Time stilled.

His breath stuck tightly in his throat.

Once he heard the voice answer back, the voice of this human, he understood what he had had done. The taboo he had broken. Sobering up from his haze, seeing those eyes gaze back at him with a glimmering hope for a reply destroyed his thoughts of rectifying his earlier mistake. No matter how he tried to play off his shown ability of speech, this human was not likely to follow along.

Therefore, as he watched this bright eyed and smiling visage, his thoughts raced toward an action of escape. As he thought and thought a muddled feeling quickly spread through his brain. It was difficult to process the situation with his usual intelligence. He looked about the shabby abode, his body moved as if wanting to bolt despite being unable to think up a plan toward that want. It'd been too long since leaving that his faculties began to shut down to a more childish level. Though he was royalty, he was a prisoner. To be sure of his compliance the elders had taken heavy handed precautions against his person. The show of might contained within his body, the level of at which his mind could eek out forethought, far surpassed his siblings.

It was felt that such prowess needed to be suppressed.

As the cat-like body he partook continued shifting in its nervousness of witnessing a creature only seen in books, while his mind continued to degenerate, a sharp pain shot up his right arm.

The shock struck his heart sharply.

Yet, the familiar twinge and ache calmed his soul.

Coming into the self that so easily dealt with his dastardly position, despite the curse coming upon him, he was able to muster up a reasonable amount of thought. Calm spilled across his nerves and he was able to delineate clearly the reality he had fallen into. There was a pressure slamming down as he tried to think in a way beyond what had been allowed. Despite that he felt he had come across a decent way to deal with the current situation.

He abandoned the panic in his chest. He tossed aside the idea of running from his slipping tongue. As he fingered the well placed bandage over his right arm with cat-like paws, he understood well the trap he had caught himself in:

He was in debt; to a human no less.

There was no way to escape it. He had to face it. This was the unflinching, unchanging law of his world. A human had saved his life, had taken him into their home, offering care and courtesy. Therefore he had the duty of paying back that generosity. Humans were a selfish lot. They spewed lies and ate up riches with a greedy tongue. Be that as it may, should one show kindness to the monsters that preyed upon them, that monster would have no choice but to answer back in kind.

Even though the pain of his injury was easy to ignore, his fingers kept toying with the bandage, causing the young heir to cringe. There was nothing left for him, but to stand his ground proudly and answer the question posed carefully. His mind, with great difficulty, worked out the proper words to speak. Yet, because of the difficulty, he began to grow impatient. After all, he had a debt to fulfill, and he wanted to do so quickly. If the elders, his siblings, or the factions against him were to ever catch wind of this… the horrors that would ensue bordered on the insane.

He debated a moment, struggling. He was raised to act with all the etiquette of his position; however what stood before him was merely a human. He wasn't sure how to interact with it. Under normal circumstances he would, without hesitation, act as the superior race as he had been taught. Whether it be right or wrong the things ingrained upon one from young were difficult to suppress. Though this situation called for him to show gratitude his mouth wanted to spew the arrogance of his post.

No, that's not quite... his skull began to ache as he tried to right his thoughts away from such childish thinking. Try as he might, though, he could not push aside the heaviness descending upon him. Even so, he gave it his best to move beyond the curse before it came into full effect.

Truthfully in his nation of monsters there was nothing more important than settling a debt to a human. Or so he had been told from the mouth of his tutor. Thus he strode forward with his thought of going through the ceremony, he'd been taught, to be done with it all. He had to move quickly and get out before he was reduced to the nominal thinking of a young child.

Schooling his emotions as he had been drilled, he disguised all of his apprehension, mistrust, and negative feeling toward something he had been taught to naturally dislike under a practiced, though cat-like at the moment, smile. In his cat-like body he managed a graceful bow as he spoke his introduction.

“I am Mikha Mikhail Delov of the Delov Royalty of Fairy Tale and with the deepest of gratitude I am in your debt.” He recited as practiced. “For the valorous act of saving my life I will grant any ONE of your deepest desires.” He stressed, knowing what he had been told of humans’ lust for all their eyes sighted upon.

The human tilted its head as though confused. While it seemed to be considering the proffered deal Mikha Mikhail Delov examined the creature he had only witnessed in the text books his tutor forced his mind to pour over. Though he never really paid attention to the finer details, he was able to recall enough to deduce it's gender to be female; probably. He had to admit, grudgingly, that humans were not nearly as grotesque to look at as had been depicted in books and word of mouth from his elders. They are not too much different from the everyday forms monster kind partook. In fact he would say, if only to himself, that he quite liked the look of the shimmering silver hair and deep red eyes before him.

A horrified shock trilled to the ends of his claws, he shook his head of the thought, blaming such an irrational feeling upon the curse corrupting his mind. The momentum of his musings left him irritated thus he moved to rush the human along. “Well, what are yo-”

Before his words could even finish being voiced, the girl pounced forward, shouting excitedly. “Please be my friend!” Her eyes were aglow with excitement, desperation, and fear. He could see her slight frame trembling under these emotions as she waited in suspense filled silence.

He was taken aback once again. Yet, from the back of his mind, felt rushing forward a childish excitement over the demand that was at odds with his semi present consciousness. Though it was fading steadily, and though it was difficult to think properly, he was still able to hold on to a bit of his true self. Therefore he was able to bite down the uncomfortable feelings from completely taking over.

Humans were, according to all that he had been taught, suppose to be creatures that feared the unknown. In his text books there were no records of any animals with the ability of human speech. Thereupon he could not fathom the reaction he was presented with, having thought that an answer would not come without a certain amount of fuss.

He could not hold it back.

He had to know, even though it was against a monster’s nature to give in to feelings of curiosity. Perhaps it was an effect of the curse coursing through his brain. Even so the need was strong; he had to know.

“Are you not startled that a cat can speak?” He sought after the answer. He showed none of the hesitance and begrudging reluctance he should, as one of monster-kind, partake before answering one’s own curious nature. “As far as I am aware talking cats are not a normal sight in this world of yours.” He prodded further, knowing full well the contrary behavior he displayed would be disdained by his brethren.

The girl seemed delighted at being questioned, her ruby red eyes gleaming with pure innocent joy. This coupled with her sudden approach forward had Mikhail draw back in spite of himself. He hissed in contempt under his breath for allowing a human to sprout such a nervous flight backwards. Before he could even come to terms, come to grips, with his reflexive action the girl fired away excitedly.

“Well, you’re the first talking cat I've ever met, but underneath this manor is a talking dragon.” She told him easily. “Even though he does nothing but berate me, he is quite kind. He never tells me to leave and he always lets me take shelter behind his large wings so that I won’t be caught.”

A dragon!

There is a dragon being held beneath the earth! He thought, having been startled once more. He felt his world views being turned on it head. Dragons were mystical creatures of legend even within the world of monster kind. Though they were supreme beings of peace and tranquility their might transcended the royal family by far. Thus hearing this, he felt disgust. Despite the appearance of the human before him, there lied a grittier nature beneath. No one kept a dragon in chains with good natured intentions. Even more so hidden from the sky they so loved.

If he could think a little more clearly he would have been a little more leery of the circumstances with which the human was able commit such a feat. Dragons weren't so easily kept. Rather than awed, as he had been over their rare meeting and her startling desire of friendship, he now felt irritation. Standing upon the four legs of the cat-like creature he partook, he shot the human a look that belied the anger he felt inside. He cursed his mind the pathways of thought that it had been traveling down in her presence. Yet, it really couldn't be helped considering his condition. Just as he could no more stave the curse felling his mind to such a juvenile process a human could no more shirk their true nature.

He now, all the more, felt the need to full fill his debt and be done with it.

“I will consider your request; give me a moment to myself so that I may come to a proper decision.” He spoke out with a curt nod. Honestly he had little choice but to give in. Still there was something to be done before he moved one way or another.

Upon saying this he put his limbs to work carrying his body out through the broken window above the stiff cot he had been given to rest. He soared with a powerful leap leaving the curtain to billow in his wake. It was a movement that belittled the depth of his injury. Or rather, it displayed just how magnificent the healing prowess of the royal family really was. That injury was nothing more than a pink line marring his flesh by this point. Soon, within an hour or so, one would be pressed to find even a small trace of his gruesome injury.

A monster’s capability for healing varied from type to type. As a potential leader, a monster standing above all others, his painfully trained ability was considered to be quite remarkable for even one of his stature. Howbeit, tragically, it merely amounted to the reasons the elders sought to curse and control him.

As he fell from the window with a graceful thud there was only a ghosting of the previous pain. Quite satisfied with the progression of his healing, he felt that it was safe undertake the dangerous operation he's decided on.

Before he was to be completely saturated within the mind numbing yet child-like persona he would steal away to this cage beneath the manor. He would would meet with the dragon.