Inside the halls of the Administrations building, located at the head of the large city known far and wide as Odarriya, three individuals stood across a large desk staring at another from the other end. The two figures, a larger, physically imposing dragon of red and white, whose frame and tone hid his powerful strength. Next to him was a smaller blue creature, sporting a hood, gloves and wand. He was thin, much thinner and weaker looking than the other, but resembled something of a mage. The two grumbled angrily as the one across from them, a large creature with a bright green jewel on her tail and forehead, wearing a long, flowing robe that denoted beauty, grace and power looked over a report before talking to the two. The room the three occupied was well furnished, clean, neatly put together and orderly, to a point of possibly even being ominous and overly organized.
The jeweled creature, a pravitalia known to others by the name Salomé, was the definition of elegance and self sufficiency, her body and wings covered in a coat of beautiful emerald fur began to talk, breaking the uneasiness caused by the two across from her. She spoke in a dignified tone, with confidence that demanded those that listened to follow.
“Now then...while I know you both aren't exactly the most..."team" oriented ones I have...you both excel in specific areas that would make you working together a good fit for a mission such as this. While I know you both tend to do things on your own, I ask you to work together on this one. We have reports of a creature preying on visitors to the city that appeared near the bridges to the city in a small set of ruins to the south of the west gate. The reason I ask you both to go is because reports on the creature....do not add up. Since we don't know what it might be, we would like for you both to take the mission. Any questions?
The red and white dragon, named Shiro, huffed with his mighty arms crossed, looking disappointingly at the smallest of the three that sat next to him. He looked back at his superior, who, as it so happened, shared the same species as his beloved Moyo, another pravitalia, albeit with white and blue fur, with sapphire gems donning the head and tail always made it odd for him when addressing Salomé. The question was if he had any questions, and he had just one.
"I don't see a reason why this... poor excuse for a rodent, has to tag along with me. Haven't I always been effective alone? My strength has almost never failed me. Besides, if I had to have a mage come with me, wouldn't Moyo have been a better choice? Hell, I'd even take the Praimortis, but this mouse will only get in my way." Shiro said with a shrug of his claw, glaring again at the smallest of the three, Yori.
Yori however, scoffed at everything the dragon beside him claimed, looked away with a smile across his face as smug as a noble talking down to a peasant. Nay, when compared to the reptile beside him, it may as well have been the same thing to him.
"Hmph...who would get in whose way exactly? I could easily do this mission on my own, without needing help from some stupid red lizard. Only reason I can think of me being picked over Moyo is because Salomé knows that I'm better."
The Pravitalia looked them both over and sighed as she slid the information over to them across the desk, slowly contemplating the thought of sending a different group. But...sadly, much to her dismay, these were probably the best two to send given the assignment.
"I am picking Yori over Moyo for this because Yori-"
Yori cut her off mid sentence, all while keeping his smile across his face, looking up a bit in a condescending fashion.
"-Is a better mage than he is!"
Salomé quickly chimed in afterwards, clearly annoyed by what he did, but despite it, she kept her air of professionalism and put it aside.
"-Has a skillset that would make Yori more helpful for this particular task. You both are quite good...but the reports of what the creature is, varies heavily. Since we don't have knowledge on what it could be, a general list of skills for versatility and adaptability will be mandatory. So unless you have any more RELEVANT questions I would ask that you both hurry and finish this task. More and more fall victim to this...thing each day and I worry it might deter more visitors."
With Yori's constant talk slandering Moyo, Shiro growled and bared his teeth. He couldn't believe that Yori would be so foolish as to slander Moyo in front of him. The dragon nearly grabbed the Goldyura by his neck before Salomé once again chimed in, returning his attention to the Privatalia. Her explanation of the situation was quite brief given there was no information regarding this enemy. Still, Shiro would have preferred doing this alone, but not for a reason Yori would expect. Despite their monotonous arguing, Shiro did on some buried level, care about Yori and would rather he stay here where it was safe if this threat was as imposing as Salomé says, especially since Yori was far from competent when it came to fighting. Despite his reversions however, he knew damn Yori was a master warlock despite his size and shape. Even with their aggressive back and forth, he was at least a bit more comfortable having him around as well.
She quickly insisted that they work together and put thought of any other out of mind. Shiro let his claws drop to his sides and let out a sigh.
"Well, if this is something that I cannot avoid, then I'll deal with it. People are getting hurt the longer I try and move forward without the rat so, might as well get this over with."
Shiro turned and looked at Yori.
"But.... mark my words Goldyura, if you ever and I mean ever slander Moyo again, I will reach down your throat and pull you inside out. So, please, give me a reason..." Shiro growled with a glare, standing overtop with an imposing figure.
Yori stared up at him, determined to keep his stance as firm as his tiny frame could in comparison to Shiro's towering figure. Bold as it was, the gesture only served to highlight Shiro's own physical superiority between them.
"Aww...Does it hurt the dragon when I point out the obvious? You should know well enough that I can do far more than he can when it comes to magic. Or is it because you know I'm smarter? How about better looking as well? I can keep going if you like?"
Salomé cleared her throat so that the two could hear her, so as to interrupt them before a fight broke out.
"Just...work together. And be careful...the reports of this thing have said it resembled a monster, then a bandit, then some insect, and even an object at times. We don't know what it will be, so stay on guard. Dismissed..."
Shiro was clearly displeased with the way Yori had so willingly slandered Moyo's ability in front of him. The Goldyura really had a big mouth and it always got under Shiro's skin. He was taught while growing up that these creatures were only ever meant to be slaves and mistreated. Shiro was never one to follow his clansman's view of the world but, Yori made it very very difficult not to want to punch him at least once. Shiro rolled his eyes as Salomé gave her final instructions and proceeded to march past Yori, stepping on his tail purposefully on the way. Yori let out a reserved yelp of pain, trying his best to not show how much it hurt as he didn't want to show any sign of weakness in front of the larger jeweled dragon. Even still, he opted not to press further, and simply clutched his tail in pain before following him out.
"Oops, sorry. Thought that was part of the decor." He said with a smirk as he was first out. Shiro's much larger frame gave him a vastly longer stride, making it even harder for the small wizard to keep up with him as he walked out towards the direction intended to begin the quest. He wasn't about to wait around for Yori. As far as the ruby dragon was concerned, this was a quest as good as any other, and he'd clear it himself. Yori would just be a tool to help that goal along. After all, what every quest needed was strength, not small annoying rodents with their sparkly pew pew magic. At least as far as he was concerned.... though admittedly, he knew the importance of spells as Moyo had showed him in the past.
As Shiro walked past him and stepped on his tail, Salomé watched as the two walked out of her office before letting out a sigh from what happened.
"Perhaps sending them was a mistake..."
Yori kept doing what he could to keep up with Shiro, and after a couple moments finally decided to protest.
"Slow down! In case you hadn't noticed, I'm not as fat as you are, so it's a bit tough for me to keep up. Walk slower! Also, we need to prepare first. Items and all that."
For Yori however, having Shiro around would at least be useful thanks to his size and strength, even if he was an idiot, so he opted to try and stave off some of the insults for now. Still, Shiro's constant belittlement of him despite Yori truly believing that he himself was superior to Shiro in nearly every way, left a sour taste in his mouth, one that he realized would need to be remedied in some way or another. All he needed was to show him what he could do somehow, but for the moment, he decided to keep the last bit in the back of his head.
Shiro looked back at Yori as he struggled to keep up, then looked forward with a chuckle.
"Weren't you superior to me? How about you use that superiority you supposedly have and learn to keep up with this 'fat'."
Shiro mocked the Goldyura, laughing as he continued talking to him.
"Another thing, I don't need items and all that as you say, I've never used them before, I don't plan to start. I've cleared hundreds of quests without their use... mostly. Other times I just have Moyo. So, if you want to stop to get useless trinkets, be my guest, but I'll likely have cleared this quest by the time you catch up."
Shiro stopped and turned to look at him, "Or, you could apologize for slandering Moyo, and maybe I'll view you as a partner for this quest and not a complete waste of life energy. Then maybe, I'll be more inclined to hear you out, because the faster way to get there is if I fly, and well... we all know where you'll be when it comes to flying huh? So...What's it going to be Yori?"
Shiro spoke with a grin on his snout. He knew the Goldyura would be forced to face his shortcomings now. It would be up to Yori to apologize for the sake of the quest, or be the proud ass he was always, and watch Shiro go off on his own.
Yori looked pensive for a moment, thinking to himself about everything he said. Separating wouldn't do...but at the same time, why apologize for saying what he though was the truth?
"Fine, we can go with no preparation, it isn't like I think it will be hard or anything anyway. And...sure, you can fly and walk faster, great wins there, you’re basically a walking piece of rock. You want to fly off and try it on your own? Go on ahead, I'll just head back and tell Salomé what a great partner you were. As for the latter...what can I say, The truth hurts big guy."
Yori simply smiled as he said the last bit, countering what Shiro said may not be the most hospitable thing to do, but at the end of the day, he wasn't exactly being very neighborly either. Using Salomé to get the result he needed wasn't to respectable either, but at the end of the day, it didn't matter as long as he was right. Things would no doubt go downhill further for the two, but it wasn't like he would just give in, especially with having to deal with others like Shiro on the regular.
"So...what's it gonna be...Shiro~?"
A wicked smile widened across his face after he threw the question back at him, clearly intent on not giving into anything the large red dragon said to him.
Shiro didn't quite appreciate the retort that Yori so willingly lashed out at him. He growled and bore his teeth, dropping his arms at the side and looking towards him. He marched towards Yori, and quickly grabbed him while holding down his arms before lifting him up so that he wouldn't be able to cast spells. Shiro let out a low rumbling in his throat as he spoke, his annoyance breaking through. Yori struggled to free himself from shiro's grasp, his own reaction speed far to slow to properly respond to someone or something grabbing him from up close or by surprise in most cases. A weakness he himself either ignored or forgotten about many times. Similarly, the struggling proved fruitless as well, likely the large Ruby Dragon didn't even notice Yori's failed attempts to free himself physically now that magic was unavailable to him. Shiro however, loved it when the Goldyura squirmed in his hold. His grip was only strong enough to detain Yori even though he could crush him if he actually wanted to. He smiled and showed some teeth as his prisoner was completely defenseless.
"Here's a better idea, why don't I bind your hands and feet and fly you into a nice dark cave and stick you in a wall crevice. You certainly are small enough. Then I'll go and complete the quest, return and tell Salomé that you were unfortunately eaten like the rodent you are. Your mouth got you into trouble and I was to occupied to save you. No one will be the wiser and then you'll live a short, lonely life until your die of hunger. Sound better rat? Or, you can man up and apologize. Then, perhaps, I'll be inclined to work with you. Otherwise, the only thing you have to worry about, is what is coming around the next corner of that cave to eat you."
Shiro clearly was bluffing, but, his annoyance with Yori was still plenty noticeable. If logic and teasing didn't work, perhaps fear and being threatening would be. He knew the Goldyura without his magic was as harmless as a blade of grass in the wind. Without the use of his arms, he'd never be able to cast anything. Still, a part of him wondered if Yori would call his bluff... though he did plan to actually throw him in a cave, he'd remain there just in case. Shiro knew how much trouble he'd actually get in should someone find out if he really did do it. Of course, Yori didn't need to know that though.
After Shiro threatened him, a long pause came over the two, before the goldyura dropped his head angrily and muttered under his breath.
"F-fine...sorry...or...whatever. Stupid reptile..."
Whether Shiro was serious or not, Yori couldn't quite tell. But should he be, then no doubt about it...Yori knew full well what happens to a vulnerable Goldyura far too well to risk Shiro telling the truth in this scenario, and certainly...had much higher aspirations than being the next meal for some random creature. Still...the idea of apologizing made his stomach wrench and even after apologizing, his pride couldn't let him take it sitting down. But as it stood...in the current moment, he was effectively defenseless. Now more than ever he felt the need to prove himself to this dragon, to show him how much better he actually was in comparison. Yori himself knew it, but Shiro didn't understand, less he'd act a lot less uppity with him. But with this he'd have a chance to prove it to this stupid reptile. All he needed was a way to do so.
"I-I apologized alright! So just put me down already! You're stupid scales are rubbing against my fur!"
"Thank you for the apology, and no, I am not going to put you down. We will get there a lot faster if I fly. So, do you want me to hold you like this, or do you want to ride on my back?"
Shiro asked turning to look towards the sky with Yori still in his grip as he began to speak, chuckling a bit as he began moving forward.
"Besides, your fur makes a nice warmth, I quite like it against my scales. Now stop your yelling. I'm literally right here."
Shiro looked back at him, it was a strange feeling. Despite Yori treating him so poorly, he liked his company nevertheless. It might have been because he had a creepily accurate resemblance to his old toy he was meant to destroy as a hatchling. Yori would never let him live that down though if he ever found that out though. Still, he was surprised Yori never noticed how gentle Shiro actually was all the times he manhandled him. Not that he particularly cared.
"What's it going to be Yori?"
Yori continued struggling to free himself, trying his best to get loose from Shiro's grip. Pointless as it may be, he had to at least try. Think to himself about what Shiro proposed however, made the little goldyura realizing that fighting back was somewhat fruitless. He knew flying would be a lot faster, no doubt about that, but while at first he was definitely against the idea, the thought of riding on the dragon's back appealed to his sense of superiority. Surely, he thought, he's offering the option to make up for what he did and said earlier. Yori smiled and nodded to himself before finally addressing Shiro.
"Hehe, well...sure. I suppose I can ride on your back. I'll admit flying would be faster, so given the circumstances we can do that. Now put me down so I can get on."
Throughout the rough treatment, Yori made sure to keep himself in control, and be sure to keep his own thoughts in line as well. At this point, doing so became second nature, but his tail always served as something of cue, whipping around like a loose coil from his excitement. Shiro looked at Yori and sighed, knowing that the rodent was up to something but, he had better just get a move on, otherwise they'd never get this quest done.
In the far corners of Yori’s mind however, thoughts on how far he might be able to push Shiro surfaced, prompting him to goad him even further when the time came.
"I'll let you on, don't worry Yori." Shiro placed Yori down, and turned, he dropped his wing so that it would act as a ramp. "Come on now, get on. The quicker we get airborne the faster we can get this over with and go back to avoiding one another. Moyo will not wait forever and I'm sure you'd rather be doing literally anything else."
Shiro watched Yori closely, he wanted to make sure that this Goldyura wouldn't do anything to hold them up anymore then they have been now. As difficult as it maybe, they needed to start working together at some point. Though Shiro was slightly excited to be working with Yori, though he'd never admit to it.
"Yeah yeah...I'm coming, don't rush me. Don't want to damage your fragile wings."
Yori began to climb up, making sure to be careful as he made his way over the makeshift ramp before placing himself on the small of Shiro's back. He quickly used a bit of magic to make a set of makeshift reins to keep himself stable as Shiro flew through the air.
"Now then...according to the information written down Salomé gave us...where we are heading is supposedly an old abandoned storeroom. It fell into disrepair sometime ago and the Praimortis around the area didn't bother with the place so it just sat around. It's generally avoided but curious explorers always let it get the better of them. Turns out...karma does exist."
Yori smiled maliciously as he said that last bit, a mite to happy about the idea of explorers getting attacked.
Shiro followed Yori's instructions, flying where the Goldyura indicated. He soared through the air, listening to Yori divulge the information to him. Shiro also couldn't help but chuckle at Yori's remark about the travelers. I mean, sure, he was in the business of saving lives, but even he wasn't immune from a good laugh. Shiro enjoyed dark humor as much as the next Ruby Dragon.
"Well, regardless what karma dictates, our job is to stop it from doing any more damage. I do wonder what kind of enemy it will be... I may not like you, in any conceivable sense of the word, but I do recognize your abilities... sure, you're not as good as Moyo, but to pair us up, this creature shouldn't be taken lightly. Anyway, we're getting close. Hold on for a landing."
Shiro warned as they approached their target, his body diving down quickly he came to a brief mid air stop before dropping with a thud at their location. With a flick of his back, he jerked Yori from his perch up top his back and onto the grass below. Yori hit the ground with a thud, causing dust from the ground around them to cloud around them as Yori slowly got up and began to brush himself off. Shiro asked looking around, he was already on guard not knowing what would happen, he wanted to be prepared at a moment's notice.
"We're here... what's next?"
"How about...next time, go for a better landing. It's a wonder how you get anywhere safely with those landing skills. Oh...wait...well you may have hit your head a couple times if you think that I'm worse than Moyo. Oh but no worries, after this mission you'll see how much better I am by comparison. Now then..."
Yori looked over the dusty field covered in shrubbery along with trees that sparsely dotted the landscape. The air was humid, and relatively hot, much more than Odarriya's weather. Yori panted a bit from the sun overhead as he began to hasten his search to get out of the bright rays. Eventually, a large storehouse could be seen in the distance with the door forced open.
"T-there...that is where we are heading...You couldn't take us closer to it...?"
Shiro ignored Yori's remarks and let out a sigh, he decided instead to look out at the area and get a feel for the space in front of them. He sniffed at the air and a small rumble grew in his throat. He knew that there was a sinister power near, but it was to scattered to really be traced. He looked to Yori just as he asked his question.
"For someone so smart, you can be dumb sometimes. Getting any closer could have announced our presence potentially making things harder if we lose the advantage of stealth. As soon as I felt a change in the air, I dropped down. So if you have to do a little walking, suck it up and deal with it. Now, let's go... I don't feel very comfortable here... something is just... off. "Now... be my eyes and ears, they're big enough anyway. Once you spot the creature, I'll take it from there. It will be quicker that way."
Shiro said as he began to trot towards their destination, keeping his head turning and his guard raised at the slightest instance of danger.
"It isn't like i'm not listening. and you worry too much. I doubt whatever is in there is honestly all that bad. If it's preying on a bunch of random travelers then how hard could it be?"
Yori followed along, despite his claim, his ears were up, twitching around at the slightest hints of foreign noise in the area. The field around the two was eerily quiet, but nothing particularly odd appeared or showed up, before they reached the doorway to the storeroom. Now close enough to see it, the door was forced off the hinges and the wood broken, but no claw marks were noticeable on it. There were no footprints leading into the room as it remained dark and quiet inside. The openings in the side serving as windows helped to filter some light though. Crates and barrels could be seen inside the abandoned storeroom. with many random items such as pots, worn planks of woods and metal objects were scattered across the floor. Bricks and building materials all dotted the empty floor as well, making it clear it was mostly kept for storing excess equipment.
Yori peered into the quiet room, his ears still up, but not moving as he pulled back bowing condescendingly towards Shiro.
"After you, Mr. dragon~"
"You're so courteous...coward."
Shiro followed closely after Yori, and waited as the goldyura opened the shack, it was no surprise how worn down the place was. He sneered at Yori who obviously had every intention in making Shiro the target should anything actually be inside. That was fine by him, it would give Shiro the chance to show Yori just unneeded the goldyura actually was.
Shiro said as he took the first steps inside the building. He looked through the storeroom and could only make out the junk. There was far too many broken objects covered in dust and cobwebs.
"You would be perfect for cleaning up in here. You're like a portable duster. If the magic business doesn't pan out, you could always be a maid. I bet you'd look wonderfully in that outfit."
Shiro teased as he was now quite a way in from the entrance.
"I don't see, hear, or smell anything. Not that I'm exactly trying to sniff around with so much nasty stuff everywhere. It's going to take me an hour to scrub the stains out of my scales.”
Shiro let out a sigh before turning toward Yori while crossing his arms and waiting for him.
"Are you positive this is it? As far as I can tell, this is just a very filthy abandoned storeroom that came under attacks. Unless you can see something I can't, which is unlikely."
"I thought you wanted to take point or something like that? Besides, you muscle headed types make for good meat shields."
As Shori made his way in, Yori followed along right behind him. He looked around the abandoned storeroom, kicking up dust and debris as he walked. The area was covered in broken crates and other randomly assorted containers such as barrels and wooden boxes. Many wooden planks and stakes covered the area, some more than capable of running through others like a skewer or worse.
"Exactly what makes me a good duster? If anything you'd do a better job, what with you being bigger and all that. As for the maid bit, get that out of your head...creep. "
Shiro chuckled at Yori's comment about the maid as Yori did another scan of the room, letting his ears move and twitch around, until after awhile he stopped and let out a sigh before pulling out the paper given to them. Shiro watched as Yori used his magical abilities to determine if there was something here.
"This is the place...sadly...but so far...nothing. Hmm, alright, let me try something then. You stay alert this time, I need to focus."
At that, Yori put the paper away and rose one of his hands up, generating a ball of energy. The glowing orb began to make a soft pulsing sound through the area.
"Hear that...there is something, other than us here. But...the spell isn't picking up anything...weird...I wonder why? Perhaps...it isn't alive? Hmm..."
Yori put his hand down, causing the orb to vanish as the spell proved to be a pointless endeavor.
"So what now then? Got any other ideas?"
Shiro thought about what Yori said, taking a moment to work through it in his head before letting out a sigh and looking over towards his partner. Not alive? So there is a corpse here? Which means they already missed the creature.
"Well, if it's a corpse it might give us clues on where we need to go next or at least give us an idea of what it is we're even chasing."
Shiro moved towards some crates and quickly turned, whipping around his tail and sending the debris flying across the room and filling it with a lot of dust. Shiro coughed and waved his arms to clear the dust.
"Man... that is a lot of nasty. Lets try to find it. Do you have a spell or something that can maybe see the last moments of the life? It would make things easy."
Shiro said lifting another pile of junk with ease and tossing it to the side. He looked to see if he could find a corpse or bones. He couldn't smell decay so it was either very well buried or already a skeleton.
Yori coughed from the dust that flew up, doing what he could to cover his eyes so that none would get inside as he watched Shiro before rolling his eyes.
"That or it's not a living creature stupid...just one moment, be patient and stop messing around so much. Didn't Moyo tell you about artificial creatures before?"
Shiro did not know what an artificial creature was and was about to comment when Yori suddenly began to cast a different spell, to which he remained silent. The magic was always pretty to look at even if Shiro didn't understand any of it.
Yori lifted his hand once more, but this time, the orb he made glowed with a strange blueish tint, the area around them once again had nothing, but a graveling noise could be heard. As Yori scanned the room once more, a single large crate remained pulsating with a grayish tint among the other silent boxes. At once Yori signaled Shiro to stop moving. The large crate was right next to the entrance, sitting silently without moving a single muscle. For all intents, it looked no different than the rest of the items in the room, if only just a bit cleaner. It wasn't until this feeling of chill came over him that Shiro became uneasy. He looked at the crate that was not in front of the entrance before. He looked at Yori and back at the crate.
"Stop...I didn't pick up anything before...but...this one...whatever we are looking for is...an artificial creature. So is it a golem? No...if it was it would have attacked us outright...but..."
"I've bested golems before... cockatrices and chimera, and others I don't know the name of. Those creatures gave me a feeling of caution when I approached because I could feel their power. This box is giving me that same feeling. I wouldn't just consider it something simple.
"That's what we're looking for...um...a giant box. See? This isn't bad at all. I bet it doesn't even know we know it's there."
“If it hasn't noticed us yet then...I'll finish this quickly in one strike!!"
Shiro began to growl as his tail began to flicker and a bright red hue began to emanate from his eyes. A magical flame surrounded Shiro's claws and he spread his wings.
Shiro leaped at the crate with a roar his fist engulfed by his own power, Shiro would proceed to release it in his attack unless he was stopped at some point. The power would surge throughout and expelled violently. In a brilliant light of magical fire the entire storehouse exploded outward! Yori closed his eyes and covered his face in response as quickly as he could as Shiro blew the derelict storeroom to pieces, causing dust and debris to fly everywhere! Yori quickly shielded himself as best he could from the blast, and when the dust and debris settled and Shiro's bright light died down and he'd look around the building was there no more. though his clothes and ears were singed somewhat from the residual blast. Yori then proceeded to cast the spell again through coughing fits from the massive amount of dust and debris flung up from the blast. He kept the spell active for a while before dropping it and sighing.
"Did I get it?"
"I suppose that's the the end...honestly...that was-"
At once a black creature bound out from behind one of the surrounding walls, it was camouflaged with the surrounding area sporting claws that resembled sharpened blades. It looked almost demonic in appearance, with a thin body and long tail built for rapid speed based attacks. The creature flung towards them before Yori launched a nearby plank at it, knocking it into a nearby wall. Shiro noticed the creature after the dust and debris from the destroyed storehouse settled. It was certainly ugly and its aura of strength was noticeable, causing a sense of unease to grew within the rubriary dragon. It was certainly powerful, that much was certain, but its body seemed frail. Despite that, it was a good indication this creature was fast to avoid direct hits. Shiro grinned, this would be fun he thought. As it collected itself, Yori sighed and rose his hand once again. At once a sheened box appeared around Shiro before he could proceed to fight it. Shocked at the goldyura’s sudden spell, Shiro pressing against the spell before roaring and proceeding to punch the spell from inside in an attempt to free himself, only to eventually realize that it was to no avail.
"What the hell!?" "What do you think you're doing!? Let me out now! You stupid rat!"
Yori however, sighed as he watched Shiro attempt to break out of the spell, making him shake his head at everything that had happened.
"Seriously? The entire storehouse? All for what? Just that thing? Really? To answer your question, no...no you didn't get it. And now that you had your turn...I'll take mine. Just sit tight inside there and watch, it won't take long."
Yori turned his back to Shiro after that, watching as the creature began to rise out of the rubble, it glared at Yori with a bright and almost violent glow in it's eyes as it stared directly at the two. It paused as it cocked its head for a moment, noticing the box around the rubriary dragon before turning its gaze upon Yori.
"Yori, so help me when I get out of here, I'm going to feed you to that thing!!" Shiro yelled.
Yori laughed at what he said, making sure to watch the creature before commenting, the last thing he needed was for it to get the jump on him now. Even still, after its performance thus far, he didn't have much faith in it's overall abilities.
"I'll kill it before you get the chance to. Like I said, just sit tight and enjoy the show for a bit."
The creature rushed at Yori as he quickly swung his hand to the right with a wave of energy emitting from it. But, while the creature was rushing him, what happened was odd, and something unexpected. The air around it shattered and broke apart! Yori's smile quickly vanished when he saw that as he grunted and switched tactics. He made a red circle around the area quickly, letting it converge as he then quickly let out a ball of energy at the quickly advancing creature. As the circle converged however, as soon as it touched the demonic looking entity, the entire circle shattered. The creature likewise, made no effort to bother dodging the ball of energy, which just like the other spells, simply broke on contact. By this point the creature was within reach of him and jumped at the now terrified Yori who made one final conscious effort by doing what he did previously, launching debris at it, only for the creature to cut it apart instantly. As soon as it did so, Yori’s fears were confirmed just before the creature reached him.
"I-it's...immune...to magic..."
The words were spoken under his breath, just in time for the creature to grab him and slam Yori into a wall behind them, causing Yori to let out an audible cry of pain from the impact. The creature lifted its claw and cut Yori across the face, yet interestingly enough, making sure to only cut him enough for it to hurt in an almost sadistic sense. Instead of outright killing him the creature seemed to take pleasure in slamming Yori's small frame against the ground and wall a few times before throwing him across the field like a ragdoll.
Yori struggled to get up as the creature looked at Shiro for a moment, but realizing quickly that he was immobile, turned its attention back towards Yori, who was struggling just to even stand. It began to rush him again, but Yori quickly slammed the ground with his palm, created a large wall of ice in front of him, stopping the creatures advance as it cut at the frozen barrier. There was a pause for a moment, until right before Shiro's eyes, the creature began to transform into a large dinosaur like creature! It was strong, thick, and muscled with a massive tail and forearms as it began punching at the wall! With each punch, a loud crack could be heard coming from the wall, with Yori behind it, fearfully watching the barrier slowly be broken apart. After only the 3rd punch, the wall exploded in a vast array of ice as Yori was launched back from the ensuing blast! The creature refused to give Yori the luxury of landing however, as the creature transformed once again, but this time into a small, green, jewel beetle looking creature to take its place! The insect unfurled its wings and created a massive windstorm around the area, lifted Yori's prone form into the air along with the other objects. The ensuring tornado caused the debris to slam into Yori’s fragile body, broken barrels and crates quickly tearing into into his skin and battering against his body, the larger and heavier objects breaking his bones on impact.
Shiro watched as Yori was outmatched with ease. The creature was immune to the Goldyura’s spells, almost as if it was made that way by design. Shiro’s eyes dilated and his mouth hung open as he looked on at the brutal onslaught the Goldyura was enduring. There was no way that Yori could survive, his body was not made to take physical attacks, and at the rate the fight was going, Yori was going to die by the hands of that monster, all while he himself was stuck behind this stupid spell Yori himself design, all because he had to fuel his stupid pride. His ego to prove that he wasn’t a weakling was now going to be the very thing that ended his life. Shiro gripped his claw tightly and clenched his teeth. His own magical power flaring up, displayed in a show of red hot flame emanating from around him.
Yori needed him, Shiro needed to save him! The dragon felt something inside him ignite as he remembered something from his past.
“This is a Goldyura Shiro, they are useless, helpless weaklings. This is what you’ll use as practice. Show the weakling what you’re capable of!” A large and powerful Ruby Dragon said in a deep tone as he stood over a much smaller one. The young Shiro took the Goldyura from his father’s palm, too which he could literally crush by just closing his claw. Young Shiro looked into the eyes of the plush doll, and even though it was fake, he could see fear and pain… the eyes were reflecting what Shiro was feeling inside. He couldn’t bring himself to rip it to shreds as his parent demanded. “Well boy!?” His father bellowed. Shiro looked up with a frown and back to his plush then back. “I… it’s scared father… there is no need to be any more violent to him.” Shiro replied, which only earned his father’s wrath. The memory flashed, with the next scene in his memory seeing himself beaten and left bleeding on his bedroom floor, his bones just shy of being broken as his tears dropped onto the soft material of the plush that earned a slight tear in its shoulder from the skirmish. The young Shiro was told, unless he can prove his heritage, he could never be one of them. Shiro took the Goldyura into a hug and curled around him, falling asleep, sniffling and crying.
Shiro’s memory of that night brought back ignited his flames even more as they covered his wings, claws and tail. Fueled by his emotions, Shiro shifted into his power form. His eyes glowing a bright red hue to match his appearance.
After a couple moments of this, the wind finally stopped, causing Yori to freefall back to the ground, with a couple of smaller bits impaling him as they fell to the ground. As Yori hit the ground, he laid sprawled across the grass, his body to broken to even move. In a final act of irony, the creature took on the form of a large and demonic looking Praimortis before hopping over to Yori before proceeding to licked Yori's body, choosing to taste him for a bit, with Yori simply letting it happen, unable to do little more than moan in pain. He didn’t bother even trying to resist the monster as both his body and mind were to battered to even consider resisting any longer. Soon the "Praimortis" took in more of Yori's form and began to suck on him lightly, it's tail whipping around in excitement from the taste, seemingly finding Yori to be particularly delectable much to Yori's ire.
With Yori’s consciousness beginning to fade, all spells around the area ceased as the box around Shiro vanished. As the wall came down, without a moment’s hesitation, Shiro flew out towards the creature. The creature was to distracted to see the dragon coming and within just a few moments, Shiro closed the distance and punched the creature’s side with all his might, aiming for its ribs, should it even have any. Shiro’s intended to hopefully at least stagger its breathing, if not kill it outright, assuming it even breathed like them. The creature hurdled through the air with the force of a cannonball, smashing through fully grown trees as if they were twigs to be snapped in two with a thick cloud of dirt and debris left in its flight path as it would come to a complete stop several meters from Shiro and Yori. The blow caused the creature to release Yori, making him fall to the ground wet and covered in an odd substance resembling a sort of thick goo.
Shiro stood over the Goldyura, making sure Yori was safely between his legs and underneath him as he took a defensive posture. With Shiro standing over him Yori looked away, blushing slightly from the precarious position he placed himself in as he tried moving his hand to cast a spell. Still, try as he might, he couldn't even move enough to generate mana much to his dismay. Yori struggled to move his body only to be stopped when a sharp pain ran over his body, causing him to cough up a small bit of blood.
“Your fight is with me now! I will die before you touch another strand of fur on Yori’s body, you filthy creature!”
Shiro let out a roar that echoed out into the sky. He remained in his power form, fueled by his emotions, and took a more defensive stance. Shiro briefly looked at Yori, and an expression of worry befalling him as he looked at the severity of the wounds. He spoke in a whisper before looking back towards the path of destruction in front of him.
“Don’t you dare die.”
The dirt and debris finally began to dissipate, soon allowing Shiro to be able to see the creature momentarily, allowing him to defend Yori at all costs if need be. Yori however was stuck laying himself back down, clenching his eyes shut so as to not have to look at Shiro guarding him.
He muttered to himself, promising that he wouldn't die before turning his gaze towards the creature. In the distance, a loud roar could be heard before the creature could be seen bounding back towards them, now in the shape of a large stone Rhino. It charged towards Shiro with an uncontrolled malevolence in its eyes, preparing to ram through him and trample Yori underfoot!
Shiro looked at the approaching mimic in its new form and back to Yori, then quickly back to the creature. Shiro roared and stretched out his flame covered claws as they extended left and right towards the charging shapeshifter. The claws growing big enough to grab the enemy's side as he approached.
"I will never let you touch him again!"
The Rubriary dragon's feet dug into the earth as he tried to hold his ground against the advancing creature. He gritted his teeth as he tried his best to hold the creature in place. Shiro’s feet dug into the ground, leaving grooves in the grass as the creature pushed him back. The creature got closer as it charged, with shiro’s claws scraping across the creatures sides. While the creature slowly began to slowly shorten the gap between them, Shiro's extended flames began to shrink the closer the odd rhinoceros creature got.
As it approached and the distance between the two began to drop, the rhino’s speed gradually began to slow down until soon, it felt as it it was trying to run underwater. Standing several feet from the injured Goldyura. Shiro grinned as it watched the creature look on in confusion.
"My flames are strongest when they're close to me, I just had to make sure I got a good grip."
Shiro roared and with all his might, lifted the rhino from the ground and over his head. He then released the creature sending it hurdling behind Shiro and Yori towards the remains of the storehouse. The creature came crashing down with a loud bang, tossing dirt and debris everywhere as it landed, shrouding it from view once again. Shiro turned and growled, still standing over Yori, much like like a mother would protect its hatchling.
Shiro opened his mouth as a small red orb appeared in the back of his throat, just before he fired a concentrated heat beam which he aimed at the spot the creature landed. Once the beam hit the area, the residual magic exploded in a bright red flame, leaving a sizeable crater with charred grass around the edges. Shiro however, stayed vigilant and didn't budge, waiting to see either a corpse or a counter attack.
"Yori, how bad is it? "Can you speak at least? I need to know if you're going to be okay, or if I need to rush you back to the city. You will not die today."
His tone was noticeably far different than earlier. It was rich with concern of someone who cared, something that was very unorthodox for these two.
Yori opened his eyes slowly in response, still struggling to move before muttering to Shiro softly, a clear sign that speaking in an of itself proved to be a difficult task for him at the moment.
"I-I...will. I just need time. If I can just...cast a spell..."
He tried moving his hand again and a couple flickers of light began appearing before suddenly vanishing as Yori winced in pain.
"D-damn...almost. Just...a little longer..."
Yori breathed heavily after finishing, looking up at Shiro before turning away from him and muttering in a low tone.
"Sorry...for this..."
Shiro listened to Yori and he let out a sigh of relief. He turned back around and looked at the demonic creature in front of him.
"Just rest now, I will bring you home today. I swear it."
In the distance, the dust from where the creature landed clouded anything from view as it sat still for a moment, unmoving. Its eyes however stayed wide open in shock. Eventually its eyes narrowed, and it once again took another form, turning back into the large bipedal dinosaur that overpowered Yori earlier. As it got up, the creature smiled in a way that would have broken the creature's jaw were it to ever smile in such a fashion, as its eyes stared at Shiro with a crazed and lustful gaze in them.
Shiro bared his teeth at the new form it took. That menacing smile giving Shiro a chill down his spine. He stood his ground, as he waited for the creature to act. What it was thinking was uncertain, but shortly after, the creature lifted its arm and pointed its palm forward, shooting out a massive gout of flames from its hand!
Shiro's eyes dilated as the flames spiraled towards the two of them, before he looked at Yori and turned, falling over him and covering Yori with his own body in response. His face was positioned just over Yori's as he looked at the Goldyura. He placed his flame covered wings together and the flames spread out and acted like a shield when the gout of flames engulfed them.
Shiro flinched as he felt his scales being burned despite his shield protecting from the full brunt of the attack. Shiro brought Yori closer to himself. Protecting him from the flames.
"I will not allow you to die here. Even if my body gives out, I'll win with spirit alone."
Shiro clenched his teeth together as he tried to endure the flames. Sweat dripped off of him and onto Yori. The longer and hotter the flames got, the closer Shiro brought Yori closer to keep him safe.
"Hang... in.... there.... Grraaahh...."
Yori watched as Shiro took the brunt of the blow from the creature, an attack that would have surely killed him had he taken it without Shiro to guard him.
"W-why...? Why are you doing so much?"
Yori's thoughts were conflicted, why would Shiro be helping him? Especially after what happened? Why would anyone go out of their way to do something like this? Regardless of the reason behind it, which quickly began to jump to Shiro simply looking to have Yori owe him after everything, knew that if things kept going this way, Shiro would lose, regardless of how much "spirit" he claimed to have.
Yori moved his hand again, only for a stray spark to hit it, causing him wince.The creatures attack continued from a distance however, and a small laugh could be heard from the form it. It sounded guttural, forced and unnatural coming from the creature it took the form of, before it raised it's other hand and began to shoot another gout of fire from it at the two.
Regardless of whatever pain Shiro might have been in from taking both attacks, the heat from the attacks permeated through the area around them as the grass began to catch on fire around them. Yori himself found it becoming increasingly harder to breath, much less stay conscious from the beating earlier along with the unbearable heat from the area given his kinds aversion to fire. Shiro was blocking it but even someone as strong as him could only last so long. Yori had to do something or this would end with them both dying because of his pride. He took his hand again, and began generating mana once again. Just like before, sparks of light began to appear, but the pain from even doing so little was unbearable. Even still, he shut his eyes and continued, groaning as the pain from doing so coursed through his body. Slowly but surely, more mana began to converge and form, until it resembled a navy blue ring in his hand. He quickly released it and at once, a ring of the same color appeared around the battlefield! As soon as Yori released it, he gasped in pain before speaking again.
"S-shiro....kill it..."
Within just moments of it appearing, the flames hitting Shiro began to drop in damage significantly, feeling like little more than a powerful heater compared to before, unbeknownst to the other reptile, who simply ignored the ring around them as it continued its attack.
Shiro could feel the blaze on his back, the increased heat came with increased pain. This thing was so strong, it wouldn't be a problem if he could fight openly, but the coward was using Yori as a way to pin down Shiro. Would he have to use it? The form above this one? It is always super risky, but to protect them both, the choice was becoming clearer and clearer. It was then, that before he could actually transform, that Yori managed to cast a spell and almost immediately, the flames felt as if it were a warm wind. Shiro looked at Yori and nodded when the little Goldyura uttered its phrase. The ruby dragon nodded and turned, keeping his wings in front of him, to keep Yori safe.
As shiro turned to face the creature, it's expression changed abruptly as it watched Shiro in confusion. How was he able to resist the flames? Even more so from two jets?
He narrowed his eyes and opened his mouth, gathering his concentrated breath attack. He aimed it towards the center of the blaze, and released his heat beam! The blast tore through the flames, piercing the fire and making its way towards its target. As Shiro’s concentrated fire blast quickly traveled back at the creature, it stopped to quickly shield itself from the incoming blast, causing it to collide with the creature, engulfing it in a massive explosion of ruby red flames and magic. The smoke filling the air as Shiro glared at what remained of the area now that the flames were gone from around him and Yori. A small fire flickered on Shiro’s shoulder before he patted it out. He turned and looked to Yori as the creature seemed to have been dealt with. As he looked over Yori’s form, the beating fro before became all the more obvious to him. Yori was covered in an incalculable number of cuts and bruises, with various spots on his tiny frame having clearly fatal wounds if they were not treated soon. As he got a good look at Yori, an expression of worry befell him.
"Yori... how are you feeling?"
After returning to normal, Shiro got down on his knees and picked Yori up in his arms, cradling him carefully whilst looking down at him similar to how a father would his newborn child. Shiro hadn't tried to sense if the creature yet lived, assuming that with Yori's help, the deed was done.
After the ensuing blast, The creature made no attempts to retaliate and quickly changed forms back into the slyph beetle and his itself amidst the debris in an attempt to escape. As powerful a prize the Ruby dragon may have been, going after it, as it now knew, was beyond what it currently could do.
Yori, who was behind Shiro watching the entire ordeal, closed his eyes to avoid any residual from hitting him, and after the attack, opened his eyes to see Shiro standing over him wrought with concern. The sight caused Yori to look away from him only to wince in pain as Shiro picked him up, before subsiding again as he cradled him. Even if the gesture was kind to him, he couldn't keep himself from feeling overwhelming embarrassment over the situation that he was in. Moreso, he knew that if they came back to the city like this, there was no way he would hear the end of it from those who didn't understand the full scope of what happened. The words “Yori's a weakling afterall, figures a goldyura couldn’t amount to much” or “cocky bitch got what was coming” echoed in his subconscious, before finally taking a deep breath and trying to push them out of his mind.
"I-I'm fine...it's nothing...r-really."
Yori tried to move, only for pain to shoot down his body, the spell before being far too much for him to handle at the time of casting it. He knew there was little choice, but the after effects of pushing himself past his own physical limit was now hitting him in stride. In this state, breaking the circle to heal was impossible, much less and normal healing spells. He'd just have to wait it out, much to his annoyance.
Shiro cast with worry shook his head, "You are not fine... you're barely breathing you idiot. Why would you do that? Why would you try and fight alone? If I would have lost you I-"
Shiro stopped himself and closed his eyes, a slight blush befalling him.
"Never mind, you're a fool like always."
The words lacked the conviction they normally did however as he soon shifted his focus and began to walk, carrying Yori in his arms.
"You need medical attention immediately... if I can get you back to Moyo, you'll be healed. "Are you okay to fly? It's a long walk if you cannot handle the altitude. I'd rather do whatever is easiest on you...n-not that.. I care... I just... would rather... not hear you complaining..." Shiro spoke with a stutter in his voice, having trouble going back to how he normally was towards, Yori at least for now. It was obvious he was far too concerned to regain his composure.
Yori couldn't help but let out a slight chuckle at his concern, only to groan from the pain of doing so immediately afterwards. All the same, Yori knew he was right...fighting it alone wasn't the best move, granted he knew he wouldn't admit to that thought, but internally he knew what he did, and that it ended up being what put him in this state.
"J-just fly...i-i'll be fine. I wouldn't die from...something like that. S-stupid. Besides...if that thing wasn't immune to magic...I'd have...won. A-and...if you get Moyo t-to..h-heal me...! I-I'll...!"
Yori groaned in pain, having worked himself up to much to continue talking any longer. The little goldyura was fighting simply just to keep himself conscious at this point, not wanting to have Shiro more concerned with how he was at the moment. Though the pain over his body, whether from the bones being broken or the many bruises and smaller debris piercing his skin did keep him awake. Shiro chuckled a bit at Yori's confidence. If he was still being self righteous, then he was better than Shiro thought. Shiro then looked down at Yori, a soft smile running across his face as he did so.
"Yes... if he wasn't immune, I'd have had a nice front row seat to the best Goldyura magic I've ever seen I'm sure. As for Moyo, he's still the only mage I know with the power to heal. So unless you know anyone else, that is exactly who I am taking you too. Besides, he's far more talented than you."
With a bit of relief in his voice from speaking, the rubriary dragon took off to the sky.
In the distance, the creature seemed to have begun tucking itself under one of the fallen pieces waiting until the dangerous dragon left it alone. It knew well enough that coming back to this spot was a bad idea, so it would need to find a different area.
As Shiro flew through the air, he clutched Yori to his chest, to protect him from the intense wind of their flight. Yori simply tucked himself in, lacking the energy to do little more than grunt in disapproval of having to go to Moyo. With Yori pressed against his chest, he could feel and hear Shiro's heartbeat. Calm and steady, beautiful and rhythmic. In time to Yori's own.
As for Shiro, holding Yori like this brought back so many fond memories of his own plush from his past. A reminder of why he was alive now, and this served as a reaffirmation to his goal. Yori was the exact thing he swore to protect. It was a strange feeling having Yori like this. He wondered if they would stay this way, but he knew full well that eventually, they'd go back to being bickering brothers, even if he preffed they stay like this.
"Sleep now Yori. We will be back soon. No more harm will befall you now."
As they flew, the winds battered against his broken body as he tucked himself in more, trying to avoid the wind as best he could, before Shiro pulled him close, blocking the air from hitting him again. As he held him, the cool warmth from Shiro's scales brushed against his fur, as he could hear his heartbeat match his.
In the peacefulness of the flight back, amidst the comfort of Shiro's hold, Yori's consciousness began to fade as he drifted off to sleep, unable to stay conscious. As he drifted off, he uttered a single word under his breath to the dragon that saved him.
"T-thanks..."
Shiro smiled at the word, simply responding with a simple "Yea...". In time, he made it back to the city, cradling a sleeping Yori close. He landed back at their headquarters, making sure to shield Yori from the view of everyone. He knew how much Yori's pride meant to him and allowed no one to see him broken and close to dying. He called out for Moyo once he arrived and explained the situation to him. Moyo understood and Shiro left Yori as Moyo took him back to his study, keeping him in his care as he left to report the results to Salomé.
A few hours had gone by with Yori resting as Shiro rested by Yori's bedside, alone and curled on the floor.
Yori woke up from his deep slumber to find himself on the floor next the Shiro. As he got up, he found himself to be fully healed again. He looked around the area of his home, trying to piece all that happened over the last couple moments. He wasn't fully conscious during most of it, if at all, so it took a moment to really think it over. Soon enough, he remembered the creature, fighting it, being beaten and then being saved as well as the conversation on the way back. He got up, preparing to complain to Shiro who was still asleep, before stopping as he stared at him quietly before grunting again and walking off to find something to read.
"I'll...deal with him later...I guess...now then..."
After a moment, Yori came back holding a book under his arms while two of the familiars he had carried a blanket behind him. With a simple gesture, the tiny creatures floated over him and placed it over Shiro, doing what they could to not wake him up.
After they did so, Yori walked over to his desk, and propped himself up on the seat before getting comfortable and opening the book up.
"Let's see...what all...did that thing turn into? Hm...it’s called a mimic? It’s quite rare...ugh...remembering it all..."
He rubbed his arms as the harsh beating he took slowly came back to him, causing him to try and repress it. Try as he might however, he soon found himself clutching his arms as he closed his eyes for a moment before looking back up at the book and then back to Shiro again. He quickly shut the book in frustration, making a loud noise that reverberated around the glade, scaring a couple of the familiar that were simply lounging around.
Shiro was awoken from his sleep by the book, opened a single eye to gaze at Yori. He raised his head and let out a big yawn. He turned his head and gazed at Yori's figure.
"If you are up with a book then Moyo's healing has finally set in. Everyone went out on a quest, it's just the two of us. I stayed behind to look after your healing."
Yori turned around in a startled fright at Shiro's voice, raising his hand to begin casting only to stop as he laid eyes on him for a moment. He sighed and dropped his hand before crossing his arms on annoyance. Shiro turned and looked at the blanket covering him then smiled, laying his head back down.
"You certainly know how to make a lot of racket." Shiro huffed. He thought a moment before speaking again.
"Are there... any lasting effects? From the battle? You were...in bad shape."
"I-I was fine until you decided to go scaring me like that. Tell me when you wake up next time. But...I guess I can give you credit. A big thing like you managing to sneak up on me. But don't do it again! And of course there aren’t any lasting effects stupid...l-like I said...I could have killed that thing had magic worked. You're just lucky it was immune or i'd have embarrassed you..."
He turned away from him, try to hide his face from view as he flipped to a random page in the book to help fake the scene even further. The insult, try as he might, came off empty and without malice, if even more defensive than they used to be. Yori realized he couldn't bring himself to insult Shiro directly, opting to change the subject to something else.
"B-but...forget that! Why did you get Moyo to heal me!? I...I could have done it myself! I didn't need any help from that second rate healer!"
Shiro glared at Yori after his last response, causing him to stand up as the blanket fell off of him.
"That second rate healer saved your life and shortened your healing time from weeks to just hours, so unless the next few words out of that yap isn't some form of gratitude, keep it shut."
He picked the blanket up after he finished and folded it, placing it down.
"Besides, you couldn't even cast a healing spell anywhere near effective enough, or did you forget how hard it was to cast your own spells in your condition?"
Shiro began to head for the door, his annoyance and anger growing by the second as the firmness in his voice finally began to return as well.
"I've been looking after you for four hours. I have yet to eat, so, I'm going to get some. You're more then welcome to join me, or don't, it's your choice. Figures the minute you can move that mouth again, you go right back to an ungrateful, arrogant, little cur."
He never liked when Yori would verbally attack Moyo and it easily was the quickest way to upset him. Still, this was Yori after all. Shiro looked back over his shoulder, his voice becoming soft once again before he turned back and continued his walk.
"Though you really should eat."
Yori quickly bounced back as his anger began to flare up from what was said back to him, trying to reaffirm his position. Yori watched him walk towards the portal before getting up to let him out.
"I don't need to give thanks to someone "you" decided to bring me to! And furthermore, I could have done it myself! Not like you would understand how circle magic works you magic illiterate reptile! Besides! You need magic to open that remember?”
"You pint sized excuse for rodent, you would be comatose if it wasn't for Moyo's magic! Do you know how scared I--"
Shiro stopped and re thought his words,
"Moyo... was that you'd not make it. You lost a lot of blood! You inconsiderate rat!"
Shiro’s lesser statement was less vocal as he turned back towards the door.
"I didn't forget... just open the door."
Shiro mumbled, he crossed his arms and tapped his foot as he waited.
Yori took a deep breath before continuing, thinking for a bit over his next choice of words.
"Food can wait! Yo-- um..."Moyo" shouldn't have been so worried...I wouldn't die so easily."
"I...um...just...whatever. Regardless if you took me to him or not. A-and well...you know...didn't really need it, I guess I should thank you for...mopping up the rest....of the fight. So...um thanks for that...I guess."
Yori crossed his arms looking away from Shiro for a bit before, trying to hide his face before motioning one of the familiars to unlock the gate. It moved towards the gateway and flew straight into it, vanishing instantly as the image of Odarriyas streets appeared on the other side. Yori himself turned his back from Shiro defiantly as the gate shimmered behind them.
“Gates open now...so get lost..."
Yori refrained from insulting him, noticeably having a change in attitude that was readily noticeable.
Shiro's glare softened, his expression becoming more neutral compared to earlier. He looked out to the street, then back to Yori. He closed his eyes and turned for the exit, taking one step out before turning around and scratching the back of his head.
"Um... for what it's worth... I enjoyed questing with you... even if you're a prick."
Shiro gave a soft smile before turning and exiting the property. He headed towards a restaurant, his stomach making ample noise to indicate his hunger.
Yori nodded, letting him leave. As the portal closed and the lonely silence returned to the glade, Yori walked over to the area Shiro slept. Picking up the blanket that he was using, Yori was about to put it away before he took it to the desk and wrapped himself in it as he opened the book back up again to research the mimic more.
"I...did to. Thanks for...saving me...Shiro..."
