Sarina smiled as she heard Arzu come into the room, she tilted her head back as she looked at him, frowning as she wondered what was wrong with him. Though he attention was quickly drawn to the other female, her head tilting slightly to the side as she watched her try and maintain control of the clear agonizing pain that she was in. "I had warned you. Though if another dragon does that to you and is not a white one.....well it will be a walk in a park in comparison." she said to her as her mouth twitched slightly into a smile, from the serious look it had fallen back into. Her eyes then roamed over Alander and Arzu as they interacted with each other. She cloud see that something was off between the two of them, though she did not know what it was exactly, but it was there. "I think I will just eat my meal." she said to Alander as she moved back to the creature she had killed, finishing with striping its' hide off before she proceeded with eating its' flesh. Her two different eyes watched the scene around her before she stopped eating, cocking her head to the side before moving away from the door. "If Arzu needs fresh air I shall go with him and finish eating outside." she said to him as she smiled as gentle as she could though it was stiffer then her movements were now. She opened the door, moving outside with the carcase as she motioned for Arzu to follow. I shall protect him.

Gemini tried to smile up at the dragon, but it looked more like a grimace. The pain was easing now, and she was starting to notice things besides it. The atmosphere seemed tense for some reason, and Arzu looked a bit pale. What had happened to him? "I'm not very hungry, actually." She said, her voice a little strained. It was true- after all that pain, she was more nauseous than hungry. "Actually, I could use a little fresh air myself. But I'll wait for you guys, I don't want it to seem like we're all running off." She said, trying to relax. Something was wrong and Gemini knew it, but she couldn't let on that she knew. She had to figure it out before she could do anything about it.

Arzu gave a soft sigh, he understood why Alander didn't want him to go outside. It was dangerous, that part was very true, but Arzu might also run off with the truth of Alander's appearance. Though it wasn't like he could go far in a forest like this anyway. He was about to resign himself to Alander's decision when the Sarina spoke up. His ears twitched a bit and he looked at her as she spoke. When she mentioned protecting him, he glanced at Alander.

The wish-cat clearly wanted to slip off outside, but he also didn't want to anger Alander by just darting out the open door. Though any other cat might do such a thing. His tail twitched lightly as he glanced now between the open door and Alander, chewing his bottom lip a bit. Waiting to see if maybe Alander would let him go outside with the dragon.

Leaving. Arzu had seen what Alander was and was planning to leave, run for his little life, leave him with a demon-wench he did not know if he could even eat. She smelt hot and firey, like peppers and fever.

Her meat would be no good.

He turned, a growl escaping his throat. He could not let the prey run. He was hungry enough now. Running would only make the endless yawning worse.

As if reacting to his sudden tenseness, to this sudden agitation, the glamour began to weaken all around them. Small flashes of his true body filtered through as he stood to stare at them, the decrepit state of his house filtering through the layers of crafted appearance.

He watched them like a wolf would watch a rabbit; nostrils flaring and eyes focusing sharply. The dragon would be the biggest problem. She would be a pain.

Arzu shivered for a moment, watching Sarina and the door for a couple of seconds before he began to watch Alander. His ears twitched and after a few moments of watching Alander, or more precisely, after that growl had escaped Alander's lips, Arzu lowered his head ever so slightly. It was a submissive gesture, but a rather subtle one. He didn't want to do anything to make Alander angry for several reasons. He inhaled deeply, his nose twitching slightly, then he moved.

The wish-cat did not go towards the door, he moved towards Alander. The scent of this place, Arzu just couldn't get it out of his nose. The added scent of the cooking roast didn't help any. The two scents clashed and seemed to make things smell worse. Arzu reached out to lay his hand on Alander's hand..no..his claw, in a reassuring way. "I won't go outside, if you don't want me to." His tail twitched nervously behind him, and he began to withdraw his hand. Arzu was nervous, and still somewhat trying to convince himself that no matter what Alander looked like, he wouldn't harm him.

Even if the creature didn't trust him enough to step outside for a minute or to.

Gemini felt goosebumps rise on her arms when Alander growled. He looked human, and claimed to be human, yet that was anything but a human sound. Shortly after followed the oddest thing she had ever seen, and that was saying a lot. Alander, the room, the whole house seemed to flicker for a moment, and in the absence of what she had been seeing, suddenly she saw something very, very different. The whole house was decrepit, rotting in places and moldy almost everywhere. There was blood dried in places, and there were scratches in the ceiling that she couldn't figure out- until she saw Alander. He was an it, something alien and monstrous and wholly terrifying. The flickering happened a couple more times, giving Gemini a chance to really notice her surroundings. It wasn't just the sights, but the smells as well. It smelled like death and rot and blood and mold. And the roast...was that human meat she smelled? The demoness suddenly felt rather sick, and started to calculate how quickly she could get to the door. Alander was in the way, so that was no good. A window, maybe? Distantly, she noticed Arzu trying to appeal to the creature, and it clicked that he must have seen it before them. That's why he had seemed so nervous when he'd come back from the hallway. Deciding her best course of action was to play it cool, in case the creature really was harmless- fat chance, her mind screamed- she attempted to stand. "Hey, I can put weight on it. Alander, thank you so much for helping to set it." She said brightly, trying to change the subject.

Sarina was slightly happy that Gemini was for the most part healed, after all it was the least she could do though she had to admit that demon tasted horrible compared to other things that she eaten in the past. "I would just rather eat my meal outside so as not to make another mess."
she said to them in a calm voice, there was longer pauses between each words as she picked them out carefully, they were a bit jerky as were her movements.

Her eyes landed on Arzu once more as she awaited to see if he was going to come out of the house or not. She didn't see what the problem was since the house smelled strongly over demon blood which over powered the roast on the firer which was not as appealing to her as the rare deer like creature that was now laying on it's skin outside the home. Her gaze followed the wish cat's towards Alander, her head tilted to the side as she waited to see what was going to happen.

She blinked in surprise as everything seemed to flicker for a few moments, she did not know what had happen, she couldn't even make sense of it all. It was the smell that hit her first, making her gag and almost heave her stomach all over the place. Normally the smell would not bothered her as many dragons kept their homes like this, but this was far worst as if it had been thousand of years since the home was fixed or properly cleaned. He hand clenched the rusted door knob even more.

She was honestly at a lost as to what to do, should she snatch the others away and take them someplace safer. But where would that safer place be? Or should she just simply try and kill him and be done with him all together? The options were far and few, and they was even a limit as to what she could do. She stopped her self from calling out to Arzu to get away from him but maybe he had known this all along, maybe this was how they both lived.

Arzu approached him, trying to satiate the agitation that swam through Alander's muscles. But it did nothing. A low noise escaped his throat, slipping past his teeth as he turned to look at the little wish cat. A sickening amount of saliva began to bubble out of his mouth, squishing past his black teeth and dripping to the floor.

"Arzu, I wish to apologize," he muttered, voice low and sluggish, "but I have lied to you."

Then he let out a sound, something akin to a scream mixed with the sound of a nail on a chalk board. And the glamour faded entirely, melting away and revealing his home and himself entirely.

And he turned, lunging for Arzu with his jaws opened wide, purple tongue lolling wetly. He was aiming for his neck, intending to snap it quickly and be done with him. Not out of kindness or mercy. It was just more efficient this way.

((Uuuuuuuugh that took me too long and it's terrible and I am so sorry.))

Arzu was watching Alander, eyes searching the creature for a moment. Then Alander spoke, and the wish-cat blinked, taking a step back out of fear. His lips parted, to ask exactly what Alander meant by that, but before he could things were happening. Alander made a horrible noise, and lunged at him. Arzu didn't even have to think about what to do next, he leaped backwards as quick as a cat to avoid the lunge. Eyes wide with fear. He had been stupid, trying to convince himself that Alander wasn't as horrible a creature as he looked.

When his feet touched the floor from that leap, he took a few steps backwards. His ears were flat against his head, and his eyes were wide with fear. Alander was going to kill him, and he could run. Try to escape. He looked at Sarina and Gemini, if he did that, would Alander attack them next. Arzu held his hands out, palms toward Alander, as if that gesture would stop the creature. "Wait. Stop. Stop! I'm far more valuable alive than dead." Arzu hesitated, glancing at the others again. He didn't want to tell his secret. "I can grant wishes." There were tears slipping down Arzu's face. Tears of frustration, of fear, and of other things.

Gemini was watching intently, so she saw the precise moment when the glamour slipped completely. Her mouth dropped open in a gasp, and she lunged forward as the creature that was Alander went for Arzu. She didn't make it, because her leg was still weak, but luckily Arzu got away. Then he revealed that he could grant wishes, and Gemini stared at him, wide-eyed. If that was the case, then what stopped Alander from wishing that they were all happy to be eaten? She had only one thought, but she wondered if it would work at all. If I make a wish, maybe I can save us all...but that will only work if Arzu grants it. But I have to try! The only question now what, what was the correct wish to make? There was only one, that she could think of. One of them would have to stay back and keep Alander busy while the wish worked. She didn't think twice about it, she simply ran forward with two of her blades drawn, and attacked the creature. For the single moment that it would be distracted by her attack, she shouted, "Arzu! Don't ask questions, just go with it! I wish that you and Sarina were safe!"

Powerful jaws snapped shut over empty air, the wish cat avoiding his with a nimble little leap. The beast that was Alander the huntsman growled in annoyance and rage, black eyes narrowing before he moved to charge the slippery creature in front of him, antlers lowered and deadly sharp tines poised to skewer and gore.

Until Arzu spoke, pleading with a simple word that stopped the hooved man-beats in its tracks; wishes. Something fluttered in its chest, something next to what should have been a pumping heart, but was a deep and missing hole. The antlered beast didn't recognize the feeling for a long while, the memory of it as lost as his heart, but he found the name when he lifted his head and cast his black eyes toward the hallway. Toward the room outfitted for a young girl of twelve.

Hope.

But that feeling shattered when the demon wench shouted and he felt a pain in his bony side. With an enraged yell Alander swung his head around, bony antlers angled to gore and slash the hot-blooded woman who attacked him.

Slick blood blacker than oil leaked from the slice in his side, bubbling and thick and pooling on the floor. Somehow it smelt even worse than the beast's greasy skin.

Arzu regretted ever opening his mouth, but it had actually made Alander pause for a moment. Then Gemini was yelling for him to grant her wish, it was a selfless wish, but Arzu didn't make any moves to grant it at all. It was a wish that asked for his and Sarina's safety, but what of the demon before him? No, Arzu would not grant her wish, though he probably should have. Things were happening so quickly, the demon was attacking Alander, and for a moment Arzu closed his eyes tightly. He did very much want to run away, but he couldn't. He couldn't leave Gemini and Sarina. He could grant Gemini's wish, but then the demon would still be here battling with Alander until one of them was victorious.

"No. Stop. Please. Please don't fight." He wanted to move forward and pull Gemini away, but the wish-cat didn't move. "Please, if you let these women leave, if you promise not to hurt them, I'll grant whatever wishes you want." It was a fair trade, his three wishes, his three lives for the lives of these two girls. "Please." Arzu had been on the receiving end of a lot of violence in his life, he had the scars to prove it. His unyielding resolve to not let go of his wishes so easily, but now. Now he was practically throwing them at Alander.

Gemini jumped away from those antlers quickly, managing to get only a scratch on her arm. It hurt, but she would live. Then Arzu was bargaining for their lives, and Gemini stared at him, bewildered. He had the chance to be safe, and didn't take it? "Arzu, no!" She cried as he offered to grant any wish the beast had. Young as she was, Gemini had seen a lot on her time and knew that if she died now, no one would miss her. She also knew what a wish cat was, and knew that there were only so many wishes he could grant before losing his life completely. That couldn't happen! She looked desperately at Sarina, hoping the dragoness had any ideas.

Sarina just watched as Alander seemed to struggle with controlling himself, she could tell that. She tilted her head slightly as Arzu and the unknown creature spoke to each other, her ear twitch as she heard the faint word: Lied. That is was not a good thing to hear when being sheltered by the person who said it.

She shuddered at the inhuman screech, her skin shivered as it rippled with scales. It was not long before she gave her own inhuman cry, changing back into her dragon form before she snarled before squeezing her self back into the house. She snaked her head around, her dragon body moving fluid like water.

Though as she was struggling to get through the door, Arzu and Gemini fighting with dark creature. She cried out once more, some of her white scales being ripped off as the doorway was surprisingly sturdy for being moldy and rotted. She finally gotten inside though it was after the wish cat had mentioned that he could grant wishes and the demon having began an attack on him.

Of course she had an idea, wishes, and the protection of strangers, it was odd and unique considering no one had any connection to each other. She was careful as used her wing/arm to push back Alander. "Enough!!!" she roared at them as she swiped her tail to push back Arzu and Gemini as she used her claws to try and pin Alander down to the wall behind him.

Alander hissed at the demon, eyes narrowed into angry slits as he glared. He was moving to make another swipe, to push her further away or to score a blow. Either way would be fine with him.

Then Arzu was speaking and begging him to stop. That he'd grant any wish that Alander desired should he allow the dragon and the demon to leave.

The beast turned and eyed the wish-cat for a split second, almost debating. He turned away, a huff escaping his nostrils. "Enough with that Arzu," he hissed, not bothering to look at him. "There is no power in the world that can give me what I want."

Then there was the roar of a dragon and the man-beast whipped around just in time to see the claw of the angry white wyrm flash toward him, slamming him to the wall in a grip far stronger than iron.

There was a grunt of pain and of lost breath, but little else that left Alander's throat. His bones barely creaked under the pressure, strong and sturdy.

He wiggled and thrashed for a few moments, checking the grip. It would not budge and Alander stopped, watching the great beast coldly. If looks could kill Sarina the dragon would be very dead.

Arzu was watching Alander intently, so intently that he didn't notice Sarina's tail moving towards him. To push him backwards. It pushed him, and he stumbled back, lost his balance and fell. It didn't matter though, but why was the dragon in here now when she surely could have escaped? What the hell were these people doing? Why weren't they escaping? Arzu sat there, trembling and afraid. Tears staining his face. But Alander had said something, and Arzu was trying to look at the beast. The dragon was mostly in his way and the wish-cat made no move to stand up yet.

He blinked away some of his tears. "How do you know, if you don't try?" Though maybe Alander was right, whatever it was he wanted, maybe Arzu's wishes weren't strong enough to grant it. "A wish paid with a life is far stronger than most magic, and even stronger when given freely. I am freely giving you my wishes, my lives." He had lifted a hand to his own heart, and then slowly stood. The situation had changed though, in Arzu's opinion, at least. There was something Alander wanted, and Arzu had a feeling it was important. Something lost that never should have been lost before. Of course, the wish-cat didn't really know anything at all, it was just a feeling he got.

Arzu picked his way around Sarina, moving closer to where she had Alander pinned against the wall. Arzu should have been running out the door, fleeing in terror, but he couldn't. He couldn't just leave Sarina and Gemini behind. "No one needs to get hurt. I'll give myself, my everything to you, as long as you don't hurt the girls. You can do whatever you want. Eat me, or use my wishes. I don't care as long as their safety is guaranteed." His life for the lives of two others seemed a fair trade to him.

Gemini was ready to pounce again when Sarina, in dragon form, pushed her out of the way. She gave a grunt of pain, but not much more. Then Arzu was standing, and once again offering his life in return for her and Sarina's lives. "But I don't want that!" Gemini protested, standing up herself. "I don't want a life at the price of someone else's! There is too much blood on my hands already, I refuse to live on at the expense of your life. Not again." She declared strongly, a defiant light shining in her eyes. The demoness wasn't going to bend on this matter.

Sarina huffed, letting her smoky breath curl into the creature's face, she did not know what Alander was but it was clear that he was going to kill them and possibly eat them. "If it is death you wish for.....I can gladly give it to you." she said to him with a hiss in her voice, as her claws tightened their grip on him. She could feel that he was more sturdy and stronger then his weak appearance gave off, so of course she was not going to let him go that easily. After all she was still trying to wrap her mind around the situation that was going on before them, she just wanted everything to pause, to give her a few minutes to let it all just sink in. Of course she tried not to let her scaly face show that his thrashing was actually hurting her as he was catching her wings, not that she would allow him to know that. She Snaked her head around as best as she could to look at Arzu, cocking her head slightly before closing her eyes, for some reason it hurt to see the wish cat in such a state. "Feline....It is right to do what you like with your life and your power. Though you should think on how those around you feel. Gemini wants to protect us.....I just want everyone to calm down." she said to him in a low voice, with every s you could hear a hiss come with it, tried to look at the demon but was unable to do so in her current position. "I want to know why you are doing this Alandar." she said as she turned her head back towards him, keeping a tight hold on him as best as she could, she knew that her wings blocked most the sight of him but that did not mean you could not see him at all.

---------- Post added 08-25-2014 at 05:54 AM ----------

(sorry it took so long guys work has kept me extremely busy T^T)

Alander's face twisted, expression something akin to a snarl. "I know because it is over, cat!" he screeched, voice an enraged and hitching roar. "It has been over for well over 500 years!" The house seemed to creak and shudder as he yelled, reacting to him and shifting in its foundation.

It settled as his roar became a ragged breath, hot air steaming out of his nostrils.

"Leave the dead alone..."

It was now he noticed the tighter grip, blinking at the smoke in his face. He considered her threat, leathery throat twitching. It brought a chuckled out of his chest,thick purple tongue slipping out to roll over his teeth.

"Calm yourself demon," he hissed, not looking to her. "I will not take his wishes. My intent was his life...." his eyes lowered then, turning to look toward the room at the side of his kitchen, his meat pantry, cold and wet. "...and I will take no more than the ultimate."

He returned his gaze to the dragon as she spoke, tilting his head as his black eyes scanned her scaly face. "Can you not see why? It is the same reason the wolf fells a deer, a frog a fly...or a dragon some human maiden." Drool began to leak out of his mouth, slipping past his teeth and onto her leathery limb.

"I am hungry."

He lunged then, antlered head slamming downward as his jaw slammed open, dangerous teeth glittering. And he bit, grasping whatever he could in his jaw and clamping them shut in an iron like grip, twisting his head, intent upon ripping out any chunk of flesh he could.

Maybe flay the sensitive membrane of the dragon's wing.

((Hey man it's no big deal it's all good. Hope work lets up on you soon! Glad to have you back even if only for a moment!))

(sorry sorry just so busy with work and class)

Sarina flinched slightly at the fact that he was yelling right in her ears, well the holes on the side of her head that served as her ears. She snorted slightly, her heart going out to these people that she just met, which was unusual for the dragon. After all she was not to suppose to care about others, herself was to be first. If she was in human form her nose would have wrinkled slightly at seeing Alander's tongue licking his teeth. She watched him for a few moments, taken by surprise at his words, considering they had not taken human maidens in centuries. "There are other things you can eat besides us." She growled to him as she jerked her head back, causing her to lose her grip on him a bit. Only to him bit onto her arm, she could feel him trying to rip her flesh from her. It only caused her to start thrashing violently, smoke coming out at she roared and cried out as she used her own jaw with her sharp teeth to do as much damage to him as he was doing to her.