He was slightly shocked at this,but didn't say a word,looking to Ash with eyes tinted with faint fear. He didn't fear dying,but despite that he did great he hated fighting because he didn't like hurting others if he didn't need to,but if he had to fight he would,and as hard as possible till he accomplished what he must.

They walked for hours, at least it felt like it. Ash kept up a steady pace, neither hurrying nor slowing down, and in time the sounds of pursuit faded away. Sometimes the trail split, wending off in different directions, but Ash always chose a path without hesitation. When the eternal twilight finally dimmed, Ash stopped, gazed up into the sky, where an enormous moon glimmered over the treetops, so close you could see pits and craters marring the surface. He realized he was still holding Jason's wrist and he dropped it.

Jason wasn't bothered by the seemingly long time span.He admired the moon and felt odd as Ash dropped his wrist,not to bothered by it but mostly bothered by his own feelings as he slipped his hands into his pant pockets and looked down,for once seeming...smaller than his usually flirty and up beat person. Black was fading ever so slowly into the white of his freckle scales.

"I suppose we should rest for the night." He sounded reluctant. "We wouldn't want you stumbling onto a dancing mound, or following a white bunny down a dark hole. Come on, I know a place not far from here where we can sleep undisturbed." He had no intentions other than to sleep that night. He would have took Jason's hand, but it was in his pocket. There was a lovely little pond through a stand of trees, but he wasn't going that way. He was going past it. The water shimmered in the moonlight.

Jason nodded and followed,his gaze a bit...dulled...but it wandered to the water. He kept following tho,not really feeling like he needed to rest. He felt fine,better than he had last week. He'd had to stay up for a battle that lasted on and off for 4 days straight,having to stay up to care for other dragons as they had been wounded or traumatized. He hadn't slept all that time,even with his own wounds not even having been cared for till the end of the battles,victory, and had had to sleep for two days. He was fine now,his dragon form just had a few scars now,but he really didn't mind.

There was a dark shape that breached the perfect surface of the pond, sending ripples across the still water. The top of a horses head, coal-black and slick like a seal, watched Jason with baleful white eyes.

Jason admired the beauty of it,tho still following Ash. But his pace slowed ever so faintly to admire the beast's beauty for a small amount longer.

Ash followed his gaze. He took one look at the pond and the creature, grimaced, and this time took his hand and pulled him onward. "Kelpie pond," he muttered. A few minutes later, they came to the trunk of a huge, gnarled tree. The bark was so knobby and rough one could almost see faces peering out of the trunk. Ash knelt among the roots and knocked on the wood. There was a tiny door, barely a foot tall, near the base of the tree.

"oh.." Was Jason's soft response before he stared at how Ash had taken his hand,feeling pink seep into the edges of his freckles scales but tried to drown it out with yellow,but it did nothing but emphasis it and he didn't even realize it. He looked at the small door in confusion.

Ash smiled to himself, noticing the pink on his scales. The small door opened a crack, a head peering out suspiciously. "Eh? Who's there?" a rough squeaky voice asked. The little man's skin was the color of walnuts; his hair looked like a bundle of twigs sticking out of his scalp. He wore a brown tunic and leggings and looked like a stick come to life. Except for his eyes. He had black shiny eyes, like a beetle's.