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Lidia Foster lay on her stomach, gazing down from the small rise upon which she perched. A slight breeze, cool to the touch but pleasant in the morning's heat, swept her auburn hair back from her shoulders. Her eyes, however, were not looking up or straight, but rather down at the valley that sprawled out below her, for she had found a fair trail that led up into the foothills of the mountain called Dragon's Fang.

She coudn't care less what it was called. All she cared about was finding dragons and observing them for patterns of behavior and maybe she'd get the chance to tame one. She'd been out here twice before, and this time was relatively sure she had found the right time of day to find dragons moving around. She shifted a little, ignoring the dirt and grass stains that made up a majority of her brown tunic. Her dark green breeches wouldn't show too much in the way of grass stains though.

She didn't mind waiting; the day was pleasant enough that she felt comfortable, even if she was tempting fate by sprawling on a ledge where dragons might fly over her.

David lay on the floor of the forest. He had been sleeping for days, but now he grew hungry and turned dragon and flew into the sky in search for his meal.

As the morning wore on, Lidia yawned but refused to move. Her resolve to see a dragon today was at its strongest and she wasn't about to miss it now; besides her legs had fallen asleep and she wasn't sure she could stand and climb down the hill without tripping and falling.

She fiddled with the coiled whip at her side, deciding that she might as well keep her thoughts busy. If she did find a dragon, would she attempt to make contact with it? She figured it depended on the dragon.

And that was when she saw movement out of the corner of her eyes. Was it a bird or a dragon? Shielding her eyes against the glare of the sun, she tried to look harder. Bird or dragon? She hoped it was the latter.

He's down in the valley. He is not only odd-looking; he is also oddly-dressed to back it up. Or well, oddly-armored.

At a glance or from afar, he could easily be mistaken for a human being wearing a silvery armor. His helmet resembles the upper half of a dragon's skull, and all but his lower jaw. He has a partisan in his right hand and a claymore in a baldric; clearly he is some sort of warrior, if the armor wasn't proof enough.

It wouldn't take long for one to see that he isn't in fact a human. Humanoid, yes, but not a human. Human skin isn't usually colored grey. Humans don't have hands that big, or claws for that matter, or large kangaroo ears. Nor do they walk around barefoot in the mountains. They also don't usually have rat faces - not literally, at least.

With a brown leather backpack on his back, this strange, serious-faced man walks slowly towards the mountain in front of him - the one he heard was called the Dragon's Fang. His gaze is occasionally shifted upwards towards the sky, but just long enough for him to see if it's clear of wyrms.

David looked for animals big enough to calm his hunger. He hadn't found anything but then he saw a figure. He flew toward the person in hopes of them being kind to give him food. Unlike any other dragons David didn't like sting humans.

Distracted by the dragon, she was sure it was a dragon, in the sky, she didn't even notice the creature finally in the meadow. Though if she had, she would certainly have tried to figure out what it was.

Except that she realized the dragon was quickly aiming for her. Fear swept along her spine, making her skin prickle. Hastily, she clambered to her feet, wavering as her numb legs bore her weight. Why hadn't she tried moving around more?

She fumbled for the whip, flicking the length of it out as the dragon drew closer. And then she snapped it as hard and as loud as it could go.

The crack rang out like a gunshot. "No!" she yelled at the dragon. She was not about to be eaten.

David landed and looked at the person "I won't hurt you" he said "I'm just hungry" he lay in the friend to show he would do no harm. He put his wings down and looked at her "would you have anything to spare?"

The dragon is spotted, but what gives Faltharn the extra motivation to pick up his pace is the yell he hears. Even though it comes from far away, he easily picks it up with his keen hearing. The wyrm's attacking someone, clearly.

Turning towards the source of the yell (or its general direction, at least), he drops his backpack. Some might be asking why his armor ends a bit before his knees, and why he does not wear anything on his legs or feet save for some white cloth bandages. He's about to provide an answer.

It is a quick movement. He bends his knees and gives a mighty leap forward. It's impressive, to say the least - 50 feet in less than a couple seconds, with just a single jump. And watch him jump from ledge to ledge with hardly any difficulty, a bit like a grasshopper hopping about, as he makes his way towards the person in danger.

Lidia stared at the dragon before her for a moment, her brain not working for a moment as panic and excitement and terror all warred to take control.

"Y-you're a dragon." Duh. No, he was a worm. Of course he was a dragon! She lowered her arm with the whip and took a deep breath. "I-er-sorry about that. I just thought, well, it doesn't matter. Food? You're hungry? I'm afraid all I have is a sandwich. Can you eat that?"

She headed over to her pack which was lodged against a stone to keep it from falling over and produced a ham sandwich. She offered it to him. "What do you normally eat? Don't you hunt?"

She bit her lip after the flurry of questions. She couldn't help it. To see a dragon up close was her wish come true. Even better now that she realized it wouldn't eat her. Of course, she had no idea that someone was coming to her "rescue".

David looked at her with happiness "a sandwich! I haven't had none of those in years. I mostly live off the animals in the area though. I'm David by the way, what's your name?"

Faltharn tirelessly leaps from rock to rock. Now he hears talking - and that is what he's following. Every now and then the ratman stops, perks his ears to listen intently... then goes back. It's rather impressive, how mobile he is in such difficult terrain. It's like his physiology itself was adapted to make his job easier.

Still, it's a long way from where he is to where they are - he is getting closer, for sure.

Lidia laughed a little, thrown by how charismatic this dragon was. "I wouldn't expect that a dragon would have ever had a sandwich--unless he happened across a picnic." She tossed it to him to eat. "My name's Lidia. It's nice to meet you David."

Funny, she hadn't realized dragons would have such normal-sounding names. Maybe though it was her name that sounded funny to them.

"Have you seen any other dragons in the area? I was here yesterday and thought they might come back..." the longing in her voice was clear enough, though she took her time coiling the whip and she never once seemed to look away from David.

The fear of being eaten by a dragon was still very real, however nice the dragon might come across at first.

David ate the sandwich as she tossed it. "thank you. And no sorry I haven't seen any I've been sleeping most of the time I've been here. Why would you want to meet a dragon anyway they are rude and disgusting"

...and finally Faltharn reaches the zone where the two are located, landing not too far away from them! The almost seven feet tall knight stands proud before the two, in silence. Through his odd helmet's eye holes, he glares at the dragon, offering the woman little more than a quick glance.

"That will be enough of that, wyrm.", he says. He has a weird, thick accent that is very hard to place, and his voice is low, a bit like a growl. He shows no fear of the dragon before him. "Leave now, and no one dies today."

Who is that stranger that just showed up, and is now pointing his partisan at the dragon?

Lidia shrugged. "I don't think they are, or mean to be. There's just a lot of misunderstanding between humans and dragons and I want to be one of those humans to cross the barrier. Besides that, aren't you a dragon? How can you say that about your own kind?"

She rubbed at her arms, where scars dotted her flesh--almost like small tooth bites. And then she flinched when a huge wall of a ... creature, appears suddenly where there was only a ledge before.

Already on her feet, she can sense hostility rolling from this not-dragon, not-human creature. And then it spoke. She certainly couldn't take her eyes away from it now, as exotic as it looked, and as hostile as it sounded.

"Hey-wait!" she called to it. "We're just talking! It's not threatening me."

David moved back in surprice as the creature joined them. "man really you need to learn how to interact better with others. I don't think you'll get nanny friends with that attitude" David moved behind Lidia and layed on the floor "who are you anyway?"

Faltharn's first words go to the dragon, still in the same, angry-sounding tone. "Silence, wyrm. Get away from her." He doesn't move or flinch; it isn't this cowboy's first rodeo. He doesn't even glance at Lidia when he then speaks to her - his hateful glare is still locked on the dragon!

"Do you not know, stranger, that these vile beasts enjoy playing with their food? These ones are the worst - with lies they try to manipulate us in a myriad ways." In his defense, he sounds way calmer when he speaks to Lidia. There is even a hint of concern to his voice, probably what brought him there.

David looked at the creature with curiosity "Im not playing with my food I already ate a sandwich." said David confused "I'm not even a hundred percent dragon."

Lidia's eyes flashed as she renewed her grip on the whip. With the dragon behind her and the creature before her, she was in the middle of a particularly dangerous situation.

"I don't know what you are, or who you are, but I'm not stupid about dragons. Some do like to play with their food, but I just gave this one a sandwich..." Which, really, wouldn't have satisfied her, let alone a creature like a dragon.

"I-" She turned at David's comment. "You're not? What are you, then?"

Of course, as soon as the tension lessened between the dragon and this newcomer, she'd be all over the newcomer with questions.

"I'm a half-ling half dragon half human"