A Dragon's Loyalty [Open]

[Tobias Ross]

"Respect starts with both people and you deserve none as you show none, fool."

As the ground started to move under his feet, Tobias steeled himself against the pain that was to come and jumped back. He backtracked from the group by quickly stepping lightly backwards away from them. Not knowing the range and not wishing to further injure himself needlessly, Tobias narrowed his eyes as he spoke to Levi.

"It pains me to see you become a such a whipped dog, Levi. I apologize to no person nor for any of my actions. All of my actions have a purpose."

Bowing both politely, Tobias stepped into the shadows of the alleyway behind him and was quickly swallowed into its darkness. While the wounds would remind him of that night, his memories would be analyzed to see all the possibilities that could come of that encounter.

Levi was alive. Not only that, he was allied with a person called the Earth Dragon and had lost much of his honor since they last met. Things were beginning to become interesting in his new home.

OOC: This is my exit post.

[Kyrie Blaze]

The figure in Levi's arms stirred with a groan of muffled pain. Eyelids fluttered, lashes lifting and dancing as she swam to the surface to break into consciousness. Blue eyes cracked open, unseeing for a moment, but she definitely felt. The sharp pain in her ribs caused her to hunch forwards with her arm snaking around them. The pain in the back of her head caused her other hand to go up, and she froze as her ribs protested curling up, trying not to breathe too quickly, or too hard.

Gingerly, she probed the lump on the back of her head and smothered the whimper in the back of her throat...and then went completely still.

...she was able to curl up easily. Whatever she was resting on was flexible. And warm. And...

One blue eye peek flicked up, then swept back down rapidly.

She didn't move. Perhaps she couldn't. On one hand, it was nice...too nice. On the other, it put her into a position she wasn't ready to be in. Vulnerable. The words drifted forwards from their foe. Her eyes flicked that way, and then were cast down to her stomach again. Her voice was a tiny whisper when she spoke, and it sounded more like a question than command. Her hands clenched, causing her to wince and swallow, hard.

"...relachez-moi..?[/i]"[/size][/font]

[Levi Kayamei]

Levi shook his head at Tobias, the world had changed and the time for alliances was now. The eight years he had spent in Japan had changed him, forced him to grow up, and Levi had sacrificed nothing for the friendships and allys he had gained since returning to the U.S. and things like honor were subjective. He spoke matter-of-factly, adding a tone of finality at the end that said "this conversation is over."

"You simply don't understand......if you knew what was at stake and what was truly necessary, you would not act the way you do and view us the way you do. Honor is subjective, I have nothing to prove to you."

Levi looked down at Kyrie, recognizing her reaction as her typical sheepishness a quality he had come to recognize readily. He looked down and shook his head slowly. Given her difficulties breathing, he really wasn't comfortable setting her down. He spoke sternly with a note of concern in his voice.

"If you really don't want me to carry you, hide in my shadow. You need to rest, I will not have you stand in your condition."

This was the closest he could come to showing Kyrie affection given the situation and her tendency to retreat from more direct forms of expression. He looked at Mathew as he continued to speak, referring to Kyrie's recent ordeal.

"So, what now? We still have an issue to attend to...correct?"

[Kyrie Blaze]

For all wants and intents, Kiyr seemed to react to the stern note in Levi's voice, remaining still for the most part as she weighed her options. Her trip back from the neutral territory had been rather staggered from the pain tampering with her focus, so she knew that unless that was the only thing she would do, she wouldn't be able to hold herself to the shadows for long. That left her weighing her options: convince Levi to set her down to disappear into his or Mathew's shadow and face potentially being picked up again--which would be more embarrassing than her current position as she wouldn't be able to evade or ensure her own qi would remain stable. Her other option was to struggle and hurt herself more to be able to walk on her own.

She didn't verbally reply, but closed her eyes as she rolled her thoughts over in her mind as she watched the intruder leave. Ever so slightly, the petite blonde relaxed, for the moment leaning her head against Levi's chest, chin tipped downwards to hide behind her hair.

...he was warm.

[Mathew Amtrum]

Mathew rolled his eyes as the guy ran away. What a shitty assassin, or just an idiot. Either way, he clearly wasn't a threat. Just an annoyance. When he felt the tremors from the man's footfalls fade away leaving Dragon territory he turned to face the two Dragonlings with him. Clicking his tongue at Kiyr.

"Yeah, we have some business to take care of still. Hopefully this little distraction hasn't allowed her captive to escape."

[Levi Kayamei]

Levi nodded Mathew then he looked down at the girl in his arms, having already taken notice of her relaxed state.

"Indeed......"

He supressed a smile as he spoke to her.

"Still up for the trip?"

[Kyrie Blaze]

Indeed.

Kiyr breathed slowly, and finally cleared her throat a moment or two after Levi's question.

"If you would set me down I would be happy to continue." After all, with Mathew, it was very possible and somewhat likely they wouldn't even need to walk. The idea of rolling or otherwise struggling out of his arms remained just that, for the moment. "Either way, however, yes. I do not think I was more than three quarters of a mile Southeast."

[Mathew Amtrum]

"Alright, then lets go."

And the ground under their feet would shift to take them in that direction. Because straining her wouldn't have any benefit to it at the moment.

[Levi Kayamei]

He smiled, convinced she was fit to stand again and understanding her dislike for contact.

"Of course."

Levi set Kyrie down softly on her feet as they moved along the earth using Mathew's power. He placed his hands in his pockets, scoffing at a tangent thought about the Tobias.

Honestly...what was he thinking?

Then contemplated various things as he waited to see who this assassin of Kyrie's was.

[Kyrie Blaze]

Not so much the contact in this case...but pride. Leave on her won two feet, come back being carried? Kiyr closed her eyes with a grateful nod as she was set back on her feet. She had some room to move away had she wanted to, but stayed where she was set down.

It didn't take long and under Kiyr's direction, soon they were stopping with the sight of one man tied in a tree, limbs suspended behind himself and bound, still tightly. But it looked like he had been struggling, and he was, perhaps, obviously tired. She wondered just how many times he had let his body go limp and then had to work to get back into the one he was in, now.

He slowly swung to face them and eyed Mathew, briefly.

"So you reconsidered!" He flashed a grin. "I'm proud of you, Kyrie."

Wide blue eyes stared at him from a pale face. Kyrie said nothing, but pressed her lips into a thin line and moved to where she had tied the rope, giving it a swift tug and immediately releasing it to let him drop, stomach-first, onto the ground.

"EURGH."

[Mathew Amtrum]

And as the man dropped Mathew would just slam his foot in to the ground so his stomach would be met by a pillar of stone, slamming right in to his stomach.

"Have fun with that."

[Levi Kayamei]

Levi's blood ran a little hotter at the sight of the man who had put Kyrie in such a state. He stared coldly at the man as he raised a hand and fashioned a collar out of light, slapping it around the man's neck, a small stream of light between the collar and Levi's hand. He lifted the man a foot into the air, as he applied a little pressure to the man's throat by tightening the collar.

"Lucky she left you alive.....well...maybe not....depends on who you're asking I suppose....."

He glanced back to Kyrie.

"So....why did you leave him alive? Someone you know I assume..."

[Kyrie Blaze]

The man's body bowed over the stone pillar as much as it could with his hands and feet still bound behind him. He spat some blood to the ground, only to be quickly leashed and lifted. steel blue eyes flicked down to the collar, then to Levi and Mathew.

"Woof, woof. Tag a collar round her neck, too, or is that just the Earth Dragon?" His voice was raspy.

Kyrie, when asked, avoided the second statement, and instead focused on the question. Her gaze was centered on the man that was prone and vulnerable, everything about her almost completely still even though she was still in pain. For the moment, she didn't bother to wrap her hand in support against her ribs to ease the pain.

"He was seeking the Earth Dragon out for something he was made to do, and tried to pass me as an obstacle. He failed..." And yet, he looked better than she did. "And I figured that he should have a small window of opportunity to say--"

"Come now. You're missing something important. You can't kill me--I'd have had you with one more shot." His voice had returned to normal. He gave a grin to the trio, but his gaze mostly lingered on Mathew, then Kyrie--glinting with something she completely ignored, her own gaze steeled, and drifted almost lazily over Levi.

"...healing factor for his Qi."

[Mathew Amtrum]

"Is that all? Should have killed him then and saved yourself the trouble."

He didn't seem to be put off when the guy said that she couldn't kill him. He didn't believe in immortality. There was always a way to kill someone. No matter what.

[Levi Kayamei]

Levi's eyebrow shot up as he applied further pressure to the man's throat, pinching his fingers closer together as he spoke.

"tsk...immortality...doesn't exist..."color]

Levi could tell there was a history between the man and his fellow Dragons. Feeling like it wasn't his place to kill this man, Levi's eyes shifted to Mathew, his lips forming a small smile.

"If you crushed him completely...into a wad of organic matter.....surely he couldn't recover from that?"

Gruesome to be sure, but it seemed like basic physical force wasn't going to be enough and he wasn't sure if he had the ability to crush the man's entire body with his own qi yet.