Ellesmera

[xangria]

"Oh, oops." Xangria was chagrined at her mistake, but soon became puzzled. "I don't think I've ever heard the word; what does it mean?"

Tiny claws pricking delicately at her scalp announced Hjarta's climb to Xangria's shoulder. She had tangled claws in Xangria's hair in order to scout out Góùréd.

'Do you want to follow him, Hjarta?

'An interesting proposition, Rider. Yes. Though not follow, I would like to meet him.' Xangria placed her cheerful, voracious dragonet on the paved tiles outside the practice field, and watched as she trotted off in the direction Góùréd had taken.

[thefirsteragon]

Góùréd slinked into a bush as he watched Hjarta approach. As soon as she was level with the bush, he crouched into a hunting position, and sprang towards her. He tackled her in the air and they rolled, ending up with Góùréd on top of her. 'Haha! I got you!' He gave a low growl that could be identified as dragon laughter, then gave his wings a mighty flap and flew a few feet in the air. He flew several feet to the side, and landed roughly losing control of his wings a few feet off the ground. He opened an eye to look at Hjarta, and blinked. I'm Góùréd. And you?' He strode over to her to lay down in the soft, green grass.

"Beauty of Nature." He gave a slow smile and spread his arms wide around as if to signify the beauty of all of the tree surrounding them. "Fool's wisdom, that's an interesting name. How did you come by it?" He gestured to two tree stumps next to each other, and sat down by one waiting for her.

[xangria]

A sudden 'Whaaaaargh! from Hjarta, pulled Xangria's attention back to her dragonet just in time to see Góùréd tackle her and the two dragons rolling haphazardly past them. Hjarta snapped playfully at Góùréd 'Right! Like I didn't let you!, growling her own laughter, though to Xangria it sounded more like giggling, before bouncing after the temporarily airborn dragon. She gave a startled hop back when he landed, then crept a little closer and sat in the grass. 'I am Hjarta. How old are you?'

Xangria shook her head with a grin at the two dragonets. It was nice to see such joy in their dark time. "Certainly nature is." Then, turning to see Equinox gesture at the two stumps, Xangria took a seat.

"Fool's Wisdom . . . well," She paused putting the memory into words, " When I was helping transport the Varden eggs across the desert, to Surda and Ellesmera, our group of six came across a sizable band of travelers, the really ragged lot on their way to the empire; they'd given up farming. To avoid suspicion we spent the night with them. I awoke to catch a man rifling through our saddlebags, and drew my sword. The man yelled, panicked at the sword at his throat, and before we knew it the strangers had pulled out harvesting scythes and rusty old swords and we were under attack by farmers. They may not have been war-trained, but we were seriously outnumbered. Three of us made it out in one piece, along with the eggs in our packs. The rest, everyone was dead. Everyone. Because I pulled out a sword." Her throat clenched in remembrance, and she sighed. She still had nightmares about that. "They were just farmers. And very poor. I think he was just looking for money."

[thefirsteragon]

"Oh." The elf gave a small gasp of surprise as she ended her story, his mouth forming a small, "O", through it. "Fool's wisdom it is. But it is naturally self defense to pull a sword on a theif. I see no unjustice in what you did. You were merely trying to protect your belongings." He smiled as if to reassure her, if she was experiencing any dark thoughts about the subject. He broke into a pearl of clear laughter at the sight of the entangled dragons.


Góùréd's brow rose as he leaned in and playfully thumped the ground with his tail. 'Sure. Like you let me.' He scrambled into the underbrush again hiding from her, but keeping the mental link open. 'I am just over a month. And yourself Hjarta?' He liked her name, the way it sounded. Saying it felt like sweet honey on his tongue. He kept an eye on her as he walked through the brush, doing his best to keep his deception.

[xangria]

Xangria laughed softly. "That's what Hjarta says. Except she knows my first thought, my fear, was that he'd found the eggs . . . She found out about it, after waking me from one of my nightmares about it. . . I thought she would hate me, but she just crawled up beside me, and we both fell asleep." The memory and Equinox's smile helped chase away the gloom called up by the memory of the slaughter.

At Equinox's laughter she looked up and grinned at the sight. The dragons were playing again.

Hjarta peered into the shadowy growth, searching for the glimmering gold of Góùréd's scales. He was so fast! 'I am a month old tomorrow, Góùréd.' There! 'AHA!' she growled, laughing, and launched herself towards him.

[thefirsteragon]

Góùréd gave a cry of surprise as she launched herself onto him, quuickly recovering and snapping playfully at her neck. 'How'd you find me Hjarta?' He asked between fits of dragon laughter. 'I thought I hid myself pretty well.' The small dragon rolled down a small incline, to keep them tumbling, until his back hit the two tree stumps with a thud. His Rider looked down on them with a smile and he puffed a shot of smoke at him. 'I can not wait until I'm able to breath fire! All I can manage now is a little burst of smoke. See.' He shot out a jet of smoke from his maw, and it curled up to tickle the scales on her cheek and face.

"A dragon always unstands it's Rider. I learned that with Góùréd, even from our short time together. He is always there to give me guidance and support my good decisions, and reject the bad ones." He gave her an odd look. "Do you feel the same about Hjarta?"

[xangria]

Hjarta dodged the snap, and shot Góùréd a dragon grin. 'The sun caught your scales when you moved. I couldn't see you before then.' As Góùréd rolled, Hjarta gave a crow of laughter, and they went tumbling once more.

The smoke Góùréd blew was warm and it tickled Hjarta. With a snort she shook her head 'I kind of want to, but I'm a little afraid I might accidentally roast Xangria . . . ' She tilted her head in thought. 'I mean, I don't think I would, but . . . still.'

"Yes," Xangria said with a small smile. "Hjarta understands a lot about me, and," her smile widenend as Xangria continued, "she has absolutely no qualms in regards to telling me I'm wrong. No matter who is watching. She has exquisite timing." From her seat on one stump the two dragonets looked like gems winking in and out of sight in the grass. Hjarta's joy made Xangria want to laugh.

[thefirsteragon]

'Oh I see! My scales.' Góùréd laughed and rolled around in the grass some more. 'Personally, I would love to singe my Rider. Just for fun of course. Like if he's sleeping, just give him a little fire on the backside.' He glanced at her crouching slowly in the grass. But I understand your caution towards your Rider. I would be devastated if I burned my Rider accidentally.' He gave a small growl then pounced, aiming for the female dragon's stomach.

"Same here. He especially likes to critsize me in front of people I respect, and hold in reverence." He smiled, amused at the two dragon's frolicking. "I just love him so much, he understands everything about me."

[andowen]

Sayu wandered around gathering her things. She was taking her time. Not really wanting to leave. Kiona lay with her head on the floor watching Sayu wander around. Come little one, we cannot linger here longer than we need to. We have Islanzadi and Oromis's blessing. The sooner we leave the better you will feel about it. Kiona said. I know Sayu said with a sigh Stand up so I can put your saddle on. She lifted the saddle onto Kiona and secured the straps. She then hung her bags off the saddle and climbed on herself. She took one last look around to make sure she didnt leave anything as Kiona turned and walked to a clearing. A few other elves had gathered around. Without warning Kiona lifted her great wine coloured wings, her leg muscles bunched, and she kicked off hard. Pumping her wings she soon gained hight over the trees and headed south to Surda.

[xangria]

Xangria shook her head ruefully. "Yep! Hjarta has defintely made distinct efforts to embarass me multiple times . . . " A blur of dark red caught her eye, and she turned just in time to see a wine-colored dragon take flight, a small figure just barely discernable on its back. "Who was that?"

Hjarta danced back playfully, dodging Góùréd's pounce. With a small, bubbling laugh she began to turn around and run, when the distant roar of pumping dragon wings caught her attention. She turned in astonishment to see a large red dragon flying away from them, its wings flapping steadily while a rider clung precariously to the rocking saddle.

[thefirsteragon]

Equinox turned also, curious at the shape. He gave a small smile as he saw that it was a large dragon, taking flight. "Wow, such a large dragon. And a powerful flier too. I wonder who the Rider is." The elf gave a slow yawn, before turning back to Xangria. "Do you want to see something I made?" He asked, his face lighting up like a young boy's would.

Góùréd watched as Hjarta turned to look at the other dragon, and seized the oppurtunity to take a playful nip at her tail, taking it in his teeth. He gave another dragon laugh, then bounded off again to the deep underbrush waiting.

[xangria]

Xangria frowned in thought. 'I don't know who the rider was, and you'd think we would have heard of their arrival."

A flash of Góùréd's scales brought her eyes back to the playing dragonets, and Xangria smiled as Hjarta skipped (as much as a dragon can) off into the undergrowth after Góùréd. Then Equinox's words recaptured her attention.

"Yes! I would love to see it." She said, grinning at his expression.

[thefirsteragon]

A wide smile broke across his face, and he grabbed Xangria's hand lightly, pulling her from the tree stump. He then ran, holding her hand tightly, stumbling through the woods, laughing all the way. He lead them both to the heart of the forest, finally stopping upon a small clearing that contained only a small, pale white flower. "Here it is. I made it myself, by singing to the air." He picked it up, carefully breaking the stem, and placed it in her hair. As he did so, another grew back in it's place instantly. He gave a small, mysterious smile, then sat down in the grass, running his hands through the soft blades.

Góùréd gave a small playful growl, and tried to tackle Hjarta again, but he overshot his pounce and landed in a small hole. He tried to wiggle out of it, but he was stuck in firmly. 'Help Hjarta?' He looked at her, his legs all tangled up, a funny sight.

[xangria]

Xangria laughed in delight as Equinox grabbed her hand and they went careening through the forest. After a short while, once she was sure they must be deep in the forest, Equinox lead her to a clearing, all green except for a small, white flower in the middle.

Blushing slightly, Xangria gently touched the pale, delicate bloom now in her hair. "Thank you." She whispered with a small smile, before getting her blush under control. It was beautiful. Then, careful not to dislodge the flower, Xangria sat down beside Equinox and let the sun's warmth soak into her.


Hjarta roared with dragon laughter at the sight of Góùréd tangled in the hole, and yet she did help him. After inspecting the structure of the hole, Hjarta dug her front claws into its rim, careful not to scratch Góùréd's golden scales. Using her front teeth to snap the roots tangled around his feet, she widened the hole with her feet, and gave him a solid shove in the hopes it would dislodge him. Throughout the entire episode she desperately tried to control her chuckles, not wanting to hurt the other dragonet's feelings.