Rebecca
Of all the kingdoms he'd traveled to, Y'mish tended to find the most comfort in Alynthi. Though drogon weren't a particularly welcome sight anywhere outside of Kandagulu, Alynthi tended to be accustomed to the sight of most races, unlike many kingdoms such as Gantrick. Even in spite of any discrimination he'd faced here, he'd managed to make a decent living and even a house east of Willowdale. Of course, with how much he traveled, he didn't visit too often; his abode served mostly as storage and a place for him to perform alchemy when he couldn't find the proper equipment elsewhere.

Right now, he was on the lookout for a few species of herb he was looking to use in his potions. He tended to do a pretty good job of finding said herbs, but he'd brought along a companion with him, both for the help, and because it'd been by his side for many years now.

As Y'mish looked off to his right, he saw his daqk sitting next to a tree and staring at him with its red eyes. "You found anything, Buddy?" Y'mish asked, walking over to the black beast and petting its head a bit before the animal stood up and began to lead Y'mish to its discovery: one of the herbs the drogon had been looking for, the emerald briar.

"Good boy," Praised the drogon, petting the daqk again before he began to delicately harvest the herb. Buddy ambled off, most likely looking for more herbs or possibly something to entertain him.

Y'mish was a drogon— large by elven standards, not so big for a drogon. In fact, for a drogon, he was a bit below average, but most people didn't have the heights of drogon memorized. He had a somewhat intimidating appearance, with lightning-like markings streaking down his arms and sharp claws at the end of his fingers.

Despite the way he looked, though, he worked with the herb in a very gentle manner. Perhaps it was best not to judge a book by its cover.
Teena
_Koop continued his trek through the dense forest. It had been a while since he had seen any form of civilization, nor anyone else to interact with from said civilization. Though that does tend to be the case when you grow up in such a secluded fashion as he did. Greenheart was his home, and even though he was pretty far from his birth home, he felt enough of a relaxing calm within the confines of the forest's boundaries to make him feel like he was at home. Koop gave a soft sigh as he continued his walk, off any defined trail and pushing his way through the foliage._

_The nearly 6ft tall figure continued his travel, careful of where he walked through as to not ruin his clothing. It wasn't as if he was wearing anything of objective value, those clothes on him were of a pretty commoner class of clothing. It was more like he had no desire to fork over any money to a tailor to get them repaired or replaced. He was in a pretty relaxed state within these forests, and the Shapeshifter had no issue with not confining the fact that he is one. His right brown, black tipped ears perked up upon his head, along with his same pattern match tail sway along behind him. Though he was careful to make sure he wouldn't let it get snagged on any of the thick brush he passed through. His ears stuck out of his blown fluffy hair, having a darker shade of brown compared to his fur._

_He wasn't in a totally relaxed state however. When one separates themself from civilization for a long time, they only have themselves to rely on for supplies. Those supplies including food. And Koop was hungry. As he walked along he would periodically sniff around, trying to catch a scent of something to lead him somewhere. He wasn't in the mood to have to fight for his food, and didn't want to tussle with large game. Something small would suffice him_

_He perked up, catching the scent of something very new and different. He wasn't so sure of what it was. 'Lizard?' he thought to himself questioning. I mean nothing was wrong with cooked lizard, though it smelled much more different than that. His curiosity peaked his interest and he decided to go investigate. His pace slowing down as he would begin to follow, his movements going quieter as he slowed his walking._

_Koop would slowly approach the clearing, a faint rustle of the brush being the only audible evidence of his arrival as he was just about to round the corner of a tree to get a view into the clearing._
Rebecca
Y'mish stood up after he finished with the plant, rising up to about 6'6"— although, he did have a slouch, so it looked like he could be even taller. The drogon walked in the direction where he'd last seen his daqk run, and as he was about to leave the clearing, Buddy came bounding back and stopped in front of Y'mish.

"Did you find something else, Buddy?" Y'mish questioned, reaching down to pet his companion. However, before he could, the daqk lifted its snout into the air and started sniffing. Clearly, it had caught something's scent. Y'mish watched with amusement as the black animal brought its nose to the ground and began to track the scent, slowly moving toward Koop's location as its two tails swished behind it.

The drogon simply watched as his companion searched for the source of the smell. "Did you find a squirrel?" He inquired aloud, though it wasn't likely, as Buddy didn't have a tendency to go after squirrels. The daqk was pretty well-behaved, much like a trained animal, even though Y'mish hadn't specifically trained it for many things.

Curious as to whether or not there was actually anything amiss, Y'mish also smelled the air. His sense of smell wasn't as good as his pet's, but it was much better than the average elf's— and when he smelled the air, there did indeed seem to be something a bit more humanoid here. Y'mish tensed up and looked around himself, then back to his daqk.

When Koop peeked into the clearing, chances were likely that he'd be face-to-face with the daqk, a sleek, black canine with red eyes. Seen as a bad omen by many, which wasn't too surprising considering its almost hellish appearance.
Teena
_Koop rounded the corner around the tree partially took a peak into the clearing. His gaze shifting from right to left as he gazed where he thought the scent came from. Koop would eventually spot the drogon further away. His gaze stopped, and he gave a small flinch with a step back. Well his generalization for the smell was close, yet so far off from what he anticipated. His gaze locked towards him for a moment..._

_... Before he would eventually look downwards, sensing something else now. He spotted the hell like creature with those dark red eyes._

_'Oh what the hell?!' quickly raced through his mind as he finally registered the hell-looking dog infront of him._

_The shapeshifter gave a started, fox like, yelp, jumping back as frighten reaction to the startle of this sudden encounter. On his way back he tripped over himself, falling back onto the ground infront of another tree as he quickly scooted back against it. He raised an arm infront of his body as a 'shield' and lowered his other hand to his leg sheath holding a dagger and pretty instinctive reaction to this. His mind quickly racing as his gaze quickly shifted between the drogon and the daqk._
Rebecca
The animalistic yelp of the shapeshifter was met with a sharp bark from the canine before him, followed by a low growling. Clearly, the daqk did not approve of the stranger slinking around.

Before the daqk did anything outright aggressive, though, a sharp whistle cut through the air, and the animal stopped growling, hesitated, then turned around and bounded towards its owner.

"It's okay, Buddy," Y'mish spoke, reaching down and giving his pet a scratch under the chin as he walked towards the commotion. He hadn't quite seen the features of the new arrival, but he operated under the assumption that it was some other humanoid. The weird yelp they'd made didn't quite make sense, sounding more like it belonged to a creature than a person, but that was beside the point.

As Y'mish came closer to Koop, it started to make more sense. It only took him a few seconds to understand that the ears on the man's head most likely meant he was a shapeshifter. The ears combined with the noise he'd made led Y'mish to believe the stranger was some sort of fox shifter— not that it was important to him.

Y'mish, in what may have been an overly friendly move for someone meeting a stranger in the woods, walked closer to Koop and extended an arm towards him. Not so close to make Koop feel like his personal space was being invaded, but close enough for him to grab it if he wanted help getting up.

"You alright?" He questioned in a voice that was deep and calm. If Koop was observant enough, though, he might notice that the drogon's muscles were tensed; Y'mish was ready to dodge out of the way and prepare for combat if Koop turned out to be less than friendly.

The lizardfolk had a handaxe sheathed at each hip and an iron-tipped quarterstaff on his back, along with a satchel at his side that seemed at least halfway full.

"Sorry about my daqk. He's just overprotective," Y'mish explained as Buddy walked up beside him, this time without barking or growling.
Teena
_Koop was in too much of a shocked state to give any sort of animalistic response to the daqk, and also he was in no mood to piss off this strange animal in the hopes that it would not actually violently react to him. Though that thought was cut off by a sharp whistle, causing Koop to cringe up and his ears flatten on his head in a flinch. His ears slowly perked up again at the voice, Koop peaking out from his defensive state and looking towards the drogon approaching the scene. He gazed up at him as the height difference was significantly worse now._

_He stared to Y'mish as he moved even closer, he could tell that Y'mish was observing him and looking him up and down. Koop gave a slight flinch at Y'mish's gestor, but wouldn't over react to it as he had been looking at him and the arm movement wouldn't be a total surprise. He'd look at the extended hand, his eyes traveling up to meet the drogon's gaze eye to eye,_

"I-I... I'm alright... I'm sorry I was just a little spooked. This was uh... At the bottom of my 'things I could expect today' mental list."

_The Shapeshifter chuckled lightly, his mood slowly loosening up as it appeared to him that Y'mish wasn't a threat. Koop would slowly raise his hand away from his sheath, while lowering his other hand away from his body in the defensive manner he had it in. However, he didnt seem interested in taking Y'mish's hand, he instead just leaned back on the tree, slowly beginning to catch his breath from from the sudden startle. He slowly began to loosen up physically, giving a now relaxed sigh after a few moments and glancing up to him._

"It's alright... I say that that is the right amount of protectiveness..." _He responded with an awkward chuckle_ "I apologize for sneaking up unannounced, I had no idea that there was another person out here."
Rebecca
Y'mish figured from Koop's reaction that the shapeshifter wasn't looking for a fight, so Y'mish could relax a bit. Of course, Koop could be looking to disarm the drogon and rob him, but Y'mish liked to give people the benefit of the doubt.

"He won't hurt you, I promise," Y'mish told Koop. Seeing that Koop was more interested in leaning against the tree, Y'mish backed up and sat down, also leaning against a different tree. After roaming the immediate area a little bit, Buddy came back to Y'mish and laid down, resting its head on the drogon's right thigh. Its piercing red eyes remained opened, though, ever vigilant of the stranger's movements.

"No need to be sorry," Y'mish stated, his tone of voice indicating that he was a bit distracted as he stroked his daqk's fur. "I've just been out collecting herbs for an hour or two. The name is Y'mish; I live a bit south of here, near Willowdale. How about you?" He questioned, looking up at Koop. Maybe the shapeshifter was here to collect herbs, too, or hunt for animals. Hopefully he wasn't here to cause trouble.

It was a strange scene— a large and intimidating drogon gently petting his daqk, which could most certainly be mistaken for a hellhound on first glance. With so many reasons to give him a weird look, it was ironic that the drogon actually turned out to be fairly gentle and calm instead of some evil reaper of souls. Of course, it'd be naïve to trust anyone you just met, even if they had a cute pet almost-dog.

"I also wasn't expecting to meet anyone out here, but I've certainly met weirder people in stranger places." And that wasn't even including all the drogon he grew up around. Now that he'd integrated into society about as well as any lizardfolk could, he had began to see how odd many drogon traditions were. In the back of his mind, he wondered if anyone would recognize him if he ever traveled back to Kandagulu...
Teena
_He would notice the large drogon beginning to relax, a sigh of relief washing over him as it looked like the situation has defused fully. That could have gone bad really quickly. He offed an acknowledging nod towards Y'mish at his comment, not doubting him in it. He glanced towards the staring at Buddy, looking eyes a moment before looking away directly and looking up towards Y'mish._

"Sorry, it's habit I suppose." _He lightly chuckles_ "It's a pleasure to meet you Y'mish, name's Koop." _He answered back, before giving a head tilt_ "Herbs? For cooking or healing?" _He curiously inquired_

_Koop didnt find it too weird, he has learned over the years that this land has people of too many different distinct personalities and even attempting to give someone a stereotypical label is pointless._

"You know, I was thinking the same thing. Guess this is how the gods mess with us for that lack of expectation." _He joked with a small grin_ "So you're from the west? I was actually heading that way, though after a bit if a hunting detour" _He spoke, what a funny coincidence_
James
Y'mish wasn't too sure what Koop was sorry about— was he apologizing for apologizing? Whatever it was, it didn't matter much to Y'mish. He was mostly just glad that he wouldn't have to be fighting anyone today. Hopefully he wouldn't have to fight any*Thing* Either, as this part of the forest tended to be relatively calm.

Y'mish's gaze wandered the area, partially to scan for herbs, and partially just because staring at Koop felt a bit awkward to him. He wasn't accustomed to prolonged eye contact— it was seen as a challenge to authority in his original culture.

"I collect herbs for alchemy, mostly. I typically make potions to help heal, but a lot of alchemy ingredients can be used to make a good meal as well." He rarely used his herbs in cooking, but he had to admit that they made for a good garnish.

"I grew up in Khisfire, actually, but I live near Willowdale now, yes." Considering the fact that drogon were rarely found outside of Kandagulu, it was uncommon to meet one that grew up anywhere else, but strange life circumstances had forced him into that life.

"I spend a lot of time traveling, though, so I see plenty of places outside of Alynthi. How about you? I'm assuming you live in this general area."
Teena
_Yes. Yes he was._

_He was obviously also relieved that he wasn't going to be getting into some fight right now, his sudden more relaxed and calmed state being evident of it. Koop would follow where Y'mish's gaze went, out of both curiosity is thinking that if he saw something interesting he should also see it too._

"Oh..!" _His ears perked up, his head lightly tilted to the side out of interest._ "I never considered alchemy. Probably cause I have no idea how to do it myself." _He chuckles lightly._

_He pulled his legs up closer to himself, resting his arms on his knees as his tail curled around his side and rested in front of him on top of his boots. He gazed back up to him._

"Ah.. Yeah I travel a lot too. Guess you can say I don't have any permanent residence." _He nodded up to him, smiling at the realization of a common interest_ "I'm from Greenheart yes. Born and raised more east though, closer to Girian. But I suppose i consider the whole of this place my home.." 

_He finished speaking as he looked up to him. Though his ears would perk up as he looked downward into his lap, a hand sliding down onto his stomach._

"Damn.." _He mumbled to himself softly_
Rebecca
"Well, I mostly use biomancy when I'm working with the wounded, but potions are a good supplement, and people can take them when they leave so they don't need me to be there for the entire healing process." He folded his arms and leaned back into the tree, thinking about his long journey on integrating back into society. The care those people had showed made him more understanding and patient. After all, if they were willing to spend more than a year working with a drogon, surely he could deal with some annoying people for a few days.

"I live near Willowdale for the proximity to the wayshrine, mostly. I'd live in Khisfire, but... Well... You know, political instability and all that."

Y'mish noticed Koop's movement and thought for a moment, stroking his daqk's fur as he thought. "Are you hungry?" Y'mish asked, looking up to Koop. "I have some food, but it's mostly stale bread," He said. Y'mish didn't really mind having stale bread, as he was more than strong enough to bite through it, and as far as he knew, stale bread was just as nutritious as normal bread.
Teena
_Koop would slowly nod, clearly intrigued by what he was saying. His ears perked up attentively as if he were a dog listening to his owner. Koop was always secluded as a young boy, so he always enjoyed listening to others now that he was out on his own._

"Ah...- Oh I'm.. Sorry to hear. I guess I don't hear too much about that place very often." _He softly responded, his ears slowly lowering back on his head. He obviously felt bad for him, feeling like one could t return to their homeland would obviously negatively affect anyone._

_He quickly looked up towards him with his ears flattening back with an embarrassed expression, he didn't mean to make it obvious or draw attention to himself like that. He thought for a moment, remembering the last two days of very little luck with a hunt. He sighed. _ 

"Y... Yeah but... You don't need to..." _He responded to Y'mish. The truth in that response is questionable, as his gaze subconsciously shifted to look at his bag where he would guess he stored said food_
Rebecca
Y'mish nudged Buddy to remove his head from Y'mish's lap and then stood up, stretching a bit. "I've heard things are getting better down there. The new royalty is trying to get things straight, but all bad sorts of people have already integrated into Khisfire, so it's hard to root out the rot," He spoke. Y'mish wondered if he could make an impact on the world some day— helping bring stability to Khisfire, or reducing the slave trade. Something to improve the lives of others. Maybe some day. He'd already written some books. Maybe those had been some help?

Y'mish walked over to Koop and brought out a loaf of stale bread, offering it down. Buddy was sniffing around the clearing once more in an attempt to occupy himself, his sleek black figure sauntering around the area.

"Well, it's really not much trouble. Bread isn't very expensive. From what I know, though, elves have a hard time biting through stale bread. Not sure if that's different for you."
Teena
_Koop watched him stand up, offering another nod as he listened._

"That makes sense... Hard to rip up and reshuffle an entire cultural mindset. I hope it'll be in your lifetime atleast."

_He offered a small reassuring smile to him. He looked up to him as he walked closer, no flinching this time as there was a form of trust now. He watched his hand pull out the loaf and extend it out towards him. He was at first reluctant, he still not wanting to intrude on his personal food like that. Though after some listen to his reasoning, he nodded and carefully took the loaf off from him and held it in his hands. He sniffed it, looking back up to him._

"I've.. Had my fair share of accidentally biting into bread past it's time." _He let out a chuckle._

_He held the bread up and tried to bite into the end of it. He strained to dig his teeth into it and he attempted to pull off the end, but to no avail. He'd let go and have an embarrassed laugh._

"Hold on there is a work around for me."

_He closed his eyes and leaned back. He gave a small wince before he would suddenly shift up into an anthro fox, the fur not covered by his clothes matching the color of hi ears and tail. He opened his eyes and looked down at the bread, now gripped in his paws, before he lifted it up and chomped on the bread. He easily pulled the end off clean, slowly chewing on the stale bread. He smiles mid chew, obviously not minding it and enjoying having something to eat, and looked up to Y'mish with a chuckle before swallowing. His tail offering a wag. Just two anthro animals vibing in the woods now._