welcoming home small one (AMUR/Open)

[Nayeli]

’introducing
{sunglow*}
featuring--! tasia anna georgios

It has been nice to get away, to fly as far as the wind could carry you and not have to worry about anything. Our two minds had melded together in perfection once we had left to just get away. My rider had enjoyed each moment, had allowed herself to relax and train in privacy with her own thoughts. She had set for hours opening her mind to every creature around her and had watched through the eyes of others as they moved about her. My might wings glide through the air, beating against the invisible blanket once every couple of minutes. It was nice to just fly, to forget everything for a mere moment before we had to return. Why had we left the city-state of Illrea?

Death… The words had come to my hatchling about her father as they had set at their own villa, studying about things that their master wanted her to learn. She had been so upset, her sadness had been join with my own for the time and we had left quickly towards the forest of her birth. As we had arrived, the lady~yells~alot came out from the home that my young one loved and spoke words to her as if she were nothing more than a rat who meant nothing. The words had angered me and I had allowed the lady to feel my wrath and cause her to become silent. Such sadness embraced my rider and I mourned with her and for her as she cried and wept at the feet of her father’s bed.

After that, we had gone to the east, traveling the area some and just allowing her some space and peace, though peace was not easy to come by. Her sobs were easily heard throughout the night and my own heart broke at the sound. She was so sad and yet, I could do nothing to sooth her pain and make up for her lost.

Finally, it seemed that her mourning had been coming to a close and they continued to enjoy their time in the east. She was learning much, as I was as well and soon, we were returning to the land of my hatching and training. As we flew high in the air, just on the edge of the elves forest, it had taken three days of flight to get us anywhere near the end of the forest on the west and soon, I was landing within the silent plains, my mouth opening to roar out into the sky as I landed, shaking the area around me and causing many birds to fly from their hiding places. She untied her legs and jumped from my own back, carefully landing so that neither one of her weapons turned and hurt her. Welcome Home Small One. I had chosen not to call her Hatchling, since she was much older than I was.

’word count .485
’tagged none has come
’song None--! None
’post status done
’template creator nayeli

[Amur]

Solomon sat on a small rock formation fuming in silence; in his hand he held a plain-gold ring with various symbols from the demonic-language engraved into it. A “gift” from his mentor, after the last gift that vile half-breed abomination had sent, Solomon did not trust this ring. The symbols engraved into the surface had a faint ember-like glow to them, which alone told Solomon that there was some kind of demonic enchantment on it. However, his lack of education in the demonic tongue and knowing what his mentor was like –both from his hatred of the vile half-breed, and his distrust of him- Solomon had immediately passed off the enchantment as something intended to hinder him as opposed to help him.

Which is why he sat here now, simply glaring at it.

When Aimé had arrived with his usual messages from Solomon’s mentor and from the only other two people from Empire Nirvana that Solomon bothered keeping contact with he appeared awkward and nervous.

Solomon knew why, his mentor had taken measures to ensure that Aimé would arrive just in time for the “gift” he was sending would arrive in time for Solomon’s birthday. Where the messages from the other two had been their usual telling of goings-on and some more trivial information from within Empire Nirvana, his mentor had just sent the message.

“Happy Birthday, Valkenhayn”
That his non-human mentor knew the last two remaining links to the woman-that-birthed-him and the man-that-made-that-possible only added insult to the fury that Solomon’s memories of that couple caused him. He had tried hard enough to forget his blood relation to those vile pieces of filth, but to have his non-human mentor send him yearly messages wishing him a “Happy Birthday” caused Solomon more rage than any insult ever could.

As had become the yearly custom, Solomon’s return message to his mentor consisted of a long winded, highly rage fuelled rant involving many racial slurs and “half-breed abominations”, which all eventually led back into another rant about how his name was Solomon.

Of course, the reply he expected to get back from his mentor at this point –as it had been every year since Solomon had arrived here- was his mentor just asking him if he was angry.

After managing to calm himself down to the point where he could actually form a coherent thought, he had given Aimé his replies to each of his “contacts” and sent him back on his way. Then Solomon had made his way to this place, the natives had called it “The Silent Plains”, a fitting place for Solomon to sit and work through the last of his rage in silence.

His long wyvern-skin coat still stored back at one of his hidden camps he looked down at his insignia and drew in a slow, calming breath. Knowing what was coming did nothing to lessen the rage he felt at receiving these particular messages... His mentor knew that and just kept pushing, also knowing that Solomon wouldn’t do anything about it other than rant at him.

No, he respected his mentor too much to kill him... Hated him, but respected him.

Dropping the ring into his palm and closed his hand around it, sighing as he did so. Of course he would end up holding onto the ring, he still had several other similar “gifts” hidden away in his various camps. This one would merely end up at another camp, he fully intended to keep each one of them separate, that decision, once more boiling down to his hatred and distrust of his mentor.

Placing the ring into one of the small pouches on his belt he returned to his silent fury, content to simply let the time pass as he calmed down.

It was then he was startled from his silence as something large flew overhead and roared. Instinctively he tore one of his knives from its sheath and crouched in a ready-stance and scanned the air... Wait, he recognised that Lizard. Slowly, Solomon stood up straight and returned his knife to its sheath and very slowly closed some of the distance between himself and the Lizard. Pausing to observe from a distance, yes, he recognised them.

He had hunted alongside these two once before, and it was during that time that Tasia and Sunglow had both earned his respect. The issue was that he was never sure where he stood, with Sunglow in particular, not after the issue on the boat several months ago. And the fact that she was now so much bigger than he was, well, that was undoubtedly going to make him feel uncomfortable. Not that Solomon would ever admit to that, nor would he ever show it, no, his pride wouldn’t let him.

He drew in a shallow breath and walked forward. He had done a good job of making himself enemies here so far, that it was... “Nice” to see a friendly face.

His fury forgotten he walked toward them in a steady –yet confident- stride.

“Ah, Tasia, Young Dragon: Sunglow.”
He said, placing his fingertips over the top of his insignia as he spoke, a sign of respect between Hunters back home.

“It’s been a while since we last met, ja?”
He asked, intended as a friendly greeting. He stopped walking, leaving a respectful distance between himself and them –a custom born of the paranoia that so often ran rampant within Empire Nirvana. People had a tendency to panic if one person got too close to them too quickly.- and as was Solomon’s wont he spent very little time around the people of this land, and had yet to really adapt to the difference in culture and customs.

[Nayeli]

’introducing
{tasia anna georgios*}
featuring--! Sunlow! ---! ---!
I don't know if you can see
The changes that have come over me
In these last few days I've been afraid
That I might drift away
I've been telling old stories, singing songs
That make me think about where I've come from
That's the reason why I seem
So far away today

The feeling of the soil between my toes again was nice and the ride to The Silent Plains had not been very bad at all, though long, it had been nice. I allowed my arms and legs to stretch up and down as I lifted myself up and then lowered myself down. It was nice to move my legs after those long hours. I looked around the plains and felt a sense of sadness come over me. These plains had once been a battle ground and I had been one of the battlers upon the ground. I had taken life from afar as a bows woman, aimed my bow and never had to see the face of the one that I had killed. It had hurt on the inside to see the man fall after the arrow had struck him, but I had been fighting for my people, my race and what I believed in. I looked up to the sky for a moment and closed my eyes, remembering how my father had run past me to go to the fight and I thought I would never see him again… I felt that if I had lost him then, the pain would have not been nearly so bad as losing him to a sickness unknown to myself or my people.

I opened my eyes, feeling the hot and angry words hit my skin that had come from my step mother, though I had had my revenge when an elf came towards us with a piece of parchment. It was a letter from my father that held the information I needed to know. I called my sister and her love to the forest. The large black dragon had landed and my sister had dismounted along with her lover and mate. My step mother had been beyond pissed and then I had the letter read to everyone.

’Long ago, I had decided who would gain this home after my death and it will belong to my two beautiful daughters… My wife, though I love her, never truly loved me and because of this, will leave this village and return to her birth home. Everything within’ the house belongs to my daughters, everything that is in their except for my wife’s own clothing.’ I had been shocked to read the statement, but my step mother had been more so. My sister had returned to the Silverwood Forest and I had enchanted the house to stay locked until it felt my own touch or the touch of my sister. I watched as my step mother took her clothes and left without a word to either me or her own daughter, though I had heard the cursing that had come from her when the rider landed upon the ground. Tasia and her sister were disowned now for being associated with the riders.

As I allowed my emerald eyes to look around I saw a form coming towards us and soon saw that it was someone I knew, someone I had worked with, someone who I respected. Solomon Latro was a man that Sunglow and I had worked with in the past. Sunglow had been much smaller then, able to be in many different locations because of her size, now, she would have broken all those places she had been. I heard a deep sound come from within’ her chest as I thought about her trying to fit into the space she had once tried… It was rather funny and she seemed to get a kick out of it as well.

The man continued forward until he finally stopped at a respected distance. From experience with the man, he did not like being too close to others, so I stayed where I was and gave him a friendly smile as his voice came to me. ”Ah, Tasia, Young Dragon: Sunglow.” As he gave use a sign of respect, I acknowledge with the same. Even if we had only spend a limited amount of time together, it was enough to learn a few things, such as greeting. ”Hello Solomon, great hunter…”

[/color] I said to the man after he had greeted us. Sunglow lowered her head so he did not have to look up and turned her eye slightly to look at him. ”Hello, Solomon…”[/i][/color] She did not call him great hunter like I did, since she was by far one of the best, she still held a strong respect for him.

”It’s been a while since we last met, ja?” I nodded in agreement to the human hunter and looked at Sunglow. ”Since the ship, but that was nearly two years ago… It has been a long while friend.”[/color] I said to the man, my hand on Sunglow’s snout as I looked at him. He seemed in fine physical fitness, though there was a strange annoyance in his eyes. ”What is troubling you, friend?”[/color] His annoyance could not only be seen, but felt around herself since she was very much open minded right now about everything.
[/blockquote][/blockquote]

Now I have moved and I've kept on moving
Proved the points that I needed proving
Lost the friends that I needed losing
Found others on the way
I have kissed the fellas and left them crying
Stolen dreams, yes, there's no denying
I have traveled hard, sometimes with conscience flying
Somewhere with the wind

’word count 0.838
’tagged Solomon Latro
’song Caledonia--! Celtic Woman
’post status done
’template creator nayeli

[/size]

[Amur]

Solomon had allowed himself a small, absent smile at the passing pleasantries, yes; it was definitely nice not to have to open at least one meeting with some kind of insult or threat. Even better still to not have to open a meeting with some kind of awkward –and far too formal- greeting, as had become the case with the few contacts he had in this land, of all the things he had left behind it was the respect he received from his fellow Hunter’s that he missed the most.

As such he was... Grateful for Tasia’s “great hunter” compliment, a few steps below the “Master Hunter” title he had earned, but Solomon only had himself to blame for that, he wasn’t very open about his past. That, however, was just another part of the deep-seated sense of distrust of everyone that had been drilled into Solomon as he grew up in Empire Nirvana... Well, that and the fact that Solomon just generally disliked talking about himself to any degree.

Greetings were soon out of the way, and Solomon had to admit that he was more than a little bit shocked at the length of time that had passed since their last meeting.

“Two years?” Solomon asked distantly, allowing himself a small chuckle. “Where does the time go?”
He asked, more in good humour, than in anything else, knowing that two years was not the same length of time to an immortal as it was to a Human.

“It would seem as though a lot has happened either way.”
He said calmly, looking back Sunglow.

“You got big, Young Dragon.” He said calmly. “I’ll have to watch my back.”
He smirked, though more uncertainly than usual. There was a chance he would have to give some insight into some of the phrases used between Hunters back home. Someone stating they would have to “watch their back”, was usually a compliment given to acknowledge the skills or prowess of another respected Hunter.

Then, Tasia asked him what was troubling him... Solomon fell silent, was his frustration really that obvious? He was sure that he had managed to calm himself down enough to ensure that it was little more than an afterthought.

“I’m... Sorry. I wasn’t aware it was so obvious.”
He said calmly, though, he was unsure of what to say next. The question seemed genuine, but respect and trust were two completely different things. And Solomon’s trust was much more difficult to gain than his respect was.

He disliked talking about anything that might lead to his past almost as much as he disliked talking about his past itself.

He remained silent for a long while, still unsure of just how much of his frustration he should explain, he would avoid mentioning that it was linked to the day of his birth, he had no desire to explain the depth of his hatred for that day, yet; that was really the majority of the root of his frustration... Or perhaps he could just give them part of the reason; it was only natural for people to have at least one Mentor at some point throughout their life wasn’t it?

He drew in a calming breath.

“I... Uh, received a message from my Non-Human Mentor a short while ago and he managed to get to me.”
He half-heartedly explained. He would leave out the details of his birth-name alongside details around the day of his birth.

He gave a small, somewhat forced smile.

“He’s the only person alive capable of doing that.”
He continued slowly. Falling silent at the end of his lacking explanation, talking about himself was the hardest thing he could do. He didn’t like doing it, it made him feel... Weak.

[Nayeli]

’introducing
{sunglow*}
featuring--! tasia anna georgios

The smile that came to the non~magical two~legged was nice to see as I watched my rider and him send out simple and yet nice pleasantries. Dragon were not something that did that, but they would at times, a simple roar was all that went on between them, especially when it came to my hatch-mate Arashi. He never liked to talk much to me or anyone else, he acted like the wild dragons did, speaking with only thoughts and emotions. It was strange, since I had learned to actually speak, but then again, I enjoyed it some as well. Memories were something to treasure and should be used to express great meaning.

At least Solomon was a friend which was good. Most humans and elves hated my type, along with my rider. They just did not understand things and it was hard to convince someone unless you wanted to force them and I had no problem doing that at all. Tasia, however, did not want to force people to do her will, which was understandable. Either you are fair or you become a Tyrant and I knew I did not want to do that at all. It seemed that Tasia’s own comment had pleased the man we had come to respect, though at the same time, a since of something else came that did not seem to happy in his eyes, but I did not comment, I had no reason to comment.

”Two years?” I tilted my head at the human male, wondering why he seemed so surprised. Two years was not at all that long, but then again, he was mortal. ”Where does the time go?” I believed it had been a little longer then two years, but I could not remember. I knew I was still young and small, able to fit on a boat without a problem. [o]”It would seem as though a lot has happened either way.”

[/i] I nodded slightly in agreement. There was much going on, including conversation to change the dragon riders pact to included humans. ”You got big, Young Dragon… I’ll have to watch my back.” A let out a deep chuckle that came from my chest and lifted my head, releasing a loud roar into the air. ”That you will hunter.”[/color][/i] I said, letting out some smoke through my nostrils before lowering my head to where it had originally been. I took the comment as a good compliment as did Tasia.

It seemed might rider had also hit a sore spot with the human as he seemed to not like the fact he had been showing some emotion. ”I’m... Sorry. I wasn’t aware it was so obvious.” I blew out some smoke and nudged my rider’s own mind. You should have stay quite… I might not want to speak about it hatchling.[/color] He felt her own mind return the nudge, but it was harder. Tasia did not seem to want to say anything more though, she seemed to want to know and that could have been dangerous.

”I... Uh, received a message from my Non-Human Mentor a short while ago and he managed to get to me.” I snorted and shook my head. ”You should not allow a flesh ling to get to you, Solomon…”[/color][/b] I said to him in a warm but strong voice. He seemed to not know how to control his own anger or emotions and that could be fatal to him and anyone that was possible around him. ”He’s the only person alive capable of doing that.” Tasia seemed interested, but she did not seem to care to dig deeper for fear of causing more anger and pain then was already started. ”Well, I am sure it will past, just be careful… Anyway, how have you been Solomon?”[/color] My rider asked as if to throw off the tension and to try and get off the subject.

As I watched him carefully, I could feel that he would make a good rider if humans were ever allowed into the pact, but even I was not sure.
[/blockquote][/blockquote]

’word count 0.676
’tagged Solomon Latri
’song None--! None
’post status done
’template creator nayeli

[/size]

[Amur]

As the Young Dragon roared in response to Solomon’s compliment, he had to silently remind himself of his present location to prevent himself from getting tense at the sound. Which, much like everything else about Solomon was a habit born from the living conditions within Empire Nirvana; the constant threat of Wyvern attacks back home usually had everyone on edge when they heard a loud noise. He managed to keep his calm composure –or at least what he thought was his calm composure, given his irritation at his non-human mentor- intact, and even managed to chuckle to himself. His compliment had been taken well, which was a good thing in Solomon’s mind, since he didn’t give very many compliments, and, as such had no idea how to give them.

For a moment following the confession that his Mentor had managed to get to him, he felt awkward, he had always tried to give the impression that nothing ever got to him, to make himself appear as though he was made out of stone. Back home that was the way he had, had to act. Especially whenever he had been talking to or just generally interacting with his Non-Human Mentor, and for a long while, it had worked.

Until that day during The Incident, Solomon’s mentor had, by chance learned of Solomon’s birth-name. And of his blood relation to that vile defiler of the dead that had been the cause of the incident. And no matter how hard he tried, Solomon could not desensitise himself to that particular piece of his past, it still caused him immeasurable rage, but more importantly it made him feel... Ashamed, ashamed of whom he was, of who he was related to. But more importantly, it made him feel ashamed of his own reputation. For everything he became to his clan, for every Latro clan-mate that had looked-up to him... He still couldn’t save them.

And that sense of shame, only served to further fuel his rage.

Thinking about it, usually just made things worse for Solomon. Today, he was fortunate, however. As he heard Sunglows comment about not letting a “fleshling” get to him Solomon managed to laugh in spite of his current mood. The irony was that, that was something that his mentor would have said. Though he would have probably used the phrase “smooth-skin” to describe anyone that had not been himself, the thought of that was enough to lead Solomon to the fond memories of the all the times he had managed to put his mentor on the floor.

“Ja, that sounds like something he’d say too.”
Solomon finally said response, chuckling soon after.

“It’ll pass, I know that much. But you have no need to worry about me Tasia; I’m not the kind of person to go making stupid decisions just because I’m a little bit angry.”
No, he was capable of that when he was in a perfectly reasonable mood. He was thankful, however, that they had decided not to push him for details. Though, the question of exactly how he had been was an interesting one, as he had pointed out earlier, a lot had happened since their last meeting... He was unsure if either of the pair knew of the way in which he had openly taunted The Riders when he had slaughtered that encampment of those Apish Brutes... What was it they were called? He had to think for a moment before the name came to him. Urgals!

But, he would keep his silence with that particular piece of information. Tasia and Sunglow were part of that order, and the only two from it that had earned his respect, which made things difficult. After all, the rest of their order so far seemed like such a large gathering in incompetent morons.

He kept silent for a moment longer, looking thoughtful. Simply trying to find the best way to summarise how life had been treating him.

For the most part things had been pretty uneventful; Solomon was content to live in his usual solitude which normally allowed him to live in silence as the rest of the land lived its life around him. So, what could he say?

He thought back briefly to his encounters with The Little Lizard –or as he had taken to calling it more recently, “Wyvern-kin”- and its Elf. Those had been some enjoyable encounters, for sure. There was always something... Refreshing about putting the more “racially superior” prey in its place that could only cause Solomon to smile absently, though, if pressed he’d pass that off as something else entirely. He wasn’t about to go and tell them that he had not only been taunting their order, but he had also put one of their own in their place more than once.

Best that he wasn’t around them should they learn of that.

“Things have gotten... Interesting, I’ll admit that much. Or at least they’ve gotten interesting for me, not that I’m one to complain about such things. I appreciate any challenge that life throws at me, have to keep myself sharp, ja?”
He settled for that explanation, deciding that it said enough without saying too much.

“What about the two of you? I imagine you’ve had plenty to keep you busy since I saw you last.”
Now he just felt awkward for asking that, small talk was definitely not one of Solomon’s strengths.

[Nayeli]

’introducing
{tasia anna georgios*}
featuring--! Sunlow! ---! ---!
I don't know if you can see
The changes that have come over me
In these last few days I've been afraid
That I might drift away
I've been telling old stories, singing songs
That make me think about where I've come from
That's the reason why I seem
So far away today

As Sunglow released her loud roar in response to the young male’s words, I smiled and had no choice but to cover my own ears. The sound was beyond deafening and I was not sure how she could handle it, but then again, she was much different. As she returned her gaze back to the young human, I focused my own eyes back upon him and noticed that he was slightly tense, though it was something he tried to hide. I knew he was not from the land in which I was and it showed that he had a much harder life growing up. I had it easy for the most part, even though I was hated by my step mother and constantly cursed. Well, now she was never going to bother my father’s house. My step sister and I had made sure she was gone and she would have to listen to us.

It seemed that the words about his mentor had caused some embarrassment and I glanced at Sunglow for a moment. Her large yellow eye looked at me before it blinked. We will try and not mention it again, young one.

[/color] She said to me personally, not allowing him to hear her own words before she focused on him again. It was good to know that we got along with someone enough to know when to keep our mouths shut. We had the same relationship with our fellow hatchlings, Arashi and his rider. But then again, Sunglow enjoyed bugging the dragon while myself and his rider enjoyed each other’s company.

I found myself thinking about my own things as we waited for a moment. My mind was on many things, such as the place around us and the life I had to live and had lived. As it seemed to come back to what we were doing now, the sound of some laughter came from the young male and I wondered why until I remembered what Sunglow had said. Was what she said that funny to the Human? ”Ja, that sounds like something he’d say too.” It was then that I slightly understood his reason for laughing and found myself smiling slightly.

”It’ll pass, I know that much. But you have no need to worry about me Tasia; I’m not the kind of person to go making stupid decisions just because I’m a little bit angry.” I nodded and gave a smile at his words. It was good that he was not a rash decision maker, but then again, I had learned that about him slightly when we had been on our missions together. Since we had been away for so long, we needed to catch up on details and I had not really heard much from anyone. He seemed to be thinking of something and I turned my attention back to Sunglow. Do you think something else is bothering him, Sister[/color] She blink in response to me before thinking it over for a moment. Yes, but we should not push him to tell us everything… He is not an elf, he is a mortal fleshling and can not speak about everything at once.[/color] I agreed with my dragon. What do you think it might be?[/color] I heard a slightly rumble in her chest. Well, it all depends… Since he seemed to be going over thoughts, he might be taking out information he does not want us to know… We know Solomon well enough that he would probably do something we would not like, but it would also not surprise us… He might not want to reveal such things to us for fear we might actually kill him, even though we would not lower ourselves to kill a friend, no matter how foolish.[/color] I agreed with her once again as I mulled over everything she had just told me. It was very possible that Solomon was keeping things from us and he would sooner or later find out.

“Things have gotten... Interesting, I’ll admit that much. Or at least they’ve gotten interesting for me, not that I’m one to complain about such things. I appreciate any challenge that life throws at me, have to keep myself sharp, ja?” I found myself chuckling slightly before nodding in easy agreement with the human. ”What about the two of you? I imagine you’ve had plenty to keep you busy since I saw you last.” I found myself glancing at Sunglow before we both gave a nod.

”Oh, we have had plenty to keep us busy… Though some would say it was avoid our job… We had to travel to the Elven Forest for my father’s passing and we had some drama there with my hateful step mother, but when my step sister and her lover showed up, we settled it rather quickly, but other than that, Sunglow and I have been… Traveling.”[/color] I said, glancing over at Sunglow as I spoke her name and then returned my gaze to him.
[/blockquote][/blockquote]

Now I have moved and I've kept on moving
Proved the points that I needed proving
Lost the friends that I needed losing
Found others on the way
I have kissed the fellas and left them crying
Stolen dreams, yes, there's no denying
I have traveled hard, sometimes with conscience flying
Somewhere with the wind

’word count 0.828
’tagged Solomon Latro
’song Caledonia--! Celtic Woman
’post status done
’template creator nayeli

[/size]

[Amur]

Solomon was unsure, he was aware that Tasia and Sunglow knew him well enough to know that he killed for sport and generally looked down on others –that of course being something of an understatement- but some of his actions over the past two years weren’t exactly his best foot forward, especially when he looked back at his little bluff.

He had no regrets about it of course, but it wasn’t exactly something that he intended to casually mention during a friendly conversation. Things like that often killed moods.

Besides, the two of them would find out sooner or later anyway, not only had his bluff seen him take an entire village (a small village, but still a village) hostage, but had also resulted in several deaths, and Solomon had since had a bounty put on his head and had spent the better part of the last two years not only –successfully- evading The Elf and his Wyvern-kin, but also the efforts of multiple bounty “hunters” –and he used the term “hunters” very loosely- though, he was never sure how some of them managed to track him to some of his hidden camps.

Perhaps the promise of money made them more determined, but that didn’t explain where they managed to get information on his location from... Though, if he was brutally honest, he was enjoying the prey that was now willingly wandering into his territory, he had killed many of them in some truly inventive ways before hanging them out for the rest of the commoners to see. Prey needed to be discouraged from trying to hunt its superiors, after all.

Not that his warnings worked, no, quite the opposite. But who was he to complain, especially when it gave him more to kill whilst keeping him out-of-sight?

The most delicious part of displaying his kills, however, was the very delicious fear they produced, and he put effort into making sure that everyone knew that these corpses were his handiwork. With each corpse he left to be found in plain sight, he left with them a copy of the bounty notice, complete with a portrait of himself.

He was never sure how officials managed that, but, again, it just meant he had more to taunt them with. Since, on that bounty notice he would leave little mocking notes, and, oftentimes, further notes pointing out mistakes they had made with his portrait.

In their fear, Officials ended up increasing the bounty offered for Solomon, which attracted more little lambs for Solomon to slaughter.

It was almost like being back at Empire Nirvana... Almost.

He blinked as Tasia spoke and then took a moment to collect his thoughts on what she had just said; he was confused, that much he would admit it... Families actually got on with each other? His experience said otherwise... Well, as much as he could recall, as far as he was concerned the closest thing he had ever had to a family was his Human Mentor, other than that though, he had no idea how to react to someone else suffering the loss of someone they had been close to. Or at least, as far as Solomon could tell, had been close to, he thought on it for a moment longer, trying to remember how he had originally felt upon seeing what had remained of his Human Mentor after learning of his death.

“You have my condolences.”
He said –though to his ears it sounded awkward- and that was the issue, it was a sincere gesture which while unused to giving them, were the kinds of gestures he was capable of giving, but his lack of closeness to anyone meant he had very little experience to draw from when it came to other’s losing people that had been close to... Though, Tasia did seem to have moved on, but, again, Solomon was unsure.

“You’ll have to excuse the awkwardness of that; I don’t have very much experience with loss.”
He stated, and that was for the most part true, but he wasn’t going to elaborate the fullness of that statement, no, it would probably mean very little to them anyway.

“Just be thankful you had a father.” He said, once again, the words sounding awkward to his ears.
“Closest thing I had to a father in my life was my Human Mentor, and he died when I was nineteen, I’ve long since moved on.”
He chuckled uncertainly, well, he had said far too much about himself in that one statement right there, and that made him feel uneasy... He fell silent for a moment longer, since when did interacting with other people become so hard?

“You’ll, eh, also have to forgive my trying to avoid talking about my past. Where I’m from we place an immeasurably high value on history, telling another of your past, either in parts or in its entirety is considered the highest sign of trust.”
He paused for a moment, picking his next words with care, realising that to a foreign culture what he had just said could have been deemed insulting.

“And well, we’re all taught to distrust everyone... It’s a pretty, uh, wound tight place if you will. Especially since even the closest of friends tend to distrust each other.”
He finished off. That was, in itself a fairly accurate summary of Empire Nirvana, of course, there was more behind it, but, there was no need to explain the inner workings of an Empire that they would likely never visit. The Nameless Emperor was so paranoid that the boarders of Empire Nirvana were completely closed off.

He paused again; he didn’t really have much more to say on that subject. So, he moved onto another topic, hoping that his explanation would be enough to stave off further questions, or at least reduce the awkwardness caused by the culture gap.

“Travelling?” He asked “Anywhere interesting?”
He still felt awkward, small talk was a skill that seemed to constantly elude Solomon, but, he supposed that it would have been a good idea to practice it, at least to a degree.

[Nayeli]

’introducing
{sunglow*}
featuring--! tasia anna georgios

The sun above warmed my golden scales, my wings stretched up slightly and I let out a long, warm breathe behind my rider who glanced over her should at me. Over the years that I had grown to know Solomon, I knew he hunted for sport and that he was constantly moving around and I wondered what secrets our mortal friend was hiding from us. Tasia did not like to pry, though the idea was tempting to both of us and it took much strength to keep the idea at bay. I knew sooner or later the man would slip his secret to us or we would find out from another friend what he had been up to. Tasia did not like that idea…

”I would rather him tell us, Sunglow… Friends do that.”

[/color] My large eyes looked at my sister for a moment and I let a small rumble come from my chest. ”Yes, but he does not hold the same ideals on friends as we do. He comes from a land much further from here, one that has a much different culture… If he wishes to tell us young one, he will, but right now, it is best to stay out of it.”[/color] She mentally agreed with me and I could tell that she still wanted to know. I did too, but I knew prying would only ruin the relationship we had gained with the human and I personally liked the relationship.

The smell of death lingered around Solomon like the stench of one of those black and white creatures that stood on their own front feet and released a smell so vile it made me sick. The memory of having it happen to me was not pleasant and I did not like to relive it. The scent that lingered here was full of blood and it was all over Solomon. Weather he washed himself or not, it was there. In the past two years we had been gone, it had seemed that he had built up that scent as well and it was a terrible scent.

As my rider spoke about the death of her father, I noted the confusion upon out friend’s face and Tasia did as well. We did not know much about his past, but we knew enough in the expression that said he did not know of loss. Tasia did not ask, nor did I feel it was a good idea to pry further into his business. ”You have my condolences.” Tasia merely nodded as she accepted his words and I looked around the silent plains with mild interest. ”You’ll have to excuse the awkwardness of that; I don’t have very much experience with loss.” He shared willingly and we merely gave a simple nod. ”It is alright, I have moved on from the experience, no need to give those at all.”[/color] My rider stated and I nodded. ”It has been over a year.” I added to the conversation.

”Just be thankful you had a father.” Tasia nodded, though Solomon did not know that the man was not her real father. In fact, no one knew who her real father was, not even Tasia. ”Closest thing I had to a father in my life was my Human Mentor, and he died when I was nineteen, I’ve long since moved on.” Tasia nodded to the human and I looked around for a moment. I knew we had to get to Illrea. They were sure to already be wondering where we were, that much was for certain. The sound of him chuckling made me curious, but I said nothing to the man.

“You’ll, eh, also have to forgive my trying to avoid talking about my past. Where I’m from we place an immeasurably high value on history, telling another of your past, either in parts or in its entirety is considered the highest sign of trust.” The thought was very strange and I lifted my head slightly, looking down on the human for a moment and letting out a deep rumble. ”Then we feel honor that you have shared it.”[/i][/color] I said, my rider nodding in agreement. Such an idea was rather strange, but culture tended to do that to people. The history of the land and the group of people caused a lot of different thoughts and ideas. ”And well, we’re all taught to distrust everyone... It’s a pretty, uh, wound tight place if you will. Especially since even the closest of friends tend to distrust each other.” Tasia nodded, though in her mind, she could not understand. How could someone live in a place like that? She grew up a hard life, I always had to stop her from reliving her past, but she still had he friends and family that she loved.

”Travelling? Anywhere interesting?” Tasia shrugged. ”Some, though we did not go very far, mostly to the far east of the land and into the deep forest of DuWeldenvarden… Other then that, no where else.”[/color] She explained. I found myself growing comfortable and finally laid down, my head still stayed high, but the rest of my body relaxed slightly.
[/blockquote][/blockquote]

’word count 0.857
’tagged Solomon Latri
’song None--! None
’post status done
’template creator nayeli

[/size]

[Amur]

Solomon’s confession regarding his Human Mentor had unexpectedly stirred some strong memories, more specifically the time of his Mentors death, at first he had to stop himself from drawing his knife “Wyvernslayer” from its concealed sheath just to hold it. No, there was no time for such a thing right now; he couldn’t very well be getting nostalgic when there was a chance he could be attacked at any given moment. Bounty Hunters were still looking for him –not quite as many as before, but they were still looking- so he had to remain on his guard at all times.

The self-given reminder caused him to briefly look over his shoulder, just to make sure he wasn’t being followed; he knew that he had a good several days head start on his pursuers. But, he was aware of how quickly that gap could close if he were to stay in one place for too long, that he had chosen to sit and fume in silence over the gift his Non-Human Mentor had sent him was an uncharacteristic risk of Solomon’s part.

Just one of the many effects caused by his Non-Human Mentor, he hated that vile lizard.

No-one yet, he turned his attention very briefly back to Tasia and Sunglow and then looked past them in order to further survey the distance... Still no-one, with that he could let himself relax at least a little bit; he still had some time before they closed the gap. And he wasn’t without a plan; he did have a perimeter in place to warn him of approaching people. It wasn’t a perfect perimeter, but out here, no-one else had a reason to follow him, so he could allow himself a few oversights.

He drew in a shallow breath; relaxing just enough to allow himself to enjoy his present company, things were already complicated enough. He didn’t need them to become any worse, not now... Though, he highly doubted that he would be able to stop himself from looking over his shoulder and off into the distance, he didn’t just anticipate some kind of attack, he fully expected it to happen. And, in an area as open and flat as this he was at a disadvantage, though, the presence of Tasia and Sunglow might have held some advantage, if the bounty hunters did show up, maybe they would think that Solomon had already been captured.

He gave them a small smile as they explained that the death had occurred over a year ago and that they had moved on.

“I was unsure, it has been a long while since I’ve simply stood around and talked to others, thought I’d go by the customary response.”
He said calmly, all of what he was saying was true. The last real social gathering that Solomon had actually felt comfortable in was shortly before the destruction of his clan. Now, there was nothing, he did not know how to act outside his clan, at least not to friendly faces, no, now there was just awkwardness on that front.

He had another moment of silence, where, once more he looked over his shoulder, just to make sure... Another quick survey of the horizons he could see without having to turn his head, upon finding both his back and his surroundings clear he returned his attention to Tasia and Sunglow. Giving a small nod to The Young Dragon as she assured Solomon that they were honoured for his giving them a small insight into his past, not something Solomon was familiar with, but he knew when to accept a compliment graciously.

“All places to which I have never been.”
Solomon pointed out calmly to Tasia as she told him where her travels had taken her in the last two years, of course to Solomon the idea of scouting out new territory was an interesting idea, he was a man capable of living off of the land –and, more often than not DID live off the land- exploring new grounds was exciting, and was a task that Solomon personally enjoyed.

“So, they probably sound more interesting to me than they should do.”
He finished off lightly, still not above making light out of a –potentially- uneasy situation. Solomon could probably list the places in Empire Nirvana that, to him were all pretty uninteresting and very well known and accomplish the same effect. But, there was little need for that, he hadn’t gone home in the past two years, nor did he have any desire to do so.

“As for me.”
He said casually, once again turning to check his back, only this time his gaze lingered –he still saw nothing- so he looked up at the sky, distantly wondering what he should do if caught off guard here... It was a fair distance to the nearest substantial gathering to trees-

He blinked once, remembering that he had actually started talking before falling into his thoughts, that had been unintentional, things had just been moving at a pace Solomon had not had to move at for a while, he kept himself silent for a bit longer, realising that he had to say something.

“I’ve had to keep myself as off-the-map as possible.”
He said calmly.

His facial expression changed ever so slightly as he realised what he had just said... That had most definitely not been what he had wanted to say, if him stopping on a regular basis to check his back hadn’t gotten them curious then what would a comment like that do? He kept silent, they knew him, and perhaps much like everything else so far they wouldn’t press him for details.

[Nayeli]

’introducing
{tasia anna georgios*}
featuring--! Sunlow! ---! ---!
I don't know if you can see
The changes that have come over me
In these last few days I've been afraid
That I might drift away
I've been telling old stories, singing songs
That make me think about where I've come from
That's the reason why I seem
So far away today

I felt something in the air, something that came from the human man himself. My body, mind, and soul were all connected to the earth and begins around her and it was coming from Solomon. Was it sadness? It was strong, whatever it was, but I chose not to say anything. I felt my sister’s mind against my own, my hand lifting to place my palm against the scale under her large, golden eye. ”Probably nothing more than a memory, small one.”

[/color] She said to me before I looked back at the man before me. What was he looking for as well? He kept turning his head as if he was looking for something and I glanced in the direction he was looking. Sunglow lifted her head slightly from my side and sniffed the air. ”Whomever you are looking for, Solomon, there is no one around… I only sense and feel use three in this large plains within’ quite a few miles.”[/i][/color] I looked at Sunglow for a moment and was happy that she had such strong eye sight. It made me glad that I did not have to worry about everything around me.

I wondered what was making him slightly a bit more wary, it caused myself and my sister a bit of worry and I wondered if I could get the story from him so that way I could help him if need be. But, I felt my sister nagging at my head, mentally shaking her head and growling at the thought. ”Whatever his problem is, Tasia, we do not need to get involved unless it involves us.”[/color] I placed my hand on her scale below her eye and let out a silent sigh. ”But he is my friend, Sunglow… How can I allow trouble to come to him when he is my friend?”[/color] She narrowed her eyes slightly at me and looked at me strong and hard. ”You must… We are the riders, we must not involve ourselves unless we have to… Solomon is a strong man and he can take care of himself.”[/color] I nodded to her and looked back at him, waiting for him to speak.

It returned to the subject of my step-father and I smiled at him as he spoke. “I was unsure, it has been a long while since I’ve simply stood around and talked to others, thought I’d go by the customary response.” I nodded in agreement as I would have done it myself, but I normally did not find people who spoke to me other than those I already knew and then I already knew about the deaths before they had to tell me. It was rather a good thing to have a few close friends, since one did not have to remember so much. As our conversation continued and Sunglow thanked the man for giving us a glimpse into his past, I felt something else, but then he accepted the compliment and continued on. ”All places to which I have never been.” I smiled at the man and nodded. ”Not many humans of this land have unless they travel around the desert. Most of the villages over that way below to the elves… Until you go further south and then it goes to the dwarves, which we have little contact with.”[/color] I said to him before I leaned slightly against the large head of my dragon.

“So, they probably sound more interesting to me than they should do.” I laughed at the man for a moment, nodding slightly at him. ”Little one and I are wanting to go further east to see what else is out there, but we need to make sure that things go smoothly in these lands before we leave them one rider short.” Sunglow said to him as she spoke about the traveling we had both spoken about. I smiled at her for a moment and then looked back at the man. ”Yes, you could join us if you are not busy when we go…”[/color] I meant what I had said, I would not mind traveling with the human man as we had worked together and had become good friends, in my opinion anyway.

“As for me.” He stopped speaking, as if his mind was wondering onto a different subject and I was about to ask him if everything was okay before he continued to speak about something. This had beyond caught my attention and I wanted to know what was causing him to be very jumpy. He had never been jumpy before and it was rare to see it. ”I’ve had to keep myself as off-the-map as possible.” I took in a deep breath, Sunglow was pushing for me not to ask, but I had too… I could not just keep avoid the subject. ”You seem very… Distracted… What is going on? I don’t normally pry, since you are a friend, but you just seem… Off your normal personality…”[/color] I said to him, as I felt Sunglow twitching her tail slightly behind me and a mental jab at my stupidity was taken by the dragon.
[/blockquote][/blockquote]

Now I have moved and I've kept on moving
Proved the points that I needed proving
Lost the friends that I needed losing
Found others on the way
I have kissed the fellas and left them crying
Stolen dreams, yes, there's no denying
I have traveled hard, sometimes with conscience flying
Somewhere with the wind

’word count 0.848
’tagged Solomon Latro
’song Caledonia--! Celtic Woman
’post status done
’template creator nayeli

[/size]

[Amur]

At the word of The Young Dragon, Solomon allowed himself to relax. Miles were not traversed in seconds, and if any bounty hunters were still after him –which they probably were- then Solomon would likely be long gone before they reached this point... He did briefly consider just telling them of his exploits, but after some quick thinking on his part Solomon had decided that it would be better for them to hear it from a superior –or whatever their order referred to them as- after all, he was still a wanted man, it would keep them out of his predicament.

He was not the kind of man to needlessly drag people he knew into conflicts that he had created.

Solomon folded his arms over his chest as he listened to Tasia’s explanation on some of the geography of this land. The small lesson served to interest The Hunter, even small pieces of information served to be useful. Even though at this point Solomon had been residing on this land for five years now he had mainly kept to the areas he already knew and had explored thoroughly. This information at least gave him some insight into areas he had not yet explored, it would give him knowledge for whenever he did decide to explore further.

He raised an eyebrow ever so slightly as Young Dragon: Sunglow informed him that she and Tasia intended to go exploring after they made sure they would not be missed... Solomon thought of that as strange, The Hunters had much more freedom when they had been a sizable force throughout The Empire. Did The Riders really keep that close an eye on their own numbers? Solomon had thought –at first- that The Riders had, had freedom similar to the freedom that The Hunters had once enjoyed back at Empire Nirvana.

He chuckled gently as Tasia offered him the chance to join in on their exploration.

“Tempting.”
He said lightly, the chance to explore would definitely give him a better feel for the land.

“But I may have to get back to you with my answer, Tasia. Especially if flight is the only travel-option, I still find it... Uncomfortable...”
He joked lightly. Well, not entirely a joke, he did find flight an uncomfortable and largely unnatural feeling experience. But, he saw no need to make too big a deal about it, the chances of him leaving the ground were slim at best.

He allowed his small smile to twist slightly –into one of his more usual smirks- as Tasia commented on his obvious caution. But he soon brought that back under control and assumed a slightly gentler expression, he enjoyed the thrill of the hunt that recent events had offered him, but he had no need to take on one of his more twisted smirks.

“Oh, I’ve made some enemies.”
Solomon stated casually, almost in a tone that sounded –even to him- as though such a development should have been common knowledge. He took a moment to think about that and decided that details were probably best kept to a minimum, it wasn’t anything he couldn’t handle, but that didn’t mean that he shouldn’t put them at ease about it.

“It’s nothing I can’t handle. Just have to be cautious, I’m not going to allow such a gathering of amateurs to catch me unprepared. So, it’s really nothing to be concerned with.”
He once more stated in a casual tone.

“In fact, it’s probably part of the reason I had lost track of the time it had been since our last meeting. I’ve been on the move for the two years that have passed. I’m not sure how they’ve been finding me, but I’ve been seeing to it that if they do find me they don’t live to talk about it.”
He said calmly. That last part wasn’t completely true, his meetings with Taured and that encounter with The Little Lamb proved as much. But he saw no need to mention those, he was still embarrassed with the way his first meeting with Taured had ended, and his meeting with The Little Lamb still caused him a deep feeling of disgust every time he thought about it.

But, he hid that. Enough time had passed now for him to be able to push the memories of those encounters to the back of his mind where they were unable to bother him.

“Though, what you say does seem odd to me.”
Solomon stated casually, attempting to rapidly change the subject.

“Why would you need to wait? It seems to me that you could just up-and-leave at any time you desired.”
Solomon said curiously. Unsure with what exactly the two of them would need to see to that the others of their order couldn’t. But, he wouldn’t comment much further on that, after all, up until five years ago Solomon had once been part of a culture that was killed on sight if their Clan status was known. And he could appreciate how odd that would sound to a foreigner.

[Nayeli]

’introducing
{sunglow*}
featuring--! tasia anna georgios

I was happy to see my friend relax finally, since I had worked with the hunter many years ago, he did not seem so tense and it worried me that the human would be so tense. Once he was relaxed, I turned my eyes to Tasia and my thoughts went to her own. She was very happy as well and I allowed my words to drift over towards her. ”We should do a swipe of the land to check for anyone who might be following our friend. I am sure we could find those who are after him and who are not.”

[/color] Tasia mentally nodded towards me and her voice came to me as well. ”Yes, and I think we might need to take out a few numbers if we feel he will be hurt in a meeting with them… We should give him some time to rest… But we will keep this to ourselves.”[/color] I agreed with my sister completely and we would keep our thoughts about that to ourselves.

We knew that Solomon would never ask us for help, he would not drag us into his problems, but I wanted to help our friend. The small mortal, two-legged human needed to learn to ask for help and stop acting like he could handle everything himself. He would never know we took care of a few heads since we would be miles away. He would never find out, since he probably would never come across their bodies since I could easily take them as my meal. ”Sunglow! Enough! We are riders of peace, not destruction.”[/color] I chuckled slightly at the thought, though it was mostly a mental chuckle.

As my sister spoke about the location that the humans had probably only heard stories about, I lifted my head to keep an eye on the horizons and make sure no one came into sight that would harm their friend. Maybe they should stay with Solomon for the evening and enjoy his company. I could go out and hunt on the plains for a meal as well as search for problem people who were after our friends.

As we continued to talk about stuff that we were planning on doing, I noticed the slight confusion on the man face and I figured it would be good to just wait to continue the conversation if it was asked. As Tasia invited the man on the travels, I remember how he had hated to ride on the large blue dragon with Nemo back in the day we did a job together. ”Tempting.” The sound of the chuckle was easily heard. I smiled at him and allowed myself to chuckle ever so slightly. ”But I may have to get back to you with my answer, Tasia. Especially if flight is the only travel-option, I still find it... Uncomfortable...” I chuckled deeply from my chest and lifted my head slightly as I let out a slight roar. ”Well, you could always ride a horse and we could circle high above you as you road… It we could strap a rope to the horse and make a flying horse.”[/color] Tasia did not like that idea at all, but she could not deny the humor in such words.

As it went on to about his caution, I allowed myself to calm my humor and listen to what might be coming from our friend’s lips. I wanted to know what had caused a man I knew too become so cautious. I did not know this man and it confused me ever so slightly. I wanted to help our friend and I did not like seeing him so uncomfortable in a place he was bound to be comfortable, but as my sister spoke, he seemed to relax a bit more, hiding his emotion. ”Oh, I’ve made some enemies.” I nodded to him, having a feeling that had been the reason, but even a few enemies would not cause this much trouble, would it? Then again, I don’t remember ever having many enemies that wanted to cause a dragon much trouble. I was a large dragon, I could kill anyone I wanted to with little problems. My flames were very hot and my teeth were sharp. “It’s nothing I can’t handle. Just have to be cautious, I’m not going to allow such a gathering of amateurs to catch me unprepared. So, it’s really nothing to be concerned with.” I chuckled at our human friend and my voice came out for him to hear him.

”Oh, I am sure you can handle yourself against those green horns.”[/i][/color] I said to him as I thought about what all the man could do. I was sure it would not be good for the humans who came to him and tried to harm him. He had worked with me when I was much smaller, we had run across the rafters of the tunnels and had made it where we had to go. ”In fact, it’s probably part of the reason I had lost track of the time it had been since our last meeting. I’ve been on the move for the two years that have passed. I’m not sure how they’ve been finding me, but I’ve been seeing to it that if they do find me they don’t live to talk about it.” Tasia was slightly concerned about that, but I calmed her. ”Everyone has their problems Tasia, we will help him where we can, at least give him some time to rest.”[/color] I watched as Tasia seemed to calm slightly and agree with me, but we went back to watching out friend.

”Though, what you say does seem odd to me.” I tilted my head slightly, as did Tasia who wondered what he was meaning. ”Why would you need to wait? It seems to me that you could just up-and-leave at any time you desired.” Tasia chuckled slightly. ”Well, we can, but the counsel might need us… We have heard word that Leilani Richards, Sister of Prince Turin and Princess Nayeli, niece of the King is having a meeting with the counsel to get humans in the riders Pact… I might need to be there to help her… She will need support.”[/color] I nodded in agreement with my sister.
[/blockquote][/blockquote]

’word count 1.043
’tagged Solomon Latri
’song None--! None
’post status done
’template creator nayeli

[/size]

[Amur]

The idle conversation was actually surprisingly relaxing. Solomon hadn’t had much of it since The Incident, and even then, it had always been conversation involving the odds of his, Alastor’s and Olga’s deaths either before or after they came face-to-face with the vile creature that had been the cause of The Incident. And, for what it was worth to The Hunter, he was actually enjoying the opportunity to simply have a friendly chat at just about any level.

Of course, none of the amateurs that had been chasing him for the past two years had even come close to killing. Or, even just generally wounding him, however, the threat of being caught unawares was what gave Solomon his high sense of caution. After surviving a Wyvern attack, Solomon had since become determined not to allow himself get caught so utterly off guard again, and so far his cautiousness had not let him down.

He did, however, find himself chuckling again as Sunglow offered her suggestions to circumvent his discomfort surrounding flight. Well, he couldn’t deny that using a horse would generally improve his ability to travel long distances, however, he was sure that flight was quite a bit faster than riding on horseback. He even remembered that both Aimé and Mentor Aeon had both made it a point to comment on such things as frequently as they possibly could. Though, if Solomon were to be honest, he wasn’t too fond of horses.

He did note somewhat absently, that when he told Tasia and Sunglow that he had made some enemies that The Young Dragon had nodded, they had taken that news well... Expected it, even... Not that such an observation surprised Solomon, both Tasia and Sunglow had known what he was like, what he did and what he was capable of for quite some time now. Solomon still found it somewhat odd that they thought highly enough of him to speak to him like a person, but, the reputation placed on him by the clan-name Latro robbed him of any chance of living a normal life in Empire Nirvana.

“Heh, the way some of them have been recklessly throwing themselves at me I’ve started to think that some of the amateurs chasing me are simply people looking to gain quick fame by killing me.”
Solomon replied calmly to Sunglow’s comment, he did briefly wonder if that may have been a tad too much information, but then again, such a comment could have very easily been interpreted as fame among their immediate peers. For the time being he dismissed the thought, he would need to read the reactions that comment would draw.

Not yet anything he needed to concern himself with.

He listened as Tasia answered his question on their waiting to travel, and found what she had to tell him very interesting. The names, of course, meant little to him. Royalty was little more than prey he really had to work to kill. But, judging by the full answer it sounded to Solomon like the beginnings of a very large step forward politically –not that Solomon understood it all, but he understood enough- especially since it seemed as though it was somehow addressing the very obvious racial tension between Humans and Elves.

“Sounds like a very significant step forwards when it addresses the racial tension between Elves and Humans in some way.”
Solomon commented calmly.

He chuckled absently again, racial tension within Empire Nirvana DID exist, but it tended to be more between small groups as opposed to the entirety of the human race. Especially where Non-Humans like Aimé and Mentor Aeon were concerned, but overall, there was a wide-spread sense of unity and peace between the different species.

“Admittedly, it still feels odd to see such wide-spread racial tension. Back home the only racial tension that was created between Humans and their Non-Human neighbours was down to the beliefs or views of the individuals in question. Odd, how that, here the entirety of a species seem to be largely tarred with the same brush.”