What Dreams May Come [Nayru/Shara] [Finished]

[Nayru Al-Saiduq]

"HAAAAAAAH!"

The kiai shout rang through the silence for a single moment above the muted sounds of nature in the deluge of sunlight, before a rumbling roar consumed it entirely in a greater cacophony of sound and fury that died down into the scattering of stone and earth.

Silence rang again.

A heaving Nayru surveyed her handiwork below, trying to keep her breath despite the exhaustion creeping over her. Her breath came hard, but deep, something she could not deny. Slightly ironically... probably worse than most of her fights. She wasn't especially damaged or anything, but the stamina she was trying to call on was simply not as unlimited as she had wished. Phenomenal cosmic power was nice and all - but her body was made of flesh and bone, held back by the laws of reality and the weakness of her own will. She was, essentially, her own weak link. Nothing new there, really. But that truth burned no less harshly because she had already known it. It had always been true. It would always BE true if she did not remedy it.

So... here she was. Training. It was a fairly new concept to her in some ways, and it was certainly... harder without any sort of guidance. But it was something she had to do, and so she did. And unfortunately, it meant learning her limits.. not simply in what she could punch out, but in learning how far she could push her body without damaging it too severely; in learning how to go even further beyond, to the next level forever just out of reach; to understand her limit for pain tolerance and then how to summarily ignore it. And while she wasn't there yet... she had made progress.

Nayru couldn't help but smile wryly and guffaw a little as she took in the fruits of her labors. Molten rock still bubbled out from the rock face she had tested her breath on until her, er, breath gave out, her lungs pushed as far as they could safely be, and that certainly hadn't done much to help her recover from halfshifting exercises. The massive array of shattered rock and pulverized outcroppings made the whole quarry(?) look like a war zone. Minimal shifting had long since become second nature, but the golden scales of partial shift still took effort, and the incredible strength of the crimson shadow that marked her full power took all the more out of her. The gates on Vinland had been her first real test of that ability, and then the events with Aeos, and so now she had to find out how far she could actually push it.

-Of course, that limit had been reached several obliterated boulders ago, and so the dragon could only stand there and try not to fall over as black turned to white, white to gold, and gold back into the myriad rainbow hues of light as the golden scales covering her right arm flaked off and dissipated into the air around her. It was actually kind of interesting, on an academic level. She'd never... run out of power before. Well, she wasn't out of power per se now either, but she had essentially run out of the willpower to control it, and the source of her power, her dragonstone, was a jealous mistress. Born to protect her from herself, after all. And the risks of being a dragon leaking too much of your life force into the hungering air of Elibe... well, she had learned much about that in Arcadia. Haha.

[Shara Tiinedra]

"HAAAAAAAH!"

The bestial shout itself was jarring enough, but the incredible rumbling and crashing that followed suit was even moreso.

Greater Elibe had not actually carried too many truly fascinating sights for Shara. She'd met some people who stood a cut above others, that was true, but even the monstrosities of Lycia were not exactly to her standard. Fascinating in their own way, but too...risky. To further investigate them would mean to prepare to battle them, which was not ideal. If it came to blows it was highly unlikely a bout between monsters and a dragon wouldn't draw any attention whatsoever.

Alternatively she could hire help, but ah...that could still lead to her transforming. And further lead to...poor consequences.

The point was that, up until her visit to Etruria, she had been rather bored. Shara had learned a good deal, but nothing had really piqued her interest quite like her discussion with that druid.

At least, not until she heard all of THIS! As far as she had gathered this trail she had taken was, at worst, beset with deer. No ordinary fauna was making noise like that.

Curious and relatively confident that, should she be about to walk into danger she could hold her own just fine, she proceeded off the path. The noise had been quite loud, having shook through the entire area. Still Shara felt as though she was on the right path, and continued to weave through the troublesome bushes. It was a good thing she was wearing a more casual dress for the occasion...

It turned out she was not all that far from the source of the noise. What that source was, however...surprised her, but not for the reasons most any other Elibean would be surprised.

The familiar sight of a dragonkin, reverting completely into "human" form. Shara had not been in time to see if the female had been completely shifted before-hand or not, but she managed to catch the tail end of her transformation. Then there was the...utter destruction across from this "human" female. A large boulder completely marred and cracked...what was still solid, at least. Most of it had been utterly liquefied, a few sparks lingering about the hot magma-like liquid that seeped and oozed over the remaining solid rock. This dragoness absolutely outclassed her, for Shara's breath could not cause that level of destruction.

That was certainly not the handiwork of a mage, no matter how powerful, and the boom of her voice alone would have told her that much.

Still, while it was fine to make an assumption on your own, it was foolish to force that assumption upon the world. Caught between curiosity and caution, Shara carefully stepped out of the brush. Did she...play this casually? No, how even would she accomplish that? No reasonably intelligent being would utter a simple greeting without acknowledging everything that she obviously had seen and heard.

...Fine. Blunt it was.

"I always wondered how dragons outside of Nabata actually went about training. I imagine it is hard to find a space that is actually safe to do so. Oh, assuming you were training, that is." Shara chuckled to herself, shooting a glance at the...mostly melted boulders. She actually did ponder that, albeit idly, only when utterly bored. "If you were actually in combat with anything, well, I daresay you won."

[Nayru Al-Saiduq]

OH f**k crap jesus Nayru didn't even know her heart could reach that meany beats per second as she spun around to face the cloyingly sweet voice behind her, suddenly faced with the reality that she wasn't as alone as she had thought. And, well, there wasn't really much of an explanation for... any of this, even if the woman hadn't seen her shed the halfshift... which she probably had.

Not for the first time Nayru had to consider the very real possibility of taking an innocent human life to preserve her secret, something she had never done intentionally but always feared, and the almost feral readiness in her stance betrayed that line of thought as her instincts kicked in. But rational thought won out just as quickly; if there was any way she could resolve this bloodlessly, she owed it to herself, as much as to the other woman, to attempt it. Just because she already had blood on her hands didn't mean she should be looking to get more. But what struck her the most was how.... NOT horrified and shocked Shara looked. More... amused or bored or... something. It took a few moments, and mentally replaying the woman's words, for it to click. Either she was a dragon (or manakete) too, or knew enough about them to be used to it. So... an Arcadian human? There was no easy way to tell. Looking for a dragonstone would have been the easiest method, but... she seemed to be wearing jewelry, and it simply wasn't possible to instantly identify a dragonstone from a distance compared to normal jewelry.

"It's a... work in progress," she agreed with a wry laugh, still not entirely sure what to make of the blonde beauty but not consumed by instinct or fear. It was true that she had very little experience with training. "But, well, that rock started talking crap about my mother, and I just couldn't let that stand." Great, Nayru. Set yourself up as the crazy hermit who talks back to rocks. Or show off that you have a sense of humor. Yeah, that was the nice way of putting it, and she could only hope that her counterpart was extremely kind in her approximations of crazy wild women like herself.

Nayru was suddenly acutely aware that she was still breathing pretty hard, her body protesting the abuse she'd put it through over the last few hours. Several? She had definitely lost track of time somewhere in there. At any rate, she tried to focus on composing herself to some degree, not... entirely fond of showing off her weakness to anyone else at the best of times, and she certainly was not at her most fetching drenched in sweat, her ornate sash and most of her jewelry safely stashed on one of the few remaining nearby boulders. Aside, of course, from one particular pretty little rock safely lodged on her neck, an amethyst against her tanned skin. Not out of vanity, but necessity.

Unfortunately she was still entirely disadvantaged here, not even knowing if the other woman was a dragon much less just seconds away from screaming. But it WAS curious, and Nayru did find herself intrigued, if only to learn why the woman hadn't reacted in a typically human way. And so the Arcadian dragon crossed her arms before her, summoning some degree of presence from the abyss that was her being. "...So I'm guessing... Arcadian or dragon, by your reaction?"

[Shara Tiinedra]

Shara had to admit, it was amusing. The myriad of emotions, notably panic, that seemed to wash over her fellow drake was quite the sight to behold. It was understandable, of course, but it was humorous to see a woman who was likely capable of blasting apart a small mountain to be so nervous. Of course Shara did have to acknowledge the fact that there was at least some chance that the female considered killing her, and he body language had become defensive/aggressive...initially.

But as Shara remained calm, this other dragoness seemed to comprehend what she might be, and managed to somehow regain her composure and yet lose more of it all the same. It seemed that this drake was fatigued, and she certainly bore all the signs of extensive training. Shara almost wished she had a spare cloth to lend the poor girl, but alas, and fabrics she did have on hand were a bit too expensive to allow some stranger to wipe their sweat with them.

The tanned female then made some strange comment regarding the boulder she had demolished, presumably some sort of joke(?), and it was...far from impressive, to say the least. What you would expect from a child or young teenager. However Shara decided to give this woman the benefit of the doubt. Perhaps it was just nerves that caused her to make such a strange remark.

"Well then, seems that the rock got what it deserved." She replied in a flat, dry tone. Thankfully she did not have to linger on that subject, for soon after the dragoness had made a tentative guess at Shara's true nature. "As for me, it'd be the latter." No sense commenting on Arcadia, She'd been before, yes, but it wasn't prudent that she mention that by any means.

"And I certainly did not expect to find any kin out here. In fact, as far as I know, you're the first one I've met outside of Nabata." Which brought a small, admittedly cheeky jab to Shara's mind. If Shara had come across any dragons before this woman here, then that made her the worst at hiding her identity out of all of them. In her defense, this location was as isolated as one could truly be in Lycia.

Shara strode towards the woman and extended a hand, seemingly forgetting the not-so-clean status of her fellow drake. "Samash-Ra Teradiine, but I've been going by Shara outside of Nabata. It sounds less obvious."

[Nayru Al-Saiduq]

She couldn't read Shara's true thoughts and intentions very well at all, but she did sense some degree of sarcasm. She could only hope that it was directed solely at her admittedly not that great joke, and not attached to a greater sense of superiority. Slightly ironically given her tendency for self-effacement, she didn't get along well with people who looked down on others. But it was just a guess, a gut feeling at worst with limited circumstantial evidence, so there was no value in jumping to conclusions and assuming the worst.

Besides, she was a dragon - or manakete, she hadn't seen fit to elucidate - and that automatically made her either a potential ally or at least neutral. She didn't care much for Aerious either, but neither did she want to kill him for being a jerk, they could coexist anyways. So Nayru simply failed to react to that line of thought, instead moving onward to the rigmarole of politeness. Interesting that this... Samash-ra hadn't met any other dragons though. Nayru wasn't sure if she was just lucky or the other woman had some other block against finding others... or caring about them. Hm. That sounded kinda mean. Eh, whatever.

"Just need to know where to look" she responded with a more genuine smile to Shara's comment. "Mostly at the fringes of civilization. I've run into quite a few recently. These are interesting times, and the world is changing."

At any rate, regardless of what the other dragon thought of her, it seemed that the blonde was willing to be polite for the time being at least, and Nayru couldn't rightly ignore that. No point in starting trouble for no reason based on some half-baked suspicion. Besides, how were people supposed to get together at all if they didn't make an effort? "Name's Nayru." She took the woman's outstretched hand with a firm grip, remnants of the essence she'd been channeling still lingering, but didn't linger there. "Just - Nayru." She didn't deserve to wear the name Erim had given her, and it wasn't a good idea to go around spreading it anyways. "Pleasure to meet you, Shara. It's a good time for me to take a break anyways, been at this all morning. So, what brings you out here?" Well, more like she kinda-sorted needed a break, but no sense in broadcasting that either.

[Shara Tiinedra]

"Well met, Nayru." Shara had indeed forgotten how ah, sweaty, her kin was. Still, she managed NOT to grimace, in fact she even mustered a small smile, when Nayru clasped her hand. It wasn't like she was a stranger to sweat or dirt or grime, but she had never been overly fond of it then and is certainly not so fond of it now. "As for our kin, well, admittedly I haven't been looking. Just the opposite. I left Nabata eager to learn more about humans, though learning about dragons across the continent is still a subject of interest."

She had never really considered it until that moment. Granted, when she had first left Nabata, she absolutely had no true desire to meet new dragons. Some outside of her tribe, such as in Arcadia, had been fine, but most were traditionalists. Too stuck in the mud to see the sky, yet so stupid they though they could reach the stars beyond the sky. Perhaps dragons outside of Nabata felt differently...still, humans were of greater interest for the time being. There were so many, and she had yet to experience all of their different cultures.

Though there was another point Nayru had brought up as well. "The world is...changing? You'll have to forgive me, I've only been outside of Nabata for the better part of a year, so I'm only so familiar with what the status quo even was, let alone how it has begun to change."

Nayru's more casual question was lost on Shara now. What she had been doing prior to this conversation was currently irrelevant. Her arms crossed beneath her chest and her eyes almost seemed to twinkle. She could not help but feel a bit excited at this dragoness' response. Change was almost always for the better, as far as Shara was concerned. At least in terms of entertainment.

[Nayru Al-Saiduq]

"Ahh... haha." Nayru's smile grew wry for a moment, though the amusement was no less real. "That goal does sound familiar." Of course, it hadn't been the only reason she left Arcadia, really it had been more about Erim, and it was just as much about Elibe as a whole than humans specifically - but it had certainly turned into that, hadn't it? On the bright side, Shara didn't seem to share her past self's myriad mental issues, so she'd probably do a better job with it. Nayru was pretty sure she wasn't old enough to be calling anyone else a 'good kid' or acting like a mama chicken, but the thought did come to mind nonetheless. Then she murdered it and kept on stabbing the corpse until there was nothing left because that was NOT ok she was not the apron type.

It was an interesting question though. Changing. The world was always changing. It would never stop changing, because without change came stagnation. But 'change' had more defined menaings - specific ones - and being pedantic about it wouldn't really help anyone. "What isn't changing, really? A true world war. Monsters are back. The Arum are returning. Dragon sightings," she paused, raising her arms placatingly, "not my fault! ...This time." Ah yes, how utterly convincing. In all seriousness though, it actually wasn't, no one had survived her last two transformations. Aside from Veigue anyways. "Hargus returned and summoned the... second greatest monster that humanity has seen in a millennium, a full-on cyclops, alongside thousands of gargoyles. I cleared out a nest of Baels and barely survived a f**k**g Elder Bael - and I still haven't found the source of that other batch of Baels in the forest, they probably have one too."

The dragoness shook her head, the smile gone in the wake of just how thoroughly Elibe had gone to crap in the decade or two. The fight with the chimera was still recent too, but THAT had been a... bit of a mess, and given the effect her transformation had had on southern Bern's weather, she didn't want to bring unnecessary attention to herself. It had been a necessary transformation, of course, she and Veigue would have both died without it, but Nayru could only curse the limited fame that had come with it. "I don't know if the world is ending or it's another age of heroes, Shara, but I've never seen anything like it. Reminds me of an old curse. 'May you live in interesting times.' Never understood how it could be a bad thing until I saw what it did to the innocent caught in the crossfire."

Not just humans either. Marcus... he had had his issues, but Nayru didn't think he had deserved to die. He'd just been in the wrong place at the wrong time, and paid for it with his life. Would she hear about Locke's death, or Aeos, or even that jackass Aerious's deaths in the coming years, too? Slain for being something they could not change?

[Shara Tiinedra]

Shara made certain to take a mental note of Nayru's initial response to her motivations. It could be interesting to cycle back to it...after Shara absorbed the maelstrom of "current events" that Nayru essentially dished out. Incidentally it had all been things that Shara had known about, in general. Obviously she hadn't known details, such as Nayru fighting Baels or Elder Baels, but she had known about Hargus and the monsters. She also knew about the war.

Upon reflection her question had been silly, but she still thought it justified. After all, Shara never experienced Elibe proper, PRIOR to these turbulent times and events. They WERE her status quo. This was the Elibe that Shara had walked into, and she liked it that way. There was so much more to learn about and adapt to, and she wondered where all of this change would lead.

"I'm not so sure about the world ending. If history...or perhaps experience, depending on your age, has taught us anything it is that humans and Elibe itself are resilient. Dragons both moreso and less so, but hopefully this too can change." Shara mused aloud. Internally she picked over select details that Nayru had given her. Things to expand upon and ask further. "Baels, though. Did you transform to battle with them? Were humans around to witness that?" Shara figured the real question she was asking was not-so hidden. Did anyone else know Nayru's secret? The other dragoness had somewhat alluded to such a possibility in a sort of...oddly casual, light-hearted manner.

As...unfortunate as Shara's lone incident of transforming around humans had ended, perhaps Nayru had a different experience. Unlikely, but still. Not to mention she could potentially find out a bit more about these monstrosities. Baels were the...arachnid-like beasts, if she recalled correctly. Spiders in particular, but monstrous and with venom unlike any ordinary venomous creature. It was unlikely Nayru would have been able to fight this "Elder Bael" without at least a heavy partial shift.

[Nayru Al-Saiduq]

Nayru's mood dimmed and her brow furrowed lightly at Shara's initial comment. It wasn't WRONG per se, she certainly couldn't argue it, but that didn't make it right either. "Maybe," she agreed guardedly, "But there're a lotta people who won't get to see the new Elibe." Honestly, it probably bothered her less that Shara had said it as that she couldn't really argue it. It was absolutely true. Factual, concise, accurate. Probably, anyways. Depended on just how much the Arum were actually capable of. But so far she hadn't heard of any world-busting stuff. But the level of... detachment from caring a whit for the people who would die horribly among those changes? That she didn't care as much for. Nayru wasn't exactly in any good position to take the spot of champion of humanity, but neither was she fond of the idea of thousands, perhaps even millions of humans dying, most of them for no greater crime than being weak in a world where only the strong could survive.

Sounded a bit too familiar to her.

In fairness, Shara's next question didn't exactly dredge up any better memories or happier thoughts. That fight at Salvation Point had been brutal, her first experience with... real combat, in all honesty, in fighting something that could actually hurt her, and she probably wouldn't have survived it without Aerious's help. Which just made it all the more frustrating in retrospect. "No, the creature was holed up inside some ruins with its brood, and we didn't know what we were walking into until too late. Aer and I took care of it, more him than I, but I got to piledrive it from the rafters, so that was fun!" Ah yes... fun. Nayru wondered when she had started thinking of near-death experiences against horrific monstrosities as 'fun.' She didn't have an answer, and she wasn't sure she wanted one.

"And no, none of the humans in that group save one figured out my identity, later." The brunette warrior couldn't help but giggle at the thought of just how friggin' badly that could have gone. "Probably for the best. I've found better allies since then, though. Saved my life a few times. I usually keep it down to halfshifting though, it's a lot less... messy."

The comment had obvious connotations - at least to them - it was almost a statement of the obvious. But Nayru hadn't exactly meant it in that way. She wasn't at all worried about Veigue seeing her transform for a third time, and while she wasn't EAGER to show off her oversized lion-tiger-dragon-thing ass to Remus, that wasn't a big deal anymore either. It was more the fact that she no longer had control over where the excess power went. Used to be whenever she transformed, it was just a night of berserking then back to normal. But in Sacae, she'd started influencing the weather, and Bern... well, the less said about that storm, the better. If it never got connected to her, that'd be too soon.

"Baels, though..." Nayru shook her head, chuckling. "The smart half of me doesn't want to meet one again. The other half wants a damn rematch. That was my first experience with something that could actually hurt me, you know? Just useless bandits and highwaymen before that. Flail around until they fell over. Wouldn't mind meeting a real broodmother sometime though, see if I can actually stand up to it this time." She grinned, half-ferally, looking at Shara. Battle maniac or no, she had to admit that sounded like a lot of fun.

[Shara Tiinedra]

Shara seemed to irk Nayru with her statement regarding Elibe's survival. A lot of people wouldn't get to see the new Elibe...well, yes. Of course. Even if the transition was as smooth as possible it would take time. And time, ultimately, would claim far more lives than any number of monsters or wars ever could. That Elibe was almost certain to survive, as a whole, to enter a new age was a good thing. Sacrifices were certainly unfortunate, but...necessary.

Still, Nayru did not actually argue the point, so Shara was content in letting it drop. That alone proved that, even if bothered by the fact of the matter, she still had the sense to understand the fact. There was nothing wrong with being angry at a concrete fact, provided one didn't waste precious time or energy on that anger. Interesting, though, that this dragon cared so much for the average human. Enough to even be affected by that statement.

Moving on, though, it seemed that there was indeed at least one human who knew of Nayru's secret. From her...overall chipper(?) tone, that human likely still lived to this day. So there were tolerant, understanding humans then? Men and women that would not scream bloody murder or turn on those they knew solely because of their true nature? Granted Shara hadn't handled her own situation with a great deal of tact or care, upon some...sudden reflection.

Her brow twitched, and she shook her head lightly. Best to move on.

"If you're going about battling creatures as fearsome as Baels, then I'd say you are fortunate enough to have at least one ally. Especially given the obvious." Shara didn't really have much of a reaction regarding Nayru's apparent desire to punch a spider...initially. As far as Shara knew, there was an innate, primal desire in all dragons and manaketes to dominate and fight. It was healthier to allow such desires to surface from time to time than it was to repress them, yet Shara had...gods, when was the last time she even half-shifted?

...Ah, yes.

Well, one certainly couldn't blame her from avoiding to do so again.

Still, she found herself smirking in response to Nayru's grin. "I'd rather study the creatures than actually combat them, but I would be lying if I said I failed to spot the appeal."

How odd. She'd spent so long playing the part of some sophisticated wannabe mage, even allowing herself to pass as a woman of nobility if those around her were fool enough to believe it, that she actually felt...relieved, to give such a small admittance to a primal urge she had grown to detest centuries ago. Perhaps Elibe was not the only thing undergoing a change?

"Would that be your goal, then? To hunt down monsters such as these, wise decision or not? Earlier you mentioned my reason for leaving Nabata sounded familiar."

[Nayru Al-Saiduq]

"Fortunate..." Nayru trailed off on that word for a moment, struck by how... little it described the depths of her gratitude. She wasn't a follower of Eliminism for obvious reasons, but for a moment she almost wished she truly could believe in a higher power, just to allow herself the word 'blessed.' "...That is a good word for it. Yes. Two that I trust with my life, and a larger circle of dragons, humans, and one..." her reverent tone soured somewhat as Nayru remembered the desperate need to throttle Lafiel every time she opened her mouth, "taguel." Ok, she probably wouldn't trust Lafiel with her life, but she did apparently trust the lusty snake with Remus, which was probably even more reckless.

"A Sacaen swordsman whose ancestor I saved a century ago, and an Etrurian priest seeking to reform what it from within. There was a girl, too, but I lost track of her some months ago..." What had happened to Elly, anyways? She didn't know where the girl had lived, and Elly had simply... failed to show up to their reunion. She had been so busy since that there had been nary the time to hunt her down... and Nayru had refrained from it out of fear of what she might discover, too. But she had had very high hopes for the rambunctious teenager.

Nayru roused herself from the reverie, not wanting to get too bogged down in the past. It wasn't nearly as bad as actually reliving the memories, she'd be out like a candle if she tried that, but it was still a tempting prospect. "Well, I do a lot of that, too. But it's a lot easier to judge what those beasts are capable of when you fight them yourselves. The books certainly don't convey just -how- durable deathgoyles are, or the strength and especially piercing power of a Bael's legs." Yeah, learned that one the hard way. First thing to ever break through her reinforcement.

As for goals... well, that was the question Nayru had asked herself countless times recently. What WAS her goal? She had drifted for so long, content to simply live, that realizing she had the power to change anything, changed... everything. She still didn't know the answer to that question, honestly. Oh, sure, she was doing MORE now than she ever had, but could it ever be enough? To make up for what she had done, or for what was happening to Elibe now? She couldn't hide a little embarrassment on her face as she responded to Shara's probing questions, not really able to come up with an answer she liked, but doing her best nonetheless. "And the two aren't related, but... yes, I do a lot of monster hunting these days. Trying to help out where I can. There are so many creatures surfacing across Elibe, even beings like the Arum and... sorcerous beasts, that Elibe's defenders are taxed beyond their limits."

Looking up more to meet Shara's eyes as she rediscovered some small measure of conviction, Nayru continued, closing her open palm into a fist. Whether to emphasize her point or give her something to focus on, she wasn't sure. "If I have the power to help those in need, I will. Strength is meaningless without purpose. Took me too long to realize that."

[Shara Tiinedra]

Taguel? The term was completely unfamiliar to Shara. Stranger still was how...almost reluctantly Nayru had thrown in the term. It had been added alongside human and dragon...another species? Not the monsters or the Arum...ah, wait. There had been texts on the matter. Long ago there had been another species that resided on Elibe, somewhat similar to dragons and yet different entirely. Men and women who could change into beasts, or perhaps beasts who could take the form of men and women.

As far as she, and apparently most of Elibe, were concerned such a race was extinct, its legitimacy questionable to begin with. She had no cause to believe Nayru was lying or spinning tales, so Shara chose to believe her. "Taguel? Now THAT could definitely become a fascinating discussion to have. Perhaps another time, though."

She brought a hand to her chin and mulled over everything else her fellow dragoness has stated. A lone priest attempting to reform such a twisted nation? An interesting specimen, for sure. All of the Etrurians she had met seemed to accept their current situation, reluctantly or otherwise. "Best of luck to your priest friend. If he could restore the Etrurian archives, if only a little bit, I'd be grateful. That had been a disgrace to discover, countless texts taken or burned..." It was clever, but unforgivable all the same. Knowledge was power, after all. If one could control the spread of knowledge through their nation, then one truly did control it.

This "Kraft" was an incredibly vile individual.

That said, as Nayru had so aptly put it, books did not tell the whole tale in some cases. Of course Shara had already KNOWN this, hence why she still wished to experience much of what she had read for herself. To compare notes, in a sense, and to see if she could discover something that the authors and researchers of old had not. She silently noted that monsters, particularly Baels and these Deathgoyles, were not to be taken lightly, even for a dragon.

And...hm. The last bit that Nayru had mentioned was food for thought. Something to really think on. "Strength is meaningless without purpose." Hm. Strength and power, of course. Sometimes two in the same, sometimes not. Knowledge was also power, after all. Was power meaningless without purpose?

"I see. So you wish to lighten the load, so to speak, on those with the strength to defend Elibe against these oncoming threats." It was an admirable goal. Especially for a dragon, really. Elibe was barely theirs any more, and humans believed them extinct. There was a great level of risk for Nayru to combat these threats, for and alongside humans, beyond the actual risk of death against such monsters. Yet she did so anyway.

...And what was Shara's goal? To study modern man? To...what end?

"And you take these threats very seriously. I...I'm sorry, but I can't help but wonder why? Is it for the good of Elibe? For these friends that you've mentioned?"

[Nayru Al-Saiduq]

"Right? I didn't even know they were real." Nayru shrugged, long past the initial excitement and surprise. Ah to be young and naive again, excited to meet the beast-men, only for her first experience to be with a vain and self-absorbed snake with a terrible sense of humor and a more than slightly worrying interest in Remus. Nayru was usually of the opinion that there was no bad knowledge, only varying qualities and necessities, but she could've done without ever meeting Lafiel. It was an interesting subject to be sure, and she wouldn't mind explaining them in more detail to Shara another time since the news was still new and obviously hadn't spread across Elibe fully yet, but just... not now.

As for Shara's question, that was another story entirely. Why...? If she was to be perfectly honest with herself, Nayru wasn't sure she could truly answer that question. She could answer some of the components, yes. It was true that she felt some level of regret and responsibility in the wake of her past transformations and that aiding others was in some ways an attempt to atone. There was also the simple fact that she was coming to enjoy fighting, the more difficult the better, and monsters seemed to put up a better fight than mortals. And yes, part of it was to protect the people she cared about. It wasn't the primary reason, she fought even when Veigue and Remus were nowhere to be found. But yes, there was an aspect of selfishness there. Not that she didn't trust those two to hold their own. But they were only mortal. The less overwhelmed they were, the more likely she was to keep them around a little longer. Nayru already had her difficulties connecting with others, but she wasn't THAT old as dragons went, certainly nothing like those who had lived for millennia.

But the more she thought about it,the more that all of those answers, and any others she could come up with in addition, seemed woefully trite. As if it would be a waste to even explain them. Partially because most of it would make little sense to anyone but her, and she certainly wasn't going to tell Shara about her past issues. But it wasn't so much that was the fact that. Well. It hadn't occurred to her with this degree of... clarity before, but really, she was overthinking it. Nayru wasn't sure if she was happy or not to realize that, made the whole effort feel like a bit of a waste, but the answer was there right in front of her.

Feeling... somewhat less jumbled up about the subject than she had in some time, Nayru rose to Shara's question with a degree of conviction she hadn't known she had. "You don't need a reason to help people." It was very possible that sounded incredibly dumber than it had in her head, but it was what she believed. So for once, she actually didn't care how negative the reaction was. "...There is nary a human alive who had anything to do with the Scouring. But those wounds will never heal without effort from both sides, and if not us, who will?"

[Shara Tiinedra]

Did...Nayru think Shara held grudges against humans over the Scouring? In her defense that was likely a safe assumption to make, and it wasn't as though she had attempted to call her out for it, or anything. Still, it was far from the truth. The Scouring was the fault of many, both man and dragon alike, and the vast majority of that "many" have long since passed away. Besides, if you were forced to pin the blame of the Scouring to just one side, Shara would give the fault to the dragons.

Dragons fancied themselves superior. In many aspects they would even have good arguments to support that superiority. Yet if they were truly superior they would not have fallen into such a barbaric war. Both sides committed horrendous acts to gain an advantage over one another. Dragons were not innocent of their atrocities, and worse still they failed to account for the few advantages mankind had over them. If they truly were so superior they...would have found a better way to resolve that conflict. Or, at least, they would have won.

As for "not needing a reason to help people"...Shara was not sure she could agree with that. However, she was even less certain she could argue that, from an objective or a subjective standpoint. Ah, she supposed this was how Nayru felt earlier, when Shara had mentioned Elibe surviving its own change. She had been wise not to comment on that, or she'd look quite the fool. Better still that she had understood before anyway.

"I am...not so certain I could be so selfless." Shara admitted. When had she ever been? Whenever she had done something kind, there was at least some sort of ulterior motive. Something she stood to gain from the act. And if there hadn't been then it was likely the act had cost her nothing. Combating monsters and Arum, however, required one to wager the ultimate cost. "If you truly believe in what you say, though, then I admit it is...noble." Foolish, perhaps. Cocky, maybe? But...

There one aspect of Nayru's statement Shara did resonate with. "If not us, then who indeed?"

They were the "superior" species, after all. Shara had always assumed the truly strong had every right to do whatever they pleased with their strength, but was that truly the case? Objectively, yes, obviously. That was what was fair. She was evading the real question there.

What did she wish to do with her strength?

"If I'm honest, I've avoided using any of my power at all. I've been travelling Elibe to gain knowledge, read books that could not be found back home. I...have thought little on such questions, or issues."

Shara gripped her arm lightly, gaze shifting to the side a bit. It was strange, to feel so suddenly out of her element.

[Nayru Al-Saiduq]

Nayru was secretly grateful that Shara didn't just make fun of her immediately, it wouldn't have changed how she felt but admittedly the dragon had been feeling a little vulnerable after spewing that garbage like she had ANY f**k**g right, of anyone in Elibe, to preach about what was right and wrong. It was a level of hypocrisy even she didn't usually indulge in. But... it didn't make it any less true. Nayru truly believed in what she said. Her past just meant that she wasn't fit to lead the charge into the future. And that was something she had known for a long time, so it didn't really hurt that much anymore.

The dragon laughed harshly, a little bitterly, at Shara's comment. Noble. It was easy for her to philosophize about what should be done. The question was if it could ever be enough. And she had apparently given Shara an... inaccurate view of herself. "You flatter me, but Elibe needs a real hero. Someone worth looking up to. I'm just doing what I can in the meantime."

The irony was... palpable. As a child, she had dreamed of being a hero. Someone that humans and dragons alike could admire. A perfect paragon, as powerful as she was patient. The real Nayru wasn't any of those things. She was a little dumb sometimes. She had made a lot of mistakes. She'd hurt people, innocent people, out of fear and weakness. It had taken a long time to get her crap together, and while sure she was a decent citizen now, it was like Kraft suddenly renouncing his ways and deciding to become a farmer. Even if he wasn't doing anything bad now, what he had done would still live on forever. So it was with her crimes. Didn't mean she couldn't try to do her part to make the world a better place,though, and if she was lucky - maybe someday she'd be able to inspire others. Whether it be Aeos, Locke, Shara... even Aerious, if he was still capable of it. She didn't want or need a legacy, but if she was to have one, it'd be nice if it was 'inspired a real hero to act.'

"...When I left for my own journey, I thought my power was a curse. I didn't care about saving the world. I just wanted to learn, to experience life on the outside. I ran from my problems for a long time. But you can't run forever. Eventually it all catches up to you. I still haven't found my answers, but... I hope you find yours." She smiled wryly at Shara, feeling bad for turning this into the Nayru Lecture and Self-Pity Hour, but most of it had been worth saying. Maybe not the parts about her. But if she accomplished nothing else today, Nayru honestly wanted to believe that Shara could find a better path than she had. One less drenched in blood and regret. Maybe Shara would become the hero of legend, the savior of Elibe, or maybe she'd end up dead in a ditch tomorrow, Nayru certainly hoped it wasn't the latter but the world would go on regardless. She just didn't want to see anyone else beat their head into the wall of stupidity for as long and as wastefully as she had.