[[Blade: Age 20
Astalder: Adolescent
The Bonding]]
Years have gone by since Blade left his dragon companion at Genyiel Circle to be with his own kind. Eight years to be exact. Every now and then, the boy tried to make his way to the place to visit his friend, but it was difficult to do so, causing his visits to be quite infrequent.
Infrequent enough that his last visit happened to be three years ago. It was this reason that the boy, now a young man, trekked to the dragon lands once more. In the recent years, he had taken after his father in his thieving ways. His mother objected to such deeds, but she is now no more, having succumbed to disease. He had also become a better swordsmen, as well as becoming more ruthless to some extent. While he still preferred to avoid killing, no longer was he the boy who was afraid to go for a fatal blow if needed.
As for Astalder, he was now an adolescent dragon, which is what he would remain to be lest he gets a bond. Like the human thief, the dragon has grown in more ways than one as well. His abilities in stealth have improved quite a bit. Though, he couldn't turn invisible, so there was still limits to how well he could move about unnoticed. Aside from that, he had matured somewhat as well. Before he liked to pull some pranks on others if he could, but those types of acts had decreased considerably over the years.
The dragon had even found a little friend; a wyvern he named Rikyu. In Genyiel, he had made few friends with his own kind, so he gratefully accepted the company of Rikyu.
One thing though... was that he still could not fly, due to the fact that he was a normal dragon without a bond. Astalder couldn't help but feel some envy for those gifted with flight. It seemed that most his peers had found bonds, and even his wyvern friend could fly. Yet he was still stuck to the land, with his stunted wings that wouldn't even allow him to glide should he try. Yet, he didn't really want to find a random human to force into bondage for his wings. And there was really only one human he would want to make the bond to...
-------
Now pausing several hundred feet from one of the entrances of the place, Blade glanced about, feeling as if he was being watched. As he looked about warily, he placed a hand at the hilt of his sword, just in case whatever was near wasn't exactly friendly. Though, as far as he could see, there was nothing around him.
The thief narrowed his eyes some, being certain he wasn't just being paranoid. But with nothing to be found nearby, perhaps he was being just that. So for now, he continued onward, though carefully.
Then without warning, a fairly large shadow flitted out of nowhere only to tackle him to the ground.
"OUF!" grunted Blade before staring up at a familiar face, ".. You're getting a little big to be jumping on me like that you know."
For a moment, he chuckled, but it soon trailed off as Astalder didn't get off of him. Adolescent dragons were quite heavy, even if they weren't fully grown, so he most likely wouldn't be able to get the dragon off of him unless he really put effort into it.
"Is there something wro--"
"It's been ages since you last came Blade! What have you been doing all this time?!"Astalder obviously wasn't all too happy with his old friend. After all, he longed for the wings he were denied since birth. Wings that would have been his if not for the humans of the past. Another change there; while he still didn't mind the two leggers so much, he now had a small bit of spite for them. And with the absence of his friend, there was no way he could gain the wings he desired.
"Hey.. calm down. It's not easy going from the human lands to here you know. Sorry I couldn't come more often... now can you get off of me? You're a lot heavier than you used to be..."
"How can I remain calm when my peers can fly about through the heavens while I am trapped here on the earth? Something I should be able to do by now if dragon wings were never robbed in the first place!"The dark red eyes of the human widened slightly. So Astalder had been influenced by the dragons' side of the story to some extent. It didn't sound as if he hated humans, but he could tell that the dragon was frustrated with the fact that he could not fly while others were able to.
"Astalder... if it bothers you so much, then go find a bond. There isn't anything that could be done about the past at this point..." said Blade softly, not quite realizing what his words could mean. As fascinated as he was with dragons, he wasn't so sure about becoming the bond of one. He valued his freedom. And the fact that he was childhood friends with Astalder blinded him from the notion that the dragon could bond with him there...
"Why go find one when I have one right before me?"... blind until now that is.
The dark dragon raised a claw up, while keeping the thief pinned to the earthen ground. Though he waited before continuing on in a much calmer manner.
"If I do this.. you won't have to return home any longer. Last time you came, you mentioned how alone you felt there, without a family, friends, and even a home. We were once like brothers, along with being the best of friends, despite being of different species. Your home will be here, among the dragons. If this is not what you wish... then forgive me for what I am about to do."Another moment of silence as Blade stared up at the black dragon. Then relaxing, he closed his eyes. It was true that he longed for the things mentioned by Astalder, just as the dragon longed for his wings. Maybe being bonded wouldn't be so bad after all.
"Alright... do it."
Without another second of hesitation, Astalder brought his claw down lightly to make a small cut on both himself and on Blade. As the bonding process began, the human passed out, being overwhelmed with sudden intense emotions and thoughts.
Later, he awoke, seeing Astalder standing by, as adult dragon.
Reply
