Orion could tell how nervous she was. "Try," he said encouragingly. He stood on front of her, wondering is she would. Suddenly he shape-shifted into a dragon and stood in the same spot, looking at Jora, willing her to shape-shift, so he could show her there was nothing to be nervous about.

Jora let out a shaky breath and stood up slowly and walked a little way away. She walked over to a boulder and put her book Naomi and her necklace down. They wouldn't stand a chance against a phoenix's fire even one of a mutt's. She turned around and looked at Orion. "Promise not to laugh?" She asked dead serious. She could stand him calling her a freak but she wouldn't know what to do if he laughed.

Orion nodded,then added, "I promise." He stood in front of Jora, waiting. I seriously doubt her other form will be anything to laugh at,
(Sorry! Orion couldn't do that much.)

Jora sighed and turned around. She took in a deep breath. She shifted into her phoenix form, hiding her long neck and face behind her body. She shoved her head under her wing before Orion could see it. She hadn't even thought of being in her monster form for years. Why was she trusting Orion? Why did she even agree to do this? She closed her eyes and her memories flooded in. What are we supposed to call a mutt like you?... Why do you even live here?... Why aren't you in the circus? I'm sure they're missing their freak show star. She heard them laughing. She would have flown away but she didn't quite know how. She sat down and smelled the grass smoking under her. She tightened her wing over her head trying to block out the thoughts. She tried pushing them away but they were hammering at her. She was waiting for Orion to call he things too so that she'd have a compete collection of insults and jokes.

Orion almost took a step back when Jora transformed. Her phoenix form was so bright. Why did they tease her?! He took a step toward her when he noticed her head was tucked under her wing. "Jora....." he said, trailing off. He didn't know how to explain to Jora that he didn't think she was an ugly mutt. That's what she believed for the last years, and he couldn't say it was stupid that they had called her names because she would disagree. Instead, he said, "Jora. They were wrong you know, the ones who called you names. Chinese dragons and phoenixes are both beautiful creatures. You paint, right?" he asked. "So you know that mixing paints makes a prettier color? It's like that," he said, hoping he didn't sound stupid or sappy. He was just trying to explain something by comparing it to something she knew well.

Jora didn't believe a word he said. "Or they could make an ugly mess." She said through her wing. Her voice as a phoenix almost sounded like a song but she didn't care. She took a deep breath and fire flared out about a foot from her wing. She wasn't ready, she thought she was but she wasn't. She turned back into human form and sat in the middle of the burnt grass from where she was sitting as a phoenix. She took a shaky breath and put her face in her skirt. "Sorry, Orion, I guess I wasn't ready..." She said through her skirt.

Orion shapeshifted into a human, and walked over to her. "It's okay," he said, kneeling beside her. "I understand. You will be able to do it eventually, I promise." Why do I keep making promises to her? He looked at her, and felt sorry for Jora, who was teased because of her lineage. It's so stupid!

Jora shook her head keeping her face on her skirt. "I doubt it..." She muttered to herself. She still felt the pounding in her ears from her past. Her eyes teared up a bit as she relived a of the moments in a row. She felt Orion kneel down next to her and turned a little so that she faced away from Orion. She fet her hands starting to shake as she took in ragged breaths trying to make the nightmares go away. She wrapped her arms around her legs and squeezed her hands together until they were white. She hoped Orion wouldn't notice.

Orion felt horrible when he realized that he was the one to make her do this. "I'm sorry, I shouldn't have asked you," He looked at Jora, and noticed how tense she was. He froze, wanting to comfort her, but not knowing how. Maybe she just wants to be alone... "Jora... do you want me to leave?" he asked her, hoping she said no.

Jora sat there rocking a bit. She barely heard Orion in the insults she was hearing in her mind. She didn't know what to say or do. Orion was nice and she didn't really want him to leave her alone with the voices in her head. She finally spoke in a very small, muffled voice. "_{It's not your fault.... I'm just dumb and can't do anything right....}" She wasn't sure why he hadn't already left. She felt the fire rising as she started breathing in smoke. She started shaking more violently. "If you want to leave..." She said quietly as she thought that Orion was just trying to sound nice when he really couldn't wait to leave and get far away from her and her demons.


(Yawn! Good night my lady!)