What are you?

When they reached the site, Eri's jaw dropped without her realizing out.

"Oh my..." she murmured, eyes wide as they took in the view. "This is where... you....?" Eri lifted a hand to run it over her hair. Who on earth was this guy?

"It's beautiful." She continued to follow Erolass, limping slightly as her leg was beginning to get a bit sore. Eri had rarely ever been somewhere like this. Heck, she rarely left her home at all, seeing as she was always getting into trouble somehow or another.

A soft growl emitted from her stomach and Eri's cheeks went slightly pink as she wrapped her arms around her waist, hoping her stomach would shush. She hadn't realized how late the day was getting and her last meal was, well... breakfast.

"How long have you lived here? I've never seen you around before..." Eri mused aloud, trying to get to know this strange Erolass a bit better. He seemed kind enough and gave the impression that he truly did care about what his pet had done to her. Though, Eri wasn't one to hold a grudge.

"Well, it's been several years now...how long has it been since the Fire Lord return from his crusade against the Regent Lord?" asked Erolass inquisitively, "That would make...11 years now, since I was 13 or 14. I've been drawing since then as well, with support from Mia and Vrangr--he's my dragon by the way, I'm sure you'd love to meet him as well." Erolass began to remember how he had inherited this villa, it was a gift from Eldunar...it was all coming back to him now. Eldunar knew that Erolass never wanted to be around the palace, and he recognized his brother's artistic talents, so when Owlan returned from the battle against the Regent Lord, Eldunar gave this exact estate--which he had inherited from their parents as a family heirloom--to Erolass to live in.

Erolass couldn't help but smile as he thought of it; it was one of the few nice things Eldunar ever did for him, or for anyone in that matter. But since then, Erolass and Eldunar haven't spoken, intact Erolass and Owlan hadn't spoken much since then either. And that's how Erolass liked it. Erolass stopped by the gatehouse of the estate and placed his fingers in his mouth. With a loud whistle, Erolass summoned a large, white horse, which came bounding over the hill in an instant. When the horse approached the artist and Eri, Erolass held out his hand to Eri, and said happily, "I've noticed you've begun to limp," he said, "And that can't be healthy for your leg, would you be insulted if I allowed you to ride this horse to the doorstep?"

Eri continued to listen to Erolass, nodding at his explanation. She stopped in her tracks and couldn't help but gape at his back at the mention of a dragon.

"You have a dragon?" she asked. Holy cow! "And I can meet him?" A grin swept over her face, lighting her eyes almost like a child.

At the sound of his whistle, a horse approached and Eri lifted a hand to stroke his neck, running her fingers beneath his mane. She was never good with people by any means, but animals in general were a different story.

Eri went to the horse's side and weaved her fingers through strands of wispy mane. With a slight bend of her knees - careful to keep most of her weight on her good leg - Eri used a small gust of wind to push herself up onto the horse's back. She smiled down at Erolass.

"I'd love to," she replied, patting the horse's neck affectionately. "What's his name?"

"Elsias," he said, "He is the son of my father's favourite steed, and he bred with my sisters wild Mare. He's quite obedient however, and he's good for riding, I use him to get around the vineyard on my rounds. Here, allow me to help you up." Erolass happily helped Eri onto the horse, and wasn't the least bit surprised when Elsias didn't react negatively to a new rider; Elsias was always kind to new people, as long as they were nice. Erolass knew from then on he had to get to know this Eri better, and he couldn't help but wonder, was he falling for her now? No, he couldn't be, this had to be all in his head. Eri was someone he had just met, and she was a painting subject as well as a friend, for his part at least.

Erolass would never, and had never, mixed business with pleasure. Not to mention he had never been with a girl, in either meanings of that term. Nor did he plan to, or at least any time soon. He was a painter and an artist first, women held no interest to him except as subjects to paint and sculpt. And so what if he had seen many naked women? They were only painting subjects, through which Erolass had come to appreciate the human, and especially female body. The female was not something to be oggeld at, but respected and cherished, throughout it's perfect, slender curvature, or it's miniature, structured muscled. From the curved hips, to the well constructed upper body. Erolass approached everything like an artist first, and a human second. It was in his nature, after several years of thinking of nothing but art, it had become part of his psyche.

Eri kept one hand holding the horse's mane gently, just for something to do. She concentrated on how his muscles moved beneath her and how warm his skin was. The horse was truly something to be cherished and awed.

Eri was quiet as she took in the scenes of everything they passed. Her mind began to wander and she glanced at Erolass.

"Not to be nosy, but are you a bender at all?" she asked curiously, thinking of her training session earlier that morning. She wanted to know more about him for some reason - he intrigued her.

"You seem to be a bit of an animal person, too," she mused aloud. Eri then remembered his mentioning of a dragon and she became ever more excited.

The young girl bent down to stroke the horse's neck a few times more, watching the muscles of his shoulders move as he walked.

"Yes," answered Erolass, "I have mastered Fire and Light bending, though I did start late. It took me a while for my bending to start showing, so for a while my family believed I was a non-bender. However at around 10 I began to bend Fire and Light, and that's when I would spend most of my days training myself from old family scrolls. People in my family usually bend either Fire, Light or Dark bending, many inherit either Light or Dark to compliment their Fire, but fewer have mastered them. My brother was the only one who inherited all three...and mastered them."

Erolass then cleared his heads of all thoughts of his family, and the pain that they caused him, and returned to smiling. "You see, my family is descended from one of the first dual-element wielders. My great-great-great-great-grandfather was a Fire and Dark Bender with a Lightning sub element, which allowed for the Dark bending to enter the bloodline, and an ancestor of mine was a Light Bender, which means, enter the Light bending."

Erolass then turned to the girl, Eri, and smiled, "So, how about yourself?" he asked, "I've told you a lot about myself, but I've heard nothing of you. I must be the rudest host in the world."

A laugh escaped her lips.

"You are a good host," she replied. Then, Eri shrugged her small shoulders. "Both of my parents were air benders, so it came to me naturally. That's what my entire family is as far as I know of. I live with my aunt and uncle now and they're the same, though I'm not trained by them." If Eri was to be trained by her aunt or uncle, she would probably get smacked upside the head twenty times in one day.

"It took me a while, but now air bending is second nature to me," she murmured. She thought back to her sickly mother and how she had refused to bend when she was younger for her mother's sake. It outraged both of her parents, but Eri never forgot the look on her mother's face as she watched her daughter progress while she simply did not have the strength to hardly get out of bed, let alone air bend.

"I like it here in the Southern Air Temple," she said without thinking. "Er, it's warmer."

((OOC: I feel so stupid lol, i kept thinking we were in the Fire Nation the whole time, kk I can make this work lol.))

"It is nice yes," said Erolass, having a feeling that Eri might not want to talk about her past just yet, "I usually spend most of my time at my Fire Nation estate, seeing as that is my home. But when I'm lost for creativity or I just want to get away, I will go here, to my family's villa in the Southern Air Temple. It is quite lovely, and the architecture is perfect for my artistic and architectural desires."

Erolass stopped as they reached the front door of his estate, and helped Eri down from the horse. "I'm very glad I have company though," he said, "Either house gets very lonely, and though the few people who live on the estate with me are nice to talk to, they offer little company when I really need it, though I still appreciate their presence. Come, let's go inside, we'll get your leg looked at and I can show you Vrangr if you want?"

Eri nodded and followed Erolass after giving the horse one last affectionate pat on the neck. Too bad she didn't have an apple...

Eri strolled behind Erolass, gazing about herself and taking in everything. She then flicked a thin brow up.

"So how on earth did you get a dragon?" she asked curiously. "I've only heard about them, but never knew where you get one or how. Or where they're even at..."

She lifted a hand to run it over her hair, feeling that her braid was beginning to come loose. Emitting a soft sigh, Eri tugged at the tiny leather tie at the end of it and allowed the long tresses of white-blonde hair to fall free of the braid. Combing her fingers through it, waves fell just to her elbows and she placed the tie in between her teeth as her fingers got to work quickly at re-braiding. She couldn't stand leaving her hair down - it got in her way too much, yet she couldn't see herself ever cutting it, either. Besides, if she cut it, Eri would have no way of tying such short tresses back to keep them out of her face.

"My family has had a long standing pact with the dragons, they helped found the Dragon Island, a habitat solely for dragons. Since they were moved there, they've thrived more than they did before in any Fire Nation mountains." said Erolass happily, "Vrangr was given to me at birth, and he's always been a great support for my skills and such. He's a good friend really, you would love to meet him, and vice versa, he loves meeting new people."

"Just, if he tries to lick or sniff you, don't worry, that's how he gets to know people," stated Erolass, "Through your scent. Warning though, better he sniffs you than licks you, the barbed tongue can make it a little uncomfortable. But it won't hurt too much, it's more for tearing the skin off animals, not the skin off of humans. Well--" Erolass pushed open the doors to his villa, revealing a large entrance hall with marble floors, red carpets and gold trimming. The place was decorated with Erolass's art, and it looked like something out of a fairytale. Erolass smiled, he loved to look at his art each time he walked in, and he loved how the light air of the room excentuated his works, it was magnificent, and inspiring. Or maybe it was just the girl? No matter, Erolass had a job to do.

"Shall we get you over to my personal medic?" asked Erolass.