Disclaimer: I own nothing involved in this story unless I invented it myself. This is written for fun, not for profit. All forms of feedback eagerly accepted. Concrit is loved the most, but everything is welcome.
Fandom: Yu-Gi-Oh Zexal
Title: Proper Behavior: Chapter 1
Characters: Mizael, Alit, & Leonius
Word Count: chapter: 1,579||story: 1,579
Genre: Friendship||Rated: PG-13
Challenge: Diversity Writing, section I10, multichap with exactly 8 chapters; One Character Boot Camp, #23, stereotyped
Notes: This takes place in the same world as Ring The Dinner Bell, Face of Death, and Diamond of the North, and occurs after Mizael left Vector's kingdom.
Summary: Mizael's evening rest is interrupted by two strangers who think they've seen a dragon. Really. A dragon. How silly.

Mizael drew in a deep breath of air and lifted his head, looking around. As always when he rested in unfamiliar territory, he made certain to situate himself so that the wind brought him word of what might be in the area. He made certain doubly so to do this when he came down to rest in a place so close to human lands as this valley.

He'd been caught once before. He would not let that happen again. More parts of him than he cared to think about still ached because of that.

But he did not find the scent of armor and weapons in the air tonight. Only humans, which was odd enough on its own. Not many wandered the night without being armed, and those often were more dangerous in their own way than soldiers. Sorcerers and priests were not currently high on his favorite list of humans in general.

He swerved his ears toward the sound and listened. Perhaps if they spoke, he'd learn enough to decide what he should do.

"I am telling you, for the third time, Leo, that I saw it!" Tones of wonder and awe filled this voice and Mizael did not deny a bit of curious pride. What else but a dragon could cause a human to sound like that?

"I believe you saw something." This second voice was more cautious, and as near as Mizael judged matters, of higher rank than the first. The way that he spoke indicated some amount of education and that in general tended to be a mark of those of rank and importance.

Which made the question of why they would be here without guards of some sort even more fascinating, especially if the one who wasn't 'Leo' actually had seen Mizael. The tip of Mizael's tail twitched with curiosity. He hadn't caught any scents of magic as of yet, but perhaps they just weren't close enough, or they had some way to conceal it.

"I saw a dragon," the first voice insisted. "And it was coming down this way. I'm almost sure of it."

Mizael's tail lashed. Until now he'd imagined it as something of an amusement, a game, nothing more. He hadn't believed he'd really been seen, and he hated being seen when he didn't want to be. It always led to things like this.

If they want to try 'virgin sacrifices' again, I'm stopping that right away. He'd dealt with that once before and he still hadn't made up his mind what he felt about Vector. What he did know was that he didn't want to go through any of that again, no matter what.

"So, what are you going to do if you're right?" Leo wanted to know, rather sensibly in Mizael's opinion.

"We're going to ask what it's doing here," the other replied, but with far more glee in his tones than anyone had a right to feel when considering facing a dragon. "Dragons always want something, don't they?"

Yes, and right now I want a good meal and a good sleep before I get going again, and I doubt you'll provide me with any of that.

Mizael made his decision on what he would do. It wouldn't help matters at all for these strangers to find a genuine dragon here. But if they didn't find something, they'd likely lurk around until morning and it was too late for him to try to find another place to bed down for the night. He hadn't wanted to let Vector know, but it would take more than the time he'd had before leaving that kingdom to recover his full strength. The less he had to push himself, the better.

But what he chose to do now he could do easily enough, and he concentrated, a whip of energy and light weaving over him.

"Hey, did you see something?" That was the other's voice, the one that was not Leo. Mizael kept his focus bent on what he was doing, and in moments where the great golden dragon had been, there now stood a fully human warrior.

Or at least one who looked human. Mizael never forgot that he was a dragon, no matter what shape he'd changed his flesh into. Passing as human would allow him to learn what motives these two had for entering the area and if they were dangerous to him as a dragon or not. If they were, he already had plans for how to deal with them.

Just because he didn't like to eat human flesh didn't mean that he couldn't do it. He was a dragon.

It only took another few moments for him to start gathering rocks and set them in a circle, as humans did when they wished to rest beside a fire for the night. Then he stared at the circle of stones, without any fuel whatsoever, and no way other than his own breath to light the fire. As a way to conceal his identity, this wasn't working very well.

"Hey!"

He turned at the sound of the voice, and saw what could only be those two coming closer. Even with wearing a human guise, he could see as well as a dragon in the evening shadows. Both of the humans here were dark-skinned, though one was slightly more so than the other, as if he'd spent more time in the sun. He was the one who spoke up again.

"This is probably a strange question, Sir Knight, but have you seen a dragon in the area?" He scratched the back of his head and grinned. "I thought I saw one earlier around here, but we can't find him."

Mizael drew himself up to his full height, finding that he was taller than both of them, and using it to his advantage. "I've seen no dragon here." And he hadn't. While he was a dragon, he hadn't seen himself, for there weren't any mirrors nor any pools to reflect his image back at him.

Leo nudged the other carefully. "Do I need to say it, Alit?" He sounded far more amused than anything else.

Alit shrugged. "Maybe I did make a mistake. But it could be hiding somewhere up there, couldn't it?" He gestured to the mountains that rose up behind them, mountains Mizael hadn't wanted to enter since they promised to be very bare of game. "Or maybe it turned itself into something. I heard they could do that."

"Is that so?" Mizael refused to betray himself by so much as a flick of an eyebrow. "What do you think such a disguise would be?" The more he could learn about what they thought he could do, then the easier it would be to slide their attention away from what he really did.

Alit shrugged. "It's hard to say. They can be just about anything from the stories that I've heard." He gave Mizael a long look. "Even humans."

Mizael looked right back at him. "If I were a dragon, why would I want to be a human?" And he did not. Disguise was one thing, but to actually be one and never be able to taste the skies again? There could be no worse fate for one of his blood.

"You got me!" Alit laughed this time, then stopped, looking at the bare circle of stones. "I think you forgot your firewood."

Mizael let his lips quirk. "I wasn't expecting company around here. It distracted me." Dragons could lie, but Mizael's pride prevented him from doing so unless there was no other choice. That same pride also teased him to speak the truth but in such a way that those who heard him did not realize what he actually meant.

"You want to come back to the city with us?" Alit asked, shooting a quick look at his companion. "It would be all right, would it, Leo?"

Mizael took a long look at Leo this time and breathed in a quick breath of the air around him without making it obvious. I was right. He's not a common human. Leo carried the fragrance of rich soap and perfumes used regularly. Alit, on the other hand, only smelled of light sweat and soap, but a different, harsher kind than the one Leo used.

Leo's garments were also different, of a richer fabric, and while he was well-muscled, Alit was clearly more of a warrior's bent. A nobleman and bodyguard? Perhaps, but Mizael wasn't ready to commit to the notion just yet. Regardless, he wanted to fly this carefully.

"I don't see why not," Leo replied, unaware of the quick path Mizael's thoughts took. "But what do you think of it, good sir?"

Mizael shook his head at once. "It's not a good idea." He knew something of how humans thought and it wasn't difficult to find a proper answer. "I have nothing with which I could pay you." He would not part with anything from his hoard to humans.

But Alit laughed. "You don't need to pay Leo for this. It's just a little visit. I doubt anyone in the palace would even notice you're there."

Palace? Mizael found himself intrigued. Perhaps he'd at least listen to them a little more. Palaces held treasure and while he was no thief, he was a dragon. If any of that treasure was his and he just hadn't run across it yet…

"All right." This could be more interesting than he'd first thought.

To Be Continued

Note: Thank you for reading and I hope that you enjoyed the chapter. Please let me know what you thought of it if at all possible.