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

Hydra was confused. "L-Lovebirds...? Did he just call us tiny green and pink birds?" She turned pink and hid behind her wings. Measle tensing up made her a little worried though. "Are you okay, something wrong?" She cuddled up to him again and looked at him worried. She'd never known anyone to get like this around her in her whole life. Hell that Desert Chaser was more likely to eat her than enjoy her company. Then again she was doing the same things that Measle was but on a smaller scale and he hadn't quite noticed yet to her knowledge.

“Well, although he probably /is/ dense enough to mistake us for them, I don’t think that was what he meant.” He said quietly, softening up a little. He was out of his comfort zone, but the refreshing chill coming from Hydra made him feel like he might be able to skate rather than drown.

“And no, nothing’s wrong – Jackdaww was just embarrassing me. I would have to hatch for /him/ rather than some level-headed knight. That’s just my luck, really. I had everyone in the castle to choose from, and I got Jackdaww.” He chuckled a little, settling back against Hydra again. He hadn’t noticed her tensing – not yet anyway- and decided that there were worse things than this in the world. He was surprisingly comfortable, even if he did still feel a little flushed.

She licked his cheek and smiled. "He may not be the brightest burning candle of the bunch, but he's certainly got the longest burning flame." She gave a soft sigh and rested in the warm sand. "You're the best company I've had in a long while, Measle. Maybe if I could get my pet to agree we could travel together." The idea sounded wonderful in all aspects, especially if she could get that matchstick to like Ari. "Ari can hardly understand me, there's little there in terms of a bond really but I'm trying to make it stronger." She nestled herself into the sand and rested her head on Measle's shoulder. "All I know is I don't want to have to leave you." she whispered.

“And I’ve never met a dragon that’s quite as pleasant as you – I mostly meet the aggressive type.” He smiled back, still feeling a little ill-at-ease, but rested his chin on Hydra’s chilly head nonetheless. The suggestion made him feel weightless, and he was sure Jackdaww could use some company too. Well, he was getting sick of pandering to Jackdaww’s needs – he wanted to be selfish, for once – and he had to admit that he was happier there than he had been in a long time.

“I don’t want to have to leave either.” He said softly into her ear, finding it difficult to relax over the fluttering in his chest. “You’re really something special.” His head rushed, and he felt more and more lost – it felt like falling, and then like flying. He felt a little breathless, but he was smiling like a fool. His head flooded, and as the flying feeling returned, and his breathing got faster, he blacked out, slumping down beside Hydra in a messy pile.

Hydra blushed at his comment then jumped and tried to wake Measle. "JACK! Jack you silly twig get over here! Something's wrong with Measle!" She flew off and sniffed him out, quickly dragging him along by his shirt collar and stopping at Measle's passed out body. "Tell me what happened to him!" She was slightly panicked and she nudged him again trying to wake him up. "He just suddenly fell over like a sack of potatoes! I don't have any idea why."

Jackdaww kicked for a moment, but allowed Hydra to drag him back to Measle after no more than a few seconds of struggling. He hadn’t made it far away – he had been reluctant to leave Measle out here while he went back to camp, and this seemed as good a use of his time as any.

As Hydra nudged Measle’s side pathetically, he knelt down beside him, his face pink with worry for a moment. “Measle? You alright?” he asked, in a low, nervous voice, before shaking one shoulder. Then, with a much larger effort, he rolled the dragon (who, despite his small size, was rather heavy) onto his side. He noted, gladly, that he was breathing properly, and sat back on his heels, turning to face Hydra.

“He’s fainted, that’s what’s happened. He should come round in a minute or so. I can’t imagine what you see in him…” he trailed off, shaking Measle again. He wasn’t used to Measle showing weakness like this – Measle was the strongest of the pair, and Jackdaww was usually the one passed out, face down in the dirt.

After a few tense moments, Measle’s eyelid began to flicker, and he opened one eye lazily. Jackdaww sighed audibly in relief, but stifled it quickly, as Measle shifted around and tried to force himself to his feet. His head was fuzzy, and he wasn’t sure what he had been doing on the ground. Certainly, he wasn’t feeling up to saying anything for a moment or two.

She snorted at Jackdaww and looked at the ground. "Well to be honest I licked his cheek but still that's no cause for someone to bloody faint! And I guess you wouldn't understand even if it bit the seat out of the pants you're wearing!" When Measle stirred she perked up. "Measle you scared the daylights out of me!" She calmed down after a minute or two and sighed, licking his cheek again. "You really scared me there, you know." she mumbled sitting by him. "Your human pet has no idea on what romance is does he?"

Measle shook himself down and half-smiled when Hydra licked his cheek. “Sorry… I don’t really know what came over me. And Jackdaww rarely has good ideas on anything.” He said, proving (to Jackdaww at least) that he was quite alright. Then, however, Hydra’s words hit him. Romance? Damn, this was getting heavy. Maybe that was what had made him faint.

Measle went red in embarrassment. He really had fainted, hadn’t he? He knew from the look on Jackdaww’s face that he would never hear the end of this one. In fact, even as he shook the last of the wooziness from his head, Jackdaww seemed to be opening his mouth to speak.

“Wait, was that a /kiss/?” he asked - his eyes wide. Then, he gave a snort of amusement, before openly laughing. Measle groaned, shaking his head at him, and winced as Jackdaww’s overly loud laugh penetrated the calm forest.

“Just shuddup, Jack. Stoppit. Now.” He hissed, not pausing nearly enough between words. He wasn’t feeling up to dealing with another laughing fit, especially not after passing out. However, he couldn’t help feeling a little giddy despite it all. Maybe a kiss was the best way to describe the odd little lick. Either way, it had made his tummy fizz again.

She sort of coughed a bit and blushed. "Course being a dragon I've little idea of what romance is anyway but I hear humans talking about it like it's the greatest thing since fire!" She snickered a bit then bristled. "A 'kiss'?! Can you really be equating that to a human KISS?! Ridiculous!" She snorted and hid her face in Measle's side in a futile attempt to keep from blushing. "Sorry for all this." she whispered. "I didn't mean for all this to happen to you, really I didn't." She curled up by him and looked away sadly.

Measle nestled his nose into her neck comfortingly, and glared at Jackdaww again. “Don’t worry about it. This is my fault – I went all wussy and fainted, didn’t I? There is nothing I’d like better than to be right here.” He whispered back, pulling one wing out from his side and laying it over her. It crackled a little as he moved it, but he shook it carefully to make sure any energy was discharges from it before laying it over Hydra.

“Jackdaww, thanks for bringing me round and all that, but I’d really appreciate it if you’d go and tend to the fire.” He said - his voice level and a little dangerous. Jackdaww nodded, stifling another laugh, and got to his feet.

“Alright, enjoy yourselves. The camp’s not far from here, Measle, so I’m sure you’ll be able to find your way back.” He said, before taking off into the woods at a fast (and rather light-footed) run. Measle shook his head in despair at him, before turning back to Hydra.

“You’re most welcome to make camp with us tonight – that is, if you can put up with Jack. He means well, I promise.” He said, hoping that he hadn’t ruined the moment beyond the point of salvation.

She nodded. "He's just very annoying, but since I'll be spending most of my time with you I suppose I'll survive." She made herself comfortable under Measle's wing and relaxed. "You're worth dealing with the laughing matchstick." she stated simply as she cuddled up to him. The sun had slowly begun to set and Hydra yawned softly. "I guess we should start walking to camp. Unless you want to watch the sunset? It's rather pretty from this viewpoint." She nudged him slightly. "Turn a bit to the right and it's the greatest view on Earth."

Obediently Measle shuffled to the right, and tilted his head up at the sky. The horizon was streaked with colours, and in a few moments the full array of light would blossom over the sky. He snuggled up against Hydra – quite at home with the chill coming from her scales by now, and watched quietly for a few moments.

As the sky filled with dancing shades of red and pink, he turned back to Hydra. “Yes, you’re right; it is one of the greatest sight’s I’ve seen.” The lake reflected the colours beautifully, as well as his and Hydra’s faces in the silvery water before them. “But I can think of something more beautiful, and she’s sitting right beside me.” He added softly, nuzzling her neck with his muzzle.

Her face flushed bright red and she became lightheaded out of the blue. "M-Me...? Beautiful...?" She hardly registered the affectionate gesture but relaxed eventually and watched the sunset. The sunlight glittered along her scales and looked almost like sapphires in the dimming light. "Perhaps after this we should find Jackdaww, who knows what kind of trouble he's in now. I can go bring down some kind of animal in the morning." With the final few moments of light nearly gone she yawned and was reluctant to move. "I do wonder...Do we 'have' to move..?"

Measle badly wanted to say no, but he knew that his ‘day off’ was almost up. “Well, it would be lovely to just stay here, but I really do owe it to Jackdaww to turn up. He can wait for a while longer though.” He said, smiling. In the darkness, his wings and markings almost glowed as tiny forks of lightning danced along them, and he knew fully well that his teeth would be doing the same, which made him feel a little uncomfortable, but he ignored it as well as he could. When they got back to the fire, they would be invisible – it was just the starlit darkness that showed them up anyway.

She crawled out from under his warm wing and shook the sand off her legs and tail. "I'll be hanging around until tomorrow at the very least, so no worries about that." She shook her head finding she had some sand on it as well and looked at her companion. "Come on we have to watch that clumsy human of yours so he doesn't fall in the fire." she said teasingly. Honestly she thought that it was possible for him to fall into the fire, as easy as it was to knock him over it was more than likely to happen. She knew she'd be going for a hunt in the morning at the rate her stomach was growling. "You guys don't mind eating wild animal meat do you?"

“I don’t mind in the slightest – we all have to eat, right? I’d be careful of Jack though – his campsites are one of the few things he really cares about.” He said, chuckling to himself as he folded his wing again. Jackdaww had a lot of care instructions really, but it had taken explaining a few to someone else to make him notice them all.

Shaking himself down, Measle got back to his feet and looked around. There was an orange glow in the trees to his right, and he nodded towards it. “I think that will be Jackdaww. And yes, I hope he hasn’t fallen in the fire. It would be just like him, really.” He laughed, wishing he was joking.

She managed to find the fire and simultaneously run into Jack while he was walking off to the side, thankfully away from the fire. "Jack you need to just sit. I don't want you falling in the fire." Despite her size and her dislike for it, she did care for the human's safety. After all, this was Measle's closest companion so there was some manner of concern when something went wrong. She lay by the fire with her wings stretched out for them to warm up a bit. She gave a small yawn and let her eyes drift shut, for in the morning, she was going out to hunt.

Jackdaww almost tripped as he noticed Hydra. He had been pacing for the last half-hour, concerned about the whereabouts of the dragon pair, but now that they were here… he was less impressed.

“Wha… why would I ever fall into the fire? I’m not that stupid.” He protested as Measle appeared from behind a tree. Measle gave him a look, and sat down close to the fire, ignoring the soot gathering on his scales.

“It’s a long story, Jackdaww. Just settle down, please?” he said, flashing a grin at Hydra as she settled down to sleep nearby. Then, he turned around to warm his back, and speak to Jackdaww.

“Sorry about earlier, Jack. I didn’t mean to be quite that insulting. No hard feelings?” he asked, looking up at him innocently. Jackdaww broke into a wide grin, and sat down in front of him.

“Of course not, Measle. It’s fine – you deserved a day to yourself. I’m going to go to sleep – I have to be up at dawn. I’ll see you in the morning.” He smiled, before walking to the other side of the campfire. There, between two trees, was an astonishingly well-built shelter, complete with a little door. He vanished inside silently, leaving Measle alone with his thoughts outside.

The day had been… strange. He still didn’t fully understand what was going on, but he decided that maybe not knowing was half of the fun. With a sigh, he settled down to sleep, letting his eyes slip shut slowly as he thought over the day behind him.

Around the time of dawn, with the sun just barely shedding light on anything, Hydra yawned and looked at Measle. She presumed was still asleep and licked his cheek as she went off to find breakfast. It took her at least half an hour and then some to catch anything as big as her. When she finally dragged a deer back to camp the sun had been up for at least an hour and she wasn't sure who else besides her was awake yet. "Measle you awake yet? I found breakfast and a few berry bushes just a few hundred feet off from here."

Measle groaned and rolled over, not wanting to wake up yet. However, when he caught sight of Hydra with the deer, he woke up right away. “How on earth did you manage to catch that? It’s impressive.” He laughed, stretching. He could here a dim chinking sound coming from the woods to the north, and remembered that Jackdaww would be off training, before walking over to meet Hydra. Despite his usual taste for human food, the deer looked more appetizing than he thought it should have done, and he heard his stomach growl impatiently. He hushed at it nervously, and smiled awkwardly, still trying to decide how much of yesterday had actually happened, and how much had been a dream.

"Took lots of patience and many hits and misses. I got lucky at the end of the chase that it had injured a limb running off." She stretched her legs and sighed. "At any rate good morning Measle." she said nuzzling him. "If you can find Jack anywhere he can gut this thing so I don't give it frost bite." She was gradually getting used to her warm companion, and for some reason she couldn't put her finger on just how she felt about him. "The sunrise was gorgeous and you missed it sleepyhead. The sunrise is the only thing prettier in the sky than the sunset, other than snowstorm clouds."

“He’s in the woods over there, practising swinging his sword around.” He said, in a less than endearing voice as he nuzzled her back. Then he turned his head and shouted to Jackdaww. “Jack! Put you shiny stick away and get over here!” he called, hoping he could hear. The fire had burnt out, and the chill coming from Hydra made it rather cold, but recently he had been finding that more comfortable than the heat. He felt confused and a little light headed all over again, but he managed to gather himself before he fainted this time.

Across the patch of trees, Jackdaww heard Measle call. He pulled the blindfold that had been over his eyes away, and sheathed his sword, before running towards the voice. He was about ready for breakfast by now, and had a loaf of reasonably fresh bread in his pack. He had no idea that Hydra had brought her own food, and had quite a shock when he spotted the deer.

“Erm… what is that?” he asked, looking at the deer suspiciously, and then at hydra, wondering how she had taken down such a large prize. He decided not to ask, and just stood behind the empty fire-pit, staring at the two dragons.

"Breakfast. It's a deer and if I bite it again I'm liable to give it frostbite. I guess you'll need to restart the fire seeing as humans need their food...what was the word..."cooked"...? I tried to leave the thing in one piece but that wasn't exactly easy. Nor was taking it down I got really lucky." She nudged his hand in greeting. "Or if you prefer I can sniff out some fruit? Some berries are actually in season I think." Jack was actually sort of endearing, Measle had been right when he talked about him so highly. Her canine like behavior was probably a bit of a turn-off but it was all she knew and it was who she was, no sense in hiding it.

“Fine, fine, I’ll fix it into something serviceable. I presume you like your steak rare, then?” Jackdaww joked, producing a sharp, silvery dagger from his left boot. He always kept one there, just in case of an emergency, but it worked well enough as a table-knife too. He twisted it in his hand, and went about the messy job of skinning the deer.

Hydra’s method of killing left a lot to be desired – the creature was completely mangled, which was going to make it impossible to keep the skin. Instead, he cut several long slashed in the hide, and with a final, deft flick of the blade, pulled off the deer’s bloody coat, revealing the meat underneath.

Measle pulled a face at Jackdaww, as (despite his unusually well-managed skinning technique) he had managed to get bits of deer right up his arms, and even in his hair. He shook his head, ignoring Jackdaww as he finished dismantling the deer and cutting what was left into large, chunky steaks. The fire would come after, he presumed, and then there would be breakfast at last. Jackdaww was picky about food, and he was clearly going to go all out on the deer meat.

"Crack another joke and it won't be just the animal that'll need skinning." She hissed at him and flicked him in the back with her tail and she walked by to go back to the lake. "And don't completely mutilate the thing I did enough of that already! Besides was else did you expect from something my size!? I can't kill something in one bite and I couldn't give it frostbite like I do most of my prey. You stupid human why don't you understand?!" She ran off as best she could and hid in the shallow water when she started to cry. The usually slightly warm water became quite cold and her tears turned to little droplets of ice. "I hate humans! I hate them!" she sobbed. "They don't have the capacity to understand anything about the world around them!"

» [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