Of Dragons and Riders IC

He hasted his charge and wasn't planning on stopping! To hualt would mean to condem his rider to death, a fate he didn't desire to become of her. Einarth rose on his hind legs and charged towards the faire faster, directly ahead he saw Elizabeth, she was so close! But before he could make a reach for it, people started to gather in his path. Great! More obsticles! As if he didn't have enough to think about! Without thinking for a minute of it, he hit the brakes and dug his claws into the ground, pitching up and lifting off from the forest. A few looked up to see his form in the sunlight, but they all were holding or around barrels oof wine. They assumed they were drunk. The midget on the horse looked at the wine in his hand, then away from it and poured it square out.

Quickly he took to the clouds without sighting, or at least belief taking hold. When the crowd became distracted he took this time to circle back around; and go back for Elizabeth. He darted into a dive with his wings out to pull up at the right moment. She wouldn't approve of what he was about to commit, but it would have to do. He tapped into their sense of telepathy and gave her a hint at least.

Elizabeth, step outside, trust me.
 
Elizabeth froze as she heard Einarth's voice. Yet, it wasn't actual hearing. It was more like she sensed it. She looked all around but obviously he wasn't standing right in her tent. That was when she became aware of the fact that people were yelling and things had gotten a lot louder outside while she wasn't paying attention. She tended to tune out the world when she painted, not noticing things that should have been painfully obvious. After thinking on that for just a moment, she picked up on the urgency that was not hers. Finally she realized that it had to be coming from Einarth.. but how? No time to think about it.


She went over to her tentflaps to go outside like he had told her to, but before she was even fully outside, she froze. There was a guy standing there, one that she didn't recognize. That was strange enough by itself since she had been with the Faire so long that a stranger would be noticeable immediately. Plus, the Faire was closed today, so it wasn't like he was just a wandering visitor. What really caught her attention, however, was the blade in his hands. Panic tinged her thoughts and she fell back a step into the tent instinctually, realizing that she had no way of defending herself if necessary.
 
The noise all around him made him look up, spotting the great behemoth that circled the skies. So you have finally come out to play, right lizard? Roth smiled and then looked again to the girl's tent. She was so close, almost outside it, he knew this was his moment and so he took a step forward...and then another...and another. He smirked at her as he stood in the entrance, his blade shining in a small ray of sunlight it had caught. He had actually never come this close to a Rider in his lifetime, not even ever met someone who became one. The panick was written all over her features, even the look in her eyes was familiar to him; it was like that of an animal before slaying. Roth bowed his head and folded his hands behind his back, seeing the girl unarmed and knowing the odd were on his side. "Greetings, my dear. I hope I didn't scare you with my presence." He chuckled, his voice and his way of laughing were indifferent, like a flat surface.

Reaching out slowly with a hand to her face as not to harm her, though he would later do, Roth inspected more closely the blonde damsell. She looked wonderful in the attire she was wearing, and she looked so tiny compared to him. A giant and a princess, he thought.
 
Einarth was running out of time, he either acted now or never, he prefered now! Elizabeth had been backed up back into her tent which made things so much harder, but he could still pull this off. It was just all about timing... or desperation so deep until exposure didn't matter, either way he was going to save Elizabeth. Einarth folded in his wings and shifted into a dive bomb as he approached the earth's surface, this was gonna give Elizabeth a upset stomach.

Einarth spat a ball of fire to knock over the tent to expose Elizabeth and scramble her attacker. He just hoped it was enough to stall the creep for about five seconds, five is all he needed. Einarth reopened his wings and started gliding , as he skimmed over Elizabeth, he opened his feet and grabbed her into his talons, making sure not to harm her. Quickly Einarth took to the skies and disappeared in the clouds, while the circus folk cuaght word of their 'visitor'.
 
Staring at the man as he advanced on her, Elizabeth was frozen. She had no idea what to do or how to react to this. Nobody had ever threatened her before, and here he was acting like some sort of gentleman who intended to visit or something. Barely able to think straight through the anxious fear that immobilized her body, she could only flinch when he reached out to her. She stepped back belatedly, moving to the side right after his hand brushed her cheek.

Right as she moved, her tent was knocked over and a rush of wind tossed her hair around. She managed to take one more step away from the man, and then she was airborne. Yelping in surprise, she watched the ground rapidly falling away and twisted around enough to see that Einarth had snatched her up like a hawk hunting a bunny. Oddly enough, instead of being scared out of her mind at the gigantic claws that were wrapped around her body while her legs dangled, she was comforted and relaxed.


Thank you, Einarth..
 
He floated lightly over the clouds, his wings still as the wind gently flew over his scales. Turning on his right and tilting to the right, he peeked down below for any signs of being followed, fortunately they were clear. That was too close for comfort and how his on enemy, Roth, could have the gull to approach a rider. Either he was desperate for a dragon's hide, or wanted an early grace, and Einarth wouldn't mind bringing it to him.

Miles away from the faire, maybe even civilization, Einarth came at ease. Nearby was an old area Einarth remembered from his old days of traveling and hiding, a place to hide for now. His wings turned to breaks and brought him into a light hover as he approached a mountain, covered in lush bushes and green grass. Einarth floated slowly down to the ground and gently placed Elizabeth down, the wind kicking up dust as he hoved beside her and landed. He stood up on his hind legs and snuggled his nostrils into her chest, he was relieved she was alright.

Are you alright, Elizabeth? Did I harm you in our escape?
 
Everything around him happened so fast, he barely had the time to throw his blade. Roth spun around as the greatest of the winds he had felt rushed past him and made the tent fly away. He reached to cover his eyes with his hands and saw the behemoth snatch the girl and soar into the sky. He cursed and cursed, stamping around, the whistling of the sudden wush of wind still around him. His first instinct as a hunter was to look for another weapon to use. So far he had located a set of arrow and bow and jumped over to it, straining an arrow and aiming to the skies, knowing he had the slighest of chances to get the Dragon or the girl. He felt someone put a hand over his shoulder and just shrugged it off. "Oi! You can't take the Faire's weapons! Bring that back!" Roth ran into the woods, not even paying attention to the orders they were calling out to him. 'They want to find me? Let the kids try it.'

After growing tired about running, Roth decided to jump from tree to tree, going to the deepest parts of the forest and further from where he knew civilization was. He knew the risks about getting lost, but he knew how to live a life in the woods and he surely knew the place like the back of his hand. He had traveled the world so much and had gotten lost so many times the paths were already familiar to him. Only problem would be if there were any wolf packs around...
 
A sudden pain made her flinch and she twisted a bit to look around, but it was impossible to see. It wasn't until Einarth had placed her down that she could really see what had happened. Her skirt had a random tear in it, and when she pulled it up a bit, she saw a jagged cut against the side of her thigh as if something had struck her. It wasn't deep or anything, but it was bleeding. She frowed in confusion, but then Einarth distracted her by nosing at her. The gesture made her laugh and she wrapped her arms around him - as much as she could, anyway.


"I'm fine. You didn't harm me in the least. Thank you for coming. Who was that? I didn't recognize him at all and the way he looked at me.." she trailed off for a moment to shudder, a worried frown on her face. "It was like he hated me for some reason. Did I do something wrong?" she asked, uncertain if by accepting a ride from Einarth, she had somehow offended somebody else. Who else knew of dragons? Elizabeth sighed, confused but happy to be spending more time with Einarth.
 
Boone hesitated to answer. She always felt a sort of embarassment when speaking about her familial ties.

"No. No family."

She took a deep breath. It was cold out now and she was chilled to the bone. Boone needed to get home and warm up. But she didn't want to go. She wanted to have an adventure with the alabaster beast.

"I can help you more than you know."

She pushed soaking hair from her face.

"Let me help you and I know we'll find more dragons. Maybe not dragons like you but maybe others. There must be other survivors."
 
"His name was Roth, an extremist you fights to end the legacy of us dragons with no regret. He would hunt us to no end only to eliminate us, while doing what he can to stay "Immortal" as he calls himself." Einarth laid on his stomach and folded in his wings, sitting his head upright, looking at Elizabeth with a grin. As angered as he was with Roth, he was more into being with his rider.

Taking a minute to sniff the air, he cuaght the smell of blood. Einarth tilted his head and suspected either him or Elizabeth was hit. He looked at his body from head to toe, then eyeballed Elizabeth and looked at her leg. A small cut bled her leg, not severely but Einarth did take her up in his talons. He nudged her leg and groaned in his throat to say sorry. Einarth was scales, fangs, and fire when he was serious, but turned into a giant puppy when she'd get hurt, humiliating really! Still didn't stop him however, he was a dragon that cared for his rider, so be it if he appeared as a pet.

"Yolaan, you are strong at heart, but your silver tongue is below average." he gested and chuckled. Elizabeth showed she was a lot of things, a liar, not one of them.
 
A sense that the girl was approaching struck Enfyra. Good. Come and find me. he growled, growing impatient. With his patience thinning the dragon took to pacing, keeping his sharp green eyes focused in the direction he knew the woman would be coming from. The sound of each step of his powerful legs rumbling through the ground. Enfyra used his weight rather than mask it like he he had been hunting. He wanted to be felt, to be heard by the girl so she was sure to find him.

That's it! Just a little more and you'll find me.
Enfyra called out to her. Somehow, he knew she was drawing nearer, running through the forest. He kept his eyes trained on the distance while he finally began to put more thought into why he had such a strange connection to this human girl. He could only think one of logical answer, but it was the old stories of Dragons and Humans having a powerful bond, the humans known as riders. There hadn't been any known rider for hundreds of years and on top of that, not ever dragon would have one. What were the odds of him meeting a human that was meant to be his rider at a time like this? He wasn't very fond of the idea of letting some weak human ride on his back, strange connection or not.

She was close now! Enfyra could wait no longer and stopped his pacing to rush through the trees in her direction, wings drawn up against his body and head held high for greater vision. She came rushing into view, her long brown hair whipping behind her while she moved through the forest, held by a red sash. She had piercing, intense green eyes just like his own. She was also carrying something over her back and in her hand... a quiver or arrows and a bow! Spreading his wings wide and baring his teeth, Enfyra stopped running, his claws digging into the soft soil below him and kicking up dirt. His head lowered to look give her a look into his eyes.

Do you mean to kill me, woman?
 
The distances her had ran so long ago had been so much longer thatn this one, why was he getting tired now? Roth was already panting, his short hair dripping with sweat, and his coat weighing down on him like a bag full of potatoes. The forest was humid, the trees tall but not close enough to block out the midday sky. He gulped and clung to a tree, taking deep breaths to calm his beating heart. Roth blowed his cheeks and took off his heavy coat, letting it fall to his feet. Stretching his arms he caught a sound that was familiar to him, but mayne not to the untrained person. It was a continous thud, like drums being played in the middle of the forest. He looked around bewildered, trying desperately to locate the direction of the incoming sound. It wasn't exactly moving to his direction but he knew it was close enough for him to get near it. Taking out all his blades from the coat and placing them in his belt, he dashed off, not caring at alll at the abandoned coat. With all the strenghts he could still find in himself, Roth jumped to a tree and climbed, climbed untli he could see the tops of the other trees. Sure, he didn't exactly have the sight of an eagle, but he knew how to locate a target, exactly what he was trying to do as he brought the bow and arrow he had into his sight and aim for something. Roth may not have been the best of all the archers in the world, but at least he knew how to shoot things in his sight, a thing he was trying to do but seemed almost impossible as all the trees seemed to move around all at once. "Come on, come on. Where are you little bugger? Show yourself!"
 
"Hunt you?!" Elizabeth exclaimed with a frown, then paused as Einarth seemed to be examining her. She knew, somehow, what he was hunting for and she said nothing. There was no point in denying that she had gotten hit since he obviously knew, but she wasn't expecting him to peek at it. She blinked as he pulled her close and basically nuzzled her like an oversized dog, too amused and touched by the gesture to be afraid of the gigantic creature. Patting the dragon, she smiled and shook her head.


"Well, it wasn't you who hurt me, so I didn't lie. Whatever it was just hit me like a bird or something. Maybe we killed a crow mid-flight," she suggested, laughing a bit as she examined the cut again. It was oddly straight. She nestled into the cradling talons comfortably and looked up at him, curious. "What does Yolaan mean? You didn't get a chance to tell me earlier."
 
The white beast felt a mixture of empathy and excitement as Boone admitted to having no family; for one, it meant that she had no ties to hold her back, but at the same time, Felle knew that living without family was horribly lonely. She gave a comforting rumble, despite not knowing where the woman's kin were; clearly Boone was upset about it, and that was really the only thing that mattered.

As the woman went on about dragons, the alabaster beast continued to rumble, this time in amusement. Boone had only just met her first dragon, and not even an hour later she spoke of them with such passion! Felle could not help but admire the human and her spirit. Colorless eyes met the human's calmly, carefully. "There are. I'd be ..." A pause.

Felle continued quickly, words flowing out of her mouth like rain. "Lady Boone, there were once humans who rode on our backs and shared our thoughts. These humans were rare, and sometimes disproved of, but ..." Another pause, this time spent remembering the old days. The human on her mother's back, riding like she had been born for that purpose and that purpose alone. The two flying through the skies, then diving and gliding through the waters like one creature, like one complete and utterly whole being. Felle smiled as much as a dragon could smile. "...but they were no less than heroes."

"They were called dragon riders."

The white dragoness did not have to think long about she was going to say; the statement came sliding out like an eel, simple and smooth. "I have chosen you as my dragon rider, Lady Boone." It was not a question.
Those colorless, calculating eyes slipped over the woman's shivering figure an afterthought, and she added, "Perhaps you'd like to prepare a bit more extensively before we depart?"

 
Xeri heard a command in her head again come find....him? She was sure it was a him. Resonating inside her head or not; the voice was still deeper than a woman's high and light standard. It was uncomfortable enough to know that someone was speaking to her in her mind, having the voice being a man even making it even more uncomfortable! There were a bundle of seconds where Xeri thought she was going mad, sprinting in the forest to find the source of a voice in her head. Logically speaking, it was idiotic. However, logic didn't feel...in place there. It wasn't like she willingly ran in through the bushels and past the trees on her own.

She was forced to.

Xeri's razor sharp, green eyes zipped this way and that as she ran through the forest. Her body was part of the wind, leaping over fallen logs and avoiding scabbing her fair skin on any thorn. The forest was her own personal obstacle course in which she was passing with flying colors. As well as she should have; she practically lived in that forest. Thoughts of residency brought her back to the cottage she had left behind, lips pulling down in a frown at how distraught her grandfather must have been. He can take care of a roast by himself, can't he? She silently ensured herself that he could.

A low growl from her left grasped her attention fully within its hold. Xeri skidded to a stop in grace, hair turning slowly to the spot where the sound had came from. That particular patch of the forest was darker than the others. She knew she was at the right spot. That's when her eyes gleamed off of something long and reflective....a fang. Adrenaline caused her to grab her bow and aim it directly at the maw of the dragon that crouched in an intimidating stand. Xeri's shock at discovering the beast quelled as soon as the dragon's green eyes shot through hers, a voice following the gaze.

Do you mean to kill me, woman?

Xeri paused before blinking, letting the voice drown out in her head. "In my defense I am. What are you? Better yet, who are you and how can you converse with me?"she demanded, holding her bow to an angle that landed between the eyes of the dragon, if the need to shoot overwhelmed her. Her little flimsy bows would not do much against the platted armor the dragon naturally bore, but then again, he was defensive for a reason, yes?
 
Thoughts flitted through her mind, possible explanations coming and going like water running down a stream. The truth would need to be told Kitty decided, her parents deserved that much. Was she really planning on leaving? Deep down in her heart, Kitty knew the time had come for her to make her own path. Her parents would understand.

"I'll be right back! There are a few things I want to get, then...then we can go." She stood up fast and was off like a rocket towards her home. No stumbling in the dark for her, her eyes accustomed to the darkness of the night. She entered her home and headed to her room to pack some clothes and other essentials for a long journey. The old worn and tired looking backpack was uncovered and put to good use as clothing, medicine, bathing supplies, writing materials and miscellaneous items were packed with care.

The last thing Kitty did before leaving was to write a letter to her parents telling them of her plans. This she slipped under their door with a sorrowful look. She would miss them. With a sigh, she shouldered her pack and left the house, heading to her new and uncertain future. The walk back to Onixa was silent, with only the crickets and other nighttime critters filling the night air with a peaceful serenade.

"I'm ready to go." Kitty said looking up with nervousness born of anticapation and dare she say it? Glee.
 
Onixa dipped her great big black head in a nod and knelt down so that Kitty could climb onto her back. You should get a blanket to protect yourself from my scales. Onxia said, looking at her with one big black eye. Else my scales could skin you like a fish. She snorted, rustling Kitty's hair with her breath, amused at the comparison.
 
Boone nodded absentmindedly still comprehending what the dragon was saying.

"I'll meet you back here after I get my affairs in order. I won't be long."

She didn't wait for a reply. She turned and walked briskly to her car, sopping wet clothes in hand. She sped all the way home and from there just found an old back pack and threw only the necessities into it. Boone took a moment to breathe after packing. She gazed out of her apartment window and sighed.

I came here for an adventure...and I got it.

Boone returned to the cliff after just a short hour. She made her way to the edge and looked around for Felle.
 
The sea dragon allowed herself another chuckle as she watched Boone walk back to what looked like a yellow chariot, leaving to prepare for their journey. Only a true dragon rider would have complied so willingly and completely; Felle thought she had done well in choosing Boone. Within moments the chariot had roared to life and was gone, speeding towards the glittering human settlement. Felle remained in its tracks, lowering her head and shoulders so that she was basically crouching on the road. She waited.

Before long, the dragon's wings began to stiffen, so she flew down to her earlier spot and retrieved the fish carcasses. They were soon gone, so Felle went hunting again, her mind at full capacity- although this time, her thoughts sang a different tune than they had before. When the sea dragon was finished, she had eaten at least three more large fish, enough to satisfy her stomach for a few days.

As Felle made her way back to the cliff, she wondered: where would they go first? The notion of a dragon and rider was romantic, to say the least, but so far the pair had little actual information to go off of. There had to be some place they could try first ... The great albino dragon suddenly fell into a very calm state uncharacteristic of her persona. When the time came, she would know where to go.

The cliff loomed nearer, and with it, Boone's big yellow chariot. Felle didn't see the woman around yet, but was careful as she landed all the same, musing to herself that she'd have to be a lot more careful from now on, with a tiny human around. It wasn't long before the dragon located her human, who looked more well-dressed and had some sort of pack on. Felle rumbled her approval and lowered herself to the ground to allow the human to climb up. "You are prepared?"
 
"In my defense I am. What are you? Better yet, who are you and how can you converse with me?"

It was a surprise to Enfyra that the girl answered him so bluntly. She was either excessively brave or very foolish, either way it could get her killed if she kept pushing her luck. Opting to ignore her remark about aiming to kill him seeing that she likely wasn't going to accomplish much with that bow of hers, as entertaining as the thought that she was willing to try was, he moved on to her two questions.

"What am I? You already know the answer to that. I am a dragon, of course!" he said, raising his head back up to tower over the girl. "Shouldn't that be obvious to you? As for who I am," he began, taking the time to unfold his wings and present himself properly to the woman in front of him. "My name is Enfyra, I am the last of my breed. There are few of my fellow dragons remaining." he explained, folding his wings back up against his body and setting his gaze on hers.

Enfyra's eyes narrowed and he began to focus on trying to understand her thoughts. He was able to discover her name quite easily, much to his surprise. He again lowered his head to her level, giving up on trying to look imposing or impressive for now."The reason I can converse with you is the reason why I called you out here." his voice was now less aggressive, but he still wasn't exactly happy about the possibility of his suspicions being right. "Xeri, I've come to believe you are my Rider." Enfyra told her bluntly, not even taking the time to inform her that he had learned her name. "That is an old story and an even older bond. It's also the only explanation I can think of. Why I've been bonded to you now after all of these years is beyond me, but it seems to be true." the last thought hurt his pride too much to admit to her. This made him Xeri's dragon.