elongatedsmile | [Action]

[The weather was getting colder, this fact had not been lost on Xzana. It worries her in fact slightly. The time for hibernation would be here sooner than she'd like and the animal population of the forest was no where near good enough to support a dragon who's preparing for it.

So she slinks into town. Deciding to give the free food thing another try. No raw meat is safe from her great hunger. She tries the market first and it doesn't take her long to find the meat section. Only the "skin" on the meat is nothing like she have ever come across before. BLECH! The plastic gets stuck between her teeth and in her throat.

After a bit of coughing and hacking she spits it up.] THIS MEAT HAS BEEN TAINTED!

[Finding very little else that interests her or she recognizes as being edible (even the bread was covered in taint!) she'll give Seventh Heaven another try. She managed to find food there last time.

Only she still feels the need to fill her stomach. So the bakery is next on her list, while that bread isn't "tainted" a dragon needs more than bread alone. She'll just follow her nose. Trying to find food that isn't guarded by humans and hopefully isn't cooked she can be spotted all around the village.]

Flat | Top-Level Comments Only

Meat that has not been tainted by the weird skin. [So helpful there.]

...Skin.

[Well, that certainly didn't sound worrying.]

Do you usually kill your own food?

I do, but the forest cannot safely support the hunger I get as the weather turns colder.

I guess that makes sense.

What's wrong with the skin? Is it scaly?

No, scales are crunchy. [Scales are her favorite!] The skin in the other house. When I bit into it, then skin tried to choke me and became stuck in my teeth. It has been tainted.

You eat scales? But how?

By chewing.

You must have the hardest teeth imaginable.

[But those are details! And they were talking about food, which is way more important.]

Oh, by the way. I have some meat at my house. I'm pretty sure it's not tainted.

I have normal teeth. [You know, normal for a dragon which is very strong indeed.]

That is your meat. I will not be blamed for you starving during the cold weather.

That's okay. I've been baking, so we we'll be okay.

[Hopefully the dragon girl won't mind walking, because 25 is at the outskirt of town.]

Besides, sharing is important, right? We can't let anyone starve during the winter.

The strong and the prepared are the ones who will live through the cold. Those who are not ready die. If you share then you both die.

I guess it depends on how hungry you are. Is it worth it to have a full belly if your friend starves to death?

If it means one of us will live instead of both? Then yes.

You don't want both to live?

It would be nice, but not all can live or life stops.

That's a wise way to look at it.

It is just how life works, there is no other way to look and live in this world.

Yeah, but sometimes people get very attached to this world. It's impossible to appeal to them based on logic.

I do not need to worry about that. This world will take them to their final rest if they want to believe it or not.

Their body, yes. But sometimes the spirit manages to hang on. That's not healthy for them, either.

If they would not listen in life, then I do not think they'd listen any better in death.

You'd be right about that.

[And there's so, so much he could say about that. Instead he flexes his white wings anxiously, looking at the ground.]

What do you believe happens after you die?

[There's a long pause as she has to think about the best way to put it into terms that come close to human words.]

Our bodies return to the Earth to be consumed and turned into life. Your strength is given to those and the plants that take part in your final gift. The rest of your being is left to watch over those you love until you are called to roam the earth once more. Only those most pure and needed are gifted of a second life. It is a very honorable gift and very rare.

[He considers her answer for a moment. It's not a bad one, all things considered.]

I mostly agree with you. But I think the rarest gift must be to be allowed to rest, not be reborn again. Living can be a burden too, not just a gift.

Living is a burden, but to fully be able to interact with the world around you is a gift. No gift is given without some bad happening somewhere.

[action]

idealism - 2012-10-03 15:50 (UTC) - Expand

elongatedsmile - 2012-10-03 22:08 (UTC) - Expand

idealism - 2012-10-04 22:22 (UTC) - Expand

elongatedsmile - 2012-10-05 16:12 (UTC) - Expand

idealism - 2012-10-05 19:45 (UTC) - Expand

elongatedsmile - 2012-10-11 19:04 (UTC) - Expand

idealism - 2012-10-14 15:15 (UTC) - Expand

elongatedsmile - 2012-10-16 17:03 (UTC) - Expand

idealism - 2012-10-18 21:14 (UTC) - Expand

elongatedsmile - 2012-10-19 16:15 (UTC) - Expand

idealism - 2012-10-22 14:44 (UTC) - Expand

elongatedsmile - 2012-10-23 21:27 (UTC) - Expand