Irlais thought for another moment before smiling again and speaking quietly, making a small fist and bring it close to his chest.
"No doubt about it. Even if I did have some where else to go, I don't think I'd want to leave your side."

Irlais tried not too, but after Xelin spoke after the awkward silence, he burst out laughing, smacking his forehead. He shook his head slightly before speaking quietly, holding his bare stomach.
"Then what will we do?"

Irlais saw the fire coming out of Xelin's nostrils before it actually came and he took a step to the side, watching it as he thought to himself momentarily. It was a long while before he remembered something and shifted uncomfortably.
"I might be able. .to help. But. ." He shifted again, looking the other way. "I dunno how well it'll work, if it even will. ."

He pursed his lips a moment, before lifting his hand and tapping the side of his temple.
"I might be able to search your head. ." He sighed, crossing his arms and wrinkling his nose before continuing. "For as long as I can remember, sometimes I hear people's thoughts. I don't mean to, but they kinda just. .drift into my head. . and the more this happened, the more curious I became. So, I started to practice listening in on people and experimented and what not. But, as I started doing that, I realized that I wasn't just hearing their thoughts. . I was hearing pieces of their memory, things they were remembering at that moment." He made a face, grimacing. "Not all of what I heard was pleasing to the ears. . but I soon found that it came in handy around my home village, like when other kids were planning on pranking me or whatever. ."
He took a deep breath, before gazing at Xelin. "My problem now is that I don't know if it'll work on a dragon. .because, you know. .your mind is like a freakin' fortress to get through."

Irlais watched as Xelin proceeded with taking down the barrier of his mind, waiting for him to signal that he'd finished. When he did, Irlais took in a deep breath and spoke quietly, lifting his hands to hover a bit over Xelin's head.
"Try to remember where you were at least. . it'll be easier for me to pinpoint the memory. ."
It took him a moment to focus on what he was trying to do. But when he finally began focusing on the right thing, he felt a sudden bridge connect his mind and Xelin's.
Everything was flashing through his mind with extreme speed, so fast he couldn't exactly see anything. He heard voices, a female's and a male's, all things he couldn't comprehend. Eventually, it became too much for Irlais and he burnt the bridge, dropping the connection instantly. He knew, despite what he'd heard though, Xelin should've been able to have seen it clearly, since he had actually been there.
Irlais groaned, one of his hands against his temple before he opened his eyes and gazed to Xelin curiously.

Irlais was unsure, but did as he was told, immediately holding out his right hand, palm face up. He waited, watching Xelin as he did whatever he needed to do. When he saw his eyes turn black, he suddenly became nervous for some reason.
". .is this going to hurt. .?"

Xelin shrugged at Irlais' question. "I don't know, I've never done this before." He felt the power seeping out of him, since he would normally release it with his fire, it had no where to go. When Irlais held out his palm, Xelin gently touch the tip of his snout to it. Suddenly a flash of light exploded from the connection and it felt like fire and ice were battling for control over Xelin's body. At one moment he would be freezing, the next it was as if he had landed on the sun itself. Then as quickly as it came, the flash was gone, and so where the sensations. It took Xelin a moment to realised what had happened, and to realize that he was laying on his side. After a few seconds to make sure he was ok, he looked at Irlais. "Are you alright?"

OOC: theres a silver mark on Irlais' hand...I don't think it matters what shape it is, but Ka's is an oval...I guess a swirl would be ok since Iralis is wind and Xelin is shadow...both are kinda swirly...lol, up to you though

Irlais took a deep breath, and it was good that he did. When Xelin touched his hand with his snout, the electrifying, scorching sensation that raced through him knocked the breath out of him and he would've screamed if it hadn't of been for that. His entire body tensed, his back arching, and he thought for a moment that the burning would never stop gnawing at him. But then, as fast as it had started, it ended, and Irlais came back to his senses lying on his back, where he seemed to have been a lot lately. .
He lied there for a moment, panting and trying to figure out what was different, because he could tell that something definitely was by the way he was tingling all over. But after the moment that he lied there catching his breath, the tingling began fading away from all over except on his hand. He sat up, brought his knees up closer to his chest, and rubbed his head slightly before bringing his hand down to stare at the strange marking that now resided on his hand. It resembled a swirl and Irlais gazed at it with the utmost curiosity. Even when he heard Xelin speak, he was still entranced by it and it took him a moment to tear his attention away. He blinked a few times before nodding.
". .yeah. Actually. .I feel great. You?"


OOC: A swirl it is. xP

OOC: lol...

Xelin gasp as he realized that something had changed. He could feel Irlais' curiosity and wonder at the mark on his hand, even though his barrier was up. He could touch Irlais' mind and feel everything he felt. He was so stunned at this revelation that he hadn't realized Irlais had replied to him. "Y-yes, I'm fine...I want you to try something...try speaking to me with your mind, like I am with you." He said, as he moved closer to inspect the silvery swirl on the boy's hand, which seemed to be the center of his curiosity.

"Um. ." Irlais gazed at Xelin as he moved closer, thinking of something to say. He simply said the first thing that came to mind.
. .I feel strange. Not bad strange. Just. . strange. It felt odd, talking through his mind. It wasn't something he did often, even when he had been with Aziel.
Aziel. .
He paused a moment before raising a hand to his neck, where another mark resided, his birthmark. It was a pale, fang shaped mark. If Aziel hadn't been his true guardian, he thought about what his true guardian had been. But then another thought occurred to him. What if it had been destiny that had chosen for his guardian to perish. What if this birthmark was in the shape of a fang because he was destined to be bonded to a dragon.
Realization hit him so hard, he almost forgot to breath.

He mindlessly breathed in deeply when Xelin told him to, before shaking out of his reverie and gazing at the black dragon with an expression that was a bit lost. But he answered, nonetheless.
"It's a good strange. ." But then he actually began thinking about what Xelin had said. He felt complete. Irlais brought his hand down to his chest, then to his stomach, then placed two fingers each against his temples. Mind, body, and spirit. Things Irlais was completely and utterly in tune with, despite his age. For years, no. . for as long as he could remember, he'd felt something gnawing at him, a gaping hole, that seemed to do nothing but grow and bring him down. He tried everything to try and fill that whole. Nothing ever worked. Until he found treasure hunting, which seemed to buy him time until the hole made itself noticed again.
But now. . now he felt good. He felt great, he felt. .
"Same. . I feel complete, too."
He stood slowly, silently, before taking in yet another deep breath. Then his mind wondered back to the things he'd heard earlier, from Aziel. He spoke quietly, hands in fists, as he gazed at Xelin. His seemed older now, as if he was a little more mature than he had been minutes ago. His expression was a mixture of determination, and a hint of worry. ". .what will we do? About. . everything? The war, those captured dragons, Lukia Ursl. My people. ." He absolutely hated it, but he seemed to understand now why it was his responsibility to bring down Lukia Ursl. He understood why he had to fight. Things didn't look so bad, now that he had Xelin by his side.

It was understandable, and Irlais nodded at Xelin's words. He wasn't particularly aware of Xelin watching him, even though he knew he was there. He was half way in his own little world, trying hard to scramble to the surface of an ocean that was filled to the brim with worry and trouble and so many things he needed to think about.
Once again, he lifted his gaze to Xelin. He gazed at him for a short moment, just watching, before a silly grin plastered itself on his face. It may have been too late to have this reaction now, but Irlais didn't care. He spoke quietly, whispering sort of to himself, as if just realizing.
"I'm a rider. ." His voice grew just a little louder as he began rambling obvious facts to himself. "I'm just like Eragon. . .! And you're just like Saphira. .! Except your a guy. . but we're just like Eragon and Saphira. . !" His silly, lopsided grin grew as he spoke with a high pitched voice, hands forming into fists as he pulled them in close to his chest. "This. .is so cool. .!!"

Irlais blinked, staring at Xelin as he readied himself to take a long nap. He shook his head, moving over with a little smile and raised his hands to grab a hold of Xelin's horn. He tried shaking him a little, to wake him up.
"No. .Xelin. .no sleeping. You've all ready taken a nap today and look what happened. .!" He was. .only sort of joking. Deep down, he didn't want to be alone. Even if he were to stay by Xelin's side as he slept, he still would feel vulnerable. "Come on. . let's go. . um. .train, or something. . show me how you do the shadow transportation thing. ."

Irlais grimaced when Xelin said he probably couldn't do it, but knew he was right. But that hadn't been what he was aiming for. He just wanted the dragon up so he wasn't alone. Though seeing the Shadow-port again wouldn't be too bad, in his mind. It was kind of cool to watch.
When Xelin finally got up, the grin returned to Irlais's face and he spoke quietly when asked about entertainment, looking up to the sky.
"Hm. . .I dunno. Like you said. . we need to get used to each other more. I wanna see all the things you can do. What special skills do you have other than your fire and Shadow-port?"

Irlais stood, listening, and watching. It was as Xelin was showing off the trick with fire coming out of unseen places did his interest spike. He nodded, when Xelin asked if it was cool and he sort of giggled to himself as the dragon continued to show off his trick. Though his giggling ceased when he saw what Xelin did with the fire. He stood, slack jawed, as he gazed up to the sky where the flames had gone and dispersed. It took him a moment to shake from his sort of daze. He was still kind of waiting for the fire to fall again. What goes up, normally must come down, or so he thought. He supposed fire was one of the exceptions. He'd never had much experience with it. He brought his gaze down to Xelin when he spoke and grinned a little again.
"Are you kidding me? The stuff you can do is still cooler than a lot of dragons. Or, at least the one's I've heard of. And though I don't go near them, I've heard of quite a few." He suddenly grimaced a little, starting to compare his powers and abilities to others he's seen and heard of in his head. He shook it a little and looked to Xelin once more. "But don't look so sorry. . I can't do much either. ."

Irlais shuffled uncomfortably. The fact that he couldn't do much made him a little nervous, but he thought it was silly to get so worked up over something so little. So he suc-ked it up and reached into the little pouch that dangled limply from the thin leather belt around his pants. He pulled out four little rock looking things with symbols carved into them - one had a feather carved into it, the other waves, the next flames, and the next a rock (carved into a rock, ha). He held them up in that order.
"Air, water, fire, and earth. These rocks are called rune stones. They're used for magic purposes. I am an Allatik, a race born from the earth. From birth, we're granted one of the four elements. Mine was air. But I chose to take the road of magic, rather than. .well, just the magic I was born with. Because I wasn't so completely incompetent that I didn't see the true strength that magic held." It was clear there was some disagreements between him and his people as he spoke about them. But he quickly changed his attitude as he started explaining the rune stones more. "I simply used the earth rune stone to create what you saw earlier. I can't use one more than once, though, without giving it a few minutes to recharge. So I have to be careful when using them. And it's not like I can lift a ton of earth rock or set Du Weldenvarden on fire with these things. .they're just little back ups, if you know what I mean."
He dropped the rune stones back into the pouch before tapping his chin and continuing. "Let's see. .I'm fast, because of my air. I can whistle with a pitch so incredible that it harms anyone within ten feet of me, especially dragons, dogs, and other creatures with extreme sensitive hearing, including myself. I have an acute sense of smell, sight, and hearing. I can turn myself invisible, along with someone or something else so long as I'm touching it, but I've never made anyone else invisible before and I can't do it for long. And of course, the huge blasts of air and what not from using my actually element. ."
He sighed, taking in a deep breath, and frowned a little. It may have seemed like a lot, or it might not have. For him, it really wasn't really a great big variety of fighting skills in there. Mostly defensive and things that would allow him to make a quick get away. .

Irlais thought about it for a moment, hard, as Xelin explained to him his reasoning. He was right, though, which was odd, because truthfully, thought it pained him, Irlais had never thought of that and he'd had the dang things for almost a year. But if he did it just right, he could see, playing it out in his head, how it would work.
When Xelin mentioned his invisibility, Irlais rested a hand against his forehead, scratching it as he spoke.
"Heck if I know how. .I don't know how I do half the stuff I can. . It just comes naturally. But. ." He let his hand fall to his side before he took a deep breath and raised both of his hands to gaze down at them. It took him a moment, because he didn't use this trick a lot, and it took a lot out of him. It was a few seconds before anything actually began happening. But when it finally began, Irlais's fingers were the first to start vanishing. Then his hand, his arm. He spoke quietly as the invisibility seemed to eat away at the rest of him, working its way up from his bare feet to his waist. "I know, though, that it only partially covers up my scent. . and I have to be careful where I walk, lest I leave a footprint. It covers up any sounds I make, other than when I speak. ." Finally, as he finished speaking, all that was left was his head and, before that vanished, he grinning a little at Xelin. And then he was gone, as if the wind swept him away.

Irlais's laughter rang out, as if echoing all around, when Xelin spoke. Irlais became visible again right next to Xelin's neck as he began speaking, leaning onto the dragon with his back and looking up to him with his head tilted back.
"I was. . but I moved when I saw you starting to sniff the air. If I stand in one place for too long, my scent builds up and it would be just like I was visible again to anything with a good sense of smell."

Irlais laughed a little and lifted a hand to stroke Xelin's scales mindlessly as he thought a moment, pursing his lips. When a thought occurred to him, he smiled a little and gazed at Xelin.
". .let's practice. In the air."

Irlais laughed a little nervously at first, but shook his head at Xelin's explanation about falling off, laughing for real. He shifted himself away from Xelin's head before he took in a deep breath and catapulted himself into the air. He went up twenty, maybe thirty feet, before he twisted in the air and came down with grace, landing in a crouch with complete and utter silence. He grinned, standing and crossing his arms.
"Even if I do fall off. . you think I can't save myself?"

Irlais shifted a little where he stood, glancing to the side as he thought. After a moment he shrugged and smiled a little.
"I've surfed waves before on a board. .I've surfed the air, also using a board. . .maybe surfing a dragon won't be much different. I just have to keep my balance, and I'm really good at that." When he started talking about balance, he held his arms out like he did earlier, balancing on something that wasn't there as he walked. When he stopped talking, he stopped walking, and looked to Xelin with a little smile.

He laughed a little, raising a hand to rub the back of his head as he spoke. "Uh. . A little of both. ." He grinned, sort of apologetically. But he shook his head a little and let his arm fall to his side.
"Fine. Here's a better idea. We fly into Surda or a village near the shore of the main land, buy a saddle, and then practice." He grinned a little again, reaching into a different pouch on his belt and pulling out a few gold pieces. "Not all those treasure maps I had were phonies. . and there's more where this little bit came from."

Irlais did see the problem, and began thinking of a way to fix it, but he didn't get the chance, because Xelin told him to go see something in the cave. Irlais's brow rose and he gazed at Xelin another moment before he turned towards the direction of the cave and started for it at a slow jog.
When he reached the cave, he made his way back into the cave. The further back he went, the more hesitant he became, until he found the opening that held the mountain of great treasures and he became slack jawed at the sight of so many riches. He rested his hand against the cave wall, taking another step forward. He almost stopped breathing. He almost couldn't bare to look at it, much less touch it. But his obsession was just too strong.
He kneeled, examining the so many different types of treasures that laid about. He pick up a ruby and a sapphire, holding them next to each other. He observed them with he expertise of a treasure hunter. There was no doubt about it that these were real. He murmured quietly to himself.
"Holy scales. . we could make a saddle out of rubies. ."

Irlais was still examining the gems, estimating how much each was worth. Just one of those sapphires or diamonds, and he could buy six saddles with their size.
He was just about to leave, when he stood and felt a searing pain on the back of his neck and down part of his back, like the skin had been ripped off in one swift movement. The gems fell from his grasp and his hands shot up to hold the back of his neck as he fell back to his knees, eyes clenching shut as he let out a long cry. Tears sprung to his eyes and it took him a moment to work up the courage to pull his hands away even after the pain had receded, afraid the scorching pain would return if he did. But thankfully, when he removed his hands, the pain didn't return and it took him a moment to find his balance when he stood back up.
His first thought was that he'd been attacked, but as he looked around, all he saw were the many treasures and the light from the front of the cave falling into through the gap in the wall. His next thought, immediately, was Xelin. He snatched up the few rubies he'd dropped, stuffing them in his pouch, and ran for the mouth of the cave before heading back to Xelin.
When he reached the clearing, he was panting, slowing down until he came to a stop. When he did, he faintly noticed the back of his neck throbbing.
"Xelin. . .?"

Irlais pursed his lips, watching Xelin as he spoke and moved behind him. He didn't realize he looked that bad. . but from the extent of the pain, he supposed it made sense. He raised a hand, placing it against the back of his neck as he spoke. ". .I'm fine. .now. I didn't see a ghost. . I was in the cave, I was looking at the treasure. . and then out of no where it felt like somebody placed a scorching hot branding iron against my neck. ." He frowned. "Nobody attacked me though. ."

Irlais moved his hand away when Xelin examined it. When he suddenly stopped mid sentence, his brow arched and he turned around slightly to look at the black dragon. But just as he did, he moved his head back to his side. He raised a hand slightly, resting it on the side Xelin's head and gazing at him with suspicion when he asked the question. He spoke quietly.
"Yeah. . I grabbed a few rubies. ." He raised his other hand, lightly touching the throbbing part of his neck. He winced a little, murmuring quietly. "What about my neck? It's still throbbing. .and I don't know what caused it. ."

His eyes narrowed a little, dropping both his hands to his sides. He could tell Xelin was keeping something from him. But he wasn't going to push it. At least, not yet.
"Maybe. . so, are we going to the main land now?"

Irlais considered it a moment, nibbling on the inside of his cheek and gazing up at the sky. It was early afternoon. If they didn't leave soon, there's no way they'd be back before dark. And Irlais was starting to feel the weight of everything that had happened that day starting to pull one over on him. He was growing tired. He looked back to Xelin and smiled a little.
"Yeah. .but, honestly. .I think seeing that much treasure will satisfy me for quite a while. ."

Irlais had turned to gaze back up at the sky, but when Xelin spoke he looked back and stared at him a moment, raising his own brow before speaking quietly.
"Yes. . now. Unless there's something you need to do here. ."

Irlais stared at the dragon like he'd gone insane. He brought his arms up, crossed them over his chest, and spoke quietly, eying him suspiciously.
"What are you hiding Xelin? And don't lie."

"Xelin. ." Irlais's voice had a warning tone in it, his brow still raised. He leaned his head to the side, continuing. ". .don't keep things from me. ."

Irlais caught the way Xelin moved, trying to keep something hidden from him. His arms fell as he took a few steps to the side, trying to see what Xelin was moving away for.
"Xelin, this isn't funny. . what's going on?"

When Xelin finally revealed to him his scales, Irlais stood, staring at the gap where his spikes use to be. He was frowning, as Xelin explained, and didn't look him in the face until he finished speaking.
But Irlais didn't yell, or scream, or want to punish Xelin in anyway. That wasn't him. He was suddenly right next to Xelin, arms wrapped around his neck in a hug.
"Scales, Xelin. . don't ever keep something like that from me again! You're my dragon now. And I'm your Rider. From now one, no keeping anything from each other. ."

"No, I'm pissed." He stated bluntly, lifting his head to look up to the black dragon with a tiny smile. "But not mad enough to make a big deal about it. .this time." He unwrapped his arms from around Xelin and moved over to stand by his side. "Here. . lie down. Let me see the damage. You think maybe I could heal it. .?"

He grimaced to himself. At first, he didn't quite know what to say in reply to Xelin's question. But after examining the damage, he murmured under his breath. "Fixable. ." And that's all he said before he raised his hands to hover over the wounds, taking in a deep breath and focusing hard on the little ball of power that resided within him. It took him a moment, but soon, his hands began glowing a faint green color, like earlier, and the wounds immediately started to react by closing. Xelin might've felt a tad pinch, but nothing more.
It took him maybe five minutes to heal the scales before he let a deep sigh flow from him. He took a step back and rubbed his eyes - the green glowing had faded from his hands - and he yawned.
"There. . ."

"Whoa. ." He dropped his hands and examined them, then then the rest of him, wide awake. He was all tingly. Frowning, he thought a moment, and then realized it had to of been Xelin. He thought he began to understand how the bond worked. At least, for the most part of what little he knew. He grinned, lifting his gaze to Xelin.
"Drac. . .thanks."

Xelin grinned back at him. "Anytime...now, did you want to get to the mainland today, or not?" He said, shifting so Irlais could get on.

OOC: want to slow down the RP a bit...DS4 said something about intro'ing her own Shadow Dragon here if she can get it approved fast enough

Irlais grinned a little and nodded, resting his hand against Xelin before jumping and landing on his neck with one swift movement. He adjusted himself, feeling odd, but excited. He spoke quietly, but with exuberance, as he rested his hands on either side of Xelin's neck. "Ok. . to the air!"


OOC: Mmkay. :)

----time skip----

The sun was setting as the two flew back to the Island, Irlais trying to get used to sitting on the new black leather saddle they'd gotten. He was still mumbling to himself, regretting that he hadn't caused a seen back at the market place.
"I still thing he ripped us off. Yeah, it's a nice saddle, but that guy was a scaly numb nuts. He took all four rubies and some gold pieces! I know we have plenty, but still! And did you see how old he was? Those rubies had more life in them than he did!"
He huffed, having an almost pouting like look to his face as he held onto the saddle, looking out to the sun set. It seemed to ease his fuming brain.

Irlais simply made a little noise, starting to wrap his mind around the thought of moving through shadows. IT sounded strange, even to him. When they reached the clearing, Irlais hopped off Xelin's back and landed in a crouch on the ground before standing. When Xelin mentioned eating, Irlais's stomach let out a growl so loud, it even startled him. His hand shot to his stomach and he grimaced a little. After everything that had been happening today, he hadn't even thought about eating. But now, it felt as if his stomach was hollow.
"Actually, yeah. ."

Irlais nodded, jogging over to fetch fire wood while Xelin was gone. By the time he came back, he'd had a large fire going, prodding at it with a long stick as he sat next to a smaller pile of extra wood, knees drawn to his chest. When he saw Xelin coming, he smiled and stood, brushing himself off.
"Wow. . .that a lot of birds. ."

Irlais nodded in understanding, fetching to of the large birds. He never ate very much in the first place and usually stuck to fruit. But because he hadn't eaten all day, being finicky about food was the last thing on his mind.
He sat down by the pile of wood again and retrieved a small pocket knife from one of his various pouches. He'd done this so many times, he didn't need to concentrate to do it. He de-feathered and gutted the birds with expertise. Afterward, he set a long branch down on the forked end of two sticks embedded in the ground all ready on either side of the fire so it hovered over it. He diligently began placing the pieces of meat limply on the branch before taking a seat ad huffing, resting his elbow on his knee and his chin on his hand. He hated this part.
"Waiting su-cks. ." He hadn't looked at Xelin since he'd begun, but as he looked up now, he blinked at the gazing Xelin. He murmured in reply to the stare. ". . .what?"

Irlais watched Xelin with curiosity as he stood and moved over to him. When he lied behind him, Irlais grinned a little and leaned back against Xelin, closing his eyes and resting his hands behind his head. He, too, felt more comfortable beside the dragon. When he opened his eyes, he was gazing up at the stars, his smile having faded. It was a long moment before he spoke quietly.
"Something's always bugged me. ." He hesitated a moment, worried he might sound a little silly when he spoke. But he continued regardless. ". . flying. . is everything to me. Being in the air and feeling the adrenaline rush of being free. So I guess, in a sense, being free is everything to me. . but my point is, why is it that they're so far out of reach? Why is it that I can't touch the stars?" He had his hand raised, as if to reach out and grab one and pull it away from the darkness of the sky. "My mom used to tell me stories. . of a dragon that touched the stars once. And the dragon had a rider. They were inseparable. They never left each others side. When they both touched the stars, they both became just a bright, just as powerful, and just as elusive. They became protectors of the night with unimaginable powers, but kept themselves hidden. No one ever saw them, unless they wanted to be seen. You could say that the star they touched turned them into shadows of the night, themselves. And when they both passed away hundreds of years later, they turned into stars to continue to protect the night, even after death. But they say, that the new possible Star dragon and Star rider are reborn, every new generation. ." After a moment of short silence, he drew his hand back and let his eyes drop to the ground. "But those are just stories. ."

Irlais listened to Xelin as he grew angrier and angrier, indeed feeling the same as him, but trying to control it as he simply waited for the black dragon to calm down. When he rested his head next to his leg, he smiled a little and hooked one of his arms around his horns, leaning onto his neck lightly. in a sort of awkward hug. When he sat back up, he spoke quietly, mindlessly running his hands alone the scales behind Xelin's head.
"Forget them. They don't know a thing. It was destiny, I bet. I think destiny had this planned out from the beginning, just like everyone says. It has a plan. .and one way or another, it's going to get what it wants. We may not like it and we may not be able to change whats going to happen or what's happened in the past. But we can sure as hell change how the future is going to happen and how the past affects us now, in the present. You know what I think? Screw the world. Freedom and each other. You and me together, and we'll be the best Dragon and Rider the world's ever seen! Just you wait and see, Xelin! We'll show everyone! Even your parents. We'll show them all what a gigantic load of dragon dung they are!" He sounded not only determined, but absolutely stuck on making things right, the way they should be. And not only that, he was sort of stuck on the whole destiny thing after the days events.
There was a sudden sizzling and crackling from the fire and Irlais's eyes shot to his roasted bird. He yelped, as he soon realized the meat was burning, and quickly jumped up and began to pick the pieces of meat off the branch without burning himself. He stuck them all on a tinier stick, like a meat-ka-bob, and took his place back by Xelin as he let out a huff of relieved air. He grinned a little, glancing to the black dragon, before starting to blow on the meat, cooling it down. He began eating the pieces by the mouthful, starving as he was. He started murmuring between bites as he slipped one off and held it out for Xelin to take. "It didn't burn, thank the heavens. . I don't mind charcoal-ed food as much as the next guy, but that doesn't mean I want to have coal in my stomach when I wake up. . do you know how much that would weigh me down, trying to use my air to fly?" He laughed a little.

Irlais smiled throughout Xelin's words, soon gobbling down the rest of his food before tossing the stick in the fire and picking at his teeth with his finger nail. Irlais silently agreed with a heavy, fatigue induced yawn, before laughing a little and turning his gaze on Xelin. He sighed, quietly, and adjusted himself comfortable on his side, on the ground next to Xelin's neck. He seemed to curl into a perfect little ball, speaking quietly as he all ready began drifting off to sleep.
"Sweet dreams, Xelin. ."

The next morning, Irlais awoke with a start. His dream had been a strange one that night, which is unusual for him. He never had nightmares.
He uncurled himself from the ball he was in, reached up to run his fingers along the underneath of Xelin's wing, hoping to tickle him a little.
"Xelin. .wake up. Or at least let me out, it's hot. ." He smiled a little. Despite still being shirtless, Irlais was extremely warm blooded and hot a lot of the time, except for at night. But now that it was late morning, he was starting to get a little over heated.

"I knew you were awake." He claimed, grinning as he glanced over to the fruit that went sprawling. "The deer's gone." He looked over his shoulder as he watched Xelin eat the pieces of fruit whole and smiled a little more, snatching up a pear this time and biting into it. With a content sigh, he rested his free hand on Xelin's head and stroked his scales, murmuring quietly between finishing the bite and taking another. "Morning. Are we going to practice today?"

Irlais thought a moment, to himself, as he munched away on his pear. He wasn't used to talking with his mind. But he supposed, one way or another, he'd have to get used to it and starting using it. Getting into the habit early is the best. He smiled a little and tossed the core of the pear for away for some creature to eat the rest.
All right, talking with my mind. . . this isn't strange at all, knowing you can hear me. I still can't get over how cool that is. He grinned a little, looking down to Xelin and pulling his hand away so he could grab a banana and peel off the skin. Xelin. . what kind of dreams do you have?

Yeah. .that's what I mean. He finished the banana he had in merely two bites as he continued. How come you have nightmares though? What're they of?

Irlais didn't answer a moment, taking into consideration the extremely few times he's actually had a nightmare, other than last night. He made a little noise as he thought, before standing and dusting his pants off.
I don't dream. And when I do, it's really, really rare. But it's like I'm seeing glimpses of something, or someone else, life. Because I never seem to be in my own body, when I dream. I seem to be everywhere and everyone else. Last night, I dreamed something I've never dreamt before. There was a man, with some kind of helmet the resembled a dragon skull, on his head. And he was standing by a dragon, a lot bigger than him, on the edge of a gigantic cliff. Everything was blurry, out of focus, and I couldn't see details too well. But underneath them, there was a valley. And in that valley, were hundreds upon hundreds of dragons and people. He stopped there, having stretched his arms high over his head and causing his shoulders to pop. But he didn't continue, for some reason. Only let his arms fall to his side, hands in fists, as he kicked a rock into the ash that was once the fire from the night before.