Perhaps flying in the desert at night was not exactly Teras' smartest move in his life. But then again, he wanted to see if there were any good animals to hunt in the area. So far....all he found were meerkats and bugs. BIG bugs, but bugs nonetheless. He was annoyed. Nightfall was coming, and he was tired. The heat of the day had tired him out, and there was no food. He was too disgusted by the idea of eating bugs to allow himself to shoot down one of the bugs and eat it. Meanwhile, meerkats were nasty creatures, and they had the WORD cat in their name. He'd DARE not test to see if they were truly of feline breed.

He touched down towards the northern edge of the desert, after flying for a few more...hours. He sat beneath a tree, his wings sore. Ugh, WHY did this stupid desert have to have been so large?! He needed to go EAST! Or was it west? ".....DAMN IT ALL TO HELL!" he yelled out, angry and tired. He had forgotten WHERE he was going in the first place! Now he was lost and with no idea where he was heading and where he would go to go there!

He slammed his head against the tree, and a rotten fruit fell from it, landing in his face. He crushed the fruit, rotten smelling, purple juices coming out of it. now it was staining his shirt! He threw the fruit out towards the sand, and watched it sink into the sand. "GOOD RIDDANCE!" he yelled out, frustrated. What the hell was he going to do now?! What could he possibly hunt for that would be worth ANY money?! This dessert was devoid of ANYTHING remotely expensive and easy to obtain.

At that moment, unfortunately, a tiny sleeping fairy by the name of Imril was hiding from the terrifyingly large Teras in the tree, which she had been eating from (When your small, fruit that's rotten in patches isn't such a big deal, particularly if the fruit is larger then you are), and such, When Teras slammed his head into the tree, she fell right out of it, and landed on his head with a soft thump. He might not even NOTICE, considering how his hair would further cushion her tiny impact. She lacked the presence of mind to flutter her miniscule wings, due to fear and surprise. She wasn't especially hurt from the fall, but it did hurt.

She was quiet, paralyzed with fear momentarily as she realized she had fallen right on top of the reason he was hiding's head. Carefully, and as quietly as she could, she untangled herself from his hair, and tried to fly back up the tree without being noticed. Which was even harder due to the softly glowing fairy dust left behind from her wings as she flew. The poor Fairy was scared out of her MIND.

Teras felt something on his hair. it felt like...something was....pulling it? He then noticed a shiny speck of dust fall in front of his eyes. What the heck? He looked up, and saw....a fly? Wait...no... A FAIRY! Of course! A fairy would be perfect to sell, right? Well...a non-sentient one, at least. He's heard of a cult of green-wearing elves who ate the fairies in a ritual to mimic some sort of hero of old. And as funny as it would be to hear a Fairy speaking from an elven stomach....well, it wouldn't be too nice. He could be arrested for it.

He moved his right hand up, and tried to stop the fairy. "Hello, hello......what's this?" He muttered, with a smirk. "And who might you be?" He asked, testing the state of this one's mind. If it was of sufficient sentience, He'd let it go. If not....he'd catch it and sell it at a high price. The cults were known to pay top gold for these kinds of fairy-folk. Shiny fairy dust.....female.....if she was not sentient and had an annoying voice, he might be able to live comfortably for a few years!

Sadly for Teras, Imril was sentient. Her voice WAS high pitch and annoying, but that's what you get when your 6 centimeters tall! Teras had scared the WITS out of Imril, sadly, so she wasn't willing to give a more relevant answer then a frightened, high-pitch squeak of terror.

"MYEEEEE!"

Sadly, this would probably get her in more trouble. And scare her more. And thus reduce the chances of her talking. And thus INCREASE her chances of being bottled and sold. Poor little Fairy. Well, she tried to maneuver around Teras' hand, but with all honesty, he'd be able to catch her with little to no effort.

Imril was freaking out now, babbling in her head. "Ohmygodohmygod....He's HUGE! Even for a human! Aaah, I don't want to be stuck in a bottle!"

Teras grinned. This one seemed to not be intelligent. Though it was noisy. PERFECT! "YES! A perfect fairy for those cultist freaks!" he said, checking to see if he had any bottles. Sadly, he was all out. He must have dropped them in the dessert or something. Oh well, he'd just have to keep it in hand. He reached up again. "Come here little fairy...I just need to make some money....." He said in a quiet tone. This stupid fairy would probably be calmed by his tone, not knowing what he was saying. Oh, how sweet his next dinner would be!

Cultist Freaks? To be honest, Imril wasn't familiar with these things too much. She was a bit of a loner in the fairy world, so she had usually been teased with stories. And she didn't really listen in on human culture much, so she wasn't too sure what they were. But she knew what money was. "I only want money' possibly meant he intended to sell her. Now she was REALLY scared. She saw him fly, much faster then she could. She'd be caught for sure if she tried to run...And she couldn't just stick around. This was trouble. Still to scared to speak, she decided to float a little closer. Best not to possibly piss off the VERY large "human", in her mind.

"There we go...good little fairy thing." He said, holding his hand out for the fairy to land on. Excellent. He wouldn't have to waste any more energy trying to catch the tiny thing. What a relief. Hmm...maybe he'd not sell this one. Maybe he'd keep it for a little "pet." ...NAH! The kind of money those cultists payed were downright insane. NOTHING would sway him in selling this one. it was like selling a cow, you knew it would be slaughtered for food, right? Same kind of thing with this fairy. It obviously was not sentient, so it was A-OK! "Come on, come on, I don't have all day." He muttered. In truth, he DID have all day (Or rather, night,) but was not keen on waiting.

Well...he didn't seem bad. Imril, despite all her fears, was very trusting. In THIS situation, that was a bad thing. Actually no, that was ALWAYS going to be a bad thing. She descended onto his hand, and sat down on his palm. Weighing in at 6 ounces, holding her would be no effort whatsoever. She was still kind of hungry though, but she put that aside for now. She looked at Teras' face. Well, he was still big and scary looking, to her at least, but he didn't look like he was going to hurt her. She wondered what he WOULD do, so she looked at him with as innocent and trusting a face as she could muster. Given her face in question was less then a centimeter in length, this was pretty easy to accomplish.

...Oh, this was not fair. This little fairy, sentient or not, was putting on the "cute face" act puppies used. He had hear kittens used it a lot too, but he'd never known. His allergey around cats made him sneeze endlessly. Those blasted healers at the temple he was raised at took advantage of that. Curse them! Anyways.....now he wasn't sure if he COULD sell the little fairy to the cultists, sentient or not. ".....Aww..." He muttered. Yep. He couldn't do it now. It would be like selling a puppy to an Orc, and watching them eat it. He just could not allow it!

He slammed his head back against the tree. NOW what was he going to do for food for the next few years? grunt work? Hunt to survive? yes, he was a hunter, but a hunter with a nearly ADD-like personality. He needed to be doing something different constantly!

SPLAT!

Another one of the rotten fruit fell, this time on his head. The juice running down his head, his eyes were twitching. He grabbed it off his head, and sighed. He WAS hungry...maybe there were some that were not rotten up there. Using his free hand, he pounded the tree 3 more times, 3 more fruit falling down. The first two fruit that fell down were ripe, the 3rd rotten. Perfect! He picked up one of the 2 good fruits, and took a bite out of it. Juicy! Looking to the small, adorable fairy, he thought of it. Placing the fruit down, he used his fingernails to carve a small piece from the fruit, and held it delicately between two fingers, as he held it out to the fairy. "Hungry?" He asked.

Well, now for sure Imril trusted Teras, for better or worse. She made a big happy smile and grabbed the fruit piece, which was to her roughly the size of a watermelon. She broke a piece off of it, and munched on it. Sweet fruit was her favorite, so this was a real treat for her. She decided to speak, which wasn't something she did much. She was the very quiet sort, some even mistook her for a mute.

"Thank you!" She said in a very high, but not unpleasantly screechy, voice. And so, she kept munching away at her fruit. She looked very happy as she did.

Teras had a look of cmplete and utter shock. Did she just say "Thank You?!" "You....can talk?" He asked, with surprise. She seemed to be feasting on her fruit, so it would probably take a while before she responded, but still, this was a shock. Well....it was best he learned now, right? Before he sold her to the cultists. Still, why didn't she say something earlier?! Her life was in danger! Was she an idiot? ...Well, she was alone, it seemed, so maybe she was an outcast or something.

Imril stopped eating for a moment and nodded her head. "Uh-huh. Why? I have a mouth, I'm like a mini-human...why wouldn't I be able to talk?" She wondered what he thought she was prior to this revelation. She absentmindedly fluttered her wings, not enough to make her fly, but enough to scatter her dust. Well, she didn't have anything else to say, and was very shy, even though Teras had fed her. She had something of a ditzy streak though, so his synopsis of her being an idiot, while false, wasn't ENTIRELY inaccurate.

".....Umm...well, some fairies can't. Some are just bipedal in appearance.....Oh, and don't talk about human beings as if they were intelligent. Most are stupid." He said, joking. Humans were not dumb, but....well, quite a few were as sharp as an old hammer. Granted, he was raised by humans, so whatever intelligence they had, he likely now had. Still though, he wasn't about to admit that any time soon. He took another bite from the fruit he had eaten a moment ago, somewhat relieved the fairy said something when it did. He would have been a criminal if he sold a fairy like that. it would be like slavery! And while yes, it was legal in SOME parts of this crazy world, but....well, it was needlessly cruel. "What do they call you?" He asked the fairy after swallowing his mouthful of the sweet fruit.

"Imril...Humans are stupid?" And lo, did her naive and trusting streak show through. It would be obvious she was something of a ditz. Or possibly, she WAS stupid. Her magic developed innately over time, so she never had to learn spells. Well, either way. Imril resumed eating her bit of fruit. As she was still fluttering her wings, a tiny pile of her fairy dust had collected in Teras' hand behind her. Fairy dust was interesting stuff, it was actually particles of the wings themselves. The wings were very thin, so simply flapping them usually would make them break. Having them flake off and re-grow continously was a way to both lighten the load fairies had to bear with their wings, and it also created the "fairy dust" effect.

Hmm..Fairy...dust... Teras suddenly had an idea. Fairy dust was occasionally used in potions...and his hand now had a decent amount! If he could somehow package this, he could make a killing from this! Then he would be able to live in peace! Golden coins seemed to form in his eyes as he thought on this. "Nice to meet you, Imril. I am teras. And, as for humans...some are, some are not. They are like these fruits. Some are good, some are.....well, rotten and a waste of good material." He said with a slight chuckle. "So, what brings YOU out to the edge of this desert?" He asked, curious. Was she the only one of her kind? And had she not seen many humans? It was odd, dealing with such a.....well, horribly naive fairy.

"I got blown out here on a strong gust of wind...It kicked up sand too, so I didn't know where I was, and then I saw the fruit tree, so I decided to eat...I was hungry....Oh, so humans have variety. Okay!" She nodded her head. It was easy enough to remember, her literally tiny mind could get itself around that concept. She continued flapping her wings slowly. Teras' little cash cow was oblivious to his intention, but she probably wouldn't mind much anyway.

"Hmm, I see, I see....So, I guess you are lost then? No idea where your family is at all, eh?" he asked, growing a bit more curious and sympathetic for this apparently young fairy. He was an orphan, for some odd reason. The monks never told him anything about his parents, possibly because his parents had abandoned him, possibly because they had no choice...or maybe they had lost him through some horrific incident. Nobody knew, and most of the time, Teras did not care. Still, though, it might have been something he could relate to with this fairy.

"N-no, I'm not lost...I just live on my own is all." Truthfully, the few other fairies Imril knew didn't like her much. She wasn't one for pranks, being too scared of humans, and they didn't like her naviety. Well, she was in Teras' hands, figuratively and literally. What happened to her was up to him entirely, and odd's are he knew that. How would he use his power over her life? Capture her and force her to produce dust? Just ask her? Well, time would tell.

"...Oh." Teras said. Well, that was funny. Not too surprising. This one was rather tame for a fairy. He'd heard horrible rumors of fairy-folk as monstrous tricksters. This one was too naive to believe. Hmm...he wondered...could he use this situation to get rich quick? ...Probably not. He couldn't use this fairy like that, sadly. DAMN YOU, MONKS! he thought, annoyed. Why, oh WHY, did they have to teach him morals. he could be so rich right now...but NO! He had to deal with a good nature. "...Oh well. Being on one's own is great. Great freedom! Liberating!" He said, with a crazy grin.

Well, even if Teras had no intention of capturing Imril, she had certianly created a tidy pile of fairy dust in his hand in the time they spent talking. She was oblivious to any ill intention, pretty much. Odd's were, she'd be running into some serious trouble sooner or later due to her naivety and overly trusting attitude.

"Y-Yeah...it's good a lot of the time. I'm used to not talking to anyone, so I'm very quiet..."

"Ah...that explains a lot..... Teras said, pulling out an arrow from the quiver on his back. He stabbed it into the second fruit, and held it upside down, draining the juice from it. Once it drained he shook it up and down, making sure most of the juice was out. He then placed it under his hand, and opened his fingers out like a fan, the dust falling through the cracks and into the fruit. This would due as a way to carry the dust. He then yawned out. "Seems my flight in the desert took more out of me. Would you mind moving off my hand so I can lie down? It would be best if I got some sleep, and i dislike sleeping in this form...." He asked. This form was nice and compact, but sleeping in it left him...vulnerable.

Imril obligingly flew off of Teras. "This form?" She was curious as to what that meant. What did Teras mean by "this form"? Well, she was about to find out. Odd's were good she'd be absolutely terrified of the results. Imril was tired too, really, though.

"Thank you." He said, standing up. "Don't worry, when I change, I'll still be me...so don't worry if I look like some sort of monster." He said, closing his eyes. His body glowed a white color, and a few moments later, He began to grow, and become more...scaly. His wings melded into his back. Within 30 seconds, he was in his dragon form. With a rougher, yet still mostly the same voice, he laughed out. "Ah, much better!" He said, a draconian grin on his face, as he laid on the soft ground. "The other form is nice....but THIS is the most comfortable!"

Imril almost DIED ON THE SPOT from terror. She covered her ears and jammed her ears shut. She was clearly afraid of the dragon from, but after a few minutes, she seemed to get over the initial shock. She flew down to Teras' eye-level, curiously looking at him. "I-I didn't expect that! Scary...."

A small laugh escaped from his draconian throat. "Yes, I get that a lot. Not a lot of people expect a half dragon, half angel. It happens, though. I'm still the same me as before, just....bigger, and more scaly. Oh, and with a bigger appatite, though I won't be hungry til the morning." He said, laying his head on the ground. But the advantage is, now no hunting animals will try to mess with me while I'm asleep!" He said, scratching his neck with a claw. "And being able to be safe from that is reassuring to me." He said with another laugh.

"Well....Can I sleep on your head, then? I don't want to be eaten!" An honest concern for someone her size. I mean, a Meerkat would be a serious threat to Imril! Or a strong breeze, at that...which made her re-consider her position. "Wait no, I might get blown off...." She eventually settled on sleeping in the tree. She was probably safe there, no animal or beast would probably go near the tree as long as Teras was near it. She flew her way up to the tree, and nestled in amongst the branches, taking a few leaves off where she could, as well as some twigs, and making a tiny makeshift bed for herself.

"Hmm, whatever suits you best." He muttered out, yawning a bit, his breath streaming out pure white. He closed his eyes, and began to snore, the white mist coming out of his nose. It was loud, but not too loud. Quieter than some humanoids, at least. Perhaps in the morning the fairy would be gone. perhaps not. Either way, it was of no concern to him.