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Suluksati rarely had days this nice. Normally, her days were full of pain and tragedy, her personal duty and quest unrequited but still holding firm despite the dissappointment and the dragon blood that so often-too often- was shed. Some days she went hungry, some days she was badly injured, and there was of course the terrifying time spent in Soldul during the blood moon- not her best decision, by far.

But today was one of those special rare days when quiet and peace reigned. Prey had been plentiful and she was full. She had preened and sunned and felt properly clean for the first time in she had no idea how long.

And, to top it off, she had found a most remarkable thing in the woods- a baby Ysali dragon, playing alone in a vibrant meadow. She could smell its lair near enough for her to not worry too much about the little thing playing happily- while not being near enough to have to worry about being ambushed by its mother, which- while it would be a testament to it's mother's protective nature- might also result in the death of a dragon, and Sulu had no desire to ruin her day- and the little one's day- with dragons blood. Enough days were stained with that already.

Instead, she settled in to watch the dragon play. If something happened, she could defend it. If nothing happened, that would be fine too. She was happy to simply watch as the little, still-awkward creature batted and played with the grasses and flowers around it, flapping its little wings and growling with delight and innocence.

The baby dragon startled at the voice, and with a hop, a yip of surprise, and a toddlerlike outpouring of magic that made the plants around it grow to twice their height, it ran off - cheeping, back towards where its mother laired.

Sulu had always had a hard time hiding with her bright white feathers. She'd managed to keep herself hidden from the baby dragon's senses, but she still stood out among the shaded, golden undergrowth.

Having no reason to hide, she gave up the game and stood up, tail waving. "Hello." she replied. It was a Dovaa, pale in color and blue of scale. A peisio, if her magical sense was correct. She strode over, trying to appear as nonthreatening as she could. That the Dovaa had called - apparently to her, as she could see the magescan looking at her - when there was a baby dragon about implied that she hadn't been hunting the dragon, which was a good sign. She wished that the dragon hadn't been startled, but startled was better than dead.

"We should move." said Suluksati, looking back towards the dragon's lair, "Its mother will be here soon." she did not want to confront a dragon, not if she could help it.

"Sometimes..." Suluksati rumbled softly, Slowing her pace somewhat to walk alongside - not too slow, of course. "The little ones don't run. Sometimes they talk, or even play." she sighed, sadly, "this one must have been... a smart one." or well trained. Or wise beyond its years. Poor baby.

"The Peisio's territory ends around there..." she gestured with her nose, "And his mother is not likely to find us under that rock."

The stone ahead jutted, gleamingly white, from the ground amid a clearing of the shimmering golden trees. It was a nice rock to sun on, or lie under. "It is quite clean and cool." she reassured the Dovaa, "I would like to talk to you... you were not hunting the dragon, correct?" That itself was incredibly fascinating, and Suluksati hoped she was correct.

"I was very lucky." she agreed, "I would rather play with them than fight their parents" she settled in nearby to watch her. She was a very pretty dovaa, as dovaa went, a being of white, black, and blue. She smelled of water magic and her eyes were blue, marking her as a Peisio dovaa.

"The hunts are such a waste of life..." she murmured, "It is good to see at least one other person who agrees." she stretched out her wings and rearranged them - she would need to preen soon. She needed to preen frequently to keep her brilliant white feathers in prime, clean condition.

But perhaps she was presuming. "Do you agree?" she asked, swishing her tail at the spring insects that sought to make a meal of her, "Perhaps I should have asked that first..." and then she remembered another thing she had forgotten in the hurry.

"Ah. My manners. My name is Suluksati. My clan is Aedaun, the clan of light. I have no tribe or kin that will claim me as such, I don't think." she watched Esme intently with umber, slitted eyes, "Is my interest in your thoughts on the dragons strange?" she asked, "Do you find my opinion strange as well?"

"Draw me?" Suluksati said, surprised, her crest rising in surprise, "As in... art?" she knew what art was, and she had seen some examples of it here and there, "I would be honored..." she murmured, arranging herself vainly.

"Surely there is a way to make the orbs unnecessary?" she murmured, thoughtful. Hopeful, too. For once, her opinion was not brushed away as silly or insane... but shared. Was this the hope she sought? "I have never met another person..." she said, honestly, "That agreed with me on this. I have been told, often, that it is a foolish opinion." she said, "Or by kinder souls..." metaphorically, of course, in young Raemos's case, "that it is inevitable and necessary to hunt them."

She murmured, a sound that came from deep in her chest. "But you study them..." she looked at Esmeralda quietly for a moment. "I protect them, or I try to protect them." she watched Esme's reaction carefully, "I wish to defend dragonkind from the depredations of those who would hunt them..." she sighed, "It has been a lonely road."

Suluksati remained still, resisting the urge to stretch her neck and observe the woman's hands more closely as she drew. It flattered her to have so much attention paid to her, and she couldn't help a little purr of appreciation.

“It is a shame, then.” she said grimly, “That it must be so.” And horribly unfair. To force a child to sacrifice life for the sake of personal growth was unkind. It was one thing to hunt for food, and quite another to hunt for power, and to have to risk one's life to do it. Worse still would be those children who were not warriors or violent of disposition – they too would have lives on their hands, without ever striking the blow or wishing to.

“It is possible that nobody has asked. I find that people do not ask why, not when it is against tradition.” she commented, remembering her own encounter with the bullheadedness of tradition. “And the answers they give are never satisfactory.”

She rumbled. “I have noticed that. They are very protective of the lives they take. The dragons, too, aren't very happy about my interference.” she said sadly, “But you should not give up.” Suluksati wanted to be encouraging. This Dovaa woman shared her views, her attitudes, everything, but she was discouraged. Suluksati didn't want her to be – she needed her to not be. “You have a way with words, my friend... I'm sorry, what was your name?” she asked, realizing that she had neglected to ask. “If you could figure out the right words to use, I am sure that you could... twist perceptions.”

She sighed, her feathers brushing out with the wind. “It won't happen overnight. Perhaps not even in our lifetimes...” She forgot she was posing and moved to look right at the Dovaa, trying to impart some of her dedication and ferocity to her with her blazing orange eyes. It was a silly concept, but Suluksati needed to share some of her endless resolve with this person who she already had so much in common with.

“But we can make it happen, bit by bit. That is what I believe.”

“Deconstruct, no... but molded, shaped until it is unrecognizable, that can be done.” Suluksati rumbled. It had been a thought – an issue – that she had contemplated for some time. “The only way to truly deconstruct it would be to build anew, with innocents. And that... would involve much trauma and bloodshed... a fate I would like to avoid.”

Suluksati shifted her wings, watching the scribbling curiously. “Mmm... I hope that achieving such a rank will work in your favor...” she sighed, “I doubt I will reach such a rank of respect and acclaim...”