{Liz & Kat} Non-muddy forest explorations! {Hydra & Measle}

so, yet another generic forest (we love them <33) but minus the mud xD Here goes my intro for Measle Smile

I'm presuming a mid-afternoon cloudy gloom?

Measle sat huddled against a tree in the cold gloom. It must have been after lunch time, because his stomach was growling, but he couldn’t quite tell through the bank of cloud. And there were plenty of things on his mind that were more important than food. Jackdaww’s absence, for example…

He had seen him earlier, but now he had vanished, and that was bad. After all, he was only a simple human (who had been knocked over the head too often and too hard, in Measle’s opinion), and there was no telling what kind of trouble he could be causing. Luckily there were no wells in the area, so he didn’t have to worry about /that/ happening again*.

He waited, deep in thought for a few moments, before drawing himself up to his full height: exactly 5’1”, including his tall crested head. He was very self-conscious about his height – he knew fully well that most dragons were at least the size of a horse, while he wasn’t even as tall as a human. It was just so… embarrassing.

“Right,” he murmured aloud, “you are NOT going to worry. He’s fully grown, and can look after himself. You, Measle, are going to enjoy having a day or so to yourself, whether you like it or not.” He sounded mad, chattering on to himself in the middle of the woods, but there was no one there to hear him, was there?

*Jackdaww's most famous act of idiocy = falling out of a tree and into a very deep, very grimy well.

Hydra limped through the forest, her broken leg having healed improperly, and her ears picked up the sound of talking. "I guess it's worth investigating, so long as it's not that Desert Chaser again." She wandered between trees and occasionally took to the wing to located the source of the talking, eventually finding her target. "O-Oh!" she said a bit shortly as she landed on the ground careful of her back leg. The fact that he wasn't so much bigger than her put her a bit at ease, and he CERTAINLY wasn't that horrible Desert Chaser who could've killed her in that bog she ended up in a little while back. She relaxed a bit more and folded back her wings. "Hello, I'm Hydra. What's your name?"

Measle stopped muttering to himself immediately, and froze. However, when he noticed the small dragon (who was remarkably even smaller that he was) approaching, he relaxed. “I’m Measle, it’s nice to meet you. And you are?” he asked, bowing his head a little like Jackdaww had told him he should. He didn’t like to listen to his human’s advice, but it seemed like the sensible thing to do.

He noticed the ice dragon’s limp quickly, and nodded towards her leg. “What happened? If you don’t mind me asking, that is.” He flexed his right wing as he did so, remembering the newly healed wound that had marked it since the last time he and Jackdaww had bumped into undesirable company. The break had hurt – really hurt – but as least the wing still worked. He couldn’t be more thankful for the human that had set it.

She looked at her leg and grimaced. "Something called a "bear trap". It's this circular metal trap that has metal teeth on it and a circle in the middle. If something steps on it the thing snaps shut and it snapped shut on my leg. I was trying to help some dragon that was dangling over a pit of spikes. The break didn't heal properly so now I'm stuck like this." She looked at Measle curiously. "Least you have wings unlike the first dragon I met." She took a moment and simply admired his wings. Her wing stripes had brightened in the time between her bog incident and now, illustrating that she was almost to adulthood by now. "Why do you smell like a human?" She couldn't stand the smell of humans they smelled like clay and dying flesh to her and tasted like mud.

“Oh ouch, that sounds nasty. Humans have some pretty rotten ideas on how to catch things.” He grimaced, his stomach turning a little. He preferred to think that the roast meat in cities hadn’t been an animal before it had been a meal – it didn’t sit right with him.

“And I’ve only seen a couple of dragons without wings myself. I couldn’t stand it – they’re so useful.” He joked, relaxing a little. “And yes, I would imagine I do smell like humans – I just lost mine a little while ago. You stop noticing how much they reek after a while.” He chuckled, remembering how much he had hated the smell of the first city he had been in. Now he hardly even noticed it – he was getting better around people. It was other dragons that he didn’t really know how to respond to.

“Do you have one, then? A human, I mean.” He asked innocently, fluttering his wingtips as he shuffled into a more comfortable sitting position. It was his personal opinion that all dragons should have a human – even if they were idiots most of the time. He wouldn’t know what to do with himself without Jackdaww – maybe it was just because he was so used to being around them. He certainly couldn’t understand anyone disliking them – they were such an adorable species.

"Well I have a pet, if that counts. She can't speak and she's kind of like a human but not quite, her name is "Ari" I think." She shook her head. "Humans in general are something I tend to dislike, seeing as a group of them slaughtered my family when I was little. Most humans don't like me so it's a warranted dislike." She kept off her back leg as much as possible and sat down by Measle. "I'll admit the littler humans look kind of cute running around but the adults hate me plain and simple." She laid down and sighed looking up at him. "So tell me about you?"

“Holy crap, that’s terrible. The humans I know are pretty decent though – they’re not all bad.” He said, more to defend Jackdaww than anything else. “I’m sorry. I never got to meet my family though, so at least you got that much? I don’t imagine that’s any consolation though…” he trailed off, unsure what to say. He had always trusted humans so much – how could they have done such a terrible thing? Perhaps he had just blinded himself to the truth, but he refused to believe it.

“There’s nothing much to be said about me – I’m a lightning storm dragon, apparently, I’m 13 summers old and that’s sort of it.” He said. He had never really though much about himself (Jackdaww was too much of a handful for him to have more than a spare minute) and it all sounded a little pathetic.

"It's alright I guess..." She looked at the sky and sighed. "I miss the snow, and the ice. But I guess living here is fine too." She'd never heard of a storm dragon but it was better than something that lived in the desert by all means. "Your wings are quite a sight to look at." She certainly thought they looked lovely. "And I agree not all humans are bad, but the ones I've seen are horrible." She gave a small smile and nudged Measle slightly. "Care to go flying? The lake on the other side of the forest is wonderful this time of day."

“Flying sounds like a grand idea. I’d love to.” He smiled, unfolding his shimmering wings carefully. “And thanks – I do try to take care of them.” However, as he flexed them, he couldn’t ignore the ugly bulges spread down the lengths of thin bone that held together the fragile, electrified membrane of his wings. He had broken them so many times, and although they always seemed to heal, the messy bits of bone around the old breaks were terrible.

With a tentative beat of his wings, he sprang from the ground and into the air, flapping furiously to gain altitude, before hovering and waiting for Hydra. He had no idea which was the lake was (navigation was Jackdaww’s job, after all) and didn’t want to head off without getting his bearings.

It astonished him how tiring even hovering was. He didn’t fly much those days – he couldn’t carry Jackdaww, and since he always seemed to have enough food in his pockets, he didn’t need to hunt too much. Now that he had to /use/ his pretty, blue wings, it seemed more and more difficult to stay aloft. He just hoped that it wasn’t far to the lake.

She stood and shook out her wings before taking off. "I guess being small helps with flight. It's this way." She flew off in the general direction a few feet and waiting for him. "The water's nice and cool and I could swear from the sky it looks like the blue in your wings." The air was far warmer than what she liked but it seemed to suit her new friend well. "You're a lot nicer than most creatures around here. I'm glad to have met you Measle." She landed on the shore of the vast lake and lay on the sand. "Wonderful day though for this area of the world."

Measle laughed as they took off towards the lake. “And I’m glad to have met you. It’s… refreshing to meet another dragon near here.” He shouted over the wind rushing in his ears. As they approached the lake, he turned his head, and found that, sure enough, his wings were of almost the same colour. He liked lakes – he rarely got to see them, and although when Jackdaww was around they were a bit of a hazard, he thought they were lovely. He turned to land beside the lake, but his lack of experience flying meant that his landing was less than desirable. He ended up landing nose-first in the lake, and causing quite a bit splash as his wings crumpled into the water after him.

He re-surfaced immediately, finding the water shallow enough for him to rest his hind legs on the bottom, and blew out a spout of water. “You’re right – it is nice in here!” he shouted over to the shore. He barely caught her next words, but he thought he’d heard her say it was a nice day. He looked skywards, and saw the heavy clouds still hanging there, and decided that he definitely disagreed. He would have preferred a full blow storm, but the darker clouds on the horizon suggested that, before too long, he might get at least some rain. That would be fun.

He lay back in the cool water, and let it wash the grime from his scales. They had appeared solid black before, but as the caked-on dust washed away, it revealed delicate spirals of blue across his muscled body. His wings let him float relatively well, and he allowed the fact that he was not really suited to water float away. He was having a day off worrying about Jackdaww, so why not have a day off general worrying as well?

Hydra contented herself with relaxing on the shore after she delicately floated to the sand. She decided after a few minutes to go to the water's edge and test how cold it was. She said nothing about Measle's sloppy landing, knowing that she'd done the same thing in her earlier years quite frequently. Due to her inability to carry on a conversation she stayed totally quiet as she walked into the shallow water and sighed. She seemed very lethargic today and she wasn't quite sure why. Was it the weather? No, she was used to stormy days by this point and didn't mind rain, wind, and lightning. Could it be she was just wanting companionship because she spent most of her time alone? That was the most likely culprit, much to her distaste. Her leg began to ache and she whined softly as she shifted her position to better alleviate the pain.

Deciding that water was not, in fact, his natural habitat, Measle kicked his legs and forced himself upright again. Then, standing on his tippy-toes so that his head stuck out of the water, he waddled into the shallows again to see how Hydra was doing Her leg seemed to be paining her, and he wished he could help, but he had no healing powers whatsoever. If he had, Jackdaww surely wouldn’t have managed to get himself so badly injured so many times.

His newly-cleaned markings shone in the half-light as the electricity coursed under his scales. He felt his teeth charging up again, sparking harmlessly, and decided that he had better get out of the water. He didn’t want to shock all the fish in there, or Hydra for that matter.

Shaking himself dry, he sneezed from the dampness, before settling down on the edge of the sand. He felt more relaxed that he ever had been before, and decided that he would have to have more breaks from Jackdaww. He was lovely, underneath the stupidity, but he wasn’t half tiring.

She decided to follow Measle and curled up next to him. She didn't exactly know what possessed her to do any of this, but it didn't seem like something she wanted to stop. She didn't know if he minded how cold her skin was, or how close she was to him, and she wasn't about to make this even MORE awkward by asking. She sighed to herself and rested her chin on the warm sand not willing to risk looking at her friend. "How old're you Measle...?" she asked quietly. At her own age she didn't exactly understand what it was she was wanting out of any of these questions, nor did she care to think of why she wanted to know.

Measle just shuffled a little as Hydra settled herself beside him. She felt very cold, but the storm that lived under his skin kept him warm enough not to notice too much. It never occurred to him that this was a bit odd – he’s had humans sleeping at his side before, and that had never been strange. However, he couldn’t help feeling a little shy when she asked his age.

“Erm, nearly fourteen, I think.” He said quite quietly. “And you?” He felt his muscles trying to stiffen up, as if in defence, but forced himself to stay as he was. He was confused, and more than a little frightened, and made a mental note to ask Jackdaww what was happening when he found him again.

He shuffled around a bit, so his wings were properly folded at his sides, and shivered at the chill coming from Hydra. It felt strange, and he decided not to dwell on it, and rather listened to Hydra’s response as intently as he dared.

"I guess I'm around 16 human years old." she muttered. "It had been around...three winters when my family died so I guess I'm around that age." She moved a little away from him. "Everyone assumes I'm a hatchling when I'm almost an adult." She looked at him and blinked. "If I'm too cold then just say so okay? Don't want to yawn and suddenly freeze you..." She nudged where his shoulder would be and smiled a little. "Don't want to freeze my newest friend." Her face flushed a bit and she didn't exactly understand why, must've been the heat, or so she thought.

“Newest friend, hey? That’s high praise indeed! And don’t worry, I’m fine. It’s the lightning – it keeps me warm.” He joked, nudging back. In fact, he didn’t feel cold at all – almost warm, in fact. It was strange, but he quite liked it. It made his tummy feel fizzy.

“I get the same sort of comments.” He confessed, shuffling around again. “We’re supposed to be full sized by the time we’re ten or so, but apparently I’m still baby-sized.” At least I can still get into bars to steal Jackdaww’s drinks, he added in his head, but he didn’t ay anything aloud. Hydra didn’t like humans, he could see that, and for some reason he didn’t feel that he wanted to upset her. Jackdaww’s ideals of ‘honour’ must have rubbed off on him - or something like that. Yes, something like that.

"You're bigger than me...I'm the size of a large domestic dog! I'm a midget for my breed!" She cuddled up to Measle again. "I don't know if I'll even grow any more than the size I am now. My kind gets fairly big usually, but that's because we have a vast expanse of territory in which to thrive. I'm the runt and will probably not get much bigger than you are now, least not for another decade or two. And hey for a baby-sized dragon I have to say you're one in a billion on personality. Jackdaww must be lucky to have your company all the time."

Measle blushed. It was a strange look on a mostly-black dragon, but his cheeks definitely went a little bit pink. He’d always thought that Jackdaww was lucky to have him, especially after the amount of times he’d saved his life, but hearing someone else say it made him feel funny.

“That’s really… sweet of you.” He coughed, swallowing hard. He shuffled yet again, deciding that it must be the sand making him uncomfortable. Yes, that was it.

“Well, I think you’re perfect, no matter how small you are.” He smiled. Then he realised what he’d said, and clamped his mouth shut. Where had that come from? Goodness knows.

Across the lake, however, a shape began to move. It glittered oddly in the gloom, and seemed to be getting bigger. Then, it started to wave. Then, Measle recognised it. Oh god, no, he thought to himself, It’s Jackdaww.

“Measle, is that you? Meeeeeeeeeeeasle!” he shouted, waving his arms madly and jumping up and down. Measle ducked his head down and covered it with his paws, as if it would make his feeble human disappear, but it didn’t seem to be working. The shape that was Jackdaww seemed to be running round the lake now, and it was only a matter of time until he found them.

"Let me guess...That scrawny little loudmouth is Jackdaww?" She rolled her eyes and relaxed next to Measle. She nudged his cheek and sighed. "Nonetheless what you said about me being perfect was very nice of you." She paid the small loud human little mind and made herself comfortable for the time being in the sand. "Can he not be a little quieter though? His shouting is getting to be a pain." She hid behind her wings and groaned as the sound got louder. "SHUT UP HUMAN!" she shouted in frustration. She covered her ears and fluttered her wings a bit.

Measle went red this time, his scales feeling on fire. “I’ll just go and sort him out. I’ll be right back.” He said, nudging her wing with his nose before running the last way to meet Jackdaww.

“What do you think you’re doing?” he hissed, narrowing his eyes. Jackdaww fell silent for a minute, and looked along Measle’s footprints until his eyes met Hydra. Then, he burst out laughing.

“What’s funny?” Measle snapped, glaring at Jackdaww as he crumpled in another fit of giggles. Then, his shoulders shaking, he fell to the ground and rolled on the soft sand. “Stop it! Why are you laughing?” Measle growled, not seeing anything even mildly funny. Jackdaww held up a hand, and gasped for breath in an obvious effort to calm himself.

“You’ve found yourself a lady friend, I see. I didn’t think you had it in you.” He spluttered between laughs. Measle stamped a foot next hi his head, and snapped him out of the fit of giggles quite effectively. Jackdaww stood up, and dusted himself down, but even then he couldn’t keep the smirk off his face.

“That’s Hydra, but I’m sure I have no idea what you mean. Now do me a favour and vanish into the woods again. I’m havig a day off looking after you.” He announced, turning his back. Jackdaww wasn’t listening, though, and just ran along after Measle like a dog.

“Not so fast, Measle. This is a sight I have to see, whether you’re ‘looking after’ me or not.” He smirked, and followed him right back to the spot on the sand as quietly as he could (which still meant lots of giggles).

As Jackdaww laughed she stood up and gave a low hiss. "I'm not a laughing matter you matchstick." She looked at Measle and then at Jackdaww. "Seriously this is your pet? I see why you liked having a day off so much." She paced around the laughing human and snorted. "Yes I can easily see why you like having days off." She soon lost interest in the odd laughing matchstick and yawned sitting down again to keep from falling over. "When will he quit, Measle?" She sort of slumped down to lie in the sand like a tired dog and yawned. "He's simple and adorable but the laughing is monotonous."

Jackdaww shut up quite quickly after that. “Hey, I’m not his pet! And I’m not simple!” he insisted. Measle took one look at him and nodded to hydra, but just pushed Jackdaww slightly. His balance was terrible as ever (his exceptionally light weight made him easy enough to shove), and he fell predictably into the lake beside him. Measle backed away, and turned to Hydra.

“I’m sorry about him. He’ll go away soon - I promise.” He said, sitting down beside her again. Jackdaww struggled to get to his feet in the shallow water, before looking at the two of them again.

“Sorry, miss, I wasn’t laughing at you. I was laughing at Measle.” He said, trying to shrug off his embarrassment. He shook the water out of his hair like a dog, and kept watching the two dragons in front of him. Then, after a few minutes, he piped up again.

“Well, aren’t you two just adorable? I never thought I’d see the day…” he said, half to himself. Measle raised an eyebrow-ridge at him, and shuffled into a more comfortable position on the sand again, deeply embarrassed that he even knew him.

(ooc;; sorry it's a bit of a fail, i'm not sure how to embarrass Measle best yet xD))

"Eh at least he's amusing when he's not laughing." She limped over to him and gently butted her head against his leg. "You realize I can freeze you right? But if Measle tolerates you I suppose I can learn to as well." She licked his hand and looked up at him. "Course I'll probably like you better when you stop poking fun at us!" She gave him as innocent a look as she could and went back to resting by Measle occasionally prodding him or doing something else that was childish and playful like flicking bits of sand at his shoulder. "Course I miss the silence that Ari always brings with her, she's very sweet."

“She sounds nice. And I suppose jack /can/ be funny, but mainly irritating. Thanks for not freezing him though – he’s good at finding food.” Measle smiled, brushing a few grains of sand from his shoulders. Jackdaww stomped indignantly, but Measle ignored him.

“Alright, I’ll leave you lovebirds in peace – the fire will be getting cold anyway.” Jackdaww huffed, storming off to what Measle presumed was the east. Then, Jackdaww’s words hit him. Lovebirds? Wherever had e gotten an idea like that? That wasn’t… right… was it?

Measle shifted uncomfortably again, aware of his face burning red again. He was a little nervosa now, and felt all awkward and out of place. Jackdaww had not helped, and he was almost tempted to crawl after him and hide by the fire in shame, but that didn’t seem like such an appealing plan right then. He hoped Hydra wouldn’t notice him tensing up, but he thought it was probably inevitable.

» [Syn & Hydra] Little Wandering Child
» The Forest of Tarz (Exxor x Eldarwen)
» Measle {Miniture but Mighty}
» :: Mystery of the Godless Forest :: -{Aero, Nen, Spirit, Rogue}-
» Hydra :: A Place In This World