The forest loomed all around him. A well beaten path veered off to the right. Barely visible through the undergrowth was a smaller road, one much less traveled by humanity, so much so as to be invisible to their eyes. Riel lifted a slender hand to flick leaves and small branches from his hair. The pale locks caught around his fingers, a silver against his white skin.

He looked at his hand with disgust, and shook his head. Cursed into a human-like form ... The dragon still refused to accept it. Though there were silver scales peppering his skin, growing up the sides of his throat, edging over the arch of his eyes, he still found himself frail and weak, and ugly. And yet humans found him beautiful, and hated the slender dragon for it.

That was why he found himself in the forest, searching for a sanctuary beneath the bower of the trees. Carefully, he stepped onto the small path and began to follow where it led. Lavender brushed against his bare feet. Moss cushioned his steps, and the sound of water soon reached Riel's keen ears.

Kat Dakuu:

Reichet lay under the soft waters of the lake, his long silvery and blue hair moving with the water's rhythm. He'd slept for years, but he noticed everything that happened in his oasis when in this state. He could not be seen but he saw everything in the same way he tended to his plants without movement. The lake at the center of the forest was lined with cliffs and trees and only one forgotten path. The entire feel was of something closed off. The sound of birds, the solitary waterfall, and a crunch of rabbit feet on leaves. A sudden new sound had Reichet waking.

Ocean-like eyes flashed open and he rose like a fountain from the lake bottom. Water droplets streamed down his pale skin and hair which settled at his waist. His garment had the same color and flow as the lake. Reichet stared off into the distance where he sensed an energy which almost certainly was demonic. Something cursed and inhuman. A human he might accept, possibly welcome, into his sanctuary, but he could not accept this creature in. In a flurry of wind and leaves, he vanished and reappeared where he sensed the disturbance.

"Begone demon. You are not welcome here!"

Startled, Riel took a few steps back. Then he regained his composure and stood tall, golden eyes flashing at this new and unwelcome development. "I, a demon?" He laughed and shook his head at the absurdity of it all. Certainly, he had a stately pair of creamy horns sprouting from his head, but that didn't make him any kind of demon. The dragon's lips retained their smirk, even though Riel had fallen silent.

"Can you not recognize a dragon, even one forced into this miserable shape?" Riel sniffed the air lightly, his nostrils flaring out."You, a being so close to nature?" He would have been an idiot not to realize that much about this watery stranger. The dragon compared the other man's clothing to his own pale tunic and leather vest, to his dark pants, tucked neatly over hide boots. This stranger wore something more ethereal, and certainly untouched by the hands of humanity.

Reichet narrowed his eyes at the creature who spoke so harshly to him. Not a demon? It was true that the stench wasn't quite that sort of energy. Not pure though, whatever the case. Reichet didn't care to the circumstances that let to the taint. He would not have it so he crossed his arms and did not move from where he blocked the path. "A dragon you may be but this lake has been untouched for nearly one century. I will not let some...such thing as you cross into my domain lightly," he said with just a hint of disdain in his voice. If just one lily were to die, he wouldn't be able to survive it. Outside his face remained the picture of calm, but inside he panicked at the thought. He had to protect this treasure, no matter the cost.

The dragon tilted his head. He was sure there was a way to convince this man to grant him sanctuary from the world. Riel just needed to figure it out, tease it from his mind and fling the argument out into the world. "And what do you have against dragons? We are as much a part of nature as any other creature, and we respect it and treasure it." he failed to mention the sky. Riel couldn't bring himself to speak of the way he had studied the clouds, and how he had used his wings to sculpt them into wondrous shapes, before he'd been cursed.

Pursing his lips, Reichet did not back down. Dragons may be smart creatures and this one sounded determined to change his mind. He need not have bothered though. Reichet was as stubborn as they came. Finally losing his calm, he uncrossed his arms and pointed a finger at the dragon. "You have been cursed though. Don't deny that taint I smell on you. I-if one of my flowers were to die, I'd never forgive you!" he exclaimed with a huff. He took a deep breath to push the panic back under wraps and crossed his arms again. "Now leave my domain or I will forcibly remove you."

"What does my being cursed have to do with your flowers?" Calmly tilting his head, Riel gazed at the nature spirit. The correlation between the two seemed tenuous at best. The dragon had never noticed plants wilting at his passage. They were always perfectly normal, both during and after he walked past. He was certain of that. Riel had looked often enough, looked at the path he had once traveled to make sure that no one followed his footsteps.

The dragon shook his head. "Will you at least hear out why I've come here?" He was so tired of trying to find a place to live out his days in peace. Humans always intruded on him, wherever he went. And if it wasn't them, then it was an elf, or other dragons. He simply couldn't find anywhere so unreachable that no one would ever bother him. He had thought this place was just the solution, but with such a fierce guardian ...There was a good chance he would never set foot within the forest's heart.

Reichet absolutely refused to hear this. Conversations like this were always how it started and he let the cracks in his defense knock him down. No, he would remove the trouble before it came this time. "I will not listen..." he whispered before stepping forward and gripping the dragon's arm. For a pained second, he imagined his flesh burning away just from touching another like this. He forced the thoughts away though and gathered his energy around him. A second later, they were standing on the very edge of the forest as far away as Reichet was able to travel. He snatched his hand away.

"I told you I would remove you from my forest. I'm sorry, but I cannot help you with whatever your troubles are. I have kept this oasis for so long, waiting!" He bowed his head slightly with apology and backed up. He looked at the dragon, just a little pleading. "Please don't come back."

For a bare few seconds all Riel could do was stare. The surrounding trees loomed around them no more. Instead a bright blue sky stretched out and away for as far as the eye could see. White clouds drifted with the winds, like algae being pushed by the sea towards the shore. But the forest was near still, right by Riel's arm was a large oak tree, its branches spreading towards the the sun.

"And what will you do if I return?" Riel already knew what he would do. He would make the treck again, towards the very heart of the forest. He had no choice. There was nowhere else for him to go. At least if he kept walking through the woods, there was a chance he could find someplace to hide that the guardian would allow him to use as his home. And if that was entirely out of the question ... It would take care of his boredom.

Reichet landed down in the center of his lake with not even a splash, his feet balanced on top of the water. After a second, his emotions got the better of him and he crashed down beneath the surface where he lay with eyes just above the now bubbling surface of the water. It had already been so long since he saw an outsider and it had to be like this. Maybe, maybe if he had been a young innocent human. Maybe Reichet could welcome in such a soul again. He quickly shook his head and jumped out of the lake again to land on the mossy shores. He moved quickly to inspect every living thing in the area. He knelt next to each flower and cupped them gently as his whispers made them bloom even brighter.

The forest's guardian disappeared as unexpectedly as he had whisked Riel outside of the woods. An amused smile graded Riel's lips as he stepped between tower tall trees. He was careful of the vegetation now, avoiding even the tiniest spot of green for fear of harming anything. Though, he didn't bother quite so much when it came to the soft moss that carpeted much of the land beneath the leaves. It seemed like everything was bathed in slightly green light. The branches formed a ceiling, tree trunks formed the walls, and all of it made the forest a cathedral.

Riel had seen the stone structures in his travels, and found those pale comparisons to the beauty of true nature. Wild and free, untamed... The dragon envied nature itself, and cursed it for a moment. He had lost his freedom.

For a while, Reichet tended to his forest. He became aware immediately when the dragon entered into it again. Reichet tensed, his hand hovering over a leaf as if to crush it. He did not act though. Not so quickly. Perhaps the dragon was just teasing him. Reichet had been very clear so the dragon would leave again soon enough. That did not happen though and soon he felt the dragon getting very close. "Does he have no sense?!" Reichet whisked to the dragon once again and grabbed hold of tree trunk to steady himself when he used too much energy. "Why did you come back?"

He had wondered when the blue clad guardian would appear. Riel shifted his feet carefully. The dragon lifted his hands to play with his braided hair, unweaving the strands and then twining them together again. "I may have failed to mention the fact that I have nowhere else to go." He glanced at the guardian. "People tend to judge me on my appearance. They covet me or hate me. My own kind shuns me. At least if I walk these paths, I'm certain that someone will take notice of me.' Notice without ill intent, that was what he meant.

Reichet stared at the dragon as if he were daft. Of course people would take notice of him. That sort of unique appearance reminded him of mica deposits shining in the sunlight. Reichet didn't know much of the world outside, but he knew how people could be. His face softened slightly as he listened. He couldn't stop himself from listening. "Of course I am sorry to hear of your predicament, but I cannot go back on my word. You can..." He gestured outward toward the forest away from him. "Just stay to the forest over there. But don't come any closer to the lake!"

He stepped forward. "What is so special about this lake of yours? Why do you defend it so strongly, and not the forest as a whole?" The question had been resting at the back of Riel's mind ever since he'd been plopped so quickly at the forest's edge. Usually places were protected for special reasons, because of treasures. Treasures came in all shapes and sizes. One dragon's gold was another's trash heap. It was a proven fact.

Reichet darted his eyes away. He didn't want to share something so precious to himself, but if that's what it took to keep the dragon away, then so be it. "I made a promise. The lake was...promised to a person years ago and I have kept it, exactly as it was those many years ago." Not a flower out of place. Not a single thing dead that had lived back then. The forest had become even more beautiful in that time. "I cannot share it with another!"

"This person ... was precious to you?" The dragon pried. Curiosity filled his voice. Riel glanced over the other male's shoulder. "And how many long years has this person been absent, I wonder? Too long, maybe?" He had his curse, it seemed like the guardian had his own. Though not a curse in the strictest sense ... It seemed like a kind of imprisonment all the same. Riel forced himself not to remark on it. Instead he moved to lean against a thick trunked poplar.

Reichet lowered his head and a few strands of hair slid in front of his shoulder and partially covered his face. For a second he remained like that before quickly raising his eyes to glare at the dragon creature. "Yes, he was my beloved. This does not matter to you!" he snapped. It would never be too long to wait because the promise had been said in magic. Even through death, he would come back wouldn't he? "You, don't get comfortable like that. I'm letting you stay in the outer forest. Isn't that good enough?"

Riel tilted his head."I decide what matters to me, not you or anyone else." He glanced at the a glimmer of blue, glimpsed through tree branches and leaves. That was the mysterious lake. The dragon wanted to see it, but was near certain such a thing would never happen. It didn't matter. There was something he wanted far more.

The golden eyed man stepped away from the tree. "Yes, I would like to see the lake, but the real reason why I am so near it is the fact that there's company to be had here. It's ... a nice change, being able to speak with someone." Rather then having to run away at the mere sight of anyone or anything else, company was far more preferable.

For a minute, Reichet just eyed the dragon. Was he really not after the lake? Did he really, just maybe, enjoy talking? For those few that did try to reach his lake since the promise had been made, they did so with much different reasons. They always wanted to take a piece of his paradise or to tear it down. Strangely, Reichet himself didn't mind talking with another after so long. "Am I really such good company to keep?" he asked, arms crossed. "We haven't even traded names."

The silver haired dragon flicked his long braid to his back. "My name is Riel. And any company is better then no company, or company that covets or hates you." He wanted to have a friend so desperately. Riel hadn't even realized it until that moment. He had been too worried about escaping any pursuers, and searching for the fruit that would end his curse. The words were such a puzzle, those the sorceress had used to curse the dragon.

Reichet hummed in answer before uncrossing his arms yet again. "I am Reichet." He let out a sigh and started walking slowly. He rarely used this mode of transportation, but he intended to travel this way for Riel's sake. "Come. If you want to sit in company and talk so bad, we might as well sit somewhere pleasant why we do it." He walked not toward the lake, but toward what could have once been a path. The way led up around the cliffs to a view that looked down on the lake from quite a distance, the waterfall opposite them.

"Reichet." The dragon tested the name as he fell into step beside his guide. He nodded to himself after repeating the name a few times to make sure he had said it the right way. When they reached their destination, Riel let himself crumpled to the ground, his legs folding beneath him so he could relax and enjoy the sight. Seeing the lake from such a height... It was the closest he'd been to flight in many a year. It left an ache in his chest, and a sour expression on his face.

Riel closed his eyes. "The lake is beautiful. You've obviously cared for it well." The compliment slipped from his lips, even though he wasn't even looking at the body of water. He needed to collect himself first. To brace himself for the sight of something so beautiful from such a height, and yet not feel the sweep of his wings, or the air supporting his body.

Reichet found a flat gray stone and carefully perched on it. His own body did not crush the grass where he walked or his clothes shift the dirt. He had a very physical body, but in many ways he remained a spirit in his realm. And yet, he still got paranoid at times that he too could harm a flower petal. Looking down on the lake this way reminded him of why he treasured it so much. He had a moment where memories welled up in him, but he smoothed them away with his usual calm face. "Thank you," he said softly. "If it's just gazing at it like this, I don't mind sharing...just a little. Even I can't think that a gaze can ruin paradise."

Riel opened his eyes. A slow breeze wafted around them, tickled the back of his neck and cooled his warm skin. The dragon shifted a bit, settling down for a long while. "But that means you do mind, even if it's just a bit." The skies were so open. Blue as nothing else was, it stretched out as far as the eye could so, and was reflected in the lake below.

"Do you ever get lonely?" To be stuck in paradise, guarding it from all, was still a form of imprisonment in Riel's eyes. That Reichet had imprisoned himself made no difference to the dragon. It was still difficult for him to understand.