"You needn't have worried about me. I could have handled them." the prince said, returning his wooden staff to his back. He realized he was now starting to sound like two certain people. What got his attention the most was the fact that the NyteFyre had just said he hated fighting. Kiyoshi's words did not sound like lies at all. "You're quite the odd dragon. I may be a prince but only to the Water Dragons. You owe me no loyalty. Besides," Yuzo moved in closer to the insignia on the man's neck. "It looks to me like you're royalty as well."

He covers his mark with one black hand, the hand that had been holding the wound on his right side beneath the wings. "Only by blood, not by actions. To NyteFyres, you have to enjoy fighting and decimate your opponents to be considered a member of the royal family, whether you have the blood in your veins or not. I won't fight for them. I hate my father too much." He looks up to Yuzo. "My mother and sister are worth more to me than anything the hateful NyteFyre race can offer." He looks Yuzo over fully and completely, as though making sure he wasn't harmed. "You should wear those clothes. They will keep you safe. My sister is good at what she does." Kiyoshi's hand drops back within the shield of wings, leaving a black smear over the purple scales on his neck.

Krinn frowned. Not entirely liking what Korai told them, then he sighed. Looking in the direction Yuzo had vanished in. He could hear most of what was happening, if he concentrated, for now he just shrugged. "I guess..I'm out numbered then? Everyone wants me to stay.." He yawned. "Well, then..fearless leader..go fetch our wayward dragon prince..I'ma get some shut-eye." He nuzzled Korai softly again and loosened his arms around the dragon, stepping closer to Merisa he lifted Korai and set the little creature gently on her head. Then he turned, offering a wave over his shoulder as he moved towards his room. His head bowed slightly and he was frowning deeply when he reached the door, pushing it open and entering the room.

He went for the bed but only so he could pull the blanket off and one of the pillows. He laid down under the window, curled around the pillow and hugging it tightly with the blanket over his body for warmth. Krinn didn't like sleeping in beds. His back pressed against the wall, and he watched the room door, to see if the others had followed him and to watch for Yuzo's return.

Yuzo frowned at the sight of more blood than any of the smaller outer wounds could have given. He quickly ran up the last few steps before calling to the golden eyed healer around the corner. "Kor- hey, where's Krinn? Never mind that. Korai, come over here. Kiyoshi needs you're help." He didn't bother explaining anything else. More like, he'd rather explain why the merchant was there after he was healed. "Don't worry, I'll wear those clothes. For now, we'll get you healed." he said to the injured man after returning to his side.

"Healed? How? And why? No other dragon this side of death would help a NyteFyre." His words were slurring slightly. He didn't worry about dying, many have tried and he always lived with few scars afterward.

Kenji turned to look at where Yuzo was calling out for Korai. "Kiyoshi? You mean the merchant who sold us our new clothes?" Kenji wasn't wearing the clothes yet, having not yet had a bath to clean off the road filth. "Why is he here?"

"Is he injured?" Merisa was carrying Korai toward the stairs, worry on her face for the merchant they had only just met a brief while ago. "How would he get injured?"

Korai was wondering how he would heal the merchant. Sure, he was half elf, but who knew if the elf half was from the woods or if it was from the sands. There were many different kinds of elf on the planet, so far as he knew. All thoughts pretty much ended the moment Merisa exited the hallway and stood on the top floor landing.

Kenji was just behind Merisa and stopped in the doorway, putting a hand on the tiger's shoulder to keep her from getting closer to the bleeding purple dragon. "I thought you said Kiyoshi was here. What's with the purple dragon?"

Korai knew what was going on the moment Kenji asked that. The dragon is Kiyoshi. That's the 'half' he didn't want to mention earlier. I don't know if I can heal this. What kind of dragon is he anyway? He starts to fly over to Kiyoshi, hovering while trying to figure out where to land on the unknown dragon.

Kenji shakes his head, trying to remember something from long ago. "The wolf pack back home in my forest told me of purple dragons and a fire that water wouldn't put out. Is that what this purple dragon is? One of those kind?"

Kiyoshi looks up at Kenji, a tired look in his eyes. "That would be my kin, yes. Given that I'm only half blooded, I don't get as big as they do when I shift from elf to dragon. The others are huge in comparison. They are NyteFyre dragons. The flames are purple and red, and no, water won't douse them. They don't even burn things like normal fire does. They burn the life out of things living. It's such a vile fire. Vile and disgusting way to live, to burn the life out of someone with such a hateful fire." He struggles to stand up, intending to move down the stairs and away from those who may have been hurt by his half-bred family. "I was going to ask to join your quest, but I don't want to bother you with my hateful blood." He slips in said blood and falls down the stairs to the next landing a few feet away.

The teen was taken by surprise when Kiyoshi fell. "Ah!." he said, jumping down to where the halfling had fallen. "Kiyoshi, are you alright?" he asked, lifting the man up. It was after Korai had mentioned his uncertainty to heal the merchant that Yuzo remembered the Forest Dragon could only heal denizens of the forest. He quickly removed his headband and wrapped it around Yoshi's head. It was rather sloppily done since he only had one free hand so the charm slid down to the injured man's neck. Then he noticed the grave wound on his side. "Perhaps we really should get a doctor." Where would they find one at such an hour though?

Kiyoshi wasn't unconscious, though he briefly wondered if he might have been. "I'll heal in a couple of hours. I have had worse wounds before. This isn't enough to harm me for long. See, it's already closing." He didn't notice the band wrapped around his neck, or the fact that he wasn't supporting his own weight. "I just need to rest for a bit, I'll be alright. You can leave me here, I don't want to burden you or keep you awake."

Merisa stands gingerly on the top landing and calls down, careful to keep her feet and tail out of the black blood. "Will you shut up and let Yuzo help you?!"

Korai was heading down, just in case he could help. He landed on the purple wing that was propped up against the wall where Yoshi lay on Yuzo. With your permission, I could try to help you. Do you know what kind of elf your mother is?

Just before Kiyoshi passes out from blood loss and exhaustion, the little dragon hears him say the key words he'd been hoping for. "Wood elf." Korai drops to Kiyoshi's chest, immediately beginning the healing process.

Kenji was beside Yuzo as quickly as he could leap down the stairs. "Yuzo, tell me when, and we can move him to the room you share with Krinn. He needs to rest.

"Now would be a good time." he said bluntly and accepted Kenji's assistance in bringing the heavy half dragon to the room. He wouldn't be surprised if Krinn would be surprised to see them carrying a battered reptile in. But it was the Water Dragon who was confused to find the room seemingly empty. "Hey, where's Kri-?" he cut himself off when he noticed a leg under the bed near its edge. They gently laid Kiyoshi onto Yuzo's bed. Some of the blood on him started staining the drab sheets of the bed. He let Korai work his magic on the wounded merchant and went on his hands and knees to look at the hidden cursed wolf. "What are you doing?" he asked, not really able to see Krinn's head due to the bedside table blocking it.

He blinked when the door opened and again when Yuzo looked down at him. What a silly question for the dragon prince to ask. "I was resting..waiting for you guys to come back." He frowned slightly. "You should've warned me that you were bringing a guest.." He closed his eyes for a moment. "He's injured...make him drink some water and try to get him to eat, if there's any food left. He'll need it if he's healing himself....something to do with a body metabolic rate or some such none-sense." He yawned. "If you need me don't hesitate to wake me up." Those eyes closed again.

Kenji had helped carry the surprisingly heavy dragon into the room Krinn and Yuzo shared, covering his blue furred tummy in black blood from the unconscious dragon's numerous wounds. "Korai, stop what you're doing for now."

Merisa, who had been carrying Kiyoshi's tail alongside them, drops it beside the bed in surprise. "Kenji, Kiyoshi will die. Korai has to keep healing him."

"Wait a moment. I want Korai to wrap himself in the healing band first so that Korai doesn't die healing Yoshi." Kenji unwraps the dragon prince's headband from Kiyoshi's neck, and wraps it around the little dragon. "Heal only as fast as you get the power from the headband, and don't wear yourself out again."

Korai nods, grateful to have the dragon magic flowing into his body while pushing his own healing magic into the purple dragon. Slowly the worst wounds stop seeping blood and start to close up. Slowly, the tender skin over the wounds becomes harder and more scaly like a dragon's flesh. And oh so slowly, Kiyoshi begins to return to elf once more.

While the little dragon was healing the big dragon, Kenji had gotten some of the leftover foods together to feed the merchant when he awoke later. In the joint bathroom, Merisa grabs the towel she'd used for her bath and gets it wet. She wrings the drips from it, and begins to tenderly clean the now elf from the black NyteFyre blood.

When she'd finished cleaning the sleeping elf, Merisa looks over at Krinn on the floor, curious at how the floor could be more comfortable than the bed. She squats down next to him and watches as he sleeps, simply staring at him, as though she could see his dreams just by looking.

Krinn was still curled around that one pillow, with the blanket over him but not covering his entire body..maybe just up to his torso. A corner of the pillow was in his mouth and he chewed only lightly, gently almost. It really hadn't taken the wolf long to fall asleep after speaking to Yuzo. When Merisa came over to just watch him, he didn't move, except for the slight twitching of his nose for a few moments, and the gripping of that pillow a bit tighter as he snuggled against it abit more.

Yuzo yawned and stretched before looking at the others in the room. He had moved over to sit on the side of Krinn's unoccupied bed to watch everybody else work. He didn't really know what else to do except to stay out of everyone's way. It seems that the two Plains Elves were more mature than he thought they were when he met them just earlier that day. Even Korai was more helpful than he had been so far. The baby dragon, even more of an actual baby than he was. If his brothers and sisters knew about this, they'd be laughing at his uselessness for sure. Just that dismal thought alone made him laugh. Then Merisa came over to look at the sleeping Krinn and Yuzo got up to give her space and to also pour himself another cup of good honey tea. The golden liquid was no longer as warm as it had been before Krinn made a run for it but it was still delicious. His thoughts returned to the NyteFyre dragon that was Kiyoshi. It was still a little hard for him to believe that he was peaceful despite what he was.

Merisa quickly grew bored with watching Krinn sleep. Every now and again, he'd twitch, but her ears kept moving toward Yuzo, since he was actually moving around the room. That, and there seemed to be a kind of sadness emminating from him. She'd noticed that he'd moved when she got closer to where Krinn was, but she hadn't thought much about it at the time. Forcing herself to focus on Krinn for another moment, however, she spoke to him in soft tones that only he should have heard, if he was awake. If not, then she was speaking to his subconscious. "Please don't leave us Krinn. We're really lost without some guidance. We act tough sometimes, and I'm not as scared of everything anymore, but we're still new. Please help us."

She moves over to stand beside Yuzo after speaking to Krinn's sleeping form, not being too quiet so as not to startle him, but not making a big production out of it either. "Do you wanna talk, Yuzo?"

Kenji sits next to Kiyoshi, watching Korai heal the elf. Wood elf. The elders from the village hardly spoke of the other kinds of elves, but they sometimes mentioned the tree-people. The ones that were more in tune with nature than with the creatures that lived there. I wonder how much of that he can do, what with being a dragon too. He gets an idea and looks over to Yuzo curiously. "I didn't think dragons could breed with other races."

Korai continues pouring healing magic into the elf he was laying on. The elf, Kiyoshi, was no long bleeding from any of the wounds, and the little dragon was working on healing the inside injuries. With a gasp, he stops healing and turns quickly to Kenji. Quick! We have to open his side! There's a shard from a knife between his ribs. It could pierce his lungs if we leave it there!

~X~

Kiyoshi dreamed while Korai healed him. It was a dream he'd never had before, and in the dream he was in his dragon form, something else that had never before occurred while he slept.

He was in a wooded grove, young trees swayed in the gentle breeze, the scents of fresh grass and new leaves filled the air around him. He could look up and smile at the peaceful sun that shown through the leaves and the soft clouds that floated across the sky. He knew this was a dream, but that didn't mean he couldn't enjoy it while it lasted. In reality, he'd never been out in the open as a NyteFyre dragon. Such a form inspired people to fight, something he'd rather not do if he could get away with it.

You seem at peace with where you are, despite being what you are. The voice was huge. It was massive in his head, and he nearly doubled over as though it were screaming at him. It wasn't a painful feeling, though, just a BIG feeling. Are you at peace, Kiyoshi NyteFyre? Are you at peace with what you are?

"Yes. I've come to terms that I'm of an evil line. I know that My kin do horrible things with their power and that it consumes them." He stops holding his head and looks up through the leaves again, watching them sway gently above him. "I dislike fighting, but I understand it's needed to protect those around you from evil of others."

You are not like your family in another way. Not even your sister can shift as you can. She can be dragon, but she cannot breathe the fire that fills your inner chamber.

"That hateful flame! I'll never use it! What a vile thing to have within me! I wish I'd never had it at all. It taints me, dirties me, to think it's in there, I just want to rip it out." His words were full of hatred for his race, hatred toward his father and the clan he'd never want to join.

Your flame may be what saves this quest and continues it to completion. Your father and his clan moves with the enemy. The NyteFyre clan has joined them and has been granted many things to keep them happy. Go now, return to the others with what I've told you, and know that you are not like your father, Kiyoshi NyteFyre.

The voice was gone and the trees faded away and Kiyoshi woke to Korai's call that something was in his side.

"Hm? Talk?" His thought's were interrupted by Merisa's sudden question. "What do you want to talk about?" Yuzo was oblivious to the Elf's worry. Before he could get an answer from her, Kenji asked him something as well.
"Oh, that. I guess they could if they could turn into the race's form. Haven't heard of any mixed union other than one between a dragon and a humanoid though. I'll be sure to let you know if I find a dragon-wolf though." he replied with a laugh. His slightly elevated mood was interrupted by Korai's panicked news. It seems he may have closed Kiyoshi's wound with something dangerous still inside. "Merisa, your sword!" he said, indicating that they would have to use it to cut into the Wood Elf's side and get the shard out.

Merisa runs to the next room, basically leaping through the bathroom without touching the floor, and snags her sword. She might as well have not bothered to bring it back though, since Kiyoshi was awake. "Decided I needn't be around after all, huh?" He slowly started the shift to dragon, causing Korai to leap into Kenji's arms in surprise. "NyteFyre dragons are such a disgrace to the great dragon tribes. Might as well knife them in their sleep, right?" Once his hand was dragon, before anything else could change, he ripped open his own side, fishing out the broken length of dagger and tossing it with precision aim toward Yuzo's head, only adjusting at the last moment and embedding the three inch length in the wall half a foot to the side of it.

By the time Merisa returned with the sword, less than a minute later, Kiyoshi was fully elf again, and his side was slowly starting to heal from his own regenerative ability. "What happened? What'd I miss?" She offers the rusted out possibly dull old relic to Yuzo. "Here you go."

Kiyoshi settles back down again, shaking his head even as it hits the pillow. "Nothing was missed. I just need to rest again." He looks to Yuzo, sorrow in his eyes, knowing instinctively that nothing he could do woult change the fact that the prince saw him as a NyteFyre and that he was to be feared. "Just playing up to stereotypes, since that seems to be expected of me."

"Hmh, didn't say anything about killing you." Yuzo replied, brushing aside the fact that a blade was just thrown at him. He was relieved that it no longer posed, or perhaps never posed a threat to the merchant, but was still weary of the halfling. "Besides, I'd never stoop so low as to take out someone in their sleep. Only assassins do that." His grip on the ancient sword tightened for a bit before he slackened it. Then he returned it to the black and red tiger. "I guess we didn't need it after all." Yuzo downed the last of his tea as if it would drown any prejudice he had for Kiyoshi. Things were starting to be just like the time he traveled with four other dragons, each one from a different family. If even a pacifist like himself couldn't get along well with them for more than a day, how was he supposed to handle being near a NyteFyre?

'Well, at least he isn't really as violent as the Lightning 'doctor' and Wind guy. Maybe I shouldn't worry as much?' he thought, walking over to Krinn's unoccupied bed. "Look, I'm not gonna hold anything against you for being what you are. You said you're not like the rest of your clan, right? And you did help me and the others out after all." The Water Dragon stretched himself out over the bed to get ready for a potentially uneasy sleep. He decided he would just shower and change in the morning before they left seeing as he was too tired to even bother now. "If you want to come along with us....I won't stop you. I doubt the others would mind either...." Yuzo couldn't believe the words coming out of his mouth, true as they were. He closed his tired eyes but didn't fall asleep yet.

"I'm used to assuming that if someone mentions a sword and is referring to me, then he wants to kill me." Kiyoshi looks up at the ceiling as he's speaking, wondering (not for the first time) if being there among them was such a good idea. "I wasn't born in this town. I don't know where I was born. Mother, my sister and I, we've been moving from town to town, only recently settling here in the hopes of not having to move again."

Kenji was watching from near the door, where he was leaning against the wall there. "If you don't want to travel anymore, why do you want to join our quest?" His blue chest and stomach was darkened by Kiyoshi's blackish blood, making him look like a wolf shaped shadow against the wall.

Yoshi sighs, raising his hand to look at the blood that caked it. "Even if I hadn't shown myself to the other merchants in the stair well, I'd still have ended up going to the ocean. I've been having dreams of the Great Dragon. Only tonight was the dream so clear that I could remember all the details." He lowers his hand, closing his eyes so he didn't have to see them out of peripheral vision. "I was told that I needed to help you to defeat my kin."

Merisa sighs, getting the dampened towel she used to clean his side before, and set about cleaning off his bloodied arm. Before she'd gotten more than a drop off, he'd jerked his hand away, looking at her in amazement. "Kiyoshi, I was just cleaning off the blood." To her further surprise, he shakes his head, holding out his other hand for the towel. "I can do it..."

"Please, I won't have you waiting on me. I'm the one that's bottom of the stack here." When she lets him take the towel, he cleans his arm off, and lays the towel over his re-healing side. "I'm sorry, I'm not used to anyone who knows my other side being nice to me."

Just because your breed is that of a supposedly dreadful clan, doesn't mean you are dreadful yourself. Korai, who was in Kenji's arms, flies back over to Kiyoshi, the healing band still wrapping around his baby sized body. You haven't attacked us, you even saved us, and we would love to have you travel with us. The more dragons, the better, right Kenji? For his part, Kenji nods, agreeing with the baby dragon as Korai begins to heal Kiyoshi once more.

Yuzo opened his eyes again after hearing Kiyoshi mention the Great Dragon. That's already two people the Wise One has spoken to. If even the Great Dragon chose Kiyoshi for the journey then there truly would be nothing the prince could or should complain about. He quietly listened to the rest of his companions' conversation but it wasn't long before his eyelids grew heavy. The words being spoken soon turned soft and fuzzy before melting away in the darkness. His sleep would be a comfortable one since he was on a soft bed again.

Yuzo, Dragon Prince of the Water clan, Guardian of the lake. I know you can hear me.

~X~

"I'm going to take a bath, wash off this blood before it dries to my fur." Kenji looks down, as though seeing his furry chest for the first time. Pushing himself off the wall, he moves into the bathroom and closes the door, closing Merisa in the room with the other guys. From the bathroom, he grabs his new clothes from the room he was supposed to share with Merisa, then goes to draw water into the tub. After a few moments of confusion, he figures out how to turn on the hot water. Slipping into the tub, he lays back, feeling the water seep into his pores, moving the fur as the water moves.

He didn't realize he'd fallen asleep until he awoke again later in the night, after the water had turned cold.

~X~

Merisa, also tired, and in a room full of sleeping males, didn't really have anywhere she could crash at. "Korai, don't over do it. Kenji will be mad if you pass out from exhaustion again."

I know, I'll stop in a couple of minutes. Korai watches as Merisa curls up in a far corner of the room, her head resting on her arm like a kitten sleeping on a windowsill. Her tail wraps around her legs, the tip just inches from her feline-like nose. Sleep well, Merisa.

Kiyoshi belatedly thought to himself that he should have at least offered his bed or pillow to the cat-girl, but by the time it occurred to him, she was asleep and he was swiftly following her. In moments, the only one awake was Korai, but not even that lasted, as he dozed off shortly after.

The sea was beautiful. The corals and sea weed painted the floors with a multitude of colors. Various fish swam about, shimmering like jewels. Everything was a deep blue and the sun's rays sparkled like a million stars as it breached the surface and trickled down until it hit the shadowy boundaries of the ocean depths. Yet it was not the immensity of the ocean that had Yuzo's attention. It was a voice, familiar even though this was the first time he has heard it. From the stories his elders have told him, he realized who it may belong to. "Yes, I can hear you." he said. He felt so alert that he wondered if he was asleep at all. Yuzo had never before felt so small as he listened to the voice as loud as the crashing waves.

You have worlds of experience over a few of your companions, Little Prince. Places you have been, what you have seen, but you still have much to learn yourself. Never stop learning, Yuzo. Never stop seeking new knowledge. It is not coincidence you fell in with these seemingly random questers.

The great voice moves, or seems like it moves, landing before Yuzo, even though nothing is there that is visible to the naked eye. Fate works as fate will, but fate is never cruel. Irony is cruel in it's humor, twisting fate to ways that fate never dreamed it could be twisted. Do not fall victim to irony and keep fate in your pocket.

Do as your heart tells you, Water Prince. Their path follows your own for a time, but ends before your own. They may need your help, but that is your choice to help them. You must make that decision on your own. The voice begins to fade. To join the changelings or to continue home unharmed and alone. Can you imagine the look on your mother's face when you tell her you met a nice NyteFyre? The voice held a bit of mirth in its sound, as though the speaker were smiling. All at once, the voice was gone, leaving the dream completely.

~X~

It is done. They will continue their quest, unaware of the overall plot against them. Now, release my kin and I. The great head lowers to the eye level of the thing before it.

"What makes you think I ever intended to release you?" The voice was foul, like decaying death on the wind after a massacre. "I bet you wish you had the NyteFyre flame now, you great lizard."

Krinn shivered, shuddered and growled softly. Those sky blue eyes open slowly and he sat up. The sun was almost up, the sky just barely beginning to light up. A low sigh left those lips of his and he blinked. Looking around the room for a moment and shaking his head softly when he saw Merisa curled up in the corner. Had she forgotten how to get back to her own room? Or had Kenji managed to lock her out of it somehow? His eyes landed on their other guest for a moment and he shrugged slightly. Things would get sorted out when the others woke, but it was just now the breaking of dawn...so he figured he'd the others sleep some more. Or let them wake on their own.

Krinn shook his head again, pulling his long hair over his shoulder to try and work some of the tangles out of it so he could rebraid it all nice and neat..The way it should be.

Korai was the next to wake up from his rumbling slumber. He'd fallen asleep on the pillow next to Kiyoshi's head, the healing head band draping across the elf/dragon's chest. Lifting his head over the sleeping elf, he surveys the room, seeing who's awake and where everyone crashed for the night. Only Kenji is missing. I wonder if he ever got out of the tub.

Inching off the pillow slowly so he doesn't awaken the sleeping merchant, he takes flight over to the food tray, hoping to find something (anything) he can eat. Ew, it's starting it's own village on the plate. Interesting. But it stinks... Abandoning the tray, he circles the room, flying just below the ceiling, watching over everyone on the floor or the beds. Only one that was moving more than dream actions, was Krinn. You're awake? It was a whisper, he didn't want to wake Krinn if he was seeing wrong.

Krinn was halfway done re-braiding his long hair when he heard Korai move around. He had glanced at the little dragon and then went back to what he was doing, not really paying much attention to Korai until the little dragon spoke to him. Krinn stretched a bit and nodded, softly whispering. "I'm awake." He watched the dragon for a few moments and looked back down at the hair he was braiding. Finishing it off quickly and tying a short leather cord around the end before tossing it back over his shoulder. His eyes on Korai again.

The little forest dragon lands on the floor a few feet from where Krinn sat. Are you okay? You're not mad about yesterday, are you? He couldn't help but lower his head a little, silently apologizing just in case Krinn was mad at him.

~X~

He didn't know how he could have fallen asleep in the tub, but he did know that there was a layer of...stuff...on the surface, and as long as he didn't move, he wouldn't notice how cold the water had gotten. It was pure luck that he didn't slip down into the water and drown, or perhaps the wet fur wouldn't let him slip down. Either way, he was in a bath, with filth on top of the water, and if he moved, he'd freeze. Today is starting off interesting...

Struggling to move his arms in the freezing water, he gathers as much of the nasty layer as he can, and tosses it in the trashcan near the tub. Nasty, that's the dirt from the road, the blood from Kiyoshi, and who knows how much forest gunk...Ugh. Okay, don't think about it, Kenji. Just drain the water and retake the bath... He knew talking to himself wasn't a bad thing, but he also knew that having a conversation in his head might be a sign of crazy.