Walking through Targoviste, munching on his new favorite food, Tahmut threw an empty stick of beef over his shoulder before biting into another one, repeating the process.
It's been hours since Tahmut encountered the foolish human and equally dense fallen Angel, and unlike the sun that's currently brightening the sky, Tahmut's mood has yet to follow suit.
"How long?" Tahmut asked, stopping his aimless walk, his question directed to the crow seemingly attached to his shadow.
Understanding Tahmut's question, the 'crow' straightened her back and replied:
"For as long as it takes." Sapphira answered resolutely. "You saved my life, and therefore, I intend to repay what is owed. Whether you like it or not, 'Sir Savior', I'm here to stay. And besides, there's no other place for me to go." She finished, her voice softening at the end.
'Tsk… Now I don't have any beef.' Tahmut thought, ignoring Sapphira, instead staring woefully at his now beef-less hand, his mood further ruined.
'I wonder if that human would mind moving into my territory? Haha~ Then I could have these beef sticks forever! …Wait, where would he stay? Should I make a town? Who's going to build it? Hmmm~'
Summoning a Dragon apple, albeit reluctantly, Tahmut put his inner-ramblings aside and resumed walking, prompting Sapphira to do the same.
Briefly turning a side-eye to Sapphira, Tahmut returned his gaze to the road ahead.
"Why was that human chasing you?" He asked, breaking the silence between the two.
It's not that he cared… He couldn't care less. Tahmut only asked this question on the basis of being polite. Annoyingly, he could see she wasn't going anywhere, and although he could easily remove this bird from his company, he wouldn't.
His fun was ruined, and Tahmut thought maybe, maybe if he allowed this crow to stick around, he would find another source of excitement. However, only time will tell.
During the walk, Sapphira, who recently gained confidence due to Tahmut's non-verbal acceptance, made her way closer to her savior, walking only breaths behind him.
"I-I'm a hybrid." Sapphira replied nervously, answering Tahmut's question, her veiled eyes finding the ground more appealing than her savior's visage.
'What will he think?' She thought worriedly.
"A hybrid?" Tahmut asked, as if remembering something.
It's not that he didn't notice, it's quite the opposite. Tahmut knew the beings he went to watch for his enjoyment were a part of the supernatural, but, in his excitement, he completely disregarded that fact, his thoughts stuck on the spectacle he thought was to come.
Turning to, and focusing his senses on the veiled stranger, Tahmut felt she was indeed a hybrid; a mix between a fallen Angel and human.
"Interesting… I can see why you have pursuers." Tahmut commented nonchalantly, remembering the stories Tanin told him about different races and their hybrids, fallen Angels included among those discussed.
'A child sired between a fallen and a human, a Nephilim… Looks like I'll be entertained for a while.' He thought, his lips curling into a smile at the prospect.
Hearing her savior's words, Sapphira stopped walking, her eyes wide behind her veil. She expected a response, yes, but not one like this.
"Do you not care that I'm a hybrid? Don't you think I'm disgusting?" Sapphira meekly asked.
She didn't want to question her savior, but for most of her life, Sapphira had been verbally tormented and given looks of hate; not only by her human mother, but by the rest of her clan as well. She tried to act like the insults she heard didn't bother her. She tried to go about her days as normal. But try as she may, deep down, those words got to her.
Sapphira half expected her savior to be like everyone else; someone who would look at or speak to her with disgust, but he didn't. For the first time in her life, Sapphira wasn't on the receiving end of verbal or mental abuse. For the first time in her life, Sapphira didn't know how to feel.
Noticing his straggler stopped, Tahmut did so as well, his blue and green eyes turning to meet her veiled gaze.
"Why would I? It's not like it matters." Tahmut scoffed. "Honestly, I'm more intrigued if anything. It's not everyday you see one of your species roaming about, let alone any hybrid for that matter." He continued, lifting his head to gaze at the stars.
"I don't know what you've experienced in the past, but not everyone is like who you've previously encountered. Furthermore, don't let someone else's words shape who you are. You are you. No other opinion should matter but yours.
Now come. If you're to stay with me there are things that must be discussed." Tahmut said, changing the topic of conversation, already a small distance away from Sapphira.
"Hmm…" She softly replied, finding her place on her savior's side, her earlier concerns almost forgotten; almost.
—
The atmosphere between Tahmut and Sapphira was a pleasant one as they both flew side by side toward their destination.
"Haaah"~ Releasing a content sigh, Tahmut, still in his human form, decided to do a couple of aerial stunts before flying normally, leaving Sapphira in awe.
"Encore, encore!" Sapphira clapped her hands, her melodious giggle filling the air.
Obliging her request, Tahmut went all out, his ego boosted by Sapphira's genuine show of appreciation.
He had just finished doing a layout triple double and was thinking about what to do next, when suddenly, Tahmut felt an aura he could never mistake.
Stopping in the air, a certain flashback of an old man with flat-gray eyes and a blank look appeared in Tahmut's mind.
Let's just say that day: lessons were learned, goals were established, a beat down ensued, and friends were made.
Shuddering lightly at the memory, a smile spreading on his face, Tahmut turned his head in the direction the aura was coming from, finding its owner atop a distant mountain.
Flying to Sapphira's side, Tahmut spoke:
"My territory isn't too far from here. Continue east and look for a tree that bears apples and is planted on a mountains peak. When you find it, stay there and call for Merget, she'll take care of you." Tahmut said, his gaze back in the direction of the old man.
"But-" Sapphira didn't get to finish. Just as she was about to open her mouth to object, a gust of wind shut it, followed by her view of Tahmut's back getting smaller and smaller.
Slumping her shoulders in defeat, Sapphira sighed. "East it is.." She mumbled.
—
Furling his wings, Tahmut landed on one of the many peaks of a table mountain, his eyes soon finding the being he one day hopes to surpass.
Standing on a cliff's edge, gazing out at the horizon, the 'old man,' as Tahmut likes to call him, seemed to be deep in thought.
He had white skin with straight black hair that rested on his shoulders framing his wrinkled visage.
He wore a black and silver cloak that touched the ground and trailed behind him. In his right hand he wielded an ornate wooden staff with a black snake coiling upwards around its length, ending with its mouth open and tongue extended as if hissing.
"You've grown." The old man voiced, still looking toward the horizon.
"Of course I have old man. It's been about seven years since you last saw me." Tahmut scoffed, now shoulder to shoulder with the man.
"Mm," The man softly replied.
As they began talking about their daily lives, recounting small tales, the old man suddenly changed the subject, asking Tahmut a question.
"What do you know of my home?" He asked, Tahmut hearing a hint of melancholy in his monotonous voice.
"Other than having a basic understanding of what it is, I don't really know too much else. Why?" Tahmut curiously questioned. 'For some reason I don't like where this is heading.' He worriedly thought.
His instincts are telling him that whatever the old man was about to say next, it would be something world changing.
"As you know, other than myself, there are no other beings capable of dwelling in my home. I left it unprotected sometime ago because of the that fact. I thought I would be able to live as humans do and return to my silence. But when I returned to my home, I had an unwanted resident. I-"
"Wait a minute. Let me get this right," Tahmut cut the old man off, his eyebrows furrowed. "So you went on a journey, and because you assumed your home was uninhabitable to all beings except yourself, you left it unguarded. And now because you did that, upon return to your 'uninhabitable' home, someone else has actually entered it, and is currently living there? Ophis," Tahmut sighed, using the old man's name, turning to meet his flat-gray eyes. "Are you asking me what I think you are?"
"I am," The now identified Ophis said, his face expressionless. "However, I also know of the saying 'no favor comes free'. For your help, son of Tiamat and Ddraig, I, the Infinite Dragon God, will give you what you seek… Power."