"Absolutely not!" An older dragon snapped, silencing a young dragoness standing on his doorstep.

The dragoness stood dumbfounded before him. She hadn't gotten past her greeting before her elder had interrupted her. The rise of his voice made her shrink, eyes darting about to watch her surroundings. Her inner voice yelled at her to regain control of the situation; to recover what was left of her initial plan for coming to this old dragon's home.

"B-but I didn't even-" She looked up but was cut off again.
"I know who you are, Crona." The elder continued as if not hearing her. "I have heard quite a lot about you. All of us elders know about you. We talk. We know why you seek each of us out, and we do not approve of what you're trying to accomplish."

"Please listen, Elder Heliks!" Crona blurted, suddenly finding her voice. "I've been studying privately for years, and I know the fundamentals. I could even show you the notes I've been taking. I promise I can prove my skills to you!" With a glance over her shoulder at the saddlebags fastened around her hips, she contemplated grabbing one of the many scrolls brought along to prove her worth. She looked back to the elder hoping that he would be interested. Instead, he scowled and curled his lip, showing his teeth; yellowed with age, but no less threatening.

"I have told you 'No', Crona!" He barked firmly, catching the attention of some nearby pedestrians. Crona noticed and wilted further when they took note of who was standing before Elder Heliks. She thought she heard a couple passing comments of, 'She's at it again'.

The elder glowered at the onlookers and they quickly returned to their business. Turning back to the dragoness, he held his speech until she was looking him in the eye again. "I understand your ambition and it is very admirable. But as the other elders have said before, you are far too young to be studying the Mist at all." The harsh look he had served her so far, began to soften a little around the edges, "You know that that level of Mist-weaving is dangerous – even for those of us who have studied it for decades. Now, please, leave me in peace. You can use the public library if you want to read, but mine is off limits."

"... I understand." With eyes lowered to the ground, Crona gave as courteous of a bow as she could muster. "Thank you for your time, Elder."

Heliks watched her walk off down the street in the direction of the city's main library. The way her wings drooped and her tail dragged, reminded him of a flower losing sunlight. He had been genuinely impressed and even a little bit intrigued with this young female who had taken such a powerful interest in learning advanced Mist-weaving. If he were being honest with himself, he and a couple of the other elders would have loved to have taken her under their tutelage. But since Crona began these rounds of asking for formal training, they had all been held back by the same individual.

"Well, that went about as expected." A voice came from behind. Heliks turned to another elder, a fire-spitter, emerge from cover within his private study. The emergent stood on his hindlegs and held a leather-bound book with one wing talon while his other casually thumbed through the pages of notes, much to Heliks' annoyance. "I always hope that she will change her strategy when it comes to approaching those of higher knowledge."

"I don't understand why you continue to encourage this behaviour." Heliks frowned deeply and snatched the book away from the fire-spitter, who merely inclined his head and smiled at the gesture. The damn fool seemed much more pleased that he had any right to be. "If you're going to mentor her further, don't dangle what she desires in front of her nose, only to snatch it away again. That's just cruel." He admonished.

"My dear Heliks," the other elder said with a sigh, as if he had had to explain his motives many times over. "If she is going to learn Mist-weaving, then she has to know that approaching all of its forms are not the same. You know that just as well as I."

Heliks grunted and went about replacing his book in its proper spot on a shelf.

"So far, she has approached nearly every elder in our city for the past three years. And while her skills have improved and changed, her method of asking for further assistance has grown beyond stale."

Heliks angled his head towards him but didn't take further steps to make the other get to their point. This guy always loved talking around subjects instead of tackling them.

"I know some youngsters take longer than others to realize this. But you have your own methodology of teaching. And I have mine. Simple as that."

"Simple." Heliks snorted. "Understanding the Mist is anything but simple."

"Indeed." His visitor nodded and extended an empty talon towards the book Heliks had placed. A strange wet smell began to permeate the air, and a gentle pull of telekinesis lifted the item from the shelf and floated it gracefully back to where he had originally picked it up, on a pile of discarded books. "But we can all use the occasional reminder that things aren't always what we expect."

Heliks wasn't sure if he should ban his long-time friend from his house too. To him it seemed there were lines not to cross; such as knowing his own library better than himself.

"Indeed."