Ess carried a thick stack of papers tucked under her arm. Her free hand held a stapler that she would use every so often to tack one of those papers to a post or wall. By the end of the day, she wanted to cover the entirety of the refugee camp in fliers and dammit, no one was going to stop her. Standing in front of another post - this one torn in half from the many battles that had happened around the village's remains - she took one of the printed flyers and stapled it twice for good measure.

The dragon princess stared at the poster with a scowl, her lips pursed and eyes narrowed. A large picture was highlighter against the white background, taken a few years ago on a trip to the Sea of Clouds up in the moon. Ess remembered that day fondly. She had packed her bags and set off with her three servants for a weekend of rest and relaxation. For once, all three of them had behaved, for the most part, so she gave them the weekend off. As a result, all three spent time together almost as friends. This particular picture featured the three rabbits building a sand castle, a close depiction of the Lunar Palace. Underneath, the word "Missing" stood out in bold letters, along with Ess's contact information.

This was their nature, though. They were fickle little things that mostly did whatever they wanted and occasionally behaved to lull their masters into a false sense of security. They were tiny little sociopaths hellbent on destroying the world, after all. It couldn't be helped. Even so, Ess felt a little toyed with and had to admit that she very much disliked the feeling. While the rabbits had certainly misbehaved - just a two days ago Yi burned dragon powder in public just to see how humans would react to the hallucinogenic effects - they had never outright abandoned her. They had disappeared one by one, until finally San had run away yesterday.

This quick succession of events left Ess wondering if maybe she was the problem. As much as she didn't want to say so, she missed the three of them for more than the services they provided. Had she been too harsh with them? The only way to find out was to talk to them and figure things out. Maybe she could even concede some points to them and renegotiate their duties. The second solution was to equip them with tracking collars or implanted seals. In the meantime, though, she had to search.

The young woman sighed, walking over to the next available surface to repeat the process of posting up the flyer. Maybe if she managed to get this over with throughout the morning she could dedicate the rest of the day to asking the locals. Three fluffy white bunnies had to stand out in the desert. She doubted that there were very many of them around in these parts, especially not their size.

[505]

Maikeru leaned against a wall. He was in one of the villages within the a land of wind, one of the more advanced ones. Many people migrated here to keep away from the hustle and bustle of the outside world is having with Bandits. Maikeru, finally, after weeks upon weeks of hard work and brutalizing missions, he finally got a day off. Not even that. No one but two days off. He was drifting around the village aimlessly, until he came to realize that fact. He hummed knowingly. His mind drifted off into a deep line of thought. He thought about missions that he went on. They were brutal. They tested his absolute limits, physically and mentally. Maikeru smiled. He reached in his pockets and took out a pack of cigarettes. He looked at it and tossed it to the ground. He stepped on it. He won't be needing those anymore. He could feel it. His time in Suna was coming to a close. Maikeru smiled at the idea. He didn't want to think about the full evaluation of his efforts or how much they had paid off, but only to think about the fact that it was almost over. Just a few more missions. Just a few. The stress would be gone soon. Maikeru saw that there was a gym close by.
He walked inside to do one thing; train. This time he didn't have so much metaphorical weight on him he walked in with a smile on his face. He looked at the third heaviest bar weight he could find. Taking it easy today. He took it to the bench press, and began lifting.

Thinking back, the ISC would have to restructure and make a village. More bandits needed to be cleared out. They were still as bold and active as ever, and created a war zone out of the land of wind. Maikeru hated bandits. They were disgusting trash that needed to be purged from the lands. But not in the way that Ayakashi handles law. One of the more shadowy and secretive factions of the ISC had a different way of dealing with Bandits. They didn't capture them they didn't kill them. They used them. They applied seals on their bodies. Special seals. Seals that, at will, used both Ninjutsu and Fuinjutsu. The way it worked was that the Fuinjutsu was the lock to the Ninjutsu,which was made of Katon. The Fuinjutsu could be unlocked only by getting the combination of hand seal correct by a user of Fuinjutsu to unlock the seal to unlock the seal. If the seal was tampered with in any way, without using the combination, the Katon would spontaneously combust and kill the target of the seal. The Fuinjutsu also allowed using this seal to communicate with the , they were able to get a great deal of bandits to do their bidding by threatening their lives with it. They gained manpower with the seal. It was an elaborate thing. Maikeru wondered if Iwagakure could use something like this.

He got up from the bench and cleaned himself off. After leaving he noticed fliers spread across the small village. Apparently someone was missing some rabbits. Maiker shook his head. He didn't want to get involved. It was his day off. When he walked off, to find something to do, he saw the one placing fliers. There was a look of sadness in her. Maiker felt a pull from his heart. Maybe it was a good thing. Finding bunnies required detective work, and Maikeru loved being a detective. He moved over into her direction. “Hey are you looking for some rabbits? May I insist.”

Maikeru looked down to see her chest.


……….wow

626 WC

Ess heard footsteps coming her way but thought little of it. She was absorbed in her own thoughts and stapling posters on every square inch of available surface. She would get the information she needed, dammit. It didn't matter how long it took. Well... it did matter. She had no idea how to do the menial tasks of everyday life. All of that was always done for her so she could focus on more important things. A voice drew her out of her thoughts. Slowly and shielding herself from the bright sun, she turned around to look at the source.

Oh right. Humans. Quite frankly, she had forgotten all about them. She turned around to see a young man, no older than... Honestly, she didn't know. Humans aged so differently and so quickly. It was hard to keep track of. In any case, he looked young. White hair contrasted with dark skin and red eyes. It was a strange and oddly harmonious combination of colors that would have caught Ess's attention more if it weren't for her current predicament. She had always had an interest in humans, especially the ones with rare abilities. She fancied herself a collector of sorts - not that she would deprive them of their freedom in any way. It was more like she added them to the list of things she had seen an encountered or even kept them around as her vassals. In any case, she failed to notice him staring at something as inconsequential as the kind of chest she had in her human form. Unsurprisingly, she didn't quite understand what humans considered attractive.

The young princess turned back to look at the poster. The still image stared back at her but didn't evoke the memories from before, only a feeling of nostalgia and disappointment. She looked back at the man who had offered to help and conjured up a smile. "Well, I suppose another pair of eyes wouldn't be a bad thing to have. Tell me, young one, what do they call you?" She asked, defaulting to the way she spoke at court rather than her more unusual speech pattern. She didn't know this man's status among the humans, after all, so best to tread on the side of caution. Of course, Ess didn't fear humans at all, given her celestial origin, but she knew that they could make things difficult for her if they wanted to. Such a fickle species.

"I am looking for the three rabbits you see here. They're quite large, compared to the ones you humans have here. They're white in color and fully understand language..." Talking like this was too much effort. Her voice trailed off into a sigh. "Look, Imma lay it to you straight. These things are a hazard to society. The longer they're on the loose, the worse it gets for everyone involved. They can't die but gods know they go out of their way to try," she explained, sounding exasperated. Most people would have thought she was downright insane but to her, every word she spoke was common sense. This was a piece of knowledge that everyone in the Lunar Kingdom knew as fact.

The young princess placed a hand on each side of her forehead and massaged her temples. "I don't know where the flying fuck they went, but they're up to no good and dammit they're mine and I miss them!" There, she said it out loud. She missed Yi, Er, and San. The three of them had been consistently by her side as far back as she could remember. "So now that you're down to assist, help me think of where the hell they could be causing trouble," she said. It was more of an order than a request at this point and the dragon princess was unaccustomed to being denied.

[658]

Maikeru couldn’t stop looking at her breast. It felt almost new to be attracted to a woman. He was no stranger to the opposite sex’s wiles, but he hadn’t induldged himself of the sight in so long. It was a reminder of how much he needed these days off. He drifted himself back to the real world, seeing that she had called his name. “Oh. Uh. Just call me Maik.” Maikeru examined the rest of her body, until he looked up and saw her horns.

Well...okay then…

Maikeru raised an eyebrow. He would have reacted more flamboyantly, but he had seen far worst things before. With that in mind his eyes went back down to her chest. But his gaze had ended when she had begun to explain her pets. His eyebrows furrowed, and his eyes sharpened, as he had began to get serious. His love of being an investigator kicked in. “Menaces, huh? The sound mischievous and dangerous. Being that they are large and intelligent and on the scale that you imply that they like to cause havoc and chaos, I think we should find them quickly. Before their location becomes to apparent, if you know what I mean. Now let's see…rabbits are herbivores, so they love their leafy greens. Hmmm…let's check the market area if the village. It shouldn't be too far.”

As the two began walking, Maikeru turned to look at her chest instead of her eyes while speaking. “I don't mean brag, but you are pretty lucky to have me aboard. Investigating is one of my favorite pass times. Oh and I didn't catch your name.”


After the small talk and arriving to the Market area, Maikeru looked around for any particular stand with vegetables. There were quite a few of them so the search would be vast. Maikeru walked up to one of the food stands being aided by an elderly woman. “Excuse me have you seen um…rabbits? Specifically big ones?”

“No I haven't.” Maikeru inwardly Cursed. He looked at the stand and saw a missing item that wasn't normally missing. Carrots. He looked around at other stands and saw that they too were missing the orange vegetable. “Where are the carrots?”

She rubbed her chin as she went deep in thought. “It was bus the strangest thing. A bunch of gentlemen came wearing robes. They were the religious type. A whole group of them came in and bought all of the carrots. From everyone at once.
They even bought the crates.”

“I would imagine selling vegetables would be expensive in the desert. How were they able to buy so many?”

“It's just about the strangest thing. They said they were spreading the word of Jashin.”

Maikeru's heart sank. Jashinists. He despised them. Detested them. There was no group of people Maikeru hated more. They had taken him from the Orphanage in Suna and to a shack in snow country. He was malnourished, and many of the other kids had died. He wouldn't have lasted long if Takehare hadn't rescued him. Leaving his anger and getting back to the task at hand, he calmed himself. “They didn't leave that too long ago. They were heading north out of the Village.” Maikeru nodded. He turned towards his friend. “Shall we?”

He still couldn't stop thinking about the Jashinist. The situation required more seriousness. Things were about to get interesting.

585/1211 WC

Ess nodded sagely at the young man's words. "Oh they are. Those little bastards would destroy the world if you let them," Ess said. Fortunately, they were cursed to be unable to do so. The spell on them was solid and unbreakable, as far as the dragon princess knew. Still, she missed the three lagomorphs and not just for their services.

"Fān-" For a moment, lost in thought, she was about to reveal her real name. Most likely, it wouldn't mean anything to this child of man, but it was best to follow Di's lead in this and keep using a pseudonym. "Call me Ess," she stated, the words laced with apparent disinterest. Her eyes had lingered elsewhere, catching the notable absence of empty stall sections among the vegetables. The same phenomenon was repeated in every stall. The young dragon had been to human markets before, but it had been several decades. Humans had a habit of changing their minds often and creating new traditions. Was this one of them? She remembered old distilleries talking about the angel's share. Maybe the same thing had translated to food?

Maikeru must have noticed her gaze because he approached one of the stalls. Ess followed suit, examining the stall itself while her new companion gathered information. Now what had Darling said about detective work? She knew attention to detail was key. What else? Something about thinking unconventionally, wasn't it? The young woman took a step back to get a better look at her surroundings. She knew that wasn't what Darling had meant about trying to see the bigger picture, but it was a start.

Footsteps marked the sand leading to and from the market, worn out by both the wind and new steps alike. Trying to follow them would lead nowhere. From the corner of her eye, she did spot something that would turn out to be worthwhile. The glint could have belonged to a coin or meaningless trinket, but Ess had a gut feeling that it was something else. The tip of a medallion stuck out from the sand near the stall, not buried nearly enough to have been left there overnight.

Gingerly, the young dragon picked it up between her index finger and thumb. The pendant was no bigger than her palm, made of gold, from what she could tell. Honestly, she wouldn't be surprised if it turned out to be a false imitation. But she recognized the symbol - the inverted triangle wrapped in a circle. While the golden masks the priests wore drew the most attention, the dragon girl had noticed them wearing the symbol pinned to their robes.

She turned to her new partner, holding the broche so that he could see. At this point, he had finished speaking with the man, who had confirmed that the Cult of Jashin had purchased crates filled with carrots for some unknown reason. "Whoever we're looking for is missing this," she stated. They knew the rough direction they were headed to - north of the makeshift village - but not the exact destination. Likely the cult had its own camp. There was a possibility they were hiding out in the ruins or even the surrounding caves in the area.

The young princess considered for a moment. It was best to act quickly if she wanted to find her three servants again. "If I transform, I should be able to track the scent," she stated. It wouldn't be the first time she had used her true form in front of a human. Just yesterday she had fought to of them as her regular old self.

She took a step back, closing her eyes and letting her consciousness drift. The process was nearly automatic, ingrained in her very being. Light enveloped her, surrounded her body and allowed it to morph. Where once a human stood was now a dragon. White scaled glistened in the sun, revealing her majestic form. She ignored the stunned looks and surprised gasps from the humans around her. Without a second's delay, Ess sniffed the pendant and began to track. She turned to Maikeru. "This'll be faster if you ride on my back," she instructed. The mere thought of having a human on her would send her mother into a panic. Ess giggled at the idea. As soon as the boy agreed, Ess would set off.


[738]

Maikeru took the pendant from her hand, gently so, not wanting to rudely snatch. He held it in his pal. Yes. It was it. It became heavy in his hand when he recognized it. The insignia of the Jashin. He dropped it on the ground, a disgusted look on his face. “This bunny problem of yours is a bit more fire than originally expected. They are Jashinists. And they are very…Your rabbits might be in danger. These Jashinists are big on sacrificing. It’s clear that we have to go there and put a stop to whatever they are doing. They are dangerous.” While Maikeru turned his back for a moment to contemplate what he would do next, he hadn’t noticed the shimmering of light behind him.

When he finally turned to bare witness to what it was, he found that Ess was no longer there. IN her place was a dragon. A long and beautiful one. His mouth gaped open, and everyone around turned their heads. It was a sight to behold indeed. “W-what? I’ve seen a lot of things in my young life, but this...this takes the cake.And his heart raced when Ess instructed her to get on for a ride. He was very hesitant about this. He climbed on her back, and she set off. He held on possibly tighter than he needed to be. When he finally cleared his nerves and his heart stopped beating wildly, he focused on the location of the Jashinists.

He followed her trusted scent of carrots towards a cave. It was one of many of the caves that had surrounded Sunagakure. What was left of it at least. Ess touched down, and Maikeru ran inside. Those rabbits were more than likely in danger. He caught the attention of all the robe wearing Jashinists. Some crucified themselves to the drawn insignia of Jashin on the ground. Maikeru was disgusted at the sight. Oh how he hated them. Hated them all. His blood boiled knowing that they existed. They were like swarming roaches that were in desperate need of being stepped on. Maikeru had a sick and twisted smile on his face and cracked his knuckles/

“HEY FREAKS!! TIME TO DIE!!” Maikeru weaved teh snake and ram hand seals, and the ground began to cover his body. IT started to assimilate itself onto him, the sand and parts of the cave, forming into a hardened Minotaur statue around him. It started to move slowly big then picked up speed and momentum to ram straight through the crowd of cultists. He stepped all over them, and smashed into them, ramming them all out of the way, until the statue had stopped, and crumbled away. “I am going to break every last single one of you into pieces.” Maikeru had noticed that the Jashinists here were particularly weak. Surprising since they thrive off of murder.

He spat a glob of Mud on the ground. He touched the glob and created hand, applying his detonator jutsu. And the three mud wolves formed. when someone tried to escape the cave, escape Maikeru’s wrath, he had the wolves guard the exit. He waited for people to approach. Once they did, he used the Tiger Hand Seal, and blew them all sky high. He began to charge his chakra even more, to begin. He was going to blow the entire roach infested cave as hard as he possibly could. But in the meantime, Ess had to deal some damage to the cultists.

590/1801

The looks she got from humans after transforming were always hilarious. She snickered, an odd sound coming from such a creature. She smiled - big and toothy - at the human's words.  "Rabbits in danger? Oh no," she said dismissively. "Like I said, they can't die. They literally try to kill themselves five times a day on average," Ess reminded her new human companion. Maikeru, right? She would call him Keru. It sounded cuter.

As soon as he hopped on her back, the young dragon set off, gracefully dodging both people and tents before reaching the open desert. She glided in between the dunes, nose pressed as closely to the ground as possible without snorting up half a pound of sand. She could still track the scent from her current height. She tried to concentrate on the scent, but every few seconds she would feel a tug on the back of her head, jerking her upwards.

"If you could, like, not pull my hair so hard that'd be great, thanks," she groaned. "You know what? Just - just hold on to the antlers," she instructed. Hopefully he heard her over the sound of the rushing wind. It would be far easier to get to where they were going if the boy stopped trying to steer her elsewhere.

The scent of the cultist's stench was strong enough still, leading to the outskirts of the former Hidden Sand Village. Rock formations rose up from the dunes, forming cliffsides that housed several caverns. The last time Ess had come here - over a decade ago - those had served as bases for bandits and miscreants. Now, they housed something similar but potentially more dangerous. Cults were far more organized than the average bandit group.  

She landed and moved to address Keru - really, she loved how that sounded - but found him rushing inside the cave already. She sighed. "He does know humans are very frail, doesn't he?" She mumbled, asking no one in particular. Usually her rabbits would be there to agree. Oh San, Er and Yi... How she missed those three.

The young dragon followed after him, pausing only momentarily to look at the humans nailed to the wall. "Darling was right to call these people barbaric," she mumbled. It turned out that Keru was everything except subtle. He either had some sort of personal vendetta against these people or he really really wanted to find the rabbits to impress the dragon princess. What a touching thought that was.

She moved behind his earth covered form. The path he created was convenient, to say the least. He blew past the cultists with little to no effort, like pins and a bowling ball.

With her teeth, she caught one of the cultists flying towards them. Ess gnawed on the man's shoulder, her sharp teeth dug into the crook of his neck. "Ugh, this tastes so gamey. Raw human is gross," she said, spitting out his blood and letting the limp body drop to the ground. She needed water to wash the flavor out. She hacked a couple of times into the cave's sandy floor as she continued to follow Keru.

She watched as he prepared some sort of trap and thought this might as well be her chance to take care of some of them herself. She I fused her vocal chords with chakra, allowing the energy to seep into her voice. "Excuse me, have you seen any rabbits around?" She asked. While the question was genuine, its main purpose was to cast an illusion. The cultists charging towards her and her new friend stopped dead in their tracks. After a few seconds, they began to scream. "Hm.. I guess not," she mused out loud, standing her ground.

[626]

Maikeru jumped in front of the charging Jashinists. He had slightly respected that some of them had the backbone to fight back, unlike most. He cranked his hand back, and threw it forward, creating a cone of an explosion, stopping them from moving any forward, and throwing them far back. He looked around and saw that some of them just laid there and prayed. Prayed to their disgusting deity. He clenched his fists. They weren’t worth fighting. He spat on the ground, and looked at them all. He was so far gone in his rage and violence against the animals, he had completely forgot the objective. Maikeru reached in his back pocket, and pulled out a rock. He called it the rock of bluffing.

“This rock will blow us all up sky high! ALL OF HIS! It's time to see how much you all love your God of Murder. In the name of YOUR GOD I will kill us all. Unless if you tell me where the rabbits went, of course. I’m going to count from ten. And I will detonate this. Ten...nine....eight...seven...six...five...four….three….two….” Maikeru had started to get nervous. He wasn’t going to really blow everyone up. But they ARE animals anyway, so I can just kill them. One of them is bound to talk.

“They went to a place near the center of the Sunagakure village! The Kazekage office! Please...I don’t want to die…”

Maikeru had heard this from a small frail voice. He turned to see a frail man. Everything about him screamed weakness.

“You will die soon, betrayer.” Maikeru watched many gather around the weak man, with anger. They were upon him with anger and raged, his muffled screams were heard, but he himself was hidden behind the swarm of robes. Maikeru had lost interest in everything. He climbed back on Ess, clutching her horns. “You heard him. Let’s head to the office.”  

331 WC

It would turn out later that the man had lied. There would be nothing in the Kazekage's office but dust and ruins. By the time they returned to the cave once again, the cultists would be long gone. At the time she heard this, she was hopeful. Her eyes widened a fraction. She didn't stop to wonder whether or not the man was telling the truth. In retrospect, he had every reason to lie - to keep the Jashinist's plans in motion, to keep Ess from her servants, to create a distraction long enough so that they could move and carry on elsewhere. As Maikeru held the stone over his head, she didn't know whether or not he was bluffing. Honestly, she didn't care either way. There was no doubt in her mind that if the explosion were real, she would survive relatively unscathed.

After all, how could a human ever kill a dragon?

What she took from the gesture was simple: that Maikeru was willing to go quite far to help Ess reach her goal. Regardless of whether he would actually die to reach it, he was a great aid. The young dragon smiled - an odd gesture, considering her current form. It always struck her as interesting how humans could vary so much within their ranks. Sure, there were more of them than there were dragons, but there was little sense of uniformity even in those who came from the same place. Here were two clear examples in Maikeru and the cultists - one steadfast in his righteousness, the others groveling for their lives. So many factions within factions... Ess contemplated the scene with wonder.

"Hop on board, fam," she said nonchalantly as he followed her instructions, glad that he held onto her horns. She set off once again towards the designated location, at the heart of Sunagakure's ruins. She would reach them in under half an hour, galloping through the sand dunes and gliding through the air. With little else on her mind, she jumped past the jagged debris of fallen buildings. The young dragon stood poised atop a tower of glass - doubtless resulting from the burned village - and stared at the destruction around her. She would have stopped to dwell more on the destructive nature of man if she didn't have a goal in mind.

Ess spotted the building and rushed towards it. Half was buried in sand, surrounded by rocks and glass. It was hard to access. The closer she got to the building, the more she realized that there was no trace of anyone nearby. Maybe they were hiding, maybe they were particularly good at covering their tracks. But she lost hope as soon as she reached the Administrative Building. No one was there.

She let out a frustrated roar. She thrashed, momentarily forgetting that someone was on her back. There was a good chance that her violent movements would send him crashing against the dunes. If that happened, it would snap Ess out of her rage. She would rush over to him, concerned. If not, she would ride out her rage and calm down after a few minutes of further destroying what was left of a once great village.

"AGH!" She yelled. "I should have known better. I had a solid lead and let it go. I'm not good at this. I shouldn't have ever come here," she lamented. She swung her tail once last time, crashing into an opaque tower of glass. Shards flew everywhere as if in slow motion, suspended in the air. Ess saw herself reflected in them, angry and broken. She felt pathetic.

[610]

Maikeru held on to Ess’s horns tightly, focusing on the task. He looked down at the Land of Wind while they traversed through the skys. The breeze was nice on his face, better than walking through the scorched desert, boiling under the sun’s rage. He stopped focussing on what he was supposed to be doing, and tilted his head back, a smile on his face. His smile faded when he saw Sunagakure. It was almost blinding to look at. He had to cover his eyes to block the sun’s reflection that pounded off the uncountable number of glass that littered Suna and back into the sky, at Maikeru. He was able to cover his eyes, but get a few glimpses of the devatioation. Suna, wiped out just like that.

Ess had began to move in on the destination. And it turned out to be a disappointment. The Kage office was glassed as good as anything else in the ruins. “Dammit. Lying mother-” Before he could finish his less than graceful statement, Ess had began to thrash about. Maikumaru had to desperately hold on to the horns, while she moved about psychotically. “Hey woah woah woah, someone is still on here.” Unfortunately his grip slipped, and he was sent crashing into sand. “Mmph!” She flew back down to him. He was brushing the sand out of his everything. He didn’t like getting sand inside of places where it didn’t belong, because that would mean they are in a place where it doesn’t easily come out.

When she flew down to him, he did his best to hide his agitation. He was received with as much apology as she could give. He sighed, calming himself down. He looked at her and then at her big, fantastic chest. “All is forgiven, don’t worry about it. Actually worry a little about it. You owe me for this. You could be a great ally, hell, even a great friend. You are a fun one, Ess. But who knows, I might need help in the future with the people trying to establish Sunagakure. We could use a dragon from now and again. But just keep that in mind, one of the things I am good at is tracking and finding people.” He took another long look at her boobs. He reached for them both, copping as many feels as he could. “I just want you to know that this isn’t part of you owing me.” After what was a bit under of a minute, he then finally let go of her breasts, and went about his days. “I’ll walk my way. See ya, Ess.”  

[EXIT]

Electromagnetic Murder Trained
447/2579 WC

As soon as Keru went flying off her back, Ess stopped her thrashing. Her roars turned into a surprised Eep. She rushed over towards the young man, turning back into a human mid way. She slid across the dune, wondering if she had maybe killed the poor human. After all, she didn't know how frail humans could be. She knelt beside him and poked his shoulder. Immediately, he was up and shaking the sand off of his body, emptying it from places where it managed to crawl up. The young dragon pursed her lips. "Sorry about that, dude," she apologized. "I get really sensitive when it comes to San, Er and Yi. They've been with me for, like, forever and not having them around has been super bad for my health. I have these huge bags under my eyes and like, I mean, I  don't know how to clean for shi-" she stopped mid rant when Keru started touching her chest.

Ess looked back and forth between Keru's hands and her own chest, somewhat confused. "Is this some sort of human thing y'all do now?" She asked. He ignored her in favor of continuing what he was doing. What was he trying to get from this? Did humans get some sort of gratification from these loose sacks of skin? She opted to show them off as a mere fashion choice, not taking into account what humans would think. "You do know those are fake, right? Zero functionality," she added. "We're dragons, we lay literally eggs. These are for show and, you know, blending in with y'all humans. Some of us even give live birth - eggs crack inside and out the little suckers go. It's actually pretty interesting," Ess clarified, just in case there was some interspecies miscommunication going on. She was ready to pull out the dragon anatomy charts if need be.

Keru stopped before it came to that, though. Ess's words went in one ear and came out the other. What an odd little person this was. She appreciated the offer of friendship, though. It was cute that a human thought it could bond with a dragon in such a way. She smiled fondly. She owed him a favor, it seemed, but paid little mind to that bit. Even if those hadn't been fruitful at all, he had lent his help either way. The young dragon nodded. "See ya later, fam," she said, and watched for a few minutes as he wandered off.

What to do now?

She turned around to look at the ruined building, half buried and covered in a thick sheet of glass. Considering she was already here, she might as well take a look. No harm in it, right? She touched the glass with one hand, knocking on the surface to gauge its thickness. "One good hit with the horns should do it," she mumbled to herself. Braced for impact, she cracked through the glass, leaving an opening big enough for her to squeeze through.

The inside was dark. Debris covered almost every inch of the once grandiose building. Her footsteps echoed off the tilted walls. The general environment was disorienting, to say the least. Sand had seeped through fissures and blocked off some of the halls, leading to dead ends and blocked off passageways.  Ess felt like she was walking through a labyrinth, twisting and turning through different levels. The stairs were hard to traverse, requiring some maneuvering. Most of the rooms she came across had already been looted. Others had little more than sand and ash. One of them, though, caught her attention. From the corner of her eye, Ess saw a  nondescript wooden door, sealed shut and seemingly intact. Why had it been looked over? Had the looters simply not seen it? Hesitantly, she  moved to open the door, an odd and uneasy feeling settling in the pit of her stomach. As soon as her skin made contact, she felt a gust of wind emanate from the door. Markings lit up in blue light, the meaning of which Ess couldn't decipher. Something clicked and the door slowly opened. The young dragon wasn't sure what had just happened, but shrugged it off as she did most things. She chalked this up to another fit of human ingenuity.

Scrolls and books lined the walls. To the trained eye, the plain room was anything but. Under the light of her own creation flickering overhead, Ess spent hours reading and skimming over the information therein - state secrets long guarded and kept to the most privileged of eyes, myths of creatures long lost to time. Her eye caught on several specific documents that she decided to keep for further review. She wanted a second opinion, which she knew Di would more than gladly give. She felt giddy just thinking what she could do with all of this knowledge. One thing was for certain now: At least she wouldn't be going back empty-handed.

[839]

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