Roleplay

@stealthclaw [url=http://flightrising.com/main.php?dragon=2993378] [img]http://flightrising.com/rendern/350/29934/2993378_350.png[/img] [/url] Giraffe paced alongside the shoreline that separated the Viridian Labyrinth from the Tangled Woods. Night had long since fallen; the stars and moon shone brightly overhead and left thier reflections to dance atop the water like sparkling diamonds. Morning would soon disrupt the natural beauty, however, and this saddened the already brooding Imperial. While it hadn't been long since he came to live here it was beginning to feel like an eternity. It felt like an eternity because she was no long here to help him fix this mess he had gotten himself into. Flexing his talons to mash the dampened sand between his toes, Giraffe looked out over the gently lapping waves towards the opposite shore of perpetual darkness. Perhaps that was just what he needed right now--somewhere that would better reflect his mood. After all the clan had Devola now. They hardly needed the weaker Imperial when the highly trained and armored Ridgeback was around to guard what few hatchlings were in the clan. So inhaling deeply he slipped into the water and began to swim like an overgrown sea serpent. With his size the small channel would certainly be crossed by the morning. Or some greater beast may rise from the depths and swallow him. Either way he supposed it would help clear his mind.

@Kallile [url=http://flightrising.com/main.php?dragon=5666469] [img]http://flightrising.com/rendern/350/56665/5666469_350.png[/img] [/url] Troubled, the young mirror was trudging along the seashore, hoping to ease her anxiety. Lately the clan had been so busy repairing the damage done by a pack of powerful Plague Ridgebacks that they had no time to mourn the fallen. The strongest of the clan were constantly training dragons they found in their travels, then sending them along to the Shadowbinder in hopes she would bestow them with favor. It wouldn't work like that. A god's favor couldn't bring back the dead. Enya, who's permanent limp, constantly walked alone. Her headdress disguised her face so no one would ever be able to see her pain, or her sorrow. She hated looking weak. Especially around ArcidGale. The wind dragon that raised her after his mate's demise always looked at her with sadness in his eyes. While Nuri was not her mother, as she had no parents, the mirror had helped hatch and raise her for the few days she knew her for. Her front left leg, injured and scarred, gave out and sent her falling into the damp sand. Maybe it would be okay to just remain here, close to the sound of the waves, for a little while. It could possibly ease her sorrows. Well, at least she hoped it would.

@stealthclaw

The Imperial touched the bottom of the channel long before he was out of the water. It was almost annoying--walking and yet only half of his neck was above water. But it was from this point that Giraffe saw something rather strange as he rose above the waves onto Tangled Wood territory. A mass of silks and metals--someones clothing. He supposed that someone had taken them off before a morning swim. He hadn't really thought of that, so his own vest and dressings were now quite saturated.

But as he got closer he realized there were scales and flesh still inhabiting the clothes. He paused--the water now lapping at his ankles as he towered over the smaller dragon--a Mirror and a female by her scent. He paused as he looked down at her with red Plague eyes. He should probably make sure the other dragon was still living. Of course, to see if it was still breathing he would need to remove the mask and with these massive claws....well, a beheading was more likely to be the end result.

He finally came to a conclusion--leaning his head out over the body he drug his long whiskers over what few patches of exposed scales he could find to get a reaction.

"Hello? Are you well?" he asked, feeling rather silly in doing so. If this was some poor, washed up soul then he was just talking to himself.

@Kallile

Was someone touching her? Enya's eyes fluttered open and she sniffed. Through the small slits in her helmet she could smell a Plague dragon. An Imperial? And...With hints of Nature clinging to his mane, which was currently weighed down with water. Tiredly, she raised her head and turned to look back at the massive male. What was a Plague dragon doing on the opposite shore of the Tangled Wood?

"I'm fine. Just tripped." She responded faintly, pushing herself out of the sand with some difficulty. Her front left leg was held oddly, only her claws touching the sand. She seemed to favor that leg, for some strange reason. Her head hung low, as though intimidated by the Imperial.

"I didn't know Plaguelings liked swimming at night." She sounded exhausted when she made that comment, barely able to remain standing.

@stealthclaw

A small smile parted his lips when he got an answer. At least this female was alive and he hadn't stumbled upon something far more tragic. He made no immediate comment to her leg as she stood but he certainly took notice of it. Had she done that just by tripping?

"It seemed like the best option given my choices." he replied. "And I also figured it was the easiest way to get breakfast."

It was a poorly constructed attempt at a joke and there was no taking it back now despite how much he instantly regretted saying it. He just watched her a moment longer--the weary voice and hung head made him feel a little out of place. He was so used to being among other Imperials that he rarely had to consider his size. But after a night of swimming he was feeling rather weary too.

"If it's all the same to you...I think I'll pick up where you left off." he said as he lowered himself to gently flop down on the cool sands with a heavy sigh.

"Seems like a good morning to lounge on the sand. I assume it's morning...never really been to the Tangled Wood so I don't know if it ever gets light here." he paused again, hoping that being completely down on the sand made him look less monstrous. Or at the very least less dangerous.

@Kallile

The mirror snorted at the joke. Her leg ached so she sat back down, relieving herself of the pressure.

"It gets light around the shore. It's dark everywhere else." Enya replied with a snort. She loved the darkness, due to her origin as a shadow dragon. Her tail twitched, rustling the tailfeathers slightly.

With that mask on, it was hard to see what she was thinking, or where her attention was directed. So far it looked like she was staring at the sand near her paws. Was she looking at him, not too far in front of her? It was hard to say. Even with the Imperial lying down in the sand, seeming harmless, the mirror seemed a little nervous.

@stealthclaw

She was an odd one--this masked Mirror. Giraffe found it a little off-putting that he couldn't tell where her gaze rested or truly make out the muffled snorts. Where they snorts of amusement? Anger? Discomfort? It was hard to tell with the sounds being filtered through the mouth slits.

Her motions told him that she wasn't feeling at the top of her game. Given that her leg looked a little mangled and her head hung low perhaps she was out here for some sort of punishment. The mask did look huge on her.

"Are you...um...by chance stuck in that?" he asked carefully. He didn't want to offend her if she wasn't, but he certainly wanted to try and help her if she was. "Or just feeling alright in general? I know my birthland has gained some nasty reputations...but I assure you that I am far removed from my Plague lineage. I'm not out here on some kind of wild hunt. Just...thinking."

If she was looking at him, she might notice his scales flush a little lighter shade. Yeah, thinking. That never sounded suspicious at all. "My role in my new clan is no longer needed...I just need to find another way to remain a useful member." he tried to explain.

@Kallile

Stuck? That made the mirror tilt her head, the whole mask rotating with her.

"No. I found this one day around the edge of our territory, so I put it on. The rest of these clothes aren't...Well, natively mine. They were my mother's. She died in an accident very, very recently. I was still a hatchling. My leg was crushed in all the commotion, which makes walking difficult."

Enya fell silent again, heaving a sigh. "I'm not useful to anyone, really. With this limp I'd just be a liability for my clan mates." That fact made her so, so sad. So what, she was stuck as a nest-sitter? That just wasn't worth it.

"Shadowblood is giving me time to grieve, but when that time is over, I don't know what he'll have me do."

@stealthclaw

Ah, at least she wasn't stuck. But her story struck a close cord with Giraffe. The big Imperial shifted so that he rested with his belly on the sand, head towards the Mirror almost as if he were simply a giant puppy begging for a treat. He shook his head a few times before sighing--lightly so as not to send a blast of sand towards the Shadowling.

"I understand the pain of loss. My mate and daughters...were all taken from me. A clan that just couldn't understand how an Imperial and a Pearlcatcher could possibly be in love. That's when I started moving clans and how I ended up in the one I'm currently in." A smile crept onto his face. "She was a Shadowling too...maybe that's what drew me over here."

Afraid to rise up any to seem threatening, Giraffe tilted his head the best he could. "It seems we have the same problem then. I've always heard the expression that two heads are better than one. There must be something each of us are good at to contribute." He paused, realizing he hadn't properly introduced himself yet.

"I'm Giraffe, by the way. It's...an unfortunate hatchling nickname that just stuck. Please, call me Raff."

@Kallile

Poor Imperial. Losing a mate was almost as awful as losing a parent.

"Enya. My mother named me with one of the last breaths she had." Her fins twitched, lowering ever slightly. "Nice to meet you, Raff." The mirror responded quietly, still seeming to stare off into space. She loved that about her mask. She could look at something but appear to look at something different.

She had heard that expression before, but wasn't entirely sure what she and a plague imperial would be able to do about their respective situations. The tilt of her mask probably made that clear.