Nicholas was happy when he didn't have to be in his human form. While he had gotten very used to staying in such a state, he certainly liked his dragon form better, so he was happy when he could slip away from the town and transform himself into his proper, dragon body. He was a large creature, so of course he needed to be careful not to accidentally frighten anyone, but there was enough room around the town, but still within the barrier, for him to spend a little time to himself without fear of someone finding him and thinking he was some kind of threat. With all the monsters invading the town, it would definitely be a bad time to attempt explaining what he was to people.

He transformed himself with a cloud of red smoke, his form growing as human arms split into two pairs of massive wings. His neck grew longer, a tail extending from behind as his whole body turned vibrant greens, oranges and reds. His yellow eyes flashed as he raised his large head and let out a massive roar. Of course, he cut himself short, realizing that he probably shouldn't be shouting his happiness to the heavens.

Still, it felt nice to be in his proper form.

Snarling, the large creature pushed off the ground, swooping into the air effortlessly. He used just two of his wings, the other pair tucked at his sides. He only used those when he needed to- a normal fly required only two wings.

He decided to keep his flight short and only around the forest, so he avoided the chance of someone seeing him. Perhaps he ought to visit Rumplestiltskin at some point- allegedly he had the means to use great magic on people. There was a chance he could ask the man to give him something that would turn him invisible. Then he could fly all over the skies without worry.

But one thing at a time. Perhaps he would help with the Underworld problem first, and then try thinking about himself. To worry about his own concerns when those around him were suffering was a selfish thing indeed.

He soared just above the trees for a while, just enjoying the air until he finally needed to land again. Stomping down in a clearing, he hunched on his large back legs, his head tilting in an owl-like fashion as he looked around. Somehow, it felt like he might not have been alone there...

Though Elizabeth was living in the town now, she still felt better when she was in the forest. There were no one there who was starring at her scars, there were no one judging her there. She didn't have to hide her face all the time when she was out there, and it was much less stressful. So she kept to the woods most of the time, to get as much peace and quiet as she could. She supposed she could just have stayed in her apartment for that, but she had spent many years held as a prisoner in her husband's home, so she didn't want to be restricted by having four walls around her all the time. She was so happy to be able to go wherever she wanted now, that she didn't have to follow someone's orders anymore. She was free now, and she loved it.

Another thing she loved was that she had gotten her brother, Victor, back. Sure their first meeting in Storybrooke hadn't been easy, since she'd had to explain everything that had happened after she had married Richard, and that wasn't a very easy thing for her to do. She had spent so many years wondering if he hated her for never contacting him again, and it seemed he had wondered if she had just got married and moved on with her life and never looked back. Nothing could have been further from the truth, she had missed him every single day since she left her childhood home, and had just wanted to go home to him again, but had never had the chance to do so. Not before he disappeared. But now they had each other again, and Elizabeth was beginning to feel happy again.

Walking in between the trees, she noticed the big shadow that suddenly moved across her. It was a massive shadow, she thought looked a bit like a dragon. She had never actually seen one before, since she didn't really know they existed, but there were so many weird things in this town, and a dragon wasn't really the weirdest thing she could think of. Carefully she followed in the direction the dragon had flown, quickly coming to the clearing where it had landed. When she finally saw it clearly, in all it's majesty, she smiled a little as she slowly moved into the clearing. She wasn't really afraid of this dragon, she didn't see any reason to be at the moment. Though she was still cautious as she moved closer. She stopped a few feet from it and studied it for a second, completely captivated by it. "Wow." She said in awe as she looked the mighty dragon over.

Cloudjumper

The large, four-winged beast stood in the clearing for a moment, just enjoying the way it felt to be in his proper body. Then, he heard something, turning his owl-like head towards the source of the noise- it was a human of some sort, and she was very clearly watching him. Blinking, his head turned almost completely upside down as he watched the woman, his body tensing in surprise. He had not been intending on anyone seeing him. The ridges on his back arched up as he silently observed her, making him look more like a frightened bird than a large, intimidating dragon.

Slowly, he moved to look at her, his head coming down in front of the woman's body. His head was almost as large as her whole body, bright yellow eyes focused on her frame from a short distance away. He still held his head at a tilted angle, a curious expression replacing his shocked one.

Then, without warning, red smoke appeared around him, enveloping his large body. When it cleared, the dragon was gone, and a bald man was standing in its place. He continued to watch her with a tilted head, though now his body was much closer to hers size-wise.

"I did not mean for anyone to see," he told her after a moment, "I am not bad- do not be frightened." IT was a good thing he had been studying English for quite some time, or otherwise he might not have known how to communicate with her in this situation. As it so happened, though, he was fluent in the language, as he had spent a lot of time observing humans in Arendelle before getting stuck in the curse that had hit Storybrooke.

He took a step back from her, offering a polite and formal bow.

"My name is Cloudjumper, but you may call me Nicholas. It is my human name."

---

Elizabeth Lavenza

Elizabeth watched the dragon with fascination glowing in her eyes, there was not a single sign of fear in her. She had seen some monsters in her time, and some people might see a huge dragon like this one as a threat, but she wasn't scared of it at all. She smiled a little softly at him when he turned his head upside down as he watched her. Really she was a bit jealous that he got to fly free whenever he wanted to, she had never had the kind of freedom he had, and she really wished she could be like him. But of course she couldn't. When his head moved closer to her, she almost reached out to touch him. But stopped herself as soon as the red smoke appeared around the dragon.

It shocked her a little bit that the dragon turned into a human, she had not expected that to happen.But then again, this town she found herself in wasn't really very normal, so why wouldn't there be people who were really dragons? She shook her head a little when he spoke, smiling at him a little bit. "Don't worry, I don't think you're bad and I'm not frightened of you." She told him softly, if he wanted to hurt her in some way, he would have done it before turning into his human form. "I'm sorry I stared at you, I've just never seen anyone like you before."

Since Elizabeth wasn't of this world or time, and she had been brought up in a grand and fine house, she had been taught how to behave in society. So when he bowed to her, she curtsied in return with a smile on her lips. "What would you rather be called?" She asked him softly, wanting to call him by the name he felt was most his own. "My name is Elizabeth."

Cloudjumper

Cloudjumper was a little surprised- he had expected the human to be frightened of him. Usually, when humans saw a dragon, they screamed and went to get something sharp to stab it with. He had spent a lot of time hiding as a dragon until he had learned how to transform himself into a human. So it was a bit shocking to hear her say that she wasn't scared of him and that she didn't think he was bad. He watched her carefully, his head tilting slightly to the side like a curious owl's might.

Even in his human form, some of his dragon mannerisms stuck around.

"I do not mind if you stare," replied the dragon with a bit of an awkward smile. As much as showing his dragon mannerisms was normal to him, reacting like a normal human... wasn't. He still wasn't quite used to things like smiling and speaking, though his English wasn't too bad. "I have seen many like you," he added because she had said she hadn't seen anyone like him before, "in town, there are many humans. though I think they would have been scared of me, unlike you. So I suppose that makes you different."

When she asked him which name he would prefer being called, he looked thoughtful. "Cloudjumper, then," he replied, "it is nice to meet you, Elizabeth." He paused a moment, drinking in the conversation they'd had together so far. He wanted to make a good first impression with this human- she had just been very nice to him.

"Do you... want to go flying?"

---

Elizabeth Lavenza

The realm Elizabeth came from was filled with scary things, werewolves and vampires, things that could easily kill you if they wanted to. She knew it might be stupid to not be afraid of the huge dragon, but she wasn't. The scariest thing she could imagine was ever meeting her husband again, as big as this dragon had been, she didn't find him anywhere near as frighting as her husband had been.

When he told her that he didn't mind that she stared at him, it was her turn to be surprised. How could he not mind people starring at him? She knew very well that she was being stared at most of the time, and she knew they were staring at her because of her scars, so she really couldn't stand it. "People stare at me all the time, I can't stand it, that's why I'm out here. How can you not mind?" She asked him softly. When he said that he thought she was different from the other people in town because she wasn't scared of him, she blushed a little but nodded too. "I've see scarier things in my life." She admitted after a while, as she looked down at the ground.

She smiled brightly when he told her the name he would rather be called, nodding a little in agreement, as if she thought that was the best name too. "It's nice to meet you too, Cloudjumper." She said happily. When he suddenly asked her if she wanted to go flying, her jaw almost dropped in surprise. She had not expected him to ask her that, she didn't even think that was something she was allowed to do. "I can come flying with you?" She asked him excitedly, with a bright smile on her face.

Cloudjumper

Cloudjumper smiled faintly when she asked why he didn't have a problem with people staring at him. "Because when people stare at me, it confirms that they can see me- when I lived beyond the town of Arendelle, I was often alone. There were no eyes on me. No one to remind me that I was a part of this world. Still, I do not like how humans tend to react AFTER they have stared at me. That part, I could do without." He wondered if that made any sense to a human, though he supposed the concept of loneliness was not dragon-exclusive.

"It is nice to meet you too, Elizabeth." Indeed. As comforting as having people look at him from time to time was, there was nothing better than actually speaking to someone else. He smiled at her as best he could, pleased with how things were going. She even seemed interested in having a fly with him, which he was happy to see.

"Yes, of course," He replied lightly, moving back from her, "you may ride on the back of my neck- I will not do anything frightening, I promise." With that, he let the smoke surround him once more, the human shifting back to his dragon form. The massive, four-winged creature looked down at Elizabeth, lowering his head and body towards the ground so she would be able to climb up on him. He also brought forward one of his talons, to help give her a boost if she could not manage to get herself over his thick neck. The ridges on his head would give her lots to hold onto, and he would make sure he didn't do anything to prompt her falling off.

He had only just started making a friend- he didn't want to kill her.

---

Elizabeth Lavenza

Elizabeth nodded a little at his explanation, she understood that he needed to be noticed some times, it was a basic human, or in this case dragon, need. Some times she wanted to be noticed too, especially after living in her own little prison. But the way people stared at her now was not a way she liked very much, it only made her feel like a freak. "I don't like the way people react after they realize I noticed they stared at me, they always act like they never saw me in the first place." She said as she absentmindedly touched the scar on her cheek. She was a bit surprised that he didn't seem to stare at the scars at all, but maybe he just hadn't noticed them yet.

"Has no one else in town seen your dragon form?" She asked him softly, wondering if she was the only one privileged enough to have seen him like that. Maybe he was scared of frightening people, just like she was. His reason for hiding his dragon form was much better than her reason for hiding her face, he was a huge fire breathing creature, and she was just a little woman with ugly scars on her face. They could both be frightening, but in varying degrees.

She smiled brightly when he told her she could fly with him, giving her permission to ride on the back of his neck. "Thank you, Cloudjumper, I'm very honored." She then watched him as he turned back into the majestic dragon once more. Again she looked at him in awe, smiling at him as he lowered his head to the ground so she could get onto the back of his neck. He was quite large, so she was grateful when he brought forth the talon to help her. Gently she placed a foot on the talon before reaching out to touch his neck, by his help she was able to climb onto him, and get comfortable on the back of his neck. She then took hold of two of the ridges on his head, and almost let out a giggle at the thought of what was about to happen. It was beyond anything she had ever thought she would experience, especially with the life she had lead so far. "I'm ready." She told him maybe a little nervously, but she was also really excited as she waited for him to take off.

Cloudjumper

"So far, in this town, you are the first," Cloudjumper said with a nod of his head. He definitely knew that it was a shock to see a dragon, even in a world with magic. While he was sure there were probably plenty of people who would react like Elizabeth, and be friendly and encouraging about it, he also knew there were plenty of people who would react negatively, even in fear. They thought dragons were monsters. Villains in a story. He knew how it went. Slay the dragon and become a mighty hero. But he wasn't just a dragon, so maybe that would help. A lot of people knew him in town. A fisherman and a chef- not super friendly, but helpful enough when he needed to be.

Hopefully they wouldn't toss that knowledge out the window if he did one day reveal to everyone that he was actually a dragon. In the meantime, he would just continue having only one person in town know about his true self.

Well, two people if you included Rumple, but since Rumple seemed to know everything, he didn't exactly count.

The large animal waited for her to get comfortable on top of his neck, and smiled when he heard her say that she was ready. He let out a low purr-like growl, before pushing off the ground with his powerful, albeit somewhat stumpy back legs. He spread one pair of his large wings, flapping them strongly to force himself up into the air from a vertical take-off. Once he was in the air, he started to move, pushing forward through the sky as he moved up higher to get into the clouds. He would have just shot up, but since he had a passenger he needed to take a slowly climb. Still, he eventually got up to the clouds, the puffy balls of water floating all around them.

---

Elizabeth Lavenza

Elizabeth smiled softly when told her she was the only one who had seen him in his true form. It was quite an honor to be the first to see such a magnificent creature, though it hadn't been his choice to show it to her. But it had been his choice to change back to his human form, instead of just flying away again when he saw her. She was so happy that he had trusted her not to run away screaming, it made her feel more at ease with him. If he was ever found out and the people of the town came after him, she would be there for him if he would let her. She had done her best to make sure that Gerhardt hadn't been hurt, back when she still could, and she would do the same for Cloudjumper if it was needed.

When Cloudjumper took off, she held on to him a little tighter, a little surprised by the sudden takeoff even if she knew it would happen. For a moment she had her eyes closed, a little bit nervous about opening her eyes and seeing the ground from so far away. But when he started to move forward through the sky, she opened her eyes to look, and couldn't hold back a laugh of pure joy and surprise. "Oh my god, this is amazing!" She exclaimed as they flew through the air. When they got up to the clouds, she hesitantly let go of him with one of her hands, to reach out and touch one of the puffy clouds floating passed them. She couldn't believe this was happening to her, she was really flying on the back of a dragon, two things she never thought would happen to her. Mostly because she didn't think it was possible to fly, or that dragons existed, but now she had been proved wrong and she was quite happy that she had been.

Cloudjumper

Cloudjumper was happy to hear that she seemed to be enjoying herself on his back. He could even feel her relaxing up there, leaning over to play with the clouds around them. It would have made him smile, were he capable of showing such emotion in his dragon form. Instead, he settled for keeping the flight going, gliding along and flapping his powerful wings when he needed to. He didn't travel any further up into the air, though, as he knew there was a barrier around the town. It seemed to extend quite high into the sky, but he could feel where the limit sat and he didn't want to end up bringing any kind of harm to his new friend by going past it.

He also didn't want to bring any harm to himself, either.

The flight lasted for quite some time, the dragon wanting her to have a good experience with the sky and what it meant to be in the air before finally lowering himself to the ground again. Normally, he didn't spend so long in the air, as he didn't want people looking up and seeing him. But he imagined, with everything else happening in town, he had a pretty good cover story. No one would be hunting down one specific monster when they had so many to worry about.

He landed back in the clearing where they had first taken off, the large beast settling down against the grass again so she would be able to slide off his neck. Once she was off of him, he used his magic to transform himself back into his human form, dusting off his clothes as though the spell had made them dirty.

Looking at Elizabeth again, he let his head tilt to the side once more. "Did you have fun?" He asked her, honestly interested in finding out.

---

Elizabeth Lavenza

Was this really what freedom felt like? This joy that filled her as they flew through the sky? The courage to reach out and play with the clouds? Trusting that Cloudjumper wouldn't let her fall? If it was then Elizabeth wanted more of it. She was so happy that she was making friends with Cloudjumper, he was the first person she had dared to really talk to, other than Victor. She had lost all the friends she had when she married Richard and she had been scared to approach people, but Cloudjumper seemed to be very much like her. He had a side of himself that he wanted to keep hidden from view, afraid of what people would think of him if they saw it. He didn't seem as scared of things as she was, but she still felt like she could connect with him in a way she couldn't with others.

The whole time the flight lasted, she kept laughing and just enjoying herself. It was the most amazing thing she had ever experienced, so when he started to make his way back to the clearing, she was a little bit disappointed. But he probably couldn't keep flying around all the time, it was probably quite exhausting after a while. So she still had a bight smile on her face when he finally landed, and slid down from his neck with a little giggle.

She watched him with interest as he changed back to his human form once again. She had never really seen much of magic, in fact she had never believed in it, but now she knew it was real. She smiled brightly at him when he asked her if she'd had fun. "Yes, of course I did!" She said happily as she took the few steps closer to him and hugged him gently. "That's the most free I have ever felt, thank you so much, Cloudjumper!" She told him as she pulled away slightly to look up at him, not really knowing where she got the courage to hug him, but it didn't matter.

Cloudjumper

Cloudjumper was a little surprised when she moved in to hug him- hugging was definitely something humans liked to do with one another, but it wasn't really something dragons engaged in often. With so many wings and claws to deal with, it was a bit dangerous to embrace one another. Still, he supposed he didn't hate hugging, at least while he was in his human form. He had learned about it a long time ago from a young girl in Arendelle, and he had kept it in mind as a form of greeting ever since.

So he knew enough to move his hands around her, too, giving her shoulders a light, somewhat mechanical pat as though he were moving through the steps methodically in his brain. Once the hug was concluded, the man took a step back, offering her an awkward, clearly not often used smile.

"I am glad you felt free," he told her, "if you ever wish to feel free again, you can come and ride once more- I am often in these woods." He didn't usually have company, so this was new for him, too. But he didn't hate it.

He was actually interested in having some friends, and it seemed like she might actually become one. Which was awesome! Though his stoic face might never show it.

His stomach let out a massive growl at that moment, the male moving a hand over his tummy. "I think the flying made me hungry," he said with a little embarrassment in his tone, "would you like to go eat food with me?"

---

Elizabeth Lavenza

Hugging him wasn't something Elizabeth had expected she would do, since she was usually so afraid of so many of the people around her, especially men. The only other person she had hugged in a very long time, was Victor. He was her big brother and her best friend, she trusted him. Trust was hard to come by for her after what she had gone through, but somehow Cloudjumper had made her trust him, without her even realizing it at first. She had let herself go flying with him, where, if he wanted to, he could easily have let her fall. But he hadn't, he had promised he would do anything dangerous and he had kept his word. That on top of the incredible feeling of freedom he had given her, was overwhelming for her. Because of that she just had to hug him.

She was glad that he hugged her back, though it did feel very mechanical and maybe even a bit forced. It made her wonder if she had taken things a bit too far. Maybe he didn't want her to be that close to him, maybe she had made him feel uncomfortable with the way she showed her gratitude. But if she had, he would have pushed her away, right? He wouldn't have hugged her back. She really hoped that the mechanical feel of the hug was just because he wasn't used to being hugged. Because she really wanted to be his friend, she needed friends in her life and she had a feeling he would be a good one. "I would love to come fly with you again, you have no idea how much I needed the freedom you gave me." She told him with a soft smile after he pulled away from her.

The growl that suddenly sounded made her jump a little, until she realized that it had come from his stomach. She didn't know why he was embarrassed by his stomach growling, it was a perfectly normal thing. Especially after he had used so much energy flying her around. She nodded at his words about being hungry and smiled at him softly, though she was quite surprised when he asked her to go eat with him. "I would like that very much, I'm hungry too." She told him with a soft grin.

Cloudjumper