"I'm telling you, we should leave," Matthew's dragoness stares down at the man. Her voice is cool, with a very faint hint of roboticism to it. The monotone undertones is clear to him. The man's hood is draped down over his shoulders, revealing black hair that flows down to the bottom of his neck. The orange of the morning sun shines on the western edge of the clearing.

Matthew takes a deep breath, taking in the abnormally crisp morning air. "And I'm telling you, we should learn more about this area before we wander willy-nilly into the woods." Matthew manages to make his voice more monotone than the more artificial being in the camp. He turns his gaze to the ashes. "I will not have myself die to some beast of the forest. I heard a howl when I woke up, you know."

"You would be a good wolf snack," The dragoness states plainly. "You wouldn't even fight back if it snapped their jaws at you."

Matthew's gaze hardens slightly. "Oh, you have little faith in me?" He says coldly. "I guess it is not too surprising, considering you saw exactly nothing coming from me."

"Nothing but sitting on your ass, mumbling words like 'Drae' and 'god'. I don't get you. You've done nothing."

"Nothing but make the fire and clean up my shit. You were off hunting, providing for yourself and only yourself. My shit at least provides for both of us."

The dragoness scoffs. "Oh now you're worried about me?" Her tail flicks, almost in anger. She growls softly at him. "And not when I was hunting?"

"Oh, you can just flap those shiny little wings and fly away. What is a large spider going to do if it gets you? Eat you? Tangle you up in its web and sink those fangs into you?"

"See, you're giving the spider too much credit. It wouldn't be able to penetrate." The dragoness scratches at her arm. A screeching sound fills the air, leaving Matthew disoriented. The metal scales remain scratchless. "And if it did, you wouldn't give a shit."

Matthew rubs at his head, taking a moment or so to reorient himself. After the world around him becomes clear, the dragoness without a name is gone. The rustling of leaves to his left betrays her movement. The light flashes off spines on her tail before it slips into the woods.

Alone, he turns back to his mind. I can't be with her, He thinks. He lied to me. He's a liar. That... self-proclaimed god. Internally, Matthew laughs. He searched for truth in the words of the being that came to him in his meditations and found that every single word that they said was true. Matthew shakes his head a bit, still assuming that the being is still deceiving him in some way. If the dragon was bonded to him, surely he could have felt it? With a growl, he turns away from those thoughts.

He takes a look around and only sees trees, dirt, and the ash pile nearby. A small pile of logs nestles near one of the larger trees to the north. Imprints of his weaponry and other goods lay in the dirt. His hand drifts to the bag by his side, before opening it and taking out a dagger. He starts twirling it in his hand. His gaze falls on the blade as it cuts a circle in the air.

"Was he...?" Matthew asks, a lack of surety in his voice. He drops the knife, the tip slicing through his cloak and embedding into the ground. "H-he is." Guilt floods his mind as he comes to the slow realization that he was all wrong. Matthew shuts his eyes as he grasps the handle of the blade.

A deep, rumbling voice not unlike a dragon's pops into his head: It's about damn time, kid.

"I am not a kid," Matthew says calmly, but somewhat coolly. Matthew tenses up a bit when he hears a chuckle in his head.

You are. You're not even a day old.

Matthew scowls. "And who are you to judge"

I am your king. Raedel appears in the clearing, sitting on a tree branch. Matthew whirls around to face him. The body flickers, the fades, only to reappear right beside him. Matthew swipes at the invader's shoulder, only hitting air.

"A king that would not leave their throne to meet me," Matthew says. "I have no king to rule me over."

"No gods no masters? Is that the ideology you're going for? I know you are in your edgy teen phase. I see it in your eyes, so from that, part of me weeps for you. You are like everyone else past post-creation. You, like everyone else, do not simply believe what you cannot see. You can't believe that someone hundreds upon hundreds of miles away can exert influence on little 'ol you."

Matthew scowls. How did he-

"Ah, so I'm right. Young buck, you will eventually grow out of this phase through force or through natural events." The king crosses his arms and frowns deeply at him.

"I will not be chided by-"

"Quiet." The king scowls at Matthew. His words reverberate through the clearing, causing birds to stir from their perches. A wooden cane materializes in his hand. He cracks it down on Matthew's head, smiling a bit when he sees the younger man flinch and step away from it. "I would say something about respecting your elders, but we do not work like that. You should learn where and when you must speak to me."

Matthew opens his mouth, and a glare from the illusionary king shuts him up before he has a chance to speak.

"I am no authoritarian. Do not think of me, or speak of me as such. Does a newly born child question where his mother takes him?" Matthew's silence earns him another crack on the head. "Well? Does he?"

"N-no," Matthew says, somewhat shaken. He regains his composure, then frowns at the king. "Not at all."

"You are like that baby. The world is your clearing and all the shit you have in that bag. There is no East or West Zaroth, nor East or West Montania, nor is there Kingsland and Kha'An. There is only here." He indicates the clearing's center with his cane. "And the only ones in your world is Atraxa, Aluca, and I. Your dragon partner named herself, but she never told you because you chased her off like a little shit."

Matthew bristles in anger. "She started it!"

"Maybe she did, but you had no right to escalate if that was the case. If you're lying, which I highly suspect that you are, then you had no right to be a jerk. Did Atraxa nail into your head her importance?"

"I exist because of her," Matthew recalls. A shiver runs up his spine as the lie unravels in front of him. The man feels the shadow energy shift inside him. The deception was as clear as day, hidden beneath his own god's words.

"No. I see that you finally caught onto that. Do you want the truth? She exists because of you, my child. If you died right here, she would fall as well." The king states. "If I were you, I would be careful."

"Are... are you saying that I should learn more about the area before charging off into the woods?" Matthew asks.

"Yes, being careful implies that you should learn about the threats around. Don't let your correctness get to your head. Let that be the first lesson I shall each you."

Matthew scowls. "Yeah, try-"

"Quiet," The king says. Matthew obeys. "You are as liable to her safety as she is to yours."

"She doesn't deserve my protection though."

"I realize I'm not changing minds here. Aluca deserving it or not does not matter in the grand scheme of things. It is an implied contract of-"

"I didn't agree to anything!" Matthew frowns heavily, anger bubbling up. His stare turns into a glare. The fingers on his right hand twitch.

Stolen content warning: this content belongs on Royal Road. Report any occurrences.

"Oh, but you did." The king stares into Matthew's eyes. "You exist. You agree to it because the survival of society itself demands it. This is why we have the laws of the land."

Impulsively, Matthew shuts himself away from the conversation and leaps at the king. Like before, he only hits air. The shadows making up the illusion break apart and cling onto Matthew's outstretched arms. Matthew's senses dull around him as the shadows enter his body and take control of his body. Matthew goes limp, drifting off to sleep at the behest of the shadows.

----------------------------------------

Aluca's sensors barely registered that her partner drifted off to sleep. Instead, they were busy taking in every sight and smell around her. Matthew's chatter in her head largely died down by the time she flew into a smaller clearing. Her gaze scans around the area and picks out potential paths with uncanny swiftness. The wind shifts to the north, carrying a leaf with it. She opens her maw and spits out embers. Upon contact with the leaf, it burns away in the air.

The dragoness lands in the clearing and ruffles her wings. Matthew had angered her quite a bit. I don't like him very much. She thinks. She would be the first to admit that his discontent for her has left her slightly nervous for their well-being.

W-we are alone here, but that could change. She thinks. And when it did, would he be here? Would he... care? Anxiously, she looks back in the direction she came from. God, I'm a lot like him, aren't I? I think and think and think and say only things that could hurt. Was that the Matthew of yesterday?

"Or... did he change?" She looks toward the sky, noting down the sun's position mentally. Aluca's perception of time slows when she is away from him. "Did his god change him? Did... our god? What did he say to him?" Aluca sighs heavily. Her tail sags a bit, a heavy sinking feeling coming over her. She realized that her anger was misplaced. The dragoness could not help but disagree with his notions of leaving. Whether it was a sense buried deep within her, or just a wild guess, she knew the area was unsafe. One of her claws flicks a blade of grass.

I shouldn't have said those things to him. If you can hear me, I'm sorry. She mentally calls out for him. The calls fall on deaf ears and a closed mind. Aluca curls up in the grass, shivering as the tip of a grass blade tickles at her nose. She gives it a disgruntled nibble. Aluca lets go of those emotions with a shaky sigh. She buries her face in her chest feeling lonelier than she ever has been since she existed.

Her rationalizations quickly come moments later. A scared man. Scared? Overwhelmed. An overwhelmed man who spent his time trying to understand the world around him. I cannot fault him for that. Perhaps he wants to leave to seek out a better place. I do too... eventually.

Aluca's gaze softens. Thoughts of her verbally agreeing with her partner bubbles to the surface before being squashed by her analytical side. If they stayed, they would become easy targets in her eyes. Two beings of great value sitting in a clearing would surely attract others seeking out their material wealth. Aluca could not bank on potential seekers being kindhearted and virtuous. The chances of that happening were very low. If they left, they would be safer.

Gently, Aluca probes Matthew's current state. Readings and graphs in her internal displays show a higher than normal duration of inhalation. The man's heart rate is lower from average when she extends the data back to their creation. Aluca seeks out mind activity to break the tie between sleep and meditation in her mind. A lack of such leads her to her conclusion.

Sleep. He is... sleeping? Well shit. She uncurls to flop onto her side. Aluca gently bites at a nearby blade of grass. Pressure on her left wing causes her to shift onto her back. Green leaves above her sway in the early morning wind. Grass ripples around her and tickles her sides gently. Her forepaw bats at a blade of grass rubbing at her wing. The dragoness tears it out before throwing it to the side in a blatant disregard for nature. It drifts to the north where it nestles on the top of a bed of grasses near a thin tree. Her gaze follows it every step of the way.

Aluca rolls to a stand, flying onto the lowest tree branch before perching on it. Her gaze sweeps around the clearing. Nothing is out of the ordinary there. Her gaze flicks up the tree trunk before she digs her claws into the trunk. The dragoness begins scaling the tree, partially in boredom, and partially in curiosity as to what was around her.

Aluca digs her claws in the trunk even harder once she reaches the top of the tree. Her hind paws scrape against it before she finds her footing. Her gaze flicks to the left, then to the right. Surrounding her are leaves of other trees. She uses her hind paws to flip back off the tree with her wings spread. Sunlight glints off her belly before she flips back around. Her claws find purchase on a fairly wide tree branch. There, she turns to face north.

Trees are visible for miles around her. Her watchful eyes pick out a number of clearings in the distance. Breaks in the treetops alert her to a potential east-west river stretching as far as her peripheries can go. Aluca leans forward, then sniffs at the air. The dragoness ruffles her wings as an attempt to cut through a faint feeling of tension around her.

A cracking sound nearly makes her jump off of the branch. She felt as if she needed to get out of there now. Not wanting to delay anything further, she leaps off the branch and ascends a hundred feet. Immediately, she spots movement in the flora below. Humanoid figures dressed in light clothing make their way to the south. Easily spotted on their bodies are twin daggers and a pouch tied to a ring on their belts. These mysterious men trip alarms within the dragoness. She suppresses a prompted change in her visual interface, plots the fastest course to Matthew, then makes her way over as fast as she can.

I hate being right, She thinks. I hate it. I hate it. I hate it. Not like this. While the fresh air is a godsend to her, she has a lot more on her plate to deal with. Swiftly, she lands in Matthew's clearing. She stares at Matthew's sleeping body for a moment before desecrating it with a few embers to his skin.

Matthew scrambles for his dagger in a half-asleep state. Much to Aluca's surprise, he does not lunge at her, nor does he yell out in pain or surprise. His gaze sweeps around the clearing before meeting Aluca's.

"Oh for-" Matthew begins, his face contorting in anger.

"Save it. We have a problem," Aluca says. "Remember when I said we should leave earlier? Right... we should. Now."

"I'm not budging," Matthew frowns and crosses his arms.

"You said you needed to learn more. We are surrounded by forests at all sides. There is a river to the north. Maybe we will find civilization if we follow it," Aluca's tail flicks nervously. Matthew stares at her slightly shaking body.

"No." He says coolly. "You interrupted my sleep for this?"

"I can't go at this alone," Aluca whines softly. She stares up at him with a quivering lip and a saddened gaze. Aluca did not want to fight against him especially when their safety is at stake.

Matthew's gaze is cold and unwavering. "Let me sleep." He says. "Whatever caused you to suddenly flip out and burn my arms can go die in a fire. I need my rest. Scamper off until I wake, little dragoness."

Aluca shakes her head. "Sleep if you wish. I won't leave your side. I do not care what you think about this. As your partner, I won't have you killed by what may come."

Matthew scoffs, laying on his side and drifting off. Aluca tears her gaze away from the childish man. She truly does not understand why he is insistent on staying behind.

What does he see here? She thinks. I don't even think Atraxa knows at this point. What a... cold and weird person. Aluca focuses back on her surroundings. She tenses up when the fluttering of wings enters her sensors.

"I have to relax," She says softly. She closes her eyes and takes a deep breath.

"Ah... you're like this now." Says a voice in her head. It is deep with robotic tones that sound much like her own. With only a sample size of one, her analysis of the voice instantly returns inconclusive. Aluca's gaze snaps open. It sweeps around the grass, then the trees. Frantically, she flips her vision systems to a thermal view. Blues and purples from the temperatures of her surroundings fill her view. Only Matthew and herself are detected as anomalies in her systems. With a resigned sigh, she deactivates the program and settles down onto her stomach.

"Who are you?" She asks.

"Neither your god nor your king. Raedel does not see me as a king as kings are not dragons. I am a member of your species. My name is Neketu. Best you commit that to memory as I will be contacting you more times."

"Onto the why now. Why are you talking to me?"

"At the king's behest, I opened up a private channel between us. The prompt should appear soon. Accept it if you wish. We can speak much like you can with your partner."

A prompt from an internal system she has never seen nor heard of pops into her view. She accepts it with a simple thought.

Perhaps being alone here would not be so bad.

"Indeed. You have much to learn, Aluca. I will not teach you a lot of things. Most will come down to you naturally discovering your internals. That is how I did things when I was a hatchling. A trial by fire only means that the strong would survive. We survive when the strong do."

Aluca spreads her left wing and licks at the metal connecting it to her body. Sounds tribalistic.

"A young race is tribalistic, yes. We are good, while the other is a menace except when that menace benefits our society. We, however, strive to be better than a mere tribe of... off humans. Knockoff humans, even. We are better than a young race because we matured faster than a young race."

And faster maturity means what? You're stronger?

"Stronger and more adaptive." A gentle purr fills her auditory sensors. She could neither spot nor touch the source.

So... Mister Neketu...

"Just Neketu, please. No honorifics. I do not want you to see me as your superior. I am your equal, Aluca. We shall see each other as such."

F-fine. Aluca repeats her licking with her other wing.

"On an unrelated note... I realize the whole 'telepathic conversation and then suddenly being there as an illusion' thing is played out to the extreme in our society. I will spare you with such... antics, shall we say?" Aluca signals back an affirmative internally. "So... you have a bit of a partner problem?"

A bit? Try... try... She casts her gaze to the ground and sighs heavily. She could not stop the tears welling up in her eyes. H-he hates me.

"Does he now? Well, that just won't do. Send me what you have of him." As if obeying an order, Aluca compiles all her memories of Matthew. She sends it off to Neketu using another system she doesn't yet understand.

The silence on her end is deafening. She did not know if he was angry or if he was taking it all in. Aluca's wings ruffle as her breaths become shakier. A long and pained-sounding sigh is all she gets back before the feed between them is suddenly cut.