It was early morning when they had come across the mist shrouded hills. Thinking it would pass as the sun rose, the light burning it away, they had continued on their way. Era still hadn’t managed to get better clothing and was keeping that in mind as she traveled. The once bright yellow dress she had started out with now had quite a few snags and the wind and weather had managed to tear the edge of her skirts to tatters. Her shoes were also falling into ill repair. Mostly because they were not travel shoes at all but simply house slippers. Due to this and the fog, Era found she could neither walk nor fly. Having abandoned her wings upon entering the fog she now wished it would raise already so she could see to fly. Frustrated she stopped walking abruptly.

The steel dragon walking behind her was now larger then a horse. He was getting close to full grown now and she still didn’t know what he wanted to be called. It was that topic that nearly caused him to plow her over. He was too busy thinking about what his name should be and his nose ran smack into the small of her back, shoving her forward into the fog. It had been completely by accident and after making sure she hadn’t actually fallen he soon found himself crouching down close to the ground, his head level with her feet.

“I’m so very sorry Lady Era. I didn’t mean to. Are you alright? Is there a way to make it up to you? Perhaps I should carry you instead, that way I won’t run into you again…”

Era had been about to kick him right in the nose, but held herself back. After a moment’s thought, more for her dignity then anything else as her feet were killing her, she agreed. “Yes, a ride would be appropriated I think.” He stayed where he was as she walked around and settled between where his wings met his back. He felt the tension in her relax as he stood and started to walk once more.

“Lady Era, I’ve been thinking about a name.” He said, his common tongue had improved much from traveling with her. “What do you think about the name Valen?”

Rianna sat at the top of a hill, her eyes closed, feeling the mist float around her. Her boots were beside her in the grass, her paws free, wiggling slightly and digging into the soft earth, and her cloak was discarded somewhere nearby. She opened her eyes, one blue, one green, and focused on the dim circle of light as it traveled across the sky. She sighed and flopped back, spread-eagled on the cool grass, the dew soaking through her too-thin clothes. She shifted uncomfortably and wiggled, sighing audibly in contentment as her long, thick tail slid out of her loose trousers, draping itself across her belly, the tip twitching occasionally.

Her pale blue eye slitted and focused at some blurry figure in the mist, and she grinned in delight, her six sharp feline teeth peeking from beneath her lips. With one hand, her nails sharp and hard like claws, she snapped forward, moving to grab at the small, fluttering bird that had darted too close. She missed, and air hissed through her teeth, a low growl in her throat. Without thinking, Rianna flipped onto her stomach, crouching low on the ground, and sprang forward, her strong legs propelling her up. She reached out again, and this time she caught the avian. It struggled in her grasp, and she sighed and let it go, the pupil of her eye turning normal once more. She reached into a pocket and carefully put her eyepatch back on, firmly reprimanding her daemon half, which mentally growled at her.

"I don't care what you want, do you understand?" she said aloud in a firm tone. "I will not act like a stupid feline at all hours of the day, daemon or no daemon."

The voice in the back of her mind said some obscenity that she couldn't quite make out, then subsided in enough time for Rianna's sensitive ears to pick up on some other sound, muffled by the mist, but seemingly close. Curious, she tucked her tail back into her trousers, shoved her pawed feet back into her overlarge boots, and settled her cloak about her shoulders, warding off the slight chill from the air. Thus dressed, she carefully made her way through the mists to find out where the sound was coming from.

Era leaned against the steel dragon's now raised neck. Valen... The name seemed fa miler somehow. She didn't really know from where. “Sure, if you like it. I could still call you Clumsy if you want though.” She replayed, teasing him. He had grown quite fast and was just now getting out of his clumsy stage. His walk was much smoother now even.

“Is it a bad name?” He asked, turning his head a bit to look back at her out of the corner of one eye. She sat back up and looked him in the eye, tipping her head slightly to one side in order to see him better.

“Actually, I think it's a very good name. Valen it is then.” Lady Era nodded. Happy with himself the dragon purred and turned his attention back to what was before him. Era did the opposite, turning her attention the the sore feet of the body she possessed. She wondered if she had done any serious damage and set to carefully removing the flimsy shoes from her aching feet. She frowned upon examining the shoes. She had manage to tear a hole in the bottom of one and the other was starting to become undone on the side. Half tempted to ditch them all together Era nearly threw them away into the mists, then she paused. Bad shoes would no doubt be better then no shoes... and she could always keep them hidden under her skirts. No one looked at people's shoes out here anyways and as soon as they made it to the city she would invest in some new clothing. For now though she could only hide them in the folds of her skirts as her feet throbbed slightly now that they weren't being put under such a burden.

Rianna's nose twitched, trying to pick up any scent at all, but the mist shrouded and muffled everything, including smell. Giving up, she sat down roughly on the ground, confused and a touch irritated. Without thinking, she placed a fingertip in her mouth, using one of her sharp teeth to dig out dirt from beneath the nail. Her tongue, rougher than a human's, helped to wipe it away. She sat like this for a few minutes, absent-mindedly grooming herself as she tried to figure out where she'd gotten lost.

The sounds she'd heard had been ahead of her when they'd first wafted in on the mist, she knew, but she'd somehow passed them... or had she? Perhaps her ears had heard wrong, and the sounds had not, in fact, been in front of her, but from some other direction. Rianna cursed the mists. Her grooming complete, she turned around and peered at the ground beneath her, thinking to backtrack. An angry frown flickered across her face as she realized that, somehow, the mists - or something - had erased her tracks. The grass had sprung back up to stand tall and proud, and not a single sign of her bootprints was anywhere. This really is a most irritatingly confusing place, she thought gruffly. Perhaps she should have listened to her daemon half when it had suggested she avoid the misty hills.

But, of course, she hadn't. Curiosity had overcome logic. Not to mention Rianna didn't like listening to the daemon within. She frowned mentally, a brief moment where she wondered... did her daemon even have a name? She'd never heard it since she'd arrived in Imythess, but she might have known once, long ago, before her memories had been driven away. Do you have a name? she asked it - he? she? - mentally, not at all pleased that she was willingly beginning a conversation.

Yes, it replied, it's mental voice carefully neutral, giving no hint as to the gender, if there was any, of the daemon. Why do you want to know? Now there was a hint of amusement, and Rianna scowled, ignoring the daemon and going back to her hunt. The sounds drifted to her again, and this time she moved more carefully, a few steps at a time, listening intently to see if the noise grew stronger or weaker - or if it stayed the same. The mist would not trick her so easily this time, she vowed.

As Valen turned his attention back to what was in front of him he walked right into a not so low hanging tree branch. It snapped right off as it snagged in his horns.

“Lady Era? Perhaps clumsy would be a better name…” He said in a meek voice, quite odd coming from a beast his size. Era looked up and saw what he had done as he moved in a half circle and managed to catch the branch on another. As they caught on each other too Valen jerked to a stop. Era couldn’t help herself. It only started as a giggle but it didn’t take long for her to burst into a fit of laughter.

“It’s not that funny Era. I really am getting tangled up here…” The steel dragon attempted to move back and yanked his head. There was a creak and a few smaller branches fell to the ground with little snaps. Era nodded, and covered her mouth in an attempt to stop her laughter. Still giggling some she got off his back and decided to just lay on the damp grass. The giggling was nor Era, but actually Lady Mladen. It was something she was having a hard time stopping. So instead she set the possessed body on the ground and got up, leaving the body where it rested.

Lady Mladen was still giggling as Era, in her true form, looked down at her and shook her head. Looking up at Valen she sighed. “I often have no idea why she acts like that. Here, hold still…” Now as a taller being, the top of her head was easily where Valen’s head was stuck even if she was hovering above the ground, which she tends to do. A being of pure white and red, her wings tipped in pink. She rose up to where Valen was trapped, ignoring the giggling of the high elf in the yellow dress. There wouldn’t be an easy way to do this, so she decided to do it a simple way. She cast spark where the two branched were caught. The spark fluttered a bit in the damp air so she blew softly on it until it caught. “Let it burn a bit and it should break apart.” She said to him, her voice softer in this form. “Pull when I say…”

After a few minutes of carefully following the sounds, Rianna felt she'd finally gotten the hang of it. She dropped to all fours, letting the feline instinct take over, no matter how awkward it felt to her mostly-human body. Instinct had her advancing forward slowly, her sensitive ears twitching as she picked up the sounds, louder now. She was close enough now that she could pick up snatches of words and phrases, but not so much that she could tell what, exactly, was being said.

She bounded forward, a little bit faster now, but came down too hard. Yowling loudly, she rolled to her side and curled into a fetal ball, cradling her hand where something - a twig, it looked - had cut a gash on the edge of her palm. She was lucky it had only been a gash - an inch or so to the right, and the twig would have impaled her hand, rendering her useless, or close enough. That's what you get for being cocky, said the daemon within, and Rianna scowled, growling low in her throat. "Oh, why don't you just stuff it and go back to your hole," she said angrily, hissing.

Fine, but don't tell me I didn't warn you. The daemon's presence faded from the foreground of her mind, and Rianna sighed and nursed her wound in silence, her rough tongue darting out to clean it. It looked like she would be walking like a two-legger from here.

Still holding her hand close to her body, ignoring the bleeding, Rianna moved forward, now hoping she could find intelligent, possibly helpful people who might help her wrap her hand. She had no bandages, no balms or ointments or salves, and definitely no healing spells, although it mightn't be such a bad idea to learn some. The daemon snorted in the back of her mind, as if to say she couldn't do it. Rianna's scowl deepened. "Hello?!" she called, her voice loud. The mists muffled it a great deal, but if she could hear normal conversation at this range, then perhaps whoever was out there could hear her shout.

The branch burned for a short time until Era said, “Pull, now.” The steel dragon pulled his head back. There was another creak and things seemed to pause for a moment. Then, quite abruptly, the branch snapped where she had charred it. Shocked by the sudden release poor Valen kept moving backwards so quickly that he flapped his wings and managed to fall backwards onto his wings. He stayed there for a bit looking up at the smoldering end of the branched still tangled in his horns. Era floated over and grinned at him, Lady Mladen’s giggling finally subsiding in the back ground.

“Are you alright hon?” She asked.

“Probably…” He replied. “My stomach hurts. Can we just fly up until we get out of the fog?”

“Sure, why not.” Era shrugged. “Get up and I’ll help you get rid of that lovely hat in a moment.” Era shivered slightly, the mists a bit damp for her fire elemental birth. She went over to the, for all appearances, sleeping elf and once more took possession of her body. Idly she wondered what sort of illness Lady Mladen suffered from. Nightmares of her own devise, the inability to wake up, fits of giggles… even if it was funny… and such anger…

Taking control of the body that Lady Mladen couldn’t even use, Era sat back up and shivered again. The dampness was getting into everything. She stood up and attempted to brush off the condensation, but it didn’t work. Deciding that she wouldn’t be able to do anything about it until they got out of the mist she gave up. As Valen was righting himself she thought she heard a noise. She held up her hand for silence, only now realizing that there may be others around. A sound rose from the fog then. “Hello?!”

“Hello!” Era yelled back, then realizing it was nearly an echo added, “Who calls?”

She had nearly given up hope when she caught the faint "Hello!" coming in through the mists. Although she knew it was impossible in this mists, she held her breath, fearing that it was an echo, until, a second later, there came a "Who calls?"

She inhaled deeply, filling her lungs with air in order to get an effective yell. "I am Rianna!" she called, hissing softly as her torn flesh caught on her shirt. She nearly bit down on her lip to fight the sudden, sharp pain, but at the last second thought better of it. Her feline teeth would cut her lips to ribbons if she did that. The mist poked and prodded at the gash in her hand, causing the pain to subside into a constant, dull throb, a far cry from the white-hot pain that had gone sharply through her when she'd received it and when it had caught on her clothing.

With her free hand, Rianna pulled her cloak more tightly about herself, hoping to fight off the chill from the mist, made stronger by her lack of decent clothes. There was an itch in the middle of her back, where her arms couldn't quite reach. Her right foot twitched, trying to get at the itch, but she firmly forced down the instinct. You won't get the best of me, she told the daemon angrily. I defeated you once before. I will do it again if I must.

A mental sigh from the daemon. If you insist. You know you won't be fully yourself until you accept me, it said sullenly. You were born to be mingled with me.

Shut up and leave me alone, Rianna replied sharply, although deep down, she knew it was right. How am I supposed to trust a daemon that won't even tell me it's name? She didn't bother to wait for a response, instead bending her attention toward finding the voice who had answered her in the mists. "I need help!" she called to the voice. "I've gotten lost. Do you know the way out?"

Era paused, waiting for another sound to rise from the mist. Someone else was there… the voice then called out once more. "I need help! I've gotten lost. Do you know the way out?" Era looked toward Valen and shrugged. She then started walking toward the sound of the voice as she called back.

“Not really. We were just thinking of going up.”

Valen sulked as he followed behind Era once more. His ‘lovely hat’ forgotten by Era for the moment. He tugged at it and a few twigs snapped. He paused for a moment and shook his head back and forth in an attempt to get rid of it. It was then that Lady Era saw what he was doing.

“Valen! Stop!” She snapped at him. He stiffened and to his shock she cast fireball right at his head. She had aimed well and the force of the spell combined with his panicked duck managed to loosen the branch. It fell to the ground directly in front of his face. Almost fearful he looked up at Era as she came up to the burning branch. She looked at him, saw he wasn’t injured, and saved the casting of a healing spell for later.

“Still not hurt?” She asked as if she hadn’t just chucked a fireball at his head.

“No. Fire scares me.” He sulked, switching to his baby draconic as he sat up. He then realized he had done that and switched back to Common. “I’m fine. I just wish you wouldn’t use fire on me. You’re the one immune, not me.”

((OOC: *gnaws on short post* I hate writer's block...))

Rianna nursed her wound for a moment. She sighed and shook her head. You know you can heal that, right? said her daemon, amusement tinging its mental voice. Oh, I know that. But I don't want to waste energy I might need later, she responded. A bandage would work well enough for now. She watched the mist carefully in the direction she'd heard the response. It wasn't long before she saw a more solid form, though it was still a blur. A very large blur.

Startled, she crouched down and tried to pierce through the mist. What was that? The voice had sounded human, that she knew, but the size of what was coming toward her was rather larger than any human she'd ever seen. So, either her ears were playing tricks on her, or something else was out there.

A bird fluttered overhead, and Rianna's stomach growled in protest. She'd not had anything to eat in quite a while. With only a brief thought of perhaps not attacking another bird, she sprang upward and caught the twittery little thing between her teeth. She snapped its small neck easily, and with her uninjured hand, she tore into the soft flesh, spitting out feathers and bone. Her stomach settled, and the daemon within gave a contented mental sigh. You're learning rather well, Rianna, it said happily. If only you'd listen to me more often. And just so you'll stop bothering me about it... I am called Elumiel.

Rianna's hand, bits of avian blood on the fingertips, paused halfway to her lips. But... that's my middle name, she thought, startled. Isn't it? The daemon laughed softly. No, my dear, sweet Rianna. You took it as your middle name on our joining, but it was mine first. Slowly, Rianna licked the blood from her fingers as she mulled this over. The daem- Elumiel - probably knew more about her than she did. She shook her head slightly and turned her attention back to the shape - it seemed like two distinctive shapes now - coming toward her in the mist.

Era paused. She couldn’t tell where the person she had heard was anymore. She looked around with her and beconed for Valen to stay close. He stood and shifted his wings so they folded more comfortably on his back. Casting his own gaze about he snorted in frustration. The fog was likely playing tricks on them. It seemed magical enough.

“Lady Era,” He said, his voice not so whinny as attempting to be logical, which he did do very well on occasion. “I think we should just go. I’ll even do the flying if you want. I don’t mind, really I don’t. I just don’t like it here. It… it’s too closed in and too hard to see.”

Era froze as he spoke. She hadn’t noticed that before, that it seemed so close. Was the fog closer now, was it denser here? The mists stirred about her and even though she was practically sure they were in a very open place, with rolling hills hidden by the fog, her claustrophobia began to start to creep up on her. Fear made her start to feel cold, her natural burning fire begin to flicker and flutter a bit like a fragile candle attempting to survive a downpour. In response to her reaction, the heart of body she possessed began to beat faster, as if she had been running. She shivered slightly, the sharp movement startling her out of her frozen state. She turned and rushed over to Valen then, and he was surprised to see fear in her eyes.

Era climbed onto his back and practicly hid there, closing her eyes so that she could feel the open movement of air and know that she was not blocked in here. Valen hesitated. She hadn’t told him to go. So he waited a moment before deciding what to do. Raising his head he looked around and then called out to the stranger that Era had spoken to. “Whom ever you are, I’m flying out of here in just a moment. If you want to come with us you need to show up soon!” He was surprised to hear a strange muffled sound come back to him from the right. Turning to look that way he noticed an odd shape. Walking over cautiously he saw it was a low broken stone wall. He couldn’t see either end past the fog though. “Can you hear me?” He asked, his unease frowing with Era’s strange reaction.

Rianna frowned slightly as the shapes seemed to fade away into the mist. Oh, why can't it be dark here? she muttered in her mind. At least then I'd be able to use my magic to see. Sighing, she thought back to which way the shapes had seemed to be headed. At first, they'd been going straight across her path. Then, however, they'd veered off in an almost panicked move. Rianna's skin crawled with the feel of the mist seeping through her thin clothes. She didn't like this mist, not at all. It confused the eye with its blurring, and it muffled sounds and smells to where even the keenest of nostrils and ears couldn't pick up anything decently. It had been a miracle, she knew, that she'd heard anyone at all out here in the mist.

Sighing, realizing that they wouldn't be turning back around, just as lost in the mists as she was, Rianna leaped forward, intending to follow the beings. It was a little awkward, running on just three limbs instead of four, but her wounded hand wouldn't have been able to stand the pressure, and now more than ever the half-human wanted to keep her magical energy close, believing that if she used it at all, the mist would gobble it all up. To her surprise, Elumiel agreed with her. It seemed neither of them liked this cold, wet, fuzzy place. It was confining, and Rianna did not like to be confined.

A new voice reached her, although she was certain it came from the direction she saw the pair of beings move off in. What in the hell was it? she wondered, as she listened carefully.

“Whom ever you are, I’m flying out of here in just a moment. If you want to come with us you need to show up soon!” The voice called, and then asked, “Can you hear me?”

Rianna gave a low yowl, startled. Flying? A... a dragon, maybe? The shape had seemed big enough. She inhaled deeply as she ran, then called out, "I'm on my way!" I think, she added softly. "I hear you fine!" She did, actually, now that she thought of it. She gave a very loud, very cat-like yowl when she skidded to a halt just centimeters from a low wall, her one visible eye widening with surprise. She turned and looked around, feeling the hair on her neck rise slightly. "Which way are you?" she called, uneasy at the presence of this wall. What was it there for? She really didn't think she wanted to know.

The steel dragon crouched by the low wall. He could step right over it if he really felt a reason to, but he didn’t. He felt he needed to get Era out of here.

Lady Era had opened her eyes and was quick to close them again. The wall was not a welcome sight. It made things seem closer and she physically stiffened up some. She wanted to flee, but she couldn’t even open her eyes. She began to mentally curse at herself in her own language. She was actually frightened and she knew, she knew, it was not just some irrational fear.

Almost an entire lifetime ago, she had accidentally stumbled into the elemental plane of earth, quite literally into the earth. There… she had gotten stuck, in the earth. No air, no movement, nothing. It probably wasn’t very long at all before the others found her, but it felt like an eternity to her. That fear still caused her to freeze up. She hated it, but found it wasn’t too bad if she paid attention to where she was.

Valen’s voice rang out again after the other had answered. “We are over here, just follow my voice!” He called out and then, began counting out loud. “1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9…”

Rianna followed the voice, down to her right, feeling along the wall to make sure she didn't stray. The counting was soothing, in a way, as it brought her along. She saw the bulk of the shapes she'd seen earlier. She kept her good hand on the wall, her other one cradled against her belly. The mist seemed to fade away around the blurry shapes, and she gave an audible cry of relief when she saw the voice that had been speaking to her. "Here I am," she said tentatively, not really sure about talking to... a dragon. She'd been right.

Curiosity nearly overwhelmed her, but the desire to get out of the mists was stronger. Elumiel hissed in her mind, raising the hairs on Rianna's neck even higher, as the mist pressed down on them. She shivered in the chill air, wincing at the moisture that crowded around her, pressing down. She decided she truly did not like these mists - they weren't natural at all, she knew that deep in her instincts. No mist, out in the open like this, would stay in the daylight as long as this one had.

She nearly collapsed against the wall, mental exhaustion draining her as surely as physical exhaustion would have. "I am Rianna," she said, making sure to stay near the dragon, afraid that if she moved, she would lose sight of him again in the mists. "And you are?" she asked, smiling weakly.

((Sorry for such a short post... :unsure: ))

((It’s alright, Mine ended up rather short too :( ))

Era opened her eyes when she heard the voice. She found that she could barely move at all, the fear of being closed in by the mists creeping through her. She held on to Valen’s wide neck which he now dipped in greeting upon seeing the girl. “I’m glad you found us. I’m sure someone could die in here…” He glanced around, his own words causing him to become more frightened.

“I’m Valen and this is Lady Era. I think we should go now though. Can you ride or do you want me to carry you?”

He shifted down lower and Era managed to move. She beconed her forward with her hand. “Now, please.” She said, her nerves were getting the better of her. Why did Valen have to mention how close the mist was? It hadn’t bothered her until he said something…

Rianna shivered at the dragon's words. Someone could die in here, she silently agreed, thinking of the mists. If no one found their way out, they could easily starve to death, and who knew what other perils existed. She hesitated, scuffing one booted toe on the ground, digging up some of the grass. "I... uh... I don't think I should ride," she said, taking in the woman upon his back. "It looks like your friend there could do with some space behind her. If you can manage, I'd rather be carried," she said, giving the dragon a short bow. "And I am certain, in better circumstances, that it would be a pleasure to meet you both. As it is, I think it would be best for us all if we left these gods-forsaken mists."

At the woman's gesture, Rianna moved closer, making sure she didn't jar her injured hand. She swore to herself she would heal it as soon as they were out of the mists. Again, she cursed the fact that the mists were... well... mists, and not darkness, as her visible eye tried to peer through the wispy white mass. With her free hand, she briefly lifted her eyepatch long enough to remove some of the moisture that had gathered beneath the leather rim.

Elumiel sighed in the back of Rianna's mind. Get a move on, will you? Your nervousness is even affecting me, whined the daemon, making Rianna's head ache. She sighed. "I think we're all ready to go," she told Valen and the Lady Era. "As I assume you both are," she added, a bit dryly.

(( Writer's block is horrible ;_; ))

“If you wish.” Valen nodded, spread his wings wide and flapped hard. The mists swirled around him and he half landed on the wall as he caught the odd girl in his fore claws. Then, pushing off with his hind legs, he flew up in an almost lazy spiral, getting as high as he could very carefully because he was afraid to meet up with another tree.

The mist was very thick and they moved around them in odd spirals and swirls. All that he could see was the fog, but he kept moving up. He may have lost which way was north, but he knew which way was up.

Then, quite abruptly, the mist was gone. The sun was on the horrizen and the mists spread out below them, tinted orange by the sun. He hovered for a moment, his wings wide.

“Everyone alright?” He asked, glancing down at Rianna. He could feel Era relaxing and knew she would be better in a short time. It wasn’t the first time he had to take charge.

“Yes.” Era said and leaned over to ask, “You wouldn’t happen to know a way to go from here, would you?” Valen flapped his wings a few times to stay above the mist where it clung to the ground.

Rianna carefully manuevered her injured arm to where the dragon's talons wouldn't harm it anymore than it had already been, but she restrained the urge to move around in order to get more comfortable. Her one open eye narrowed slightly, still trying to peer through the mist, to no avail. The sudden movement of the dragon - Valen, he'd said - startled her, but only slightly, and she soon got accustomed to the odd way she was moving, being held beneath him.

The sudden, bright sunlight startled her so that she jerked back, automatically trying to hide from the intense light. The air was cool above the mists, and she glanced down for a moment, blinking at the sight beneath her. The mists were roiling, like an ocean of clouds above the hills. It almost looked as if the mists were angry - angry at their departure, or angry at being stuck where they were. There was no sign at all of the foggy mass fading, even though burning sunlight shone down on it. It made Rianna's spine shiver.

When the woman - Lady Era? - spoke, Rianna almost didn't hear her. She frowned and considered the question - or, what she heard of it, anyways. Did she know a way to go? Not really. She couldn't find the landmarks she'd remembered on coming into the mists, now realizing that it was a big place, and she was high in the air. "I've really no idea, but I would suggest west, because that's always a good direction to pick, I think. I don't recognize any of what I see, although I usually look at things from a .... much closer point of view," she said wryly.

((Sorry it took me so long to respond. I've been hella busy, lately.))