"Not bad, you guys definitely have potential. I'll, uh, look your units over, if that's all right?" The Tactician offers.

"Sure, I need a moment anyway." She looks between Keaton and me before running off. "Gods, Keaton…" He shifts back and we approach each other, then he pulls me into a kiss and my legs give in. "My mate…" I say after we break the kiss, he growls in approval, a shiver is sent throughout my body.

"Mine." He stares me down, "Armor."

My heart skips a beat, 'Here? The others are not even a minute's walk away . ' Yet I ignore the reasoning, preferring to listen to my dragon side. 'Mate, claim . ' I hastily undo the buckles and straps. Gods, I missed him…

"Feeling better?" I ask after he has finished, I slip back into my armor after he pulls out.

"Yes." His pants are back on.

"I hope we never get separated like that again…" I walk up, embrace him, and rest my face on his chest, reveling in the warmth, even as he tenses. "Gods, I missed you so much." A few tears escape my eyes. "I missed you…"

He stays as is for a moment, "Like anyone can keep me away from my mate." However, when I do not move, he adds, "Uh, am I supposed to be doing something here?"

"...Hold me. Please." The desperation in my voice is evident, and he slowly brings his arms around me, "Mmm."

Several more minutes pass before I manage to calm down, "Thanks." I slowly remove myself.

"...and that helped?" He raises an eyebrow at me.

"Yea, human thing. Look, as much as I want to disregard the human completely and just be a dragon, you are just going to have to deal with some of the human habits."

He looks away and coughs, "Anyway, I… uh, have to thank your little sister for this, actually… me being here." He looks away, the human customs causing him to be uncomfortable again.

"Elise? What did she do?"

"Come." I follow, where the rest are waiting, as well as the man I have ordered to be protected.

"Lady Yasei!" Gonin waves me down, "Lady Elise told me you are looking for passage to Notre Sagre, correct?"

I nod, "Yes, I am to go visit the Rainbow Sage."

He smiles, "Well, I happen to be the captain here. If it pleases you, I will go over the remaining ships and find the best one."

"Sure, go ahead." I turn to Keaton, "Elise, next?" We go towards my little sister, who has a look of disapproval on her face.

"Really? You guys couldn't wait a few minutes?" Her face flushes, "Maybe hop in a building so I could place a Silencing Ward on it?"

I look at my mate with a heavy flush and Keaton looks rather pleased with himself, "Had to happen."

The Wolfskin looks like he is preparing for the inevitable, 'Well, why?' But instead he got, "Yea, I get it. That is just how it is, right?" She winks.

"...You actually get it." Now he is smiling, "A non-shifter actually gets it." He reaches into his pocket, "Oh, this is thanks… for getting me here," He pulls out a necklace, pure silver, it holds a medallion with the image of the Dust Dragon in it. "I er, hope I am doing this right."

She gasps, "Ooo! That is so cute!" He hands her the necklace and she giddily accepts it, opting to putting it on immediately, "Aw, you didn't have to…" She pauses when she notices his hesitancy, "Oh, I mean I am thankful for this, that is just a saying we have." She smiles as she her fingers trace the surface of it, "Where did you get this? You didn't spend a lot, did you?"

"Oh, are gifts supposed to be purchased?" He fidgets in place again.

I giggle, he looks kind of cute when he seems so unsure of himself, "No, you don't have to, it is also common for them to hand-made." I point out, "But something tells me you didn't do that either."

"Came off a bandit when I couldn't find any nearby animals…" He admits.

"...Ewwww… did you wash it, at least?" She looks ready to remove it the second he says no.

"Yea, I took several minutes at a lake to make sure it looks clean." Elise nods in approval, "You're also pretty brave, you know? Taking my mate for a night." She pales.

"Oh… that. Um, well," She looks away.

"It was after we spent probably two hours kissing." I admit with a blush on my face, "I kind of had an… urge again."

"That came out offensive, didn't it?" He asks, "I meant that more as a… I don't know." 'Huh?' "It's just… if you were a male, you would probably be limping right now, if not dead. But you're not, so it doesn't bother me at all." He pauses, "Not that I understand it, this isn't something that happens in a Wolfskin pack."

I suppose that makes sense, "It doesn't bother you because she can't get me pregnant, right?"

"Exactly."

"...So if we wanted to do it again…?"

"Yasei!" Elise exclaims, "Gods, Keaton, I wouldn't dream of getting in…"

"As long as I am not currently claiming her, fine." He shrugs. A few minutes pass in awkward silence, "Er, this is another small rule, isn't it?"

"Elise, we aren't husband and wife, we're mates. He has the say-so, and he told us he is fine with it, so you wouldn't be getting between us." I look right at her, "If you're okay with it, that is."

She is blushing furiously, "I… uh, think that… Arthur is calling me! Yea, I'll be back later!" She skips off.

"In other words, she will think it over." I answer his unasked question. "I am glad to see you are trying to adjust to human things."

"This isn't easy," He glares at me, "I'm trying, but… it is so difficult to keep reminding myself of all of these little rules humans have." He pauses and the glare fades as a smirk forms, "It helps that there actually exists a human who is beginning to form an understanding. Elise really is something else." He chuckles, "I'd never thought I would actually start tolerating the presence of one human and enjoying the company of another, yet here I am."

I start beaming, "Now, I believe you still owe me some lessons on Wolfskin and mastering my transformation?" I smile. "How about talking in my shifted form, first?"

"Alright." He shrugs.

After a few failed attempts, I manage to get the speaking down, I have this weird echoing sound whenever I do talk. "Well, that is a relief." I say in my shifted form, "Take a break? We can use the spare time to chat with the others."

He nods, "Alright, I'll… see you later." The Wolfskin departs and I shift back, then decide to hunt Phoenix down.

It turns out she finds me first, "Ah, there you are. Gonin gracefully supplied me with an up-to-date map of the area surrounding the fortress that this 'Rainbow Sage' lives at, he assures me that there is no documentation of the fortress itself." She is going over some mental checklist, "With that information in mind and the limited knowledge of who am I working with, I drafted up a few formations for the town before the mountain climb, during the mountain climb, and all of my past experiences with any large fortified buildings." She pauses, "Would you like to see them?"

'Past experiences?' "You've fought in a war before? But you're so young!"

She raises an eyebrow and starts laughing, "How old do you think I am? And what's your age?"

"My eighteenth has passed by recently, and you look barely sixteen." I am missing the humor on this.

"That's what I thought, I am two years your senior." 'Honesty . ' She smiles, "Looks can be deceiving, and when one of your parents is a Manakete, then you might as well completely disregard my looks for judging age."

"Manakete…?" I repeat, "So what, the Manakete parent is a few hundred something?"

"My father is about twenty, while my mother looks to probably be around the 'prime' twenties, but I assure you, she's over three thousand years old." She laughs at my disbelief, "Care for those maps, now? It'll take time to get thoroughly through the ones I drew up."

After recovering from the shock of this Manakete stuff, I nod and she leads me to a building, we walk in and I see it is a workshop, repurposed to better hold papers and books. At the center desk held a candle and these three huge stacks of papers. She pulls up a second chair and motions for me to sit, then pulls off the top sheet of the pile to the left. "So, scenario one of the Town's plan…"

My brain is fried, how does she go through that much information in a few hours? We have not even gone through the entire pile, either! She chose just to go through the first third of each. This is supposed to be a few?! "My head feels like it's going to explode." I complain after we finish.

Another laugh, "You sound like my father's closest friend, the man has a good head on his shoulders, but it wasn't really built for complex thinking." She reaches her gloved hand towards my forehead, "Hold still a moment." A wave of cold magic spreads and I do not feel so overwhelmed, "Better?" She removes her hand.

"Yea! That was nice…" 'As ice', I add in my head. "You know, you brought up your family and this group, but you haven't gone into detail, mind doing that?"

All the good mood that is in the air fleas immediately and her expression becomes solemn, "Yes, I do mind. Not to sound rude, but that is something I need some time before sharing that." She looks away.

Oh, "It's alright, I won't push," I awkwardly look around the room, "Have you ever taken off your gloves yet? Didn't you eat last night with them on?"

"...I have my reasons."

Ah, another topic, I desperately try to find something to talk about, then my eyes land on the candle, "How come the candle hasn't melted any?"

Her smile returns, 'success' , "That isn't an actual fire, it is actually magic made into a light devoid of the heat a normal fire would bring… and it isn't actually on the wick itself, look," She moves the candle and the light is now floating in the air, "I don't need candles, but they provide a sort of serenity that I keep them on me regardless. Familiarity."

"That is definitely interesting, I don't think I ever seen magic been used like that." Another beat, "Speaking of, you shattered the Wyrmslayer Hinata wielded, that was impressive, I am not sure even Leo could do something like that."

Phoenix nods, "It is rare to see magic-users cast without tomes, but my heritage gives me an ample supply of magic at my disposal. Still, it does takes it toll on me, which is why I only did it once. I may be powerful, but I am not infinite." She pauses, "Why don't you wear shoes?"

I shrug, "Never needed to, spent my first seventeen years mostly in a castle, they were hardened. And now that I have the ability to shift, they are reinforced. I might as well be considered wearing plated greaves."

"Wait, 'now' that you have the ability? Could you not transform when you were young?"

Now it is my turn for secrets, "No, and this isn't a subject I want to go into detail about." About how my life basically went down the swamp for a few months. "Well, we should probably get going, dinner will probably be ready soon. It was nice talking to you… the tactics though, not so much." I smile.

"Okay, but this will be the only time I show you a number of them. I just wanted to prove I know tactics, from now on I will just provide the one with the greatest success chance." Her eyes shine with an intelligence that might send Leo packing, "And I am not the type to sit back, I got enough talent to be in the battlefield and make calls."

"Oh, wow… Then, I look forward to seeing you in action." My stomach grumbles, "Well then… my mate will probably have a kill ready for me, see you later!" As I leave, I hear her mutter 'mate?'

The next morning, I wake up trapped in a set of furry arms and steady breathing, I smile and attempt to close the already nearly nonexistent distance between my mate and I, then bury my head in his chest fur and breathe deeply. 'Sweet serenity . ' My hands start to travel around him and to his back side. 'Closer . ' He responds by wrapping me in tighter. ' Mine .' "Good morning." I mumble into his chest with a smile gracing my face, "As much as I would love to stay like this all day…"

He chuckles and the vibrations send a warmth throughout me, "I know." He lets go and I follow suit, "Rainbow Sage, huh? Not the best name I heard." We both get up, still clothed and armored.

"Breakfast?" He licks his lips in response, then makes towards the door, "Ah, no. I will be getting it this time. This mate won't be lie on the bed every day, get pampered and bred."

I see his fur bristle, but he takes a breath and nods. 'He just needs time to adjust . ' "Change is necessary, but long-held traditions are hard to break." He says, "Sure, go ahead."

I smile and prance out the door. "I'll change, for you." A number of people have already gotten up and are performing their daily activities… Elise seems to be sleeping in. "Ah, Lady Yasei." Jakob greets, "Gonin informed me that the ship is fit for departure whenever we are ready. I did check it over with him, of course and I assure you that not even one plank of wood is cracked."

"Wonderful work as always, Jakob. Now, I need to go fetch some breakfast." I wave and make my way towards the outskirts of Port Dia and to the nearby forest. My Dragonstone gleams and I shift, then look around me, "Testing… good." I double check to make sure I can still talk. I enter the woods and almost immediately see a large fox... huh. I am not about to question it, but he does not sound any less appetizing. I move as silently as my bulky form would let me.

The effort proves fruitless, as the fox turns to face me, yet instead of running, he stands his ground. His eyes glare at me for a few seconds, "A dragon? That is certainly… unusual to see around here. Are you lost?"

'Gods, I just had my sights on a shifter for a meal' , "Er, hi." I nervously respond.

The Fox's ears perk in response. "There are dragon shifters, too?" The fox glows for a moment and a man stands now. His fur is a sort of golden yellow and his bare chest is white. The rest follows a similar pattern, golden yellow with white ends. Unlike Keaton, he has a blue vest on, but it remains unbuttoned, he also has a pair of blue pants on. "Well, hello then. My name is Kaden, a Kitsune. And yours?"

I shift back, "Yasei, half-dragon."

"Half-dragon? You certainly are… unique, then." He tilts his head, "What brings you so close to a human settlement? Are you a traveler?"

"I am going to take a boat trip with the other people I am with to Notre Sagre, and I was hunting for a meal. What about you?" 'He seems pretty nice.'

"This is one of my preferred hunting grounds, well, before the Wolfskin took over my hamlet near here." 'His hamlet?' "You've encountered them before, haven't you? You got a faint scent of one on you. Shifters and humans already can't share an home, and shifters are divided once more by Kitsune and Wolfskin."

"Yea, I know them." I respond a bit more defensively then I would have like to, "He never said anything about Kitsunes, though."

Kaden scoffs, "Of course not, Wolfskin are even less social than my kind, I am honestly surprised you didn't say he just outright attacked you." Then he pulls out a brush , of all things, and starts grooming his fur.

"That's because I saved him from a father-son poacher named William."

He stops brushing, "You… saved him?" He tenses, "Not that I understand why… but those Williams, are they dead?" He resumes his self-grooming.

'Ah, so there is some common ground between them' , "the Third and First, yes, they are dead."

He breathes a sigh of relief, "About time. The William line is infamous for their poaching, they hunt down and murder both Wolfskin and Kitsune, skin them, and sell off the fur and Beaststones." He shivers, "On behalf of the Kitsunes, I gladly thank you for that."

I smile, "You're welcome." I pause, "So, there is bad blood between Kitsune and Wolfskin?"

"Bad… blood?" Great, now I confused him, "Nevermind, I understand what you are asking. The Wolfskin out-populate Kitsune and as such they need more territory. Not all of the mountain spots are habitable and so they sometimes ending up risking taking a hamlet. Which pushes my kind out further, usually off the mountains and into flatland, where we become easier targets for poachers." He puts his brush away.

"That's… terrible." I reply, then a scent arrives in the air, Keaton's… have I really been talking that long?

I am about to excuse myself, but Kaden already picks up the scent, "...Wolfskin…" He narrows his eyes, glances in the direction of him and turns a sharp look at me, "The same scent you have. Then you sympathize with the brutes?"

I bare my teeth, pupils narrow, "The strong survive, Kitsune. If you cannot hold your ground, then that is your own fault."

"...I see." The nearby leaves rustle and my mate shows, "And of all the Wolfskin, it had to be Keaton."

"I knew I caught your scent, Kaden. Back off from my mate." He growls.

"Come to take another hamlet? Maybe finish me off?" The fox-shifter growls in return, "Your kind costed me my hamlet, which led to my mate's death by the hands of poachers."

"Perhaps if you spent your life fighting, instead of basking in human settlements, you would actually have had the strength to push them back and you would you still have them." The air tenses. "Leave."

Kaden looks at Keaton, then me, and he sighs, "Fine. I wasn't looking for conflict, but your kind will get hit hard, the balance of nature will assure it." The Kitsune shifts and dashes away.

I release a breath I have not realize I have been holding in, "You alright?" Keaton asks.

"Yea… look, let's just get a kill in so we can move on." He raises an eyebrow but does not push the issue, 'give him time to learn . ' Within a few minutes, a deer is found and killed. I almost rip into it before it even falls down, 'Alpha first . ' Keaton bites and mine comes in less than a second later, the deer meat is easily downed and I take another.

"Hey, whoa!" He stops me from taking another bite, the animal's mid-section is almost all skeleton, save for its stomach and intestines, "You are going to get yourself sick." I hold back a growl in protest and he matches my glare, "Speak."

For a moment I consider not bothering, I rather feel like crossing my arms and staying silent, but that sort of behaviour is childish, "That Kitsune, Kaden…" I start off. "You know each other?"

His eyes narrow and he growls, "We both shared the same area, not at the same time, of course. Him and his Kitsune pushed my pack and me out after we were attacked by poachers and I returned the favor two-fold by wiping out most of his."

"Why didn't we just kill him here, then?"

He scoffs, "He's no threat alone, and he would have to fight his way back to being a leader for another hamlet. It's too much work for him. Besides, he saw me take out most of his hamlet and I made sure to set him an example to not mess with me."

That catches my interest, if in a rather morbid way, "How so?"

"Went for his strongest, ripped them apart, then did the same to the rest of his family." He licks his lips, "He won't bother me again."

"He said poachers killed his mate…"

"Yea, he couldn't bring himself to say it in front of me," Keaton scoffs, "Unless he had another one before that, I assure you, I killed her."

"So, he won't mess with me, either? Or our eventual children?"

"No, he knows Wolfskin don't just mate with anyone, so if I chose you, then he knows you are strong." The tension in the air slowly fades and I can hear the sound of a bell coming from the port.

My stomach protests, "Still need to get a quick kill in..."

"My word, Lady Yasei..." Jakob is on me the second we re-enter the port, wet towel in hand, "You look like you stuck your entire face in a pool of blood." He performs quick and strong strokes, "Your mate looks like a shining water basin in comparison." Within a minute he is finishing up, "There. Now, everyone here is rested and ready, are you two as well?"

"I just need to grab Yato and my…"

"In the captain's cabinet." He smiles.

"Aren't you on top of things, as usual." It comes out with a bit of more venom then I intended, "Then yes, we are ready."

Still it does not bother him, "Excellent, I will inform Gonin right away." He bows and takes his leave.

I frown, "King Garon said that there would be Hoshidans there, but that is probably week old information by now…"

He smirks, "You're hoping they are still there, aren't you?"

I flash my teeth, "You know me so well…" I pull him into a quick kiss, "If I can get a fair share of blood, then I'll be sure to treat you well afterwards…" 'Rend, bleed . ' He growls in response. "Right then and right there." I continue, "Before the adrenaline even wears off." 'Claim, mine . '

He chuckles, "Very well."

"Now then, we have a boat trip to take." I smile and start skipping off. Sure enough, the other are already on the boat awaiting us "Next stop, Notre Sagre!" I nearly sing as I board the boat. Gonin nods and mans the wheel.

"Well, isn't someone in a good mood." Elise approaches me.

"Mhm…" I hum, "Have you decided yet…?

Her face reddens, "Yasei, as much as I would love to keep having you… I'm afraid I won't be able to keep thinking like this like your dragon side can." She looks away with a pout on her face.

I smile, "It's alright, actually I'm glad you said that…" She gives me a curious look, "I was actually sort of worried you would say yes because it involved me." I hug her. "You're my favorite little sister, you know that?"

She giggles, "I am your only little sister!"

I laugh in response, "All the more reason to be the favorite one!"