Pure Adrenaline. (Finished)

[Al Kinney]

SCHWAK!
"Stupid ponytail holder! Why'd you have to go and break, huh? You're a freaking idiot! Why don't you just put yourself back together and say it to my face?! It's obvious you don't like me, so just go take a flying leap off of the--"

THWAM!

Tiamat glared down at Al. He was going on about how his hair tie, an inanimate object, had angered him? That was definitely not a good sign for today. She felt sorry for whoever happened to stumble upon them today. 'Need I remind you that you have an identical tie on your wrist? There's no use crying over spilled milk.'

[/i] With that being said, Tia rolled her eyes and sat on her haunches, content.

Al, still laying face down on the hard rock, growled. He was allowed to scream at wahtever he wanted to scream at, even if it was merely a hair tie! Sitting up slowly, he winced and rubbed the back of his head. "Way to be, Tia." Looking down at his wrist, he did indeed have a spare ponytail. Huffing defiantly, he pulled his hair back. What used to be flat, lifeless red hair was now a smooth ponytail with spikes in the end. His hair had talent.

Climbing slowly to his feet, he looked at the silver dragon. She was smirking mischeviously, ready to do what he had planned. Sighing inwardly, he looked over the edge of the cliff. "Alrighty then... if I run fast enough, and if you're nimble enough, we'll both make it out of here alive."

Al was talking about cliff diving; the task that he had longed to do since he was a child. Now that he had Tia, he'd be able to do as he pleased. 'I advise that you don't leap off in this particular spot. There are a few too many rocks below.'[/color]

Taking another look down, he had to agree with her. Perhaps it was a bit too dangerous for a beginner to jump down here. He moved about twenty meters down, and decided that this spot was where he'd jump. The blue water was calm, a few waves here and there hit the cliff face at random intervals. If everything went as planned, Tia would catch him before he ended up hitting the water. He was hoping, of course, that everything would go as planned.[/center][/size]

[Caedis Clepta]

Few knew of the caves that lines the cliffs. Part of that was because of their location; far enough from the top so that they couldn't be seen well (if at all), but still far enough away from the water so one could climb down to some of them. From her limited information on them, Caedis knew they used to be used to be used to preform sacrifices to an old sea god or whatnot. Now, the only people who saw the caves where ones who jumped off.

She'd woken up and figured it would be a nice enough day to attempt to climb down to one of them. And by attempt she figured to see which ones were easiest to get to. Who knew, a collector of ancient items may take an interest to anything in one of them. If there was anything left. And even if there wasn't. Well, there wasn't a better gymnastic lesson than one where you could fall into the ocean and drown if you messed up.

Of course, the sound of cursing and yelling and ranting caused her to pause. Was it a jumper? She really didn't want to see that. Then she noticed the shape. Large, metallic, vaguely reptile like... dragon. So a kid rider who was being an idiot and wanting to jump? Or was he planning on that dragon catching him? Somehow Caedis figured that plan would fail drastically. After all, to be able to catch someone falling, the catcher had to have enough room to move around. And for that dragon to have room to move, the kid had to jump out pretty far.

Well, it wasn't guards and she didn't think it was a (serious) jumper, so she continued, strolling up in that smooth, graceful, dangerous way of hers that implied she was better suited for a fight than she really was. She was climbing a cliff; all she'd brought were a few daggers that she wouldn't miss in case she had to shove it into the rock to save herself. It wasn't like she was going to try to climb the damn thing with all of her belongings.

Another illusion was how aware she seemed. She kept her eyes trained on the edge, stopping at it and leaning over slightly to see if she could catch sight of the cave. The whole time she was noting things: how large the dragon seemed, how big the kid was and how armed her looked, whether he actually seemed suicidal. She duly noted that he wasn't actually a kid and was likely close to her age, whatever it was, and that he appeared twice her size. Coupled with a dragon, she didn't think her odds would be good.

Then again, shapeshifting and climbing down the cliff that way was always an option. She would wait until she needed that to use it, though. Despite having been born with the other form, being a small insect never felt exactly right. Possibly it was the small part.

Taking a few backwards steps from the cliff, she finally looked at him, realizing how just how much taller he was. She was eye level with his chest. And her odds became suddenly slimmer. Ignoring that sinking feeling she untied a worn slip of leather from her wrist and, after gathering her hair, tied it back away from her face. It was a common practice of hers, to remove anything that could be a distraction from her line of vision when doing something that could be dangerous. Caedis thought this would be a very good time.

"I'd leave this to the professionals," she commented, her voice smooth and soft and somewhat sweet sounding, something she thought suited her and didn't at the same time. Right now she would have love to be able to insert a larger amount of dryness into her tone, but what she had would have to do.

[Al Kinney]

Al raised an eyebrow and glanced over at Tia. 'Who does this lady think she is? If I want to jump off the cliff I'm going to do it, no matter what some little--' Tia shot him 'the look'. It wasn't just a look, it was 'the look'. The look she gave him when he was being irrational and hot headed. Rolling his eyes, he looked back at the girl. His attention at the moment shouldn't be on the cliff, anyways.

She didn't seem like too much of a threat, the girl, being so small of stature. Having learned his lessons on looks many different times, he figured it would be foolish to underestimate her. Right now she didn't even seem like a threat. Shoving the toughts aside, the adolescent looked back over the edge of the cliff. He was still going to jump, but it would probably be delayed due to this female's presence. It seemed a bit too rude to just jump and leave her up here all by her lonesome.

Then again, why did he care? Oh, yeah, Tia would kill him. You're not using your manners, she'd say, be a gentleman, she'd order. Sometimes he really hated having a mother who followed him everywhere. 'At least introduce yourself, say something. She's probably getting suspicions about why you haven't responded. Unless, of course, you're fine with her knowing about our telepathy.'

"Professionals? I didn't know people had professions in cliff diving." Taking Tia's advice, Al spoke up. Though his tone wasn't very kind, nor welcoming, it worked. He wasn't really a friendly person. He was almost tempted to see how quickly he could make her snap, to test the limits of her temper. Which was, of course, not the best idea. His devious mind began scheming up plans on how to get on people's nerves.

In the long run, he'd probably end up with multiple goose eggs on the back of his head.

[/size]

[Caedis Clepta]

The silence between her statement and his response seemed a little bit too long for her. A little but too long for nothing to happen. Unless he was slow, but since when did dragons pick slow riders? It was like saying guards couldn't catch idiot thieves. Impossible.

There was something about the silence that seemed odd to her. She supposed it was the subtle (or at least they apparently thought so) looks that the dragon and rider sent each other. Maybe some weird bond communication thing? Caedis had heard of things like that, where dragons and riders could tell what the other was thinking. Of course, there was no proof, only rumor. And crazy old men who used to be riders until their dragons were killed who end up spilling everything they know with a few well aimed daggers.

Not that she would know that particular one from experience.

She almost grinned at his response, though. He honestly thought she was going to jump. Not that the idea was probably odd. People came here to jump, and most didn't have dragons to catch them. But honestly he thought she was tying her hair back to jump?

She looked over the edge again, this time looking at the water. "I never said I was going to jump," she responded, some wry humor in her voice. A moment longer before she tore herself from the edge to sit and relace her shoes to make sure they wouldn't fall off in her descent.

"I also would consider finding a better spot, if you are going to jump. The water is calm here, which means it is shallow. So if dear little dragon doesn't catch you, well... I think you'll be in too much pain to be mad."

She didn't know that for sure. Of course, it was hard to tell from all the way up. Still, it was an opportunity to try to get under his skin, which was likely to be what he was trying to do. Unless he just naturally tried to say the most provocative things ever.

[Al Kinney]

Al shrugged. That was completely beside the point, for sure. Not that the point was legitimate or correct, anyways. He watched her carefully for a moment, wondering why she was getting all prepared for something. She was suspicious, and he ha a bad feeling about this. Sure enough, the bad feeling only intensified when she went and opened her mouth again.

Al stared at her blankly for a moment, making sure his ears were correct. Man, did he just want to go over there and punch her. Right in the eyeball. Was that even possible? Punching someone in the eyeball? Sure, you could punch them in the general area around the eye, but in the eyeball... Babies could do it. Babies with mad ninja skills. Sadly, he wasn't a baby, nor was he that much of a ninja. Definitely didn't have too many skills, though he acted as if he had so many it was unbelievable.

"For your information, lady, she wouldn't miss me. There's not a chance she would. Unless she wanted to kill me," Putting a distinct emphasis on the word lady, he continued, "Which she doesn't, because that wouldn't make sense. So run along and go play with your dolls, I don't care for your opinion." And that, as they say, was that. In his opinion.

If Tia was a human, she probably would've rolled her eyes at his attitude. It seemed silly for her to try to roll her eyes, now, so she just shook her head in dismay. That kid had too much of a mouth on him. Yet, no matter how hard she tried, she couldn't get it to close. 'You do realize that you do need some friends in the world? With that attitude, no one is going to like you. How do you even expect to have children? You're not that much of a looker and--'

[/color]

As if their telepathic link wasn't obvious enough before, Al turned to Tia and kicked her in the leg. Immediately regretting kicking her hard skin, he grabbed his foot. "Look, if you have a problem with the way I look, you should take a look in the mirror! At least I'm not--"

Within seconds, he was lying flat on his face again. 'Don't even think about finishing that sentence, or you'll regret it.'[/color] Tia pulled her tail back smoothly and took the girl into consideration. While she was observing her, Al made his way back to his feet. Brushing himself off hurriedly, now that blasted dragon had gone and embarrassed him in front of this mysterious girl. Why'd she always have to be so reprimanding?[/center][/size]

[Caedis Clepta]

So his dragon would teach him a lesson in humiliation. Shame she didn't have a chance, but, then again, this conversation was hardly over. Caedis had only just gotten under his skin. She figured that she would be able to hit many, many more wounds.

It had been difficult to keep herself from smiling or laughing, but she did. Somehow. Even though she really wanted to laugh at some of the faces he made. And his pitiful attempt at brushing her off. Oh yes, this would be fun.

And a hell of a lot more amusing if she knew what his dragon had said. Other than something about him being ugly, obviously.

With the intention of giving him time to nurse his pride, Caedis finished both boots before standing and testing them by leaning forwards and backwards. It would do, though she could tell she needed a new pair soon; the soles were almost thin enough to allow her to feel every single blade of grass.

"I disagree," Caedis stated, and there was something in her tone that implied she was going to go on for awhile. Or, at least she thought so. "Unless you expect her to catch you as you jump off, she wouldn't be able to. There isn't enough room for her to stretch down there and still be able to maneuver enough to catch you. For her to have that room, you would have to be able to jump abnormally far."

With a bored tone that seemed to leak into her expression she looked at her gloves, deciding that she could fiddle with them to add insult to injury. "And judging from that display, she may kill you one day when you push one too many buttons. Of course, by that time your temper could have gotten you killed."

With a having sigh, Caedis considered whether or not to say the last part. It would certainly be amusing to see his reaction. Or maybe he would have his dragon pick her up to let him punch her. Either way, the short term amusement was worth the risk.

"You look more like a doll type than I."

[Al Kinney]

Al gave the girl 'the look'. Shaking his head pathetically, he went to flip his hair, bringing his hand up to where his bangs would typically be. He then realized that his hair wasn't down, so he covered that action smoothly by scratching his head instead. He needed to think more often, that was it. If he could just think things through more, he'd be able to keep a level head... Or at least improve upon where he stood now.

"You're clearly judging upon looks itself. You're overthinking the situation as well. It's actually much simpler than what you're making it. You underestimate us. You haven't the faintest clue what we're capable of. Therefore, in my opinion," 'And in mine as well,' "You're mistaken." Smiling quietly to himself, Al turned and peered back over the edge of the cliff. It didn't seem like that much of a threat to his existance... though it probably was more so than he thought.

Just as he had went to look back at this lady, he stopped dead in his tracks. Did she seriously just... "Did you just say what I think you said?" Cue the bitter laugh. He completely ignored the last part of her statement, due to the fact that he rather agreed with it. He just didn't want her to know that. "She wouldn't kill me, she'll just end up giving me brain damage. If she had wanted me dead, she'd have killed me from the start. Logical enough, yes? Your tiny brain probably couldn't handle such reasoning, however. No, no, as a matter of fact, it couldn't. Your head is much too small to hold any brain other than a brain the size of a pea. Therefore..." Al trailed off. He probably wasn't making any sense, anyways. That and he felt like he was preaching... or something... Mainly because the whole time he was ranting, he was pacing back and forth like a school teacher, wagging his finger at a student.

Then he stopped dead in his tracks. Shocked and infuriated, he glared at her. Was she calling him girly? Memories from his childhood flooded back. His face flushed. Taking a step toward her angrily, Tia grabbed the back of his shirt with a claw. He strained to pull away from her, whereas she was surprised the shirt had been able to take that much pull. "I definitely do NOT play with dolls, thank you very much! If you played with any dolls, they'd be voodoo dolls, because you're a creeper! You probably like stabbing little dollies through the heart with your needle nails!

All Al could hope for now was her taking offense to being called a creeper. Or something else that he had blurted out.

[/size][/justify]

[Caedis Clepta]

Apparently the kid wasn't too bright. Caedis allowed herself a private grin. After all, it wasn't often she met someone so stupid. Even other shifters -- bird or no -- knew more about size differences than this kid, who had probably been trained to understand and calculate everything to make sure his dragon would fit.
It was also apparent he was in denial. If she were that dragon, she would have killed him long ago. Even these last few minutes had given her the starts of a headache, one that was likely going to turn even more violent the longer she stood here.

"Wrong. I am assuming she is smaller than most dragons, from what I've heard, but even I know that her wings have to be a certain proportion larger than her body," Caedis supplied, using every vaguely scientific word she could think of to make him realize she was correct. Then she stepped to the edge and looked down. "The land begins to curve here; if the edge was a straight line she would be able to dive down and catch you. But since it curves, her wing would get caught over there," that included a point to where she was speaking, about ten feet to the right, "and she would tap the earth, and since the earth is harder and unyielding to hollow bones, her wing would snap and she would fall. It's taught to every chick new out of the nest."

The phrasing of that would probably alert him to her heritage. She ignored it, as it was the easiest way she could think to explain. Also, for his benefit she was going to leave out that the cliff surface wasn't exactly flat either, and thus it was likely she would have to scrape her underbelly to catch him. If he didn't hit his head first, of course.

Backing away from the cliff she considered his second point, of how his dragon would not kill him. "I've heard of instances where the rider has killed the dragon. The reverse is also probable, or so I imagine. One day she may snap," there was a grim humor in her voice, "and end up snapping you."

The voodoo doll accusation was amusing. The creeper one was far too accurate. After all, she did know things about most people that most other people really don't want to know. Still, poking dolls in the heart. As if. She could do that to real and normal people if she actually wanted to stab something.

That was not what she was going to tell him. Instead she grinned, showing teeth. The malice in it almost made her feel like a spider. "Nonsense. It required magic to use voodoo dolls correctly, and I possess no magic. Well, little magic, I should say." A somewhat unamused snort left her. "Besides, I hardly thing my intelligence should be in question. I know more than you do about most subjects, I would imagine. You don't look like a book type. Like I said, a doll type."

[Al Kinney]

Al looked down, taking in things she said. She was probably right... though she may not have been looking at that issue from every angle. If he could manage to jump out far enough, it was possible. He'd have to really get it out there, but no one had said his dragon had to fly that close to the edge of the cliff. Once again, he decided to go against his personality and shrug. He'd keep his mouth shut and prove her wrong with actions later on. As soon as he figured this out. As long as he got the angles right, it'd be fine. Tia would just have to be in the air before he jumped.

Tia decided it would be best to lie down. This conversation probably wouldn't be over very soon and she planned on letting Al fend for himself. She couldn't really help him verbally, anyways. All she'd end up doing, in the long run, is going along with his hair brained schemes and aggravating him. Neither were very good ideas, at the moment. Closing her eyes, she kept her ears open. Sure, she wasn't all that comfortable having these two around each other, but she was a dragon. She wasn't exactly defenseless.

Al picked at his nails lazily and listened to her talk. He didn't really pay much attention to her words, ignoring most of what she said. Maybe it was better to just ignore people and go with the flow. He was beginning to realize that if he ignored most of it, it was easier to keep his temper in check. Thank God for that one. Stretching, he began to grow bored. Tuning out the wrong part of the conversation, he only heard part of her sentence.

Like I said, a doll.

Al cocked his head and smiled at her. Aww, she thought he was cute! That was so sweet. He never though a creeper like her would like someone as fussy as him. A content smile on his face, the joy he felt was evident in his eyes. "That's so nice of you, thinking I look like a doll. Although it's a bit feminine, I could tell you weren't all bad. See, Tia? I told you someone would find me attractive. She thinks I'm a doll! That's perfect. Truly is."

Tia snorted. He was clueless. By the tone he had chosen to use, a false impression could be given off. Though it was actually sincere, it could seem to someone that he was just being an ass. He did rather seem like the person to do such a thing, so maybe this girl would take it the wrong way? As a forenote, Al had completely overreacted to a statement like that, even though it wasn't what the woman had said. Idiot.

[/size]

[Caedis Clepta]

On reflection, Caedis shouldn't have seen so surprised that he was such an idiot and had zoned out. He was probably thinking of the best way to launch himself out further so his dragon could catch him. If she actually did want to catch him.

The shapeshifter knew that if she was his dragon, she would let him drop in a heartbeat.

With an almost exaggerated eye roll that was meant to stop herself from physically harming him in some way or another, she straightened herself and walked over to the cliff again.

"Yes, you caught me. I find brainless testosterone-filled girls with the maturity level of a five year old to be attractive."

It was a good guess that he didn't know what she had said. And she was going to use that to her advantage. She dripped as much sarcasm onto that statement as she could. That mixed with the annoyance probably made it sound convincing.

So, her whole speech about voodoo dolls was now her saying he looked like a young lady.

Caedis probably deserved this. There was probably some divine god of mischief out there laughing at her expense, as he placed the stupidest person she'd ever met in front of her and also made him the most stubborn person she'd ever met. Granted, she wasn't even close to making her genuinely angry. No, that took much more. More like she was... slightly displeased with the current situation.

Maybe this divine being was trying to teach her a lesson. Do not steal from thy people and expose their closet skeletons. Oh yes, she was definitely learning her lesson. She was quaking in her boots, which she paid for with profits from exposing thy skeletons. And the next pair of boots would be paid with by profits from another skeleton.

With a huff she turned around, making a grant and overly exaggerated motion with her arms at the cliff. "Kid, you're costing me money. If you're going to jump and commit suicide or jump and have that oversided hunk of scales catch you, I don't care. Just hurry up with it."

[Al Kinney]

"Dude, if I was a girl, I wouldn't have a penis or a pair of testicles. If you want me to pull off my pants and show you, that's fine. I'll prove you wrong. I'm not female, nor do I ever plan to be one. You girl's are just too..." What was the word he wanted? ... Oh, yeah. "Aggravating. Think you're so pretty and that you have every guy wrapped around your finger. I'm glad to be a guy, thank you very much. I'm also very testosterone filled."

Random personality change? Check that box off the list. Since when do you not overreact to something so obviously intended to get under your skin?

[/i] Tia raised an eyebrow, eyes still closed. It seemed odd for a dragon to do that, but Al didn't pay the slightest bit of attention to her body language. He was too busy trying to read the other girl's body language.

Concentration was evident in his facial expression; he wanted to at lleast learn her name. Then he could go get a little dirt on her and figure out who she was and why she insisted upon being so irritating. She was, for the most part, likee everyone else. They liked to tease him just to see him snap. To most, it was rather amusing. Rage was blinding. It was always getting him into trouble.

As she started to speak again, Al's jaw dropped. That was rude. She had succeeded on making him angry yet again. "How dare you say that? It's evident that I was here first, so you can move along, there, chick! When, if I do decide to jump, I'll do it on my own scedule, not yours. So you can go right ahead and move along if you want to be a turd burglar, I don't care! I'm not doing anything you want me to do."[/center][/size]

[Caedis Clepta]

Well, at least the dragon appeared to be smarter than the human. Or, from what Caedis could tell anyway. It was hard to read a large bundle of scales that currently looked asleep. But she had an idea that if she had been offended as well, she would be eaten.

It was also extremely easy to read the boy. Easily aggravated. Aggressive. Stubborn. Arrogant. Oddly, every personality trait she liked rolled up into one insufferable package. Then again, the only reason for some of those traits could be his annoyance at the current situation.

She doubted that very much so.

"Well, excuse me then. I didn't realize you owned this cliff or had any claim over it," she drawled, purposely drawing out each word as long as possible to see how it would effect him. She liked that; the smoothness in her voice made it sound even lazier than it already was. She would have to do that more often.

Some part of her wanted to say something about his first outburst. The shapeshifter honestly wanted to do something. The first thing that came to mind was to take out one of the small daggers she'd brought to scale the cliff, but some part of her knew that threatening him would prove some point of his. Either that or make him believe she was annoyed. What a thought! She'd been cornered by far worse and had managed to keep her calm.

A little voice whispered to her and told her not this time. This time was different. This time she was getting annoyed. No, she wouldn't believe that. She couldn't. But yet part of her did. And that made her more scared than the lump of scales.

With a slight growl low in her throat she did just what she told herself she wouldn't do. She turned and with a deadly movement pulled a dagger from the handy place she'd hidden it that was easy to access. For when she was falling and needed to whip it out to save her life, of course. With a fire in her eyes, perhaps making her glacial glare even more effective (or not, she didn't really know as she wasn't the one being glared at), she pointed the tip at him.

"You know, I could fix the whole penis thing for you. You just have to stand there a bit longer, girly."

[Al Kinney]

Al scratched the back of his head in a placid manner. He was beginning to wonder what it would take to get this girl to shut her trap and move along. She seemed to be in it to aggravate him, but there was more meaning to it than that. He just couldn't put his finger on what that was. It was beyond his comprehension, so he turned to Tia.

'Hey... Does she seem to have some kind of motivation behind this whole escapade? Have you been able to determine some random little thing about her that made her suspicious? Or do you think she's just here because this is where she ended up when going on her daily walk?'

Tia took a moment to respond. She didn't know how to answer his question. It wasn't like she knew how to read other people's minds. She wasn't some all-knowing elder or something. 'Well, I'd say she wasn't just out on a walk. You saw the way she adjusted her boots earlier. There's something that's off about her, for sure, so just try not to let your guard down.'

Sure enough, as soon as she offered the device, the girl drew a knife. A shocked expression made it's way to Al's face. She just threatened him. Normally someone who was sane wouldn't do that to a person who was twice as large as they were. Blinking rapidly, the boy took a deep breath. This wasn't happening. It couldn't be happening. Everything just seemed too surreal at the moment.

"Okay, look, chick, that's completely unnecessary. I don't know who you are or who you think you are, but throwing that knife at me isn't that bright of an idea." Thinking about it for a moment, he pulled a move that he probably shouldn't have.

"Nevermind. Throw it at me. I dare you. You're obviously confident in your skills. Maybe a bit too confident."

[/size]

[Caedis Clepta]

And he had found her spot. Shit. For a person with little morals against stealing and ruining lives, she sure was noble. And wouldn't kill anyone; it seemed like an unnecessary low blow to her. And like it would only attract unnecessary attention to herself.It was almost as if she froze. Her muscles tensed, all still, even the ones in her arm, holding the dagger out at him. Caedis would have been proud of herself if she wasn't in the situation she was in right now.

With a loud growl she threw the dagger, not watching it plant into the ground a short distance from where her feet were. That was when she moved, going to the cliff and sitting on the edge. "Screw this kid," she muttered, more for herself than anything, before reaching her foot out to the nearest ledge.

Another annoyance: it was almost her entire height away from her. She tested it before dropping her weight onto it and turning, using her fingertips on the above edge to keep her balance. She'd done something like this before. Just relax...

Relaxed she, surprisingly, was. This was her home. Slinking on too small ledges and finding small places to rest her foot or hand. This was her element. Not frustrating men. Especially not frustrating men. To keep herself from growling she did what she had to, bending in on herself until her hands were resting between her feet. Not giving herself any time to think about what would happen if she did this wrong she did the only thing she could. She moved her legs down, looking for anywhere she could place them before her arms gave in-

A triumphant grin shaped her lips when she found that there were many. The first ledge was to deter those not involved in the cult from finding the cave. It was easy for her from then; hands and feet moving whenever she was sure her other limbs could support her weight until she found stable purchase. Until her feet couldn't touch the rock wall anymore and she had to look down to leap into the cave.

If he jumped and if the dragon caught him, he would see the cave. There wasn't a question about it; there was nothing to hide the entrance. Nothing at all. Caedis still had a dagger. She would be fine. And she was sure there would be some ceremonial weapons of some sort further inside. Or at least she really, really, really hoped so. It was likely he would pull some typical rider move and say the cave was now claimed for the riders for study or some nonsense once he found her. Like that would stop her.

Still, she had a mind to hurry. After all, it wasn't stealing if he didn't know it was there to begin with.

Suddenly feeling really exposed and wondering if he'd seen her lingering, she shook her head and turned, slowly heading into the cave. Just in case there was some nasty... thing in there. And it was kind of dark once she got farther from the entrance. Wouldn't want to stop on something that may be valuable.

And, you know, she had the advantage of turning into a spider if he came lumbering after her. She could... do some spider stuff on him.

Who was she kidding? She would be doomed.

[Al Kinney]

Preparing for her to throw the dagger at him, Al braced himself. It was something he didn't instinctively, getting ready to defend himself from an attacker. The knife fell short, the girl bailed. Confused, Al stood there dumbstruck. What had she done? Why was she going down the cliff? What in the world.. Going over to the edge of the cliff, he watched her make her way down. To think that she called him crazy...

Switching his gaze to Tia, he made his choice. He was going to go about this in a way that worked for him. It may or may not work, depending on the situation. "Tia, get ready. We're going down there to see what that crazy lady's doing. Maybe she's suicidal?"

The dragon stood up and looked at him. Stretching her wings, she doubted that the girl was actually suicidal. She was much too collected to want to end her life. 'You're wrong. There's something else. You sure you want to follow her? I'd imagine that she doesn't want to be bothered b you again, Al. Why else would she be leaving?' As she was 'speaking', Al clambered clumsily onto her back. He hadn't quite gotten the hand of mounting his dragon yet.

'Fine. Whatever. I'm just going to give her the knife back, and then we can get on with life.' He wanted to do something to make it up to her, and he figured that if he gave the knife back that would work. It didn't really matter if it did or if it didn't, anyways. Tia made her way over to the cliff and dove off it, gaining speed as they plummeted toward the blue water below. Before they hit, her wings unfurled. As the wind caught them, she steadied herself in flight. She began to make her way back around to face the cliff.

The whole time his dragon was navigating, Al was focused on the cliff as best he could. The lady had disappeared into the cave on the cliff face. That was all he could figure out at the moment.