings alone - he is, to say the least, formidable and she has no trouble imagining him a king. Which is why she asks, she supposes - if he is heir, and Pangea is her home, does that make his enemies hers? BEYZA something borrowed into something new

@[ghaul]

[ghaul]

GHAUL

And ye shall overthrow their altars, and break their pillars, and burn their groves with fire

He wonders what her other self must look like in Pangea, a ghostly thing with its jaw wagging as though it speaks. Does it pass through the cliffs and trees there? How strange it must look. Ghaul would imagine if his touch passes right through her here, then her other self must be safe from any kind of physical danger, should anyone like to bring her harm. He lifts his chin and stares thoughtfully in the direction he assumes this shadow Beyza is wandering about.

“Sleep walking, yet wide awake,” he says before bringing his gaze back to her.

If he minds the way she stares over his shoulder at his nest, he doesn’t show it. He would learn whether this form of hers could be set on fire if she seemed likely to harm the young brood. She seems more curious than malicious, though, so he isn’t inclined to discourage her behavior. Instead he simply nods when she speaks her approval of his living arrangement. Her question gives him pause.

Does he have enemies? Ghaul tilts his head as he considers the question. There is no one specific who comes to mind. Despite his delusions of grandeur, he has never been quick to anger and he finds some joy in every interaction. Baiting his mortality with opponents is a past time that brings him peace and calm when he lays his head down at night. Enemies, he imagines, are those he would destroy on sight. No one manages to summon his hatred in this manner.

“There is opportunity in everyone. Some are friends and companions, others are meals waiting to be harvested,” he finally decides. “To call someone Enemy is to give them a degree of reverence they have not earned.”

He studies the warmth and outline of her face for a while longer before he looks back to his nest.

“What about you? Have you found someone worthy of calling your enemy?”

@[Beyza]

[Beyza]

It does not frighten or alarm her that he mentions that some of those he meets are just meals to be harvested - should it? She barely even gives it a second thought. After all, Beyza made her first friend over the bloodied corpse of a rabbit and had given that filly the fangs she needed to tear into the flesh and gain the nutrients within. It is just another means of eating, whether it is grass or muscle being shredded it is all the same.  She is, though, a little relieved that he does not have any enemies and so she is not put on the spot to take his on as her own. And the idea that enemies can be an exclusive class, reserved only for those who deserve it, is an interesting view that Beyza had not considered. She never really thought about having enemies at all - few, if any, have ever caused her any harm in her life. So when the question is returned, she gives it some consideration. Running through a list of those that she has met in her young life. Most are friends, or at the very least have treated her with kindness. She cannot name any that she hates, except for one. Her eyes open a little wider in a flash of emotion when she remembers the day her sister died. When she speaks, she maintains steady eye contact with the draconic stallion. “Death is my enemy. It stole someone I loved, so I snatched her back.” She is still too young to understand the weight of those words and her actions that day. To her, it was simple and a logical action. There had not been any thought involved. One day, she’ll look back and know that breathing life into a body where there was none left will be only the start of what else she can accomplish. BEYZA something borrowed into something new

@[ghaul]