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Post by Shara Tiinedra on Dec 19, 2016 17:29:58 GMT -6
It seemed that, despite her soaring rhetoric, Nayru was quite humble all the same. "A humble dragon...so they are possible?" Odd humor aside Shara had fully acknowledged, by this point, that she had some real questions to ask herself and figure out. Hard questions. Learning more about Elibe and its people...would that have to be pushed aside for the moment? Was Shara just running from her problems, like Nayru claimed she had been?
...
"...I'll be honest. I had not expected my first conversation with a dragon, outside of Nabata, anyway, to be this...deep. Or personal. Perhaps a bit late, but, I apologize if I prodded you a bit too much." She spoke with a small smile of her own, her surprise genuinely represented in her hesitant speech. It was actually almost refreshing, though it was still more troubling than anything. As it turned out, Shara preferred to take a hard look at the world around her, but not so much herself.
"I never saw my power as a curse, though. Just something I'd...rather not use, particularly during my travels through Elibe." She shifted her weight a bit, from foot to foot, and brushed a stray lock of hair from her eyes. "As for my own answers, well, it does appear I'll have to start looking for them. Thank you, though."
Now was not the time, however. Not while she still had company. Surprisingly pleasant company, at that. Nice to see there was a dragon who could be considered progressive as opposed to regressive. Humble as opposed to arrogant. Granted she'd met such drakes before, but it was jarring just how badly her experiences back home continued to paint a poor picture of her kind even to that very day.
Er, all that said Shara was not about to go spouting details of her own life, vague or otherwise. At least not unless she was asked. She was still surprised how forthcoming Nayru had been with her.
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Post by Nayru Al-Saiduq on Dec 19, 2016 18:21:19 GMT -6
"Humble?" Nayru couldn't help but smile, flattered by the kindness, even if it could just as well be Shara screwing with her. "Nah. Just pragmatic." Humble was for people whose crap didn't stink. Remus was humble. He was too damn perfect for her to ever feel like she wasn't just a little bit less for standing in his presence. He got to be humble. She just had to muddle her way through things as best she could, and sometimes she accidentally said something smart without realizing it. Despite the eternal self-recrimination, Nayru didn't really see it as unnecessary cruelty or a means to put herself down, merely... well, again, stating the obvious. If she let herself start thinking she was some kind of glorious hero, it'd be real damn easy to forget what she'd done as the 'indiscretions of youth' or something similar, and that would only serve to make light of the importance of the past... even if it was ugly sometimes.
It was nice to hear Shara apologize, though. She wasn't sure it was really necessary, but it was a kind gesture nonetheless. And, well, honestly, Nayru was privately glad that she had, she had noticed the... hostility, or distrust, or dislike, or whatever it was that spurred some of the other dragon's sarcasm. Manakete? Shara had never really been clear on that. Or at least she hadn't corrected Nayru when she said dragon, half expecting a correction into manakete. So... maybe she was just a dragon. Bah. Whatever, it didn't really matter, she wasn't really in any condition to be challenging the, er, dress-wearing woman to fisticuffs. Not that she thought Shara had a snowball's chance in hell of accepting. Dammit, that fight with Aeos had gotten her all excited for more dragon sparring again.
Nonetheless Nayru responded in kind to Shara's comments, not the type to hold a grudge outside of very special circumstances. "Hey, don't worry about it," her smile broad and guileless. "Not like I've been a very good host anyways, the house is a mess." She paused. "I don't actually live here. Just for the record." Another crappy joke. One of the gifts that time had not granted Nayru was the ability to take her foot out of her mouth for long enough to breath, it seemed.
"I do envy you a bit then." The admission surprised her, perhaps more in its honesty than in having thought it. Nayru had always feared her power, what it did to her, the consequences it had for others. Unable to control her dragon form at all. Now, she could, but even still her power continued to grow, warping the weather and atmosphere around her. She could only hope that bullshit didn't start happening in human form, too, or subtlety would be entirely possible. But she didn't particularly want to admit to her past and complaining about the present would be more of a humblebrag than anything, so she left it at that. "And hey, it's always good to have another dragon to talk to. Seems I've been pretty lucky in who I run into lately, if I met another Aerious I was gonna start bashing my head into rocks until they won or I did."
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Post by Shara Tiinedra on Dec 19, 2016 18:46:18 GMT -6
A much easier question for Shara to ponder on was the depths of Nayru's poor understanding of humor. That in itself was actually rather humorous, but Shara managed to suppress a chuckle. The joke itself wasn't funny, not to her at least, but the fact that Nayru seemed...compelled to make it, was. What even was the purpose of it? An ice-breaker? They'd long since passed the real need for one.
...Probably best it remain a mystery. So Shara just decided to not acknowledge that the joke had even been made.
On another note, Nayru apparently envied her? Had she made it entirely clear which aspect of Shara she found enviable? Shara had always imagined random human women envying her appearance, knowing it was little more than...a reflection, really, though she did have some degree of control over how that reflection looked. Nayru didn't exactly seem to be the type to think that way, nor did it sound like that was what she meant. Would it be rude to ask what trait one found enviable in herself?
Thankfully she had to tact to realize that "yes, yes it would" before she blurted the question out all the same. Turned out she was capable of not offending every female she met...right?
"Likewise, in regards to meeting you. Again, you're the first dragon, that I can confirm at least, I've met outside of Elibe." Couldn't be ruling out the possibility that she passed some other drake by at some point during her travels, now could she? "And you seem far more sensible than most dragons I knew even back home. You haven't mentioned conquering Elibe even once." Perhaps "sensible" was the wrong word, but it worked...well enough, that Shara didn't feel the need to correct herself.
"As for Aerious...no, let me guess. Hot-headed? Egotistic? Does he hate humans? Long for the 'good old days'?" Shara's tone was dry, but her brow was quirked. She was genuinely curious to hear of another example of a dragon in modern Elibe. Even if he was, essentially, a walking example of all that was wrong with dragonkind, at least he wasn't a recluse like her family and friends back home. She could potentially learn something by asking about him...
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Post by Nayru Al-Saiduq on Dec 19, 2016 19:24:07 GMT -6
"You know, the funny thing about meeting dragons... it's ALWAYS obvious in retrospect. Even the ones you randomly walk by in the street, the ones you didn't think anything of at the time, after the fact I always realize something that made it clear. It's hard to tell if these meetings are true coincidence or subtle cues in scent, element, magic that draw us together. THAT'S something I'd like to study," Nayru stated with more than a little interest evident in her features, a relic of Ruin Maniac Nayru hot to trot. If there was some kind of obvious trail, it would be best to know - whether simply for her to find others of her kin, or to identify and mitigate an obvious weakness should dragons need to continue to lay low.
Well, that and she was just curious.
"Aerious was -" the words left her before they reached her tongue as Nayru tried, belatedly, to put together what she actually thought of him. SO much had happened since she had known him that it dwarfed everything she had done in the rest of her life; it was almost a sort of "so long ago" type of failure that seemed more human than dragon. "-He had been... scarred by the Scouring. He hadn't given in to his hate entirely, but it had consumed much of who he originally was. Powerful, though, he helped me start to control my power, before we eventually parted ways over..." for not the first time in her life, Nayru found herself trying very hard to use the EXACT right words to say what she meant, "-differences in ideology." Yeah, that was nice and diplomatic. Definitely not 'some involved parties were more fond of the idea of murdering all humans than others.'
"He was stronger than me at the time. But I think the student has become the master now." Nayru's bit of ego was not invisible, but it wasn't hateful. She didn't dedicate herself to being stronger than him. He was just the only metric other than Erim she had ever known by which to truly define herself, and Erim was... boundless. She didn't even need to fight to win; she knew how to defeat anyone with mere words, to turn their own weakness against them. Nayru had never seen her really fight, only glimpses of the horrific power within the ancient dragon's pleasant demeanor, and it still scared her a little.
"Thankfully most other dragons I've run into have been closer to my age, and less obsessed with the Scouring."
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Post by Shara Tiinedra on Dec 19, 2016 19:47:11 GMT -6
Shara was a bit skeptical about Nayru's apparent theories on the, uh, subconscious interconnections between dragons. That said she probably was right about it always being obvious in retrospect, but this was Shara's only experience in that field...and while it was incredibly obvious, she didn't think it really counted. Shara also couldn't outright dispute Nayru's theory. Besides, it'd be interesting if she had been correct.
As for Aerious, it seemed much of Shara's guessing had been correct. At least more "right" than "wrong". Of course Shara couldn't really judge an individual solely based on what another said, but Nayru had been reasonable thus far, and Shara had met quite a few similar dragons, so the odds were that she spoke mostly true. It was a shame, though. Nayru had noted that he likely hadn't always been the way that he was. Hateful and resentful over the Scouring.
"Perhaps the curse of our kind's longevity is the inability to let go, despite having all the time in the world to move on." Shara stated aloud, almost a bit solemnly. A cruel joke indeed. It was likely not the only curse Shara could think of, but it was by all means the most relevent. "Good to hear about your other experiences with dragons, though. Unfortunately even those close to my own age back home were still gung-ho when it came to delusions of grandeur, talking about taking back Elibe while they tussle around the sand like..."
Shara took a breath. Her tone had grown increasingly bitter and fiery towards the end. Really, though, just recalling the idiotic things some of her kin would say made her irate even to this day.
"...I nearly got carried away there. But I would like to meet these other, more tolerant dragons that you have met. I think it would be quite the experience."
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Post by Nayru Al-Saiduq on Dec 19, 2016 22:31:58 GMT -6
Shara's descent into rage did a fantastic job of driving any notion of making a shitty joke about age out of her head, something for which Shara would probably be very grateful if she actually knew about it. It had been... long enough since Nayru's hasty departure from Arcadia that she had forgotten or perhaps simply had never noticed, but she had never really associated all of Arcadia with that mindset. Or perhaps Shara was talking about a different group? She was kinda gonna have to just bite the bullet and ask, Nayru realized, it was difficult to answer without knowing that. "...For clarity, are you talking about Arcadian dragons or another clan? It has been centuries since I spent time there, but at the time it was... well, almost a bubble utopia."
The dragon grimaced a bit at her wording. "Well. Not exactly. But that's a rant for another day." She forced a smile to her face for Shara's benefit, not particular wanting to let her own... problems surface too much. It was a little reassuring that Shara was a bit wound up too though, it was always nice to be reminded that she wasn't unique in being screwed up. Actually that sounded kinda mean didn't it. Dammit. Well, whatever. At least Shara had a question that she could answer... to some degree. Nayru didn't want to give out ALL the info on every dragon she had ever met just in case, their lives were not hers to toy with, nor their trust her place to shovel onto others. "Well, I can give rough directions, but most of the dragons I've met are travelers same as I. Not easy to track down - but maybe not that hard to run into if you recognize the opportunity.
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Post by Shara Tiinedra on Dec 19, 2016 23:11:44 GMT -6
"Hmm? Oh, no. I grew up in a...tribe of sorts." Shara stated, blinking once. She supposed she hadn't have made that clear. Arcadian Dragons had been far more tolerable, even if some still held some feelings regarding the Scouring, it was closer to sorrow than anything. At least, from what she had gathered. She had spent most of her time there buried in the archive. "Deep south in Nabata, away from any human settlement. If humans passed we appeared as simple tribal villagers." Shara opted to leave out what happened to humans who saw what they ought not to see. Thankfully, if any DID live to tell tales, nothing ever came of it. People likely thought they went mad out in the desert, or were just hoping for attention.
Either way, Nayru seemed a bit hesitant regarding these other dragons. "Oh, and ah, I hadn't actually wanted specific directions. I was more expressing a desire than really requesting anything." It was true. As fascinating as meeting other dragons could be, something she did NOT imagine herself thinking, that was not necessarily the top of her priority list. "Besides, I have a dragon here right now. Might as well make the most of that." She spoke with a light chuckle.
And quite the ah, well learned dragon at that. Shara's mind rifled through all of the topics that Nayru had brought up throughout the duration of their conversation. Monsters...Dragons...ah, that was right. Arum. She'd read the term once in an old text back in Arcadia, but she could not recall reading much on the matter.
"...Earlier, you used the term 'Arum'. Would you be able to clarify the meaning of that word for me? What is an Arum?" Curiosity gleamed in Shara's eyes once more as she awaited Nayru's response.
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Post by Nayru Al-Saiduq on Dec 20, 2016 0:23:24 GMT -6
...Huh. Nayru almost forgot to look unaffected, completely intrigued by Shara's story. "I never knew..." To think, a tribe of dragons, living so close to Arcadia, and she had never heard about them. It was possible that they had been more recently outed of course, it wasn't like Nayru was especially well acquainted with the modern era of the legendary city, but given dragon lifespans and the lack of recent hubbub in the area, it was more likely they had simply been hidden for a long time, and done a very good job of it. It was a strong reminder that no matter how much knowledge she accumulated, no matter how well she THOUGHT she knew the state of dragons in Elibe, there was always so much more to learn. Data to base decisions and beliefs on.
That said, the world wouldn't end if she checked them out later. Just something to keep in mind for later. Who knew, maybe she could start a riot and see if she could take them all on at onc... haha just kidding. Shara would probably get mad if she found out. The thought that that was just an INCREDIBLY STUPID IDEA didn't even occur to her. Wait... did Shara just make a joke? WITHOUT being mean? Nayru had to hold back a certain level of desire to just hug the... huh. Seemed like people were usually taller or shorter than her, but as best she could tell the busty blonde was about the same height.
Swallowing some of the hatred aimed at a certain busty lamia, the tanned Nabatan nodded in response to Shara's question. The Arum. Not her... greatest knowledge bank... though to be fair she probably had more experience with the Arum than any dragon who had been born in the last millennium or two. Which either said a lot about her, or a lot about her competition. Nayru REALLY wasn't sure what to make about that. "...Most of what I know of the Arum is from scattered references in ancient texts, long before the Scouring. There was a war against them long ago, that led to their destruction... or expulsion, I am uncertain. It is said that dragons were the bulwark against their return, but that was an age ago."
Nayru trailed off, shaking her head. Of course anything that Aerious said had to be taken with a grain of salt, but he was not one for lying or falsifying the truth. Only in interpreting it to fit his agenda. "Whatever the truth of their history is, the truth of the now is that they are powerful abominations of the Nether, and as I learned the hard way, capable of possessing men and granting them phenomenal power. Their return to our world is linked to the resurgence in monsters, I guarantee it." She grimaced. "From what I've gathered from those who were there, the bandit king Hargus in his most recent reappearance may have been possessed as well... though it is difficult to tell given how low he had already fallen of his own accord."
The irony of how little the country of light was doing to stop this tide of darkness was palpable.
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Post by Shara Tiinedra on Dec 20, 2016 0:49:48 GMT -6
Mythology was a funny thing, especially for dragon-kind. Dragons could live long enough to watch actual events and people be spun and twisted into grandiose or grim shadows of the truth, and humans reveled in those twisted facts as mythology. While Shara herself was not really at the age to start spouting out the truths of mythologies, she still took a surprising amount of interest in mythology all the same. Very little of it was based on nothing or complete fiction, after all. She liked to guess at what could actually have happened.
Had she read what Nayru had just spoken about the Arum, however, she would have treated it as such. Dragons being what stopped Elibe from being overrun by some..."other"? Abominations of the Nether, so similar to the monsters but different all the same? Connected at that, but that much Shara could have figured out just by the mention of the Nether. It couldn't possibly be a coincidence. Fascinating, and Nayru seemed to genuinely believe that these Arum exist even now, and have come to our world.
"You've done battle with one of them, then? These Arum?" She had mentioned "learning the hard way" and, given how fond she seemed to be of punching spiders, a battle nearly gone south looked to be what Nayru considered "the hard way". Shara understood that. Even a battle that ended favorably could still be considered as a rough lesson learned. Perhaps you had intended for there to be no battle whatsoever.
"I've only ever seen the term Arum used once or twice in an old text, but this was at least a century ago..." An ancient, powerful enemy of Elibe. Connected to the monsters and, from what Nayru seemed to imply let alone outright state, infinitely more dangerous. And of course the average denizen of Elibe knew little to nothing about them. It was an assumption, but Shara figured she'd have heard mention of these Arum at some point during her travels if it was truly widespread knowledge.
"...It's rather ominous, and bodes poorly for Elibe. So much war is being spread across the continent, but these resources are not being put to eliminating the monsters or dealing with the Arum."
Unknowingly, Shara had come to a similar "dark humor" that Nayru had. Etruria was the religious and holy capital of light. Soul or Light Magic was founded by Elimine, for all the common-folk cared, and from what Shara understood light magic was especially effective against beasts of the Nether, just as it was at dispelling elder magic. That said, there was little light in Etruria, and far less holiness.
"The Arum certainly picked a good time to resurface, in that case. Unfortunate though it may be for us."
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Post by Nayru Al-Saiduq on Dec 20, 2016 1:39:33 GMT -6
"...A few now, actually." Nayru sighed, grabbing the towel from her goodies deposit shelf to clean herself off a bit better since obviously they weren't going to start mud wrestling anytime soon. "Possessed human in Sacae. Had some kind of soul-rending dark magic that nearly killed the humans I was trying to protect and did some damage to me. My first experience actually, didn't realize what it was until later. He ran off and got himself killed by a human hero. Another one I ran into in some... ruins in Bern," and there was a definite pause to her words there. It wasn't some grand secret that Shara could never know on pain of death, simply something more personal and unpleasant to remember. "He was far stronger, but we were fighting mostly subsumed by the Nether, so..."
The dragon shrugged. She didn't like dwelling on the past... even if she did it all the time. But it hadn't been a particular tragedy, just frustrating as hell. "Well, he was a hell of a fighter anyway. Not used to anything near my size that can kick my ass. Didn't seem to be quite the same as the other one though, mostly just wanted us gone rather than the usual maim-death-kill character depth their kind seems to have, not sure what's up with that. He aint going anywhere though so I'll just drop by another time and pay him a... what do you call it... beating, that's what it was." Nayru grinned, her mood more or less restored. If the terrifyingly powerful demon they had fought there had killed Veigue or disarmed her, she probably wouldn't have been as flippant about it - but despite being outmatched it had actually been a pretty fun fight. "He fought with honor, though. Unlike the creature in the plains, who attacked women and children and fled my wrath."
Yea... she was still pretty f**k**g salty about that. DOUBLY so to find out that some redheaded ladyboy had finished him off instead. Friggin' insulting is what it was. "I just wish I knew more about what kind of... leadership or discipline they had as a group. Haven't really run into any that were interested in sharing their plans, though Hargus was shouting about world domination - but again - Hargus. No way to know for sure if he was even possessed, or if he was, how much of his doing was just him being him." And that, in the end, was the problem. Sure, individual Arum could be defeated. But how many more were there? Did they have leadership? Were they actually intelligent, or just instinctive? Were either of her experiences more accurate than the other in depicting the group as a whole, or were both anomalies? There was simply no way to know as things stood.
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Post by Shara Tiinedra on Dec 20, 2016 11:46:51 GMT -6
Shara was not sure whether to be amused or annoyed at Nayru's method of story-telling. It was remarkably jumpy for a style so blunt, at least in her opinion, but she managed to gather everything she had said all the same. Nether connection was very strong with Arum? Check. Most seem to be lacking in refinement of character and emotional expression? Check. Ludicrously powerful all the same? Double check.
Despite how seriously Nayru seemed to take the threats these Arum presented, she still seemed just as eager to punch one of them as she did another gigantic spider. Perhaps a bit barbaric, enough for Shara to roll her eyes when Nayru grinned, but there was something...ah, almost endearing about that quality, in this case. To the point where, despite her own eyeroll, Shara also gave a small smirk.
"I assumed you were quite powerful, given the poor boulder over yonder." Shara started, gesturing towards the deformed rock, her eyes wide as she looked at Nayru. "But you've done battle against all of these monstrosities and Arum, and have either won or at least survived them all. It's...impressive." This was especially strange. "Strength" was not the trait Shara usually was impressed by. Perhaps she was wrong. Perhaps it was the character of those who so often attempted to impress her with their strength. After all, he had been strong, and she had...liked him well enough all the same. Hell, arguably the initial attraction was due to his strength.
When it came to Nayru, though, Shara actually began to feel, ah, inferior? It was not an emotion she enjoyed. Thankfully it didn't affect her outward mood too much, though she did feel the urge to avert her gaze.
"As for Hargus, I've only heard the tales, though my assumption was that he was little more than a mad dog with too much power." People like him may have been the ones who painted Shara's perception of "strength" in such dark shades. "But I understand the frustrations towards the enigmatic. If we were to know them better, perhaps a coming war could be averted? We could try something our predecessors had not been so adept at: discussion." Say what you would about the power of the dragons and humans of old, but Shara would not have you argue whether they were more intelligent or less. Perhaps some had known things that others, to this day, did not, but knowledge and intelligence were not-so tightly linked. Intelligence, in Shara's eyes, was the ability to learn and adapt. Knowledge was simply what one already knew.
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Post by Nayru Al-Saiduq on Dec 20, 2016 16:56:53 GMT -6
Nayru would be lying through her teeth if she said she wasn't at least a little flattered by Shara's comments, trying very hard with... some success not to preen a little bit in their wake or just glow so much she might actually catch fire, but at the same time she had never exactly been comfortable in regards to taking compliments, and Shara's words - while well intentioned - revealed to her why in almost an instant. She spoke as if it was entirely Nayru's skill that had brought her victory. And in retrospect, Nayru could see how her own tale had left out the others who had been there at the time. Somewhat of a natural byproduct of her usual tendency to secrecy, partially because she didn't like identifying others in regards to her when that knowledge could be used against them; paranoia born of pragmatism.
Still, she couldn't NOT address it, even for the sake of keeping things simple. "I didn't fight them all alone, though. Veigue was at my side against the guardian, and a human swordmaiden against the beast, though she succumbed quickly to its magic." Yeah, honestly, not Mana's strongest showing. The woman WAS skilled and carried a pretty dangerous sword, but going down that fast to the Hunger's strange soul magic didn't really fill her with confidence. But really, as Nayru realized when she tried to reason out in her head what was still bothering her, it wasn't that. It was relevant yes, but not actually what bothered her about Shara's words as she had originally thought. It was something far more fundamental, and in a single word no less. Power. She was... strong enough, Nayru supposed, even if that sounded a little strange to her - and she didn't quite conflate strength and power but THAT was an argument for another time. "I may have some strength, but power comes from having purpose... something to protect. I've still got a ways to go. I didn't lose because I couldn't lose; not because I'm so good, but because people would have died if I did. You might be surprised how much past your limits you can go if you find a reason."
Maybe someday she would learn how to just take a compliment. And maybe someday Nabata would freeze over, Etruria wouldn't be a bunch of fanatics, and Ilia wouldn't be a hypocritical shithole. That day, unfortunately, was not today. That said, Nayru had the sense to not push it further, she wasn't trying to preach to Shara so much as make a distinction she believed was crucial. It was... hard to read Shara at the best of times, of course a dragon would be better at hiding themselves after so much experience, but Nayru didn't want to leave the other woman with the wrong impression about her. She didn't really care if Shara thought she was a buffoon, a musclehead or a glory hound, but that ideal was something more than her. Bigger than her. She couldn't live up to it, maybe, but she had to try to help others do so.
"As for Hargus, couldn't tell you. I've never met him. His power wasn't natural though, I can say that much for sure. He wasn't the type you could reason with though, but the world could stand to have more people who thought like you did in that regard. It's not something I'm good at, but that's why I help Remus. He is. He can make people understand. If he can make it there... he might be able to fix that much, at least."
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Post by Shara Tiinedra on Dec 20, 2016 17:09:53 GMT -6
Even if Nayru was not actually humble, it seemed she went to GREAT LENGTHS to make herself appear as such. It was quite fascinating. Again, dragons were not exactly known for their humility. That's one thing even modern humans who believe them extinct seem to recall about their species. Arrogance. But species arrogance and the arrogance of an individual were two different beasts.
Ah, that said, Shara herself was not exactly humble. The only reason she had not at least attempted to boast about anything was because, well, frankly she had little to boast about to Nayru. That was a fact, and it...vexed her.
"These must be some powerful humans for...no, no that's not right, is it? Skill and strength are important, but they aren't what you are trying to stress here, is it?" Shara was at the end of her rope now. This was all unknown territory, and as excited as she was she was also confounded. Power comes from purpose? It sounded so simple. So difficult to argue against. Almost like something that, really, Shara should have known all along. Yet all the same she stood there, head tilted to the side in utter confusion.
"I ah...hmm..." She had been about to credit Nayru for giving the humans credit, but that was a slight as well, wasn't it? Took away from the actual act. The point was that no matter how strong or skilled she Nayru may have been, there were humans that she saw as equals in some way or another. Shara...had she shared that view? She held dragons, as a whole, in slight disdain but she...really hadn't treated humans all that well either. Had she?
She brought a hand to her brow, pinching the bridge of her nose and massaging it gently as she closed her eyes in thought. These were strange revelations to undergo, especially in the wake of her discussion with that shamaness.
"Sorry, I..." What was the truth she was about to convey here? Shara knew, but she could not speak it. "I suppose I...just don't understand, really. I feel as though the message you are trying to convey is one that...needs to be learned first-hand."
These ideologies and stances Nayru spoke of and held as her own. Had she learned them from these simple humans?
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Post by Nayru Al-Saiduq on Dec 20, 2016 17:49:33 GMT -6
Wellllll crap she broke Shara. Didn't take long for Nayru to feel bad as the other dragon clearly had some sort of crisis of belief, but it was kinda hard to make out exactly what the problem was. Obviously it was at least somewhat related to strength/power, but Shara was clearly not an idiot so it wasn't simple definition confusion.
Of course Nayru had no way of knowing how Shara treated humans, or even other dragons. She had never even considered that mindset, instead suffering from her long running inferiority complex and depression, not always entirely understanding humans but having spent far too much time with them, as an equal, to hate or belittle them as an absolute totality. So she simply lacked the perspective to truly empathize on that note. It just wasn't an outlook that she could comprehend on a personal level, and so she was... admittedly a little useless at actually helping Shara through that aspect of her personal crisis, something she wasn't particularly happy with, but neither did she really have an answer to.
But at the same time, something in Shara's last comment DID strike home, all too intimately. The concept of having to learn these lessons first hand... yes, it wasn't one she had understood for a time either. It took a more open mindset that was difficult for anyone, and she was no exception to that, to fully embrace. But it WAS the damn truth, that much the dragon was determined to believe. No matter how little faith she had in herself, she could at least truly believe that. Because, after all, it was what had given her everything. It had given her the perspective she lacked. It had taught her of her own failures, and how to begin the slow process of remedying them. It had showed her that her power was not inherently evil, that she did not need to flee it, but rather control it. All these lessons, not taught by others, but learned through harsh experience.
"...Yes," the dragon answered with honesty so simplistic it was as if she was stating fact, or at least what she believed to be fact. "Others can help you along that path, but in the end, only you can decide what you truly believe... what's worth fighting for." She smiled, wryly, not unaware of the irony in her words. She had required a LOT of help to learn those lessons due to her natural stubbornness and stupidity. Nayru could only hope that Shara found her center much more quickly and easily. If nothing else, if she could truly convey nothing else, she at least didn't want Shara to suffer through a journey as difficult as hers. Slinging the towel over her shoulder, Nayru crossed her once again free arms and smiled, with a hint of mischief in her eyes. "I can talk 'til I'm blue in the face, but those are just my beliefs. Doesn't mean I think every human and dragon are good people, I just think we all have more in common than either side thinks."
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Post by Shara Tiinedra on Dec 20, 2016 18:26:07 GMT -6
The prospect of deciding "what was worth fighting for" was almost frightening for one who had never fought for anything. All Shara had really done was...move along. She left her tribe behind, and then left Arcadia and Nabata as a whole behind. When she arrived somewhere new she explored every objective angle she could, only to simply leave it behind when she was finished. For someone who valued higher thinking, Shara had never really put much thought into her own process. It simply...was what she did.
Now it was all being called into question. First by Morrigan, and now by herself. Nayru, to her great credit, had not called Shara out on a single thing. Perhaps the other dragoness could make vague guesses as to Shara's perspective, how she had lived her life, but she didn't even voice them.
"I don't think I've ever really tried to connect with others." Shara stated, steadily gathering her composure. At least enough to meet Nayru's gaze. "And while I've looked for common ground between humans and other humans, dragons and other dragons, or humans and dragons, I...don't think I've ever put myself in the mix. Not personally."
Of course, empathy was not an act that could be forced, but one could actively try to do so, no? To try and find something to bond over with others. And to Shara's own credit she HAD gone out of her way to learn about the average Elibean. She has asked numerous humans about their lives, where they come from, and their aspirations. However she never really stopped to think about it on a...on a "ground" level. Shara spent so much time looking for what she deemed "fascinating", she had missed out on truly understanding what she had been learning.
And that, as far as Shara had been concerned, was a sin.
"Thank you, Nayru." The words were surprisingly uncomfortable. Was it...embarrassment? "You have given me a new perspective to look into. It's...strange, and I don't quite understand it yet, but I am determined to try, if nothing else."
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