They walked carefully and quietly through the unfamiliar wood.

"So where are we?"

"South."

He noted how incredibly warm it was, for just early spring. The trees around them were full leaved. It also explained why the perfume of magnolias was so strong.

"Do you know how far?"

She sighed, "I wasn't very much paying attention to where I was going—my main concern was putting enough space between you and your horrid cousin."

So she didn't eat him, he thought with a disappointment.

His fingered his neck, remembering the dread that was coursing through him at that moment the dagger was pressed against it—his throat would have well been bleeding out by now if it weren't for her.

"Thank you."

She halted her steps and turned to look at him—considering him. Eventually she continued forward—eventually she said, "You're welcome."

She had saved his life thrice over—by leading him home in the forest, from his cousin, and from the bandits—he seemed to be so inconvenient for her. Then again, if he was such a bother, she would have surely told him to go away.

There was so much he wanted to ask her, to get to know her but still the fact she was not entirely human unnerved him. It was something that was only real in the legends of old—things like her weren't supposed to exist.

"You're going to act differently toward me now," she mentioned, seeming annoyed. She didn't look at him and said while staring ahead.

"Of course I am. I saw you eat someone."

She stopped walking, and faced him—looking quite stricken, "Jaythen, I would never eat you."

"How can I trust your word?"

She furrowed her brow and placed her hands on her hips and pressed her lips together, "You sure seemed to trust me before I showed you what I can do—you followed me through the forest for a whole day! You told everyone you wanted to marry me. Besides, you're the one who said you wanted to know me."

"Yes, I wanted to know things like your favorite color, about your life, or what you often dream about—I didn't expect you to change into a beast of myth!"

She let her arms drop, seeing she had made a mistake letting him know her true nature.

"Besides you were a dragon the whole time and you never even mentioned it—you were lying all along."

Now she was angry, "I wasn't lying. You never asked!"

"What am I supposed to ask? 'Avalyn, do you happen to be a dragon?'" he shouted incredulously, "Who does that?"

She actually stomped her foot at his remark, "I am not a dragon. I just can turn myself into one—and it's not like this is all my fault. If you would have paid the slightest bit of attention, then you would have known that I wasn't normal." She crossed her arms and turned her back on him. "A serpent in the grass would have to bite you before you ever even knew it was there."

He opened his mouth to retort, but he realized the truth of what she spoke. The way the wolf had fled from her, her appetite must have had something to do with her nature, and many other oddities—her lack of clothes at times, her uncharacteristic violence that one afternoon, and that scar—Halden had struck the dragon—he had struck her, and that is why she returned with blood all over her clothes.

He took a long inhale of breath, "Forgive me, it's just a lot for me to take in." He glanced at her but her back was still turned at him. "I don't pay attention—the right attention. I was too worried about my own problems to notice yours."

He held his temples as if they ached. His mind was jumbled, and his head still hurt from when it was knocked against the tree branch.

"For the record," she said softly and he peered at her through his fingers—she was not facing him fully, but starting to turn around with her profile in view. She finally looked at him in his eye, "My favorite color is blue."

---

The sun was actually causing enough heat for sweat to form on Jaythen's skin. It didn't help that he was dressed for a mid-northern early spring when it was near summer wherever they were at—south. The dried mud did nothing to help the unhygienic feeling creeping over him.

"You should probably get washed at the next pond we pass," Avalyn noticed his stench and his uncomfortable fidgeting.

"Pond?"

"Or river, or lake—whichever comes first."

"Why not bathe at an inn or some other establishment?"

She considered his remark before grinning "Is your lordship afraid to bathe in a natural setting?"

"What? No—I—just never have before—it's uncivilized."

Her brows rose, and he realized she had probably bathed in nothing but ponds and creeks for most of her life. He wasn't afraid to bathe in a pond but he did have the fear of angering her. He quickly cleared his throat, "But not to say it isn't a charming endeavor." She outwardly laughed at his lame attempt to cover his insult—not seeming insulted at all–-but amused.

On second thought, coming across an inn would be rather miraculous where they were, right in the middle of southern wilderness. He wished he knew where they were besides a simple direction.

Avalyn stopped walking, her head turned—listening for something. He couldn't help but to grow nervous—were there more bandits?

"There's water in that direction."

"How do you know?"

"Pay attention."

He stopped talking and tried—finally hearing the sounds of running water. They drew closer and found a small stream of water.

"That's too small to bathe in—"

"Have you never been in the wilderness before? Small water always leads to bigger water. I'm sure if we follow this it will lead to a lake or pond, maybe even the sea!"

"Have you been to the Sea before?"

"I'm not sure."

"How can you not be sure?"

"I've seen it in my dreams but I know not whether it was because I has seen it in reality or only have read about it—I used to go many different places while with my mother, the Sea could have been one of them.

Although it was none of his business, he had a burning curiosity towards Avalyn's childhood and what she could remember—which seemed to be a lot though she gave hardly any of it away. With a memory like hers, he would suspect she would have known if her mother was wealthy or not. She had said she didn't remember—which was her only putting off the true answer because she didn't trust him.

He wouldn't mention these thoughts to her, not until they were more at ease with one another. The creek line was growing with tall strands of grass, all the way to their knees. The croaking of frogs and the chirps of birds were heard all around them, creating a symphony of nature with the rhythm of the water leading the whole song.

"Ah hah!" he heard her shout with satisfaction, he jumped back a bit with startlment. She had stopped and was looking through some bushes that the creek was running under. He came to her side and also peered at what she was looking at—a good-sized body of water. Rock forms were poised around the other side, making the water sounds echo off of them.

"Here, give me your clothes so I can wash them while you bathe here," she pinched the material of his shirt between her fingers.

"Excuse me?"

"Unless you want to wash your own clothes,"

He had never washed his own clothes in his life. Was there a proper way to do it? He stood for a moment, thinking of what to do but then nodded apprehensively. He pulled his shirt off and handed it to her. Then he stepped behind the bushes to take off the rest so she wouldn't have to look at his nakedness. He threw off his boots and unlaced the front of his breeches. He was struggling removing his long legs from the pair of breeches though and hopped around a bit trying to tug them off. He heard a giggle from behind him and jumped around in surprise but fell off balance to the rocky shore.

Avalyn's giggling only escalated and his face flushed red with mortification.

"What are you doing!?" he cried, finally yanking his breeches off and throwing them to her.

"I was making sure you were alright, because you were making the most strangest of grumbling sounds."

He stood up, covering himself, "I'm not decent."

"Yes, I'm aware of that," her eyes traveled down his body and snapped back to his face, "But do not forget that you've shamed my modesty before, so it's just as well yours should be shamed too."

"What are you saying? Is there something wrong?" he looked down at himself in alarm as she stepped back through the bushes. Her answer was only laughing.

He dipped a toe into the water to find it was at a decent temperature; he waded further into the wetness until it was up to his shoulders. He rubbed his face clean and then bobbed under water. He hadn't been swimming for nearly two years, for there was no time to do such activities while in the Imperial City. He and Halden swam in the lake south of Wendbury in summers past. He brought his head above the water so his chin was setting on the surface—his brow now fixed in a furrow thinking of his treacherous cousin. He had considered Halden a true friend, but now sadly realized he had no friends—no one he could truly enjoy time with and tell his thoughts to.

A sweet noise reached his ears all of a sudden, a muddled sounding song that he couldn't hear the words of. He swam towards it—wondering what it was.

There was a rock formation between him and the singing—he climbed atop it and peered over a point to see Avalyn, taking her own bathe as she wrung out his clothes of water. She was singing a song that he wasn't familiar with but her voice was rather breathtaking. The tune was a slow one and at one point she stopped singing just to hum it—then he recognized it. She had hummed it before when he had first met her.

He couldn't take his eyes off her, but not just because of her figure. She was enchanting and could have been mistaken for a water nymph with her song and her extraordinary beauty. Her hair floated in the water's surface at her waist and he almost forgot the fact that she could be a dangerous creature. His skin had dried off in the sun as he stood on the rock, and he somehow managed to tear his eyes away from her. He pressed his back against the rock and cleared his throat, "Avalyn! I'm done bathing!"

Her singing stopped—sadly to his ears—and he heard her shout, "Just come around, your clothes are drying!"

He hopped a few rocks back to the shore and kept behind the bushes, "How long until they dry?"

"However long it takes," she said from the other side. It wasn't a useful answer.

He crouched on his feet, straining his calf muscles and feeling strange at being so naked in the wilderness—he was not used to it and was not comfortable with it.

"Avalyn, if you can choose to turn into a dragon, then why do you do it at all?"

There was silence from her side and he was afraid she had left but he heard movement, she must have just been on the other side of the bush. He stood and could see that she was standing just there but the bushes were obscuring the view of her body for only her head was visible above the leaves. Magnolias were growing there as well, twisting into the bush and filling their noses with a sweet scent.

"There are a number of reasons," her gaze didn't waver as she stared at him. His head also cleared the bush so they could clearly see each other. Goosebumps crawled up his arms realizing they were both without clothes, only a foot or so apart, only separated by a thickness of leaves and flowers. Like the Garden of Eden.

He coughed, collecting his wits before curiously prodding, "Which are?"

"I don't know if you have ever been flying but it feels amazing," her smile itself was amazing as she said it. He could see her recall the sensation by the way her eyes lit up.

He felt himself grin at the lightness in her tone, "And why else?"

Her smile faded and she tucked a piece of her damp hair behind her ear, "When I am dragon, no one dares to try and hurt me" Her expression turned to a frown "—except your idiot cousin." She looked back to him, "It's just that…I don't feel as helpless."

He nodded, understanding her reasoning, "What other reasons?"

She sank behind the bush, suddenly not wanting to face him but he still heard her voice—"It's not so much a reason but if I don't change, I start to feel angry."

There was a long pause, as if she were finding the words to explain. "It grows slowly but the longer I hold it in, the more violent I become. My body aches to transform, so that I can release the wrath that builds inside of me. I fear it, so it's just better to change once everyday so that I can be at peace with myself. I don't ever want to hurt anyone though."

That was an interesting bit of information; it explained why she had been so irritated in those days after she had recovered.

He couldn't see her anymore so he went back to his crouching position, "What about your appetite? Some days you eat nothing and others you eat like a glutton."

"I do not eat like a glutton," she objected.

He laughed, "Fine, you just eat more so—why is that?"

He heard her sigh, "When I do turn to dragon, I can't help but to hunt and when I eat a whole deer, it fills me up. So I am not hungry for a day or two."

"What about your clothes? Why are you always naked?"

"I'm not always naked, and you should be the one to talk. Your flesh is as plain as mine at this moment."

Her words caused him to blush and he did not ask her any further questions. At least she had revealed to why some such things were about her—he was finally getting to know her.

Something landed on him then, his clothes that were dry for the most part. As soon as he put on his shirt it was far too hot to wear so he ripped the sleeves off at the shoulders, leaving his arms bare and free. He tied up his breeches and then swiped back the bushes to see if Avalyn was ready to continue forth. She was wrapped up in his cloak. Seeing she had nothing more to wear he slipped off his shirt and offered it to her.

He turned around as she pulled it over her body. He had a long torso so the fabric hit her at her lower thigh, covering the most scandalous parts of her body.

"We should find food," Jaythen said after a rumbling of his stomach.

"I could just kill something for us to cook,"

"NO!" Jaythen shouted unintentionally, he wasn't ready for her to become the terrifying beast again—she was pleasant the way she was.

"Suit yourself," she shrugged.

His stomach rumbled, dissatisfied with his choice.