"I know it wasn't you. You were right beside me when I sensed the aura in the cave," she said, looking down as they passed the lake, "That, and I can still sense it there. Seems a little different now, but the major part of the aura is still the same."

"Then I will leave it at that. No need in pressing an issue that you've refused to speak of," she said, looking back for a moment before looking back to Goldenscale, "It's just, the aura itself makes me uneasy. Even though the aura doesn't feel malicious, I get this sense that I'm not safe around it."

"You are safe as long as I guard this forest." she assured.

"I know, but I can't help feeling uneasy," she said, looking down, "All my life, strange auras have turned to dangerous beings. I've never had it not happen that way."

"Well, you can expect it here and while you are around me.  I will protect everything and everyone around me no matter what." she said, nudging Ahnah with her tail.

"Old habbits die hard," she said quietly to herself. "I'm not afraid of being inable to protect myself, I'm afraid of what their intentions may be. An aura like that doesn't come from a normal dragon," she said, "It the type of aura one isn't born with. They had to work to get the aura they have."

Goldenscale decided to go silent, not wanting to continue thd conversation and have something slip. She had to protect her forest and it's inhabitants, no matter the cost.

"Heh, I almost forgot how big this forest is," she said, looking out over the top of the trees, "It's so much more colorful than the tundra back North. It make me glad I decided to stay here."

"Tundras have their own veriety of plants. They're just white or gray, and half frozen most of the time. Spring is the most colorful timme of year in the tundra. The ice thaws for a few months and the plants liven up, making the place seem more like a meddow than a frozen wasteland," she said, looking forward as a single tear rolled down her cheek, "It almost makes it feel wrong to never want to go back there, but I never want to see my parents again. They would never have accepted who I am now."

"What makes you think that and how so?" she asked, wiping the tear from Ahnah's cheek.

"It's the beliefs of the clan. If something seems like it would be out of place in nature, they scorn theperson or thing and try to do anything to force it away. That along side their persistant grip of the old ways would have made it hard for me to live there," she said, closing her eyes as she remembered her old ome, "Despite being next in line to become the clan shaman, they would have forced me out as soon as they found out about my sexuality. I left before they could find out. I never felt safe there since my father only did something if it brought me closer to being the shaman, and my mother did nothing to help me."

Now Goldenscale was thouroughly confused. "Find out about your sexuality?" she asked slowly, the words feeling forwign on hee tongue.