Miyabi was a silent man, he prefered brains over brawn, and fighting wasn't in his blood... He prefered to enchant the people with his exotic looks though it was his eyes... those golden orbs of beauty that drew people in and mezmerized them. Even children could not resist the temptation to gaze deeply into those eyes... lost in the world they saw beyond them. From the darkness his eyes shown like brilliant glass, making those who knew his story tremble... Miyabi... was horribly bored though. Tired of the mundane lives people lived. Each town, each village, seeming to be up to the same business. Where were the wars? The blood shed? Even the people did not hunt the demons of this world any more they merely disappeared to their homes in hopes to not be found. Miyabi was a terror, and most small villages didn't have a brave enough man to stand up to him. He took it to an advantage as it allowed him to go anywhere and do as he wished with whom ever he wished. His red and, bright pinks locks fell infront of his eyes and he shook them away from his face. The soft hues of the moonlight were hardly enough for him to see his way through the dark streets of the town and he let out a heavy breath. Soon enough his luxurious skin, and golden eyes were gone as he sat on the dirt road, licking at a black paw... his entire body taking the form of a large white cat with yellow eyes. 'That is better...'

Aiden walked down the deserted side walk of the village. She knew that most of everyone was in their homes by now and this made a good opportunity to do some stealth grocery shopping. Coming upon a little market where food was sold, she was able to open the window and slip in. Taking what she needed, Aiden placed the money on the counter for the food that she took. She then slipped back out the window and shut it quietly. The stuff she took was tucked neatly into her bag as Shinta slithered down her arm to snoop in the bag of freshly bought goods.

"Oh Shinta, you nosey thing..."

After checking out the products he made his way back up to her shoulders and rested there cuddling up to her warmth. Walking down the street Aiden noticed a figure sitting along the road. She blinked a couple of times confused as to why anyone would be out this late let alone to be casually sitting around outside. Aiden continued to walk but kept him in her peripherals and being cautious of the man internally.

Miyabi had been foolish, having transformed out in the open as took his cat form. His skin becoming soft white fur and the pupils of his eyes like slits now, his ears perked as he sat up on his four paws and prowled the streets. His whiskers twitched as he examined the darkness his less than human form tip-toeing through the darkness as he spotted the slender form of the snake, wrapped around the slender womans shoulders. Miyabi approached the woman, crossing infront of her and rubbing against her leg as any other cat would do as he sat at the womans feet his tail curled up around his legs with pleading eyes, that begged for some of the food that was in her bag. It wasn't that he had any intention of actually eating anything she might offer, he was more interested in that snake around her shoulders... they always made such a good meal and one of that size and color would surely be an interesting flavor. His small cat body rumbled with a long purr as he continued to nuzzle her leg. 'Come on lady... give in. How can you resist a starved feline...hm?' As he laughed to himself he let out a soft mew, placing a paw onto her leg to keep her from ignoring him.

Aiden looked down at the kitten. Her eyes dazzled at the sight of him.

"Aw! How cute! He must be hungry."

She reached into her bag and pulled out a small thing of tuna and opened it. Before she had knelt down she hissed softly at Shinta and he retreated into the back of her shirt wrapping himself around her upper back. Aiden placed the Tuna on the ground and began to pet the kitten.

"Sorry little one, Shinta isn't much for playing with cats, too much experience with your kind."

She laughed softly while watching and petting the kitten.

"If it weren't for Shinta I would take you with me, you are so adorable!"

Right then she could feel Shinta tightening his grip around her back in a threatening manner. Aiden rolled her eye at Shinta's jealousy.

Miyabi mewed once more sniffing the open can of Tuna just as a cat might and nibbling at a bit of it. 'Hn, processed and canned food... how unsatisfying.' He thought to himself as he circled around the young woman, purring and rubbing his soft furry body against her. 'That little morself hiding in there though... he seems fresh.' He sat back down infront of her once more and mewed again, not taking interest in the tuna he closed his eyes, the small cat body growing in size, as his body took it's former human shape his gold eyes glinting as he knelt infront of her with a fanged grin. "Sorry, I don't like tuna but I do like that morsel hiding in your clothes..." He moved closer to the woman, as the last bit of fur fell from his skin and he returned to his normal form, with his entrancing eyes that stared into her own. Tempting her to give into his wishes. "...Don't worry... I won't feed him over to the cats." His laughter was one of few things that cued victims into the idea they were in danger when in his presense, but it was his eyes that kept them there... he could become the most desirable male to woman, the most beautiful of females to men.. and the softest of pets to the children.. so long as it won him the prize he was after. His slender hand reached forth a little further, positive that she was captured under his spell he took hold of the form of the snake that hid under her clothes, tempting it to come out.

Aiden stood there for a few seconds looking into his eyes as if she really was in his trans, but as soon as he started to reach toward Shinta she slapped his hand away.

"Foolish... Charming doesn't work on me..."

She backed away from him and forced her eyes away from his. She glanced up and down his body and pfft at his appearance.

"Such a cute kitten at one time now just another 'tempting' male"

Aiden brought Shinta forth and held him close in one of her arms as he wrapped around her arm tightly afraid to let go. Shinta looked at the male and stuck out his tongue as if to say na na na na boo boo. The girl picked up her bag and started to make her way past the beast before her not phased by his appearance.

Miyabi gasped at the fact she hadn't been tempted by him, the fact that she hadn't fallen for him as he had thought. His eyes narrowed and he was feeling playful, as he had wanted time to play with his food. "Hn, don't just turn your back on me." He moved beside her, keeping pace even as she walked, attempting to get away from him. He eyes the snack and it's rude remark as he stuck his own tongue out at the snake, hissing back as it flickered like a snakes. "It is rude of you to just walk away..." Now he was curious as to why this woman wouldn't fall under his spell, as a kitten he had her attention but as a man he was looked at with no more than a passing glance. He stepped infront of her to keep her from going any further as he grabbed onto her arm, taking hold of the body of the snake threatening to tear it from her. "...What is a girl like you doing out so late anyways? Shouldn't you be inside where it is safe from the nightmares that walk the night hn?" His sly smile never seemed to fade even as he gazed into the eyes of the snake, looking into the depths of it's mind not to get into it's thoughts but to examine his genetic and DNA structures. "facinating..."

Her jaw tightened as she became irritated with the stranger. She grabbed onto the males hand that was around her arm and dug her nails into his flesh. Her nails began to pierce through his skin.

"I suggest you don't treat me so lightly..."

As she looked up at him her Amethyst eyes began to glow until they were golden and the pupils became slits like that of a snake. Aiden began to press on a pressure point of the mans hand as it weakened his grip on the snake and her arm. She once again pulled away from the man and glared at him. The patches of scales on her body began to pulse with a light blue and green glow. Shinta began to hiss and tighten his grip around Aiden even more, the grip was so tight that she would start to loose circulation in her arm, but she was too focused on the male to care.

Miyabi gritted his teeth bearing with the pain for as long as he could stand until he pulled away from her. He looked at the blood that dripped from his skin, watching the liquid drip to the ground, his golden eyes widened as if in a panic he hurried to stop the bleeding, even letting the blood stain his jacket that was so finely detailed. Just so long as it didn't fall on the ground... a trail like that would lead a hunter straight for him. The men of small towns might not be after his head, but anyone knowing who or what they were looking for and the bounty that was on his head would know the signs. To his luck or perhaps his disadvantage... few people knew him very closely. Which made it easy to hide... given he could find a place while he was being chased down like a big game animal. His one fear was to lose the chase... being the hunted wasn't a fond past time of his. Perhaps... he did underestimate this woman. "Calm down... the last thing I want now is to eat that rat on your arm. I have more worries than just that thanks to you." He looked back to the blood that had fallen to the ground, trying to cover it with his shoe and smear away any trace of it. "Anyone knowing what there doing will be after me by sunrise... they'll be after you too though. For information, seeing that you aren't even close to human they'd rather kill you than let you free." He looked at his arm once more, watching the wounds heal slowly. "I'll find my dinner some other place, but you have to trust me that these hunters will kill you for your hide."

She listened tentatively to his words. True, she had never had anyone actually come after her, that's why she always traveled at night. Really, she didn't know if anyone knew she existed in this world. Shinta loosened the grip on her arm as there were red impressions on her arm from his grip, Shinta slithered back to his place around Aiden's shoulders while he was feeling more comfortable seeing that the male in front of them was no longer acting as big and tough as before. Aiden sighed softly and spoke out.

"So what do you propose I do about it? You seem to have your own problems, so why not just run off? I'll take care of myself."

Aiden rubbed her arm gently and picked up her bag that she ended up dropping in the process of their semi-fight. Her eyes began to turn back to their normal Amethyst color and her body became more relaxed after the tense encounter.

Miyabi's once worried look turned placid as the woman spoke to him, somehow... he wasn't surprised that this woman really had no concern about him or his well being. He looked to his arm, the wounds had healed and he let out a sigh of contemptment. "Considering your scent is all over this place, along with the trail that I bled into this dirt thanks to you, If I run the people hunting me are going to come after you. If you want, it wouldn't be hard for me to get them off of your trail though I would need a little something to work with..." He wondered if this woman understood what he meant and figured she had probably never come across someone quite like him. The red hair, and golden eyes a sign of only one kind of demon in this world... some might call him an incubus because of his ways of seductions, others consider him a magician for the tricks he pulls. Those who know him though... know him as a theriathrope, or skin-walker as many called it.

"I am sure you don't want your precious pet to become homeless if you were to die. I am also sure you don't give two flips of a coin wether I walk out of this village alive or dead." He ran his hand through his hair taking on a calmer more demur composure about him as he laughed to himself. "Or..." he had an idea. One he was positive would work. His body reduced it's self from a man once more as he himself took the shape of a snake, slithering up the side of her leg and wrapping around her arm and shoulder, his green and blue body glistening slightly as his new scales came in, instead of flesh. What was more deceiving that for a woman already carrying one snake.. to be carrying another? He laughed at himself again, as the solution to his problems were so obvious... now he just had to watch out for Shinta.

Aiden sighed at the pitiful sight.

"Ya ya... I know what you want, you want me to save your hide by acting like you care so much..."

She rolled her eyes at the man's attempt to seduce her into seeing things his way. After he turned into his snake form Shinta slithered to the top of Aiden's head and gently wrapped himself up around her forehead. He didn't trust this man in the slightest sense. Trying to ignore the strange snake slithering around her body she continued walking through the village making her way towards the forest at the edge of the villa. Every now and then Aiden looked down at the snake keeping her eye on him making sure he wasn't doing anything suspicious. Shinta as well had his eye on him and never let him leave his sight.

Once they were into the forest and a decent walk away from the village Aiden stopped by a small stream and got some fresh water to put in her water canister. She sat down for a few minutes and soaked her sore feet in the stream. Silently she contemplated to herself what she would do about the stranger that seemed to attach himself to her. She knew he was going to be too much trouble and dangerous to keep around. Now how to get rid of him?

In the forest Miyabi unwound himself from the woman, slithering down the woman and to the dirt floor where he re-captured his look as a human. "Saving my hide isn't the greatest issue... it's not my skin I worry for. That blood... for each drop of blood I lose, I also have the chance of losing a form... which each form I have I grow stronger and more capable. Like a god of my people who are so few and farbetween." He sat on the ground for a moment knowing he had taken the wrong steps to keep either one of them safe, even if they had escapped his hunters for now. "The issue is, I don't wish to be a god... I merely enjoy the limitless capacity I have to be something that no one else can be. To be a bird that can travel long distances, or the fish to see underwater... to be a mortals pet dog or a stray cat. The perspective is incredible... it is that kind of perspective that will give me the knowledge to bring my people back from the brink of extinction. I don't wish to rule them.. just to revive them... my people lost their way and will to continue the kind of magic we have as therianthrope... they don't see the endless possiblities that I do... so I can't allow my blood to be spilt unless I intend to give up on the few remaining people that are left of my kind. Which I don't intend to..." He looked up to the woman and her snake knowing she was probably tired of hearing him rant and shook his head. "The Therianthrope used to be wonderous, you might not remember their tales and tragedies but we are supposed to be great story tellers as our abilities to change shape brought the tales to life..." He laughed and leaned back on his hands. "With the arrival of man, and their ways of mass reproduction of themselves... they found our use of magic and mystery to be vial and the Therianthrope lost the will, with no one to share stories to..." He laughed again staring up at the sparkling sky. "...Then again, you might know the same kind of persecution that we face... you aren't all too different from us, are you?"

Aiden looked up at him from the stream and listened to his rant. It was slightly relieving to know that the man wasn't as completely crazy as he had been back in the village. When he came to question her she looked back at the water and into her reflection.

"On the contrary, I am nothing like you, no one is like me. I'm a case that has either rarely happened, or has never happened before. Since you are someone I do not know, then I shall go no further into my history."

Aiden began to pet Shinta gently as he rubbed against her cheek in a loving manner. She brought her body to face the man so she would not have to fear him literally doing something behind her back.

After a few minutes of sitting there in silence, Aiden's stomach growled. She laughed softly and began to dig into her bag for some food. She pulled out a little roll of bread and began to break it in half for her and Shinta.

"I am taking it since you wasted my can of tuna, you don't eat foods such as this."

She held up the roll for a moment and then took a bite of it while Shinta struggled to get the whole wad of bread into his mouth. Aiden tried not to laugh at the silly little snake as he tried to feed himself.

Miyabi knelt beside the stream, dipping his hand into the water the very flesh that had been there seemed to disappear into the current and he smiled. "I see, then don't concern your self with me. After all, what good is a story if there is no one to tell it to." He removed his hand from the water and it was once again flesh his fingers moving infront of him. "You are right that I don't eat such things as bread or tuna... they aren't appetizing. The only fault of my people is just what we feed on. Feeding on thought, and beauty... the more facinated a person is the more in love or entraced they are by our mystique... is when we are the most fed. You though, before you knew of my real form were appetizing. Now you are like a rotten apple to my tastes as you have not an ounce of interest in me and no desire for my looks. My kind can not survive without the affections of another, it's how we've come to be a rare race to walk this world." He stripped himself of his jacket, as he didn't want to ruin it any further as he cupped the water of the stream into his hands and poured it over his head, washing away the blood from his former wounds. He didn't have any further intentions of including her as part of his dinner nor the snake as both seemed to detest him. "...Hn... out of my own curiosity I want to know your story, but from the looks of it you wouldn't tell me if I was the last thing that ever spoke to you." He closed his eyes, standing up from the waters edge, his jacket drapped over one shoulder as he held onto it. "Forget about it, I doubt you are the type that gives two coins worth on emotion towards another person. After all, you've got your own business and as the strong woman you seem to be I doubt you'd take pity in any sort of plite of man. I don't ask for pity of course. No such thing ever crossed my mind, only an audience... seeing as my story has yet to have a hero. This fable i'm writing is incomplete..." initially he had no intentions of spending time with her, but her demenor and personality were intreguing... perhaps she was the hero he wanted to conclude his story... or perhaps she was the villian.

Aiden continued to watch the man silently, listening to what he had to say when he came to the part of emotion she waited for him to finish speaking so she could comment on his words.

"It isn't that I don't have emotions towards another, it is more that I am careful of whom I share my emotions with and what I will fall for in the way of stories. I've learned the hard way not to always believe what you hear and not to count on everyone around you. I have my scars as I am sure you have your own, but I have my own defenses and you misread me."

Aiden chuckled softly.

"If anything, I am happy that I seem less appetizing to you now. It makes me feel more relaxed that I'm not in the running to become someone's dinner, if you know what I mean."


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This will probably be my last post for the night, I'm getting really tired and need to get some sleep

(That's fine, I have to sleep soon myself. It is late here and I have work again tomorrow... woo. xD )

Miyabi laughed once more as he closed his eyes, enjoying the darkness that erased the troubles of the world from his view. "As cautious as you are there will always be someone to deceive you... even those you trust the most will feed you lies until those lies are truth. That is the beauty of speech... anything you say can be true, but most likely isn't.. yet the beauty of movement..." His gaze turned towards the stream with a smile. "The fluid and continous movement of life can never lie as actions can't be taken back. Once you eat an apple.. it is eaten. Once you pet a dog.. it is pet. Once you slay a man.. he is slewn... There is no turning back the clock on a persons actions. So it isn't by their words that you should judge a person but by the actions they reveal to you and your actions have shown you to be a cautious but powerful woman... Your hands... they are relaxed now revealing to me you have little concern for your safety at the moment though if I make a move you are prepared to grasp your dagger and strike out at me if your pet does not. Your eyes do not show me fear though... as relaxed as you are, your eyes do not show any fear because you know that somewhere.. you determined I am not the type to fight... perhaps it was when I did not lash out at you for drawing my blood or before then... You though, are easy to read... like a book. Though your emotions and words can be deceiving... it is not your words I am listening to, but the very posture you take around me. As a demon... don't you think I should know my prey after all?" he looked to her with a smile and laughed. "...You are still like a rotten apple though... even if you relax around me. I doubt there is a moment ever that you will accept me as a friend or facination to the point where I might put up with the taste of your thoughts and be able to become like you. Your form is not one so easily mimiced... and would take a great trust from you for me to be able to attempt..."

Aiden looked down at Shinta who was now asleep and in his little dream world. She gently took the limp snake and curled him around himself and placed him in her lap. She went into complete silence now as she really didn't know what to say in reply to the man. His words were confusing to a point and she didn't know if she interpreted them correctly and if he was either insulting or complimenting her, or possibly neither. What did he mean to become like me? Does he feed off the mind or the flesh? She had too many questions she could ask but knew she had no right butting into his business, even though she knew he would probably tell her anyways if she asked. She came too far though to let her guard down... After her childhood, how could she? She examined what he said once more in her head before speaking once more.

"If I'm so rotten... Then why not throw me away? That's usually what people do isn't it? You get a bad apple, just toss it like all the other meaningless junk in this world."

She stared at him for a while waiting for a reply to her question, this might get him to think twice about following her. Shinta opened an eye and hissed softly to Aiden "You're not junk Aiden, you're my golden apple"

(That was Shinta's words of course in his tongue. =P )

Miyabi listened to the womans words, seeing how she appeared confused at his way of thought. "Why throw away something that hasn't completly rotted yet?" What made him curious was the fact the more he spoke, the more he could sense her curiosity grow... even in the slightest. "Besides... even a rotten apple can be salvaged for something wether it be to bait in better prey or to feed the roots of the slumbering forest." He laughed once more and smiled. "That is the problem with people... things become junk to them and they merely throw it away but everything can be used further. You have to agree with me though... You would not choose to eat a rotten apple over a fresh one? Of course... if know what you are doing, perhaps that rotten apple's seeds can blossom into a tree to grow fresh apples, wouldn't that be a more logical use the apple rather than simply tossing it away?"

Miyabi looked to the sleeping snake as he knelt beside the woman. He knew even doing that was probably pushing the bar on how close she might let him get to her. He reached his hand out though his slender and cold fingers tracing the spine of the snake that lay in her lap. "Don't worry, I don't intend to anger you... I wouldn't harm him. Not after you've drawn my blood like before... but his dreams, they are very funny for a snake." His eyes as they wandered to hers seemed soft, content with speaking with her He sat away from her and stared up through the leafs of the trees. "If... Shinta your snake were human... would you still travel with him?"

As the man approached her and began to focus on Shinta, for some reason, she didn't feel threatened. She watched him touch Shinta. At the feeling of the man's touch, Shinta shuddered. He was a snake, of course he wouldn't care for his cold hands. Aiden continued to stare down at Shinta as the man moved away a bit. When he came to ask his question about Shinta, it didn't take long for Aiden to reply.

"Yes, I would... Shinta has always been there for me... He has been the one who saved me from my problems. Shinta is the only thing in this world that has ever cared and loved me."

She brought her hand up to pet Shinta gently as he was fast asleep. Aiden's eyes began to swell with tears but she refused to let them run. Instead she closed her eyes and took a deep breath and released it slowly from her nostrils. Once she felt the tears retreating she opened her eyes and refused to look at the man, in fear that he might have seen her weakening. Instead, she looked up at the moon over her shoulder, trying to focus in on some sort of detail to keep her mind from thinking. It was true, that the only one who ever really loved Aiden was Shinta. She couldn't go any further than that without tears, she couldn't let him see her fall, or else she might never get back up. She knew that if she let her guard down, she would be used just like that metaphorical apple in some way and after he had said the many uses of a rotten apple, she feared what he might have in store for her.

He could sense his question had struck a cord with the woman and his smile faded. He didn't know the pleasure of having someone to care for, even something so simple as a pet. For the few of his people that remained in the world as far and spread between as they were... they were the pets tamed and docile like dogs to the wealthiest of rulers who coveted them for their mystic abilities to change the shape of their bodies. "I see, there is something that hurts you. Somewhere in your heart and you won't talk of it... I understand. Not everyones story is meant to be told." He moved away from her once more, wondering if there was any way to cheer her up, bring some light into her eyes. "Would you like to hear a story?... It is one I haven't been able to tell in a very long time. Perhaps it may make up for the Tuna I wasted or you will just grow angry and spill my blood again. I would be honored to have an audience to this story for once though..." He looked to the snake once more, his fingers running over Shinta's scales once more as he thought of how to tell his story. Given she wanted to listen. "I understand if you have far more important things to do tonight.."

(Sorry if it's short my mind seems to be going elsewhere... @.@ )

Aiden sat in silence while he spoke, she still didn't want to look at him in case she may have red eyes. When he asked her if she would like to hear his story she sighed and thought to herself of whether she should listen or refuse, after all, he did give her a choice. She looked down at Shinta as he laid in her lap breathing gently and sound asleep.

"Sure... I'll hear your story. I have nothing better to do at the moment or really for the rest of the night. You also won't have to fear me drawing your blood again unless you threaten to hurt me or Shinta. I can promise you that much."

She began to reflect on what he had said previously and she became tense inside at some of his comments, she felt the need to speak out.

"By the way, you act as if I'm the coldest thing in the world... It isn't that I'm heartless, cold, or don't have emotions, you just don't know me. Please don't judge me unless you know me."

She felt kind of offended by how he seemed to be treating her though she wasn't one to talk since she had drawn his blood earlier, but yet again he wasted her tuna.

Though she would listen to the man's story, she needed to get some food in her. Her stomach growled and the growling woke Shinta from his sleep. He hissed softly a bit irritated at the sound her stomach made. Aiden laughed softly and placed Shinta around her neck. He coiled himself around her neck loosely and went back to sleep. She rose to her feet and started digging in her bag.

"I hope you don't mind that I make something to eat while you talk. I will also need to make a fire... Being cold blooded doesn't help with feeling cold."

She walked around the camp site picking up pieces of wood and twigs for the campfire.

"But please, continue with your story."

"I don't think you are cold... I think you shelter yourself. In which case.. it isn't that I don't know you it is that neither one of us have allowed eachother close. I am sure you find me to be strange... talking in circles as I am." He brushed his ruby hair back from his eyes. His golden eyes seemed to light up at the idea she actually wanted to hear him, and the stories he had to tell. It seemed though she wasn't schooled in the old ways of the land.. how things had been before the arrival and triumph of man. He closed his eyes, his lips moving to an unsynchronized voice. He spoke in a tongue of language that hadn't been echoed into the air for ages, one only the nymphs of the ancient forest would recall and understand... as he spoke though the forest disappeared, the surrounding animals, the stream all disappearing into the dark void of his words.

A new world unfolded before them one where the sky was land and the oceans were the dreams of children. "Too many times do the elders dream of a time... where this world could thrive. A young man reaches out... to grasp hold of his future and carried off by the whims of his temptations he flutters on to the thriving plateu of his destiny. In times of rest the dragon sleeps and the harpies tend empty nests." His eyes opened though their golden color had vanished, the orb of his sight becoming a milky white. Each word he spoke this new dream world seemed to act out, each time changing to suit the story it's self. "If you dream... you are a resident of this world... where the only fault one has is to not be here at all..." His whole form seemed to float through this dreamscape as if he was a master of it's entity. Before Aiden could prepare her food though, or even taste it for quality he had a hold of her hands, taking her across this dream-worlds lands. "Tell me, when does a person stop dreaming? When does their story ever end... like a book the mind captures it and even in death their dreams continue on... this world. Where no more than the birds live is the world we belong to..." He wondered if this woman understood his meaning, though she didn't seem too familiar with magic nor of it's powerful uses. He could hope she wasn't fearful of this realm... this dream realm where so few people lived on.

Aiden sat down in a spot where she planned on building the campfire. She listened to the chanting of his voice and looked up to watch him. Shinta who had been lying around her neck asleep opened his eyes and watched the man as well. As she watched him the forest around her seemed to go blank, to nothingness. A gasp escaped her mouth as it seemed they were no where.

"Wh-what is this place...?"

Just as quickly as the forest disappeared, another world reappeared before her eyes. She blinked a couple of times to assure herself of what she saw then listened to his words. She watched as the many scenes flashed before her eyes. The man continued to speak of the dreamworld and she pondered to herself of its meaning.

"Dreams never end for those who live and strive for those dreams... Those who give up their dreams are dead even if their heart continues to beat..."

She hoped herself that she was interpreting the man's words correctly. She really wanted to understand what he was saying to her, but who ever said life was easy to explain and understand?

Miyabi turned towards her, seeming to peer past her physical existance into a void of mind. "This place, this place is where the unbelieavable and the unreal exist... where your life will come to when it ends in the real world. Where the dead dwell quietly..." Miyabi knew she had never experienced this world before, so few even remember it none the less come to visit. "It is not your hopes that makes this world... your dreams, not the aspirations but the dreams that you wake up crying to, the nightmares that fill you with fear and memories you experience during your time of sleep..." His body turned into that of a winged creature with the head of a lion, the front hooves of a horse and the hind legs and tail of a great eagle. The wings expanse was tremendous and the feathers stretched farther than any birds could. "A great time ago.." Though he couldn't speak... he knew his voice would reach her, through her mind. "A great beast created a world, where the wonders of magic, alchemy and science were practiced freely. Void of the touch of law or moral so many wonderous things were made... the creation of new races, the creation of man... That was one of the less wonderous. As man grew and learned of this science and magic they manipulated it to their own will. Tired of being the underlings of the beasts and demons they scourged this world... splittling the real and the unreal in two. Now the unreal only dwells in the minds of Man. Locked tight away in the casms of their head... These mortals know not what they had done as the creatures of this realm were purged onto the mortal plain and became the lesser of evils... as each man succumbs to his mortality so beith does a demon or beast." As he landed to the ground in his new beastly form he bowed before her as an animal such as he might do. "This beasts name was Guai Keung and he created the skin-walkers such as I as a last resort... knowing the worlds were tearing in two. Piece by piece he placed a little bit of the world into each of our hearts. Guai Keung created us as the story-tellers... with the gift of verb he knew we could carry on the legends of magic as the mortal men had stolen science for their own..."