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A deep and low rumble came from Astalder's throat as the man suddenly turned hostile towards the Knight. He shot a quick glance towards Thanos to make sure he was still there while crouching down to prepare for whatever would come.

Blade had seen it too and had just placed a hand onto the hilt of his sword before he and the dragon froze with time.

The man grinned at Thanos's questions and dropped into a lazy crouch, resting his arms on his knees.

"Let's see... first off, I assure you I am not an enemy of dragons. I lied. Sometimes I have to do that to accomplish my goals. Sometimes I have to take risks. And while I did not attack your father, I did cause his fall. He could have saved himself, had I not intervened. I could save him even now, if I chose to do so. But the ends I am aiming for outweigh the means right now. Do you think his blood is on my hands, because I changed the outcome of one dragon's life? Or because I sit here and do nothing to help?"

"Could you sit idly by and let atrocity after atrocity pass by when you only need reach out your hand to stop it, for the sake of a future those you could save will never see?"

The man muttered something under his breath, in a completely foreign language. Then he stood, turning his back to Thanos and walking over to where Blade and Astalder were standing, frozen in time.

"Morality," he said, "Is a very tricky thing. If you had the power to stop something bad, would you take the chance whenever it presented itself to do so? Don't answer that. We'll see for ourselves soon enough. When time resumes we'll be in the same spots we were in when I stopped it. I'll still be in mid-swing at a dragon, aiming to crush the throat which is a fatal blow. The Dragon-Knight will move to protect him and those around him and I'll be mortally wounded. Or at least..."

The man grew very still, one hand on Blade's chest. After a moment a faint blue outline appeared around the man's body and the stranger stepped back, drawing the blue light with him. It hovered between the two, a ghostly imprint of what seemed to be a sleeping Blade.

"The dragon will kill my body," the man whispered, "And I won't be there."

There was a blurring of light around the two and after a breath there were two ghostly outlines. One of them moved and gently shoved Blade towards the white-haired human. The forms vanished and the white-haired human seemed frozen in time now, while Blade's body was freed and his eyes roamed up and down, examining his hands and arms.

"Not bad," Blade said, a strange little smirk over his lips, "It's amazing the things you can do once you realize souls aren't tied down as firmly as you would think they are. Blade's soul is now residing in there," he said, indicating the white-haired human, "and will be there when that body dies. I, on the other hand, will be right here all along. And the only people who will know will be me, you, and Blade... for however many minutes he manages to buy."

"Thanos, you are now privy to information that could stop a tragedy. Are you capable of standing by and letting it happen?"

Blade closed his eyes for a moment and the time-stilled world seemed oppressive in its silence. The man had a peculiar look to his face, like he was looking at something with great concentration. Then he opened his eyes and the moment was gone.

"We'll see," he said and time resumed.

The white-haired man, now Blade, was already in mid-swing when time stopped. The blow was already committed and all the laws of physics demanded that the staff go where it was aimed.

((ooc AFK-note: I'm off for now - fiance and I are going to watch Babylon 5 in a little bit, and I would like this to please not move too fast while I'm away))

"Wait!" Thanos cried, as loud as he could. "Don't kill that white-haired man...that's not him, in that body! It sounds ridiculous...but stop!" Thanos cried urgently. He paused for only a second to see if his words had registered at all, before lurching on with his explanation. "Something strange happened. You all - you were frozen, it was only the man and I that could move. He told me that souls weren't as firmly latched as they seemed, he took over Blade's body and put Blade's soul in that white-haired one. So if you kill the white-haired human...you're killing Blade, Astalder's friend!"

Thanos forced his mind to race, searching for anything that might help. He remembered something his mother had once told him..."Humans are more than just flight tools," she had said. "We feel them, Thanos. That's why we should care." At first, the dragonet had no idea why this had popped up, but then he understood. "I don't think you would feel it, Astalder," he replied quickly. "Because Blade hasn't died. If his spirit is still here, I doubt you'd perceive it leaving him. But look. Look for Blade's spirit, look through its eyes! Then you should see, that the one on your back is no longer Blade!"

((ooc: Sorry about that placeholder this is the hopefully-first and definitely-last time))

"No!" Thanos screamed, as the Dragon-Knight, paying no heed to his warning, sought to attack the body in which Blade's soul had been placed. The dragonet reached into his memory and "grabbed" a short portion of the period of frozen time - the part where the man had switched bodies with Blade - and "thrust" it at the enraged dragon. He wasn't at all sure whether his ability to see into others' minds worked in reverse - whether the vision would go through, but he pushed the image with all his might. At the same time, caught up in his fervor to the point that his own well-being was forgotten, Thanos rushed at the Dragon-Knight as fast as he could, in the hopes that he could prevent this unjust death.