In the Eye of the Beholder

[{{Roxï-kun-+]

"Eight years ago, our door was knocked on by what seemed to be two normal humans. They gave us a small baby, named Axel. They said that she was a human with a small amount of dragon bloos from an ancestor a long time ago. They also said that it wasn't safe for her to be near others. They said something about a Hunt or something else. And they disappeared." Karin said, twisting a few pieces of her hair around her finger. The man looked at her disapprovingly, as if he hadn't wanted to tell Balenth. But Karin continued.

"The mother looked just like her while the father had black hair and bright green eyes. They never said their names though and seemed in quite the hurry." Karin said, the man glaring. He opened another portal of light and continued to glare.

"I don't care what people wished. They can take her for all I care. But I do not wish to have a mutt in my sights any longer. Leave now, or I will force you. After all, you seem human. Must I strike you down now?" the man said, growling near the end.

[Calmay]

Balenth smiled at the woman and got up. He at least got some sort of description though there was not much to work with. Still he could not understand why to abandon a child because of th dragon hunts. It made no sense to him. "Thank you for you assistance, madam," He then got up and made his way in front of the father, he was going to make on thing very clear to that man, his threats did not scare him and he will leave when he was ready to leave. "I only seem human and remember that. What looks like a human does not always end up being human. I'm only holding myself back so that I do not wake Axel up. If you hated this child so much you should have never taken her in, you stupid human." He then returned back to Axel and picked her up. It was time to leave this wretched house. He held her tight as he started to walk. But before he entered the portal he had something else to say.

"You're quite a weak mage if you can not differentiate a human form a dragon masquerading as a human. No wonder you kind was stupid enough to try and fight the dragons." He then entered the portal and found himself in the inn. He placed Axel on one of the bed and wondered what to do next.

[{{Roxï-kun-+]

The father's eyes widened when Balenth said that he was a dragon. He then swore lightly, so that it couldn't be heard. I didn't hear it either, nor feel it when Balenth picked me up. But I did feel it when I was placed on the bed back in the inn.

My magic stirred and tried to awaken me. And I did a moment later, eyes out of focus and head slightly throbbing. My ears rung with a noise but it went away, along with my headthrob. I blinked a few times to clear my eyes and then took in my surroundings. I was back at the inn. Balenth was there too.

"My magic woke me up. What happened?" I said, yawning. Everything was a blur from since I used the portal to go to the house. I remembered small things, running somewhere and seeing my mother. But I didn't remember what happened. I couldn't help but wonder if that was a good thing or a bad thing to not remember.

[Calmay]

Balenth watched as Axel awoke. It looked like she did not remember what had happened and he was not going to make her remember. Obviously her mind did not want to handle what had occurred so she had tried to forget it. He was used to people not remembering him so it was not that bad when it happened to him. He was even accustomed to reminding his parents who he was. He sat down beside Axel and smiled at her. "Nothing happened. We visited and we left. There was nothing more to it."

He was lying to her, but he knew he had to. She had cried enough earlier, she did not have to feel anymore then that. "How about we go do something you want to do. Preferably something fun that you want to do." He needed to get her mind off of what just happened and convince her that she did not have to go see those people again. He had already gotten all the information he could from them, there was no need to see them anymore. There was still the problem who and where her real parents were. He wanted more information from them. He was going to have to find an information system that would help him.

[{{Roxï-kun-+]

I smiled at Balenth. Something fun? I thought hard to pick out something fun. Nothing came to me that an adult would want to do so I poked him. "What do you want to do?" I said, putting my feet over the edge of the bed and standing up. I yawned again, my mouth covered by my hand. "Did you know that if you yawn without your mouth covered, your soul has a chance to jump out of your body? I said, still smiling.

[Calmay]

Balenth looked at Axel and shook his head. "I want you to have fun so you get to pick what you want to do." He did not care if it bored him, he would just fake having fun if he was not having fun. It could not be harder then pretending to be calm when he was actually angry. He did want to make her happy right now and he need to think about whether to tell her that she had some dragon blood within her. "I didn't know. I wonder how I can cover my mouth when I am in my dragon form." He went along with it. He knew that it was unlikely that such a superstition would true. He had yawned plenty of time and his soul had never left his body.

He then got up. "Isn't there even one place that you have always wanted to go. I can take you there if you want." He was not going to decide for her. He was sure he could take her where ever she wanted even if he had to use his linage to allow him to do what he was going to do. He looked at her waiting for the answer to the location and what she wanted to do.

[{{Roxï-kun-+]

"Alright! I want to go swimming! I said, clapping my hands together once when I said what I wanted to do. I hadn't been able to go swimming for a long time so it would be cool. The day was a bit hot, so it would nice to feel the cold water.

I looked down shyly. "Can we fly?" I muttered. I had wanted to ride a dragon since I was little, but I was embarrassed to ask Balenth.

[Calmay]

Balenth was surprised when she said she wanted to do. He had not expected her to want to go swimming, but she could have thought of more dangerous activities. She could have wanted to see another dragon or visit the dangerous place. He could do this for her. He was quite surprised when he heard her ask if they can fly. He had never allowed another person to ride on him before. He did not want to be responsible for what would have happened if the person could not breath or fall off. He looked at Axel wondering what to do. If she fell off he could always catch her. "Sure, but you have to be careful. I'm not used to having someone on me when I fly, and only this one time."

He quickly entered the bathroom and took off his current clothing and changed back to his old clothing that was still slightly wet. If he changed into his dragon form wearing this clothing he would tear it up and it would be useless. He then returned back to the room. He looked at Axel with a look asking of she was ready to go.

[{{Roxï-kun-+]

I quickly got a bathing suit, green, on when Balenth changed as well. I put on my dress over it and quickly pounced on Balenth, hugging him. "Thank you!" I exclaimed, letting go of him. I had always wanted to fly and had recently been looking for a spell for temporary wings. Maybe Xion could fly while holding onto me. After all, she had really big wings.

I smiled again, a little kid's smile that showed their teeth. "I'm ready to go when you are!" I said, laughing. This was going to be fun.

[Calmay]

Balenth smiled at Axel and lead the way out of the building. He could not just transform into a dragon anywhere he liked. He needed a large space to accommodate his large size. He made his way around further and away from the inn. Eventually he found an abandoned clearing that was large enough. He quickly checked to see if there really was no one here. Upon finding no one he went to the center of the clearing. He started to transform into a dragon. First get down all fours and scales started to form on his body. He then started to grow larger and larger. When he was the correct size his wings grew out of his back.

When he was done changing, he lowered his head to allow Axel to climb on. "Hold on tight," he mentally told Axel. Talking was hard when he was in dragon form. He also lowered his wings so he could launch himself if needed.

[{{Roxï-kun-+]

I followed Balenth, remembering how large he had been when he had almost smushed me earlier. It was amazing to see him transform and I stared. I clapped when the transformation was done, amazed. I carefully climbed onto him, trying not to hurt him. I wondered briefly if he could hear my thoughts, seeing as he could speak into my mind. I deiceded not to dwell on that and instead thought about how to hold on. When I was ready, holding on tightly without harming him, I braced myself. "Ready! I said, excited.

[Calmay]

Balenth pushed himself off the ground and spread his wings to gain air. After a couple of flaps he was above the city and the inn they were in earlier was in their view. He flew forward making sure to keep his speed down make sure that Axel would not fall off. He was not used to flying at his speed, but it would do for now. When I entered a steady pace I started to look for a place that we could go swimming without being interrupted. I was so busy looking I had forgotten to check if this was another dragon's territory. He flew forward looking around, as long as he could feel Axel on him he did not have to worry about her.

Eventually he noticed a small lake with a clearing large enough to land. He changed his course and started to land. Unlike before he gently lands on the ground and folds his wings to his sides. He lowered his head allowing Axel to get off of him. "We are here," he told her. His tail flicked as he waited for Axel to get off of him.

[{{Roxï-kun-+]

My eyes were wide open as we flew. Everything went by and I felt like I could touch the sky. I offically loved flying. When we landed, I slowly got off. The lake sparkled in the sun and I ran toward it. As I was running I took my dress off and let it fall to the ground, jumping into the lake at a high speed. The water was cool but not so that it was uncomfortable. When I jumped in, some of the crystal clear water was thrown up in the air, reflecting the sunlight like diamonds for a short instant. "Come on it! The water feels great!"

[Calmay]

Balenth returned back to his human form when Axel got off. This time however he was wearing a swimsuit instead of his regular outfit. If had gotten soaked enough already. He then made it to the edge of the water and sat there. His feet were in the water but he sat there on the edge think what the best course of action would be. He wondered if Axel knew that her blood had some dragon linage in it. If she did he did not have to worry, but he could not know without asking. He kicked his foot out of the water letting some it splash outwards. He then placed his foot back in the water and got up. He would ask he later.

He ran through the water as if was not there. When the water was deep enough he dived in submerging himself completely. He stayed underwater for quite sometime before be came up for some air. He floated back op letting his face and stomach escape the grasp of the water and the rest of his body remained submerged. He closed his eyes when the sunlight blinded him.

[{{Roxï-kun-+]

I wondered what Balenth was thinking about when he had been kicking his feet in the water. I watched as he dived and stayed underwater for quite some time. Had it been important? I wanted to ask but decided not to. That would just be plain nosy so I kept quiet when he emerged from the depths of the water and closed his eyes. It had probably not been important, and if it had he didn't want to talk about it. So I let myself float onto my back as well, but instead of closing my eyes I shaded them from the sun with my hand. The water was still, undisturbed. That is, until I flipped over and went under the water. I swam with my eyes open, the water pure so my eyes didn't sting and I could see clearly.