The burning reality of his people plagued him for days after he had seen his town. It was as if he had been slapped, face burning in shame at the fact that he had no idea his people were living in poverty and hardship. If it had been him just a month back, he would have scoffed at the idea of being guilty over choices that weren't his own. After all, it was not his ruling that led to this destruction of what he thought of a glorious kingdom.

But that wasn't entirely true, was it?

After all, he was his father's son. He was supposed to be as responsible as the king and acted more interested in his lands.

Yet, he hadn't.

A soft sigh escaped his lips — the action quickly dying when Ilayda waved a hand in front of his eyes. Aryzath blinked a few times, leaning back and brought his palms to rest behind him on the forest floor. She was crouched next to him, her knees to her chest and her chin resting on one of her palms. His cheeks warmed at how close. If he let his body relax a little to his side, his skin would be brushing up against hers.

"What is it?" he asked.

"You've been spaced out since you got here," she said. "Usually you would be irritating me by now."

Slight amusement bubbled in his chest at that remark. Perhaps it was a bit out of character of him to be so silent since he got here. But he had craved for her presence, just to ease his mind a little and hence why he found himself back into this little enchanted place. Unfortunately, even she could not put his worries to rest.

He opened his mouth and closed it. The soft buzzing sensation underneath his skin intensified just for a moment when her wings fluttered behind her and she leaned forward. His breath hitched in his throat and his fingers itched to touch her. Curling his nails into the dirt instead, he raised an eyebrow to which she mimicked.

At last, he tilted his head back to look at the bright blue sky, the sun nowhere in sight and hidden behind the white clouds. "I went into town. Out of curiosity."

Ilayda remained silent for a second. A quick glance at her told him that she had sat down properly, her legs underneath her. She has her back straight and her hands on her lap, eyes on him in a way that reminded him of a burning beacon in the darkest night. Mesmerising and hard to look away.

"I see," she said. "And why did you?"

"Sorry?"

"Why did you go into town? What made you curious?" The corner of her lips twitched upwards when he huffed a breath. "Come on, Dragonkind. Surely you had a reason."

"If I said it's because of you, what would you say to that?" The word were out of his mouth before he could think on them but he didn't feel like he had said the wrong thing either. His heart did hammer against his chest when her eyes widened and her cheeks took on a darker shade of her tan skin. Aryzath averted his gaze. "It is because of you. I... wanted to initially prove you wrong about my people."

Ilayda released a breath. "And did you prove me wrong?"

No, he hadn't managed to prove her wrong. Again. Aryzath forced his body forward, hunching his back. He took in a deep breath and ducked his head.

"No," he said, voice low. "I didn't get to prove you wrong. You were... right. My people are living in... worse conditions than I thought."

"That shocks you?" Ilayda's question made him pause. "Well, does it shock you?"

"Of course it shocks me," he said, frowning and turning his body slightly to face her. "Wouldn't it shock you too if you found out the people you thought were living fine turned out didn't?"

The Tünder hummed, tilting her head to one side a tad before she shook her head. "No. I guess because I'm used to the social injustice and the mess that is politics. But you really believed that your kingdom treated everyone equally, didn't you?"

"Maybe I've been sheltered and hence was naive to think that," Aryzath said, voice coming out in almost a whisper as he dropped his gaze to his lap. "But I genuinely did believe everyone was taken care of. But that is not what I saw."

"And what did you see?"

It was hard to get the words out. He had to, though. Making himself acknowledge in the open that his kingdom was not as glorious as he had believed was only the first step to change. Slight anger washed over him when his father's face flashed in his mind. Most of his frustrations were directed to that older creature, but there was a portion that was aimed at himself.

He curled his fingers into fists. "I saw destruction. Saw people willing to do anything to survive. I saw... noble creatures that wore the castle's insignia hurting those they deem weaker all because they felt like it." His throat almost closed up as the scene of the teenage Dragonkind reminded him starkly of how different everything truly was. "And what's worse... no one did anything to change it. Just resignation."

A gentle hand touched his right fist, her fingers cool but nevertheless held a certain strength that made his eyes water. It was a comforting hold, one that he wanted to feel throughout his body. He lifted his gaze to meet her cyan eyes. She tightened her grip on his knuckles.

"That is... how it is," she said. "Resignation happens when there's been no offer to help them. Maybe they've tried to change things but without the support of people in power, it's hardly going to matter now, does it?"

Aryzath knew what she was trying to say. And for the first time in his life, he wanted to do exactly what she wanted him to do. He placed his other hand on top of hers, looking down at their touch. They were contrasting from each other from colour and shape; light and dark just like the day and night. But beautiful together nevertheless and fit in a way that no one could think they would fit. A shudder ran down his spine.

"You want me to start something," he said. "To help my people."

"I'm not exactly telling you that," she said, smiling when he glanced at her. "But your king is not going to change. The monarchy has to change. And not just for my sake, Dragonkind. Not just for my people's sake. But if you cared about your land, even a little, even if you're not a royal blood — you can do something about this." She leaned forward, bringing her palm towards his chest. Ilayda hesitated just for a second before she placed her hand flat near where his heart was. "You're different. Don't waste that in not doing anything."

Her touch on him was almost strength in itself. Touching her fingers, he grabbed them and pulled them away from his chest though holding tight onto her nevertheless. His thumb caressed her hand, taking note at how callous the surface felt — unlike the other skins he had touched in the past. There was a certain softness to them... but there was that warrior in her written within these fingertips.

"I want to do just that," he said, his heart tightening against his chest at the sudden rush of flames in him to help his people. To dethrone his father. To stop this madness they had going on with the Sire. "I'm just not sure where to start."

"Well," Ilayda said, her voice soft in a way that had him leaning to her just a tad. "Best way to start is to scout and find people who would be willing to join you in the battle."

"I'm no leader material," he said, the fear of his inadequacy dying his words. She quirked her lips upwards, almost as if she was amused to hear that. He shook his head. "I'm serious. I'm not even well versed with a sword."

"Well, why would you be?" she said. "You're not a soldier." Aryzath opened his mouth to argue but she extracted her touch from his grasp. He almost fumbled to have her hands on him again and managed to restrain himself at the very last moment. She stood up, patting her dress and clapped her hands twice. "But I'm well versed in it."

He tilted his head upwards just so he could look at her better. "What are you implying?"

"I can teach you," she said. "If you want."

The offer was surprising. Aryzath hadn't expected her to say that — especially when she had been adamant that his kind was anything but danger. Yet, there was a small part of him that was proud at the fact she was... able to at least trust him that he wanted to change. That he wanted to help his people and not betray her. Why there was this sudden shift of her opinion on him — he wasn't sure.

But he had to be doing something right.

"You'll teach me?" He couldn't help but to smile at her.

Ilayda gestured a hand towards him. "I can take you down if you decide to act funny." There was a joke in there somewhere but also an underlying hint of threat that he wasn't to think of outsmarting her. Not that he would. After a beat, she added, "For some inexplicable reason, I believe you when you say about these things. Maybe I've gone mad."

Aryzath's heart skipped a beat. "You believe me?"

The beautiful creature before him remained quiet for a moment, staring at him before she nodded. Just a short, quick one. "So, will you take up on my offer or not?"

There was no way he wouldn't. He reached a hand out for her to grab and hoist him to his feet. She moved towards him and without hesitation in her body, grasped his fingers to do just that. With strength that continuously surprised him, she yanked him upwards until he was on his feet. They stood closer than Aryzath thought they should, but he didn't make a move to leave and neither did she. Their hands continued to touch, the slight hotness of his own blood and her cooler one created a certain warmth that he... liked.

Quite a lot.

Her eyes sparkled when the light caught them.

Standing near her like this felt right.

They felt right.