A Gathering of Common Interests

[saerwen]

Damion knew that Miriel had a reason to run when she started to fight a little harder. He could feel that magic had been used, and that someone was trying very hard to use it. He wondered if something had happened to Jaedon. Only after Miriel had run down the hall did this reality begin to sink in. He followed Miriel as fast as he thought he could without running over her, or making her even more angry with him. As he rounded the corner he had expected to see Jaedon leaning against the wall, or worse, but it was not that bad actually. Rather than Jaedon, it was Neron. Damion was tempted to say, "Serves him right." quietly to himself, but the worried look on Jaedons face changed his mind. "She seems to genuinely care for him... but why?" He leaned against the wall as he watched the girls do their best. "Poor bloke is hallucinating." He thought to himself. "I truly can sympathize. Memories can kill."

Jaedon was frantic, but much soothed by Miriel's reassuring pressence. As Miriel explained what she needed to do, Jaedon nodded her head and began to calm her senses. She inhaled deeply, and grasped reality as hard as she could. She had been in Nerons mind, and she knew what he could do. She looked to Miriel, "This might take a little while, to completely block his memories, but I can do it. If I do get trapped, that will just make it easier for me to stay and block them off. Just make sure that he wakes up if you want me to come out. He would be the only one who could pull me out if that happens." She looked back to Neron as she sat down, folded her legs up under her, and leaned against the wall closest to him. Her eyes shut for a moment as she began to dig into his mind. They shot open, like black pearls gleaming in the light of the moon and stars, as she found her way in.
Everything in Nerons mind was chaos. She heard voices, very indistinct and meshed together. Images were whirling everywhere. She could feel that everything in him was fighting, and now, no doubt it was going to start fighting against her. She had made a wormhole to the outside, but if she had to concentrate to hard, then she would have to abandon that escape and hope that Neron wouldn't trap her. As she continued on she could feel that everything was against her. It didn't want her there, it knew that she was there to work against it, oh that horrible chaos. No wonder Neron was hallucinating. This was frightful. Jaedon kept pushing forward with much effort, trying to reach the problem. She finally made her way to where the memory had its main domain. It was the memory that she had seen before, of all the men assaulting Neron. These were so much more vivid, and she could hear Nerons groans of pain as the weapons and hands beat down upon him. "I have to get this out of you brain." She knew that he would be able to hear her, but she didn't care. She knew her job, and nothing that he tried would get her out. She began to push the memories out of his mind by consuming his thoughts. She began to cover the thoughts, and make new ones, inputting them wherever she could as she took other memories away. "That is right Neron. I am in here, come chase me! Kick me out. I am your problem... Think about me... I am the main problem here. Attack me Neron! Push me away!" She yelled into his thoughts. "I bet that you can't. I am too good for you Neron. You are hopeless against me!" She jeered at him, and tried her best to get on his nerves. She knew that it would only be a matter of time before he started to chase her. And so she continued.

[Neron]

Neron’s mind reared back ath the presence of Jaedon, at first it was undetected because she had been present before, but now as soon as she started messing around the storm raged. All the memories seemed to grow brighter and brighter and more vivid. Changing placed in front of her until it became a blur of Technicolor, like looking into a projector while a movie played. It was blinding, disturbing and captivating all at the same time. The mind shut down most of the walls, until it became a fortress, and it put pressure on her wormhole. If she was going to cause havoc then she would have to stay here.

On the outside Neron was starting to shake uncontrollably, he was fighting against this thing in his mind and against his memories, his power was being drained and he could no longer keep warm it seemed. Miriel knew it was time to act. Placing her hand on him, he wasn’t sensible to her touch anymore, for his focus was in his mind. Her finger started to glow a warm yellowish light. The skin on his arm, where she had her hand, turned a slightly pink color. It wasn’t long until his shivering stopped, she was feeding him energy, not enough to fight Jaedon with, just enough to keep his health under control. She had seen people like this before who used all their energy up until they killed themselves. That was not going to happen to Neron.

Neron’s mind kept flashing kept reminding him of everything he had done. Suddenly it stopped at a cetain memory, the one of Jaedon and Miriel, when they had first met. It played everything Jaedon did, just for Jaedon, every hurtful word, the looks on Miriel’s face as she passed out. Everything was shown. IT was to hurt her, more than anything. Because Neron knew about her he knew how he could hurt her. Memories of his loving parents came to mind. It showed how great they were, how a true family was to function, it showed a childhood she never had.

[saerwen]

Jaedon felt it. Neron was putting pressure on her, the wormhole was becoming too hard to keep up, and push him memories back. She couldn't do it at the same time. She let the defense fall, trusting that she would get those memories out of sight for a while, and that Miriel would wake Neron up eventually. With her grip on reality gone, Jaedons mind completely disappeared from sight. Her eyes were still black, and open, but she was not conscious of anything happening in the real world. Her real world at the moment was Nerons mind. It had become like a hurricane, whipping her with stinging blows. Everything seemed to lash out at her. No one's mind had ever been this dense with hatred for her prying ways.
The thing that hurt her the worst was Nerons attack on her with images that he knew were painful for her. Like someone had punched her in the stomach she doubled over as her head was filled with the frightening images of Miriel falling to the ground. She had been scared for Miriel much as she was scared for Neron now, but with a force that was stronger, because she had caused Miriels pain in a much more direct way. The thoughts passed through her mind that had come to her so many times before, in the latest time of night, haunting her in her sleep. "What am I? All I can do is cause pain! My lust... oh my lust for magic! Why do I have to live off of such a painful thing?! WHY?!" The thoughts screamed in her mind, the questions raged. She sank to her knees in the middle of Nerons mind, the storm had been forgotten. Jaedon stayed this way for a while longer before she remembered her one job here... Why she was here. "Alright Neron, I give you kudos, you have done well. I will not stop though. You can try everything you want to, but I won't stop. I told you that you aren't good enough to get me out. This is my domain Neron. Your mind is mine." She rose, and began to dig again. The pictures of his happy family came like bullets to her heart. He wanted her to feel the pain of loneliness, and feel it she did. It hurt so bad, but that only drove her more. "I will not fall to you, you will fall to me. So take your best shots." She crawled in deeper till she found the worst part of his memories. She also found what was triggering the problem. It was a wound on his side, a painful wound. The pain was causing him to remember. As she felt more attacks come flying around her she went straight for the feeling of that pain. She was going to draw his thoughts from the pain to her, to hurting her. She knew that was what he wanted, hurt. His dragon side was eating away at the side that was good. Her job was to find that side of him, even if she had to suffer for it. "Hey Neron!" she looked around at the images in his mind. "I've found you. You better stop me before I push you back down to where you came from. " She stepped to where the feeling of pain was, and she ripped into it. She continued to claw at the feeling and the sensation of pain. "He is not gonna like this. It's gonna hurt." the thoughts ran through her head, if Neron was listening, then he would pay her for her painful actions. In order to block the feeling of pain, Jaedon had to make it more real, more painful, if even for a moment. In that moment, she knew that all hell would break loose inside of the dragon. She braced herself as she made it so. "Oh Miriel. This is the hardest thing I have ever done in my life." All of her will pushed towards her goal, and power came to her, refreshing her for the trouble ahead.

[Neron]

Neron let out a cry of pain as she started ripping at the pressure point. Inside that cry of pain turned into a roar of anger. It was strange, it almost seemed as though he had two sides, one was his normal self, serious, sarcastic, and playful, caring in his own way, the other was a ragin brute force that bullied and pushed its way around not caring how many got hurt or died in the process. The “black” dragon seemed to be fighting and throwing him pain, tearing his mind up while the “green” dragon was trying to keep everything undercontrol but it didn’t seem to be working. As Jaedon continued to rip at him Naron grimaced as his eyes closed tighter.

In his mind his mind was whirling around in confusion for a moment at the pain. It hurt everything about him. Anger started to surge within him, he would fight back. On the outside Neron suddenly grew very still, like a statue, then all of a sudden his eyes flew open, slits with an expression of hatred that pierced the soul. It was as the moment that in his mind a memory of his first time becoming a black dragon came, he had killed many that day. It showed him a green dragon, with blood stained claws, teeth, and legs in the sunset. A cloud passed over the sun and when the sun showed her face again the green dragon was no more, but a black dragon had taken its place. As soon as this memory passed Neron lost his skin.


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Miriel had seen this coming as soon as Neron opened his eyes. She leapt up and tried to drag Jaedon out of the way, but she couldn’t move her to far, after all she was a dead weight. “Move blast it!” but it was to late, the dragon had been unearthed and soon Neron’s human form had disappeared. There lay in the hallway a black dragon, almost like a 3D shadow. His scales had a warm glow about them like polished ebony, but not the sheen like normal dragons, whose scales shone like jewels. Everything about him was black except two scars. One was on his shoulder and it was a deep grey color, but that one was nothing to the one on his side. It was an angry gnarled looking scar, that wound down his side, it was in a place that seemed to scream mortal wound, for no one would have recovered from something that bad, yet how had he survived?

Miriel and Jaedon’s body had been shoved to the side by a dragon that filled the entire place. “Good thing he put a spell on him to keep him smaller if something like this happened..” Miriel muttered as she looked at him in despair, this wasn’t good. Neron was weaker than she had thought, or Jaedon had made him exceedingly angry.

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In the mind A roar had filled the space, it was ear-splitting and as large black dragon stood before Jaedon, a snarl on his lips. Though the one in his mind had no scars, but instead had a smooth and flawless skins. “Why are you here?” a voice echoed in his mind, “You are in my domain and are not wanted, therefore you must die.” The black dragon didn’t recognize her face or who she was. The dragon backed off until it disappeared into the darkness, memories sprang forth images of hatred and horror, images of slaughter and massacre. Then pressure was exerted on Jaedon’s mind, a brute force that felt like claws ripping on her mind.

[saerwen]

Damion had watched as Neron lost his skin. He stayed rather small, but was still a sight to be seen. "Wow... That is one scary man." He thought as he saw Miriel pulling Jaedon out of the way of his hulking form. "Jaedon, what are you doing to him?" He stepped out of the way and then watched as Miriel tried to shield Jaedon from Nerons gigantic figure.

"That's right, come on Neron." Jaedon had prepared for something painful, but she was not ready for the blow that came crushing down upon her. She screamed with pain as the claw like pressure came over her. She knew that Miriel would hear it on the outside, and would become worried, but that was just the way that these things went. Jaedon had been pushed aside from her task, but that was okay, she was done there, at least with ripping it apart. Now it was time to clean her mess. The sharp and painful pressure stayed with her every step of the way, causing so much pain that Jaedon was sure she would never get out of his mind alive, but before she quit, she would complete her task. Her will-power was strong enough to push her onward. She had felt pain before, worse than this physically, and so she would keep going. She wouldn't stop. She could handle it.
She went back over to that nerve of pain and using everything that she could, she began to snuff it out of sight, feeling, and more importantly, out of Nerons mind. Like a cooling black mist of rain, the pain died, not physically, just from notice. Jaedon knew that she would not be able to keep it back for a long time, but just so long as she could keep it back long enough for Miriel to help Neron, she would know that everything was complete. It wasn't long after sniffing the feeling out that Jaedon noticed the replays of that memory drifted further and further away. Her only fear was that "black" Neron was going to come down on her with more painful pressure. She knew that would hurt worse than the last one was hurting even now. It felt like she had a slice across her stomach that was pouring blood, she was almost numb, but that was pushed away as she continued to focus everything on keeping that pain out of his mind. She had to do this, for Neron. If he did hurt her again, she would push that out too, the only thing that mattered was making sure that she finished. "I won't give up on you Neron. You are better than this. You can stop this, I know that you can come back. Hit me again if you want. I don't care! I won't leave until you are calm." She made that promise again. Maybe that would help him to remember. "Oh Neron, please remember... This is all my fault..." She silently let her thoughts sink into his thick cranium, knowing that they probably wouldn't make a difference, but they were all that was keeping her going. "I'm sorry."

[Neron]

Miriel heard a scream come from Jaedon, and she was momentarily torn between the two. Was Jaedon hurt? What was happening? She hated being on the outside, but then again, did she want to be within Neron’s mind right now. Her focus turned to Neron, she would have to help him to get Jaedon out. It seemed that he had trapped her inside, she had been worried about this. She only had to stretch out her hand to touch Neron’s scaly side. The surface seemed to be blazing hot now, to hot. Closing her eyes her hand started to glow once more. A cooling sensation this time would have rushed over him. It would have cooled his side, his arm and anything else. Miriel knew now that it was time to let Neron have strength, he needed it to fight off the other self. If she timed it wrong it could mean the death of both of her friends.
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The “black” dragon within him seemed to falter slightly at the time of Jaedon talking to him, it seemed like something from a memory, something not long ago. It was just then that Miriel’s power rushed to Neron and he finally had the strength to fight. All focus was taken off of Jaedon his concentration was on himself. To Jaedon it would have seen like a blur, bright sparks and cries of pain. But since most of the memories were hidden it was obvious who was going to win. The “black” dragon may have been brute force, but the “green” one was all tact. It wasn’t long until everything went black in his mind, the memories had retreated. A moment passed, then another until from the darkness a green dragon stood before her. Its scales shone like the finest emerald, and on his wings there were striped of the purest silver. His head dipped in thankfulness before he spoke, “I thank you for your help, you have risked your own life, to restore mine. Though I must ask you keep those haunting memories here, though they still wage war against me from time to time, I will keep them under control. I must remember what I have done to prevent it from happening again. But the line is thin to keeping it under control and slipping back into that pit of blood.” everything seemed serene once more in his mind, and the dragon before Jaedon opened the portal out of his mind for her. Though he didn’t leave, incase she had any questions or anything.

-------------

Miriel sighed in relief as Neron’s open eyes lost their hateful gleam. But her relief didn’t last long. For the pain that he had been feeling on his side suddenly hit her with full force. She crumpled down as the lightning of pain started shooting down her own side and arm. A minute passed, and then another as she was on the ground bent over in pain, but it didn’t last for long. It never did. Slowly it started to fade and her face, though a bit paler had lost all signs of pain. Now she waited for Jaedon to come back, she hoped and prayed that she would.

[saerwen]

The moment that Damion had heard Jaedon scream he had become seriously worried. He had seen her act like that before, and it was usually never really good. It always meant that while the person was putting up a fight, they had hurt Jaedon. It was hard to think how one could be hurt in a world that wasn't real, but Jaedon had explained it before. The only reason that someone feels pain is because their nerves tell them that something hurts. Those nerves send messages to the brain which then causes the body to react. When someone is in your mind, you simply skip the nerves carrying that message of pain to the brain, it just goes directly there. Feeling just happen to play in eventually. He wanted to go to Jaedons aid, but he knew that this was out of his realm. He couldn't enter Nerons mind, or Jaedons for that matter, and even if he tried to help her from here, the only thing he would succeed in doing would be pushing her deeper into Neron's diluted mind. So he watched helplessly.

Jaedon heaved a great sigh as the storm came to a calm. She was so relieved that she at once stopped paying attention. That was when it hit her. The pain in her stomach and head were overwhelming. She tried so hard to listen to Neron as he spoke, but she just couldn't, she was trying to hard to blot out the pain from her mind. She gasped as her attempts failed and the pain returned again and again. It felt just like the beating that she had gotten last night, and the night before that. The night that she had run into Damion, when she could barely stand. She knew that pictures of those night were flying through her mind in a tizzy of uncontrolled mess. Oh how her side hurt. "It's alright Neron, I am just glad that I could help to make it stop." she gasped out as the door to let her out opened. She was fixing to walk out, but on her way, she stopped as more memories came back. A dark figure in the alley, a green table with cards laid out on it, stacks of chips, a ring made for a brawl, another larger dark figure closing in on her, a fist meeting hard with her stomach, the sound of bones cracking in two. Then the awing sound of quiet, disturbed by the sound of a sword slicing through skin, bone, and then more skin. Jaedon buckled as the pain in her hit again. She let out a low growl as she tried to stop herself from remembering. "Neron can see this!" She yelled at herself, not paying attention to the fact that he could hear her too. She growled again to suppress a yell. Then in one sweeping motion Jaedon pushed herself off the floor of Nerons mind, and ran out. Giving all of her effort. As she left she gave him one passing thought. "That is what Damion will find out, that I don't want him to. I'd appreciate it if you didn't tell Miriel. I am gonna have enough to deal with."
When she made it out Jaedon opened her eyes slightly, trying to come back to the real world. It was so hard to do. She had been moved. It was disorienting for a moment, but as she recovered from that she felt something in her side hurting like nothing in the world. Whoever had moved her had grabbed her in the wrong place... She could feel it. The bone that had been dislodged by the movement was poking into her side, and she knew that getting up was going to take a lot. She started to get up slowly, knowing that Neron had every right to tell on her and then point out her rather ginger behavior. She got half way up, like a sit up, when she started to feel it. It was almost numb, an even more horrifying sensation. She yet again pushed the pain out of her thoughts and looked around for Damion. She knew that he was around here somewhere, she just hoped that he wasn't observing her rather slow actions. She managed to stand up, and put her hand against the wall. She was going to make sure that Neron got back into his skin, and that everything was under control before she left. She could manage that. Her broken rib could wait, broken everything could wait...for now.

Damion was puzzled when Miriel crumpled in front of his. He had seen her using some sort of magic, but he didn't know what it was. As she sank to the floor he went to her aide. It took him a bit to get around Nerons hulking figure to her, but when he did make it, she seemed to be okay. Pale if nothing else but okay. Damion hadn't wanted to take that chance. He knelt down beside her and spoke, "Are you alright, my dear?" He looked at her arm and her side, there didn't seem to be anything wrong, but looks were deceiving. In his haste to ensure that Miriel was okay, he failed to notice that Jaedon had roused herself, and was standing not far behind them, a look of pain flashed across her face for a slight moment, and then vanished as she seemed to flick it away as she flicked her long ebony curls away from her face. They came back to frame it, but they were out of her eyes. Her green eyes rested on him, then Miriel, and then on Neron.

[Neron]

Miriel's face flushed a bright pink as Damion refereed to her as"my dear". She didn't know what to do, never before had she been called this, by anyone. "I'm....fine.." For a moment she was confused by this caring side of Damion, sure he had been caring before, though it was more like possessively protective. This was a part of healing she liked to keep a secret, after all, she didn't want her friends to feel bad about her healing them, she wanted them to be thankful, not worried.

---------

Neron's eyes blinked as Jaedon left his mind, what was going on with her? The place she had been, he didn't like it. He had seen this game before, it wasn't a game that was played in, let's say, higher society. As he gained control of his body he stood up and straightened himself. The cooling sensation that filled his body made him know that Miriel had used her healing abilities on him. His eyes blinked their thanks before he moved his head around to face Jaedon. In his eyes there was a sort of disapproval of her choice and worry. She was hurting, he had felt it and heard it when she was in his mind. Bringing his face close to his he let out a huff of displeasure. Now to many people, if this came from another person, this may have been a bit of air, barely moving a strand of hair, but coming from a dragon...it was a lot stronger. The air would have been warm, for it came from within his fiery self, and quite forceful. Turning to Damion a smirk crossed his face, "Want to fight now?" His voice was filled with playfulness, but in an obvious way, obvious enough for Damion to understand he was joking, hopefully. Then he suddenly became aware that he was in his true form, he was embarrassed slightly. Not because he had lost his skin, and not because he was uncomfortable in it, for he wasn't, it was because of his scars. dragons greatest pleasure besides their wings and breath, were their scales. Many times they spent hours making everyone shine and glisten like stars, but Neron, now with the scars marring his skin, was self conscious. But there was no way to remove them, he wouldn't let Miriel, and even if he did she couldn't have removed them.

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Mmiriel's gaze drifted to Jaedon, it shone with relief. Everything was ok now, somehow they had both made it out ok. They were alive. Yet both were weak, she could see it, being a creature of healing she was very attuned to these things. Being weak was understandable though, especially since they had both been through a lot. Yet even still she wanted to know, wanted to hear confirmation, "Are you guys ok?"

[saerwen]

Damion saw the blush come across Miriels face and it took him a moment to figure out what it was for. He was glad that the color had come back to her face and that she was okay. He was little perturbed, but that would pass soon enough. He scrutinized her once more, making sure that everything was okay, and then he turned his attention to Neron and Jaedon. Neron was looking at Jaedon and then, he let out a snort. Damion knew that dragons had to be gentle because of their size, he had learned that when Jaedon had almost fallen off a cliff after he yawned while facing her. She was good with swords, and was graceful on her feet, but if hit to hard she could shatter into pieces, literally. She was so fragile, and she needed care. He watched the effect of the blow, and then faced Neron with hard eyes. However, when the playful voice came out, he knew that all was forgotten in Nerons mind, and so he decided to let it go. He knew that neither Jaedon or Miriel had it in them to stop Neron again.
"My pride says yes, Neron, but my wisdom says no. I think that the wrath of two women against us would hurt worse than anything that we did to each other. Perhaps more so for you than for me... You have yet to add subtle charm to your actions." he smiled at Neron, and then at Miriel and Jaedon. He was glad that this whole ordeal was over and done with. Perhaps they could get to life now, and Jaedon could finish her work.
Thinking of just that, he looked to Jaedon, "You still have some tests to study for, don't you, little miss? Should you not be hurrying to those before those eyes of yours shut for the night? I will accompany you if you wish, my dear little friend." Damion did not notice his friends pain, or that she was having trouble staying awake already. He seemed to not notice anything.

Jaedon looked around her as everyone recovered. Damion was next to Miriel, ensuring that she was okay, and Neron was now looking at her. She knew what his eyes were saying before he let out his breath of blasting air. It probably wouldn't have seemed so strong had she been stronger herself, but she wasn't. She bowed her head in shame. Neron knew what that place was. She had prayed silently in the depths of her mind that he wouldn't know. "Of course he knows. He has been on the street! You are such a simpleton." She couldn't bear to look at him, she had seen the displeasure, the disapproval. She didn't know why, but it stung her worse than anything else. It was worse than the pain in her side, it was worse than anything that she had felt before. "Why do I care so much? What difference does this make? I have never sought for his approval, so why do I long for it now?" These questions burned inside her. And then it came, the second that she felt it she knew that he was ensuring Miriel or Damion or both would find out. "Oh no..." She said quietly, barely audible. The force of the blow was painful, so painful. It seemed to hit right at her stomach. She clenched her teeth and back stepped a lot in order to keep from falling back down, her hand upon the wall ensuring that she was stable enough to stay up. The pain though, how was she going to hide the scream that was welling up in her throat. She clenched her teeth together even harder, and bent her head low as she gasped in anguish. Why did truth have to be this painful. She tried to block this from her mind, but it was impossible. Tears stung her eyes, but she pushed them back by sheer will-power. She would not let her friends see this. She couldn't.
When Damion reminded her that she needed to study she was barely recovered. However, face still down, she managed to gasp out, "Yes." She gave herself a moment to recover better, wincing in pain for the last time before replacing her mild visage. "Of course I need to finish studying. But I will go. I should not make anyone else suffer for what I have procrastinated to do. Many thanks, friend, but I am fine." She did not look at Miriel, knowing that if she did, her friend would be able to see the pain in her eyes. She would not let Miriel heal her. she couldn't know. Just like Damion couldn't. She just hoped and prayed that Neron didn't do something stupid. Maybe stupid wasn't the right word, perhaps, honest and caring, but undesirable, were better descriptions... She couldn't bear to look at any of her friends as she started to move in the general direction of the library doors. "Please, don't do it..." she thought silently, pointing the thought to Neron. He wouldn't hear it, but she could.

[Neron]

"Subtle charm, eh? Well, unlike you, I don't need that silly stuff, for I have natural charm. Though I must say you are right in one thing..." His voice lowered, "Women can be beasts sometimes...I thought I was bad until I saw Miriel angry.." He shook his head solemnly, "Not a pretty sight." He ignored the glare Miriel gave him. Indeed she was a sight to see when she was really ticked off, no not ticked, raging mad. It definitely gave you a different side of the coin. Neron's gaze drifted back to Jaedon.

Neron couldn't stand watching Jaedon anymore, why was she torturing herself? He knew, she didn't want questions, she didn't want to have to give answers. Yes, this was something he knew and understood all to well. Many times when words didn't come to him to express things, or when he wanted to show his heart he did so with music, it was his outlet. Before that he had so many problems that just got knotted up inside of him until everything was a big mess. His green eyes blazed as she went for her escape, he wasn't going to let her do that. Taking a couple steps forward he wriggled in front of her, blocking her way. His head stretched out until his gaze was right in front of her. "Where do you think you are going?" his voice lowered, only she could hear. "You may hate me for this, but it truly is for your own good. Now don't try anything stupid." His gaze hardened. His tail covered her pathway behind her.
"Miriel come here for a moment..."

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Miriel watched them curiously, what was going on here, Neron never followed anybody. He was a rouge, a misfit, someone who people had trouble understanding. It had taken her a while to get used to his ways. When he called her over she looked at Damion with wide clueless eyes, and when her eyes met Nerons she knew something was up. He was giving her that "don't-ask-questions-or-I'll-kill-you" look. She knew that look all to well.

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As Miriel was slowly making her way over Neron lowered his face once more and let out another stream of hot air. He needed a reaction from her. and when Neron wanted something really badly, he usually got it, in one way or another.

[saerwen]

Damion listened to Nerons statement and he laughed. He gazed at Miriel. Yes, he could imagine her angry, but he had trouble picturing her being scary when she was angry. She was so floaty... like a bird. It made him happy that she was so free spirited. Being around Jaedon for so long had made him almost forget that there are people like Miriel.
When Neron blocked Jaedon's path he perked up. "What is that over-sized lizard doing to her now?" he wondered, a little edgy.

Jaedon heard him moving before he ever got to her. She started to walk faster, wanting to get out of reach, but it failed. His face was right in front of hers. "Oh crap..." she thought to herself. "I'm gonna kill you, Neron. If you do this to me, I am gonna kill you." His tail came up behind her. He didn't care about her threats and she knew it. Jaedon's mind scattered. Right as she tried to think of a way out of this her mind abandoned her. "Oh no... Why can't I think of anything to do?!" This had never happened to her before... "WHY???" Her eyes got bigger. Pools of green took up everything it seemed. On the very inside of that green was a touch of blood red. She was starting to panic. "Miriel and Damion can't know!" she screamed inside her head. "Come on you stupid brain! WORK!" She knew that she looked like deer in the headlights to Neron. She started to pull herself back together and began to look for an escape. Neron had blocked her very well. She could try to jump under him, but running would make Miriel and Damion know that something was wrong. She was like a mouse cornered by a crafty and rather despicable cat. She could try to play with Miriels head, but seeing as how she was falling apart she knew that would end up failing, and then she would look guilty again.
"You are the worst! I don't want Miriel healing me! I don't want her to feel this! She has already felt your pain, do you want her to feel this as well? Let me deal with my own mistakes, don't make Miriel suffer too." Jaedon's eyes had changed in a split second as she glared at Neron with hatred in her eyes that was so acute it would have killed him a thousand times over, if it had that ability. They were like slits being dyed red, and then black. The colors all seemed to swirl together into an angry mass. It was frightening as the red seemed to start glowing. She was clenching her fists as the pain was roused again by her body tightening. Rage was filling her body, but she had nothing left.
She knew that Neron had won as Miriel drew closer and closer, the tears stung at her eyes again as she thought of what Miriel would feel. She knew that Miriel would heal her, that the pain would be hers. She had seen too many times that Miriel felt pain after she healed someone. She didn't know how much pain she felt, but it was enough. Jaedon didn't wish that upon her friend. But Neron was going to have his way and her posture crumpled as she realized that resistance was futile. When the hot air crashed against her Jaedon tried very hard to keep from falling, but she couldn't. Not because of the force was pushing her too hard, but rather because the pain that it aroused stung like the wound had been given anew. She buckled under the pain that went shooting through her whole body. Only one tear stained her pale face, and that one tear was because she knew that her friends would be there, taking every pain to ensure that she was returned to normal. She put her hand on her side and felt the bone that was completely out of place and the bone that was almost broken off, and the bruise on her knee became another pain from the impact of her falling to the floor. She just sat there, that one solitary tear, streaming down her upturned face that gazed with absolute anger at Neron. The only thing that her eyes asked was... why?

[Neron]

Miriel's feet soon quickened as she saw Jaedon fall, it didn't take long before she was at her side, just like it hadn't taken her long to be by Neron's. "what's wrong? Jaedon?" she took one look at Jaedon's face and knew she wasn't going to get anything out of her so she turned to Neron.

-----------

"It's her side." His voice seemed distant as he gazed at Jaedon. Her eyes, she had been so lost. For some reason that had given him a nasty sense of pleasure. He knew this was for the best, so he didn't fall for her look and pleading or her questioning. He remained his usual stoic self.

-----------

Miriel gently touched her side, "what have you been up to Jaedon? You have a broken -"Neron's glare made her stop in mid sentance, she didn't even have to look up, the gaze was so piercing it had stopped her. To many questions, his gaze seemed to be saying, to many. Looking up she glared right back at him, "Well you ask a billion questions at a time, why am I not allowed to?" Something passed between their gaze and she shook her head in defeat. "Alright you win.." Reaching out her hand she placed it on Jaedon's side. For a moment nothing happened. This was going to hurt. Taking a deep breath and closing her eyes she concentrated on the wound. It didn't take long before the glow sensation took over her hand and a cozy warmth flowed from her fingers down the wounded area. "don't move Jaedon...don't.." she didn't finish, he concentration was to great. It took a full minute before much had happened. bones were not easy to fix.

----------

Neron's glared at Damion not to come closer, this was something he would try to keep secret. Holding out his wings, he made them into a sort of capsule around Miriel and Jaedon, allowing them privacy.

-----------

The minute passed then another was on its way. Miriel's heart was filled with compassion as her mind buzzed with questions, quetions she knew would go unanswered. The bone was now in place and attached, quickly healing, but then, before the muscle could be healed of its inflammation, or the bone of its bruising, Miriel's hand started to shake. Her hand curled into a fist as she forced herself to keep it connected to Jaedon's side. But it was useless, she had already healed one, and now another. She couldn't keep it up, her hand fell from Jaedon to the ground, limp.

The pain of broken bones suddenly plagued her, it was almost unbearable. The place about them seemed to flash and flicker as she bent over in pain once more. Bones, she hated healing bones, the pain was terrible. She didn't know how Jaedon had been able to be walking around with this, how could she? The effects lasted for another minute, at this time Jaedon would start feeling a cooling sensation running over her body as the pain left her and Miriel endured it. It was how it worked. Though the cooling sensation would linger a bit for Jaedon, the pain faded from Miriel, and she straightened. A firm and taunt line described her mouth, though it managed to twitch into a smile as she looked at Jaedon. "Sorry, I couldn't heal it all the way, be careful ok? It's still bruised.." Lifting herself to her feet she stood there for a moment, collecting herself. Her black hair flowed about her face, giving it a pale porcelain look. The blackness only made her skin all the more white, like ivory. Her green eyes shone out like stars, though dimmer than usual. It had been a trying day for them all, and it seemed that they all needed rest.

------------

Neron let his wings fall away, revealing the two at his feet. Without saying a word he slowly got to his feet and moved off down the hall, turning a corner until he was out of sight. Without a noticed his skin changed back to his human form. Lighting his hand he ran it through the tousled hair that always managed to fall into his eyes. Now his scars were hidden, Jaedon had been healed. his night was full and he still needed rest. Hugging close to the walls he managed to walk in the shadows, and became one of them.

[saerwen]

Damion had watched as Jaedon fell to the ground after Neron breathed on her again. "That nasty..." he couldn't even finish the thought. There was no word to describe how wicked that guy was. Jaedon had just helped him, and he had the nerve to go and knock her down. He felt like freezing that unfeeling wretch so that he would never recover. He could have.
"At least Miriel seems to show some love and compassion for her friend." he thought to himself on the side. He was fixing to go and see what was going on with Jaedon, if she had just fallen because he blew on her so hard, or if she was feeling sick. That had happened before, after using her magic for a long time. She could be rather fragile after that. When Neron stopped Damion he got the feeling that there was something there that Jaedon wouldn't want him to see. He didn't know why... but he just knew that Neron was stopping him, not out of spite, but rather, out of a respect for a Jaedon's wishes.
"She told you to stop me didn't she?" He didn't wait for an answer, he just turned around, walked to the wall and banged his head against it. "That wicked little witch is keeping secrets again. What a nasty, cruel, horrid, wicked thing to do..." he sighed as his head rested against the wall. "She just can't live without her dirty little secrets can she?" He shook his head.

Jaedon could hear Miriel asking her questions, but she didn't answer. She knew that answering would be ridiculous because all that she would say would be, "I'm fine." That was not true and Miriel knew it now. Neron answered the questions for her. "What have you been up to?" Jaedon flinched at that question. Miriel wanted to know, and Jaedon knew that she would not take no for an answer from her. Jaedon didn't wince as Miriel touched her side. It was going numb again... for the fifth time that day. She couldn't really tell that Miriel was touching it, and even if she had, she wouldn't have let anyone see how much it hurt. She obeyed Miriels commands and waited silently, still staring at Neron with angry eyes. Her rage would become more realized as Miriel started to feel the pain. That was when she needed to be careful not to get so angry that she lost her skin. Not that it would matter, she would just end up sleeping on the floor instead of her bed that night... It was unnerving to feel the bone moving and reattaching itself, and then the fractured bone to come back into place completely. She tried not to focus on it, but rather spent the whole time searching Nerons eyes. "What a cold-hearted guy... but he is doing this for a reason that I know all too well. What puzzles me is why he is not answering the questions that would really let out the secret. He is frank and cold enough to just let it out, unless he is actually trying to respect what I asked of him... No, that is impossible. He must have his own cruel reason."
Miriel couldn't heal all of it... Jaedon had figured as much. She had done alot already, and healing a bone was not easy, no matter how talented you were. She was truly grateful for Miriels efforts. When Miriel did feel the pain Jaedon winced. She knew how bad that it hurt, and even though she didn't know the extent that Miriel felt, she knew that the pain would not be pleasant. The cool sensation that came over her wound felt so good. That place had been hurting all day, and now it was gone... only a calming feeling that held Jaedon in a refreshing embrace. Even though the bruise on her leg, and her ribs still hurt, it was no where near as painful. She rose slowly to her feet, gently and gracefully, trying to hide the discomfort that crossed her face as she felt her abs constrict and cause pain. It was not hard to hide this for now, but it was slowly becoming worse and worse. She needed rest. As she came back to herself, Jaedon remembered the source of the anger that was keeping her running. Neron. Where was the brute? She whipped around, forgetting the pain in her present anger, to find that he was disappearing down the hall. Jaedon sighed as she turned back to Miriel. "I guess that I can get mad at him the next time that I see him. He is gonna get it. I will stay in his mind all day while he is in class... Yes that will be very nice punishment..." She planned and schemed for ways to seek revenge. Then out loud she said, "I don't know about you guys, but I am too tired to go and do anything other than sleep. I am going. I guess that I will wing it tomorrow on those tests. Chemistry... Maybe I'll play hooky... Yes, that sounds very nice indeed. Can I make myself throw up? yeah... I have done it before." She had started to walk off to the general direction of the dorms as she spoke. Most of the end was talking to herself. Her voice faded as she walked casually, like nothing had ever happened, and disappeared out of sight.

As Damion had watched her go, and listened to what she said he began to laugh at Jaedon. "That girls lives to scheme. I will never understand how she does it, but that is her way of life. So charming on first glance that you would never guess such a delicate little bird could turn into a viper in your hands. Turn your back for two seconds and you feel one of her swords against it. She doesn't look at someone for longer than two minutes if she doesn't have a plan for how to use them. A pretty little dear I have found for myself as a friend." He was talking to himself, but he knew that Miriel could hear him. No doubt she knew exactly what he was talking about.

[Neron]

Miriel watched as both of her friends had left. Now she was alone with Damion. It was funny to see both of them turn and walk off, they were similar in so many ways, yet so different, twas amusing. "I wonder what she would do if she didn't have anything to scheme about. If that were possible. " She shook her head, Damion had captured Jaedon perfectly, and she knew exactly what he was talking about. Jaedon was different. Looks were deceiving and if you didn't know that before you met Jaedon, you certainly knew it afterward. She looked at Damion with a crooked smile on her face, "Well, I guess I better hit the sack to, it's been a long day. Who would have thought that a study session could turn so....deadly." turning she seemed to glide out of the hallway, in the direction of the dorms.

THE END