She flapped her wings once before letting out a puff of black smoke to get the dragon and its human... things attention.

You have liked this post!

Aether
Turning his words around in her head, she formulated an answer. She murmured to herself “Every thought is spoken out loud ? I must sound like a hyperactive squirrel.” Clearing her throat, and nervously twitching her tail, she said “I hope I can be trusted, and I think I can be. I do trust you, but if you don’t trust me it won’t work. So um, maybe read my thoughts to see if you want to trust me? Like looking at my thoughts. But if it’s that dangerous for you, feel free not to do it. I’ll just ask you in the future then, or never at all.” She braced herself for the weird feeling of knowing someone’ was reading her thoughts.

At least he looked as nervous as she was. At least, that’s what the flower told her.



(The second one is lengthhhh)

You have liked this post!

Yuri
|Yuri sniffed and turned his head, then, he chuckled. |"I have a feeling you will ask again. I have no real reason not to trust you, as I have said before. It's up to you."| Taking a deep breath, he stood up slowly. As he raised himself, his antlers started to glow until they were just bright enough to light the dense forest around them.|" Let us start... I will envelope your mind so we may speak to each other in thoughts.."| Yuri reaches out a tendril and slowly, slowly reached for her conciousnes. When he finally made contact, he backed off a little, letting her get used to the feeling. He has had years to accustomed to it, but he rememb when he first tried to contact another being. It was a weightless, almost scary feeling. As if you were floating out of your body. If you concentrate, you can move your body, but it's difficult because you are sharing your mind with another beings. It was also terrifying, because you couldn't move, couldn't see, could only think.After a pause, he thought °Greetings Aether, do not be afraid. I will give you time to relax...°|



[ oh OK, phew. I am an ankel biter to a 25 ft tall dragon. Sry I misread love]

You have liked this post!

Aether

“I do trust you” she murmured, hoping to keep her composure.

But it still didn’t prepare her for the shock. One moment she was in her body, the next free floating. Trying to figure out how to do anything in this dark world, she tried very hard to keep her composure. And she did, for the most part. She only thought she was going to die like 2 times. When she heard Yuri’s voice -thought?- she was very relieved. It calmed her a little, and she thought “How am I supposed to speak?” Then realized that she just did. “How do you stand this?” And let out an inner sigh “Not even a second and I’ve already asked a question.”

You have liked this post!

Yuri
|" Yuri didn't respond for a few moments as he gathered himself.° I do not know how I stand it, because it is simply all I know. It is like asking you how you stand to fly..You are doing well enough for your first time. Although, that is not the fairest analogy because every creature can do what you are doing with varying levels of success.° Yuri' s speech was a little off because he couldn't organize his thoughts, nor could he hide them. They came as they came. °Aee you comfortable enough to take a step into my mind now, as this is just a traditional phase.°| Preparing to take her into his mind, he summoned up a memory he had from long, long ago. As he did so, a bright pink light suddenly entered the darkness, the glow of his emotions. If disappeared as soon as he noticed it, but it was still stunning.°Sorry Aether, I will not do that again.°|

You have liked this post!

Aether
“What was that pink light?!” She thought, forgetting for a moment where she was. “Am I dead or something?!” Gathering up her thoughts and taking deep mind breaths, she calmed herself. “I’m doing pretty well….and I shouldn’t intrude.” She did the dragon-mind equivalent of smoothing her fur.

You have liked this post!

Yuri
|Yuri left her alone for a few minutes so she could relax, then spoke again.°You are not dead Aether.° With what can only be perceived as a mental laugh, Yuri continued. ° Do not be scared, it was only my emotions shining through. Annoying, yes. Harmful, not even in the slightest. And you are doing fine, better than I had hoped.° Pausing again to gather his thoughts, he pushed on. °You are not intruding if I invite you. So again, I ask. Are you ready to go further or do you need more time...°|

You have liked this post!

Aether
Mentally playfully grumbling, she wondered what emotion that was. Thinking about how prepared she was, she quickly replayed what just happened. Mentally nodding, she thought *Yes, I’m ready*

You have liked this post!

Yuri
| " lThen let me show you who I am."| Taking hold of her mind like a hawk does to a mouse, Yuri soared away from her brain, and into his. Within heartbeats, he was in his conciousness. The image you see is as follows: images a lake, a huge beutifull lake. The light blue waters seem to sink to the bottom of the world, and it is so clear, you can see the bottom miles below. Around this pond is a forest, and around that forest is mountains. Mountains so high that no dragon could fly over them without fear of being burnt by the sun or suffocating in the icy reaches of the atmosphere. The forest is dense, and from every shadow eyes flicker in and out of sight. Judging eyes, fearfull eyes, ragefulll eyes, sad eyes, and every emotion in between. Throwing through the air is a million melodies. Each distinct without imaging as dominant over any other. In the middle of all of this, is a ghostly apparition of himself floating in air. It opens it,s mouth and speaks.° Welcome...Aether...to my mind...°|

You have liked this post!

Aether

Her mind froze in fear. There was so much to take in. The scenery was beautiful, but the eyes! *Your mind is sure a crazy place, Yuri.* Her mind paused, absorbing it, and added another thought. *Also quite pretty.*

You have liked this post!

Yuri
|Yuri gazed at her puzzled for a second, but quickly realized what she meant. °Aether... this isn't my actual self. My actual self is on the outside world. My true actual self is a dark void of thought and feeling, mimicking the one you just left. This is just one of my memories that explains who I am. This was the place where the rest of my tribe lays. In the war, we hid up here in the Shonhhgaidb Mountains to escape pressures. Medics are always. The first target in war, sadly. But, we were found, and as such, pinned in like lamb to the slaughter. Not one of us knew how to fight, so we fell like grains of wheat. All besides my mother and father. Ah, and my grandfather.° Suddenly, the scene changed as if someone pulled the plug on the bottom of the world, and let it all drain away.|

| The next seen didn't so much appear as fade in slowly. It was another mountain, but this one was much smaller, and it seemed more welcoming and kess harsh then the others. Well, as welcoming as one could be. Surrounding it is forests as far as the eye can see. Beautifully. Forests with a few small rivers transiting their way lazily through the ground like long snakes. Floating in midair was Yuri, his horns pink and gray.|

You have liked this post!

Aether
A thought clicking into understanding, she tried to nod, but then remembered she was just a mind. *Medics usually are attacked first* her mind agreed. *why did none of you know how to fight? Also, that place is really pretty*

You have liked this post!

Yuri
|"Ah...well, that question is why I brought you here, and I agree, this place is beautiful. This is where I was raised, after the war... My father took me to an old hermit who lived in this unnamed mountain. He died on my grandfather's doorstep before delivering the message, but the man took me in and raised me from my egg. We are not related, but we could not have been closer. I love him allot, it sickened me when those dragons came."| As if on queue, three big red dragons descended upon the mountain, and dragged out a writhing dragon who looked like Yuri, only bigger and purple. Screeching, Yuri came out of the mountain himself, but it was too late. Trails of scarlet blood erupted from the rent neck of grandpa, and he dropped like a stone towards his once beloved forest. Screaming, a rare and primal sound from him, Yuri dove for him. But he didn't reach him as when he was meters from grabbing his grandfather's antlers, a breath of liquid flame flew in his direction, missing by inches, but making Yuri drop him out of reflex as the heat scorched the air from his lungs. Screaming once more, Yuri bounded/flew into the deep reaches of the forest. Suddenly, everything was calm and quiet once more. Yuri was silent for a long time after that, his antlers a deep gray with flecks of molten red. But eventually he spoke, his voice even quite and lower than normal. |"I want to answer your question. as to why none of my tribe knew how to fight, may I show you. It will require another shift. |

You have liked this post!

Aether
She was listening to his story quite attentively, until the part about the dragons. It sickened her, watching in horror. *No wonder he doesn’t want to tell people about it. Maybe it’s better I don’t remember my own story.* She watched with sad and horrified eyes, mourning his fate. In the silence, she hoped he didn’t regret his decision. *I’m fine with another shift, but will you be fine? I’d really rather not drag out your memories.*

You have liked this post!

Yuri
|Yuri glanced at here, his face a serene mask as always, |"We have gone this far, it would be teasing if we didn't finish our adventure, no?"| Shaking his head slowly, the scene changed again. This time, a generic forest clearing. In the center of the clearing, sat one of the red dragons, its back was turned, and it was snoring. In the shadows crouched Yuri. But not the Yuri you have seen, no, this one was lithe as a tiger. All gentleness and passivity gone. It sat like one of the human guns, poised and ready to strike. Cold, calculating; and in his hand, a long, beautifully curved knife. While beautiful though, it was clearly a ornamental piece, as the blade was over sharpened. And while every curve of Yuri was angry and prepared to strike, it was clear he had never held a weapon. Namely because his hand was shaking so violently, he almost repeated stabbed himself. In a single instant, Yuri lurched out and yelled, brandishing the weapon, and the red dragon turned with a look of surprise on his face. Striking him with all the force his small body could muster, he sunk the blade deep into the dragon's flesh. Both dragons screamed in pain. The red one because his own heart was beating so harshly that it cut itself to ribbons on Yuri's knife. And Yuri, because he could have sworn that a blade was sunk into his chest too. Backing off, Yuri clutched at his bosom for a wound he could have sworn was there. His hands came back dry. Looking around wildly, he panicked as he felt as if his own heart were slicing itself on the cold embrace of a blade. Crying now, he stumbled over to the dying red dragon, and pored energy and magic into him to heal him. As soon as he did, the pain stopped. But seconds later, pain erupted on his skull as the dragon stuck the dagger that came from him deep into Yuri's neck. Laughing, the red dragon growled at Yuri in a strange togue before leaping away. Silence, once more. |"I could have sworn the one who had received the wound was me. I can still feel it's embraced. That stab he gave me took a few weeks to heal, luckily, he missed every major artery in my neck by hairs."|At the end, his voice broke and the mental world collapse in on itself. Within moments, Yuri threw open his eyes, quickly drying them as he realized he had teared up.| Stepping over to Aether, he helped come too.|

You have liked this post!