Here Be Dragons

FaithLeafCat

She/Her
Original poster
FOLKLORE MEMBER
Invitation Status
  1. Looking for partners
Posting Speed
  1. Multiple posts per day
  2. 1-3 posts per day
  3. One post per day
  4. 1-3 posts per week
  5. One post per week
  6. Slow As Molasses
Writing Levels
  1. Beginner
  2. Elementary
  3. Adaptable
Preferred Character Gender
  1. Male
  2. Female
  3. Nonbinary
  4. Transgender
  5. Agender
  6. Primarily Prefer Male
  7. Primarily Nonbinary
  8. No Preferences
Genres
Modern/Supernatural, Fantasy, Modern, Horror, Magical, Mystery, Action Adventure, Scifi, Romance, Angst (but with happy endings)
"What do you think I am? A bird?" Triston Deepwell bursts out. The boy's elk cloak flows in the wind as he inches slightly further out across an aqua colored dragon's long neck. The pair are hanging off the edge of a cliff with the aqua dragon's tail curled around a pine tree for support, and Triston is doing his best to move towards a rock outcropping to grab a large egg nestled in a group of branches. He strains and reaches forward before managing to pull the egg into his arms with a heavy sigh. "Got it! All right, Tide, pull me up."

Tide, a Tide Glider, rumbles softly and backs up until the pair is safely back on top of the cliff. Then he huffs and gently nudges Triston's arm with his head.

Triston can't help but smile. "Yeah, yeah. We do make a good team," he mumbles. He gently slides the egg into a saddle back on Tide's back, and then he hops up himself and grips the handle. "Come on. Let's get this egg back to its nest." He squints and pulls the egg out again, looking it over carefully. ". . . right after we figure out what it is. Tide. Keep an eye out for humans while we're wandering around on this island. I'll look for nesting sights nearby."

Tide bobs his head in a nod. Having no legs, he slithers across the grass like a snake, folding his wings at his sides as his ear fins perk forward with interest. The pair moves deeper into the forest, carefully searching for nesting sights with Tide watching for potential threats.
 
Lambi bit his lip as he walked through the forest on an island he had been to a few times. He had figured out a few species that lived here and he was just trying to do one last run to make sure he didn't miss anyone. As he walked he heard Luna huff a bit dramatically. The shorter male laughed as he glanced at the dragon before back to his makeshift map. "I'm sorry Luna, it's taking a bit longer than I thought it would. But I'll make it up to you with lots of fiiiiish!" he said fish in a bit of a sing-song voice to hopefully gain her forgiveness. The white glimmering dragon huffed a bit more but she smiled a bit so he knew she was happy about the fish. Hearing a noise he froze looking around til he saw a quick flash of color go by. Immediately he recognized it and paused to sit down with his map. "Didn't think I'd see one of these guys...hm let me just add this..."

While he was mumbling to himself Luna wandered a bit but stayed closed by. The light fury was half listening to her human's mumbling when she suddenly heard something. Curious she walked towards the voice, the source of the voice was closer than she thought as she nearly bumped into a tide glider. In a flurry she spun around, running back to where Lambi was. Hearing his dragons yell he looked up,"Luna? What's up-" he was completely thrown off as the light fury came bounding back over to him, nudging him with her head. Getting the hint he scrambled to fold up his map and shove everything back into his satchel. The pair preferred to avoid any possible confrontations when possible.
 
Tide might not have noticed the light fury if she'd been silent; but she roars, and his head cranes around so fast he nearly throws Triston off. Triston yelps and clutches the saddle handle tighter, his eyes wide. "What - what was - ? Did you hear that dragon, too?" he asks.

Tide bobs his head in a nod and spreads his wings.

"Right. Take to the sky and see if you can track them. It might be the mother dragon we're looking for," Triston says.

With a thrust of his wings, Tide takes to the air. He zips through the trees with his eyes focusing in on the ground. He sniffs deeply a few times, attempting to find the dragon by the scent he'd caught earlier.

Triston, too, is on the lookout, squinting with his hand above his eyes to shield them from his hair. He gasps and points at a flash of white. "There! There they are! Try to land a short distance away so we don't scare them."

Tide rumbles in agreement. He carefully lands amidst a thicket of trees. Then he quietly slithers forward and gives out a soft, nonthreatening clicking sound to announce his presence. Triston stays quiet; with some dragons, even hearing a human's voice is enough to make them defensive.
 
"What did you see girl?!" usually the fury was pretty calm but a roar like that usually meant it was something they needed to get away from fast. Which almost always meant it was a human, dragons they could deal with but humans? Humans tended to be more insane than the dragons. Everything safely packed away he moved to attach the satchel to her saddle. "Okaaaay so we might have to mark this island iffy on being able to return," he tried to joke but Luna growled, hiding the human behind her as she scanned the trees. He was just about to hop on her when he heard the unmistakable sound of a dragon. "Wait...that sounds like a dragon...why were you running from one?" he peeked up over her and immediately spotted the human on its back.

The light fury pulled her ears back and narrowed her eyes, a clear stance telling the dragon not to come any closer. Lambi ducked back behind her as he tried to figure a way out, first he needed to make sure their was only one of them. If there were more it would be a bit trickier to get out. "I um...take it this is your island?" he called out a bit nervously mostly trying to stall. His mother was better with the confrontation part of their lifestyle, Lambi however. Well he matched his light fury to a tee, preferring to disappear. Peeking back out from behind Luna he got a good look at the dragon, tide glider...meant it was better in water than on land. Still extremely defensive Luna started to slowly get a plasma blast reading, mouth glowing a faint purplish pink color.
 
Triston's mouth drops open when he spots not only a light fury - a rare dragon where he's from - but also a human standing with it. He's never seen anyone besides himself try to make friends with a dragon, much less try to ride one. Even after his village learned dragons weren't behind its destruction, the survivors still loathed the beasts and tried to hunt them down.

Maybe it was different on this island.

"Tell your dragon to stand down," Triston says coolly. He nods to Tide, and his dragon slithers backward slightly to give the pair space. The light fury might be defensive, but Triston's confident his dragon can avoid her blast if he has to. "Look, this isn't our island. We were flying by and saw this egg drop off a cliff. You recognize it?" he asks, pulling the egg from his saddle bag.

It's a tan egg with wavy red stripes, fairly large in size as well. Lambi might recognize it as a Changewing egg, and there are several Changewings in the nearby area.

Triston rolls the egg delicately in his hands. "It's strange, though . . . eggs don't usually just roll off of cliffs. Not unless something happened to the nest. But we haven't even found the nest yet." He's not entirely sure he should be giving this much information to a stranger. Still, they're obviously a dragon rider, and seem too timid to be much of a threat. The light fury is his main concern.
 
Lambi was reluctant to move far from his dragon at all, he didn't know this man or his intentions. But when he told him to stand down he debated for a minute, if he was a trapper he would've trapped them by now. "Luna...I think it's ok for now," he reached up to touch her head gently as she reluctantly lowered her stance a bit. She was still adament on standing in front of Lambi, not allowing him to go any closer to the strangers. He listened to Tristan as he explained that they were flying by and saw the egg. Unable to avoid his curiosity he looked at the egg, Luna holding her tail up to keep him from moving any closer.

"That's a changewing egg...there's alot of them on this island I noticed..."he didn't know why it would be on the cliff edge either. Mulling it over for a second before he looked a Luna and back behind him. "Oh...so that's why he was here..." he mumbled before realizing he was talking out loud,"I saw a Death song fly past just before you showed up...it's um...likely the poor egg is an orphan if he's got any part in this." Luna looked a bit sad as she looked at the egg, knowing it probably got knocked out of its nest in the scuffle. "Sorry about Luna by the way...she can get a bit overly defensive when it comes to strangers," the light fury huffed before smacking him lightly with her wing.
 
"It's an orphan, huh?" Triston asks softly. He tries to keep his face expressionless; he doesn't want the stranger knowing what he's thinking. But his eyebrows twinge slightly, and he hugs the egg slightly closer. "Guess we'll have to find a brooding changewing and see if she'll take the egg."

He clicks his tongue, and Tide slithers forward. Then Triston rolls the egg down the tip of Tide's nose until his dragon catches it carefully in his jaws. Tide lays the egg in the grass and rolls it toward Luna. "Here's a better idea. You take the egg. You know this island better than we do. Up, Tide," he adds.

Tide takes to the sky without hesitation, and Triston doesn't look back. The boy and his light fury hadn't seemed too keen on talking to him and Tide. It's just as well. Triston has a hard time making friends anyway.

He's about to leave when he spots a strange ship in the distance. His eyes narrow to avoid the glint of the sun. Then he stiffens. It's a dragon hunting ship. All at once, he whirls Tide back around and lands in the clearing a second time. This time it's Tide who's on the defensive; his frills are raised, and he growls in the back of his throat. Triston draws out his sword and scowls. "What do you know about that ship coming over?" he snaps.

It wouldn't be his first encounter with a false dragon rider. It's a trick he's seen several hunters use. They ride native dragons onto an island to gain the dragons' trust, and then lead them straight back into a trap.
 
Lambi always hated to see orphaned eggs, no parents before they even got the chance to meet them. Usually orphaned dragons came due to hunters or trappers killing the parents but on occasion it happened for other reasons. As Tide slithered forward Luna was a bit on edge but she calmed down when he rolled the egg to her. Carefully she stood up and picked up the egg, bringing it back to Lambi. "I think I know someone who'd really love the chance to take in an egg," he knew there were alot of changewings around here but back home they had just taken in a rescued changewing. All her eggs had been stolen by trappers and she was left behind heartbroken, Lambi knew she'd take the egg in a heartbeat. As he flew off he didn't try to stop him, preferring to get the egg back quickly. Carefully he strapped the egg in to a little pouch on the other side of Luna's saddle, he added it in case they needed to take any eggs home.

"Ok Lune...looks like we are all ready to head out, get this little guy back home," he smiled as he climbed on her back. The light fury trilled happy to get to leave but froze when Tide came storming back down. Defensive at the sudden return and the less than friendly demeanor she flared up again, mouth starting to glow. "Ship?! What ship?" he was genuinely confused, at the draw of the sword Luna's eyes narrowed further but wouldn't attack unless Lambi told her to. "This is only my second time on this island, I came to see what dragons are here. There's never been another person I've seen before you," he defended himself, looking for a chance to get out. If they're really was a ship though he couldn't just leave the dragons on this island to their own. They wouldn't all be able to escape and he wouldn't forgive himself if he allowed that to happen. "We have to chase the dragons off the island, away from that ship," it would be stressful to the dragons but they could escape and hopefully find a new island or come back later. Lambi wasn't going to risk Luna trying to fight a hunting ship.
 
Triston holds his ground for a few moments, panting lightly as he searches the boy's face. He seems sincere. Slowly, Triston sheathes his sword, pulling in a deep breath. "All right. Sorry, I . . . it's been a while since I've seen another dragon rider," he admits. He huffs and tosses his hair out of his eyes. "We'll chase them toward the south end of the island. There are a lot of sea stacks that way the dragons can use for cover. Up, Tide!"

Tide's been watching Lambi and Luna throughout the entire conversation. They seem friendly, and he's hesitant to leave. Still, he rumbles quietly and rises up, heading for the northern part of the island.

As the pair fly on, Triston doesn't bother to check where Lambi or Luna are; he's used to working with Tide alone. The wind whips his hair across his freckled cheeks as he scans the island for dragons. "All right, Tide. Let's start down at that point and scare some dragons," he says.

Tide chirrs and swoops downward. Then he roars loudly; it's a noise great enough to shake part of the cliffside and scare several dragons out into a frenzied escape. It's also loud enough to attract the attention of the hunting ship, which turns and sails straight toward him.
 
Luna held her ground against Triston until he seemed to calm down. Only after he sheathed his sword did she calm down, quenching her flame. "Likewise...i assumed you were a hunter when I first saw you," he admitted because it was the truth that's exactly what he thought when first seeing the rider. He hadn't seen another rider besides his mom so he was reluctant to trust anyone. So he couldn't blame him when he thought he was a hunter. "Chase them towards the south...got it," he didn't know how they're were going to deal with the hunters. So for now he signaled for Luna to fly and she took off quickly and silently.

Light furies were almost impossible to see in the sky, their scales were reflective so she blended right into the sky. Taking the opposite side of Tide and Triston she dived and sent out a small plasma blast. Not enough to set fire to anything but enough to scare any dragons out of their hiding places. When he heard tide roar he cursed silently, knowing the hunters were bound to hear it. After a few passes in between the trees he came back up looking for Triston. "They're coming right for us now..."he wasn't really a fighter but now that they were coming to the island they needed to chase them off if they were going to protect the dragons living here. Lambi's approach had always been mostly scouting, his mother was the one who would chase off the hunters and trappers.
 
"Good," Triston replies as Tide roars again. Several more dragons scatter from the cliffs and trees, and Triston cracks his knuckles. "I'd rather have them going after us, who know how to fight, than have them going after wild dragons." He blinks and glances over at Lambi and Luna. ". . . You two do know how to fight, right?" he asks.

Tide only snorts and lashes his tail, wheeling slightly so Triston notices how close the ship is getting.

"Right. We'd better take care of that," Triston mumbles. He turns back to Lambi and nods. "You and your light fury get these dragons off this island. Tide and I will handle the hunters."

Without waiting for a reply, he and his dragon swoop down towards the ship. It's only once they're out of Lambi's earshot that Tide rumbles at Triston, and the boy winces. "No, I don't have a plan. Why would we need a plan?"

Tide huffs in exasperation. He folds his wings in to pick up speed, and as he arrives at the boat, he thwacks his tail at the mast to break it. Then he flies around and starts smacking the boat's sides to break it.

"You got this, Tide! Go for it," Triston yells. Then he notices some of the hunters aiming bows towards the dragon, and he gasps. "Wait, no! Watch it! Back up!" He slides forward down Tide's neck and drops to the deck in between the hunters. Then he freezes when they all point their arrows at him. He should've come up with a plan first. ". . . Oops."
 
Luna flies them back up quickly until they're close enough to Tide that the humans can hear each other. As Triston confidently explain he would rather the hunters come after them because they could find Lambi looked a bit sheepish. "I don't typically fight no...Luna is really good though," in all honestly without her he probably would've been killed a long time ago. The light fury was fiercely protective over him and had gotten him out of alot of bad situations. Hearing the new plan he nodded," Ok...we can do that, we can get them off the island." Hopefully...he added in his head but they didn't have time to debate as the other took off. Patting Luna for a second before the two took off again this time to chase the dragons off again.

The pair were quick to chase off the remaining dragons. Once a few took off the rest were quick to follow. He felt horrible but he knew they would either return in a few weeks or find a new island to call home. Lambi made a note to check this island again later on to see if any of them had returned and if any more eggs got left behind. As he flew back up he looked for Triston to tell him he succeeded but his face fell when he saw him on the boat. "Oh that's not good...come on let's go get them," Luna grumbled before diving, picking up speed as she glided just above the water. Lambi started to panic as he didn't know how to help the other. "Uhhh...um Luna aim for the sides of the boat if it's sinking maybe he can get away," the light fury nodded as her mouth started to glow. She was quick as she let out shot after shot at the lower part of the ship, easily leaving holes that could start to fill. Thanks to her reflective scales and speed the light fury made it almost impossible to see her.
 
((Last post for now, I'll be back tomorrow! Love this role-play so far! :3 ))

Several explosions shake the entire ship, sending both Triston and the hunters stumbling across the deck. The hunters have difficulty spotting the culprit, but as Triston catches a glimpse of shimmering white scales, he stares in awe. The light fury and her rider are trying to help him.

The boat starts sinking at once. When the deck starts to tilt upwards, Triston makes a mad dash for the side of the boat to avoid getting tossed into the waves - but then the hunters start aiming their bows toward Tide again, even as the ship sinks. Triston whirls around and slides down the deck towards them. "Leave Tide alone!" he yells.

He lunges forward and grabs the nearest guard. The entire group end up in a panicked scuffle. The boat lurches again, and everyone falls into the water with a loud splash. Tide roars worriedly and dives beneath the waves. Being a Tide Glider, he blends in well with the water and disappears almost immediately, especially with the boat's debris covering his movements.
 
(same here 😂 gotta head to bed but I'm loving the rp as well so far!!)

Lambi was trying to keep his cool as he watch the blasts destroy the hull of the ship. It wasn't long before the shop began sinking and he pulled off to see if the other was making it out. The shifting of the sinking boat seemed to make the hunters unsteady he noticed which gave the other an advantage. Luna growled a bit when the aimed their bows at Tide but the dragon's rider was quick to save him. There wasn't much he could do to help in the scuffle now so the rider was left watching worried from above as the ship completely sunk into the water. He heard Luna make a small noise as he pat her to try and comfort her. "Don't worry girl that's a tide glider they're designed for water," he reassured her.

And it was true tide gliders were part of the tidal class so they excelled in the water. Really the best place for both the dragon and his rider was the water where they could escape. It didn't do much to quell his worries though as he circled around the boat looking for any signs of the other rider. He didn't see any movement at all on the surface, which was good in terms of meaning the hunters were dealt with. But when it came to the other ride the lack of movement made him a bit nervous. His nerves only calmed down when he saw the unmistakable flash of blue under the water. It was extremely hard to see if you weren't looking for it but that was the tide glider doing its thing, gliding right through the water. He assumed his rider was on his back as he slowed down to hover in the sky waiting for the other to surface.
 
Sure enough, only a few moments later, Tide bursts from the waves with Triston on his back. He rumbles happily and swoops over towards Luna and Lambi, perking his fins forward.

Triston pulls in a few deep, shuddering breaths and grabs at his leg, trying to hide the arrow stuck in it as he grimaces. "N - not bad," he tells Lambi and Luna. "You two, uh . . . work well together. Thanks for your help." He clicks his tongue and tosses his head with a nod. "Come on, Tide. Let's go."

Tide rumbles in protest; for once, he pulls against Triston's instruction, flying a bit closer to the other pair. But Triston shakes his head and gives the saddle handle a slight tug. "Come on, Tide. We've bothered them enough." Tide huffs impatiently. But he slowly wheels away, making sure to turn enough so the other pair catches a glimpse of the arrow in Triston's leg. They're the closest thing to friends Triston's had in a while, and he's determined to keep the group together somehow.
 
Lambi felt extremely relieved when he finally saw them surface. Luna made a small happy noise as tide flew up to join them. He hadn't seen another rider before now so he ended up just getting a bit worried when the other was in trouble. "Thanks...she's the brains I'm mostly just baggage," he joked hearing his dragon huff a bit in agreement. "Next time probably should rush in head first," he joked with a small laugh watching as the other went to leave. He felt a little sad, as he hadn't really had anyone he met other than his mom that understood dragons but he knew it was probably for the best. "Oh um it was nice meeting you two," he gave the other a small waved and watched as he tried to leave. Key word was try as his tide glider didn't seem as keen to follow his orders, refusing to budge.

Eventually he seemed to get the dragon to listen as he started to turn. But as he turned Luna immediately saw the arrow and dashed ahead to block tide from leaving. Lambi was confused until he spotted the arrow. "You have an arrow in your leg! You weren't actually planning to fly around with that were you!?" he understood now why the glider refused to leave, knowing his partner was injured. The shorter male narrowed his eyes at triston but more in a 'you're definitely not leaving with that in your leg' kind of look rather than a mad look.
 
Triston grimaces and closes his eyes, sinking back in his saddle with a sigh. He's been caught. He huffs and rolls his eyes. "Yeah?" he mutters at last. "It's no big deal. It's just an arrow. Tide can help me get it out."

Tide growls and flies back towards the island, glancing over his shoulder at the other pair to check if they're following him. He's just as stubborn as his rider.

"Tide, no! Up! Bad dragon!" Triston calls. But as he tries to pull on the saddle handle, he accidentally puts weight on his injured leg, and he yelps and grabs it with his hands instead - which leaves Tide free to land in a nearby clearing.

The dragon cranes his neck around and gently pulls Triston off his back, ignoring the boy's protests. Then he gingerly sets him in the grass and rests his head beside him.

"Ugh. We don't need help, Tide. What is wrong with you?" Triston whispers under his breath through gritted teeth. Tide rumbles and glances up at the approaching dragon and rider. Triston follows his glance, raising an eyebrow. Then his eyes widen. ". . . You made a friend." He sighs and sinks against his dragon's side, crossing his arms. "Of course you did."
 
Luna also narrowed her eyes when the other admitted he had an arrow in his leg. Her and her rider were almost identical when the both made that face. "No big deal? You have an ARROW in your leg," he pointed at it to emphasize his point,"Pretty sure that counts as a big deal." Luna huffed to showed she agreed with Lambi on the seriousness of an arrow in his leg. As soon as Tide started back towards the island the light fury followed suit, easily landing gently in the clearing. Lambi hoped off her and started searching a bag on her saddle while tide dealt with his rider. It was a bit funny how the pair seemed to be identical when it came to stubbornness. Finding what he needed he started over towards the dragon rider, holding a small box.

He sat down on the side of triston which had the arrow, Luna moving to sit right behind her rider. "Ok, now first a warning, pulling it out is going to hurt, cleaning it is going to hurt, the medicine will probably hurt buuuuut after that it's all peachy!" he smiled at the other as if he didn't just say it was going to hurt like hell. "So I'm going to pull it out on the count of 3,"he got a bandage ready to temporarily stop the bleeding,"1...2..."and YOINK the shorter male pulled the arrow out early on purpose before pressing the bandage to stop the wound. After the other had reacted and the blood calm down a bit he pulled out something in a bottle. "Going to sting but on the plus side it numbs up the area after the initial sting," it was something his mother discovered throughout her years with dragons. The adorable dragon rider waster no time as he thoroughly sprayed the other's wound. He gave it a few minutes to set in before he started to bandage it up. He was used to bandaged up the dragons they found and his mother on occasion so he was speedy when it came to this type of stuff. "Tada! See that wasn't so bad!" he was chipper as could be as he started to put away all his supplies, Luna sat behind him making this funny chuckling noise.
 
As Lambi sits beside him, Triston squirms and inches away slightly, only to be stopped by Tide's head. "You're not doing a great job of selling me on this," he mutters, wincing in anticipation. Then Lambi yanks the arrow out and starts cleaning the wound. Triston barely has enough time to shut his eyes and let out a scream before the boy has carefully started wrapping his wound. After a few moments, Triston pants lightly and opens one eye, then two. ". . . Oh," he murmurs when he realizes his leg is already taken care of.

He clears his throat and drops his gaze. "Thanks." He roots around in the grass for a moment, and when he finds the arrow, he picks it up and turns it over in his hands. "Good, no dragon root. So I'm not poisoned." Triston hesitantly glances up at Lambi, heaving a deep breath. ". . . Listen, maybe I came off on the wrong foot earlier. I'm Triston. This is Tide," he adds, extending a hand to shake.

Tide chuffs happily and gives his wings a flap. So far, things seem to be working out as well as he'd intended. He moves his head toward Luna and perks his fins forward, trying to say hello.
 
Lambi learned the hard way that if you wanted to clean a wound you needed to be quick. Dragons in pain were alot less understanding than humans tended to be. When you took care of if quick they barely have time to register the pain before it's over. "My bedside manner could probably use some work but I'm used to treating dragons to be fair," he shrugged, finishing up the bandage carrying. That was the most important part, if the bandage was half done then it might come undone. "And see it's all done before you can even register what's happening!" he smiled as he packed away the supplies. Luna laid down next to him so he could put the box away back into a pouch on her saddle.

As triston started talking to him again he looked up from where he was fiddling with his dragons saddle. "Nice to meet you Triston and you too Tide," he smiled up at the dragon,"I'm Lambi and this is Luna!" He gestured to the light fury who made a small trilling noise in response to Tide, her own way of saying hello. "We haven't seen another dragon rider before, mom is going to think I'm pulling her leg when I tell her!" he said the last part mostly to Luna who nodded in agreement. His mom was alot less trusting of people, and she had good reason to be. She was after all cast out by their village for her beliefs and spends most her days fighting hunters and trappers