Roleplay

Hoi hoi @Sstickperson! Over here! Imma start it off w/ Zhi and Major, as mentioned. [url=http://flightrising.com/main.php?dragon=31444451] [img]http://flightrising.com/rendern/350/314445/31444451_350.png[/img] [/url] [url=http://flightrising.com/main.php?dragon=31468550] [img]http://flightrising.com/rendern/350/314686/31468550_350.png[/img] [/url] "Maybe we shouldn't leave the group this far into Earth territory," Major murmured, gaze fixed on the soft footprints she was leaving on the dust. Zhi flew above her, his smile a lot more somber than usual. "It's fine," he said, "Father will get worried, but eh. You know him. Earth is safe, anyway." Earth was safe, indeed, if a bit cold. The only reason the two of them had managed to get away from everyone in the first place was that the warriors of the clan - plus their fussy leader, and even fussier cook - decided they did not need to closely guard the younger dragons as if any step was going to kill them. For whatever reason, dying was kind of an obsession of the adults of the clan, and they seemed to dislike discussing it, too. "Neither of us can fight," Major pointed out, trying to follow his flight pattern with her gaze. No matter how much more regular than usual, it was still too erratic. Something Zhi had taken from his father, no doubt. "And the Sun is hot," the Spiral pointed out with no real traces of venom. "Aren't you going to tell me what was so important that you needed to talk with the most awesome Spiral alone? You love me, is it that?" "Yeah, right," the Coatl snorted, showing genuine amusement for the first time that day. "Is this about your crush on my sister?" Zhi asked, and Major's plumage paled. "Who told you- [i]Zhi[/i]!" she screamed when she saw his grin. "I [i]knew[/i] it! No, but seriously, what's up, girl? Is it-" "Zhi." The Spiral hummed softly in acknoledgement, actually [i]stopping[/i] mid-air to listen. When she spoke again, Zhi almost fell. ---- "-and I just... I haven't decided, but I think I would like to." Major sighed, looking at Zhi for a response. They had been talking for hours, long enough for the night to settle and the temperatures to drop drastically. The Coatl was shivering, unable to keep as warm as the constantly flying and moving Spiral, but the atmosphere between the two was warm enough for them not to be too bothered by something as menial as the weather. They had begun to head 'home' - or, well, where they had last seen their clan, and where they both assumed they would find a very worried group of dragons looking for them, and the conversation was slowly coming to an end. "Everyone has purpose," Zhi said softly, and Major nodded, any traces of hesitation long disappeared from her eyes. "I know. I need to find mine, I think." "That is... your decision, you know. But if you need to talk more-" Zhi trailed off, looking around. "What?" Major asked, moments before the Spiral hissed and spun around in frustration. "This is too unfamiliar. I think we got lost."

@Nimphy It had been a lazy day in the Dragonhome. Adira and the others were off fighting monsters, leaving the others alone to do as they pleased. The few who were guarding nests were quiet and still, wrapped around their eggs and taking turns laying by the nests to keep them warm. Deep within the Cairnstone Rest, they could feel the low vibrations of skeletal wyrms stomping around, separated only by a wall of dirt and a few wards from Agatha, the seer. Midday in the desert was brutal: there was little water to be spared, and whatever sources were found were sacred and guarded jealously. They had been lucking to find a small spring that connected to a large, underground lake, and the dragons of the Sunburned-Stickperson clan guarded their watering hole with a brutal wrath that subsisted only for those in desperate need of a resource. So they lazed about in the heat, keeping one ear to the ground in case someone tried to steal their water, and they slept through the worst of it in the shadows of their large cave. As night rolled around and the temperatures dropped, fires were lit within the enclosure, dotting the landscape like fire sprites attempting to find a home. The three warriors came home, landing gracefully on a ledge and sparing only a passing glance at the two dragons talking. A few seconds later, two little balls of dragon came bumbling out of the cave, a spiral no bigger than the average rock and a skydancer flopping over his tail. They could hear a wheezy laugh echoing on the still, stagnant air of the night, and a sliver of red, crackling like half-hardened lava, quickly barreled into them, a pair of glowing red eyes looking up into the sky as another dragon, dressed in a red cape, flew toward the pair and stopped, her ice-laced wings shimmering in the starlight. [center][url=http://flightrising.com/main.php?dragon=3917955] [img]http://flightrising.com/rendern/350/39180/3917955_350.png[/img] [/url][/center] "It's dangerous to be out alone as it grows dark here. All kinds of undead walk these lands, and you do not look too old yet. Where are you heading?"

@sstickperson I dunno if you've subscribed to the thread, but I now have, so henceforth there's no need to ping me! :D

"Don't shout," Zhi warned his clanmate, "Night creatures are never good."

"There's someone approaching," Major pointed out, tail pointing behind them. Zhi nodded.

"I know."

They kept walking in their previous direction, until the dragons approached, much quicker than what they had foreseen. A wheezing laughter, and an interesting contrast between approaching red and white later, they came face to face with the three.

"It's dangerous to be out alone as it grows dark here," the Skydancer said, as manner of introduction, "All kinds of undead walk these lands, and you do not look too old yet. Where are you heading?"

The two younglings spared a glance and a nod at each other, before Major took a step forward.

"I'm Major. This is Zhi. We came here to honor your lands and participate in your festival during the Rockbreaker's Ceremony, but we got separated from our clan. I'm sorry if we have walked into your territory by mistake-"

"Have you seen a wandering group of dragons around?" Zhi interrupted, his tone much less kind, tail ready to spin away and dodge any incoming attack. "Leader should be an obnoxious Spiral, maybe seen a Ridgeback sparkling? We'd like to be of as least disturb as possible."

"We're sorry to bother you," Major sighed, a particularly cold gust of wind making her shiver in her puffed plumage.

They could hear the black and red dragon sigh, and it didn't take more than a moment before the two little balls of dragonling were bounding over to them, sniffing them curiously and chirping gaily. [center][url=http://flightrising.com/main.php?dragon=39274083] [img]http://flightrising.com/rendern/350/392741/39274083_350.png[/img] [/url][url=http://flightrising.com/main.php?dragon=39302057] [img]http://flightrising.com/rendern/350/393021/39302057_350.png[/img] [/url][/center] "Natalia, we might as well just take them inside. We haven't seen anything like that through here," said the red-crackled dragon. "The Charge will kill us if we send them off. Tomorrow we can take them back to the Viridian Labyrinth." [center][url=http://flightrising.com/main.php?dragon=3880014] [img]http://flightrising.com/rendern/350/38801/3880014_350.png[/img] [/url][/center] "James," Natalia said, and there was only a heartbeat before a large guardian was ambling out of the cave. "I think we'll have some extra space for them near our nest if need be." "Then we should be good. I know that Cameron and Adira will worry if they're too close to the Charge. Contract some sort of disease from the Labyrinth." [center][url=http://flightrising.com/main.php?dragon=5624518] [img]http://flightrising.com/rendern/350/56246/5624518_350.png[/img] [/url][/center] "Hello!" came the rasping smile from the sickly little fae on the guardian's head. "Do you need a place to stay overnight?" "Charge, we are perfectly capable of handling this," Natalia said. "You can go back in and rest." "Why, when there are new dragons to greet?" "It's a wonder he hasn't died yet," James muttered as he shooed the dragonlings back into the cave, Natalia shaking her head behind him. "Plague is definitely his element. Hardcore survivalist."

Zhi and Major looked at each other again, then at the group of quickly gathering dragons. They seemed to be safe enough, and both of them knew they didn't have many options if they didn't want to suffer the cold or be attacked by whatever night predators might be in the vicinity.

"Thank you very much," Zhi murmured, as Major squealed in soft delight at the hatchlings. The Spiral bowed his head, his clanmate following soon after. "Your hospitality is appreciated," he said, looking at this Natalia that seemed to be the leader.

"Yes. Thank you- Can I, uh, can I hug them?" Major asked, front paws already halfway raised to pat at the hatchlings.

"Of course you can!" came the rasping agreement, and there was only a moment before the hatchlings were upon them. James, having been the one herding them, sighed heavily, sinking down to the earth dramatically, as if he had given up with them.

The look on Natalia's face was almost fond at the polite behavior. "You can thank our Charge for that. He's the one that runs this joint. We're just all here along for the ride. James, get your sorry butt up and in the cave. You'd think it's the end of the world with the way you're schloping around."

"I hate herding hatchlings," James groaned. "Especially when we have strangers who decide to fuss over them."

"Stop being a little--" she paused, glancing over at the little ones, then looking at the two newcomers. "Ignore him. He's a prissy little idiot."

"Thank you!" James said, getting up, indignant and riled. "Who was who has taught you everything that you know?"

Natalia laughed. "Clearly not someone as pathetic as you."

In a flash of feathers, Natalia was off into the sky, James scowling as he followed close behind. The Charge looked up at them as they flew off and sighed, then chuckled.

"You'll never find a closer mating pair than those two. But come on, let's go inside. We'll get you something to eat and drink, and you can curl up closer to the fire."

He hopped onto the head of the large guardian, and she lifted her head with a smile. "My name is Adira. This is my charge. This is my clan. It's a pleasure to have you."

Inside the cave were many nests, most of them empty, but all of them lined and fluffed and soft. Fires crackled merrily around the edges, especially around the mouth of the cave to keep the chill of night out, and dragons chattered and ate in the center of the open area. Most of them looked when they came back, a few of them lifting a claw in greeting, and most of them at least nodding.

"Welcome to the Sunburned-Stickperson clan!" the Charge chirped as best he could.

Zhi and Major looked around them, taking in the sight and dropping their heads in greeting every now and then. Major's plumage had relaxed, all tension disappeared since they had stepped in the warmer area, and maybe even before. Of course, it wouldn't do to be tense around hatchlings, and she wanted to make at least them as comfortable as possible.

"It looks like a nice place to call home," Zhi answered the Charge, smiling honestly as Major cooed babbled on to the hatchlings. "Thank you again for your hospitality. I'm sure that my father - I mean, our clan's leader will be very grateful. Is there somehow we can thank you?"

----

"Do you see them?" Florence asked for what must've been the fourteenth time. Or something. It wasn't as if Fiero actually counted.

"Of course not, I didn't see them five seconds ago, I'm not going to see them now, kid!"

"If you don't shut up, I'm going to actually throw you into the first Serthis camp I see. Try a fifteenth time."

Requiem did count, so he was right.

They had realized that the short walk Zhi and major had promised to take had gone way past 'short walk' and much more into 'they're lost, Gladekeeper's sake, what the-'. or at least that's what Requiem had said, before releasing a stream of curses that made even Florence blush. Surprisingly, Caron and Noreen hadn't begun to panic until dusk had started to set, and even then, Requiem and Fiero had been able to calm them down in less than ten minutes.

Progress, if the Ridgeback ever saw some.

They were flying in the night sky, Fiero and his electrical wear helping them light the way, Requiem and Florence making good use of their refined hunting instincts, but there was no sign of their lost clanmembers.

Of course, no sign, until Florence spotted two flying dragons and headed straight into their path.

((sorry! Meant to answer a lot earlier, but school attacked >_<))

((Brah, I get you. I might not be a student, but teaching can be just as difficult at times. :) I'm currently making notes on the next portion of chemistry.

Are they flying toward James and Natalia sky wras'ling?))

((yepp xD Sorry if that was not clear! Aaah chemistry, my forever nightmare, it still fascinatesme, but I'll always be a language student at heart))

((Are you in college? Or high school? XD I'm only in my second year of teaching, so there's a lot I have to learn.))

The Charge chuckled. "You don't have to repay us. We want for nothing here."

"He's very good at keeping us happy and healthy, despite his own afflictions," Adira said. "That's what we're here for. This is just hospitality. You don't have to pay back simple hospitality."

The little Spiral darted over to Major, burrowing in her feathers and chirping merrily. The skydancer came over, chirping pathetically to get on her back as well.

"They haven't their names yet," the Charge explains. "Usually our Seer names them, but no name has come to her yet."

---

Just before the two reached them, Natalia tackled James, hurtling them toward the ground. When they managed to separate themselves just before they hit the ground, they sent out a small dust cloud of dirt.

"Yield," she said, a smile on her face despite the hard pin she had him in.

"Always to you, dear Natalia," he cooed, and she turned around and slapped him in the beak with his tail before noticing the dragons.

"Incoming," she said. "Greetings, strangers."