White feathers; Black scales [Marcus/Clair]

[Marcus]

Marcus didn't know what to say. Clair had looked so frightened, and it made him feel... weird. A bad weird. "I... I...," Marcus stammered. He stood there for a moment, mouth open, looking for words that refused to leave. After a moment, the dragon turned and ran in the other direction. After a few steps, he leaped into the air and transformed. He flapped his wings at a rapid rate and flew off into the distance. When he was far enough away to not be seen, he released his energy in midair and plummeted to the ground. Slowing himself with his wings, he plopped down on his knees, his eyes welling with tears of anger and embarrassment. How could he lose control like that?

[Clair Feldsky]

Clair was even more surprised than before when Marcus suddenly turned, and ran, leaping into the sky and transforming. His wings beat a gust of wind into her that felt as strong as what she felt when riding on Corona. Marcus' strength was awe-inspiring, but he still felt pain, just like everyone else. There was something intense inside him, and he didn't need to be alone with it, whatever it was.

Clair gave a shrill whistle, and Corona appeared, diving from out of the sky above the army, his white coat glistening. Clair let him land a brief space in front of her, and then called out "Corona, quick mount!" The great pegasus lowered his head at the command, and Clair threw body across his neck. Once she was laying there, he tossed his head back, and launched her into the saddle. It only took a brief adjustment, on the fly, to get into the riding position, and they were off after Marcus.

Marcus was fast, and had a jump on them, but the sheer size and power of Clair's winged horse put them at less of a disadvantage than could have been. Following in his path, Clair eventually saw him, dropped to the earth, weeping. She suddenly questioned the logic of chasing a seemingly unstable dragon out of camp, but reminded herself of something. He didn't hurt me.

That was what gave her the strength to go down and try to help. Corona touched down, and trotted a few steps, before Clair dropped off of him. "Marcus, stop running! What's wrong?" Her armor chinked a bit, scraping on itself as she approached him slowly, resting a hand on his shoulder.

[Marcus]

Marcus felt the hand land on his shoulder, and he wheeled around, bone knife in hand. When he saw that it was Clair, he dropped the knife to the ground and his head hit the ground, as he burst out in another burst of tears. "I.... should be... able to control myself!" he said in between tears, "But... but...." he murmured and began to stutter incoherently.

[Clair Feldsky]

Clair was at a loss for words. Here was the man, well, the dragon who normally towered over her, down on his knees, bawling into the ground. Certainly, she'd had hard times before. When she'd first fought and killed a human enemy, it had been a shock. Even then, way back at the beginning though, she'd overcome those issues, not only finding peace and purpose afterwards, but also helping another young rookie, a hunter named Kynlis, deal with her doubts at the same time.

Marcus' embarrassment at... whatever it was that had happened earlier, hardly seemed to match up to those troubles in her mind. She believed that there was something else troubling him, deeper than what she could know about.

Simply put, she didn't like soldiers under her command to put on such displays, and while Marcus didn't really fit that description, the Pegasus Knight still expected a measure of self control from him.

"Marcus! Pull yourself together. Control yourself now!" She was starting to get frustrated with his lack of communication.

[Marcus]

After a moment, Marcus regained control of himself. "I'm sorry, Clair. It's just that... that... if I can't control myself, people could... get hurt. And I won't let that happen again. Not ever again." the dragon stated, cold determination in his eyes.

[Clair Feldsky]

Now she really wanted to pry back and find out what this was all about, but Marcus seemed quite fragile, even if he had regained control of himself. Besides, who was she to ask all these questions? She hardly knew him.

But then, she had a responsibility to ensure her soldiers weren't in any danger, so it would be better to challenge this now, right?

Ohhh!I hate questions like this.... Clair crossed her arms, looking away. Marcus was a puzzle. No doubt about that What had they been talking about, before he got so worked up? Eating bandits, or something? Bleh. She consciously stopped her foot from tapping after a brief moment of thought.

Mostly, Clair was just plain frustrated. She was unable to do anything to resolve this situation. Something that an Officer was supposed to be able to manage.

Finally, she just started shaking her head, and laughing quietly, in a way that would be percieved as a very odd reaction. "Marcus, you've got to get yourself under control. Otherwise, I'll be failing in my duties as an Assistant Officer. Now, what is it that had you so angry?"

To Clair, it seemed like the first thing to do in this situation was to find the root of the problem. No one ever said she'd been trained for that sort of thing, or that she was particularly tactful. You could think of it as on the job training.

[Marcus]

"It's... it's... my... father," Marcus said, choking down his anger. He tried to go on, but a growl from the back of his head stopped him. Even Hassan knew that those memories were too volatile right now. He squeezed his eyes closed and calmed himself. "Listen, Clair, I don't think we should continue conversation right now. Perhaps another time, but I need to reflect on this right now." Marcus gently grabbed Clair's hand and kissed it. "Milady," he said, and sprinted off, leaping into the air, and transforming. He gained some altitude and headed back towards the army.

[Clair Feldsky]

Clair let him go, still trying to puzzle out everything that the dragon could have on his mind. Unsuccessfully, at that. She looked down at her hand, where he'd kissed it, and felt a small flush of embarrassment creeping over her cheeks. She'd not gotten that treatment before.

She stood there a moment, watching him fly over the landscape, and then decided to do a bit of flying herself. She strode over to Corona and lifted herself into Corona's harness. It was a big gap for her. As far as she knew, there had never been another pegasus the size of hers.

"Come on Corona. Let's go and have a look around, hmm?" The Winged Horse tossed his head as he threw himself into the air, driving upwards with powerful strokes of his wings. They'd return to the army eventually, but for now, a quick circular flight couldn't hurt.