Dragons, Chimera, and Little People

Low Town, a makeshift town that existed on the outskirts of the city. It was here in this place of twisted alleys, run down houses, and the smell of alcohol and waste that the poor folk of the world lived. Despite not having the best means to live in and hardly the money to afford much, this place was a peaceful area with a family like vibe. The people here tough, but at the same time watching out for each other or in the gangs' case their own packs. Keeping the streets clear of unwanted visitors and the law, the gangs made their rounds within their territory, but there was one person that did not seem to care where they stepped.

A young girl with horns where ears should be and hair as white as snow. She moved and danced about Low Town, the gangs eyeing the girl in all her colors that danced and sung, but no one making a move against her. They knew better than to that. After all, while she may seemed alone this one had a demon that protected her unlike any other. A demon that had all the gangs trembling in their boots at the mere thought of crossing it. So they watched and let the girl do as she pleased and snapped at any who dared to try and tell her to do something different.

Low Town, a place that belonged to the poor and was ruled by a demon. Such a strange place to be indeed.

To be fair, he wasn't much of a city sightseeing person. It was true that he came around to this world a lot, for it was a very good break from 'normal' life...and besides, he wasn't really human anymore either. Still, he usually kept to more natural areas, and didn't spend a lot of time stopping by in cities and towns, unless he had a good reason to do so. It wasn't that interesting. Plus, contact with others required him to speak...and while he was surely a quick study, demon language ate more focus to talk in than he would like to. At the current time at least.

So why was he here right now? An odd circumstance, really. He had been hanging out at the closest forest to this area, and happened to come upon an injured creature. Whatever it was, it resembled a gray wolf, except that it had some back spikes and looked tougher than a normal wild canine would. Seemed like a young one that recently left its mother's care or such. And had two pretty nasty arrows embedded in its side. The poor thing was in pain, and there was no one around to help....but, he was no healer...and wasn't even that familiar with beings of this world. On top of that, there's not much aid to do with just your hands, right?

Well, he had decided to try to do at least something...which resulted in him carrying the poor gray creature in his arms into the closest town like area he could find, in hopes of finding someone that could do more than him. This place though...it didn't look the most friendly. Hm. Nevertheless, he would keep walking down the streets with a faint frown, eventually coming close to where the girl currently was...

To be a stranger in Low Town was like being in the spot light on stage. The people took notice. The gangs took notice, but for the most part they did nothing, but watch the newcomer. As he neared the energetic girl, one of the winged gang members who sat on a rooftop would perk up as he leaned a bit over to view the new comer with his good eye. Was this one new prey or was he--never mind ignore him.

That was the thought that went through the guy's head as he gritted his teeth as said dancing girl suddenly stopped what she was doing and with an odd twirl, she ran right up to the man with the injured creature. There was no hello to the man as the girl's strange eyes focused on the creature in the guy's hands. "Poor baby. Needs medicines. Yes. Medicines," she would say with a nod and then look up at the man. "Stick man come get medicines yes. They help. They help baby. Then baby be happy!" the girl would say with a grin as she looked up at the man before blinking and looking back at the creature again. "Yes. Be happy. We fix." She would say and then hopping away, she would beckon for the man to follow her. He would follow no?

Well, there was a high chance he did look like easy prey for the casual eye. He wasn't in his demon form at the moment, thus the only potentially non-human trait about him would be his golden eyes. Otherwise, he currently looked like a random human waltzing around. Which was certainly unlikely, but one can never know? Nevertheless, he wasn't afraid, and if someone decided to attack him, he'd show them how much of a mistake they were making.

Luckily enough, it appeared it wouldn't come down to anything nasty for the moment, and he would find himself blinking in momentary confusion as he was suddenly rushed at by a short girl. "...uh yes, that's why I'm here I suppose..." What was even? This was kind of out of nowhere, but it was probably his best option right now, so he would follow, albeit a little uncertain about it all.

The girl would look over her shoulder at the words said and smile. "Good, good. I be sad otherwise. We have lots medicine and bandages and other things too. Ooh we have cookies to. You eat cookies while we fix. All be happy," the girl would say leading the way down twisted alleys heading towards a run down house at the end of one.

Saying hi to a cat that automatically ran, the girl would duck into the house before sticking her hand out to gesture for the man to come into the low place. "Stick man come in and bring baby. Be careful of Jujo. She no like being stepped on." If he did enter he'd find a place cluttered with furniture and other oddities, making the house look like a disaster zone whether than a living space, but despite the chaos the girl climbed easily over things as she made her way to a spot in the back of the chaos.

"I don't need food..." Besides, he didn't come here just to sit down and eat. If he was doing this, then might as well do it all the way and help. The wolf was only half-unconscious at the moment, and it was likely going to resist somehow once one started poking at the injuries directly.

"...who?" He'd frown slightly, as he tried not to kill himself on the mess. This wasn't too funny. He was a lot bigger, and he also had an extra living weight in his arms. Having to climb over things and stuff was kind of a hazard, no? Someone needed a maid here. Or just to do a big clean up. He didn't mind a small mess or such..after all, not like he was the kind of person that would jump to clean every new speck of dust. Still, a place looking like it had just survived a bomb explosion would give him an aneurysm. Really, how can one live like that? "You sure it's safe here? This place looks like a minefield."

"Oh. Okay. Well you no eat cookies then. This is fine," the girl would say with a giggle before entering the home. After she had clambered over things and her follower well followed, the man would find the chaos opened up into a space beg enough for at least three people to fit in comfortably. Moving to the tent like structure that rested against the wall, the girl would dig about as she spoke to the other.

"This not a who. This is home. A fort. Protects when Big Brother is away, so it is all good. All safe cause people to lazy to bother with work of crossing it all." She would chuckle before coming out with a box and a few blankets. Sitting her supplies down to one side, she'd pick one of the blankets up and spread it out on the floor forming a little bed for the animal. Once it was done, she would pat it.

"Baby goes here. Then we work, Mister...Hehe," she'd look up at the other with an amused smile. "Calabus know not your name, mister. Tell Calabus, yes?"

"....I'm afraid I don't follow. I was asking who this whoever does not like being stepped on was. There's no way to not step anywhere inside a home, so I doubt that's what you meant...unless I'm missing something..." He was honestly confused about that one. He had just asked who this Jujo whoever was due to the comment that was made. Really, he'd have to be stupid to think a living place was a person. Or well, he'd assume the idea to be quite dumb. Especially in this kind of context. He would snort faintly though. "If one can't be bothered to cross a few items, then they clearly don't care about the goal enough. I'm pretty sure that if someone actually wanted to get deeper in for real, a few pieces of furniture wouldn't stop them." And if it did...well, let's not dive into how pathetic that would technically be...

In any case, he would put the wolf down, being careful to not jostle it too much. He hadn't removed those arrows just yet, as that would have pulled the wounds open and made them bleed, which would not have been a good thing before it could be worked on. He would straighten back up for now. "You can call me Sharaku."

"Oh! Jujo!" The girl would giggle. "Jujo is somewhere. She be doll with crazy hair. She likes to move around the place, but sometimes she sleeps on floor. She gets mad when people step on her, but I not see her today. Maybe she play hide and seek with us or maybe come out later." Her eyes would gleam with excitement for a bit before she was blinking at the snort and comment about furniture.

"Chaos is good weapon. Most don't like flying furniture, though most don't get this far either. Big Brother usually comes back before then and well they all run the other way. So maybe not lazy. Maybe just scared. You know Calabus saw someone look in, but they do this," she paused to shake her head. "And walk off. Not come in. Guess not good person. Otherwise they come in." The nice people always at least came in to sit on the furniture near the door, so perhaps the bad ones walked away.

Hmm mysteries. Mysteries she would push to the side as the baby wolf was put in front of her. Looking at the arrows carefully, she would nod before opening her pox that was surprisingly neatly organized. From this box she would pull out something similar to pliers before she paused and looked up at the other.

"Sh-ah-rah-koo. Mmmm. Pretty name," she would say before looking at the wolf. "Hmm...baby wolf may move. You hold, I make painless. Should do good yes?"

He would just half-shrug at that. "Probably not my business anyway." This place wasn't his, so he had no reason to be spending his time thinking about some doll that lived here, unless an actual confrontation happened. Until then....not quite his problem.

"...or maybe it could also be courtesy? I'd think it a little rude to sneak around a household without the owner's permission. Assuming you're a good person, you might not want to look like a creep." He sure wouldn't be pleased if people just walked up to his home and started camping there or whatnot. Privacy hello? If you want to visit, let one know beforehand, or approach them and ask if it's okay to be there at least.

In any case, he would shake his head with a faint huff. "I doubt it's going to be painless, unless you carry anesthetics on you." Nevertheless, he would crouch down to hold the furred creature to make sure it wouldn't hurt itself more during the process. If nothing else, luckily enough it was dazed at the moment, and likely wouldn't be able to cause a huge fuss anyway.

"It will be your business if you step on her." The girl would say her smile not fading even when topics became more serious. "Hmm. Low Town plays by different rules. Most her family so open doors mean come in; however, the bad people are the ones that you have to watch out for. They usually outsiders not play by rules. Come in town already bad and trouble. Make families scared and gangs angry. They make Big Brother mad too, but once crossing with him they no mess with us anymore."

The new folk in town always seemed to try to come in and take over. She didn't understand that. Even when they knew they could not win they still came. It made her wonder what it was that drew them in so. Strange.

She would ponder this mystery for a bit before the man with her leaned down and decided to help, holding the baby wolf down. "No anesthetics. Just my own powers and skill. Baby will feel pressure and wiggle, but pain. We take pain away," she would say as her strange golden eyes glowed slightly as some form of power began to wash off of her in white wisps. Laying a hand down on the beast, some of that mist would wash off of her and onto the wolf, the small creature trying to wiggle a bit to escape what it probably thought was an attack, but slowly it would calm again. With the spell acting as a buffer to pain, Calabus would move in with her pliers being very careful as she began to work on getting the arrows out. As soon as she did, the little creature would try to squirm again.

"I'll deal with it when or if it happens. Otherwise, not that important." There were obviously other issues at hand right now, so why bother with something that may never come up? "Isn't that how it works in general? There's people that want to have more power and influence everywhere you go, as far as I'm aware. They might just think the area is easy pickings due to its appearance and come here more often." It sure looked like that kind of...somewhat unsavory place, which invited people who wanted their little camp to rule over. It certainly seems a lot more impossible to take over a large city or such after all.

"Can't do that forever though." Regardless, making sure it didn't move away wasn't a hard task for him, as the creature was hardly strong enough to resist him at the moment. He'd watch, somewhat thoughtfully. "Are those tools necessary? You could pull arrows out with hands easily as well and it's easier to be precise with your hands than with an extra tool."

"Mmm. Okay." That was the only response he'd get back in response to subject of Jujo for now. The girl didn't see a need to keep pressing it into existence, so when it all came to an end, she would leave it be. As for that next question...

"Maybe? I think," the girl would say contemplating that one. "But then again, maybe no. People want things, but don't they have to ask for things instead of take things? Or is it the other way around take first and no ask?" She was a bit confused on this point. She had asked many people about this, but in the end got different answers, so she wasn't sure which was right. As for Big Brother, well he certainly seemed to take versus ask, so maybe that was the right way. Hmmm. She wasn't sure. Maybe she'd never get an answer to that.

"Maybe not, but can help ease it for long while," she would say and then setting to work, she'd carefully pull out the first arrow. She would stay quiet until with a small tug she got the thing out. Placing it aside, she would work on the next one. "Well, hand be good, but we break arrow that way. Too rough, so use tool to be more precise and steady." Yeah she could use her hand, but that would probably worsen the wound. A tool was better for her instead.

He'd shrug one shoulder. "Depends on several factors. If you want to be polite, it's safer to ask. If you don't care to negotiate and want something one way or another, you're probably more likely to just take. The choice might also depend on what you're after and from who. There isn't a simple answer to that." And then there was you and what kind of a person you were. Some would always want to be cautious and ask. Others had the 'just go for it' mentality. There were shades of gray, but also blacks and whites.

"I don't think the arrows are that fragile. They wouldn't even pierce skin deep enough if they were to break with a simple pull of a hand. A weapon has to be sturdy enough to do its job." You're not hurting anyone properly with paper arrows or the like.

"Hmmm...No simple answer. Not fair." But then again what in life was fair? She had to wonder, but would soon be pushing that aside as she focused on her task. To what she heard, she would giggle. "You compare us to humans. We demons have more strength and can easily break human and other sorts of weapons. Calabus always breaks things. Hold too hard and it go snip snap. Calabus no want to do that here. Make injury worse," she would say pulling out the last arrow before moving quickly to grab rags, water bottle, and medicines. Using the rag and water she would clean the wound before medicating it. Naturally, the baby wolf whimpered and attempted to struggle despite its weakened state.

"The world would be dull if there was only one answer for everything." Easier? Maybe so, but it would effectively kill any and all kinds of creativity, as well as the ability to make different choices than others while still being a good person. It'd become a rather cookie cutter world. Either you're good or bad, for there's only one 'right' for each side.

He'd blink, raising an eyebrow when he was accused of making comparisons. "Not at all, actually. I was saying that in general. Doesn't matter whether human or demon. I could do it without breaking the arrows. And I've never said I'm actually human, have I? It's about the ability to moderate your strength after all. I severely doubt strong demons walk around unable to handle fragile items all their lives. It may take practice, but even a powerful person can learn how to manipulate objects with restraint." Accidents could happen of course, but breaking stuff left and right shouldn't be a given. He was hardly weak himself....after all, what could you expect out of a 30 feet dragon, whose power technically has to compact into a human size while in a form like this? Still, he wasn't destroying everything he touched, was he now? That wolf would be minced meat, had he been holding it with a full power grip while carrying it.

She would grin. "Maybe for us, but some like boring and easy." Some liked being in a cookie cutter world and not thinking. Not making mistakes and such. Some liked being controlled. Did she? No. No she didn't. While it was hard and even harder for her to live in the world as it was, she still did her best and loved ever breath given to her. To take that all away and live a life so simple and easy? That would be the end of her for sure. Good thing the world wasn't like that.

In any case, she would take to moving closer to the wolf to careful apply bandages to it, watching its behavior as she worked and talked with the other. "Hmm. Calabus no good with control. We try and try, but still break things. Not all things, but things we try to concentrate on. Be careful with. Calabus not good at that sort of control. Maybe Shaku is master of control and that why he does good. He says he not human, so demon?" She wasn't exactly normal and teaching a being such as her took lots of patience and extra work on her part. Though how well someone would understand that was beyond her and to be frank she didn't want to get into that conversation. It always made her upset in some way. She didn't want to be upset. Upset equal bad things.

"I don't mind easy. But a world without much choice would make reasons for living minimal." Well, you could live just to live, but how long would that last before you found yourself basically stuck in one spot? There'd be nothing to seriously work towards at all...

In any case, he would shake his head. "I've never found it a big deal. Getting a feel for things isn't an issue for me. Things require different pressure whether you're strong above average or not anyway." You didn't even have to be super strong to break some of the more fragile items. So to an extent, even a casual person had to have some awareness of how they touched things. Now that there was no need to keep holding the wolf down, he would stand back up. "In a sense, I suppose. I'm a dragon."

"Easy not bad, but still...if all easy why work or bother pushing forward? Wouldn't all that stop?" she would ask tapping her lip a bit in thought before looking back at the wolf. She would rest a hand on it and after casting a spell to help it sleep easy, she would look up at the other.

"You different than Calabus. Calabus find it troublesome, but she tries. She still tries." She would reach up to scratch at her head near the base of one of her horns. She understood that in a normal circumstance grabbing things would be easy, but her condition made it troublesome to do the simplest things. It was frustrating really and made her frown for a brief moment until she heard the word, "dragon".

Her eyes would go wide as a huge grin crossed her face. "Dragon? I want to see dragon, but they too far away. I want to say hi to them and give them presents." She would say with excitement in her eyes at the thought.

"If everything was easy, probably yes. I moreso meant that I don't mind easy at times though." Not having to always sweat blood just to accomplish something could be a good thing. It's no good to constantly work like a slave either. A balance was probably the best in the end. He would hum with a half shrug. "I find it to be one of those things I don't really even think about much." It was more or less natural to adjust the level of strength one was using. A mistake would happen once or twice, and after that you'd kind of naturally know how to do it right for a certain type of item. A brain's ability to remember little things was astounding for sure.

He'd shift somewhat awkwardly. "Uh...well, I don't really know many of them anyway. Not sure how they'd feel about completely random visitors. I'm not the most typical dragon either. I wouldn't be here like this if I was..." As far as he knew, most of them didn't really do human-like forms, and thus didn't randomly travel to populated places like these either. So he was a bit of an exception in that regard...and even more so since he could look pretty much entirely human, thanks to originally having been one.

"Easy okay at times, yes." She would nod at that one. Even she liked easy. It helped her not have to think and try so hard to get things done and also made her feel accomplished too. It was a nice feeling instead of frustration a good chunk of the time. That aside, she would hum a bit at the whole strength thing.

"You are funny. You say it be thing you do easy and not think on, but do you find it hard to believe another cannot do the same for their own reasons?" she would ask curious about his wording as he compared everything to what he could do. Maybe it was his only point of reference, but to her it almost sound as if he didn't consider her issue a real thing. Maybe she was translating it wrong. Either way, she wasn't mad just curious. Speaking of curious she'd chuckle at the next bit...

"Dragons are said to be solitary and live in quiet places. Though they don't mind company if you respect them, so Calabus hears; however, Calabus guess they are like people so maybe those words are just general sayings and not truths." She would pause to tap her lips and then seeming to remember something she go back in the tent and come back with a different box. This one was an odd black box wrapped with strange spider web like ribbon and some sort of skull to hold the bow. "But if I give gift we can be friends right? Also you human like so how dragon?" She would ask, looking him up and down.

He'd blink. "I...like to believe anyone can do anything with enough practice? I just speak about myself as I can't really talk about someone else's experience without knowing it personally. If you want me to cease, I can do that too." It was easier to use himself as a frame of reference, as he would likely not get far by trying to speak like he knew how exactly it worked for another person. Okay, he could, but then he'd risk offending them by accidentally saying something untrue, and making it seem like he thought he knew them better than they did themselves or whatever. He wasn't trying to be rude. Not on purpose at least.

"Alone time is never a bad thing." He sure did like his privacy and all that, despite the fact that he was capable of handling company when need be. That said, he would wave his hands in front of himself a bit. "I don't need gifts if that's what you're trying to do. I don't really believe in a random gift making friends anyway. That's not how it works. You don't make friends by bribing them after all.", he'd huff faintly. "...anyway I...well, I come from a somewhat different background I guess. I could look more dragon, but I don't think you want me to bust your house down. Being more adequately sized is more convenient." Among other reasons...

The girl would listen to his words and consider them with a nod. "Calabus does not mind the way you speak. Just curious if you considered her side at all. No reason to cease. Calabus can handle it," she would say as she puffed out her chest a bit in pride. She suppose he was just direct and came off as rude, but perhaps didn't mean it. Kind of reminded her Big Brother. Huh. She wondered if they would get along....or for that matter how long it would be before he came inside. She had no doubt he was somewhere nearby watching this. Maybe he saw him as no threat. Maybe this good? "Hmmm Calabus practice and can master it? Calabus wonders if this be true." After all every try she had always ended up in her breaking things she was suppose to handle gently. Without something to channel her strength through, the results were disasterous. She wondered if that would change one day.

"Calabus likes company more than alone, but that is why Calabus is friends with the world. The world keep Calabus company never alone!" she would say with a clap of her hand as she rocked back with a giggle. She seemed to be in love with everything and maybe that was why it was so easy for her to approach strangers and interact with them. As for the gift thing, this one was very confusing to her.

Her eyebrows would furrow. "Mmm, but friends give friends gift right? So if I give gift we are friends? What is bribing?" she clearly didn't understand the word, showing just how innocent she was when it came to some things. Even more so was her curiosity towards the other. She would open her mouth to say something, but a different voice would ring out. This one clearly not hers, but rather a male's.

"You bring my house down and I am taking down. So let's stay small, stranger." The voice would come from everywhere and no where suggesting that whoever was there was either invisible or not inside. To further confirm this the girl would look up at the ceiling and frown.

"Stop being mean and come inside. He nice human dragon!" she would call up, but get no response. She would sigh before looking back at the other. "Big Brother is on roof, but not sure he come inside. He can be stubborn and stay outside no matter what."

"I consider it as to each their own. If things really are meant a certain way, I won't be able to change that no matter what I say. Besides if I wanted to pick an argument, a different approach would be more applicable." Really, talk as he might, assuming the person remained firm in their own word, or really had something they couldn't change....he'd have no power over them. Perhaps he did passively push boundaries with the way he spoke, but nevertheless, he usually found it useful to know just how easily people would budge or react anyway. "Well, it's better to believe than to give up, right?" There typically was a solution, whether a simple or a complex one.

He'd scratch the back of his neck briefly. "Uh...they can. What I mean is that just giving a gift alone doesn't make two people friends. You need to get to know the person and all that. Bribing is kind of like getting someone to do a thing for you in exchange for money or such. Which in this case would be getting a person to agree to being your friend in return for a free gift." Not something he'd consider a useful arrangement to be honest. Unless the gift was super valuable. He wasn't sure he could stomach being friends for such...superficial sounding reasons. Not to say a gift couldn't lead towards friendship, but it wasn't going to be simply instant like that.


He'd be silent for a while as this...new exchange occurred, before coughing lowly. "Did I ever say I was going to? Regardless, were that the case...do tell why should I take orders from someone I can't even see? If you want to threaten me, be a big boy and show your face too.", he'd snort, sounding somewhat amused. Seriously though, he wasn't going to take orders from someone like this.

"Hmm. That is good way to think. Well now Calabus knows, so all is good." And so it was. Just like that the girl was once more back to her bubbly self. Her spirits would only continue to go upward when the other gave her some hope for her issue with breaking things. "Believe..." she would repeat. "Yeah! Belief good! Calabus can do it, she thinks!" she would say with a nod and a smirk. Even if it was frustrating maybe with time the whole matter of grip would come easy to her. She would like that alot.

In any case, joy would become confusion a few moments later as the subject of gifts, bribes and friends came into play. As she listened, Calabus would frown even more. “But this not money and not trade for friendship. Calabus give because friends. So what Calabus does is bad because just met? You said to get to know them, but what if Calabus gives gifts and does that? Is it bad then?” she was not following how this exchange worked. In her world, you say hello and if a person is nice then you can give them a gift and make them a friend. That is how it worked…right? She was very confused, but would put that aside as Big Brother made his presence known.

As for what followed well, the other would be heard alright for there was a deep chuckle in response to his words. “You want to meet face-to-face? Then come outside and that can be arranged,” the voice would challenge him back the owner clearly not going to obey an order given by a stranger. Meanwhile Calabus would just frown and shake her head at this as she mumbled something about the stubbornness of giants before looking back at the baby wolf she was caring for.