98 Rosalies Friends (1/2)
After parting ways with Cerul, Greyson went back to his room. Rosalie did not walk back with him and instead went to her own room seemingly inspired to start practicing now that her friends were back. Cerul said that the rest of the group were all going to meet up with each other the next morning. They would probably get back to the mountain tonight but would have to report to their families and leaders before resting after the long journey. Greyson looked forward to meeting all these new people. He thought about maybe sparring with them as well even if they were a lot more powerful than him. He wanted a challenge. Although he still could not beat Rosalie, it would be good to experience different sorts of fighters so that he can build a more versatile style for himself. Meditating for the rest of the night, Greyson only awoke after a faint knocking on the door sounded. Opening his eyes and looking towards the doorway, he was surprised seeing a new face. Almost every single day it was his sister who got him from his room, but today it was a blue-haired, blue-eyed young girl. From her features, Greyson could easily infer that she was from the water dragon tribe. Her features were not particularly striking; however, they had a feminine softness making her look like a vulnerable small creature.
Furrowing his brows in confusion, Greyson finally asked, ”Who are you?”
”Ah, hello, I am Lariah of the Water Dragon Tribe. I just wanted to introduce myself. I, uhm, really admire you for your bravery. I have been watching your fights and think that you are really amazing!” Slightly blushing, she politely curtsied before introducing herself. Normally, all the other male dragons would have felt seduced by such a cute and shy act but it seemed to go right over Greyson's head.
”So?” Still not understanding what this had to do with him, Greyson did not soften.
”So... I-... Nothing, I guess I just wanted to let you know of my existence...” Biting her lip with tears springing to her eyes, Lariah tried her best to stutter her way through an unexpected reaction with a wronged expression.
”Oh, well, okay. Lariah, right? I will remember.” A little stunned at why this girl would suddenly start crying for no reason, Greyson decided to answer nicely.
”Hmph, Grey, there is no need to waste your time remembering nobodies. This fox is especially someone not worth your time.” A cold voice suddenly cut through from behind Lariah. Greyson's eyebrows rose in surprise, recognizing Rosalie's voice. Lariah's expression paled as she bit her lip harder.
”...?”
”You might not know, but this little Water Dragon may look young and weak but she is a wild temptress. Many of the different tribes have been her victims, nowadays, all men steer clear of her and all women sneer at her.” Rosalie walked in while slowly enunciating each word. ”Oh, actually, if I remember correctly, the only person who interacts with you these days is that Young Lord of the Dragon King tribe.” Spitting out the last words in disgust, Greyson started to understand what was happening before turning his cold purple eyes to glare at Lariah. Still looking the part of a shivering scared young girl, Lariah's face lost all color at Rosalie's words.
”Don't ma-malign me! I'm not like that!” Fighting weakly back, she ran over to Greyson to grip onto his arm. ”Greyson, you have to believe me! Rosalie is just trying to keep other people of the tribe away from you. I just want to be your friend, I have no other intentions.” Pouting unhappily with tears spilling out of her wide doe eyes, she was the picture of a girl suffering injustice. Only, she obviously tried this act on the wrong person. Almost shivering in disgust, Greyson pushed off her grip from his clothes. Using his magic, he washed off the piece that was touched. Walking over to Rosalie, he did not look over once at the crying Lariah.
”I dislike strangers touching me.” His unfeeling voice spoke out. ”Please leave this room. You are distracting me from my training. I hope that you do not interrupt me again. To answer your request, I do not think we can be friends.”
Hearing his words, Lariah did not respond as she was still in shock from being pushed off like some dirty beggar. Her crying stopped as her expression was blank. Finally, she reared her head towards the two at the doorway with an ugly expression on her face.
”Well, looks like you do not know what's good for you! Messing with the Lord's women, I was trying to give you an easy way out if you just came to me.” Getting angry out of humiliation, her facade finally faded away. Greyson and Rosalie just looked at each other before letting out a laugh.
”Hm, seems the farce is over? Be a good dog and go back to your owner and tell him that he is going to have to come back with higher quality women if he wants to seduce my Greyson. He has to make sure that he takes a good look at who would be the rival, obviously not just any random person can match up to me.” Rosalie linked arms with Greyson before leaning her head on his shoulder possessively. Not knowing whether to laugh or cry, Greyson decided to just stay still and allow her to use him. She was his sister after all, he could help her with this much. Lariah looked back and forth between the two of them before suddenly feeling like she was just a clown jumping up and down forcing a show. Blushing further, Lariah looked as she just swallowed a fly. Not knowing what to say, she just got up off the floor and pushed past the two of them in a huff.
”Really, if that man wants to set a honey trap, he first has to make sure the woman is up to par. Such an intelligence level is just asking for it to fail. My little brother is so great, of course he would have high standards in women.” Rosalie's cold expression did not change as she scoffed at the leaving Lariah. ”Grey, don't just talk to any woman. Who knows what their goal would be?” Turning her vision towards her brother, Rosalie decided to concisely lecture him. Rolling his eyes, Greyson suddenly felt that his sister might be too protective. He could deal with these things himself.
”Alright, alright, I know, sister. I will be careful. Plus, just because I said I would remember her name did not mean I actually wanted to be close to her. It's just that minute she said her name, of course I would remember it, not that I would put any extra effort or something. My memory is good.” Shrugging, Greyson did not see the big deal about earlier. There was no need to be so hostile, but he thought he should back up his sister and show a united front towards others.
”That's just because you haven't ever met that disgusting man. Who know what his plans were by having that woman approach you? Stay on your toes. As much as I abhor him, he really is powerful and his servants are all cunning.” Rosalie's expression turned serious as she warned him.
”That Young Lord of the Dragon King tribe? The Light Dragons? Why did she say you were his woman anyways?”
Rosalie's expression quickly darkened. ”Irumen. The current son of the Dragon King. He wants me to be his woman and thinks that just because he says that, he has laid some sort of claim on me. Delusional as he may be, I really cannot do much against him and neither can grandfather or grandmother.”
Greyson also grew silent.
”Well, no matter, we will deal with it when it comes. He has not acted on anything yet so I have just tossed it to the back of my mind most of the time along with the rest of those nonsense suitors.” Trying to lighten the atmosphere, Rosalie decided to divert the subject. ”Hey, I was coming to get you, so you could meet my friends. Follow me! I'll take you to see them. They're all really quirky but have kind hearts.”
Deciding it was best not to mention anything at this moment, Greyson let Rosalie change the subject and pull him along down the mountain.
...
As the brother and sister pair got closer and closer to their destination, Greyson began to spot a group of six that was laughing and chatting loudly in the midst of a quiet circle garden. Glancing over each person, he realized there were five different type of dragons in the group. There were three males and two females. One female Dark Dragon, one female Earth Dragon, two male Fire Dragons, Cerul, and one male whom he could not tell. His hair was dark grey almost as if he were an old man, however, his features were still young and in his prime. All of them were mostly good looking except for this mysterious male whom Greyson felt had extremely ordinary features, almost to an easily forgettable extent. As if even though he just saw his face, he would forget it the next second. His interest piqued, him and Rosalie quickly made their way over as Greyson was able to catch the tail end of their conversation in secret.
”A younger brother?”