Buried Beneath (Locke/Isis C)

[Locke]

Locke and Isis were overnighting in the Sanctuary, having spent the afternoon discussing the past in the chamber deep beneath the earth. For his part, the dragon had given Isis information, and the woman's clear eyes and true convictions had helped him overcome most of his instinctual wariness. She had a good heart, that much he could tell.

Turning and looking at his new friend, the manakete noticed she was still cold. That was bad. Gingerly moving over, he stooped and sat next to her, allowing some of his radiant heat to try and warm her. He'd been told that dragons in their human form had higher temperatures than normal, due to some sort of energy storage. He didn't understand it fully, but he trusted his mother, and so he believed in it. Locke was careful not to touch her, however - he was still a bit shy, and unsure of how she would react. As he bent, the corded pouch with his stone somehow slipped out without his noticing and hung out in front of his robes as the manakete spoke to the human.

"I hope I can help warm you. To become chilled is dangerous. I'm sorry that I do not have more blankets or coverings here in the Sanctuary... Will you be all right? Is there anything you need?"

[Isis]

The sanctuary was perfect for resting; it was secluded from the sand outside and it was lit enough to move around without tripping on her own feet. Isis was content overall, but the chilly air was biting at her bones. Her eyes were closed. She wasn't shivering just yet--the body heat contained underneath the cloak Locke has given her made it at least a moderately satisfying situation. The smell of it was also very foreign to her, something that didn't seem human. It had an old fragrance she didn't quite understand despite his rather youthful appearance. Perhaps it was his time as the guardian that riddled the mantle scented like that.

Suddenly, Isis felt a source of heat coming from next to her, and she turned a head to look at Locke. He was bent over, and at the corners of her eyes she saw a pouch hanging on him. It obviously held something valuable in there with the way it's concealed. "I am fine. A little bit of chilly air doesn't hurt me that much. I appreciate the cloak however, it's warm enough to keep me asleep through this bitter atmosphere." Her reply was fluid, but her focus seemed to be on the pouch that was revealed to her. She just didn't see it on him when they met and talked for the first time.

"That pouch must have something very important," said Isis with no hesitation. Her expression was strong, the glint of ambition in her eye even as she's trapped in this cold confinement. A question clicked at her own mind; what would a guardian need a mono-slotted pouch for?

[Locke]

"Pouch? Oh, that."

Damn! His stone... How had it come unsewn from his robes? He must have ripped the threads somehow when he was moving the slab or something. He couldn't just show the woman the stone... Well... Maybe...

His brows furrowed, and Locke got up abruptly, moving away and turning his back to Isis as he removed the stone from its pouch. The smooth stone was perfectly cut in a tetrahedral shape, its dull gray surface gleaming sometimes with hidden light. It appeared simultaneously opaque and transparent, and it shimmered softly. It was beautiful.

"Tell me, Isis... How much of the Arcadian legends do you believe?"

Spinning around, the dragon held the stone out in his palm, allowing it to shine in the light.

[Isis]

Isis watched as the man hurriedly turned away to do something with his hands, all seen by the movement of his shoulders. He looked to be distracted, and the archaeologist just watched with a single eyebrow raised, curious of his sudden distraction. The pouch must really have had something very important in it, enough to catch him off guard just being told that it was being seen. Being polite, Isis waited until the tribesman calmed down, her head tilted to one said and just... watching.

Then Locke spun back around to reveal a stone, almost like an authentic gem. Isis' eyes beamed at the sight of them. She leaned over to get a closer look at it, until she was asked a question to break her out of her trance. "How much of the legends?" she repeated, thinking for a short moment. "I... believe that dragons and humans once lived in harmony together, that it was a place of peace and knowledge for those that seek it. It almost shocked me as a child to hear that it was buried in sand. That's why I want to find it. I want to preserve its past."

[Locke]

"Hmm. It was always my belief that humans must see to believe... But you believe, and yet you have not seen. Remarkable."

Moving to stand in the center of the room, Locke took on a grim expression. "Prepare yourself."

Locke's hand curled around the dragonstone, power beginning to flood through him. To Isis, it would appear that a magnificent transformation was occurring. Light radiated from the stone in Locke's palm, shining through the cracks between his fingers as his whole body slowly became illuminated as if viewing a silhouette. Then, the borders of his form began to blur and distort, almost as if his physiological makeup was being altered drastically.

Suddenly, with a burst of energy and heat, a blast of radiance, and a beam of light, the humanoid form expanded and contorted until the outline of a great beast appeared in the center of the gigantic chamber. As the brilliance faded, an amazing sight would no doubt be presented to Isis.

A great dragon, fourteen meters long at full stretch and and with a seventeen-meter wingspan, stood proudly in front of her. Its scales, gleaming dully with an opalescent sheen, appeared as if made from the mineral Labradorite. Spines, erupting regularly from the spine, and randomly all over the rest of the body, looked like stalagmites and stalactites, straight from caverns underground. Five sleek, sharp horns extended backwards from the dragon's head, accenting the two rows of razor-sharp teeth and fangs. Wickedly curved claws and a quad-barbed tail gave this dragon a deadly and vicious appearance, but the green eyes, exactly the color of Locke's hair, glimmered with friendship and compassion.

The dragon's great wings unfolded, and Locke gave a magnificent and deafening roar. His true form exposed, the proud dragon stood waiting for Isis's reaction.

[Isis]

Isis watched in oddity as Locke instructed her to prepare herself, walking himself to the center of the room. She hugged the cloak closer to her body instinctively, abiding to his request but not in the fashion that he most likely intended. Her mind was still drawing schematics and brainstorming ideas for tomorrow's little scouring of the place. She couldn't wait for the next morning.

Then suddenly, light began to radiate from the man's palm, the source of it being the stone. What kind of stone could do that? Unless they had some kind of magical property or were going through a chemical reaction, this thing would not be happening. Perhaps it was a magical item, which is why he was safekeeping it in his pouch. Out of no where, the light surrounded body and transformed its anatomy completely.

Isis watched in awe, completely shocked by what was happening. Before she even know, a dragon stood in front of her in all its mighty size. Obviously not as big as what she assumed to be, but definitely bigger than her by a milestone. "You're... a dragon." Everything clicked. The reason why he knew of this place, this sanctuary, was the guardian of it--all because he was a dragon. Isis was so caught off-guard her body felt like it was going through palpitations.

[Locke]

Shifting back to human form, the dragon wobbled and then imploded, the room seeming to get darker as Locke's energy once again was sucked into the stone. The mighty creature simply collapsed on itself, leaving only Locke. The manakete emerged from a crouch in the center of the room and moved over to Isis.

"Yes. I am a dragon. So you see... We can coexist peacefully. Dragon and human. The fear and hatred of our kind is naught but prejudice, passed down through the generations. That is why we hide, why our temples are ruins... Because humans have fear and hatred. You must release it, and the balance will restore itself."

Locke looked at Isis, his eyes serious and his gaze enveloping. "You must use your knowledge to foster understanding. Peace must come between the races. Dragon and human must coexist once more."