The distraught dragon...

The way back from her mission to Oak town with Kiersa had never felt so long. Not only had she continuously drained and replenished her magic energy, they were now once more in a carriage taking them home, making the young dragon slayer heave over the side as her upper body hung out of the carriage limply. Hydrianna never told her she'd get motion sick with this power...

"Whyyy~"
The young girl grumbled to herself as she brought her hands up before her mouth to prevent herself from losing any lunch she possibly had left.

Even when the carriage came to a stop in front of the old sandy building, Aayla didn't feel quite like herself. She was exhausted, in fact she could feel that she had started a light fever after all that had happened.

They made their way to the transportation lacrima and made it to Sky Tower where Aayla once more, felt like losing her lunch. Her knees shook as she suddenly held onto her friend for support as they made their way into the main guild hall.

Magic deficiency, motion sickness, scared of heights... what else could she possibly add to her day..?

When they walked into the hall, nothing seemed to be out of place. People were enjoying themselves, chatting away, drinking and eating and just being themselves. Although, there were a couple new smells in the hall that Aayla didn't recognize, and those scents made the hair on the back of her neck rise... Was there going to be trouble in the Sabertooth guildhall?

Just as she was about to thank Kiersa and move to her room, she heard Zinnath hiss and tighten her grip around her shoulders, causing the water slayer to stop and pivot, looking back out to the members of Sabertooth, trying to pinpoint the sense of danger she and Zinanth were getting...

Kiersa had done her best to try and rest on the ride back to the guild-hall, lying down on her side of the carriage. The battles had taken their toll on her body, her skin deathly pale from the amount of blood loss she had ensued, her flesh burned and scarred from where the Stigmata had taken the pain of others unto the nun, and ultimately she was completely exhausted. After todays exertions, the nun estimated she would need at least twenty four hours of uninterrupted rest to recuperate. The Stigmata induced pains and wounds would fade away with enough rest, for no pain was truly lasting under the blessing of the Maker.

She would have attempted to try and alleviate a little of Aayla's motion sickness, but she feared at this junction right now if she'd attempted it, she'd effectively kill herself. And dying from motion sickness was not exactly how Kiersa wished to martyr herself.

On the way into the sandy guild hall she wound up supporting herself on Aayla till they were inside the guild hall proper and she was able to briefly rest against one of the cool stone walls. The nun was about to make her own farewells to the Slayer when she noticed the girl and serpent were becoming... agitated. The young nun gave a soft groan as she forced herself to her feet, leaning against the wall. "Wh-what n-now?" she asked softly, her voice barely above a whisper, not exactly relishing the idea of trying to even attempt to cast any Stigmata should there be a true threat here in the guild's halls.

Man had it been a long day. Who knew that trying to go on a boat to Midi - a stupid move to begin with admittedly - would cause such a long and mentally exhausting chain of events? Having to get a passport while waiting in a stupendously long queue, meeting Skye and then Columba, learning all about Celestial Spirit magic...Hirai would rather have spent the day smashing some faces in. He'd probably feel more awake than he did now. Azrael was no better, passed out on the table in front of his companion, drooling over whatever food he was dreaming about. Hirai was about to join him when something caught his attention. A scent, one that was familiar and yet different.

He pushed his chair out dramatically and began sniffing the air, receiving a few confused and amused looks. It can't be... He pinpointed the direction of the scent and immediately rushed off, knocking over chairs, tables, people, just about anything that got in the way of his pursuit. It didn't take long to find his target. Two girls were stood near the entrance to the main hall. One of them was dressed like some type of a priestess or something. Hirai didn't care about her. The other one however...that scent...

"...no way..." he muttered, stunned at the sight before him. This weak little girl was...surely not? Either way Hirai wasn't going to leave without finding out, as he gripped Aayla by her arm and began walking towards the exit. "We need to talk." he stated bluntly, clearly not taking 'no' for an answer.

Water began to form around Aayla's hand the more she grew agitated at that sense of impending danger. She raised her hand when someone began to rush towards her. She'd never seen this guy before now, and with the way he was approaching her, she could only assume he was going to be a threat.

Long before she could do anything with the water in her hand, the man grabbed her arm and quite literally started dragging her out of the guild hall, Zinnath slipping off of the girls shoulder only to start following the pair.. The water in her hand fell to the floor with a light splash as she brought her other hand up on top of his to weakly attempt to get him off of her. As if she wasn't sore enough already, he now had to be pressing down on an already painful bruise.

"Ow... ow ow ow... What a...are you doing...hey wait... talk about w...what?"
She asked as she soon caught her steps so that she wouldn't be dragged along behind him. That strange, threatning scent from earlier was definitely stronger now...

Kiersa watched as the man came up to Aayla and immediately began dragging her outside. "W-wait... s-stop..." she called out weakly, using the wall for support as she tried to keep pace with the two. The nun stumbled and fell to the floor for a moment, using the brickwork of the wall beside her to pull herself back up. Her breathing was becoming more laboured and she was starting to see spots in front of her eyes. "A-Aayla..." Kiersa coughed, wondering why nobody else was doing something to stop this man.

While the two girls obviously didn't appreciate Hirai's antics, Hirai didn't really think he was doing anything wrong. As the two Dragon Slayers reached a bench outside of the guildhall, Hirai turned and forcefully, albeit somewhat gently, made Aayla sit down before he squat down in front of her. His eyes scanned her petite frame before moving up and reaching her eyes, staying static there for a moment before he spoke, a quiet and soft tone leaving his lips. "I know what you are..."

He gave a short pause before he spoke again, as if unsure of how to say it. "And I think you know what I am too. You're a Dragon Slayer aren't you?" he asked her, although he wouldn't need to wait for an answer.

----

Azrael had seen Hirai leaving and had attempted to run after him, only to find that his little legs had gone numb. After spending a few seconds waking them up the Exceed made a run for the exit, although he failed to catch up to his human companion. Instead he came to a halt just inside the entrance as he saw a young girl there calling out to someone called Aayla. The feline creature turned his head in time to see Hirai walking away with a young girl in tow. "Odd...he's never done that before..." he spoke aloud, before turning his attention to the girl in front of him. "Don't worry. He won't hurt her."

"eep"
She squeaked as she was promptly sat down on the bench as the blond and black haired man knelt own in front of her, obviously looking her over. Her eyes watered up slightly at the situation but tears never fell... she was getting a little bit better on controlling those.

She was kind of surprised when he flat out called her out about being a dragon slayer, glad however that he had pulled her out of the guild hall to discuss it... if anyone were to find out, they would no doubt hunt Hydrianna... She hadn't been a dragon slayer very long after-all so it wasn't so far fetched that there was still a dragon out there.

"I...I uhm...Y...yes but how did... how did you k-know..."
She muttered softly, only glancing into his eyes before quickly looking down into her lap. She had sensed danger earlier, but she hadn't quite been able to tell he was a dragon slayer. Up close and personal though, there was no doubt in her mind that he was. His scent, his demeanor... everything about him just screamed dragon slayer. Even knowing this... something about him still unsettled her deeply.

------------------
Zinnath looked at the oncoming form of the cat as she reared up her head both in defense and curiosity. There had never been a cat so small in the guild hall. Of course there was that lion cup but the Serpent would be stupd if she ever attempted to eat that. This cat though...

Kiersa blinked when a voice seemed to address her. She looked around before spotting... a cat walking on its hind legs, and wearing a jacket, boots and... piercings? She put a hand to her head and groaned. "Maker... I... must be... weaker than... I thought..." she said softly, closing her eyes as she tried to catch her breath. "I could... could have sworn..." said the nun before she opened them again... and the cat was still there. Looking at her.

She slumped to the floor, her back leaning against the cold stone wall as she looked at the talking cat. "...Um... sorry... but um... am I... hallucinating?" asked Kiersa to the cat. "Sorry if thats... offensive sir... Um... its just um... I've never... um well... met anyone... like you... And, I recently... lost a... lost a lot of... of blood..." explained the nun haltingly, as she fought to stay awake. "Sorry... I've been... rude... My... my name... name is... is Kiersa Bec..." she said with a bow of her head.

Hirai tapped his nose, a smile crossing his lips. "You can smell it too can't you? How my scent is different to everyone else. I'm a Dragon Slayer too." he replied warmly. His demeanour changed quite quickly though as he took in the injuries the younger slayer had sustained. How he'd not realised them before now was beyond him. "You look pretty beat up and worn out though...not the best of looks for a slayer..."

----

Azrael looked up at the girl first, smiling warmly albeit cheekily. "My name is Azrael. The human that ran past you is my friend Hirai. He's a member of this guild too." he explained, before his attention was turned to Zinnath. For a moment he looked hesitant, but then his whole view changed as he realised what she was; a sea serpent. That was pretty much a fish right? Immediately he began to drool and his eyes became focused on the Water Dragon Slayer's pet.

"Another... dragon slayer..."
She said softly, trying to lock the scent in her mind so that is ever she ran into another slayer, she would be able to pick up sooner. She wanted to relax a little bit, to feel more comfortable in the slayers presence but something abut him still un-nerved her...


"I...is your dragon uhm... still around..?"
She asked just as lowly, her cheeks flushing slightly at the question. Ever snce becoming a dragon slayer, she had learned many things about the magic, and the dragons that gave the power... it seemed from Hydrianna's tales that often times, the dragons would suddenly disappeare, leaving the dragon slayer to develop their magic on their own... and she was terrified that Hydrianna would leave her all of a sudden... maybe if Hirai's was still around, there was hope that she would stay...

When Hirai suddenly mentionned her beat up look, her flush deepened as she attempted to cover her arms, looking away from him.

"I.. uhm... well... I"ve never... fought so many w...wizards before..."

-------------------
Zinnath hissed at the cat as her fins shifted, elevating themselves as if a cat raising their fur in the presence of danger. Her eyes never left the cat, her body ready to react to anything he might do... She wouldn't eat him, not without Aayla's permission of course... but if he went after her first, it was game on.

"W-well... I g-guess... th-that means I-I'm... n-not... ha-hallucinating..." said Kiersa softly, hissing as the burns under her tattered robes flared in pain, which in turn made her aching body hurt afresh. "W-what d-does... h-he wa-want... w-with... Aayla... th-though?" asked the nun of the cat, slapping herself in the face weakly in an attempt to stay awake despite her bodies desperate pleas for rest. She couldn't just fall asleep here! Not in the entrance to the guild hall, and not in this state surely.

Her eyes followed the path of Azrael's, chuckling a little before the chuckle turned into a racking cough as her lungs attacked her. "N-no... e-eating... Zinnath..." chided the nun gently. "Th-that's... Aayla's... f-friend... How'd... Hirai act... if... s-someone... a-ate... you?" she asked softly, her eyelids drooping as her body started to fully rebel against her mind.

"No...no, Kinzokuul left me alone quite some time ago. But he's out there somewhere and I'll find him." The Iron slayer responded with a sigh. He guessed from the question that Aayla's dragon had disappeared as well, so he left the conversation there. She was younger after all, and a little more touchy on the subject than he'd be by the looks of things. Instead he focused on another point. "There's no strength in numbers, only strength in spirit. You could be facing hundreds of wizards with just a handful of allies, but if your spirit is stronger then you can easily dispatch them..." he said calmly, his eyes seeming to gleam as he revealed one of his strongest beliefs. "...maybe I oughta train you..."

----

Azrael released a sigh of disappointment before slumping to the floor and crossing his arms. "Well if you put such a delicious looking specimen in front of me then you can't blame me for wanting to taste it." he sulked, before looking up at the human. "...I don't know what Hirai wants...I've never seen him react like that to someone before."

"Maybe not... but 30 fire wizards... are still scary..."
The young wizard said with a light pout at his comment about numbers not adding up to strength. In this case, she had run on adrenaline when she fought them... she had been so furious at the fact that she had let a child die before she could do anything, so angry that they had destroyed that town that she lost herself in the fight. In truth, there were parts of that job she didn't quite remember too well. Her train of thought was interrupted though when the other man suggested that maybe he should train her. She perked her head up as she looked over at him, tilting it slightly as she grew curious.


"I... I would like that... I want to get stronger... so that nothing like that can ever happen again... I don't want others to suffer because of me anymore..."
She muttered softly, her head moving back down so that she could stare at the floor beneath her battered feet.

Kiersa nodded slightly at the talking cat's words. "F-fa-air... e-enough..." she slurred out, her eyes almost completely closed. She vaguely heard his words about Hirai before she fell to the left hand side, her head making a dull crack against the stone floor. She lay there motionless, her breathing so light and shallow it almost appeared as if her chest wasn't moving, whilst the inside of her habit began to slowly stain with red.

Hirai was about to speak more about the training when he was cut off immediately by Azrael rushing over to him. "RAAAAAI!!!!" the Exceed shrieked, before tripping and faceplanting into the floor. Hirai immediately got to his feet and picked his friend up. "What's wrong Azrael?"

The feline creature brushed himself off before pointing back at the entrance to the guildhall. "That girl's friend is in there. She doesn't look good." His tone showed he was scared and clearly had absolutely no idea what was wrong. That was to be expected seeing as how He'd only been with Hirai all his life and the Dragon Slayer hadn't once been in such a state. Hirai looked at Aayla in alarm before rushing back to the entrance to the guild.

The Iron Dragon Slayer skidded to a halt beside the girl and looked her over. Blood was visible down her front and she'd lost consciousness. Neither were good signs, but there was nothing Hirai himself was capable of dealing with. "It's no good...we need someone who can fix the wounds up..."

"Kiersa..?"
Aayla asked, standing up so fast that her own head spun from the sudden motion. She groaned as she put her hand up against her head to steady herself before taking off after Hirai back into the guildhall. Azrael was right, Kiersa was lying on the ground completely out cold with blood starting to stain her habit.

"Oh no... she should have... gone to her room..."
She stated worriedly before kneeling down next to Kiersa. She quickly took off her jacket and took off Kiersa's habit before pressing her jacket against the girls head. It wasn't a big cut, but head wounds always tended to bleed a lot more. She gathered some cool water  around the hand holding the jacket, soaking the garment before manipulating the temperature of the water, dropping it to a freezing temp so that the cold jacket would more easily stop the bleeding.

"C...can you help me pick her up? She'll be ok... she just needs to sleep... and I can bandage her head once the bleeding stops..."
She said lowly, glancing up to Hirai and Azrael. She couldn't be able to pick up Kiersa herself and take her to her room...

Kiersa very quietly groaned as the jacket around her head turned cold, the bleeding slowing down to a mere trickle compared to the flow from earlier. If and whenever she got picked up, she'd actually be lighter than she looks. Whenever the group eventually reached her room, it would look like a cell from a monastary or convent. A simple bed, single chest of drawers, a single safe, and just the one window. In the corner though would be a little plant pot, with a very small stem growing from it.