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The sun was just starting to set over the mountain range surrounded by forest, the rich orange light reflecting off the stony walls of the cliffside. It illuminated two creatures that walked along the trail that led up it; an elf in front with a leather satchel around his shoulder and a dragon that padded behind him with some sticks tied against his side. Neither one said anything to the other, their eyes pointed forward on their path as the wind whistled against their ears. The elf had to put his hand up to shield his turquoise eyes from the rays of the exposed sun as they made it to a broad plateau that ended in the edge of cliff, the forest more than several stories below them as they set their stuff down once they reached the smooth slab of rock that made up the ground.

"I really don't see why we have to climb up all the way to this cliff every single time, Ashimaru," the dragon complained as he used his mouth to pull the cord that caused the wood to fall to the ground.

"I already told you Ellowyn, I can't have my village find out what we're doing," Ashimaru replied as he helped the dragon set up the poles into their proper configuration. "Plus, I like this particular area. It's a very breathtaking view, don't you think?"

Ellowyn looked over the edge of the cliff he was on as the elf began taking out various jars and setting them on the ground. "It's definitely breathtaking," he said as he moved a little further inwards on the plateau. "I would imagine terrifying to someone without wings. Anyway, are you almost ready to do this? You're going to lose your light at this rate and we won't be able to see each other, much less what we're doing, and I'm guessing that won't help with you in this little endeavor."

The elf shot the other male a look and told him to hush, then took a deep breath as he prepared himself for the task he had set out to do. The last piece of equipment he took out of the bag was a piece of stretched canvas, the white woven thread gleaming in the light save for where black charcoal lines had already been drawn on it. Once he set it up on the easel, Ashimaru directed Ellowyn to the proper place on the edge of the cliff that matched with the black outline he had already done on their previous visits. As soon as the dragon was in place, he took the paints he was going to use and began to fill in the spaces between the lines.

As Ashimaru continued to spread the colorful paint over the white canvas, the sun continued its descent below the horizon, something Ellowyn watched until the elf told him to turn his head back to its original position. "We're still going to be heading down that rather steep path in the dark at this rate," the dragon confirmed while he went back to his previous pose. "I'd offer to fly you down, but with all the supplies I'll be a bit over encumbered... and I noticed you didn't bring a lantern, so you better hope for a cloudless night."

"Relax Ellowyn," Ashimaru reassured, switching his colors. "I have a plan for our descent."

"What, you planning on turning into a dragon and flying down?" Ellowyn joked. "Come on now Ash, I know how much you secretly admire my form, luring me up here with being the subject of your newest painting is all an excuse to show some new power that was bestowed upon you by your clan or something like that."

"I think I already would have told you if I could do that," Ashimaru shot back with a chuckle. "There's only one elf I know of that has that power, and they've been alive longer than some of these trees, so maybe in a few hundred years we can talk about it. Plus, you know my lot, if it's not bow and arrow related I shouldn't be bothered to learn it, I have to leave that to the actual magic users and focus on my Hunter role."

As the elf turned back to his painting he was glad for the block of the line of sight as his face deepened into a frown. Though he joked about it, Ashimaru was dismayed he had been chosen in his position in life rather than the other way around. While he was a skilled bowyer, he didn't want his life to be just for the continued survival and defense of the clan, and his art was a way to express that. The only one who knew about his secret passage was his best friend Ellowyn, a dragon from a nearby set of caves whom he had known for as long as he could remember. Though this was the first time the earthy brown and olive green scaled dragon had been the model for his paintings, it wasn't the first time they had been together while he did so, the two often sneaking off in the guise of going out to hunt or explore.

"What do you think they would do if you got caught?" Ellowyn asked suddenly just as the elf was finishing up. "I mean, I know my clan doesn't care and the only reason I don't say anything is because our two tribes talk, but is it really worth all the sneaking around?"

Ashimaru sighed and put his brush in small jar of clear water to clean it. "I won't get exiled or anything for it," he explained. "But I will probably be told not to do it anymore and they'd confiscate my supplies and put me on supervised duty. Luckily that's not going to happen because you're the only one who knows, and I sell my works to passing caravans like the one currently in the human town. Now come over here and look at this, I'm pretty much finished."

Ellowyn got up on all fours and padded over to the other side of the canvas, where a dragon much like himself was painted on a similar backdrop. "Very nice," he commented before his yellow eyes looked upwards. "Hey, you forgot to paint a bit at the top here, I thought the whole reason we came up at this time was so you could get the perfect sky setting?"

Ashimaru just gave the dragon a knowing grin and looked back up at the sky, which prompted Ellowyn to do the same. As the last of the light of the sun faded away, the dragon suddenly let out a gasp as he saw a brilliant streak of light flash across the sky, followed by a second one, and then a third, until the whole of the black backdrop was filled with them. "It's a meteor shower!" Ellowyn exclaimed.

"The seer had told me one was coming tonight," Ashimaru explained as he finished his painting while his friend looked up in awe. "I figured it would do us no good to sit down and try to pick something out in the trees, and remembered we had a wonderful vantage point up here." After a few minutes the canvas was completely covered and the painting put back into the protective case he had brought up, then the elf rummaged around in his satchel and gave the dragon a large piece of fruit that he eagerly accepted. After the two had finished packing all the supplies, they laid down to watch the aetherial cascade of light above them. Ashimaru leaned against the dragon's stomach as they both looked up, the body heat coming off the scaly creature able to keep the lithe elf warm.

Ellowyn, on the other hand, was just glad it was dark out and he had his body angled away as he felt himself blush, otherwise the other male might have seen his arousal poke out of his sheath as he felt the elf press against him. Part of him wondered if now was the moment to tell Ashimaru that he had feelings for him, but as soon as the thought populated his skull it was joined with several others that caused him to swallow hard. He knew that Ashimaru wasn't interested in males, the dragon having been told several epic stories of how he had attempted to woo an elven maiden in the village or even one of the other females that occupied the nearby village, and even if he did... the thought of a male elf and male dragon was unheard of. It would be a lot more serious than if someone had figured out he was up there with him painting.

"Did you say something, Ello?" Ashimaru asked, which caused the dragon to look down and see the concerned face of his friend looking at him.

"Oh... oh no," Ellowyn quickly dismissed, realizing his last sigh may have been a more audible than he thought. "I was just clearing my throat." The dragon quickly looked back up at the sky in order to try and change the subject quickly. "These falling stars certainly are beautiful, I can only wonder how much of the kingdom is looking up right now and seeing the same thing."

"Yeah, very true," Ashimaru agreed, setting his head back down against the scaled chest of his friend. "Amazing how similar objects in a phenomenon can behave so differently. Sometimes the stars go by quick and last only a second, others can hang in the sky for what feels like ages. Like that one there, I've been watching that one ever since it poked its way out of the horizon and it's still burning in the sky over there."

As the two watched the light that Ashimaru had pointed out, they watched as it continued to grow brighter in the sky as well as bigger. When it failed to dissipate like the others, both males looked at each other, then stood up and walked closer to the edge of the plateau. After a few seconds the night sky suddenly lit up as the object burst to life with bright white flames that surrounded the object while it continued to grow bigger. "Perhaps... perhaps we should start down the mountain..." Ellowyn suggested, which caused the elf to nod wholeheartedly before he ran back towards the pile of supplies they had secured against the stone.

Just as the elf was about to shout that he would only take the painting and come back for the rest, he had to hold his hand up from the blinding light that filled his vision when he looked back. The wind howled around them and a dull roar filled their ears as the object grew brighter than the sun itself. All either of the two could do was stand there and watch as the brightness retracted back onto the object itself before it plummeted down and smashed into the forest below them. The ground beneath them felt like it was about to shatter as everything in the area glowed with intense white light until all the elf could see was the dragon in front of him. The unmistakable pulse of magic flooded his body as he watched in slow motion as Ellowyn's form began to drain of color, then turn semi-translucent right before his eyes. Behind him, a huge mushroom cloud of blue and white energy flared up into the air as the resulting shockwave from the impact shredded the trees below. Before either of the two could do anything, both dragon and elf were thrown backwards, Ellowyn's body flying through Ashimaru as they hit the solid stone surface of the craig behind them.

Ashimaru shouted as the intense pressure permeated through every fiber of his being. For a moment he thought he would be ripped apart by the energy, but as the wave passed over them, he was suddenly released and his battered body fell to the ground. As the light continued to radiate out from the impact site, the elf managed to get onto his hands and knees, coughing loudly as his entire body hummed with the strange energy that was suffused throughout the air. When his vision returned he looked around for Ellowyn, but couldn't see the dragon anywhere despite the night sky still as lit up as if it was the middle of the day.

Before he could get to his feet, though, a surge of power racked his entire system that caused him to fall forward on all fours. As soon as the palms of his hands hit the rough stones, he watched as his normally slender fingers twitched involuntarily as the flesh and bone thickened. His breathing quickened as the flesh and muscle in his entire body began to quiver, his senses overwhelmed as beneath him his fingernails lengthened and sharpened to a pair of claws. His brain struggled to comprehend with what was happening as he felt his spine lengthen, loud pops filling the air as his body shook. It felt like he was being pulled from both ends by some invisible force, his tailbone extended out behind him while his neck lengthened unnaturally.

The elf's cries of shock grew deeper and gravelier as his entire skeletal structure shifted, joints cracking and muscle shifting as Ashimaru's brain screamed for help. Soon all that came out of his mouth was a low growl before the intensity of the sensations finally overwhelmed his brain. He felt his eyes roll up into the back of his head before his enlarged body fell onto its side with a loud thud, his vision growing hazy as darkness encroached on the edges of it. As he fell into unconsciousness, Ashimaru swore he could hear the voice of his friend call out to him, as well as feel his face begin to push out into his vision before his eyes closed for good...

...suddenly Ashimaru found himself at a natural spring, a warm summer sun beating down on his skin as he stood at the edge of the water. When he looked out he noticed that he was not alone; several other elves had taken to bathing in the crystal-clear pond, all of them male and quite naked. He felt slightly embarrassed when he realized he was staring at them, but despite his want to turn away, he found his gaze affixed to their lithe, handsome forms...

Ashimaru tried to shake his head of the strange thought but once again he found himself unable to do anything but stand and stare as the males grew closer to one another. What had once been a rather innocent scene turned increasingly lewd as they rubbed their wet bodies against one another, hard cocks pressed against each other as their lips met in a kiss. Before it could go any further, a sudden gust of wind picked up around them that caused them all to stop. Ashimaru felt his head do the same and he looked up to see black clouds spreading through the sky before he saw a bolt of lightning come down towards the pool.

**************************************

Ashimaru's eyes snapped open as a loud, booming clap of thunder rolled over him and startled him up. His mind seemed to snap back instantly to the events that had just happened, and as he quickly sat, up he frantically scanned his surroundings for some clue of what had just happened. The first thing he saw was what had once been the forest that the rocky cliff had overlooked, the trees were flattened or snapped by a terrific force as a smoldering crater lay where he had seen the star fall. The second was that he was completely naked, seeing the tattered remains of his clothes strewn around his prone form. When he looked down at himself; however, he found that he was his usual elven self, though in the darkness it was hard to see anything, he could feel that whatever was happening to him before he lost consciousness had reversed itself.

"Ugh... where am I?" Ashimaru heard Ellowyn say, which prompted the elf to turn around to make sure the dragon was alright. When he saw nothing, he stood up and turned himself around a few times to look only to find that he was alone in the darkness.

"Ellowyn?" Ashimaru asked tentatively.

"Yes?" the dragon's voice replied, though once again the elf could not determine the source.

"I can't see you Ellowyn," the elf stated. "I can hear you though, is there any way you can give me a sign where you are?"

As the elf continued to glance around for his friend's sign, he felt a strange tingling in his arms, and when he looked down he noticed they were waving up in the air without his knowledge or command. When he tried to stop them, he found himself unable to. A growing sense of fear began to well up inside his chest as he futilely attempted to stop himself. After about a minute, they did stop and flopped back down to his sides, and almost immediately after Ashimaru found himself able to move them once more. "Did you see it?" Ellowyn said suddenly.

"Um... what exactly did you do?" Ashimaru asked as he continued look down at his hands.

"I just tried to wave my forepaws in the air," Ellowyn replied, which caused the elf's brow to furrow. "It's so dark, though, I couldn't see my own paws in front of my face, I don't know how you're going to see them."

"I think I did actually," Ashimaru stated in slight disbelief. "Could you do it one more time for me?"

There was a moment of pause, and then once again the elf watched as his limbs flailed about in front of his face without his control. Since he was now aware of it, he could feel an alien presence grow in the appendages all the way up to his shoulders, though further introspection found a weaker presence in the rest of his body as well. His thoughts went back to when the star struck the forest and how he had seen the dragon turn almost completely translucent before the shockwave of the impact hit them. Had whatever energy contained within the strange meteor somehow caused some sort of strange bond between them, he wondered as he felt his arms flop back down once again.

"You think the meteor fused us together?" Ellowyn's voice said in confusion. "Wait, you didn't say anything, how did I know that? Am I... am I dead?"

"I don't think so," Ashimaru tried to reassure as he stood there on the rocky outcropping and looked down at the destruction caused by the falling star. "Whatever just happened to us, that star is the key to it. But first I need to get down this mountain before I perish from the cold, plus it's going to be next to impossible to navigate down the path once this storm blows in and makes this area pitch dark. Just... don't go towards any lights and keep following me, alright?"

Despite their predicament, Ashimaru still made sure to secure the painting and his sachael, both of which were found next to the wall where he had been pushed against. As he picked up the leather-made items, he saw a peculiar shadow of a humanoid creature in the otherwise bleached-white stone. An involuntary shudder ran through his body as he thought back to how that mark was made, being pressed against that stone as the waves of power washed over him. He noticed that there was no dragon outline either, which only confirmed his theory before he started to walk down the decline from the plateau to the forest.

It wasn't long after he had started down the path that the storm that had awoken him had reached his location, the thunder and lightning flashing around him as Ashimaru tried to hurry. "Are you sure you should be doing this?" Ellowyn asked nervously. "I know that the weather is getting bad and we have a problem on our hands, but we're not going to get it solved if you die."

"There's no cover up on that cliff," Ashimaru reassured as he bounded down the hill with the blowing wind on his back. "Plus I'm doing fine, it's actually rather bright out right now from the moon, and I can clearly see the path in front of me."

There was a moment of silence in the elf's mind before Ellowyn spoke up once again. "The moon?" he asked in confusion. "I thought you said that the storm was bearing down on you, how could the moon be out?"

Ashimaru was about to respond with his answer when he realized... he really didn't have an answer to that. Even as he continued to make his way down the mountain he looked up at the sky to see if the celestial body was somehow still shining despite the storm, but like what the dragon had said, the only thing that was above him were clouds as dark as pitch. That meant he should have been surrounded in complete and utter blackness, save for the occasional flashes of lightning, but instead he could see as well as if the full moon was at its zenith and completely unobstructed. He began to wonder if the star's impact had any sort of effect on him other than the strange vision of himself getting transformed into a creature, but with nothing but rock and darkness around him he couldn't tell.

The hurried walk down the mountain lasted far longer then he would have liked, but despite the feeling of the thunderclouds directly over him, no rain came. Both Ashimaru and Ellowyn both wondered if the weather had also been magically induced, but that thought took a backseat when the elf finally made it to his destination. The village he belonged to was still a few miles out, but he knew of a river nearby that he could take a better look at himself with. Part of him wanted to light a torch in order to see better as he walked up to the river's edge, but he knew the powerful wind would make lighting it next to impossible, much less maintaining it. Plus, with his improved vision Ashimaru figured he would be able to see if anything noticeable changed.

The dragon's voice inside his head whispered good luck to him as he walked over to the water's edge, which did little to resolve the nerves that the elf felt. Before he even looked over the edge he wondered why he would be so nervous, he still felt the same as before and nothing appeared to have changed about him. But in the back of his mind he still envisioned himself with scales on his face or reptilian pupils for eyes, or something else that showed that his draconic friend had somehow merged with him when the star fell. By the time he got to the river bank he had the mental image of himself as some sort of monster as he fell to his knees and looked down at the water.

Despite the distortion of the surface, Ashimaru could clearly see an elven face face in the reflection, which caused him to breathe a sigh of relief. Once again, though, it was hard to see anything else and he had to lean in even closer so his purple eyes could... purple? The sudden realization made the blood in his veins freeze as a pair of amethyst eyes stared back where there should have been a turquoise blue, something no amount of darkness or water should have been able to distort. As he leaned down even further until he almost touched the surface with his nose, he realized that what he thought had just been a trick of the darkness was not such as he rubbed a hand against the midnight black skin of his face.

"No... no, it can't be..." Ashimaru stammered as he brought a handful of water up to his face to try and wash it off, only for the ebon color to remain there. A few more hard splashes yielded similar results and as he knelt there dripping wet he saw several strands of silver hair drape down his face and touch the water below. He knelt upright and grabbed a handful of it from behind, and even with the darkness around him, he could see the metallic glint it had. "How is this possible?!"

"What, what is it?" Ellowyn asked frantically. "What's wrong?"

Ashimaru found himself unable to respond, but after a while he felt the dragon's presence in his mind, and after a little digging, he heard his friend gasp as well. The elf was no longer one of the kin that roamed the forests in the light; now he looked like one of the underground dwellers of the dark. While there was no open hostilities between the two sects of elven kind, neither side particularly trusted the other, a rift that was formed when they decided to split off into two different territories in the first place. He tried to reason with himself that some sort of mistake had been made, but with his naked form on display there was literally nothing he could hide.

"Even my tattoos are different," the elf muttered as he ran his fingers over the marked lines that had been given to him when he became a hunter. Though they were still there, the black lines had turned a similar silver color as his hair which made them stand out on his dark skin. "No one is going to believe who I am, so now I have to either sneak my way back into my home or somehow explain how a completely naked drow wandered into the village."

"Wait... you're naked?" Ellowyn asked, which Ashimaru responded with a yes before he asked why he was asking such a thing. "Well, I was just wondering because I felt the chill of air, but it was different than when it blows over my scaled skin. I think I can feel what you feel, which also means perhaps if I try... I can see what you see, too. If you don't mind I mean, with you being naked and all and no doubt freaking out how that tanned skin and brown hair of yours has changed so drastically..."

As Ellowyn continued on, Ashimaru suddenly felt something stir that he had not expected. He looked down to see his exposed member, which has thankfully retained much the same dimensions as before, had started to twitch with arousal. The feeling lasted only for a few seconds and it seemed Ellowyn felt the same thing as he suddenly stopped his line of conversation and coughed, which seemed silly to the elf since the dragon didn't have lungs. Though Ashimaru was both curious and confused on what caused such a reaction, he could tell there was some sort of embarrassment on his friend's side and decided to let it go. As he started to walk back towards the village; however, he couldn't help but remember the vision he had, wondering if perhaps he was seeing something that was actually in the dragon's thoughts.

Ashimaru didn't have much time to think about it as he reached the perimeter of the village; the worry he felt knotted up inside his chest growing as he saw torches lit in places other than the guard towers. It meant that people were up and about when they should have been sleeping, no doubt due to the spectacular explosion that happened miles away from them. When he got around the treeline to a small hole in the fence and crawled through to avoid the gate guards, he realized the star's impact hadn't just been heard, as several areas of the fence were damaged. While it didn't suffer near the damage of the forest at the impact site, the phenomenon had definitely reached his village as he snuck inside.

Once he had made his way down the dirt roads of the small community, it didn't take long for him to figure out where everyone had gathered. Despite the potential for exposure, he knew he had to make his way past the village hall to reach his house, and it appeared every elf was there. Fate further seemed to be on his side as the heavens opened above him and poured rain down in sheets. It quickly extinguished the torches that had been lit, save for the ones that were inside the large hall that he slunk towards in the darkness. For the first time since he realized what it was, he was thankful he had been given a drow's ability to see in the dark, as it would give him the advantage to sneak around as lightning continued to streak down.

When he got to a window and knew would likely be overlooked by most of the audience inside, he hoisted himself up onto the stone ledge, being sure to keep himself cloaked in the shadows as he saw the elves talking to each other worriedly. As he sat there with the rivulets of rain running down his naked form, he wondered how many would possibly recognize him the way he was now. Though he could feel a deep sigh welling up in his chest, he kept himself quiet, especially when the murmuring died down as soon as the village elder and shaman walked up to the front of the town hall. "Thank you all for coming to this emergency town meeting at such short notice," the elder started, which caused another eruption of loud talking to break out.

"What in the seven heavens happened, Elder!?" One of them, a man that Ashimaru knew as one of the leather-workers for the clan, said as he stood up. "Our houses are damaged, our animals have gone wild, and a storm that we did not see appeared just after an explosion that rocked this land to its very core!"

"Yes Fennick, we were all here and experienced the same phenomenon that has befallen our land," the elder replied as he motioned for everyone to calm themselves and sit back down. "We have just gotten back from a meeting of all our seers and those practiced in the magical arts, and we are baffled at what had just happened. A surge of magical influence that has not been felt in these lands has just taken us by surprise, and the last thing we want to do is start a panic when we don't know all the details."

The noise of the audience started to rise in worry until the elder once more ushered them all to calm down once again. "Now, the first thing we must do is take stock of our situation," he explained to the crowd. "We will take stock of our people and supplies to make sure nothing is missing, then once that is complete we will take volunteers to investigate the cause of the damage come morning. There will be no traveling in this weather, especially since we don't know what other dangers this event has brought with it."

Ashimaru hopped off the ledge when they began to assign people to the various tasks needed to take inventory of the entire village. "Sounds like you're going to be found out rather quick," Ellowyn said, the elf surprised that his friend heard all that. "While you were listening in, I've been trying to work out how to use your senses, so far I got touch and hearing down, but still nothing on the sight department."

"Well right now our main task is to grab supplies of our own and get out of here," Ashimaru muttered, though he knew that he could think his answers and the dragon would hear him, it still unnerved him he had another whole creature inside him. "An inventory means they're taking anything of value and amassing it in the village meeting hall, my stuff included if I don't get home in time. Luckily it's going to take a while for them to get everything set up, especially with this storm rolling still and their inability to see in the dark. Maybe I should stay naked while I'm here, they'll never find me while it's raining this hard, and-"

For the second time that night Ashimaru felt his arousal stir, something that caused him to pause despite the urgency of the situation. When he asked Ellowyn about it, the dragon didn't say anything in return, and by the time he asked once more, it had gone down once more. He shook his head and the rain flew off his hair slightly; despite the strangeness of the situation he knew there was a far more important task at hand and continued back to his hut. When he got there he was thankful to find it in the same shape that he had left it, save for some cosmetic damage that he no longer cared about.

Once he was inside, he immediately went to his storage chest and grabbed his bow and quiver and set them on his bed. It was strange seeing unfamiliar hands gripping the polished wood of his weapon, but like everything else, he had to push it aside for more urgent matters as he piled his hunting leathers and cloak on top of them. Once he had everything he wanted to keep dry, he wrapped the whole bundle up in a specially treated pack that repelled water before he moved on to rations and other supplies. Luckily life as a hunter prepared him for an expedited exit where everything he needed for survival in the woods was at his fingers.

Unfortunately it wasn't fast enough; he suddenly heard the door he had left slightly ajar in his haste open completely. There was nothing in the small space he could use to hide himself in such a short time, and as soon as he turned around he was blinded by the light of a lantern that caused him to let out a hiss despite himself. "What in the..." the voice trailed off as Ashimaru's eyes finally adjusted enough to see the elf at his door with sword in hand. "Well this is a sight you don't see every day."

At first Ashimaru was worried that he would be immediately attacked, but as his brain reminded him of the situation he realized that such a fear was lessened by the fact he was both unarmed and still completely naked. He began to become acutely aware of every drop of water that still cascaded down his skin as he stood there with his hands up while the elf slowly approached him. "I know what this may look like..." Ashimaru started to say, only to be cut off by a sharp laugh from the other elf.

"Save your breath, dark elf," the other male replied as he started to move forward with his weapon still drawn. "You can tell your story after I bring your bare ass to the elder. If you're lucky you can save your hide and they'll just throw you out of the village."

As the light was pulled away from Ashimaru's eyes and they had a second to readjust, he realized who his captor was. "Your name is Kriss right?" Ashimaru said just as the wolfskin-cloaked male grabbed his wrist, which caused the elf to stop. He knew that he only had one chance to try and convince his former hunting partner to not bring him in, and as much as he wanted, he doubted he could get him to believe he was once a regular elf like him. In the back of his mind he could hear Ellowyn help him try and think of a convincing story, but the shock of his statement was quickly wearing off and started to grow into suspicion.

"You have to listen to me on this Kriss," Ashimaru instructed, trying to keep a firm but even tone. "I'm here on behalf of Ashimaru, one of your tribe's hunters. We were in the woods when the star fell and he wanted to investigate it, but before we did he instructed me to go and get his supplies since I could get here quicker in the dark and rain. From what we could tell, the object landed many miles away in predator-infested woods, so we wanted to be prepared. That's the only reason that we're here."

Kriss looked at Ashimaru incredulously, his face turned down in a scowl as the elf digested the story he had just been fed. "And just why were you and Ashimaru out in the woods alone, anyway?" he asked, which caused a pang of fear in Ashimaru's stomach as he tried to not look surprised at the question.

"Oh... uh, Ashimaru and I have known each other for a while," Ashimaru stalled as he tried to think of something plausible. "You see... he and I... we're... uh..."

"Lovers!" Ellowyn suddenly shouted mentally.

"Lovers." Ashimaru repeated, then his eyes grew wide when he realized what he had just said.

"What?" Kriss asked in surprise.

"What?!" Ashimaru once more repeated, also in slight shock.

"Sorry..." Ellowyn apologized sheepishly.

"You'll have to forgive me if I find that a little hard to believe," Kriss continued on, baffled. "I've known Ashimaru for quite some time and we have talked about such subjects at length. Are you trying to tell me that you and him have been secretly meeting together to have an affair?"

Ashimaru couldn't help but scowl slightly at the turn the narrative had taken. He was supposed to try and convince his friend that he was someone to be taken seriously, and now he had to sell some sort of story that he was not only into males, but had been secretly meeting with a dark elf to sate those desires. A prod in his mental space turned his attention to Ellowyn, who asked if it was alright if he could try taking control to make up for the situation. While it was something they had never done before, the elf knew that the dragon could control parts of his body, so why not his voice? After he gave his consent, Ashimaru felt the presence of Elloywn move about psychically inside him for a little bit, and as it grew stronger, he began to feel his sense of sight fade away, as well as the feeling of control over his own body.

As Kriss continued to stare at the dark elf his eyebrow raised up in question as it looked like the naked male was about to pass out for a second before his eyes snapped open once more. "Sorry about that," Ellowyn spoke through Ashimaru's vocals as he experimentally moved his fingers and toes in order to get a sense of the alien body he inhabited. "But yes, he knew that the village wouldn't understand such a relationship with someone like me, so he opted to keep it a secret from everyone."

"The village I guess I can understand," Kriss replied. "But there's no way he could keep a secret like that from the other hunters. We spend weeks alone together, and I doubt that he would hide something like that from me."

"Well... it's actually because of the close proximity he spent with you all that he needed me," Ellowyn continued to explain. "Do you really think that he could spend such extended amounts of time with you all and not develop feelings? How many times have you and the others bathed in the river or dried clothes after a rainstorm and just let yourselves hang loose? People who tend to be that open and close can often lead towards feelings that one or both parties may have for one another... especially if that party happens to be as handsome as you."

If Ashimaru still had control of his jaw it would have dropped to the floor as he heard Ellowyn start to flirt with the other elf. Not only was he shocked with the absurdity of the situation, but also in how easily the response seemed to roll of the dragon's tongue, or more accurately his tongue. Despite his want to barge back to the forefront of their shared body to try to explain it, he could see that the tactic was starting to work, the resolute look on the other elf's face softening to a mixture of curiosity and shock. After a few more minutes filled with questions by Kriss on how such a relationship happened, both Ashimaru and Ellowyn were relieved when he felt the pressure of the other male's hand release from his wrist.

"Alright then," Kriss said as he lowered his blade. "Not sure if that explains quite why you're naked, though."

"I told you he wanted me to be quick about it," Ellowyn replied with a small smirk.

"Still, if you two are going to go and check out this fallen star, I want to come along," Kriss stated, which caused the dark elf's eyes to widen slightly despite himself. "Not only can I get a first hand account of what happened, but Ashimaru should have reinforcements from his own clan in case something happens. Plus it'll give me a chance to collaborate your story, since quite honestly it's still a little hard to believe."

Ellowyn just nodded and asked if he could have a few minutes alone to chance, since he was no longer going to be alone on his trip, which the other elf responded with a small nod before he left. As soon as the other male was out the door, Ashimaru felt his conscious mind bubble back to the surface and he found himself able to see and felt in control of his body once more. "Are you out of your mind Ellowyn?" Ashimaru stated as he reopened his pack and took out his hunting leathers and cloak.

"We needed something," Ellowyn spoke in his mind as Ashimaru got dressed, thankful that his dark elf form hadn't changed so drastically his clothes didn't fit him. "It was just absurd enough to work, and plus, with the look he got on his face, I could tell he wouldn't want to dwell on the thought any longer then he had too. Besides, I think my little speech struck a chord with him since he started to come around after it."

Ashimaru stopped with clasping his cloak together as a thought came to mind, and though he initially didn't want to bring it up, he knew his friend had likely sensed it alright. "Ellowyn, about that speech of yours..." he asked delicately, "it sounded a lot like it was from the heart. I've also been getting these strange sensations and I saw this very... graphic image when we had initially merged together. I'm just wondering... if... you know..."

Their mental conversation was interrupted when Kriss came back into the hut and asked if he was ready to go, which at the dragon's prompting, Ashimaru said that he was. The former elf turned drow gathered up the stuff he had gotten together and walked back out into the rain where Kriss waited for him. The two slowly made their way throughout the village, seeing other members of his clan doing their part to take stock of the aftermath of the fallen star. Part of him wondered if he would ever be among them once again, whether changed back or not, but he knew that if he wanted a chance at either of them, he would have to find out what happened to him in the first place...