Lovely Butterfly Wings [Kat x Liza]

It had been an exceptionally windy day and Yrana's wings were aching from trying to brave the winds and get back to her little thorn nest. "I will never fly in a gale like this again." She was blown into an apple tree in some farmer's orchard outside a village near Yarrowitz and shook herself out. Her wings were shaky and it looked like a storm was rolling in from the coast. There was a chill in the wind and she immediately sought shelter on the other size of the tree trunk with a shiver. "Hope I can get home from here, being up this high is starting to get scary." Thunder crashed off in the distance and the first few drops of rain started to fall.

"There's no way I'll make it home now!" she squeaked as she hid from a flying twig. Time to hunker down and make sure she didn't blow away. The storm soon began raging and she'd found a little hollow in the side of the tree trunk in which to wait out the storm, even if she'd had to run a squirrel out of it to snooze there. Something rustling outside, shockingly NOT from the storm, startled her and she went rigid. "Who's out there? If you're a squirrel you can take a hike!"

The look she was getting from this new dragon was a little unsettling. "Uhm. . .A-Are you alright? That wind's pretty rough, I-I suppose I could move over and share until the storm is over." She tucked back her wings, having flared them out when her guest got snappy with her. She stood and moved over to the side after clearing out some of the debris. "Rodents are so unclean. If only they could be more organized!" When she turned back to the rather stunning male Butterfly she cringed as her wing hit something off to the side and popped. "Sorry, wings have been giving me trouble recently. Ignorant humans and all that sort of thing I guess." She laughed nervously and sat back down as she pushed some acorns out of the way.

"What's your name?" She'd never really seen a male of her breed and at least this one, regardless of his name, was an excellent example. She didn't have much idea about the ME, since she stayed away from most everything that spoke, but she could at least be friendly. "I don't get to see many Butterflies no matter where the wind blows me, so you're a really splendid surprise!" She quieted down a little and dipped her head. "I'm sorry I thought you were a squirrel before, I chased one out of here and I thought it might've come back to settle the score..."

"Lead the way! Anything is better than being blown about like this, thank you!" She crawled down the tree as best she could without her wings getting ripped off in the wind. So with them tucked flush against her sides she scuttled along the ground and hid among the roots to wait for Dyavol. She was waiting until they were out of the wind to introduce herself, and maybe after they'd eaten a rat or two in those tunnels. Once she found her way about she found a hole underneath a human shed and perked up. "Think I found one of those tunnels, Dyavol!" What was intriguing about Yrana's personality was that with other dragons she was sweet and kind and protective, but with much anything else she could be very vicious. She'd been itching to tear off a human's finger for some time now just to prove that she could do it. Instead however she took her fury out on a rather pissy rat that wasn't too keen on sharing its tunnel with two small dragons. The bloodthirsty display was a once in a blue moon occurrence and even at that it was rare for anyone to see it.

"I'd been in a human house hiding out when a little one ran in and tried to catch me for a pet. I've not had good impressions of humans as a whole, and if the adults aren't trying to crush me, sadistic hatchlings are trying to rip my wings off! It's madness. I got out the window just as the storm broke and I took refuge in the nearest tree. A little while after that I ran into you and here we are. I don't really keep homes, humans keep finding it and I have to get up and move again. Wish I could find a place to settle permanently, would make things a whole lot easier." This male with a tail full of steel pins looked like he knew where she was coming from, and her tail swished impatiently. "They're so cruel to us, what did we ever do to deserve it...?"

Normally she didn't like appearing soft, but it couldn't really be helped since she'd let out her frustrations on the dead rat at the beginning of the tunnel. After dismissing her embarrassment about her emotions, she let herself enjoy the safety of being out of the storm and folded back her wings. "Why do you have metal spines in your tail? They look painful."

"I tend to avoid things like humans and big dragons, self-preservation and all that. On the subject of my name, I don't have one. I don't remember anyone ever giving me one as a hatchling. You can call me Yrana if you want, I suppose." When the storm outside the tunnel got to be too rough, she moved a little closer to her companion and settled down with her wings folded. "Humans talk about those big dragons like they're the scourge of the island, and I can't see why. Not every dragon is capable of defending themselves, so why shouldn't those who can help the ones who can't? Even if it's just a nudge in the right direction."

Having finally found a place to warm up, and another of her kind to BS with about the horrendous behavior of humanoids, she made herself comfortable. "They're like rabbits, they multiply exceedingly fast. Getting rid of all of them is going to be quite difficult if more dragons don't wise up and start taking them out. Nature as it stands can't hold out much longer with so many two-legs running around." She'd had to leave many good homes behind because of humans invading what was left of the island that had yet to be settled. "All they do is destroy..."

"I spend my time hiding from things that can hurt me without so much as a second glance. When I'm not hiding I'm lazing about in flower beds and making silly decorations with flower petals." He mentioned her being hurt and she shrugged her narrow little shoulders. "Not as much as other things have in the past, but life goes on and so long as my wings still function I'll get over any injury I sustain." The wind howled and carried on and sent whistling zephyrs down the tunnel, but that didn't seem to phase the little red dragon. The idea that she should trust larger dragons would take a while to set in and it sounded rather hair-brained to her.

"Guess I still have quite a bit to learn." She dared to inch closer to him and glanced up at this imposing company she'd found herself with. "Tell me more about these dragons you think so highly of...I might make it my priority to meet up with them." It sounded much safer than staying by herself and being anti-social. At least she'd have decent company, and a friend her size to talk to and pass the time with. "Would definitely consider it, not only for the protection but the possibility of more good company."

She lowered her head to the ground and stared at the entrance to the tunnel. "It's alright. I just don't meet many creatures my size that're worth talking to, rats and bugs are to be eaten. I've not had much contact with my own kind." Hearing him speak so kindly of the Maledictus Eice, she glanced over at him and lightly touched her paw to his forearm and retracted it just as quickly. "Would you mind too terribly if I traveled with you when you return to them? I promise not to be too much trouble." It wasn't a typical for her to ask things of others, but he's mentioned them to her likely in hopes that she would join their cause. "I might not be so fierce just yet, but you can count on me to do my best. If anything, I know a lot about plants and how to use them for healing." She wanted so badly to be of use and to be cared about, her life would be complete if both of those goals came to be achieved at once. The more she thought about it, the nicer a world without humans was starting to sound. "I'm glad to have run into you Dyavol, if only it weren't stormy it would be even better."

She moved away from him when he sounded angry and curled her tail around her legs. He wasn't a dragon one got very close to it seemed, guess she couldn't very well call him her friend. Oh well, perhaps in time he'd loosen up a bit. He looked conflicted and somehow it just hurt to see him in such a state. Knowing what she was risking, she slowly crept back over and debated comforting him. "If you need a friend. . .I'd be happy to oblige." She knew better than to ask questions, if he was going to tell her he would in his own time. "I'm sorry I upset you." She couldn't think of anything else that would've changed his mood so quickly, but she had little idea of what she'd actually 'done'.

Lightning flashed outside and illuminated the tunnel in a spectacular blast and she moved in front of Dyavol to settle at his feet and look up at him. "I'm so sorry, I don't what I did but I'm really sorry." It was almost enough to make her cry. Her display of anger with the rat had truly been a once in a blue moon event, and now she was fighting her curiosity. "What...What is it that happened to make you so sad?" Very carefully, she leaned forward and nudged his paw with her nose. "You don't have to tell me, but I'd like to know."

She let him lean on her and sounded almost like she was purring. It was meant to be comforting but she hadn't any idea if it was working. "I've been on my own for most of my life, never had anyone or anything to lose but myself. The scariest day I can remember was when these two human hatchlings, males apparently, caught me in a net and tried to rip my wings off. An adult female shouted at them to stop and begrudgingly they dropped me, but no one tried to help me otherwise. Thankfully those humans were too weak to do any real damage and my wings managed to survive, but I stopped trusting all humans that day." She moved one of her wings over him and sighed. "You'll be alright." It now made sense that he was acting like that prior to explaining himself. All females looked the same though, so it would've been the same for any other female he came across. The storm still raged outside, but with all the sudden emotion she felt very sleepy and found it difficult to keep her eyes open.

She drowsily followed him and snuggled into the little space next to his. Wordlessly she drifted off to sleep and awoke to achey wings and a lack of a desire to get up and move. "Anyone down here...?" she ventured to call, half remembering the day before and looking for Dyavol. Upon not finding him in the tunnel she scurried out into the sunlight and hissed at the brightness. "If only it wasn't so bright out here." she groaned. Her eyes gradually adjusted to the light and she sniffed around for a tasty beetle to munch on. Soon enough she found a worm and two spiders to make into a mid day meal before looking for Dyavol again. "Where did you go?" she called taking off a foot or two from the ground.

"I'm hoping you'll take me to meet this Maledictus Eice you told me about yesterday. I wouldn't really know where to ask about them otherwise besides eavesdropping on humans. You. . .you will take me there, won't you. . .?" If he didn't there wouldn't really be much for her to do about it, except ask him for directions instead. She got distracted by the sudden smell of food and looked around before dropping back to the ground and weaving through the grass. "If there's something you had in mind I'd love to hear it, even if I'm not up to doing whatever it is with you." She tried to look excited, but somehow she just felt like she looked nervous, and she wasn't. She'd met another Butterfly and he hated humans too, this was wonderful!

"I'll tear a human's finger off given the chance. When my life's not in danger I'm not much for killing, but when it counts I'm more than willing I suppose." She really was rather shy when it came to interacting with creatures other than small dragons and bugs. Her tail swished nervously and she tried to sound convincing. "If I treat them like I do the bugs that I catch, I could do some real damage!" She was starting to feel a little more excited about meeting this group, especially since they didn't like humans at all. "Guess I know just about all there is that you'll tell me about yourself. Ask any question you can think of and I'll do my best to answer." At that point she sat down and folded her wings, seeing no reason for them to overheat as the sun rose higher in the sky every passing second.

"Okay, we should stick to tree cover though until we pass the two-leg dwelling, it lies due west from where we are." That was something she could honestly be proud of despite her faults: she had a keen sense of direction and a knack for remembering landmarks. She was basically a walking map of about a third of the island. "I can get us on a track going west that's fairly far from human contact, but you'll probably need to take over from there. I'm sure to get us lost after a time." She could also be painfully honest at the worst of times. Oh well, it was probably overlooked at any rate, seemed to have been thus far. A moment to let the breeze die down and immediately fluttered off around the house to avoid the humans. "So what're the members like? Any of them overly-cantankerous or ill-tempered?"