How the times have changed [PRP for Mooo & Tachie]

[-Shady Mooo-]

How long had it been since the noble dragon had left his den? Too long. This new era still confused him. Everyday there were new types of Kitsusagi showing up, like it was no big deal. Back in his day, he was considered a rare and ancient species. Now dragons number in the hundreds pretty much. Which, was a good thing granted, he well remembered a time when there were too few, and they had to breed without love in order to sustain the species. Some dragons didn't mind, some did. He could see the logical side of it, but he preferred unions to involve love, or even mutual respect and admiration. Not just for the sake of it. He sighed and shook his large head, his gem dangling against his horn. Everywhere he looked, things were different. Slit remnants remained, the mountain structure was the same, but the forest and shrubs were different. 

Sometimes he wondered if he was fit for this world anymore. More than once he had debated entering hibernation again, but he doubted that would make sense. He shook his body, trying to dismiss the notion. He had to get a grip, had to get over the fact he entered hibernation a respected powerful dragon, but exited it a common beast with no history. He stretched out his body, and lumbered his way down the sunny hill towards the river. His deep purple coat absorbed all the sun, warming him to the core. A small pleasure in this new world.    

[Tachik]

Rudolph walked through the woods head hung low and eyes half shut and cross-eyed looking at his shinning nose. They had refused to let him play again! They always had to laugh at his nose, why did he have to be so different? Why couldn't he be like everyone else? He shoved his nose in the dirt to try and cover the shine but the ground was to dry and only succeeded in making him sneeze. "AAaahhCHOOOooo" he sniffled which only drew in more dusty dirt threatening to make him sneeze again, luckily he came across a river with which to wash his nose. His nose once submerged however chose to be traitor releasing one giant sneeze. "AAAAHHHCHO-blub blub blub" the water splashed back into his face with the force of it, he almost hoped his nose was blown from the force of it. A peek confirmed it was still soundly attached, he slumped face and front paws splashing into the water just go away, go away! he thought to his no good useless funny looking nose.  

[-Shady Mooo-]

The dragon paused mid-step, he heard an awful sounding sneeze, and lumbered towards it. He came upon a brown snow kitsu, who appeared to have some sort of quarrel with his nose. "Are you alright there young fellow?" he asked, as he approached the other. For Menkaura, everyone was a 'young fellow', very rarely did he meet someone older than he, and if he did, he was thoroughly impressed. But, it has yet to happen. He observed the other, with his intense gold eyes, wondering why he hated his nose so much...  

[Tachik]

Rudolph gasped jolting to a sitting position in his surprise not expecting anyone to be around, he regretted the action instantly as his nose brightly shone sparkling with the water dripping off it. "I uh" he didn't know what to say, he wasn't expecting anyone, he rubbed his nose as a way to subtly hide it under his paw "Just a cold" he smiled hoping the other believed it. He couldn't look him in the eye however, he chose to watch the fish instead "I wouldn't want you to catch it" He had never met a dragon before but he couldn't imagine his nose making a good impression on one, the only one he'd ever know to like his nose was Notsu but that was only because the cherub had a strange obsession with shiny things and had literally clung to Rudolph's nose wanting to claim it.... it was a nice change of pace at times but why did he have to be defined by his nose, couldn't anyone love him for him?  

[-Shady Mooo-]

Menkaura tilted his head and observed the snow kitsu for a few moments, before putting the pieces together. He nodded softly and sat down beside Rudolph. "I see..." he said csrefully "when I came out of hibernation...many months ago. It had been centuries since I had seen the lands of kitsusagi. So much had changed...so much was different. Everyone is unique, and one should never feel shamed at that. If someone gives you a hard time, it is because they are insecure in themselves..." he realised he had gone on a ramble, and cleared his throat "I apologize if I have overstepped my boundaries..."  

[Tachik]

Rudolph watched the dragon out of the corner of his eye, he wasn't sure if the dragon was being honest or if he was teasing but he dropped his paw from his nose blood rushing back into his paw causing pins and needles. "You think so?" he was hopeful but not sure, that would be a -lot- of insecure kitsus if he was right. "You don't think my nose is funny looking?" He dreaded asking and braced for the response he really didn't want to hear, but the dragon hadn't laughed yet and a small flicker of hope burned in Rudolph's chest.  

[-Shady Mooo-]

Menkaura nodded softly, his tails swaying softly behind him. "of course I think so. Everyone is unique, and should embrace their unique qualities. Never be ashamed young one" he said softly, nodding his head, a pleasant grin on his face. "what is your name child?" he realized he never asked the others name before he went on his speal. Apparently lack of socialization resulted in the death of his manners. He would have to keep an eye on that, and remedy the situation.

He shuddered and shook his head "my name is Menkaura, a dragon of old times, I witnessed the birth of the species, and retired into hibernation...." he said softly, lightly pained by the memory  

[Tachik]

"Rudolph" he smiled more relaxed, he was nearly elated at finding someone who didn't mind his nose and his tails wagged happily. "It's nice to meet you Mr. Menkaura, I've never met a dragon before, are they all as nice as you?" He wanted to find a place he didn't have to hid himself or feel bad about himself around others, if all dragons were as kind he would be happy to live among them. "What was it like in the beginning?" Now that he could talk to someone without hiding he wanted to know everything he could from Menkaura, he could finally have a social life! Even if it was with just one other kitus.  

[-Shady Mooo-]

Menkaura inclined his head in a bow to the other male, then let out a soft chuckle "Dragons are like any other species, we have our good, and our bad." he tilted his head at Rudolphs question "the beginning...." he mused, mulling over the question. "the beginning was very different. Everything was more structured, there were classes, everyone knew their place and dared not stray from their position. Dragons were rare. Angelics hardly ever left the clouds, if ever. Nightmares only lurked in forbidden woods. In a way, the world made sense..." he seemed to drift off temporarily, reliving a time long ago that only he knew of. After a few moments he drifted back, and smiled at his companion.  

[Tachik]

"What about snow kitsu?" he asked, his eyes wide and full of wonder, how odd it seemed to him when so many mixed and mingled in the world today. He wondered absently how old Menkaura really was for things to have changed so much, or maybe it wasn't all that long and something really big happened that changed everything, would he be able to find out the truth or would it stay a mystery forever? Was there someone who had witnessed the whole things that could tell him? But did he want to leave Mankaura someone who accepted him for him, in leu of some who might not? No he didn't think he would, he liked Menkaura's company, he could be himself and he hadn't been able to do that since.... well since he didn't know when. A goofy lopsided grin was plastered on his face, enjoying himself in Menkaura's company.  

[-Shady Mooo-]

Menkaura tilted his head "the snow were more common in the colder regions, they didn't spend too much time in these parts if they could help it. Now there are few rare species, not like there was before" he said a bit sadly, he had enjoyed being unique. Ah the price of progress. He shrugged his massive shoulders, sending a ripple through his muscular body. The tips of his tails twitched, as he watched the surface of the water. "so, tell me Rudolph, what caused you to hate your uniqueness?" he asked in a gentle tone, not wanting to offend, he was genuinely interested, and wanted to try and help if he could.  

[Tachik]

Rudolph flushed and looked down somewhat ashamed now that it was asked out loud. "Nobody will play with me, they all laugh at me because I'm different, they.... call me names" he frowned tears welling up around his eyes his nose starting to run causing him to sniffle while his voice wavered. He watched the fish in the water to keep his mind off of old memories. "No body likes me because of my stupid nose." He was feeling a bit angry now because of it, he really did hate his nose, but he liked Menkaura so he let the feelings pass over him. His eyes locked onto one particular fish in the water, it was gold with a single black spot on it's fin, it was the only one with the black dot. He wondered if the other fish picked on him because of it, or if he even knew it was there.  

[-Shady Mooo-]

Menkaura frowned softly, it saddened him to see bullying was one of the things that had not changed since his time. Children could be so cruel when they wanted to. "just because someone doesn't like something about you, doesn't mean you have to dislike that too..." he said gently "Back in my time, it was rare to have a coat like mine. Three colors and unique markings were unheard of. Because of my markings I was deemed un-noble, even though my lineage was just as pure as the rest of the dragons. Very few dragons wanted to socialize with me because of it. It upset me at first, and I cursed the gods that made me unique. But then I thought about it. I thought about why I cursed the gods who made me unique. It wasn't because I didn't like it. It was because others didn't like it. Then I thought about what I wanted, and what I liked. I looked at myself long and hard, and thought and thought. Finally I realized, I liked myself for me. I liked my colors and my markings. The others continued their dislike and name calling, but then I looked at them. They were all terribly plain. You could hardly tell one from the other!" he chuckled softly "I didn't sink to their level and call them names, I knew I was better than that. So whenever they tried to bring me down, I shrugged it off. Soon I discovered that if you don't let it bother you, or show that it bothers you, they stop. It wasn't fun for them anymore. I concentrated on making myself stand out even more. I excelled at everything I did, I studied harder, I trained harder and I worked harder, I made a name for myself, sure enough, people wanted my colors, they wanted unique markings...."

He shrugged softly. He knew it was different now, he was no longer unique. But in his eyes, he still was. And that was enough for him.  

[Tachik]

Rudolph found it hard to believe that such a lovely coat would have gotten others to ridicule him. "At least your coat is pretty... my nose is just... distracting." He frowned watching the spotted fish. He had been hating his nose his whole life it was going to take longer than a few minutes talk to break the cycle. He rubbed his nose mud from the river bed covering his nose, he relaxed his eyes, he kept forgetting how much his eyes had to strain when his nose shined.

He blinked refocusing his eyes the coloration of everything was so much deeper and more vibrant, it was another reason he hated his nose, with it shining everything flattened and forced his eyes to strain often giving him a headache. His muscles relaxed further now that he didn't have to strain. "You think people would really want a nose like mine." He was skeptical, very skeptical that anyone would want a nose like his.


((Just realized I switched to Gersif's colors oops xd ))  

[-Shady Mooo-]

Menkaura shrugged lightly and watched his new friend "I imagine some might. There are probably plain kitsu's out there who would love to be unique like you" he turned his attention to the water, and the fish casually swimming around.

"you need to go easy on yourself friend." he tilted his head and chuckled "you should meet some of the snow kitsu's around my humans house, I think you would like them" he said with a nod.