The human let his ears focus on the conversation Nymeri was starting. It seemed like the elven paladin might know what the mysterious item Skippy had was. That was something of great interest to him. Just when the conversation might have started going somewhere, what appeared to be a wolf anithrope jumped out from the bushes. That unwanted interruption made Ijemaru immediately dislike him. Still, he pulled himself together and was ready to point the fellow in the opposite direction they were going and suggest he go on without them, or maybe even give him a legitimate answer, but before the human could even open his mouth the wolf went on talking. That<span style="font-style: italic">really</span>pissed him off.<br/><br/>Black was torn. On the one hand, he'd decided that this anithrope was more obnoxious than his human, which was bad. On the other hand, this was the first time he'd seen his master angry enough to let it show. Damn, for a human he looked<span style="font-style: italic">scary</span>, but it was<span style="font-style: italic">so</span>satisfying. The balance was eventually tipped by the general feeling he got from this new arrival. It was too... shifty.<br/><br/>A moment later, another random stranger appeared, this one with bright red hair and a sword that apparently weighed six tons. So far, he seemed to be on their side, but his uncalled loyalty and lack of surprise that they traveled with a dragon was suspicious.<br/><br/>Ijemaru glanced at the red-headed man, clearly still angry and his smile far more vicious than the circumstances demanded. "Nice sword," he said. "Why wait? Go ahead and cleave him in two with it."<br/><br/>"He's giving him a chance to run away," Black said to the human. "It's called mercy."<br/><br/>"Being cut in two is mercy," the human replied, his eyes shifting from wild fury to a dead "you will die" expression filled with horrifying certainty, his eyes gluing themselves to the wolf-man. "If he runs, I'll have you chase him and beat him to death. Then we can start a bonfire and find out what wolf tastes like."<br/><br/>"You're psychotic," the demon said flatly. "So what if he surrenders? Then will you be satisfied?"<br/><br/>"He'll have to prove his submission by slitting his throat in front of me."<br/><br/>"Never mind," Black sighed. "You're too pissed off to be rational. You don't get a say in this." The human opened his mouth to say something, but Black put his hand over his mouth, gripping the sides of his face for a firmer hold. His nails were black, the human noticed, not that it mattered. His brain had just gone on temporary auto pilot due to a rage overdose.