Of Dragons and Riders IC

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Staring with wide eyes at Einarth as he came out of the cave and walked over to her, Elizabeth almost thought that he was going to eat her like a piece of kibble. Instead, he just.. sniffed her. She was struck by the hilarity of that simple gesture, making her think of the gigantic dragon as nothing more than a big puppy. Her skirt flew up to dance around her knees when he exhaled, making her squeak slightly and hurry to smooth it out. She looked back up as he spoke, stunned yet again.


"How did you know my name?" she asked in confusion, though she assumed it was the same way that she knew his. The problem was that she had no idea how she knew his. This was so confusing. That was when the more important part of what he had said caught her attention. "Wait.. R-Rider?" she managed, blinking a few times. Ride? On him? It was like all of her dreams were coming true at once and now she wasn't really sure if hitching a ride on a dragon was a great idea. She had never even managed to ride a horse without getting thrown off repeatedly.


Glancing around behind her, she almost thought that she could sense the darkness that he spoke of. It was a feeling of horrid foreboding, as if danger was right around the corner. She was picking up on Einarth's feelings without realizing it, but it was enough to coax her into approaching him as he lowered himself.


"I apologize if I hurt you. I don't really know dragon riding protocol," she said, scrambling up and taking a seat. As soon as she settled and felt like she was in a good position, they took off. She didn't even have time to yelp before they were as high as the clouds. It was.. absolutely, positively, the most incredible thing she had ever experienced. She laughed with delight and peeked down over the sides, watching as the Faire disappeared from sight. Pure bliss filled her and she couldn't help but smile, relaxing enough to release him and keep her balance with a deep-seated instinct.
 
With a great jump, Roth flew forward and cling to a branch of one of the trees in his way. He would not admit it out loud but he felt like a 13 year-old lad again, jumping from branch to branch and clinging to them out of boredom. He let go of the branch and landed in a squat, his ligut-brown eyes making a quick search through the foliage. Shifting his eyes and grounding his teeth, he reached for the blade in his belt and swiftly took it out. He rose to his full height and made slow steps as he seemed to reach a clearing and the farthest part of the woods. His eyebrows shot up as a certain conversation reached his ears. 'Who in the Lord's name can be able to talk in---' As he was about to slap himself for being a foolish, he felt a wave of hot air pass by his knees. Roth crouched and rolled to hide behind a tree, looking past it at the girl that was in front of a cave. And from the cave came out a giant reptile that resemblee a lizard.

'Those giant goddamn blasphemous lizards called dragons' he cursed mentally and gave a low growl.

His face grew pale as he saw the blonde girl ride on top of the dragon and he stumbled a bit back as the air around him pushed him back when the dragon spread his giant wings and took off. Roth stood there, his hand barely grabbing at the blade. Suddenly he threw the blade and it hit a tree, burying its blade into the bark, and Roth let out a desperate yell that even made the birds leave their spots and fly away as he cursed all he could think of and teared apart one of the dummies that lay around.
 
As Einarth felt the wieght of her body sit upon his back, his pupils became sharp as he grinned. As she became comfortable he flapped his wings once and kicked off, within seconds they had breached the clouds. The wind beat against his wings as he flapped away from the surround ing area. Einarth soon brought them on a straight path above the clouds, close enough to where Elizabeth could touch the sea of white under them. He tilted slightly off to the side and let his wingtouch the clouds, cutting through like a knife in water. He felt her hands lay smoothly on his neck, she was not use to dragon riding, so that was only another lesson to teach.

Listening past the raging wind and the boom of his wings, he could here laughing. Looking upon his back Einarth saw her smile and giggle at the flight, she must have been waiting for a chance like this. In fact anyone like her must have waited so long to experience this. Einarth was enjoying this himself, it'd been over 450 since he last had more than one person to carry through the sky other than himself. "Hold on tight, Elizabeth..." He grinned as he turned away from hen, then made a hard break in their path and started flying straight up.

His wings picked speed, then flapped hard, pulling him higher and higher. He blinked to cover his eyes with a special coating to allow him to endure the attacking wind. It was like a special additon crocs and gators had, only for the sky. He reached a part of the sky that revealed the starts as if they were in space. Einarth spread his wings high and wide like a symbol of existance, then hualted before he flew to far for Elizabeth to breathe. Einarth hovered still in the air, slowing down the beat of his wings to maintain their altitude.

"Is this what you've dreamed of, Elizabeth?" he said as he looked upon the constolations. He then turned to look upon his back and see his Rider with a smile.
 
Hearing Einarth tell her to hold on, she looked back up at him and nodded in understanding. She held on tight as they suddenly went from flying straight to going up. It would have been terrifying if she were scared of heights, because when she looked back over her shoulder, there was nothing between her and the ground. If she let go, she'd freefall down through the clouds. Yet she had a very strong feeling that if she let go for any reason, Einarth would just catch her and scold her for being absentminded. She couldn't explain why she felt that way, but it was reassuring enough that she felt relaxed as they continued to gain altitude.


As they broke through to an entirely new level of sky, Elizabeth was awestruck. She was chilly from the height, but not enough to shiver quite yet. Brushing her hair out of her eyes since it was all a tangled mess now, she leaned back and stared up at the stars. If she had a choice, she'd stay there for the rest of her life and be perfectly content. There was Orion, and Ursa Minor, and Taurus.. So many constellations that she had gazed upon at night, and now it was the middle of the day and she was viewing them from a whole new perspective.


"You have no idea," she replied, straightening up to smile at him, her absolute joy radiating from her. "I've always dreamed of riding on a dragon, but I never could have imagined all of this! None of my paintings could capture all of these stars," she went on happily, then paused and laughed a bit. "You know, Einarth, I actually have a painting of a dragon who looks rather like you!" she declared, thinking of the painting that she had sitting down in her tent at the Faire.


"Can you fly in loops too?"
 
Felle was just about halfway through her meal when she heard an obnoxious rumbling- this time, it wasn't her stomach. She paused, lifted her snow-white crown and took a deep breath through her nostrils, confirming her fears: a human. What kind of human goes to the beach when it's raining? Felle grudgingly wondered, getting lower to the ground and trying not to make too much noise. She had learned many centuries ago that humans were soft, sensitive creatures, and, considering the weather, she had figured none of them would risk dampening their fleshy pink hides in the rain. This one must be tougher than the rest. Or perhaps just very dedicated to the water, which Felle could understand. The ocean was soothing, even in such unfavorable weather.

She took another small sniff, and concluded that the human was atop a cliff several hundred feet above. Felle grunted. All she could really do was stay still and hope that the human wouldn't look directly below. Unless ... The white dragon frowned. An absurd thought had crossed her mind, but of course it was utter nonsense. So she sat and waited patiently, ignoring the instinct to fly up to this human and engage it in conversation.
 
Boone sighed. She was gonna be pretty reckless today. The rain had softened but that didn't mean the lightening had disappeared too. She was clad in a rain jacket, jeans and rain boots. She needed a jump in her mind, something to get the cogs working. Although the ocean soothed her, she needed a rush. Boone leaned forward and peeled off her right boot.

"Chilly..."

She rolled her foot at the ankle a few times before planting it firmly in the cool, soggy grass. Boone peeled off her remaining boot and soon followed suit and pulled herself free of all of her clothing, save her undergarments. A pair of black and white stripped panties and a simple light blue and white polka dotted bra.

Cliff diving had been something Boone picked up ever since she had found this cliff face when she first moved to Seattle. The cliff was a fairly safe one, thus Boone could come here on her own.

Boone took a deep breath and rushed to the edge. She lunged forward and was airborne.
 
Felle may not have been looking directly at the human, but scents were simply rolling off of it, so she had a pretty good picture of what it was doing. Frustration filled the air, followed by relief, and finally a more complex emotion that was somewhat difficult to decipher. The white beast took an experimental draught of air, followed by a few curious sniffs. Perhaps it could be described as ... Exhilaration? Was that the appropriate term? Although it was challenging to match the emotion with its name, Felle knew without a doubt exactly how it felt. She herself felt a little ... exhilarated. Alarmingly so. It seemed the human's silly feelings were influencing her own- how unfavorable. Must be the weather. Which was unlikely, seeing as she had created the weather herself. Interesting.

There came a point when the exhilaration came to a climax, making the alabaster dragoness squirm with discomfort- partly because she felt an overwhelming urge to leap up and fly, and partly because she wasn't sure what the human was planning on doing. It was nerve-wracking. Finally, Felle looked up.

The dragoness' muscles had coiled and sprang before she knew what she was doing, sending her sailing into the air at a very precise angle. The human was falling. The human was falling THE HUMAN WAS FALLING and she needed to catch it -no, her, it was a woman- before she hit the water and drowned. In the split second that she observed the woman, Felle vaguely wondered about her attire- is this the latest fashion? Does not seem very practical- and then, with a soft thud, it was done. Felle, the last remaining sea dragon, was carrying a human on her back. The indecency. The absolute horror.

Snow-white wings snapped out and flapped powerfully, sending the unlikely pair sailing off over the agitated ocean. Where were they going? It seemed Felle's body was still acting of its own accord, to her alarm ... But she had to admit, the extra weight felt good, complete, made her feel like she'd found something that was missing NO NO NO NO NO

Felle did not trust herself to speak, so she waited for the human to, hoping that the woman wouldn't panic. The dragoness had an inkling that it would more more difficult to carry the woman if she was panicking than if she were at least somewhat calm. She coasted in silence. What have I done?
 
Boone felt her stomach lurch as something coarse and wide snatched her out of the air. Her body was shaken. Did she hit a rock? Was it instant death? The pain wasn't severe, just a dull throbbing from the impact but the surface she landed on certainly did "give". Boone sat upright and sketched the outline of her new vehicle. Wide bodied. Long slender neck. White. Boone blinked as her rampant thoughts slowed and calmed themselves.

"What the f-?"

Boone mumbled to herself. Her adrenalin was still coursing strong through her body making her thoughts run short and uncompleted in her mind. It was a few more minutes before Boone realized the severity of the weather and the situation and the impracticality of her wardrobe change.

"I'm riding...a dragon...in my underwear, in the rain."

Boone straddled the dragon's neck and laid her body close, much like a jockey on horse back would. She clenched for dear life with her thighs and took a peek over the edge for the beasts body. Ocean...ocean...some more ocean. She looked back behind them and saw the cliff face growing smaller and smaller.
 
(( I laughed out loud at that post :} ))

Felle waited a few seconds for some sort of reaction from the human, but got nothing; for a moment she was oddly annoyed, but then she realized that, since there weren't many -if any- dragons around, the woman was probably just very surprised. No, in shock. Possibly to a dangerous degree, considering humans' fragility. The dragoness was just about to say something when she heard the woman murmur, "I'm riding ... A dragon ... In my underwear, in the rain," sounding slightly stupefied. But the woman was showing signs of improvement, as Felle could feel her little legs tightening, her hands beginning to find better grip. The alabaster beast shifted to accommodate the human better, and then grumbled a reply. "I can't quite believe it either."
But, despite her grumpy exterior, Felle was relieved. She had no desire to see the woman suffer unnecessarily.


"Tell me, woman- how did you manage to fall off of a cliff?" Felle questioned, not without a note of irritation in her voice. She didn't understand the idea of cliff diving, especially since humans didin't have wings to catch themselves if their fall was too uncontrolled. Naturally, she assumed that the woman had fallen. "Don't humans shut themselves in their caves during weather like this, anyways?" The snowy beast continued, this time genuinely curious. Here was one human who had strayed outside in the middle of a storm, and somehow wandered off of a cliff. Either the woman was incredibly brave, or incredibly stupid. Felle coasted down to the surface of the water, now miles away from shore. She bobbed there like a duck, lifting her head so that the human slid down her neck and nestled between her shoulders. Perhaps flying was making the woman nervous.
 
Boone felt her body go rigid as the surface beneath rumbled as the dragon spoke. She took a moment to reply to the beast, taking note of the dragon's irritated tone.

"I didn't fall. I jumped. And humans don't really let a little rain stop them from living their lives. We've got jobs to do and places to go and I'll be damned if a little rain stops me."

Boone's tone was one of defiance. Even if this was a gargantuan dragon, and even if this was probably a hallucination she'd had from crashing into rocks at the cliff's base she wasn't going to let anything judge her the way this dragon was judging her right now. Boone let up her grip around the dragon's neck and slid down between the scaly wings on her back.

"Why did you catch me anyways?"

She turned slightly and saw that shore was now just a sliver of black in the distance against the gray skies.
 
As if things could not get stranger, a typhoon of birds suddenly sprout from the edge of the forest like a black firework during the daylight. Feathers and squawks littered the air to the right of her, disrupting what was once peace in the little area of the farm land. Xeri had never seen the birds so disturbed by something that big before, whatever it was! The only time she had ever sent he birds take off all at once like that was if they were migrating for the winter time. She actually paused long enough to look up at the sun before returning her gaze to the birds that were peeling off to who knew where. Her curiosity had always gotten the best of her, but that was not the only thing working against her. Her eyesight played a good part in it as well..

"Whatever that thing was...it was big."she said to herself, still in her hunched position. Being an archer called for things like accuracy, precision, and patience. Not many people of the village looked deeply into where the eyesight came into play. If one could not see a target walking, running, or flying, how is one supposed to be able to shoot them directly? It was a basic skill of Archers to see without really seeing. Xeri had the gift before she learned the skill of archery. In a way, it was a given more than an acquired skill of eyesight.

Xeri took more look into the forest, lips tightening into a fine line. You can't see me, but I see you..she said to herself. With the utensils now in hand, she picked herself from the ground, dusting off the back of her pants.

"XERI! THE ROAST!"

"Y-Yes, Grandfather!"she hesitated, grasping her items and shooting one more look into the forest.
 
After his rage had finally ended, Roth regained his cool and got ready to head back to his car. One dragon already had a Rider, he knew as much as that. He gritted his teeth and spat out curses to them, blaming them for exisiting, for being the reason of his curse and for still being the most magnificent creatures on Earth even though they had no mercy with no one. His mind suddenly came up with an idea that made his blood run cold and made him stop moving.What if the other dragons already had their Riders...and he had no idea of it? His hard features dropped into a facade full of worry and terror. "No, no, no. Don't get that kind of thoughts, Herrmann. You can't let those thoughts penetrate your mind." Roth broke into a run. After getting to his Ford, he jumped in and slammed his foot on the gas. He breathed slowly as he concentrated on what his next movement would be.

Another knife flew through the air and found its objective in the center of the neatly, but already torned, dummy made out of wood. His thoughts had been so tangled around that he had gotten a headache, and that headache turned into stress. And that stress lead him to throw knives in his warehouse. He rubbed his face and let out a long sigh. "Herrmann, you're the man with the worst luck, ever".
 
Kitty nodded and smiled, "Me too! See you tonight then!" She ran off and entered the house. She didn't really comprehend what had happened that morning, but she was sure that come tonight, she would have it all figured out.

She slept well that day, snuggled deep under her covers in her heavily curtained room. If one did not know it was daytime outside, they would never know it by looking at Kitty's room. She dreamed of flying again, and of seeing things she had never seen before, and of visiting places she never knew existed. All of the dreams had one similar aspect. They all had that black dragon she had met in the forest.

The sun set and the moon began rising. In the house the occupants headed off to bed while one occupant was just waking. Kitty stumbled out of her room just in time to say good night to her parents and to give them hugs and kisses before they bid her a good night and went to bed. She took a shower and got dressed, then headed to the kitchen to have a breakfast of cereal and eggs.

It was around eleven when she was finished in the small green house allocated for her use. The small room smelled of herbs and spices, jars of all shapes and sizes lined two of the four walls. She thought about her encounter with the black dragon as she cleaned up the syrup coated pans.

Kitty chose to label the occurrence as a daydream she had had due to sleepiness. But there was a nagging thought in the back of her mind that told her it was all very real. It was this nagging feeling that forced her to don her work clothes, grab a mesh bag and head towards the woods.
 
Onixa had already awaken right after the sun had set. It had been a while since she had last hunted. She flew high over the trees when she caught a familiar scent. It was the little human girl. She angled her wings down and landed a little ways a head of the girl, so as not to scare her and walked up to her, lowering her great big black head in front of her.
 
Felle was taken aback by the human's defiant reply; she paused for a moment and then finally chuckled, a low rumbling that resonated throughout her entire stark white body. "Pardon me, woman," she began, swiveling her head to better see the little thing, "It's just that the humans I remember were somewhat less .... Resilient." The white dragon paused again. "They also seldom jumped off of cliffs."

It was clear that the woman had some pride, which was not necessarily a bad thing. Pride, and bravery. You had to have guts to stick up to an enormous dragon when you yourself were just a small, pink-skinned weakling. Catching this little woman was one of the most reckless things Felle had done in the last 300 years, but, after reflecting on it, she concluded that it could've been worse. Although she would never admit it, Felle was beginning to like this feisty human.

The human's next question drew a moment or two of silence. Why had the white beast taken that leap in the first place? Certainly not just for the heck of it. Felle thought back and remembered feeling an intense emotion: panic. But why panic over the safety of an insignificant human? It didn't make sense.

"It was a reflex," She answered thoughtfully. "You were falling, and I, quite simply, caught you." And, unless the human pressed the matter, she would leave it at that.

"I will return you to the same spot, little woman." Felle opened her wings and shook them off, sending small droplets into the air. Judging by the distance of the beach, they'd be back in about ten minutes.
 
Boone nodded. She felt odd given that she thought she should be more curious but couldn't really think of anything to ask the dragon. They were almost half way back to shore before she questioned the alabaster reptile any further.

"Where did you come from?"

Boone had become more comfortable during the flight back to shore. She had a firm grip on the dragon's neck with her legs and left her arms resting freely between her own thighs. She waited for an answer, all the while scanning the horizon, all 360 degrees of the imaginary line. It was clearly so easy to travel as a dragon. You don't like where you are so you just up and fly somewhere new. You miss home so you just up and fly back. A simple concept, none the less it was beyond the comprehension of most humans who don't like where they are and dream of flying somewhere new. The humans who did fly somewhere new typically burn so many bridges it's impossible for them to comfortably return home.
 
The white dragon took care not to displace the human as she lifted herself from the water, and soon they were coasting comfortably over the ocean as before. The rain was even stopping; strong winds were pushing the storm away, towards the glittering settlement. Felle imagined how the sailors of the old days would react to such a gale ... They'd send one of their own out on the open water and have him ask the sea dragons for the safety of their ships. And the sea dragons would agree. Usually.

The woman's question came right on cue with the snowy dragoness' train of thought; she sighed. "My kind were massacred several hundred years ago," Felle began, speaking plainly. For some bizarre reason, she felt entirely comfortable relaying this information to the woman. "I escaped to a safe place and have been hibernating until today." There it was. Half of her whole life, summed up in two sentences.

More words came, hurting like bullets. "I have no idea if there are any of us left, or even if the threat is still imminent." Slender, white wings pumped harder and the odd duo rose further from the water, accelerating. "I don't ...." Another sigh. ... Know where to go from here.
 
Boone nodded solemnly. As sad as the dragon's tale was, she was having a great time for once. She herself was having a pretty grande adventure and to top it off her writer's block was gone.

"So you're the last of your kind...what about other dragons? Non-sea dragons?"

Boone felt an odd connection to this snowy white dragon. She didn't fear her or worry that she was untrustworthy. Boone didn't see any reason to be afraid, other than movie portrayals of dragons. It was a weird sensation, feeling that you could befriend such a creature when your whole life you had been taught to fear them.

The sun was starting to peak out from behind the clouds and Boone welcomed the warmth. It was still late morning, so hopefully this storm would remain at bay until she could make it safely home. Although, Boone didn't want to go home. She wanted to learn more about her new discovery and spend as much time as she could here, lest she never see the white sea dragon again.
 
As they flew, Felle shook her head a little. "I can only assume they've been exterminated as well. It was humans that killed us, and we were friendly towards them- I can only imagine what became of the species that were not as friendly." She paused. "You haven't ... Am I the first dragon you've ever seen, small woman?" Felle already knew what the human's answer would be. Yes. Still, she clung to a tiny seed of hope. Other dragons must have survived. They must have.

Something clicked.

The sea dragon made a decision right then and there. She would search for other dragons. And if her search bore no fruit- then she would keep searching. There had to be other dragons out there; Felle refused to believe she was the last one. No, there were cleverer dragons than she, ones who would have kept themselves hidden as the massacre raged. The alabaster beast rumbled. "If others exist, I will find them."

Lost in all of her thoughts, Felle hadn't noticed the cliff face draw nearer and nearer; now they were only a couple hundred yards away. Her massive wings angled slightly so that the pair drifted down to meet it, and when they were close enough her legs unfolded to touch down on the ground. There The great white dragon stood, uncertain for a moment; crazy as it felt, she didn't want to let the human go. A link had been formed between them- a special bond that seemed too precious to abandon. Still, Felle knew that this human had a life and a home, so with great trouble she lowered herself to the grass to allow the human to dismount.

"Tell me, woman- what are you called?" The beast asked quietly, gently, intent on knowing this much before she flew away and never saw the girl again.
 
"Hahaha, my child you do not understand the full extent of a dragon's wings!" he shouted in excitement. He twisted around and dipped hard like a meteor. He brought his wings to his side and dived straight down as the wind pounded against his scales. His eyes became sharp at the sensation of the rushed air passing him by. As he came back within sight of the ground, but far enough to seem like a map, he opened his wings and flew in loops. Just to give her a short thrill for now, he rolled in the sky like a cork-screw, keeping his path forward.

Off to the right of them a flock of ducks started passing by, one looked at the two of them and squaked in terror. Einarth laughed beneath his laws and turned his head to face the duck. He grinned and treated him just like the farmer he stole from. He bobbed his head like 'sup' again, then pulled in wind with his wings to dash forward. The duck watched them fly away, awkwardly, not even animals were able to stand the fact that dragons have returned. Einarth stilled his wings to slowly float beneath the clouds, revealing to his vision a valley of fresh forest and open fields. His body tilted down slightly while turning twenty degrees to the right, and glided to the ground.

As his massive, clawed feet touched the grass, he felt happy. This was the first time in centuries that he was able to land, knowing he was with his rider. He crawled on his wings and lowed his neck for Elizabeth to dismount. The afternoon was approaching them which would be the end for todays travel. Einarth knew that he'd only plucked her from where she called home like it was nothing. She probably had friends or family waiting for her, so taking her was out of the question.

He turned to face her once she was dismounted, then lowed his head in a bow. She rode on his back like a natural, the bond between them was strong of no doubt.

"Who would have believed the Shadow Wing's master would be a performer? You are full of surprises, Yolaan."
 
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