[IC] The Dragon Empire

[duskreaper]

Jube adjusted himself and looked back at her, "You're lucky you're a girl. This sort of thing doesn't happen to you." He smiled once again, embarrassment passed.

The two found themselves at the entrance of the forest after two hours of walking. "Do we want to keep walking or take a break for now? We at least have found our first destination." He noted looking back at her.

[Lullyn]

"True," she retorted, "but you normally get to chose your life and who you want in it."
When they reached the forest edge, she looked to the sky. The sun was high.
"We can rest," she said, taking out the food for them both. "But we might need to think about sleeping in a tree if we're in this place at night fall."

[duskreaper]

June nodded and sat down. " we can camp here. Its a quieter area. Its not the black forest at least." He commented stroking Lupo's fur.

[Lullyn]

She shrugged.
"The ground never appealed to me," she said, looking at the tree closest and heading over to it. "This seems easy to climb."
She looked over at him.
"Am I being too suspicious if I say one of us should keep watch and take it in turned to sleep?"
She wondered how she would have made it on her own, unless she'd slept through the day and then traveled at night.

[duskreaper]

Jube looked at her, "So you want me to sleep first then?" He asked curiously.

He wasn't opposed to the idea of taking turns, but he found it strange in some way. It would make it hard on both of them during the day when they were half exhausted. He wasn't going to fight Kes on it though. He knew better than that.

[Lullyn]

She nodded, looking around.

"Unless we're in a tavern or some place safe, we need to think about safety," she said simply. "If we both sleep, we could be attacked and have no warning."

She positioned herself so that she was comfy but so that she could see all.

"Night Jube," she said, turning her head this way and that to keep watch

[duskreaper]

June looked up at her, "Goodnight Kes." He let himself lie down next to Lupo and he closed his eyes attempting to rest.

He pet the wolf gently until he was lulled into sleep.

[Lullyn]

Her watch was uneventful, though she heard many sounds coming. They seemed to be animal or perhaps natural sounds, for she heard no voices nor did anyone come near. They would need to reahc their destination safely, but with only a sword and a hammer, they would not be safe if they were caught.
I wonder how far to the city she thought. Would we need to find more to assist us? We couldn't pay someone, but could we do something for them?
She bit her lip. Perhaps they should have looked whilst at the inn, but they couldn't turn back now.

Kes being Kes, she woke Jube later than she should have, but her instincts still were to protect him. The sun would rise soon, but she didn't mind a lack of sleep. Her first night when she'd left, she'd barely slept at all, so 2 night at the Lords Tavern had really helped. She'd sleep once they reached the city.
"Jube, your turn," she told him after she'd climbed down to shake him.

[duskreaper]

Kes hadn't been aware she'd be able to startle him easily, but she was definately not expecting what happened next. Jube was startled into a transformation. The sounds of snapping caught her ears, and then without warning, a large dragon sat before her where Jube was previously sitting, and Lupo was on its back. Jube still smelt the same, so it was likely Lupo was so calm because of this. "K-Kes? What's happened?" Jube asked more so telepathically than with his mouth.

His form was large, and green. His scales were thick, and impenetrable by a normal sword. The only other witness sat in the tree above; a black crow, who stared in wonder while the other animals fled at the sight of him.

[Lullyn]

Kes hadn't been expecting this, that was for sure. The shame that Jube transform into was not human, not close, and Kes found herself backing off.
Only days before, she'd said she would love to see a dragon. Well she'd gotten her wish, but now she was wishing she had never thought that.
The dragon was huge, a shape with leathery wings.
And then Jube's voice spoke to her, but it was within her head.
It froze her to the spot, and the dragon's eyes were on her, looking straight at her. It seemed.... somehow intelligent. The eyes were not wild, but in some ways like Lupo's, a tameness to them.
Lupo gave a yawn, clearly only concerned with being woken by the transformation, rather than the massive creature before him.
Kes couldn't say anything, eyes wide and staring at the dragon. In her head, thoughts were clamoring behind a sound proof door, unintelligible and unheeded. Her only thought, at that second, was the green creature in front of her.

[duskreaper]

Jube stared at her for a moment before looking down at himself, "I-I'm a... I'm a monster!" Jube was horrified, but his large eye still looked like his own in human form. "Kes, what is happening to me?!"

The crow landed on the ground before him, and turned into the shape of a man, "Oi, you shifted. It's nothing to be frightened of... haven't you been doing this all your life?" The raven haired man asked.

Jube shook his enormous head, "N-No! Of course not!"

"A dragon shifter is rare... I thought they were all dead." The man looked at Kes, "He'll be alright. I'll walk him through his transformation back."

[Lullyn]

It was actually Jube's voice, the panic within it that first penetrated Kes's mind. Jube was scared. Years of reaction was to console and protect him.
"Jube?" was what she wanted to say, but then another transformation happened, a crow becoming a man.
Lupo seemed to understand some kind of distress was happening, so trotted over to her to try to do something.
Her legs felt shakeyas the man began to talk, speaking as if this was normal. She had to keep calm.
"Jube," she said, fighting to keep her own voice level. "It....it's going to be okay. You need to listen and calm down."
She thought, her mind feeling distant from her body and her voice, that she must be on auto-pilot. Some part of her had taken over, and she found herself reliving a moment only a a week before, when her body had flung itself at him to reassure him. Was this years of looking after him, a response as ingrained into her being as pulling a hand away from scolding water?
Her mouth was telling him is would all be fine and to listen to this man. She didn't even know this man, but something told her to trust, for the moment.

[duskreaper]

"My name is Milo, and I am a shifter myself. Not a dragon shifter mind you, but its the same sort of shifting process." The raven haired man introduced himself, "What you need to do is will yourself to turn back into a human. You have to really want it!"

Jube closed his eyes and listened to Kes for a moment before following Milo's instructions. Carefully he imagined himself turning into a man. He wanted it, and convinced himself he needed it. After a moment, Milo spoke again. "There you go! Good work!" When Jube opened his eyes, he was small again, and definately human.

[Lullyn]

The transformation back to human from... that , had clearly been too much for Kes. Her knees buckled and she went down to the ground, her body shaking. She didn't know what to say, but she felt like was full of conflicting emotions. She'd let Jube down, but she also couldn't get over the shock. She hadn't slept for many hours, and now she felt exhausted, like she'd traveled for days without stopping.
She closed her eyes.
Lupo gave a small whine as she lost conscience.

[duskreaper]

Jube crawled over to her and held her close, "Kes? Kes are you ok?" He asked concerned.

Milo watched them for a moment before shifting back into a crow and flying off. He didn't want to disrupt them.

[Lullyn]

Lupo gave a whine and put his head on her knee, but Kes didn't stir. Whether exhaustion or shock had gotten her, she was out like a light and not waking any time soon.

[duskreaper]

When Kestral did finally stir, she was lying in a patch of sun with Jube by her side. He stared up at the clouds, and had their fingers laced. Lupo was sleeping against her side, and the birds were chirping overhead. Jube didn't move, he didn't notice she had woke up yet. He contemplated his fate, and spent plenty of time considering what had transpired.

[Lullyn]

Kes stayed still for sometime as she awoke, her mind trying to recap everything before she had passed out. That was twice now, yet she'd never done so before.
Her brain brought her upto speed and then she sat up so suddenly she startled Lupo, who sat up and yapped at her.
She put her hands to the side of her head, as if trying to control what was going through it.
It was then tht she noticed Jube, and jumped as if she hadn't been expecting him, flinching away in startled surprise.

[duskreaper]

Jube looked at her reaction feeling a bit hurt by it. "Sorry... I... Can leave you be if you want me to."

Milo watched from the trees in his crow form. He wanted to observe these two for a while.

[Lullyn]

She seemed to realise her actions, and tried to force herself to stay calm. This was Jube. Simple, uncomplicated.... up until now, Jube.
"No," she said, shaking her head. "No, don't do that. You just startled me. I'm not sure what I should say or do, Jube."
She turned so that she was facing him, and Lupo, seeming to realise the tension was somewhat calmer, rested his head on her knee.
"Jube, what's going on?" she said, forcing herself not to bite her lip. "I don't understand. I'm really trying, but I don't."