path of the wind

Anna's eyes slowly widened the more the man spoke about his puppies. One could even breathe fire— just like her! She bet that would be a good puppy to have, she could play with it, and feed it, and love it, and set things on fire with it. Together, they would be unstoppable. Straightening up, Annaleise completely forgot her clay project and listened harder than she had ever listened to anyone before. She had never been into a pet store, and especially she had never been invited into one. That was extremely exciting.

A frown graced her features, though, as she was denied the chance to go right now, but it was quickly replaced by interest as Travis began to dig in his pockets. Was he going to magically produce this fire breathing puppy? That would be even better than having to visit a shop. Leaning forward, Anna was disappointed as he only drew out a boring old wallet. What use did she ever have for a wallet?

"Card...?" Taking the thing delicately, Annaleise stared at it, never having seen very many business cards. Hissing, Annaleise clutched the paper in her fist, squishing it like her clay. "But I want to go now! Why won't you take me now?" Getting an idea, Annaleise launched herself across the distance, her little arms clinging tightly to Travis' neck as she continued to demand entrance to his curious pet store. "Nooow, lets go now!"

"Noooo! I want to go nooow! Father won't mind, I know he wont! Let's slip away, they'll never notice!" She had no doubt that someone was probably looking for her by now, but she most definitely did not want to be found. Going to a pet shop was the perfect place to hide. No one would suspect to look for her there! Though, Annaleise had a smug feeling that her caretakers loathed looking for her, because she usually ended up biting them when they did manage to find her. Throwing all her strength into her arms, Annaleise refused to be removed from her new spot around the man's neck. Burying her head further under his, Annaleise made a high-pitched whine in her throat, manufactured for the specific purpose as being annoying as possible. She wanted that fire-breathing puppy, and she was going to get it, dammit.

However, as determined as she was to remain latched onto his neck, her arms dropped as she was quickly distracted. She didn't know how to transfer in and out of her dragon form, although she boasted about it often enough. Sometimes, if she sneezed or coughed hard enough, she could turn. "Um! I don't know how to transform at will." But, he did say that he would take her to the store after a few minutes. Taking that as a definite promise, Annaleise concentrated hard. Her brow furrowed as her lips came out into a frustrated pout, and she hissed once more as she failed to transform. "It's not work—-" As her emotions boiled higher from the frustration, she could feel the familiar feel of merging into her inner dragon. Her excitement seemed to stop the merge, unfortunately, and she screeched in irritation. "I can't do it! Can't we go now?"

Annaleise tilted her head, trying to understand what Travis was trying to tell her. She supposed it made sense that he had a power dealing with animals - since he had a pet shop and all. Her thoughts were stopped in mid-sentence as she caught that he would help her transform. Sitting forward immediately, Annaleise clutched the fabric of her skirts as her excitement build up faster and faster. It wasn't too difficult to get her excited in the first place, but this was taking no time at all. Perhaps even with his help, she could learn how to fly better, or even transform at her own will.

Slapping her own hand in the offered hand, Annaleise nodded violently. She wanted to try, even if nothing too huge happened, she would at least have something to report back to her parents as far as her powers went. A wicked smile crossed her mouth; she could just imagine the sour expression her mother would get when she learned that her wayward child had found a new friend to further the dragon she so loathed. "I'm ready! Will you teach me to fly? Have you ever taught anyone to fly before?"

Skipping backwards in compliance, Annaleise stared up expectantly at her new best friend. Squaring her shoulders, she prepared herself for whatever she was supposed to be feeling. A rush of energy sounded a little painful, and it made her apprehensive. Well, if it did hurt, her father would no doubt roast the strange man, and that thought calmed her anxieties a little. Staring a little doubtfully, Annaleise made a face as Travis shut his eyes and ... Did nothing. Was he falling asleep? Frowning, Annaleise was about to say just what she thought about him falling asleep, when she felt that rush.

Her mouth opening in a silent 'o', Anna fought to catch her breath as her body seemed to be caught up. Wanting to shake whatever it was off, she shuddered, and transformed. Incredibly surprised by this, Annaleise let out a small snort, a trail of smoke following close behind it. Unable to voice her opinion in this form, Anna pushed the strong feeling of approval in Travis' direction, hoping that his powers also allowed him to feel her thoughts.

The next goal on her agenda, was to burn something. Her mouth opening wide, Annaleise snapped it shut with an audible click. Her wings unfurled, and she reared up on her back legs, wings working to lift her off the ground. Despite her minor upgrade in power, it did not change the fact that her wings were still a little too underdeveloped to carry such a weighty creature. Dropping back onto her hard plated legs, her neck arched, giving her a serpentine appearance. Pleased with this newer form, Anna trotted towards Travis, bumping her nose into his leg.

That finished, she turned, her nostrils flaring as smoke poured out of them. Her clay toys caught her eye, and she swirled, letting loose a storm of fire over them. It didn't catch anything to flame, unfortunately, but it was enough to bake her lumpy sculpture. The end of her tail curled around in pleasure, and Anna quickly looked around for more things to heat up. The thought came to her about her teachers, and Anna's expression lit up as much has her scaly face allowed. Taking a few tentative steps towards the door, Annaleise paused, looking behind her, wondering if Travis would want to accompany her on her mission to burn the witches.

Burn them, burn those nasty old teachers. The thoughts of charred flesh and smoke curled across her brain, and Annaleise shivered in an almost primal desire and eagerness. Though she had never owned the pleasure of burning another human alive, she was quite sure that it was a very exciting thing to do. The possibility of guilt and fear had never crossed her mind, being only focused on punishing those who had punished her in the past. Fixed on revenge, Annaleise shook her head merrily at the suggestion to stay in. What was the good of staying hidden if you were a dragon? Obviously, she wanted to show her new self off. It would of course be made much nicer if she were able to fly, but that would come in time.

Anna paused when a new creature barred her path. She had never bothered to properly inspect Travis' tagalong, and took the time to do so now. Tentatively, Annaleise coughed out a mild spurt of her dragonfire towards the creature, intrigued by the thing's own firey appearance. Trotting closer to it, Anna sat directly in front of it, instantly falling in love with the thing. She didn't really know what it was, but it was warm, and she wanted to be as close as possible to it. Sidling closer to him, Annaleise rubbed her scales along the thing much like a cat, enjoying the warmth. Suddenly, it seemed like a very good idea to stay in, and perhaps trap the animal into sleeping with her. After transforming, a nap sounded like an incredibly excellent idea.