{Artemis and Eldar} Flowers in Springtime {Ciqala and Selene}

If she hadn’t been scared to death, Selene would have laughed. Ciqala was actually right; her life definitely needed a bit of changing, but right now was probably not the time. Not to mention a little too late.
“What on earth are those dragons doing?” she muttered more to herself than to Ciqala’s benefit but it felt oddly reassuring not to be alone in this, even if neither of them could do much if the dragons decided they needed a snack.

As Ciqala began twisting and squeezing her shoulder in fear when the dragon came closer, Selene hastily looked around again but there was nothing. No way out. She didn’t really care whether the dragon was angry or scared, either way it was likely to take out its emotions on them and she didn’t really want to be around when that happened.

“Do we need the gem? No, right? To hell with curiosity. Let’s get rid of it and it might throw off the dragon and take its focus off of us!” Selene was already about to throw the gem into the undergrowth of the forest when the dragon was suddenly upon them.

Sa’am was staring at the pouch with the gem in it. He knew the gem was in there, he could feel its presence, he had heard its shriek earlier. The woman holding the pouch was completely lost to his vision, not to mention the tiny thing crouching on her shoulder.

“The gem,” he whispered. “My gem! Give me back my gem!” All of a sudden, he noticed the hand and arm holding the pouch as if it was supposed to be thrown away. “If you don’t want it, give it back to me, don’t throw it away! You shouldn’t even have taken it in the first place!”

The acid dragon was already stepping towards Selene to rip the pouch out of her hand, when he remembered the clubtail hunting him. “We can settle this later. There is an evil dragon out there coming for me, and it will mostly likely go after you too. If you want to get out of her, get on my back. I still have a bit of a headstart but I don’t know for how much longer. Come on, hurry up! Get on my back!”

Selene stared at the dragon, unable to believe what she was seeing and hearing. It wanted them to get onto it? Onto a dragon that wanted to rip them apart and was dripping poison? What?!
“Are you insane?” she simply burst out, as she stared at the dragon wide-eyed. As if to reassure herself that she wasn’t alone in this or rather that she wasn’t hallucinating, she pinched herself in the arm, and for good measure reached up to touch Ciqala too, to make sure that the homunculus was, first of all, still there, and second of all, if the homunculus was actually real too or whether she was in a very, very odd dream.

Ciqala definitely agreed with Selene that throwing away the gem was a good start. If it wasn’t making that awful wailing noise, then at least the dragons wouldn’t be able to track them down so easily.

But, obviously, it was too late for that. The dragon who had caught them up and now spoke looked half-crazed and absolutely exhausted, perhaps unsurprisingly. However, that didn’t mean they should trust it. He had no desire for the gem and he didn’t really care what happened to it- but what if the dragon used it to work some magic and kill the both of them? How would he know?
“An how’re we s’posed t’know if yer tellin’ th’truth or not?” he asked with dark suspicion, only to be spoken over. Ride on its back? What was it thinking? There was no way it could carry them for long, surely… but then, what better chance would they have? Take a chance with the smaller, seemingly friendlier dragon or be eaten by the big one. Well, it made little difference how they died.

“Ain’t like we got too many options,” he sighed, patting Selene’s hand absentmindedly as she reached up to touch him as if in a daze. “Ain’t got nothin’ ter lose, neither. May’s well try an’ escape as sit like duck ‘till we’re ea’en.” Whether or not she’d feel the same way, he couldn’t say, but his philosophy was that it was better to at least try to do something. Maybe if the dragon gave them a lift, Selene could direct it to somebody who could help- a mage, maybe. They’d have to be powerful to take down the clubtail, but then there were some fearsome people out there. In fact… perhaps that gem could do something for them. It would seem logical that the dragon would have used it to help himself if he could… all the same, there could be some reason why not. It was worth asking about.

The odd thing was that Selene could sort of understand the dragon’s feelings about the gem however. If she was really about to throw it away and he wanted it back, then she might as well give it to him instead of tossing it into the forest. No good could come of that anyway either.
“Why did you drop it in the lake then if you want to keep it so dearly?” she challenged only to be cut short by the dragon.

“There is no time for debates! We have to get out of here! If that clubtail turns around and finds us, we’re all dead meat. It may have just been hunting me but it won’t stop for the sake of a couple of two-legged ones!” The acid dragon briefly hesitated at the mention of the term, having wanted to say humans but the smaller one – he had only noticed it when the woman had reached her hand up towards it just before it spoke – definitely did not look like it was a human.

But the creature spoke the truth: “You can’t know that but if you’d rather try your odds against a clubtail, be my guest. Just hand over the gem. Quickly now!” Sa’am wriggled his back closer to them, inviting to climb up on it, anxiously listening for the sounds of the other dragon.

“Alright then,” Selene finally acquiesced. Ciqala was right, and so was the dragon. There was probably no more harm in riding the dragon than staying here.
Awkwardly stepping towards the dragon and handing it the gem pouch before clambering onto its back, trying to avoid the slick spots that seemed to be oozing.. something. “Can you stop leaking though?” She wasn't quite sure what exactly it was but she knew that she didn't want to get her fingers on it. Soon enough, she was sitting tightly on the dragon's back. "Hold on, Ciqala, this might be a rough ride!" she whispered to the homunculus, hoping his grip was firm enough for this, otherwise he would have to come stand or sit somewhere else, but she would make sure he wouldn't be blown off.

“Uh, yeah.. you might want to avoid the wet spots,” Sa’am muttered, slightly embarrassed about his apparent lack of control when it come to acidic fluids. However, for some reason it had now stopped spraying randomly out of him and it would be safe enough for the human to ride him. Plus, there was a fairly dry spot on his back most of the time, exactly where she was sitting now. Maybe that had a specific purpose?

As soon as she sat, Sa’am took off, cradling the pouch with the gem in his claw. He ripped through the forest into the direction from which he had come, hoping to leave the clubtail behind further and further, unsure of what the passengers were going to do, but he couldn’t worry about them now. Escape was the most important thought on his mind. And the fact that he had the gem back in his possession.

He doubted that he would have done any different if the decisions had been up to him, but Ciqala still huffed moodily as the dragon urged them on and Selene handed over the gem. Well, he reasoned, the situation really wasn’t the best. It was fair enough to be grumpy under the circumstances.

As soon as Selene was seated on the dragon’s back, Ciqala slid off her shoulder to crouch just in front of where she sat, taking great care not to touch the acid as he hooked tiny fingers around the edges of scales for grip. Between the shelter of Selene’s body and the acid’s neck, he felt he was about as secure as he was going to get. Which, in comparison to being on nice solid ground, wasn’t very. Trying to take his mind off the horror of flying with his eyes open only the tiniest slit, he yelled forwards to their new ally, hoping to get some kind of answer despite the obvious distractions at hand.

“So, uh, I don’ s’pose tha’ gem o’yers c’n ‘elp us now? If it’s magic or wha’ever, I dunno. But we could use th’help, righ’?” It seemed to him that they could use whatever help they got. Holding his breath and trying not to let his terror show, Ciqala slowly turned his head to scan for pursuers. No sign of the clubtail so far- but that didn’t mean it wouldn’t appear, not in the least. He could hardly see a thing anyway, through all the trees and around Selene, and he only looked for a split second before having to turn away again. Oh, he was so not built to fly.

For a moment, Sa’am wanted to ask what the homunculus had just said, half of it gotten lost in the frantic flapping of his wings to gain ever more speed. But just as he opened his mouth to ask, it sunk in what had been said, which in turn made him close his mouth again, somewhat embarrassed. Figuring they would expect a reply however, he finally swallowed hard and, after several tries to be audible, called back over the wind: “I have no idea what it does. Maybe nothing even.” He was certain that this was most likely not what they had expected to hear but he didn’t see the use in lying to them either.

“Then why all the fuss?” Selene muttered as she heard the dragon’s reply, wondering what the use was in even hiding it when there was nothing special to it. Of course, maybe it simply had sentimental value for the dragon, which would be odd, considering it was a rather human looking piece of jewellery, but she wasn’t going to deny him the pleasure of a nice memory by making a snippy comment.

“So where is it that you’re taking us to?” she asked instead, raising her voice above the wind again. It was a rather speedy flight, she had to admit. Or maybe it only seemed that way to her because she had never before been in a highspeed chase fleeing from an angry clubtail dragon.

“There is a cave not too far from here, I’ve spent a couple of nights there not too long ago. With a bit of luck we can reach it before the clubtail catches up enough to see us disappear into it, so we might be safe there.” It was an option at least, even if it wasn’t the best, and he was aware of it. But what else was there to do? He couldn’t keep up flying much longer, even less so with the charge he was now carrying, and the clubtail would thrash him, or probably all of them, if it got to them.

“Better than nothing,” the young woman ventured, though she wasn’t too sure about the poor confidence the acid dragon made a show of. If that clubtail really was as angry… then it was most likely going to find them no matter where they were going to hide.

The dragon stayed amongst the trees for the most part, probably hoping that it would keep them out of sight of their pursuer for as long as possible though it made for an uncomfortable and bumpy ride. Regularly, Selene had to raise her arm to protect her face and the longer they flew, the more she hunched over Ciqala in an attempt to protect the little one from being smashed off the dragon’s back by a branch.

“This really is not the most comfortable way to travel,” she grunted to her companion without the dragon hearing. “But at least it’s quick enough. Ever been on one before?” She knew this was not the best time for smalltalk but she felt the need to take her mind off of the bumpy flight. And ironically that was the exact moment the dragon chose to warn them.

“Alright this is going to be a lot bumpier now, I’m pulling up!” Sa’am thought it best to warn them that he was going to crash through the tree tops now since the forest was starting to come to an end – the shrubbery wasn’t yet though. ‘Oddly dense forest,’ he thought but ignored it, putting all his energy into flying up and over the treetops, as quickly as he could, putting even more speed into his flight with the last of his strength, hoping against hope that the clubtail would not spot them any time soon.

Last edited by Artemis on Wed May 29, 2013 12:22 pm; edited 1 time in total

Ciqala completely agreed with Selene’s muttered comment, but he wasn’t about to argue with a dragon, especially not when it could just pitch him off any time it felt like it. True, he could probably stop any really severe damage with a forcefield if he could keep his head enough to make one, but the experience was still one he didn’t exactly fancy.

After another moment of gloomily contemplating his imminent death, he decided that it probably wasn’t helping him any and returned his attention to what Selene was now saying to the dragon. A cave, hm? Maybe it wasn’t the most luxurious of places to stay, but it would protect them from the elements and- hopefully- from the gaze of the clubtail. There didn’t seem a lot of point in talking, with the wind snatching away everything he tried to say, so instead he just hunkered down further, trying to hide from the blast of the wind behind the dragon’s neck without leaning in a pool of acid. Before too long, however, he became all too grateful for the proximity of Sa’am’s neck, not to mention Selene bending over him in an attempt to protect him. Those branches were lethal- apparently the dragon wasn’t accustomed to taking passengers. He didn’t seem to be showing all that much concern for their welfare- though, granted, he probably didn’t make a habit of fleeing clubtails in his spare time either. It had to be a bit of a shock to the system.

“Never,” he grunted back to Selene, turning his face slightly from where his forehead had been pressed into the thick black scales. “Don’ think I’ll wanter try it again, either, after this.” She was right, though; when he dared a peek over the edge of the dragon’s shoulder, he was amazed to see how fast the landscape was whisking past below. Maybe he could get used to dragon flight over time… in gentler conditions.
By the time Sa’am made his next announcement, he couldn’t muster the willpower for anything more than a slight groan in protest, tightening his grip on the two scales he clung to as they began to batter their way through more treetops than ever. After what seemed like an eternity of cracking branches and twigs flying dangerously close to his face, they finally came in to land with a jolt, only narrowly avoiding crashing into a tree as they touched down.
“We done?” Ciqala asked, straightening slightly in disbelief. Hellish as the flight had been, well… it could have been worse. Especially as they seemed to have made it alive.

It hadn’t been at all difficult to trace the bizarre shrieking sound- while it lasted. For whatever reason, it seemed to have stopped now, but Iguifutyia was unpertubed. Maybe the little acid dragon had a slight lead on her now, but their situations hadn’t changed that much. When you got right down to it, he couldn’t keep flying much longer- but she could. With a slight, smug rumble in her chest, she looked around the area to see where her victim had got to. It took a few moments for her to realise that she didn’t actually know. Well, he couldn’t have gone far! He’d pop back out again in a minute, or betray himself by leaking acid. She’d pick up his trail again.

It was another minute or so before she admitted to herself that she really had lost him. But that didn’t change the fact that he had to be in the area. He was probably just skulking around in the trees somewhere. It would take too long to search the entire area on foot, but she probably had the patience to wait him out. With a few heavy wingbeats she angled herself upwards and flew higher to establish an easy circle over the trees. Surely she’d be able to keep this up for as long as the dragon chose to hide. He’d run eventually; they all did.

Cowards.

Sa’am had wanted to go up, and for a while he had worked towards that goal, but he soon realised that it wasn’t going to work. Not with the amount of strength he had already spent fleeing from the clubtail dragon, and even less so with two passengers upon his back even if one of them barely weighed more than a fly.

Without much else to it, the acid dragon crashed back down, deciding that they could work the final bit towards the cave entrance. Not that there was much further to go anyways. The largest part of the distance lay behind them and with every brave flap of his wings, as weak as they were becoming, he brought them closer to their destination.

Before long however, Sa’am couldn’t hold out anymore and without much elegance, he crashed through the remaining shrubbery between their height and the forest floor, landing in what could only be described a sorry heap. His knees buckled underneath him and it was all he could do to keep himself upright long enough for his riders to dismount.

“Are you alright?” Selene asked into the round, grabbing Ciqala and hopping off the dragon’s back before putting the homunculus down out of respect for his own will and kneeling in front of the acid dragon to take a look at the beast. Other than exhaustion, there wasn’t much wrong with him, or so it seemed to the naked eye at least. She hoped it was true. She wasn’t quite sure she could deal with a sick dragon, having no clue whatsoever what she should do in such a situation.

“I assume this is where we were intended to go?” she asked as she got back onto her feet and took a quick scan of their surroundings. Tree trunks and bushes as far as the eye could see. Still. Shouldn’t they have reached the edge of the forest by now? Hadn’t it all started to thin out a little only a short while ago?”

“I know what you’re thinking,” Sa’am panted, still unable to fully catch his breath after the quick flight. “The forest is just oddly created in this corner. It looks as though you’re coming to the edge while actually you’re only moving over into another part of it. Don’t even ask me how, I have no clue. I only know that the cave isn’t far from here. We used to come here from time to time when I was still with the pack, and a couple of times after that. It’s quite handy.”

The longer he had been hugging the ground, the better he was feeling. Only minutes after their crash-landing, he looked at his two new companions. “Ready to continue our journey? We need to walk a little further to reach the entrance but I think we’re safe now. The clubtail dragon seems to have gone another way or decided that I’m not worth the hassle for a small snack.”

The cave was indeed not very much further away. To facilitate matters for Ciq’ala, she once again offered him a lift on her shoulders, before following the dragon as the young male lead the way. This was just too odd to even wonder about anything anymore, but Selene still kept an eye out for any possible danger around them. Not that she had much worried about this before she had bumped into Ciq’ala or even Sa’am, but the fact that there was a screaming amulet with them and an angry and very large clubtail dragon out on the hunt for them.. well.. it shook her up a little.

Once they reached the cave, she was glad to notice that it was a rather decent place and really quite big as well. There was enough space for them to make a small campfire to cook some food, and on top of that, the fire would most likely not even be spotted from the outside in case they were indeed going to stay there longer than she might have hoped. The sun was moving quickly towards the far edge of the horizon and Selene feared that they would have to spend the night. There didn’t seem to be much of a way around it, unless they were willing to risk their lives in the claws of a clubtail.

“I think, we should set up camp here, unless someone has a better idea?” She looked from the homunculus to the dragon and back. “I’m not sure there is much of a civilised place close by and if that dragon is still out there, we might do good to wait a little longer before we risk going out into the open, even if the beast may not be after us.” At this, she gave a sideways glance at the dragon, who flinched at her words, but didn’t argue. “With a bit of luck, the clubtail will grow tired of waiting around and we won’t be in any more danger on that front.” Of course, it was a lot of hot air for the most part because in reality, Selene didn’t have a clue. She couldn’t even be sure whether the clubtail was not on its way to the cave at that very moment. Maybe it was only waiting for them to fall asleep so it could strike. Who was she to even think she may be able to interpret the ways of dragons?

“What do you think Ciq’ala?” Selene asked before continuing. “Do you have any brilliant ideas up your sleeve for hunting for food?” The dragon was of no use to them in that respect it seemed, as Sa’am had already fallen fast asleep on the floor of the cave without even batting an eyelid at preparations for dinner and the night, or the fact that maybe these two companions of his could kill him, despite the fact that the homunculus was not the tallest person about.

By the time he was whisked through the air by Selene, Ciqala felt distinctly nauseous. What with their somewhat abrupt landing and her suddenly grabbing him, when he was finally set back on the ground he just sat down and put his head between his knees, trying to take steady breaths. He could hear Selene anxiously talking to the dragon, but he ignored it for the most part; if their new acquaintance really was sick then he wouldn’t be able to do a thing about it, that was for sure. Thankfully, by the time the dragon was sufficiently recovered to set off again so was he, and he accepted Selene’s offer of a lift with sincere thanks. Even if it wasn’t the most comfortable ride, it still beat the immense effort of walking all that way.

When they eventually reached the cave, he climbed down from Selene’s shoulder with a contented sigh, flopping onto the ground and looking around with interest.
“Don’ reckon we’ll find anywhere else s’good as this,” he agreed as he rolled his joints. “As fer the dragon… well, we c’n ‘ope. An’ we migh’ be able ter find out more ‘bout that stone if we ‘speriment a bit. I dunno ‘bout food, though. P’raps if we ‘ad a look fer berries? S’pose you eat more’n me, though.” He pondered for a moment, picking at a small plant which was growing beside him, before slowly looking up at Selene. “Maybe,” he said slowly, with a slight frown. “If we found some kind o’animal, I could stop it breathin’. Wouldn’ be too nice, bu’ if it worked…” He shrugged, looking up at Selene. It was her food, after all; while it wasn’t exactly pleasant living solely off berries and the like which could be found in the forest, Ciqala could manage it for a few days, but doubtless with a human appetite they simply wouldn’t be filling enough.

Selene nodded along, taking into consideration Ciqala’s suggestions for food, but she wasn’t very keen on stepping out of the cave, seeing that there might be a huge angry dragon hovering above the trees, just waiting for them to appear so it could swoop down and munch on them. Then again, it had been chasing Sa’am, had it not? Maybe it wouldn’t care if Selene took a stroll outside, with or without a homunculus with her. Maybe she could just sneak out, get some food and then come back without getting into trouble.

“Or maybe I’m just going to pass on food tonight,” she muttered as she pondered their situation. She wouldn’t be a happy cookie when she woke up on a very empty and very hungry stomach but that was probably still better than an angry dragon. At that moment, her stomach growled, rather quite loudly. Then again, she really was hungry so she might as well just get over it and sneak outside.

No, she wasn’t going to wait until the next morning to get some food. “Are you coming along to see what we can find then? I like the idea of you making an animal stop breathing better than me trying frantically to chase after them to catch them and then fail miserably. Even if it isn’t the nicest way, it will still be better than anything I can do.” She knew, she sounded like a complete wuss, but she didn’t even have a proper dagger on her, only a small knife. This day had supposed to have been quiet and she had initially gone out for a relaxing stroll rather than an adventure of this size. But the use of the knife would only be cruel to end an animal’s life unless the thing just rolled over and let her slit its throat, which she very much doubted.

“Aren’t small animals supposed to live in abundance in forests?” Selene muttered a while later. They had slipped out of the cave into nearby bushes and moved onwards a little in hopes of finding food as quickly as possible. It wasn’t dark yet but the sun was gradually moving towards the horizon and night would fall soon enough. Not many animals had crossed their paths and those who had hadn’t been really suitable for dinner plans. Mice, rats and the like, but slowly Selene was beginning to wonder if she wouldn’t have to make due with barbecued rat after all. A shudder ran down her spine. Eww!

Ciqala nodded appreciatively as Selene muttered to herself. He didn't much fancy going out with that mad dragon around either, and he wasn't about to pretend otherwise. Nonetheless... it hadn't really seemed to be them the dragon wanted, and Selene had saved his neck, so if he could help her find something to eat he felt obliged to. If there was one thing he'd learnt from life, it was that you couldn't expect to receive without giving.

After a few moments, however, Selene seemed to experience a sudden change of heart, her hunger apparently overcoming her fear. Ciqala was just leaning back on his hands and closing his eyes drowsily when she surprised him by speaking suddenly. He sat up again, watching as she spoke, before clambering back to his feet and dusting himself off.
"May's well, ain't like I got summin' better ter do."

As it turned out, Ciqala might have been better off sitting around in the cave and twiddling his thumbs. Perched in the place on Selene's shoulder he was almost becoming accustomed to- though still clutching onto her for security- he peered about the forest, searching for any sign of some edible animal. Truthfully, he'd never tried hunting with his powers before, and he had no idea if he would succeed; perhaps it was for the best if they didn't find anything. It could save him some embarrassment, at least.

His thought process was interrupted by something rustling in the trees just to their right.
"S'lene," he hissed right in her ear. "What's tha'?"

She had heard it too. Freezing mid-step, Selene even sucked in her breath and tried to remain as quiet as possible, but of course, whenever she tried to not make a sound, she felt the inexplicable urge to fidget. Not to mention the fact that she was scared her frantic heartbeat could be heard for miles around them.

The sound repeated itself and Selene heaved a sigh of relief. “It sounds small enough,” she whispered, “but we should be careful nevertheless. Just in case, you know.” At least it hadn’t been an enormous crashing sound giving away the presence of a dragon or anything else heavy and dangerous like that. In fact, whatever was hiding behind the bushes didn’t seem bigger than a deer, tops. Or maybe she was only hoping that was what it was.

“Can you sense what it is?” she inquired, unsure as to how Ciqala’s magic actually worked. “I can’t see anything.” There were no other sounds to go by, only the irregular rustling and snapping of twigs. Slowly, Selene approached the bush in question, stepping very carefully as she tried to avoid snapping branches underneath her own feet. However, no matter how hard she tried, the light in the darkening forest wasn’t the best and she couldn’t see where she put her feet.

SNAP!

Involuntarily, Selene jumped even though she had been the one to make the noise but she was afraid that whatever was on the other side of the shrub would suddenly come at her. The being on the other side seemed to have been just as startled by the sound as she had been, as the unmistakable thud of feet being firmly pushed on the ground resounded through the forest.

For a good while, Selene remained utterly still, but kept her eyes and ears open.

Sitting against Selene's neck as he was, Ciqala couldn't help but feeling her racing pulse- and it didn't do anything good for his own stress levels. No, there obviously wasn't a clubtail hidden in the bushes, but that didn't mean that whatever it was wouldn't do them harm.
"Sounds like a plan," he muttered back, flexing hands which were cold with sweat as Selene spoke again. Tense as he was, it took little provocation for a scowl to grow on his face.
"I ain't a bleedin' fairy," he snapped, forgetting to keep his voice lowered in his annoyance. "How'd I know?"

His words were loud enough to startle the hidden creature into taking flight. With a crashing of branches a small deer- almost fully grown, by the look of it- sprang from amongst the leaves, springing away through the forest at an astounding rate. Startled as he was, Ciqala retained enough of his senses to throw up a hasty barrier before the creature by throwing out his hands before him in a gesture violent enough that he almost fell off Selene's shoulder. The deer bounced straight into the invisible wall and went reeling backwards. The homunculus, too, was affected by the collision; he sagged in place as maintaining the barrier sapped his strength. Making and holding a platform strong enough to support his own weight was an entirely different matter from something which could repel the force of a deer running into it at full speed. Nonetheless, he made a cup shape with his hands and mimed wrapping them around something; a few seconds later, a panicked look entered the unfortunate deer's eyes as its air supply was cut off by the blockade over its nostrils. They waited for a tense half-minute while the animal staggered about, its movements becoming weaker and more sluggish over time, until eventually its legs wavered and it flopped to the floor. Still weakened but triumphant at his success, Ciqala turned to grin at Selene- only to see as a furious-looking pair of humans burst through the bushes, clad in practical gear and wielding all the tools of hunters."
"Who the hell do you think you are?" the leader spat, charging over to them with eyes aflame. "Haven't you heard of hunting territories? What makes you think you have the right to come here to our part of the forest and take our game?"

Selene was on the brink of giving a snippy reply when a deer stumbled out from behind the bush, startled by the homonculus’ suddenly raised voice.
“Woah!”
It all went so quickly that the young woman barely even realised what was happening when she felt Ciqala almost toppling off her shoulder. Instinctively, she held up her hand in case he needed help to stay up on his perch. At the same time, she was keeping her eyes on the deer, now seeming utterly stunned after having crashed into some sort of invisible barrier.

“That was really quite awesome, Ciq! Nice reflexes!” Forgotten was the shock as Selene made her way to the animal. She tried to ignore the fact that this was actually not the most agreeable way to kill an animal as she moved closer, intent on ending what was left of the deer’s life.

The hunters she had not expected. Jumping in fright once again, Selene immediately backed away a few steps and lowering her hand away from her shoulder as the men came bursting through the forest and started screaming at them. “You could have just made yourselves known!” she yelled back, indignant at their appearance. All she had wanted was a bit of food for the two of them and maybe the dragon sleeping off his exhaustion in the cave and now they had once again bumped into an obstacle.
“What is it with this forest?” she muttered under her breath.

To the hunters, she added: “Hunting territories? Never heard of ‘em.” Pouting, she glared at them, ignoring the fact that they were stronger, armed and would most likely not mind to skin her along with the deer. All she could hope for was that they left them alone. For good measure, she had already turned herself in a way that they might not notice Ciqala but she wasn’t sure that was going to do either of them much good. Slowly, she was also moving backwards, wanting to bring as much space as possible between them and the hunters. There was no telling what those men might do and she wasn’t keen on finding out either.

“Now would be a good time for that clubtail to make an appearance,” she grumbled or Ciqala’s ears only, hoping that the men really couldn’t hear her.

Despite his recent moment of irritation, Ciqala grinned quite cheerfully as Selene commended him. For once, something had actually gone well!
“Thanks,” he said. “I reckon-”

He didn’t have a chance to finish his sentence before the hunters exploded from the shrubbery, nearly making him fall off Selene’s shoulder in shock. At least it wasn’t the clubtail again- though they looked similarly angry, waving fists around in the air. Thankfully their knives remained sheathed for now- not that it would take a knife to do for Ciqala. Wincing, he leant into Selene’s neck, trying not to be noticed. Despite the imminent threat of these rather unfriendly men, he smirked slightly at Selene’s whispered comment.
“Wouldn’ it jus’,” he muttered back. “Reckon they’ll let us go if we give ‘em the bloody deer?”

Apparently hearing something but not being sure what, one of the men swivelled from his minute examination of the deer, eyes narrowed in sour suspicion.
“You talking to yourself there? Listen, how did you kill it anyway? I don’t see any weapons or you, or a mark on the deer.” Apparently coming to the same conclusions, his partner came to stand by him, both of them glaring somewhat uneasily at Selene. Quite reasonably, they suspected magic, and no reputable woman wandered around forests on her own. What if she was some kind of evil sorceress?

An uneasy feeling spread through Selene’s gut when the men suddenly stared at her, obviously suspecting her of something. Of course, shielding Ciqala also meant not having an explanation for the deer’s death. “How am I supposed to know what happened to it? I happened upon it like this and was just about to see if it was still edible.” Staggering over her own words, she continued without a pause though her phrases barely made sense and her words came out haltingly. “I mean, I noticed it just… fall over. But I don’t know what happened to it. It’s almost as though… as though it choked to death. Maybe? Maybe something was lodged in its throat?”

There was no telling whether they bought it or not but one of the men bent back down towards the deer to examine it more closely. If she could be sure to get away with it, she would try to make a run for it, but she was tired and these men were hunters. They probably spent quite a few hours a day running.

“Listen, if it means this much to you, then just take the damn deer,” she hissed, barely able to withhold the suddenly bubbling anger. Why was she feeling like this? It wasn’t as though she was angry at them, on the contrary, she was scared of them and wanted to get away. So why…?

Her fingers were itching to get rid of them, and she kept balling her hands into fists and relaxing them again. It was scaring her that she was entertaining the thoughts she was and she forced herself to focus on other things. “Make a run for it?” she muttered between her lips to Ciqala, hoping the homunculus heard and the others did not. "Or wait and see?"

Despite a life of scrounging for crumbs amongst the dingy Kaionarian underworld, Ciqala was amazed when Selene promptly and wisely thought to pretend she hadn't killed the deer. Well- not that she had, but she pretended she had no idea what had done so. He hadn't spent much time talking himself out of situations, he supposed, or even talking; generally he had simply avoided sticky situations, though he had heard more than a few humans trying to weasel their way out of things. Either way, Selene had likely saved them both there.

The men exchanged suspicious looks, before seeming to come to some kind of grudging agreement that Selene was likely to be telling the truth. Apparently their desire to believe all women weak and incapable outweighed their inherent suspicion of women wandering alone in the woods. Personally, Ciqala couldn't say if women were indeed weak; next to him, anybody seemed like a bodybuilder.
"Don't reckon we'd make it," he muttered back, grimacing. "Better see what they wan', hopefully we can get outta here soon 'nuff." He might've kept going- he was rather chatty once he got going- but at that moment the men straightened from their crouched and whispered conference over the deer's carcass, and the homunculus once again leant into Selene's hair, thankful for his nondescript brown clothes.
"Right," one man said darkly. "There's nothing in its throat, but I s'pose it could've been... something else. It was ill, maybe." Clearly, none of the four believed that; there was an awkward silence as they all remembered how energetically the deer had sprung through the trees until its untimely death. After a few moments, the man cleared his throat and spoke again. "You're right we'll "take the damn deer". I'd mind your manners if I were you." His glare was interrupted by the other man, who seemed to have softened somewhat in the face of Selene's hopelessness.
"Listen," he said, roughly but not unkindly- not in comparison to his friend, certainly. "What're you doing out here, anyway? There's all kinds of things in these woods, we've had a bloody great dragon all over the place the other day as well. Didn't land, luckily, but..." he frowned, shaking his head. Somehow Ciqala didn't need him to say any more; apparently the clubtail had been scouting around for some time.

Surprised by their sudden care and the actual honesty, Selene blinked and didn’t reply for a moment. Both her and Ciqala had seen the clubtail, so they knew it was very much a real threat, though she wouldn’t have guessed that either of these men would waste a second thought on what it could do to a little human woman.
“Hmmm, you’re right,” she muttered back to Ciqala, stopping to talk just in time for the men to turn back around to them.

Her anger was still simmering somewhere below the surface but with their acceptance of her attempted explanation of the deer’s death – or rather acceptance of the fact that she was completely clueless – it had dialled down a little.
The question however was whether she should come up with something or whether she should say the truth? That she had had help in hiding from it from another dragon. What would happen to the sleeping and exhausted dragon if the men forced her to bring them to it? What if they hunted dragons just as much as anything else?

“I chanced across it earlier, so I hid myself as best as I could. I’m going to stay under cover for a little longer even though it seems to have moved for the time being, and then I’ll get as far away from this forest as possible. I really do not want an encounter with that thing. If I had known there was a rampaging huge dragon in this forest, I would not have come here in the first place, but it seemed like such a nice place for a silent walk with nobody and nothing around.” She left the meaning of the sentence hover for a moment before she continued: “If you would be so kind as to point me in the right direction that would be lovely. With all the running from the dragon I have somewhat lost my bearings. I am headed to Jiluria.”

The man raised his eyebrows, apparently doubting the ability of somebody like Selene to escape the clubtail alive. There wasn't a lot else he could say, though; evidently the men didn't much feel like dragging her around with them until they reached whatever camp they had. After all, it wasn't like she meant anything to them; why should they bother making sure she was alright?
"Well, keep an eye out, I s'pose... if you want to go marching off into the forest, then on your own head be it. Jiluria's off that way somewhere; look at the sun, y'know, Jiluria's to the west of here."

They parted ways with the men swiftly after that; unsurprisingly they encountered no more deer, but they did cross paths with an unfortunate rabbit which Ciqala managed to take down using his newfound skill in hunting. Necessary as it might have been, it was still unpleasant and tiring, and he flopped somewhat wearily against Selene's neck once the job was done.
"What d'you make of tha', then?" he asked, scratching his ear idly. "Reckon we be'er not stick around too much, if there's people 'bout. P'raps we can find someone ter take care a the dragon in Jiluria, too."

Selene still couldn’t believe that the hunters had swallowed it all even though it had only been a slightly flowery version of the truth. Even now, after the hunters had long gone and Ciqala and her were trudging through the forest again on their own, she had trouble believing it, but she was glad it had worked. Even the killing of the rabbit couldn’t dim the smile on her face. Sometimes luck was all it took to make for a good day. Though the day had been far from good, generally speaking, even if meeting a homunculus and a dragon had been rather interesting.

“Yes, you’re right, and maybe Jiluria is our best option. At least it will give us a better place to sleep than a random cave in a forest somewhere. Not sure about the dragon but even if he doesn’t want to tag along, we should still try and get back into civilisation. Or at least away from weird hunters and crazy clubtail dragons.”

Picking up the rabbit, barely able to hold back the gag when she thought about having to skin it, Selene continued: “Under the cover of the night? What do you think? I would very much like to avoid another run-in with the clubtail. Though we should catch a little bit of sleep before that.”

Back at the cave, Selene put down the rabbit and gave Ciqala a hand with climbing off her shoulder, not wanting to be so presumptuous as to simply pick him up and put him down. “Now for that rabbit,” she muttered and just as if on cue, Sa’am stirred in his sleep.

“Did I hear rabbit?” The acid dragon asked as he cracked open an eye to look at his two companions. His stomach was rumbling and after the nap, he wouldn’t mind having a little something to eat. “Do you even know how to skin that? Since I assume you two-legs don’t eat your meat with clothes on.”

Oh look at that, the funny did not go down well with the female as she shot him a sour look and turned her back on him. “Just try to get the fur off. I’ll barbecue it for you as soon as I’m back. I’ll get myself a little snack as well.” He’d probably be long back before the rabbit was completely cleaned, but he didn’t want to say that out loud. The woman more than likely knew this herself.

Sighing, as he saw the lost look she gave the rabbit, he stepped back into the cave. “Here,” he said, snatching the rabbit from her hands without waiting for a response and ripping a few clean cuts into the fur. “This should make it easier to tear it off. Cooking will be quick. I’ll be back in a jiffy.” And with that he ducked back outside and disappeared into the woods.

"Agreed," Ciqala nodded. Granted, he would probably be able to sleep on Selene's stomach or something if he asked her nicely, which would keep him off the cold and uncomfortable floor- but that would quickly get nasty if she started moving around in her sleep or something and crushed him.

He kept well away from the rabbit as Selene picked it up, wrinkling his nose slightly in distaste. He'd seen all too many nasty things left in alleys in Kaionar to want to go near it if it started to smell or anything. At least there was no blood with this new technique of his.
All the magic he'd used had left him feeling both tired and even hungrier than he had been previously; as they passed a bush with a few early berries on it, he reached out to snag one, having to grasp it with both hands to pull it free. He ate it in tiny bites as they approached the cave, frowning thoughtfully.
"I dunno," he said thickly through a mouthful of fruit. "P'raps it wouldn' see us at nigh', yeah. Reckon we better ask our dragon 'bout that. I'm up fer a bit o'sleep, either way."

He gave a nod of greeting to Sa'am as they entered, Selene setting him down on a slightly raised boulder as she sat down to try and deal with the rabbit. He was more than a little grateful that the other two seemed to be dealing with the food preparation; it wasn't like he would be much help anyway. Swallowing the last of his berry, he leant back on the rock and stared thoughtfully after Sa'am.
"'e's an odd one, ain't 'e? Seems frien'ly nuff now we ain't runnin' fer our lives no more, anyway." For the first time since the arrival of the clubtail he felt a faintly peaceful atmosphere coming on; it was pleasant, to say the least.

“He really is, yes,” Selene laughed, slightly appeased by the dragon’s stupid comments through the fact that he had indeed made her life a little easier by ripping cuts into the rabbit’s fur. It hadn’t occurred to her to simplify the matter in such a manner. Then again, she had no idea how to skin an animal.

When the dragon returned, he quickly made brought along a tree branch to stick the rabbit on and then roasted it without much of a fuss so that Ciqala and Selene could eat their meal. Small talk, here and there, but other than that, the meal was a quiet one, Sa’am digging into his little deer, trying hard not to make too much of a mess.

~*~*~*

“Are you sure this is the right way?” Selene hissed, wondering not for the first time if the acid dragon was maybe misleading them. They had all agreed upon sneaking out of the cave under the cover of darkness but trudging through the forest without the moon barely shining through had incredibly rapidly shown to be a rather silly idea.

“Yes, yes, I’m sure,” Sa’am replied, feeling a little irritated with the two-legged female. Seriously, what had he gotten himself into again? Wasn’t it enough that he had almost given up on the jewel and that he had been chased by a clubtail? Noooo, of course not, he had to pick up a silly human woman and her pet, whatever Ciqala was, because they had tampered with said jewel and now he was stuck with them. Just great.

“And you better stop making so much noise otherwise you will attract the same dragon we’re trying to avoid with this.”

Or was it too late already? A roar sounded in the distance behind them and the acid dragon instantly stopped in his tracks. That wasn’t… Was it? “That could have been another dragon, or something entirely different. No need to panic!” The words were reassuring him just as much as they were reassuring the other two, or at least they were supposed to. Sa’am kept his claws firmly planted in the ground, ripping up dirt without realising it as he intently listened for another sound to reach his ears.

As Ciqala half-dozed on his perch, the time seemed to slip by incredibly quickly, Sa’am returning to cook the rabbit in no time. Selene obligingly broke him off a part of the animal’s leg and he gnawed the meat off a delicate bone the length of his arm, smearing his face with grease which he then wiped clean on his shirt, belching contentedly as he leant back picking stringy bits of meat from his teeth.

~*~

He hadn’t the faintest idea of which direction they needed to go in and he wasn’t at all sure that either of the others knew any better than him, but Ciqala’s best plan for now still seemed to be to just sit tight and wait until somebody carried him somewhere marginally safer. He squinted around in the darkness, peered around Selene’s neck, trying to make out anything other than looming tree trunks and Sa’am’s silhouette moving along beside them. With a shiver, he sat back and resumed a pointless stare ahead. Hopefully this godforsaken forest would end soon and they’d be able to go somewhere useful; seeing something would definitely be a good start. Though, of course, the trees did give them cover in case the dra-

A roar ripped through the quiet air, interrupting Ciqala’s train of thought and seeming to come as a taunt straight after Sa’am’s words. The homunculus tensed, his hands immediately balling into fists as he glanced about him for the danger.
“D’sit really ma’er which bloody dragon it was?” he hissed to Sa’am, suddenly finding it difficult to breathe- and he’d thought he was on edge a few moments ago. He should know better; unfortunately, fear for his life was a rather familiar sensation. “Sounds like ‘e wants ter kill us all the damn same, don’ it?”

As was the norm for him, he had resorted to attacking his allies in times of stress. Really, it wasn’t a surprise he hadn’t pinned down any friends yet.

Sa’am looked at the homunculus, outraged. “Of course it matters!” he hissed, trying to keep his voice low even though he felt like screeching madly. “Not every dragon out there is after our hides!” Or his hide really. The two-legged ones didn’t really have all that much to do with this even though they seemed to have somehow stumbled into the whole mess.

Before Sa’am or Ciqala could engage in a full-fledged argument, Selene shushed them both with a growled “You're not helping!” before she continued moving through the trees as quickly as possible with the dim lighting while at the same time trying to make even less noise than before. Which, obviously, was a rather futile attempt since she didn’t see where she was putting her frigging feet!

“This is complete nonsense!” she grumbled, trying to ignore the steady beating of wings in their vicinity, indicating that a dragon – a rather large dragon – was close by in search of prey. “How? How even do we keep ending up running away? From enormous dragons nonetheless? Ridiculous!”

She kept her voice low at all times but it sounded loud enough in the night air and the woman couldn’t help but wonder if there was another reason why it was suddenly so quiet, or whether that was the consequences of the huge predator circling their heads.

The acid dragon nodded his silent agreement. Inwardly, he was panicking but he didn’t want to show it, because if he let himself lose his grip now, he would make an incredibly stupid thing and would thus most definitely pull its attention to them.
‘Keep it together, Sa’am! You can do this!’ The words were still coherent at least but he wasn’t sure how long that was going to last. Selene’s rant didn’t make him feel any better either, but there was nothing to do other than continue running.

“Maybe it found someone else to stalk,” Sa’am whispered when it was dead silent for a few painful moments. No beating of wings, no roar, no slashing or ripping of any kind; jus silence. Not even the wood animals were making any kind of noise anymore.

“Uhm, guys?”

Selene instantly slapped her hand to the dragon’s mouth, or what she thought was his mouth but was actually his eyeball. Both of them almost squealed but managed not to, when suddenly all hell broke loose.

Noise erupted from all sounds it seemed, the dragon began roaring again like its life depended on it, and maybe it did, while humans seemed to be yelling everywhere.
Selene’s heartrate cranked it up another notch and she was beginning to feel the pounding of her heart not only in her throat but also in her head. A cold sweat broke out all over her and she couldn’t shake the iron hold of the sudden anger and desperation that had gripped her.

“This is not good,” she whispered as her knees began shaking. “This is so not good.”

Ciqala spread his hands in defence, about to come back at Sa’am with some quip when Selene interrupted. Wisely, he decided to hold his tongue for once, instead grabbing a handful of Selene’s clothing to stop himself from falling off as she stumbled through the dark trees.
“Good question,” he grumbled in reply to Selene- likely it had been a rhetorical question, but that wasn’t about to stop him. “Jus’ my luck, ain’t it?”

Somehow, when the roars and crashes stopped, the silence which was left was even worse. What if it had crept up behind them somehow, silently- it was a hunter, after all, and what was a hunter which couldn’t be stealthy when it wanted? He should never have left the cities- true, they weren’t exactly safe, but at least he understood how to deal with those threats-

Once again, he was shocked out of his pessimistic thoughts by an eruption of noise. He couldn’t even tell where it was coming from- it just overwhelmed his ears. After a moment, he realised that must mean that it was a lot closer. Somehow, he couldn’t help but agree with Selene’s assessment of the situation.

He was proved right that the dragon was close when a figure appeared a little way away, weaving its way between the trees and glancing desperately back over its shoulder. Squinting into the darkness, he quickly realised that it was a man, clutching at his apparently injured shoulder as he attempted to flee the dragon’s attack. He scarcely seemed to notice them in the shadows, sprinting straight past without so much as glancing their way.
“That don’t bode well,” Ciqala had time to murmur before the cracking of trees heralded the arrival of the dragon.

Iguifutyia could not believe it. This tiny, simple job had turned into a catastrophe. Nothing she couldn’t handle, of course- it wasn’t like any of these humans could give her a run for her money- but it was an irritation which had to be taken care of before she could find that runty little dragon she was hunting. She’d descended on the human camp when she’d noticed their fire below, thinking that the group she was tracking might have joined up with them; if not, it would serve as a little distraction and a meal, at least. That hadn’t worked out so well, though. Most of them had seemed appropriately afraid of her, and she had killed or injured a good few of them. But then, out of nowhere, a mage had appeared. A mage in this place, so far away from all the humans’ houses and the like! She couldn’t imagine what he was doing there or how he knew how to fight dragons- from what she could gather, they were just the normal pathetic humans hunting rabbits and the like- but whatever the reasons behind it, he posed a definite issue. She paid little heed to the trees around her as she went, smashing a path where she needed to and knocking down the occasional human she overtook with huge swings of her tail. Despite all her efforts, though, she knew the mage was close behind her…

Absorbed as she was in… not fleeing, but avoiding the man, Iguifutyia didn’t register who it was that stood before her for a moment when she smashed her way past another tree. It took a moment for her to realise that these weren’t just more of the hunters she was in the middle of slaughtering; no, there was only one acid dragon around here at the moment.
“Hello there,” she purred, her lip lifting to show her teeth in satisfaction and anticipation. How convenient.

Panic!
Complete and utter panic!!

Sa’am was completely losing his marbles when suddenly confronted with the clubtail dragon he had done his best to escape from for most of the day. What was his life coming down to? Why was this happening to him? It wasn’t fair!

The longer he stared the dragon in the face, the more he was beginning to shiver, fear keeping him tightly in its grasp. Before he knew what was happening, acid began oozing out from underneath his scales all over his body.

Selene started breathing faster and harder by the second. There was too much going on, too many emotions! She felt the weight of them press against her and no matter how much she tried to shake off the feeling, she couldn’t help it. Sa’am’s panic was already starting to feel like a second skin to her and she couldn’t handle it much longer if the dragon didn’t get a grip!

“Sa’am! Ease up, please!” she said, but even before she finished her plea, she knew that he might not even have heard. Not only because her voice had barely risen above a whisper but mostly because the dragon was so lost within his own mind that he probably wouldn’t register anything other than a full-blown attack by the clubtail dragon.

“Ciqala, you might want to grab on to something or shield yourself,” she warned the homunculus when she felt the emotional wave crash over her, threatening to drown her completely. She had thought that with the years she had learned better control over this but she had been mistaken.

Added to Sa’am’s panic, the clubtail’s confusing mess of emotions, there was the fleeing man’s fear, the anger and fear of she didn’t know how many other men and her own feelings.
Gripping her head in both hands, Selene sank to the floor and almost yelled. It was too much, it was simply too much to bear. She wasn’t sure what to do, how to counter it. She only hoped that nothing horrible was going to happen – like most every other time.

She could feel the magic, the one she had always tried to ignore, to repress, to deny, but she had no idea what it was doing.

Sa’am felt his panic lessen a little, but not through his own influence. How he could he possibly remain calm in the face of the wrath of an angry dragon innumerable times his own size?!
No, something or someone else was doing it.
And with that thought, his panic was flooding back full force, pushing back any attempt at even considering to breathe evenly.

“Go away! Go away, go away, go away!” he shrieked. He knew it was silly and utterly futile, but he didn’t know what else to do and it seemed better than just standing there like a statue dripping acid all over the forest floor.

» Ciqala (Homunculus)
» [Tarz] Let's go Fishing! (Adelais and Selene)
» The Party Continues (Liz x Eldar)
» Artemis's Eggs/Dragons
» A meeting in the City {Artemis~StormKatz}