The Giant and the Dragon Slayer

Atrum did not say anything. instead he took his hat off and dropped it the heavy weighted article smashing the pavement with it's weight. Atrum cracked his neck and gave Kotone a grin, he was going to make up for his mistakes. The Giant cracked his knuckles, the smallest of flames sparking around him and dying out quickly as they were not being fed. The Giant ran forwards The Dragon Slayer wasn't about to rush at him again so it was up to him to regain his momentum. "My blood is boiling!" Atrum growled he threw his arm forwards to grab Kotone's shoulder while he threw a punch as one of her knees.


He was planning on flipping her over her agility might allow her to take advantage of the sudden change in her orientation in the air but he remembered the last time he tried something like this and if she tried something similar he was more than prepared to counter attack, a simply rush forwards would allow him to grab her again and go for another pin. That would make her angry, just getting out of a similar position only to get put into a similar one would piss Atrum off as well. But hey if it worked, and Atrum knew he definitely held an advantage in that situation, why not take advantage of it? It may be a sparring match but they were both serious about winning, no holding back.

His blood was boiling. Kotone’s ran cold - in a good way. As he threw his arms forward, Kotone moved agilely in response. Rather than jumping over him like last time though, her instincts caused Kotone to decide to move to the side. His hand actually caught her shoulder, but she twisted, his fingernails inadvertently digging into her shoulder a bit as he passed by, hitting her but not accomplishing his goal. In response, as he recovered, Kotone threw a punch at Atrum’s lower back, following it up with another quick jab.

There was no time to continue the assault though. Atrum could fight through pain, and if that didn’t stumble him for any reason, then he was going to try to catch her again. The brunette girl jumped back, her right hand touching her shoulder during a free moment and checking it. She was bleeding, and her shirt was a bit torn. Oh well. She had more, and she wasn’t in a second grappling session with the large man.

“Gotta do better than that, Atrum,” Kotone taunted with a grin as sweat ran down her cheek. “That is, if you actually want to finish our fight this time.” Make him angry. Great plan. Angry Atrum wasn’t any less dangerous than calm Atrum, though he might make a mistake she could exploit, if she were lucky.

Atrum felt the blows and knew that if he didn't catch Kotone sooner rather than later he'd be too battered to keep fighting.  He turned to Kotone just as she taunted him, trying to get a rise out of him, the only reason he wasn't angry about it was that the taunt in itself wasn't really something for him to get angry about.  They had not gotten to finish their last match, so he would make up for that now.  The giant threw himself forwards rolling across the distance between him and Kotone bringing his palm straight up to catch her in the chin.  He threw his other palm towards her gut specifically aiming in case she had already began to dodge.  If he caught her off guard he would grip her by her leg and slam her into the ground.

"I shall do better then Kotone!"  He laughed wildly, he did have a short fuse if he was honest but Kotone hadn't hit the mark just yet.  He wasn't going to get angry while he was having such a fun match anyways, he wasn't about to give up yet anyways.  "We are definitely going to finish this match, even if I have to break myself doing it!  Geh heh heh!"  The Giant pushed the distractions away he was fighting a friend of his, he was going to enjoy this.  Kotone was agile enough to keep dodging but he figured if he kept pushing her she wouldn't be able to keep dodging his assaults.  Of course not that he minded her acrobatics, she was rather good at it, and she definitely couldn't keep up the act forever.  She was stronger now this was so much fun, he couldn't wait until she countered him and struck back.

Atrum promised to do better, and he delivered. Kotone took the palm in her gut though she’d dodged the chin-targetting attack quiet easily. She made a pained squeak when the air rushed out of her again, and she was easily slammed into the ground with a hard, ground-cracking thud. She was able to rip herself away from it though, rolling to recover as she rubbed her stomach where she’d been punched. Her head was harder than her gut. She’d lost the smile on her face, instead panting and focusing on the fight. Sweat ran down her neck as she recovered, though her whole recovery had only actually lasted maybe a second.

Swiftly, she pushed herself off moving to both punch Atrum in the stomach, hard, and trip him with her leg. If she managed to drop him, she would drop her elbow onto his stomach or back with all of her weight to try and finish the fight. If not, she would try and spin around him, shoving away quickly in order to try and keep him from getting another good punch in. She was done talking or trading compliments. The fight wouldn’t last much longer, based on her breathing, and she suspected even Atrum was beginning to tire even the smallest amount. One way or another, it would be over soon.

Blazing Hells she did again! That squeak was annoying adorable and was the main reason he was heading for the ground at the moment. However he wasn't about to mess up so hard after he had just promised to do better in this fight, he was tired as hell he could feel the strain hitting him finally it was a refreshing experience really but right now he needed to focus, this last moment was extremely important and he needed to be exact and deliberate with his move. He couldn't waste it, Kotone was a excellent fighter and every time he made a mistake she punished him for it hard. Just how he liked it anyways, he learned better when he could see why the mistake happened.

The blow had smashed into his stomach and Kotone was speeding down with her elbow to smash him, he acted as soon as the blow smashed into his back. As the Kotone dropped onto his back Atrum spun himself, swinging his entire body stealing the force of Kotone's attack to move his entire body in a circle. His fist came around towards Kotonet's head a swing that should rattle her skull a bit, though regardless of whether he hit her or not he smack down into the ground tired. He was hurting, Kotone hit hard harder than he did, and he was convinced that he would have some bruises from this. He had fun though, he wasn't sure if he could summon more strength but if Kotone was still able to keep going he wouldn't give up either.

Kotone’s finishing move was less of a finisher than she imagined. Atrum surprised her with his timing, and as she’d learned fighting faster opponents, timing made all the difference. He spun, knocking her in the head and sending her to the ground at the same time he did. She skidded a foot or so on one arm, before they both laid there panting. She considered getting back up, but out of the corner of her eye she saw that Atrum wasn’t in a hurry either. Instead, Kotone flopped to the ground, panting.

“I swear, if we would have kept using magic, I’d be in a lot better shape than you, big guy.” She chuckled. She was sore, but honestly she was more tired than anything. Physical fights without magic weren’t something she was trained for, to be perfectly honest. She was a dragon slayer. Her magic gave her the strength she had. But still, a work out like that gave her practice for if she ever lost the use of her magic for any reason, at least.

After a long moment, she sat up in a relaxed position before getting up and holding her hand out to help the bigger man up. She was grinning a rather satisfied grin. “Still, I didn’t even know either of us could do that without magic, so it was a lot of fun. Much better than those idiots in the alleyway. It’s funny though,” she started as she wiped sweat off of her brow so it wouldn’t get in her eye. “If the Council were out doing its job, we never could have gotten away with it.”

"I believe that I would be feeling a whole lot better right now if you had not made those adorable squeaking noises."  He responded taking Kotone's hand and standing up, part of him was angry at himself for allowing himself to be distracted by it however the other part of him was having too much fun.  "Those sounds suit you though, kept reminding me that I was fighting a woman, normally I forget about gender in a fight."  He chuckled poking fun at her in what his opinion a playful manner.  He didn't tease Kotone much when they first met, it was against his rules to do so, now that he felt more comfortable around her though he had no problem trying to get a rise out of the Dragon Slayer.

"Though, I suppose you are correct...  The chaos of recent events have seeded a lot of crime in their wake.  More thugs and mercenaries committing crimes because they feel they can get away with it now."  He said simply in response to Kotone's last statement.  He personally was more concerned with Shadow Heart than what was happening with the council, his people didn't have a government anyways so he wasn't exactly interested in it's inner workings. From what he understood they were the people in charge of everything in general, apparently being in charge was their job. Strange really.

"I get the impression that the issues with the Magic council are going to get far worse before they get better and soon as well."  He almost muttered, not really stating an opinion as much as musing upon a observation that had him worried.  "I have not really heard much from or about the council since the attack actually and that gives me reason to worry in my opinion."  The giant had taken to stretching out his muscles while he stood, feeling a bit stiff after that fight and wanting to loosen up.

“Hey! I’m not used to getting punched in the stomach is all. It's not like I go around making stupid girly noises.” Kotone insisted when he told her the noises were adorable. Her arms crossed and her brow twitched a little, but she didn’t actually seem upset. “Besides I might be a girl but that doesn’t mean anything in a fight, you know. I don’t care how noble a guy thinks he is, if a girl’s trying to punch him in the face she deserves to get punched back, sparring or not. They kinda lose that girl… privilege… thing… people seem to give women. I don’t really understand it. My gender hardly mattered to my dad, him being a dragon and all.” Kotone shrugged, she was rambling a bit about it because she was enjoying being around someone other than scum she wanted to punch for once. Nah, Atrum was a friend she enjoyed punching sometimes. They’d have to meet in a setting where they weren’t punching one another sometime.

Kotone looked up at Atrum when he mused about the future, with things getting worse before they got better. That was almost a given, with two power groups trying to get a strangle hold on Fiore. “The Council is stupid,” Was Kotone’s only real response for a moment as she glanced over at someone who was staring at the pair of roughed up wizards. He quickly ran off as if intimidated. “Dragons didn’t need some head dragon to behave. If any one dragon did too much to harm the balance or that went against the other dragons, they’d just punish them themselves. I guess humans think it shouldn’t be their job to police themselves or something. Attitudes like that are why I’m needed though. So no one gets hurt because of stupid human assumptions.” Kotone had zero respect for authority. She treated them just like anyone else. They either deserved respect, or they deserved a punch in the face. It was a pretty simple philosophy really. Too bad humans didn't understand it.

"Well of course in a fight ones gender does not matter, though I figured that women were generally treated better because they could literally carry another life within them. At least that is what I thought my people's reasoning was. I have been here for several years and I still do not fully understand this countries customs and the like." Atrum said waving a hand back and forth dismissively he grinned at Kotone her reactions were worth the jabs, and finding that she's not used to getting hit was also rather amusing. It made sense though not only is this land extremely peaceful compared to what he was used to but usually the only people causing trouble only used magic and few people got close enough to actually punch you. "Not used to getting hit in the stomach? I suppose that is not too surprising, when you are powerful enough to take out most of your opponents before they hit you, you tend not to build up a resistance to getting hit. Though if you feel you want that to change I would be more than willing to give you my assistance."

"My people did not have a governing body really, we had a head family who was in charge of organization and strategy during times of war or defense, but other than that our laws were made by the rule of the community and those who broke those laws enough were simply kicked out. Nobody lasted long outside the walls of the village." He shrugged walking over to his hat which hat damaged the road from it's fall and picked it up placing it back in it's place on his head. "Though maybe this kind of regulation only works when there are not that many people, I only lived in a single village in the Furan Forests as far as I know we were the only people who lived in that place." He said recalling that in the past they were a lot more of his people about, but by the time he was born their numbers had began to dwindle. His people had only been hired once since he was born and shortly after is when everything went straight to hell. He remembered the monsters born from their dead marching towards their walls, the nightmarish monstrosities following in their wake, fighting them was pointless. The giant shrugged pushing the thoughts aside, they were not important anyways, Fiore was his home now and while he may not be able to rebuild his people he could carve out a life for himself and his family here.

Kotone didn’t really comment on Atrum’s reasoning. She didn’t care. In her opinion, pregnant women shouldn’t fight, and people shouldn’t hit them. The rest of the time there wasn’t really any difference if the girl tried. At least, that was how the dragon slayer who was stronger than most men because of her training felt. For Atrum though, all she did was shrug before going to pick up her sword and her jacket, letting out a slightly tired sigh as she stood up straight again.

“If it’s all the same to you,” Kotone told Atrum when he offered his odd punching training, “I’d prefer to do my usual either avoiding it or deflecting it. I’ve got my magic for a reason, you know,” she placed her jacket back on and put her sword around her shoulder again. Atrum’s laws made sense to Kotone, but he was right that simple laws and governing things like the way his village did things only worked in small groups. There was a reason people were in charge like they were. It just didn’t make Kotone think she was required to respect them anymore than anyone else.

A thought occurred to Kotone as Atrum talked. “If I remember hearing correctly around your guild hall, you’re from up North, right?” she asked curiously. “I’m pretty fond of the cold,” she told him as if that wasn’t obvious. She wore a jacket, but it was a fashion statement. To be honest, she could wear a bikini in the winter and be perfectly happy.

"I suppose that is fair though I am not sure what you mean by having your magic for a reason,  I thought that magic was simply an extension of yourself.  I was not taught it I simply awoke to it when I almost died in my homeland."  Atrum mused, considering Kotone's words as if she had just suggested a new philosophy to him, to the giant magic was no different than his size and strength.  His natural ability something that will always be with him and gives him an edge but should not be depended on by itself.  It showed through his actual use of his magic in that is simply enhanced his fighting style rather than replacing it.  He was about to continue this line of though when he heard Kotone's next statement and found himself wondering how to respond.

"Yes, my old home is normally referred to as the frozen wastes, due to how extremely cold it happens to be there, so cold in fact that the trees of the Furan forests evolved to have their bark literally light aflame to keep themselves from freezing solid,  it does not help that there was no summer only the freezing and raging winter.  We actually built our home around those trees my village was in debited to the wood nymphs that allowed us to take residence around their beings and allowed us to use lumber to create our homes and walls."  Atrum spoke not sure exactly what to talk about when it came to his home, he was certainly proud of most of the memories he held within him.

"I miss it but it is not like I can return to it."  He said shrugging.

Kotone flexed her hand as she looked at it before looking back at Atrum. "Magic is... complicated to say the least," she told him knowingly. Dragons knew these things better than most people, and Krendall had imparted at least a little bit of the knowledge on her. “Some people are born with the ability to use their type of magic. Others, like me, are taught to use a certain kind by someone. Still others can use magic but only through magical items.” Kotone shrugged. Atrum had seemed curious so she’d told him what she knew.

Atrum started telling her about his homeland, a frozen waste with flaming trees. Why people had made their home there was anyone’s guess. Kotone certainly didn’t know. “Except for the burning tree part, I would personally enjoy the cold,” she told him with a slight grin. The grin faded slightly though as he said he couldn’t return to it. She wanted to ask, but secrets were normal to dragon slayers, even the ones bad at keeping their biggest secret. She looked over to the side for a moment before looking at Atrum again. “What now then, big guy?” Kotone undid her ponytail and shook her head. “I’m a bit too tired after all that to go looking for more trouble.”

"It would be a much more pleasant place for you to visit, if it were not for the monsters and abominations that now rule that landscape. Though I suppose that indeed it would be a rather pleasant place for you if you really do enjoy the cold as much as you suggest. He chuckled, finding that the more people he met the more he wished he could show them the land of his people when they were in their prime, though he had only heard stories of that time as well, they were already dwindling when he came about. The giant decided to stop thinking about it since it was actually kind of depressing him. He tipped his hat and smiled at Kotone. "Ah, I thank you for the small lesson in magical theory, it is certainly appreciated." He said obviously enjoying himself regardless of any dark thoughts he may have been having.

"As to what we should do now? I am not actually sure, until i ran into you my plan was to eat something rest up a bit and then go and find more shadow heart members to rough up. He said placing a hand on his chin and thinking on what he wanted to do now. "I am not sure I have the energy to do so now, if I knew this town better I would suggest something from here but as it stands my normal method of procuring fun is to run into trouble." The giant held back a laugh at that last bit as he suddenly realized that running into violent situations was indeed his idea of fun, the fact that he often got to help people out while doing so only made him feel better about it. So that left him with a single question now that he stopped to think about it for once. "So what do people do for fun other than fighting anyways?" He asked aloud only having one other answer. "The only other thing I do to entertain myself other than fighting is either listening to music or gardening." The giant said simply.

Atrum asked Kotone what they should do now that they were done punching each other. It was their standard greeting, apparently. At least after two meetings alone. She’d seen him at Fairy Tail when she visited, but she barely did that these days either. “How should I know?” Kotone asked him with a shrug. “Do I look normal to you?” Wrong question. She blinked a few times. Duh she looked like a normal girl. Minus the fangs and the magic, anyway. “Let me rephrase that, I’m not any more normal than you, bud.”

Kotone started to walk, waiting for Atrum to catch up and walk beside her. When he did, she sped up a bit heading into town. “What say we go get a bite to eat while we figure out this normal people thing?” she asked him, glancing over at him. It sounded like he’d led a rather interesting life as well. She’d have to ask sometime. But not today. “Punching people in the face takes a lot out of me, and now I’m famished.” Kotone chuckled, looking pleased to have a bit of company for the moment. She missed spending time with Kade and Ren at Lamia Scale. It was almost normal now.

The Giant laughed as Kotone asked him if she looked normal to him to which the answer was obvious, still he didn't really care how normal she looked that wasn't the goal of his question.  He was more interested in her status as a lifelong resident of this country, but apparently she wasn't exactly in the know of the behavior of the more normal residents guess that made sense Kotone seemed to live a life closer to that of a hero than a citizen anyways.

"I suppose that is alright I happen to need a lot of fuel to power my body anyways, Though I happen to be a bit more curious as to what you have been doing since we last met.  You seem to be a bit more content compared to back then.  Or maybe I am reading you wrong either way I am just a tad curious, and nothing really other than what you already know has happened on my end.  I guess I met a few interesting people though they are always worth talking about at the very least."  The giant chuckled to himself remembering the people he had met since then, Nines, Fayte, Zahn, Haruto, all were fairly decent at the very least he had no bad memories concerning them at the least.

“Maybe I am a bit more content than I used to be,” she responded to Atrum. “A lot’s happened.” She shrugged as they walked and she looked for a place that looked like it would make for a decent restaurant. “Big fights, making and losing friends,” she glossed over a good amount of it with those simple words. “Finding some really good ones over at Lamia Scale…” She let out a small sigh. She missed Kade, but she wasn’t going to tell Atrum that at all. She had an image to keep up, even if it wasn’t the same image she’d wanted last time they met.

“How about that one?” she asked, pointing at a place that seemed to be a small steakhouse. She was in the mood for some red meat, and it was easier than catching her own while running on such a small amount of energy. “I’ll buy,” she told him as she jiggled the jewel purse in her pocket to test how much she had. She stopped while she waited for his answer, so that they wouldn’t pass it and have to double back. She wanted to sit for a while, despite looking like she was doing fine. She was sore, and he’d taken a lot out of her once she’d given up using magic.

"Ah? Making friends is good." The giant nodded grinning at the knowledge of Kotone in general doing well, he chose not to persue with that line of conversation as he didn't particularly feel like talking as he'd rather eat. "I suppose the most interesting thing that happened was that I met a Council seeker who was lost in the forest for nine years straight. Did not even know the Five year war happened, I admit I am a tad curious as to what happened to him, but most people that I met seem to be fine last I checked." He stopped as Kotone found a place to eat and grinned.

"Well I shall take you up on that one, I would rather sit down and stuff my face before my stomach declares war on the rest of me." He joked putting his hand on his stomach as it growled loudly, he needed to eat soon or his joke might become a reality. He wasn't particularly picky when it came to eating when he was like this, though normally he did preferred to hunt down his food. This time however right after his fight with Kotone he was more inclined to simply go along with what she wanted. He was a bit worried about the price of the food as last time he found out that they both have quite the appetite and now that they were both hungry and tired he didn't doubt that they would eat a lot.

The giant and the dragon slayer walked into the building, and Kotone’s stomach rumbled loudly, though it was drowned out by the lunch crowd. A lacrima-powered fan moved back and forth inside, and Kotone’s hair blew back a little. Sid, who had been chilling in her backpack started to poke his head out, but got promptly shoved back in. “No cats in the restaurant,” she grumbled to the strangely obedient cat. She took a seat at a booth, sighing contentedly as she leaned an elbow into the wall and used it to rest her head on.

A glass of ice water was handed out while they looked at the menu. Kotone sipped it idly as she glanced at her lunch companion. “You know, I hate to admit it, but I actually feel kind of beat up after fighting you for real this time,” she told him semi-quietly. The roar in this place actually reminded her of Fairy Tail. Lamia Scale was practically a library by comparison, and that was with that Astra girl causing a ruckus because someone actually let her get into a competition or something. “And I’m famished. What a time to have a good sense of smell…” she complained, able to pick out the individual steaks and other foods nearby that were in the air.

The giant raised an eyebrow at the fact that Kotone had a cat with her, he was surprised that a cat of all things was listening to anyone at all.  They were notorious for not caring at all about people in general, listening to no one and being small bundles of pride and attitude-  The giant stifled his laugh bringing his hand to his mouth as he imagined Kotone as a feline.  The image had him covering his mouth to keep from laughing aloud in public, he shook his head and cleared his head of the image.  As entertaining as it might be he felt it rude to derive entertainment at his friends expense, oh who was he kidding?  He just didn't want Kotone to catch him laughing at her, even if she was tired she was likely to punch him trough a wall for it.  As the thought went past he sat down and leaned back a bit, relaxing in the seat as he flipped through the menu.

"I would certainly hope you are sore, if I can not claim combat as my only talent then I basically have nothing that I am good at other than being freakishly tall, you would not believe how many people call me a monster when I meet them, or maybe you would."  Atrum laughed to himself as he thought about the many times someone had accused him of not being entirely human.  It wasn't his fault he was a big as he was they could blame his bloodline, as far as he was concerned everyone else was just unusually short.  "I will admit I am a bit envious of the level of your senses, as a hunter my own are slightly better than the average but not nearly as good as yours from what I have seen at least, though I supposed right now you must be hating it."  He chuckled, as he decided he felt like pork today.

“Well, I’ve been sorer,” Kotone shrugged nonchalantly, chuckling with a grin that might match his mental image of her.  “Remember I was raised by a dragon until I was eight,” she told Atrum with a mildly serious look on her face. “Other people might think you’re a monster, but my dad’s teeth were sharper, and he made you look like Sid does compared to me,” she told him as the cat jumped out of the bag and into her arms, where she held him under the table. “Behave you dumb cat.” She hissed as the waitress came to get their order, asking what they would like.

“Steak, medium rare,” Kotone told her as she struggled to hide the misbehaving cat. She was going to have to share with him. Apparently he was too famished to listen, and everyone’s steak was now in danger. She also ordered potatoes and a soda with extra ice before Atrum ordered and the woman left quickly. “I’m going to kill you, Sid,” she grumbled under her breath.

“Anyway, yeah, I kind of hate it when I’m starving,” she admitted as she finally got the cat locked down for now. “Improved senses are a mixed blessing. Trust me. I hear and smell a lot of things I don’t want to.”

"Geh heh heh." The giant found himself chuckling at Kotone's predicament even as he leaned back away from the cat a bit. He didn't hate them nor was he scared of them but their tendency to claw at him did make him wary of their location. Still He felt rather complimented by her comparison even if the way she worded it made it sort of sound like she was insulting him. Still he was glad that someone didn't this he was some inhuman creature it was comforting at the very least. "I shall take the compliment despite how it sounded." He said grinning pleasantly as he waited for his food to come.

"I suppose I can understand not wanting to smell and hear some things, I have run into that problem myself a few times though likely to a lesser extent. But once you get something to eat you should feel better, That always works for me." He said his stomach rumbling as he patted it licking his lips at the thought of pork filling his stomach was he drooling? Well yes yes he was, he was drooling he was even hungrier than he thought Well he'd be eating soon anyways he just had to stick it out until the food got here. Hopefully he wouldn't start eating the table until then.

“I’m just saying, tall as you are you don’t intimidate me,” Kotone chuckled as she got Sid to lay down in her lap under the table, behaving for the first time since he started acting up. Around them, the clanging of forks and knives on plates could be heard as people enjoyed their lunch. Her mouth was watering, but she wasn’t threatening to drool all over herself about it like the big man in front of her. Fortunately for him, Kotone wasn’t like a lot of women, or people in general. She wouldn’t care if he picked up his steak in both hands and shoved them in his mouth like an animal.

“If anything, I like it because you’re easy to spot even before your scent comes my way.” She shrugged, and Atrum expressed understanding not wanting to hear and smell some things. “Believe me, I know a lot more than I should about some people,” Kotone told him with a sigh as she closed her eyes. She reopened them after a moment. “Anyway, there’s a lot more advantages than disadvantages. I suppose I experience things rather differently than hum- er, other humans,” she admitted. “Smell and things play a big part in my life.”

"Geh heh That is good I would rather not intimidate my friends if I can help it, there is no reason for it amongst those who are allies in my opinion." He said as he took a napkin and cleaned himself up Trying to ignore the fact that he just drooled all over himself hells that was embarrassing. Still a testament to how hungry you were was a sign someone shouldn't ignore, though he was at the mercy of the cooks at the moment. "Usually people say that being able to see me coming is good for a completely different reason, still it is appreciated." The giant said smiling as he leaned back once again, this time out of attempting to relax rather than anything else.

"Hm, 'humans', 'other humans'? Seems like you do not fully associate yourself with mankind, though having a Dragon for a Father does make that little detail make a lot more sense." He mused rubbing his chin as he spoke, he hadn't thought of someone not feeling like a full member of the human species but it was possible. "The only thing I have to compare that feeling to is being from a different country, when we first met I actually could not read most of the signs here despite being here for several years. Had to get my guildmates to teach me." He laughed at the memory, it wasn't exactly his proudest moment admitting that he needed help in that regard.

Kotone would have sat back, but she was making sure Sidney would behave himself under the table. She didn’t want to slip up and get her and Atrum in trouble because the cat had decided he didn’t have to listen to the rules this time. Fortunately it was fine at the moment. “Yeah, I was raised by a dragon, then spent four more years as a child hermit in the woods,” she explained. “It wasn’t until six years ago that I actually came to civilization. I did learn pretty quickly though,” she nodded. “Dad taught me everything I should know. Though… I felt more like a child of a dragon than another human most of the time. I knew I wasn’t a dragon, obviously… but I only ever saw myself in reflections and things before I came here. It was pretty weird not seeing a face like dad’s, even if it was obvious I wasn’t like him without that view. It’s hard to explain I guess.” She shrugged.

Kotone’s amber eyes turned to the left as a plate was sat down beside her, at which point Sid started struggling again. She nodded her thanks to the Waitress who sat down Atrum’s order as well. Kotone shoved the cat between her knees and trapped him with them, picking up her knife and fork. “But more when we’ve had a bite to eat~” she told him happily as she dug into her steak.

"Raised by a Dragon that is impressive to say the least, but it appears that you have a decent relationship with him that is good.  I have not seen my parents in a while I should probably go visi- My Pork!"  Atrum said turning his eyes to his plate as it was delivered snatching up and tearing into the pork happily filling his stomach eagerly.  The giant chewed fast practically inhaling the food he stopped eating just long enough to grab his drink of water and slug it back, hell this was good being as hungry as he was the food was immensely satisfying.  He would be drooling if he wasn't already stuffing his face with food.

The giant was relishing the food it might be because he was famished but the way the meat fell off the bone as he devoured it not only allowed him to eat more but also made it incredibly pleasant to do so. pork roast, garlic, rice, and a side of vegetables such as lettuce, onions, and peppers to compliment the taste, damn he was almost daydreaming about home cooked meals now.  He knew how to cook he'd make that particular later when he was hungry once again for now he'd just focus on the pork in front of him and getting it off his plate and into his stomach.  He was going to need more than what was on his plate soon enough.

Atrum ate like a starving giant, and that only amused Kotone more. She was trying to be a bit more ‘human adult woman’ about her eating since she was around people more, but she had a habit of not looking too different when she was starving and alone. She munched on her own food much slower. She was hungry, but she wasn’t as hungry as Atrum for some reason. At least it was easier to keep Sid in check when she was feeding him some of her meat.

“I wouldn’t say I have a relationship with dad,” she corrected Atrum after a couple of minutes. “He left when I was eight. I’m eighteen as of this month. It’s been nearly ten years and more than half of my life. He just… left a big impression.” Kotone shrugged, sticking some potatoes into her mouth and chewing. She didn’t know if Atrum would even answer the way he was chowing down, but she didn’t care. She knew he likely heard her.

“Tell me about your family. I’ve never really… had one,” she admitted. “Dragons and humans don’t think or act the same, so I’m… curious I guess.” Kotone took another bite before shoving some of her food Atrum’s direction just as his plate started to empty. “I’ll grab a snack if you want this,” she decided.

(Oh good gods you got him talking.)

The giant honestly had no idea how to react when Kotone responded to his comment, he couldn't imagine not having some sort of family it was truly incomprehensible to him he slowed down a bit but only enough to let her know he was listening and decided he would answer her when he had eaten enough to talk without having his stomach growling angrily at him for not eating enough. Still he wasn't sure what to say how do you describe a family to someone who's just told you they haven't really had one? No she referred to the Dragon that raised her as Dad she must have some sort of family connection to him, he finished most of his food and looked over to kotone gave her a nod, pulling what she had offered him towards him.

"My family was about as big as we could managed back where came from, My father is even larger than me if you can believe it, he was always laughing and grinning acting like he never had a care in the world even when fighting. He taught me how to fight and how to treat others most of what I know come from him We all looked up to him he kept us all going and made sure we survived." He said pausing to take a bite of Kotone's leftovers. "He may have been the leader of our clan but everyone knew that my mother was the one in charge, honestly she still kinda scares me she taught me how to control my magic and how to 'fight dirty' as she put it. She in not as big as the rest of my family but no one doubt that she is the most dangerous of us. When she lost her temper things just ended up broken shatter on fire or all at the same time." The giant chuckled at the thought and popped some more food into his mouth.

"I have two siblings a Brother and a Sister both older than me, My brother Ater lives in crocus right now and runs a magic shop. He never was that interesting in combat and focused more on science and our peoples legacy whatever that means. He is a good person but I personally think he is a tad unhinged, though my sister is the really odd one..." He trailed off for a second thinking about how to say the next part and have it make sense. "The Northern lands are a really harsh place to live, you have to work together to survive so what our people did was create as many symbiotic relationships with the native creatures as possible, we accepted the wolves among us and hunted along side them, we protected the Dryads from parasites and in return they allowed us to forge our homes out of their trees. Everyone put in an effort for the whole to live." He explained once again pausing to eat a little more. "I say this because my sister is half Dryad and it's kinda hard to understand how she thinks, she is a pleasant person to be sure but she never actually needed us to survive back home so she it is a tad hard for me to understand her." He stopped talking and scratched his head, not sure what to elaborate on. "My family is all I have and all I live for, my guild is a part of that now as well but it's not the same as my blood relatives, to have people that know you so well that you can rely on them for pretty much anything and to do so willingly even at the own expense is something that I can not properly explain." He finished up, looking at the Dragon slayer. "If you want to know something more specific I shall do what I can to tell you what you want to know, but my people are different than the residents of Fiore it is so... peaceful here in comparison I do not feel like I must constantly watch my back all the time."

Kotone listened quietly and with great interest as Atrum explained his family. His family, in a way, sounded a lot like what she’d heard from people in guilds and what they thought of their guild mates. She knew it was different. It was… closer. They had the same mom, the same dad… well, maybe except his sister. But they shared one parent. It was a weird thought, siblings. Did Kotone have siblings? If so… where were they? She hadn’t asked these questions in a long time.

Atrum’s father sounded a lot like Kotone’s. Krendall was certainly a bigger ‘man’ than she was. He was a dragon though, not a man. If he were smaller she might have questioned something. Krendall had been massive. No one compared to him that way. As far as she was concerned, no one compared to him in power either. If dragons had directly interfered in human affairs, he could have easily set everything straight in Fiore, she was sure.

“Maybe I do sort of know what you’re talking about,” she admitted. “It’s a bit different though. I wish I would have known my parents, whether they wanted me or not.” Her thought process had caused her to lose her own appetite. At least Sid seemed content. Kotone’s eyes flicked up to Atrum. “Why did all of you go such separate ways, if you’re so close? Where is your sister?” She wanted to ask more, but she didn’t want to overload the hungry man with questions. If Fiore seemed more peaceful... she was almost afraid of what his old life had been like.