It was an unassuming day on the beaches of hargeon. It was not an out of the ordinary day, somewhat entirely too plain for it's own good. But that isn't anything new on a somewhat warm winter day in the south of fiore. It was not warm enough to be in the water, but it wasn't cold enough to need to be bundled up either. A perfect day for sunbathing.

Manzo could be seen roaming the beach searching for the perfect spot on this secluded day. Somewhere he could warm his "scales" you could say. As a dragon slayer he wasn't overly fond of cold weather, hence why he never really left the beach town of hargeon, it was generally warm all year around.

The attire he could be seen wearing was a simple beach shirt not buttoned and his swim trunks and a pair of sandles. As well as a little cooler with his preferred refreshments as well as a towel under his arm. He found a nice basking rock to rest on. He would lay out his towel and place his cooler down beside of it as well himself. A pair of sunglasses on his face as he laid underneath the warm sun.

Indeed, a beautiful unassuming day, the type the people of Hargeon had come to take for granted. Who could blame them? Enjoying the protection of the Blue Pegasus guild had allowed Hargeon a state of prosperity and its people a life of peace and opportunity.

Perhaps it was for that reason that Ryuko had chosen to visit the peaceful seaside town. While recent events might have shown her to have a lust for combat and the type of mindset that easily got her into conflict, she did enjoy the more peaceful moments in life as well.

Perhaps it was for that reason Manzo was greet with a most peculiar sight as he was enjoying his peaceful relaxing stay at the beach. The first sign was that of several worried fishermen dashing away from the shore, looking back in a panic. "DRAGON!" one of them called out.

In the distance a giant dragon emerged, about twenty meters in height and a massive fifty meters wing-span. The black-scaled creature soared surprisingly low along the surface of the water, causing the water to splash at the dragon's body as they steadily reached the shore, and finally as they reached the sandy beach she ascended upwards and her body seemed to shrink back into its humanoid form. Although unlike what one might had expected the Dragonkin was wearing neither armor or her usual attire, but instead a revealing bikini!

Her feet landing on the sand as her wings shrunk back into her back the dragon girl's gaze shifted from the fleeing fishermen to the sun-bathing Manzo, a smirk gracing her lips. "First time I had someone decide to stay and enjoy the show rather than run away. Not that I mind~ Such courage and confidence is needed if one wishes to survive the dangers of our world."

Stretching her arms into the air the dragon girl clearly seemed at ease and relaxed as her gaze curiously lingered onto Manzo for the time being.

Manzo was in his own little world with a pair of lacrima head phones in. He had completely missed the part of the day where a dragonkin had decided to touch down squarely on the beach, he had assumed that a strong wind had just blown through the beach as it was known to do in these days given it was the "cold" season. So he didn't think much of it. But his dragon senses could tell something was amiss. Almost as though he was being watched by something.

Which was uncommon considering everyone knew the Ace and he wasn't much of a spectacle to behold unlike his female guild members. Must have been an out of towner. Or at least someone he had never met before. Without raising his head to see who it was he extended an invitation to the person.

"Well don't just stand there, come enjoy the sun." He said as he raised his hand to motion for the individual to join him.

The dragon girl tilted her head slightly to the side in bewilderment at how casual the man was treating her arrival. In the past she might had felt confused, or perhaps even offended, but now? Now she couldn't help but laugh softly as she took a seat beside the man. "Well~ Well~ I heard Hargeon was home to a Dragon Slayer, but I didn't think he'd be on 'vacation'."

A teasing remark as she turned her gaze seaside. "Although a vacation would had been nice, if not between angering divinity and hunting down the less well-behaving of my kin, I'd have my hands full dealing with the complicated and confusing nature of the mortal realm."

Her tail swished back and forth again, digging lightly into the sand. "Then again, I'm not one to sit idle for too long, life is meant to be exciting for it to be enjoyed!"

"I'd hardly call this a vacation, I'm the Ace of Blue Pegasus, this is patrolling." He said with a chuckle as he sat himself up from his laid down position. He opened the cooler next to him and offered her a drink as he took one for himself.

"So, the tail isn't some weird fetish thing right? You're a proper dragon kin?" Manzo asked as he sat his drink down after taking a few sips from it. The ancient texts had mentioned there were those who could ascend past mere children of dragons such as him into the final stage of evolution. But he had never imagined he'd be in the presence of one as young as she.

"So what brings someone like yourself to a place like this? I know the beaches are a big draw for out of towners, but you don't seem like the typical out of town tourist to me." He said as he removed his sun glasses to flash his ruby red reptilian like eyes.

Her gaze shifted back toward Manzo as he introduced himself. "Hmm~ The Ace of Blue Pegasus? No wonder the pirates been getting bolder if your patrols involve sunbathing at the beach." A soft snicker followed as she accepted his drink, yet the question that followed made her laugh heartily, her tail swishing lightly. "It's the real deal~" She rested her tail between them, seemingly fine if he wanted to find out for himself, and indeed the black scales on her tail were quite real. "I am indeed a proper Dragonkin. My father is a dragon, but my mother was a demigoddess if you like to go by specifics, so I'm a half Dragon."

She leaned back and turned her gaze toward the sea, a soft hum following. "Well~ You could say I am partly here on vacation and somewhat also here for work." A grin lingered on her lips as she took a sip from her drink and gestured lightly in the air in front of her. As she spoke the air further down toward the sea started to twist and distort, a pathway opening from which a tall armored knight emerged. The black knight gazed silently at the duo while standing at ceremony, while Ryuko chimed softly. "I been doing a bit of experimenting and recruiting~ You likely don't recognize him but he used to be one of the pirates threatening Hargeon."

A slight dismissive wave of her hand followed as the knight turned his back at the duo and stepped back through the portal, closing behind him. "Still not entirely perfect, their strength still relies too much on their potential when they were alive, perhaps since I haven't mastered the powers of the Monarch Dragon yet."

Heaving a soft sigh as she took another sip her gaze shifted toward Manzo, having noticed his eyes earlier. "Although I been working on recruiting certain individuals to a particular 'faction', in the hope of slowly uniting my people, today I decided to come here for the sake of vacation~ Not to mention the barbeques of Hargeon are some of the best I had enjoyed so far~"

A smile lingered on her lips as she pondered for a moment. "What about you? What brings the lustrous Ace of Blue Pegasus, and a wielder of my kin's magic to sunbath-ahem, patrol the beach? Were you expecting trouble? I do recall hearing a recent increase in pirate activity, which surprises me after what happened to the last crew I encountered~"

Manzo extended his hands and stroked the tail of the dragonkin who sat. The scales of the tail were smooth against his palm, it brought back memories of when he was taken in by the dragon who taught him to use his magic. It reminded him of night spent sleeping on her back, staring at the clouds and looking for shape in the woodlands the elves called home. It was a comforting feeling. Not wanting to get lost in the feeling he would retract his hand from her tail.

"Here for work and play, that makes sense, you can get a lot done in this city." He said as he took a sip from the drink he retrieved from the cooler of himself. A little bit of the drink trickling down his chin and onto his exposed chest. He quickly raised a hand to wipe it off, not wanting it to stain his swim trunks. Getting dark colored drinks out of white clothes was a real pain in the ass.

He watched as she raised her delicate limb up, contorting her elegant digits in a manner in which to begin an incantation. He wasn't sure what to expect from a dragonkins' spell weaving. What he witnessed was some sort of space time magic mixed with the products of necromancy. It was interesting to say the least, certainly not something he expected to see on the beach. Beauty and power, she'd make a fantastic addition to Blue Pegasus' ranks. Though he would not bring that up, she didn't seem the type to want to be nailed down.

He sniffed the air when she mentioned that he may recognize him. The smell of death really being the only thing he could make out of him. Well that and the smell of salt, which makes sense he was coming out of the sea after all. "Yeah I can't say I recognize him by his smell, and not from his appearance at all. He's probably better off this way as opposed to what he was doing." He added taking another sip of his drink.

His ears twitched a bit when she mentioned forming a faction of her own. Something told him it was probably going to be related to dragon slayers considering she was, well, what she was after all. Adding anyone other than her own kind didn't make much sense to say the least. As she continued to speak about what it is she was after, it was exactly as he suspected. Reuniting her people, sounds like she was a monarch who was exiled, though he doubted that.

"Yeah the food here is second to none, when I'm not doing my duties as Ace I'm the owner and operator of a little Joyan place on the mainland." He said as ran his fingers through his silver hair. His strong facial features easier to see without the white mop of hair covering it, he had often thought of doing something different with his hair but he couldn't truly be bothered with such things right now.

"No I don't expect much trouble most of the time to be honest, I've done a good job of driving privateers away from our shores. But you can never be too careful. Also sometimes it's nice to be able to just be amongst the people you serve." He said as he placed his drink down beside him, bringing his knees up to his chest. He wrapped his arms around them and rested his chin on his forearm.

"Keeps me grounded, also looking at all the bikinis doesn't hurt." He said with a small chuckle as he gazed out at the ocean. The sea breeze wafting over them, and filling his nostrils. It was true though, he really did just enjoy being around the people. It was nice to feel normal, even if he wasn't one of them at all. But for that moment he was happy to just be one of them. To feel the sense of normalcy to be just another face in the crowd, responsibility has a way of clouding ones vision as well as ones' own personal sense of importance.