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Arlough was a bit take aback by Sora's protectiveness. "Of course I wouldn't want to harm her." he lied, making it sound convincing. Ever since he was fresh out of his egg, his clan had told him how dangerous and evil the spirit walker was. Now could be his chance to finally make his family proud... especially since he'd been living in the shadow of his triumphant older brothers and brilliant older sisters. Arlough suddenly made his face downcast. "I'm sorry if I made the impression that I meant harm..." he whined, pouring on the sadness. "If you would like, I would be honoured to accompany you." he finally lowered his head slightly, as if he was politely tipping his hat (if he was wearing one).

Arlough wasn't surprised to the least. He knew at least one of them would be sappy enough to let him tag along. "Oh, thank you so much!" he chirped gratefully, already plotting. "I give you my word; I won't let you down!" The young dragon was still curious to learn more about this Saangi, even if he planned on eventually capturing her. He decided to play along for awhile and earn their trust before he makes the final move.

Declan was unsure of the stranger's presence. Something seemed off about him. He couldn't place it, but then Sora nailed it right on the bat. At the mention of meeting their deaths without trust, Declan narrowed his eyes, lowered his head, and looked around violently searching for something he didn't know how to find. It may not have even been anything specific he was looking about for.

Though, he knew another thing he wasn't too keen on sharing. He didn't exactly trust the newcomer. For all they knew, he could have been putting on a show, acting as if he was hopeful and gracious, but actually being something else entirely. He breathed a tiny breath of fire as a sigh and looked up at Sora. His clean blue eyes met hers and he frowned in an obvious motion.

"Then I guess I have no such good intention," he said bitterly, a tad coldly, but mostly in sad realization.

Arlough's nostrils began fuming with smoke, curls of it spiraling into the air. "I didn't ask for your trust!" he bellowed angrily, not caring how he presented himself. "And I don't care if you do trust me or not! But I'll have you both know that it's been my dream to fly in the same very air of the legendary spirit-walker, and I know who I am, and I know that who I am wouldn't try to hurt my own dream!" he stood up tall as he could, then realized how loudly he was yelling. Who cares? he thought. I wasn't going to let them walk all over me. He looked back to Saangi and looked sheepish, as if sorrowful for his outburst. "Forgive me." he ended.

Declan nodded, his message clearly coming across although unspoken. I'll try... Though I'm likely to fail.

His thoughts came like a rushing river through his mind and soul. May my soul be forgotten to the wind... I can't forgive... it can't be re-taught. I cannot be tamed this way...

Mumbling words kept coming up, threatening to re-take the dragon's existence and make him drop dead, without life.

Arlough didn't think of that. He agreed that Hisho would probably kill anyone he finds with Saangi, even one of his own clan. Still, Arlough's always been curious, and he's always wanted to learn about her. Still, if he was capable of capturing her before Hisho got to them... he smiled sympathetically at Sora. "Of course." he replied. "It's been my dream to travel with Saangi, and I can't back out now that my silly little aspiration might just become possible. Please, I'll prove my worth if you'd like."

Ooc:// We should probably wait for Windy, she's kinda far behind.

Declan nodded to Saangi, feeling slightly reassured due to her kindness on the subject. However, Sora's words of foolishness defeated any previous reassurance. He huffed bitterly. As a young dragon, he had always believed tales and myths, no matter how far-fetched or how brainwashing they were or seemed. He was always one of the easiest to influence, gullible, in a way.

However, now that he was older, he wasn't as much like that as he used to be. Now it was hard to get an opinion to change for him. He wasn't influenced by many anymore. He was stubborn. He had tried many times before to not believe the stories he had learned as a young hatchling, but they refused to leave peacfully from his mind. All they did now was dance around and bounce of the edges, as if they wanted to break his whole stronghold of mind.

"I'm sorry if I cost something for us, Sora. Saangi." He paused, trying to grab the right words to say. "Though, I've tried many a time to get the stories out of my line of thought, they refuse to leave without a fight. It will lead to my downfall one of these days. Probably on this very journey." His eyes darkened with the thought. "I'll eventually fail you due to my hardheaded ways, and I wanted to apologize in advance for that." He was sincerly sorry, even though he knew all to well how hard it was to change your entire outlook on life. Especially if you've been living for a hundred years or so.