[Achilles]

It was dark, the moon high in the sky and shining brilliantly on the Citizens of the Valley. Well, the ones out and about at this hour at least. It was strange to hear the call of the high priest in the evening, calling for others to come share with him their reasons for returning from the war when they very well could have escaped. Achilles might have joined in on the group situation but he had not been in the war, no, he'd been made to remain behind and protect the Valley from outside influences or invaders. 

So instead he sat alone, not too far away, watching the scene unfold.

It would conclude one way or another, eventually and when it did, He would sit up and head down to where the Hellion was alone, after everyone had left. Achilles had never been able to meet the creature alone, only seeing him here or there. A duck among geese this Hellion was, or maybe the other way around.

It likely depended on who you asked.

If Tibet remained after everyone vanished into the night, Achilles would approach him from his left side. If the Hound began to take his own leave and turned, Achilles would likely be at his back and would clear his throat to get Tibet's attention. Either way, Tibet was met with a gentle smile, slightly narrowed blue eyes that shined feral in the moon's light and absolutely no hostile body language. Maybe a first in this land of prejudice wolves Tibet made his home?

"High Priest." The black and gold wolf said, Achilles knew him enough, most wolves did, the abomination that was their holiest of holy speakers. An interesting thought, "I don't believe we've officially met." Achilles would halt a few feet away, close enough to say he didn't find the other disgusting like so many likely did but far enough away not to spook the hound should he be having a bad night. "My mate, Sphinx, is one of your priests, my name is Achilles."

Maybe after some pleasantries, he could have a philosophical chat with Tibet, one less conventional for the people of the Valley.

[Tibet]

Was it in the nature of warm-blooded creatures to fear those of cold blood? Even the mightiest wolf still spooked and fled in fear of the coiled cobra in the brush, not only for its venom, but for its eerie otherness. The eyes, slit and still. Ears and nostrils, just cavities in the cranium. The teeth, needlepoint, fearsome. The mien -- an elongated alien body, patterned vivid and poisonous, something older, more primal than any canine.

Azuhel was a madwoman who could wield fire. This was a dragon. And should they fear him?

Achilles didn't. There was no revulsion in his voice, in his motions that defined him to the hellion priest, no flinch backward or sudden stiffening. Tibet dipped his head to the older man in acknowledgment of his greeting, his smile winding high up on his cheeks, benevolent as always. Like two passing monks, perhaps, their hands tucked serenely into the sleeves of their robes. "Good evening, seour."

He went on, requesting a moment of his time. Tibet ceased his walk, turning back to face Achilles with a smooth about-face, tilting his head only slightly in consideration.

"Oh! Yes, I've known Sphinx since I joined the priesthood... she's..." He tongued his cheek, deciding upon the right word. "... very dedicated. A good woman. I can only hope I've proven myself."

He did not know the full extent of her revulsion and mistrust toward him. Nor was he a complete halfwit, however.

Still, it was always better to approach these sorts of things... gently.

[Achilles]

The other turned and greeted him with a smile, Achilles watched that smile but didn't find it haunting like most of the wolves claimed a Hellion's smile to be. He was just another creature, another beast. Valley born wolves would say that was the deception of the Red Dragon, that this smile was a trap and they'd already been deceived for allowing Tibet to remain amongst them, to have such an important position like High priest. He knew his mate was bitter, or had been, she'd ranted to him before about the hellion's rise but as of late, there had been no venom from her about him, nothing at all in fact. 

Maybe she'd gotten over it?

It was more likely she'd just accepted it and worked to move on now.

Achilles returned the smile and took a moment to admire the hellion's traits. "I've seen a few of your species, before i came to the Valley." Hopefully Tibet didn't mind being examined, it could have been mistaken for the judgmental stares of others but Achilles was not judging, or at least not negatively. "You're all so different," He blinked and returned his eyes to Tibet's. "From each other I mean." Of course they were different from wolves, at least on the outside. 

His ears trained on the hound as he comment about his beloved, "She's an amazing woman." Achilles corrected the hound, leveling an expressionless gaze on Tibet before allowing it to shift into a playful grin. Of course he took no offense, Tibet was careful, he had to be twice as, no, thrice as cautious with his words than any other citizen. At the mention of proving one's self, Achilles hummed softly, "Sadly, you may never stop proving yourself here." It could almost be taken as a question too, if the hound really thought he'd ever earn the approval of the Valley's majority, much less the respect. He'd tilt his head, looking after where the wolves had all left, his bright eyes shifting over the place Tibet had gathered them. 

"Why do you preach the words of Oukoku-Kai when they condemn what you are, to people that might very well hate you even though you say what they want to hear?" To the Valley born, Tibet was what the Red Dragon saw as pure, what they should all praise. "The Hellion's I've met before our home," because it was their home, his as well as Tibet's. "They don't even know about the False God, i've never encountered one that know of the Red Dragon." He turned his eyes on Tibet finally, "Do you actually believe the words you speak or do you say them while thinking of something else?"

It wasn't a trap, at least not that would lead to the Seour attacking the High priest.

It was more a curiosity, to see if Tibet was going to trust him or not.

[Tibet]

Achilles studied his snakelike body, his crown of horns, his unwary face. Tibet could not see him doing it as most understood seeing, but he knew what the wolf was up to regardless, and did not mind. He allowed himself to be taken in and sampled. There was no contempt or hatred in the seour's mien, none of what so many here -- save for kind Darken, and friend Neptune, and Canaan herself -- looked upon him with when he caught their eye.

"My little brother," supplied the high priest, smiling gently at the unintended pun, "was very small and covered in hair. I imagine we looked nothing alike. Sometimes it happens even in the same family, among... my kind."

Hellhounds by their very natures were oddities, alike only in their differences, more amalgamation than animal. Someone here had once told him that they were descendants of the unholy spawn of the Red Dragon herself, hatched from the eggs of some dreadful union. He'd known all along what he was, but had learned what that meant only from the mouth of Saga herself, bless her depthless knowledge.

"Amazing..." repeated he, agreeing almost automatically. "Of course she is, seour. An amazing woman." One had to wonder how much of that ceaseless charm and civility had been fashioned to help him avoid being mauled by stray anarchists looking for an excuse. Nobody had ever asked him and probably nobody ever would. When Achilles told him gravely that he may never stop proving himself, Tibet only went on smiling and nodding, never an argument reaching his voice. "Are your children well?"

Well and good, harmless and benevolent. He liked conversations this way, liked listening to valley wolves and learning their stories, mingling as their society said they must. The denizens of Oukoku-Kai were the conglomerate Us in an unending outside sea of Them. But then -- well, Achilles asked him something of a loaded question. Tibet licked his lipless mouth with a pointed tongue.

"I believe them," was Tibet's reply, solemn but firm. He didn't hesitate. He was strong in his faith in the Rosa and did not pretend otherwise. "I am tainted of blood and twisted in body. I was touched by evil forces before I was even born. Lady Chinensis... she could have stricken me from the earth, but instead she let me live, and showed me my purpose here."

He was following the wolf's stare now, gazing out upon the night with him. The mane, blood-red, on his nape was ruffled by a quiet breeze.

"My own impurity... gives me special insight into the minds of those like me. I'll seek them all out and bring them here. I'll show them our light and make them tame."

The blessing, the curse, the lonely martyr in dragonskin.