Calan hefted the rope around his shoulder and sighed. Would he be able to capture a dragon? Certainly he would. He'd done so much research. Talked to so many dragon riders. He would tame his own, would join their ranks one way or another. The sun bronzed man made his way through the forest, at the edge of the beach. It was so odd, how quiet everything was.

Rope, magicked. Or at least it was supposed to be. He'd put all his pay into it.
Even went so far as to promise and be honor bound not to cut his hair for a year and a day. A hard thing for his people, for those who went with hair so long were their underlings, their servants, because to cut your hair was a sign of wealth, of being able to afford the service. So now his near shorn locks were growing, turning into waves of amber.

It was such a nice day, the sun was shinning, the waves were crashing against the beach. The forest nearby seemed to almost be glowing in the radiance of the sun. That was only natural, plant life did grow best when the sun showered them with attention. He was there, laying on the beach at an angle so he could look out over the water and towards the forest rather easily. Some distance behind him was a tall, large rocks that jutted up out of the water. A little past them was a cliff, with a cave entrance. Though the cave entrance could not be seen from the beach.

That was his cave, this was his beach and that was his forest. There was a nice town nearby too with plump, fat cows and sheep that fed him easily enough. He hadn't held this territory too awfully long, a few months, maybe more. Now he was just lazing about on his beach, sunning himself. He was rather small by dragon standards but still large by human standards, his wings were folded against his sides, and his tail was curled around his left side, the tip of it came to rest next to his front leg. He was sleek and slim, his angles more rounded than sharp.

He had the appearance of a slightly feminine dragon, but his slight size didn't mean he fought any less hard or that he was much weaker than more normal sized dragons. Even a lot of females were a bit larger than him. The tip of his tail flicked lazily, almost like a cats. A nice sea breeze was blowing about and he closed his yellow eyes, enjoying it. Though with it came the scent of human, making his eyes open and narrow a bit. Not too sure where the wind had brought that scent from, so he would just remain alert.

Calan crouched down in a copse of trees the moment he spotted it. What a pretty creature. It looked so relaxed too. Letting out a long breath, the bare chested man wrapped a length of rope around his hand, and at the other end of it he made a loop. With those scales, the rope wouldn't actually harm the dragon. He hoped it wouldn't. Calan let out a long breath. There would be only one chance. One hope of leaving behind the life he'd been slotted into. A tamer. Tamer of all things wild. The couldn't afford long hair. Animals would have had a field day with long locks.

Shaking hsi head, Clana took his chance. He leaped from the trees, rope swinging, and launched it. The loop sailed through the air. With it, went the young man's hopes.

It would be such a shame if something, or some one ruined his perfect day of lazing about. Of course, someone did. A flicker of movement and that head turned towards the forest, he saw the human before he saw the rope. His mouth opened, to let out a loud roar of a noise. A loud roar that seemed a little softer than it should be coming from the lungs of a male dragon, at the same time he got to his feet as fast as he could.

Wings unfurling, ready to take him into the sky. The rope came at him, and he reared back on his back legs. That rope falling harmlessly in front of his face, where his head had been moments ago, it had barely missed him. Still his smaller than normal size did afford him a certain amount of speed and better agility. His purple scales seemed to ripple with his movements, rippled like small waves almost as they clung to his body, hugged his muscles. His natural armor. His wings were beating, sending a gust of wind somewhat in the human's direction, and lifting him towards the sky.

He would not be caught so easily, or at all if he could help it. Those wings were almost like gossamer, instead of leathery or feathered, they were like a fine sheet of glass almost. Translucent, iridescent purple and light blue. Far stronger and more durable than they looked, though not as durable as the scales that covered the rest of him. Those wings were bringing him up, and there was annoyance in his yellow eyes. Though he could've spoken at the human, he chose not to do so. Only roared again, trying to sound as intimidating as he could. That tail of his, with a dark purple furred tuft, whipped around behind him.

Two golden horns curved slightly towards his back, about two feet long each, and they started just at the ridge of his eyes. The tips seemed sharp, but they were useless as a weapon, even though the curve was slight, if he lowered his head he would only bare the middle, where the horns began their curve instead of the sharp points.

][was looking for a pic but couldn't find one I liked.][

Cursing under his breath, the young man rushed forward, tugging the rope back as fast as he could. The moment it lay in his hands, he threw it up again. This time Calan didn't even try for the head, he aimed for whatever was closest and hoped for the best. A leg, the tail, whatever lay near would hopefully fall prey to Calan's rope. It had to work. This was his chance! He at least wanted to talk to the dragon. "Land!"

The wild ones never really listened to humans. They never gave people a chance. Calan knew that. And yet he'd still run away to try just that. Sand shifted beneath his bare feet. Waves rushed in, and drew back with a soft shushing sound. Usually the sound would have been calming, but not then. It was more of an annoyance then anything else.

Smoke curled upwards from those flaring nostrils, that head tossing back a bit, jaws opening as if to breathe fire upon the human that was more or less attacking him. There really was no fear of fire raining down upon the human, he hadn't actually mastered that ability yet, but he could make smoke rise from his nostrils and give them impression that he was going to cause a fiery death.

The purple scaled dragon was concentrating to much on trying to be intimidating, and that rope caught around one of his front legs. There was magic in that rope, and the smoke stopped rising from his nostrils almost instantly as his mouth opened to let out another roar, he thrashed about. Flailing almost, the way only a dragon can. He would not be caught. Not this easily!

Sure he was a runt, but that didn't mean a human was allowed to catch him. He was a dragon. He growled and snarled, tugging at that rope, all the while his wings were bringing him closer to the ground. Closer to landing. He would not! He could not land for this human! A snarl, a growl and a roar of frustration and defiance left his throat. He seemed to be good at roaring, especially since he didn't seem to be good at avoiding a rope thrown by a human.

His four feet touched the sand of the beach and he seemed to almost prance for a few moments. Tugging that one leg the rope was around the most, trying hard to get it loose. It was strong magic on that rope, it must have cost this human a fortune, well maybe not quite, but it must have been a lot. One the ground, the dragon snarled and thrashed about. That head lowering to snap his sharp teeth at the human, then the rope. Trying to bite through it as quickly as he could.

His tail swished angrily behind him. There was no way he could get away, with this magicked rope around a piece of him.

Calan forced himself to stand his ground, to tighten his hands around the rope as it seared his skin. He knew some of his palms had peeled off when the dragon jerked away, wings pumping hard to try and flee. There were no flames, despite all the smoke. Was this one a young one? The man didn't know, couldn't know. Dragons were so foreign to him, save as majestic creatures seen from afar. And this one, well he was a beauty.

Even as the dragon tried to escape, was caught by a charmed rope, there was an elegance to every move. It was like a dance. Calan dug his feet into the soft sand, heels dragging lines across the ground. He didn't relax a bit, not even when the amethyst scaled dragon landed and started gnawing at the rope.

The amber haired man crept forward, coiling the rope around his arms as he went. "Well aren't you a beauty?" Though he was afraid of stepping within reach of those claws, of those fangs, Calan did it anyway. "I just want to talk, alright? Catching you like this was the only way I could guarantee you would listen." Would the dragon deign to answer? If it ignored Calan'd words, then he'd be forced to set it free without having even had a conversation, without even having asked what he wanted to so desperately.

He had to get away! That was really the only thought now, and to get away he would probably have to eat this human. Those eyes were watching the human, though the dragon was slightly impressed with how well the man was standing his ground. Part of that might have been due to the magicked rope lending some strength to man, and part of that might have been due to the fact that he was a smallish dragon. Still large by human standards though.

As the man came loser, he snapped his jaws hard at him with a growl. Those teeth gnashing together in a brutal noise that promised a painful death. That man though. Had called him a 'beauty'. Dragon's pride caused him to puff his chest out for a moment, that head raising high. Those eyes on the human, wary. Cautious. He wanted to talk? Lila'Vjola had nothing at all to say to the likes of a human. He had seen what they did to his kind, tamed, they called it. Making them carry the humans on their backs.

Even if he did have something to say to a human, catching him like this, was most assuredly a good way to get him to not listen at all to the human's words. Still what choice did he have, and perhaps the man would give him more compliments. The dragon huffed, a cloud of smoke, a sign of annoyance and turned his head slightly away. Watching the human with only one eye, and giving the impression that he might be listening, or he might be ignoring the two legged creature. Ignoring him while still watching for danger from the man.

He tensed. The dragon's show of anger, pale teeth gnashing together, had Calan itching to retreat. But then, he noticed something. "Your scales are quite breath taking when they catch the light. Like amethysts." He inched closer when the dragon tilted its head to the side. It was so hard not to reach out and pet those very same scales. Nothing like anything he had ever seen before... Other dragons were dangerously beautiful, hardly approachable. But this one, he was different.

"Dazzling." He crept closer.

The dragon didn't move, save his nostrils flaring a bit, that chest heaving with each breath the beast took, and his eye on that human. Following his movements. He was about to try to inch back some, but another compliment was slipping from those human lips. Dragons did take pride in being beautiful, though for a male that beauty was usually the beauty of physical strength. Lila'Vjola was different, he didn't have that brute force of strength as most of his male brethren. He had his beauty though, almost to the point of being very vain, but that was his dragon pride. His pride was his lovely looks.

Then another compliment. It was clear to him now that this human was taken with his beauty, and why shouldn't the creature be? That neck curved a bit, that head turning and lowering so he was eye level with the human. The voice that left him, it was rumbling but not as deep as one would expect from a male dragon it was almost soft. "What do you want, human?" It was a question, but somehow the dragon made it sound like a threat. If he didn't like the answer, his tone implied he would devour the man. His tail twitched, swishing and flicking much like an impatient cat's might. Still, he did wonder if another compliment would come.

At the very least, he could just keep this human, to listen about how beautiful he was. Either way, he needed to get out of that magicked rope.

The voice was unexpected. Calan was more caught by the dragon's eyes. There were suns in them, warmth and annoyance. The young man had to shake his head to try and clear his thoughts. Entrancement, that was something dragons were known for. "What do I want?' Calan took a deep breath, and smiled. "Well, a friend would be nice. " HE glanced at the beach. "I've seen you here before, and always wanted to talk to you. This was the only way I knew how to catch such a majestic dragon's attention." He was perhaps laying it on a bit thick, but it was all the truth.

He felt like preening himself, trying to impress the dragon. Calan lifted a hand to run his fingers through the amber locks. "If only I were so worthy of attention."

A friend? That was not what the dragon expected to hear, but the human was right. Lila was rather majestic. His chest puffed out a bit more, vainly, prideful. "There are other ways to garner a dragon's attention. Though all of them would end badly for you." He blinked once, keeping his attention on the human. That long reptilian tongue flicked out slide across his own lips for a moment, to give the impression that he might be considering eating the young man that stood before him.

When the young man spoke of not being worthy, he turned his head away, for a brief moment not looking at the human. "Indeed, you are not worthy. No human is ever worthy of a dragon's attention. Only worthy of our bellies." Those last few words were said with a menacing snarl and his head snapped towards the human, that mouth opening and snapping shut rather threateningly. "Get out of my territory before I actually try to eat you." Lila's eyes narrowed slightly, he was trying to look and act as scary as he could. Still, those compliments had been rather nice.

He laughed. Calan stepped forward, towards the snapping mouth. He actually reached out to scratch the soft scales beneath the dragon's snout. So delicate. "So soft ... And beautiful ... " Calan smiled. "You must get lonely sometimes ... I've never once seen another dragon here, but you." Slowly, he bent down. The rope, he still kept a hold of, at least for the moment. He went about untying it, but all the while his fingers brushed against the scales. The softest of textures, and the hardest anywhere, lay so close. Calan didn't know if he would get the chance again. He looked up, marveling that he was so near a dragon. This dragon.

This human was laughing, had moved forward towards his maw and touched it. Touched his face. That head jerked up rather quickly, smoke curling from his nostrils as they flared in anger. This smaller creature had the audacity to laugh at his threats? Sure other dragons would laugh at him, but they were bigger, they had the right to shake off his idle threats. This creature that was smaller than him did not have that right. That human was spouting compliments again, and though Lila'Vjola wanted to listen to them, this man had insulted him greatly by laughing at his threats.

Patience. That tail swished behind him slowly, like a stalking cat's as it waits for the right moment to pounce. If he waited, endured this insult a few moments longer he would be free of that magicked rope. There was a pang in his chest, momentarily as he shoved it away. No, there were no other dragons here. No friends to come calling, no one for him to court. He was too small, a runt, and weak. Fast and agility didn't mean much to potential mates or friends, not in the wild at least. If you didn't have physical strength then you weren't as dependable in a fight. If things got dire.

That rope, once the knot slid free, that claw moved blindingly fast, knocking the human down and pinning him beneath it. Pressing him into the soft sand of the beach, smoke curled from his nostrils and he brought his mouth, opening and full of sharp teeth closer and closer to the trapped human.

Breath escaped him, fled his lungs. Maybe laughing hadn't been such a good idea. Still, seeing a dragon up close had been worth it. "A fierce beauty then. Not just a sunbathing one." He stared up at those flashing white teeth, at that fierce lean face. No one would know what had happened to him. Not until they found his remains on the beach. HE shifted a bit. Unafraid, even tough he should have been terrified.

Those teeth were so close to that human, those nostrils still flaring. There was no scent of fear in the air. Why wasn't the human scared? He should be twitching and trembling with the emotion. Was Lila really so slight that he couldn't even frighten a human up close? Was he really so terrible at being a dragon, that even when a human was faced with the certainty of death at his teeth or claws that it did not invoke fear? Maybe there was something wrong with this human? He should just eat the human, eat him and forget about him. For some reason, he could not bring himself to actually do it.

Truthfully he had never killed a human before, he stole their livestock, even flew over the nearby village now and then to watch them scream and run from such a wild dragon. He had never actually killed one before, but apparently he was much scarier from the sky, than on the ground face to face with a human. That foot lifted, and drew back. He bat the human way, like a cat batting at a ball, sending the man rolling down the beach and into the waves that licked at the shore. The action would certainly leave the human a bit bruised on the side that dragon's foot had hit but no more damaged than that.

"Am I not fierce enough to earn your fear and respect of my terrible power?" He sounded curious, and just a little confused, maybe even sad. He also felt insulted, of course. This man had admired his beauty, but had laughed at his threats, at his fierceness. It was true then, the things the other dragons said of him. He was a pretty thing, and nothing more. A sigh of mixed emotions left that snout of his as he plopped down in the sand. Laying down, much the way he had been before the human had ever approached him. His head was tilted slightly, and his wings were still against his sides. Those eyes watching the human.

Calan felt hot breath against his face. White fangs filled his sight. The sky was unnaturally blue, and cloudless at that. No wonder the sand radiated heat. Suddenly, Calan was getting to know the sand better then he'd ever intended. He couldn't breathe! His side felt horrible.

A few moments, that was all it took for him to regain his breath and crawl away from the water. Then Calan was leaning back with a wince, and staring at the prone dragon. "You most certainly would be, if I hadn't been secretly watching you from afar for so long." He'd watched and waited for just the right moment to sneak up and try to catch the dragon. That had meant of course getting familiar with the way the dragon subathed. It was hard to be afraid of anyone after watching them lie around.

Lila'Vjola's shoulders had slumped the slightest bit as he watched the man pick himself up and approach. "Lies!" He hissed the word. How could this human watch him so often without him noticing? It wasn't possible. Was he really so bad at being a dragon? So bad at being what he was born as? "I would have noticed you..." Lila didn't sound so certain. He looked away from the human, muttering under his breath. "I really am the worst dragon..." His brothers, cousins, all the others were right.

Size did matter in all things apparently. Even in sniffing out a human lurking nearby. His tail twitched in irritation. "Go away human, before I change my mind about eating you." Was that shame in his voice? Lila felt rather ashamed at being such a terrible dragon that he didn't even want to look at the human. That was probably a very stupid thing though, the human was still his enemy, still a threat. But Lila'Vjola's pride had been sorely wounded. He couldn't even frighten a human, or sniff one out when it was watching him. Not to mention that he couldn't even breathe fire.

Calan crept closer. There was something odd about the dragon's voice. There was emotion there, more then he'd expected to hear. The dragon sounded so forlorn. The young man settled down on the sand by the amethyst scaled dragon. "If I leave now, I won't be able to convince you that as a dragon, you are more then the others. There's something special about you. Something amazing." There was no lie about it, what Calan said. He truly believed it.

The sneaking had been a hard thing. He'd smelled like everything but himself for days after every time he smeared himself with berries, with vegetation, anything he could think of to mask his own scent. He shook his head, leaned against his knees.

Lila decided he would ignore this human until it got bored of him and decided to go away. That head turned towards the human though, it was hard to ignore someone that called you 'special' and 'amazing'. His head lowered, bringing his own face rather close to the humans, a hint of smoke curling up from his nostrils as if in subtle warning. "More than the others?" He snorted slightly, blowing a puff of warm air into the young man's face. "Have you never seen another dragon? They're all bigger, stronger." Why was he even discussing such things with a human anyway?

He could just leave, fly off and come back later once the human had gone. His wings began to unfurl, twitching a bit at that thought, then they folded against him again. Lila's tail twitched slightly in agitation. "Go bother some other dragon." He began to turn his head away from the young man. Indicating that he was rather done discussing things with him. At least, it would have been an indication of an end to the discussion if the dragon hadn't started speaking again. "Do you really think I'm amazing?" That head turned back to the human.

Smoke. It filled his nose, his lungs, and made Calan cough. He lowered his head and let clean air replace the smoke. He slanted his eyes up, just so, to smile at the dragon. "Of course I think so. No other dragon can compare to you." Calan inched closer. He wanted so to know what those scales would feel like under his hands.

"You are elegant, and graceful with none of the ugly traits of other dragons. Some of the other I've seen smell like brimstone and fire, not you. You smell like the sea." It was wonderful, to actually be having a conversation with this dragon. Of all of them, this was the one Calan had chosen. There were other wld ones he'd managed to find, but none drew him to them like the amethyst lizard.

Elegant, graceful. Compliments. This human really liked complimenting him. It was true, he was far more graceful in the air and on the land. Though he did have to wonder, what was so wrong with smelling like brimstone and fire? If he could actually breath fire he was sure he would smell like that. "I like the scent of brimstone and fire, and there is nothing ugly about my kin." Mild annoyance, but still he didn't have trouble admitting to himself that he was far prettier than the others. Vanity and pride.

Lila'Vjola stood, stretching his body in a rather cat like manner. His wings unfolding to stretch for a moment before they rested against his sides again. Those yellow eyes were on the human. "What do you really want from me?" The compliments were nice, so lovely and he did love hearing them, but it was time to get straight to the point with minimal distractions. He blinked at the human, those eyes narrowing a bit. "Earlier you said you wanted a friend. You don't want a friend, you want to ride me. Force me to submit to your will. I have seen humans on the backs of my kin. My proud brothers, sisters, and cousins reduced to nothing but a glorified steed." More annoyance in his voice, bordering on anger.

His scaly lips had curled back slightly to show his sharp teeth off in a somewhat threatening manner. Though this human had already made it very clear that he did not find Lila frightening.

"I apologize." The earlier disrespect for dragons other then this one now seemed a tad misplaced. He did still think that none of them could compare to the amethyst of a dragon before him. Sleek, powerful, and beautiful all at once. What was there to improve on?

Calan shook his head when the dragon stood. He leaned back against his hands to look up into those yellow eyes. "I admit, flying with you would be quite the experience. But I was being honest when I said I wanted to be your friend. I want to learn about your kind, and most about you. Dragons are so often misunderstood, and the only ones most come into contact with are those partnered with riders. Bound so tightly together that they're nearly one being." Calan let out a long breath. "I keep wondering if there could be a different kind of partnership between our kinds. I wondered if you could help me. That's all. I'm asking, not commanding or forcing, even if I went about starting this conversation in a less then conventional way."

The young man stood. He glanced over his shoulder at the sea. It was a beautiful green-blue color. Some seaweed lay drying on the shore, remnants thrown up by storms past.

"A different kind of partnership?" One where the dragon was more than just a horse that could breathe fire? He shook his head a bit. "I'm not interested in any kind of partnership with a human." That face was brought close to the human's again so he could huff at him. Blowing a bit of that smoke into the young man's face once again. "You say you aren't commanding, not forcing, that you are asking. Why then bring a magicked rope which can be used to capture a dragon?" Suspicion, and annoyance laced that voice of his.

His tail twitched, his wings twitched and for a moment he looked ready to leap into the sky. "Why should I help you, why should I be your friend? What benefit is there in it for me to be friends with a human?" Humans were small and weak. Frail and vulnerable, and yet so many of them were able to dominate his kind. Make them bend so easily to their will. Some of his kind freely chose to ally themselves with humans. Some even bred eggs for that specific purpose. His nostrils flared for a moment in agitation. "You are only good at giving me compliments."

Calan sighed. "I already said I brought the rope because it was the only way I could be sure to get your attention long enough to start a conversation." He grabbed the rope in question and threw it at the dragon's feet. "Look, there it is. Do what you want with it." He backed away, lifted his hands in front of him.

"Friends don't need to have ulterior motives to be friends. I mean I don't care if you want to help me or not. I just want to spend time here, talking." Ever since he'd seen his first dragon, he'd wanted to know one of the. They fascinated him. He'd wanted to learn more, know more, but no dragon had ever chosen to hatch for him, or chosen him when the riders brought them to the villages and towns, searching for more of their own.