It was a beautiful morning. White clouds drifted lazily in the blue sky and the sun shined brightly. Rico banked right in his wyvern form to snatch a plastic orange ring off a black and white marked wooden pole in the wide grassy field. Going against his instincts and ignoring how awkward it felt Rico forced his wings to flap in a counter clockwise motion to hover in place. Moving towards another wooden pole he placed the plastic ring onto it with his clawed foot and landed on the ground.

Rico felt very proud of himself. This was the first time he actually managed to hover in place without falling out the sky like a rock. While it was not pretty he had to admit this makeshift training ground the staff set up actually worked. Looking at a flock of birds flying by he suddenly remembered what he was suppose to do this morning.

Upon returning to the mansion he walked alongside the building looking for a particular window among many on the ground floor. It took a moment but upon locating the window Rico tapped the talon on his wing joint on the glass. After a moment the window opened up and Rico stuck his head in. "Good morning Esenya", he said with a happy voice.

A female student with brown hair and eyes about 17 years in age waved but said nothing in return. She was a quiet creature and as far as Rico knew, she did not talk at all. In any case it did not matter to Rico. He liked her for one reason and one reason alone. She was nice to him and did not shy away like the others.

"Do you think today is the day?" Rico asked and turned his dragon like head to look at the bird cage. The young lady went over to it and looked at the cooing mourning dove inside and nodded. "Then it is time to set her free little wing. It is all better now. No creature with wings should be trapped in a cage. I will be waiting outside."

Rico waited in the grassy area for his mute friend and watched as she set the cage down and took out the dove in her hands. It only took a moment but the bird was now flying away free. Rico watched the bird and felt a bit of sorrow. He really wished he could be free like that. In a way Rico felt like a caged bird in a way. But he was not at liberty to go far from the mansion. Upon feeling a hand on his right leg Rico looked down at Esenya and saw the concern in her doe brown eyes.

"I'm ok little wing. I just got lost in my thoughts for a moment there." Moving his neck to the side Rico plucked a yellow dandelion flower from out of the grass with surprising gentleness. He now offered the flower to the mute student in his toothy mouth. "Class's will be starting soon. You don't want to be late. I will see you again after school." At that comment he looked back in the direction the dove had flown. "I am not going anywhere."

Rico watched as she returned back to the mansion across the grassy field and moved his body in a comfortable position for a few hours of meditation. He had found this field to be the most quiet and isolated place on the grounds in the morning with all the students in class. Rico found meditation to very helpful in helping him find spiritual and philosophical enlightenment. He was alone to ponder his existence and its place in the world. 

Despite her almost complete inability to be in it in her human form, Amber liked warmth and sunshine.  Maybe it was because she was able to do so with such rarity, but to be able to sleep in a sunbeam was far more satisfying than might be expected.  The cats had it right when it came to such things.  Of course, if curious eyes happened to discover a dinosaur sleeping in the sun, things were not likely to go well from there and so she mainly kept her activities to the much safer nocturnal hours of the day when she could roam freely as a human without worry of her sensitive skin burning painfully.

For almost a month now she'd be staying at the Mansions since her return from self-imposed exile in the woods.  In some ways, it had been very good for her.  It was  a safe space where she could learn how to be human again and not have to worry about discrimination and violence due to the very obvious fact that she was a mutant.  In other ways it was far more of a challenge than she had anticipated.  For one thing, she'd developed a bit of claustrophobia sleeping outside for so long and it was hard sleeping indoors under a roof.  She was dealing with it.  Barely, some nights, but she was doing the best she could.

Although she normally kept a mostly nocturnal lifestyle, in the spring and summer months when the days were longer she found herself more often awake in the daylight.  Today was just such a day.  After great deliberation, she decided that, despite the burning sun, she'd venture outside and find a place she could shift in peace and enjoy the daylight.  Covered from head to tow in light robes (she was protecting herself from the sun, not from the cold), she also grabbed an umbrella in order to have a walking pool of shade.  That was a trick she had seen on TV and one that increased the time she could remain outside safely quite a bit.

The goal was to find herself an area of relative isolation where she could shapeshift and enjoy the daylight on her own.  The fields, she knew, were just such a place and, if she recalled correctly, there was even a tree out there to offer a bit of shade if needed and where she could stash her robes.  She began making her way in that direction, all too aware of the burning sun above her.  Well, it shouldn't be too long before she got to her destination and the umbrella meant she at least had a good hour, maybe a little more, before it started damaging her.

In his meditation Rico' mind wandered. The thoughts a random collection of various things. The wyvern thought about how the world he lived in was a world of masks. Each soul Rico encountered like him wore a mask. A mask that portrayed what they wanted others to see and the real selves that was hidden behind it.

Next his thoughts went to thinking about how this world was full of all kinds of people. There was wolves, there was sheep, and then there were shepherds. Rico thought carefully about where he stood in among them all. Rico knew he was a wolf, a predator. But he liked to think he was also a shepherd as well. He was not sure if it was a blessing or curse to have the powers he had. But Rico had made the decision some weeks ago that he would use those powers to help others if he could.

Rico found his memory had been returning slowly with each meditative session he did. He remembered his time on Plum island and of the name the scientists there had given him, Níðhöggr. Having done some research in the school computer lab Rico had discovered just why he was named that. It was a dragon from Norse mythology and its ravenous appetite was legendary, very much like his.

The most accepted opinion was that the arrival of Níðhöggr heralds Ragnarök. Rico was not a fan of that general opinion. Rico much preferred the other interpretation of the old stories. That the appearance of Níðhöggr would bring change and renewal, the redemption of the serpent. Rico was not one for myths or legends, but as of late he wondered if they held any grain of truth.

Next his thoughts shifted to how he could better control his powers. From what Rico came to understand his power was centered around cell manipulation. With that in mind he focused on trying to shift the cells in his body around at will. It proved to be a task far easier thought then done, but with time and practice Rico believed he could master it.

As the wind shifted Rico caught a faint smell and cracked open a eye to find a lightly robed figure moving across the field with a umbrella in hand. It was a smell and figure he had not seen before. This was something that aroused his curiosity and interest. For the moment the wyvern did not shift but instead continued to lay in the sun content with only watching the mysterious figure as it approached the shade of the lonely wise old tree that called this field home.

The human world and the natural world were very different and she couldn't remember a time when balancing those two lives hadn't been a challenge.  When she had first discovered her powers it had been the human world she'd embraced and that other world had been at odds with herself.  Since her time spent in self-imposed exile, it has the human world that felt at odds with her dino self.  Maybe, there had been a small time when each had existed in relative harmony, but she could barely remember such a time let alone how to get it back.

Combined into all of that was the question about whether or not she was even still completely alive.  Sometimes she doubted it and certainly she didn't look alive.  She literally smelled of death.  Death walked with her.  Maybe it didn't matter but maybe it mattered far more than she yet knew.  Yet more questions without answers and yet more things to worry about.  As if she didn't all ready have enough to occupy her mind.

As she approached the tree that was her destination, it became clear that she was not going to be offered the solitude she had left the Mansion to find.  There was another there, a stranger.  If she had been in any body but her human one, should would have heard and scented him long before she saw him, but her human body had always been limited in what it could sense about the world.  It was one of the things she so often resented about it.  That, and the lack of natural weapons: scales, teeth and claws.

When she got close enough to be easily heard, she spoke.  "I'm sorry to interrupt you.  If you want me to leave, I will."  Privacy was important and he had gotten there first.

Rico watched as the figure approached and then closed his eyes to pretend having disinterest, but closed eyes or not, Rico was very much aware of his surroundings. He had never seen this person before and Rico found anything new to be of particular interest.

"I'm sorry to interrupt you. If you want me to leave, I will."

The great beast did not respond right away, instead Rico took the time to gather his thoughts in preparation of putting on the mask he wanted others to see him as. With out opening his eyes the beast spoke with his deep voice, "Only in solitude do we find ourselves; and in finding ourselves, we find in ourselves all our brothers in solitude."

Slowing opening his eyes the Wyvern looked at the robed figure with his snake like eyes and added, "Miguel de Unamuno." Letting out a few inquisitive clicks a long forked tongue came flicking out to catch the scent oils in the air. "You are very much welcome to stay." Rolling over to stand on his strong hind legs the beast put its chest low to the ground and extended its wings off to the side in a obvious bow.

Standing back upright again the wyvern folded its wings like a bird and said, "I am Rico, and who might you be? I have never seen or smelled you before. Not that its a bad thing. I love new faces and new smells. More so if they have news from the outside world or stories from there adventures and travels. I don't get out much you see."
 

The creature before her truly was fantastic, reminding her very much of a black, winged dinosaur.  It dwarfed her small human form, although she had other shapes of comparable size.  She was a predator at heart and could see from the forward facing eyes and the mouth full of jagged teeth that this creature was no prey animal.  It put her a little on edge, knowing how inept her human body was at defending itself.  For the moment, however, it didn't seem aggressive and she resisted the urge to change shape into something more its equal.  Lack of communication was always a challenge.

"I spent the past two years living in solitude in the woods."  She knew all about finding oneself in solitude.  It was a struggle, sometimes, to balance her human self with her dino self.  Perhaps this dragon was the same.  Of course, he must be a mutant and the most probably explanation that he was a shapeshifter, like herself.

"Amber Thirsis," she introduced herself, sitting and positioning the umbrella to best block the harmful sun from her body.  "I thank you for the invitation.  I haven't been back at the Mansion long and I don't have much news of the outside world.  At least, not of the human world.  I can tell you where to find a tasty family of deer though."  She smiled, only being half serious.  Deer made up some of her favourite food when she was living as a dinosaur.

 "I spent the past two years living in solitude in the woods."

Rico only nodded at this information. He knew all to well about solitude and the struggles that came with it. While solitude was nice from time to time it was something that could do serious damage to the mind if endured for any long a period of time. Like most things in life it was something that had to be taken in moderation. Rico next listened to the woman give him a name and again all he did was watch intently and nod in acknowledgement. A question did come to mind as he observed Amber positioning the umbrella to shield her from the sun, but Rico bite his tongue as to not offend.

"I thank you for the invitation. I haven't been back at the Mansion long and I don't have much news of the outside world. At least, not of the human world. I can tell you where to find a tasty family of deer though."

"Ahh" , Rico said before adding, "So this is not first time you have come to this place?" With this in mind the wyvern tapped a wing claw on the ground in quiet thought very much like a human would a finger on a desk. "I suppose it probably has not changed much in your absence, accept maybe for the faces. If there is one thing I have come to find out, this place loves its routines. It is boring, but yet, one can find comfort in the same day to day activity's."

At this point Rico started to wander off in thought as the creature turned its head to look at the woods. "Always the same, but my blood is on fire for yearning of adventure. To travel the jungles of the amazon in search of lost forgotten civilizations. To walk the winding mountain paths from Nepal to Tibet in search of Nirvana. Perhaps one day the school will take me off the leash and I will be granted liberty to seek adventure in the world." Taking this time to stretch his body the creature was rewarded with a series of loud pops and stood up on its hind legs. "Until that day I suppose a little trip into the woods would do for an adventure. I have never hunted with another before and I think it would be a exciting new experience to add to the book of life. You shall be the leader of the hunt, Lead, and I will follow."

"Not my first time," she agreed.  "I was here when I was still naive and learning about what it was to be a mutant."  Before she'd even discovered her powers, in fact.  She'd known, by then, what she was but what if she had been one of those unlucky sorts of mutants with nothing but an unusual look and a handicap to show for her unique DNA?  They did exist.  Living in Sanctuary, she'd met them.  All of the disadvantages of being a mutant and therefore being hated and ostracized by the world, with none of the advantages that came with amazing powers.  For them, she reserved the greatest of sympathy.  How unfortunate it must be to be seen as the dregs of society with nothing to make you special.

"The faces are the things that change.  They're the things that give a place like this light and life."  Funny, perhaps, for a half dead girl like her to be speaking of light and life, but she felt her words to be true.  Concrete and glass made a mere shell to shelter from the elements; it was those who resided inside that made the shelter something truly special.

"I've been to the Amazon jungles.  I didn't find any lost civilization, but I did find very good hunting."  She smiled, showing teeth, a slightly feral glint in her eyes.  Of course, her mind had been trapped in that of a dinosaur at the time but that was besides the point.  "If you would like to hunt with a partner I would be happy to oblige.  It's rare I have another to hunt by my side, despite being a pack animal by nature.  Talking, however, is difficult when shifted.  I lack proper human vocal chords."  An unfortunate handicap but one she'd learned to work around.

"The faces are the things that change. They're the things that give a place like this light and life."

Rico was a bit taken back by that comment, he had never really thought about it until now, her words held wisdom in them that he was not accustomed to hearing. It was not really surprising when you came to think of it. The school was full of teens and wise words were not exactly there strong point, if anything, the students were given to just blurting out what came to mind and that led to more then a few fights breaking out.

"I've been to the Amazon jungles. I didn't find any lost civilization, but I did find very good hunting."

Rico was a bit disappointed to here this news and expressed it by sighing and lowering his head. "I just kind of hoped.....", Rico trailed off with his words before adding. "I guess I just kind of hoped that there was still mystery in this world. I read some interesting books from the Mansion library about the lost city of Z among other things. They painted out the Amazon to be such a mysterious, wild, and free place. I guess my enthusiasm was a bit childish in the end."

"If you would like to hunt with a partner I would be happy to oblige. It's rare I have another to hunt by my side, despite being a pack animal by nature. Talking, however, is difficult when shifted. I lack proper human vocal chords."

What disappointment Rico had shown at the news about the amazon disappeared as his eyes and head perked up. "Do not worry about speaking, humans only speak because of there dull senses. We are creatures of nature and nature has no rules that can be put on it. We will find a way to communicate by scent, or body language. So how do you wish to go about the hunt then rookery sister? I think we should go in fast and hard to cause a panic and pick off the old and sick that fall behind from the group."

"Don't give up on the idea of mystery.  There are many mysteries in the world, you just have to know how to look."  Because knowing what you were looking for was more important than where you were looking, in her experience.  Not that she necessarily considered herself wise, but her ability to identify and throw away sometimes useless human convention gave her and edge, perhaps.  In some ways, at least.  In the ways that connected to the natural world.  Humans, by and large, were very absorbed into their own existence and rarely spent the time to truly see what was elsewhere.  

"Even if I found no lost civilizations, the Amazon was very beautiful and also wild and free.  Maybe one day I'll return there."  In a better state of mind, one that retained it's human intellect while still connecting to her more primal side.  The struggle was sometimes a difficult one.

She smiled, the expression genuine and holding a bit of gratitude at the mention of dull human senses.  She'd long felt the same and it was one of the reasons she'd spent so long resenting her human body.  Those trapped in their weak human shells could never truly understand.  Even her beloved sister Aura didn't truly understand.

"I'm mostly a ground hunter.  Currently, I have only one flight form and it mostly feeds on fish and plankton.  As a deinonychus, I hunt by stealth and ambush.  However, if you're looking for something a little more showy, I recently acquired a boar crock form.  Over 6 feet long and weighing just over a ton, intimidation and shear strength are its strong suites."  She'd only recently gained full control of her new form and, now that there was no risk of losing complete control and going on a rampage, she was very impressed with its capabilities.

"Don't give up on the idea of mystery. There are many mysteries in the world, you just have to know how to look."

Rico agreed with her in a way, but there were a lot of mystery's in the world he just was not sure if he wanted to know. He once read somewhere that some mystery's should be left alone, that some mystery's should not be discovered. This was the one he believed, but still mystery and adventure called to him constantly. Rico had also read in a book as well that it was only natural for young males to want travel and adventure. That was how they spread there seed and ensured the species survival, but that thinking dwelled more on philosophy and the mystery's of the subconscious mind.

"I'm mostly a ground hunter. Currently, I have only one flight form and it mostly feeds on fish and plankton. As a deinonychus, I hunt by stealth and ambush. However, if you're looking for something a little more showy, I recently acquired a boar crock form. Over 6 feet long and weighing just over a ton, intimidation and shear strength are its strong suites."

Rico had to blink his eyes rapidly for a moment as he tried to process one of her words. "Deino what? Sorry but that word is a little to rich for my blood but I will take your word for it." He had no idea what a boar crock was either, but Rico had the imagination for it, already he was picturing the mental image of what the offspring of a wild razor back and a crocodile would look like, it was not a pretty image. 

"I kind of envy you the ability to change forms with so many things. All I can do is change between my human form and this one. The process in between is not pretty to watch and very painful, but pain is something you get used to." At that Rico closed his eyes to try and remember the sensation. "Turning back to my human form always leaves me feeling weak and vulnerable, but...... In the end I feel human. Changing from my human form to this one brings pain, but with it the feeling of power surging through my veins and body..... less human. I prefer feeling human, my mind is my own for the most part, less feral, less hungry."

The mansion and therapy had helped Rico gain control of his form, but if there was one thing Rico feared, it was himself. He saw himself as his own worst enemy. "As for hunting, I don't really care how you wish to do it", he said lowly and with a hint of sadness as he was lost in old memories. "I'm good at killing stuff no matter how you do it."

It wasn't the first time she'd encountered someone who wasn't familiar with the different types of dinosaurs.  After all, it wasn't exactly common knowledge.  What purpose, in the modern world, did knowing such things serve?  Mostly, it was dinosaur geeks and other geeks with similar interest patterns that tended to get most excited when she listed off what she could transform into.

"Think of a deinonychus as a sort of prehistoric ostrich except with a mouthful of sharp teeth and a set of giant claws.  It's about the same size as I am now but much faster, more agile and possessing far superior senses."  For many reasons, she considered it her second true form, alongside her human one.  Because it was small and agile, she could use it almost everywhere, often including at night, in the city.  She also considered herself a predator at heart and it was a superb hunter.

"A boar crock is basically a giant crocodile with tusks and night vision."  Not much more to say about that one.  It was her newest form and, while it's size made it far less practical than the deinonychus in many cases, it had fast become one of her favourites.  For shear power, only the styracauarus with it's giant horns could compare.

"My own transformation is neither pretty nor painless either.  But you're right, you get used to the pain."  Perhaps if she wasn't touched by death her transormation might have been of a more benign nature.  Or perhaps not, as Rico didn't look or feel dead.  Not like her.  "There's a balance, I think, between the human and the animal.  It's not always an easy one to strike."  She felt a kinship with the wyvern due to their similar experiences.  

Amber considered their options for hunting.  "I think we should move out of the city and into the forest.  A wyvern and a dinosaur might be a little...conspicuous otherwise."  She grinned sardonically.  "As a deinonychus I can, perhaps, herd prey into your waiting jaws?"  Thus taking advantage of both her agility and his great size and strength.