Demons and Angels (Lastinginthenight X Eldarwen)

Kono knelt down making it easier for Selene to take the saddle off and thanked her once it was off and laying on the ground. He quickly picked it up and moved it under a bush so that it was harder to spot. "I will see you tonight then." He said with a smile. With a brief nod and a look to make sure that she was indeed heading for the city he spread his wings and launched into th sky with a heavy beat of his wings to go off hunting

Flying over the forest he beat his wings more slowly getting into the groove of the hunt, letting the nearby scents fill his nostrils until he smelt what he was looking for a large piece of prey under the trees. He circled back and with precision landed through the trees on top of the deer he had picked out, before it even knew what hit it. He quickly dispatched it with a burst of flame and was about to settle down to his meal when he felt an odd sensation in his gut. Like something wasn't quite the way it should be. At first he shook it off and dug into his feast but the feeling persisted and Selene kept crossing his mind. With an irritated grumble he abandoned the rest of his meal and took back to the skys towards the city

As soon as the saddle was off of Kono’s back, the dragon happily stretched and spread out his wings to take off on his food hunt. Selene for her part rapidly made her way behind the city walls, hunger quickening her pace. Just before she rounded the last corner that would get her out of view of their resting place, the young woman turned around and watched Kono soar above the tree tops. Somehow she got the feeling that they’d known each other for ages already even though it had barely been a few hours. In a distant corner of her mind, Akira’s and Mizu’s comments about a dragon and its rider popped up again but Selene quickly pushed them aside again.

The city was bustling with animation and people as well as animals were all around. Despite her want for food, Selene took her time to look around for a bit and get a feel for the place, which she had been unable to do on their earlier visit. The market stalls were still very active and the sellers were advertising their merchandise in voices that were carrying rather far. Even food was being prepared in some of these stalls, to Selene’s surprise, and after smelling a deliciously seasoned chicken, she couldn’t resist any longer and bought a piece straight off the fire. It still seemed odd to her to be doing this in public but then again, it was done at village festivities as well, so why not here?

Her stomach soothed, Selene decided to wander around some more and keep her eyes open for possible little jobs she might take on in case Akira and Mizu did not accept their offer for payment. There wasn’t anything that caught her eye and she didn’t hear of anything either but she didn’t give up just yet, especially since she hadn’t been inside the city walls for that long. As she kept wandering around the streets, she moved a little deeper into the city, appearing in a much less crowded area where the buildings already by their outer appearance suggested that richer people were living here, so Selene relatively soon diverted off into a different direction again, fairly certain that she wouldn’t find anything of interest there.

However, the part of the city she had now entered was not the part any woman should be running around on her own if she was not armed to her teeth and proficient in using her weapons. As soon as she realised this, she turned around to get out of there but already there was a group of men advancing towards her with nasty grins on their faces. They had found their prey. As if on cue, Selene felt enormous hunger spread through every single cell in her body and she could physically feel the need for satisfaction of that hunger. Oh no, now I’m in double shit! she thought, frantically searching for a way out. She could neither give in to her emotions nor let herself fall into the hands of these scoundrels but there was no visible way out and they were already beginning to circle her and she could feel more and more of their presence advancing on her. Why does this always have to happen to me?!

Kono hovered over the city and by some miracle he felt drawn to a part of the city that looked very unwelcoming, but it was there that he found Selene surrounded by a rather large group of unwelcoming thugs. He couldn't pin point it but something seemed off about Selene, he didn't know what he could just tell something was different. With a grunt he lowered himself closer to the cities rooftops, the streets in this area were too narrow for him to land in. frustrated her roared sending one side of the thugs that surrounded selene scurrying back towards her their backs to them

unable to hold the flaming embodiment he was holding in his throat any longer he let it out in a flaming hot blue ball of flame (the heat intensity of the fire changes depending on his anger if you haven't noticed XP) towards the men but it was too late that he realized it was heading straight for Selene as well. He watched in horror as the flame he had just released hit the alleyway ground covering all the people in the alley with flame. It was oddly enough that he felt a searing pain in the back of his neck. He grimaced in pain but didn't take his eyes away from the alley hoping that Selene would be alright.

Selene didn’t even notice the shadow of the dragon hovering above the streets until suddenly a loud roar pierced the air, sending some of the men running and others instinctively turned towards the threat, leaving their backs exposed to the harmless girl they had wanted to attack. But that particular girl was not quite as harmless as they thought, only that she tried to forget about the weapon she was carrying around within her. Though there seemed no way she could deny the satisfaction of the hunger, even though she did not want to give in. She had been able to control it fairly well over the past few months but the fear that was spreading through the thugs now at the sight of the angry dragon sent her pulse racing and her vision began to blur.

Then the inevitable happened and the dragon attacked and in utter horror, Selene realised that the fireball Kono was sending towards the men to help her was going to hit her as well if she did not move. Yet, she was transfixed to the spot and couldn’t do anything but watch, too busy with her inner fight to even move a muscle. One of the scoundrels had seemed to see the attack coming and had flung himself out of the way, in his jump hitting Selene and taking her down with him, away from Kono’s fireball, which was now beginning to lick at the buildings surrounding the men as well, searching for something else it could burn alongside the men but despite the poorer aspect of this area, there seemed to be only little wood in use here.

The beast was frantically clawing its way to the surface, fighting Selene harder and harder, wanting to not only take their energy, their emotions but to slay them, to feel teeth ripping into flesh, drawing blood. Selene shuddered and an icy chill went down her spine as she realised she was going to lose control if she did not jump over her own shadow and go through the fire, away from the men, away from this place. Mere seconds had passed before the man on top of her suddenly realised that this could be his chance to get his prey after all while his friends were burning and despite the singed hair and the burn wound on his face, an evil grin passed over his face as he tried to grab Selene. The fire! I have to get to the other side!

A furious howl escaped her lips at this and the man yelled in pain as her teeth suddenly latched to his neck and killed him within seconds. Somehow, Selene was still in control however, the beast slightly appeased by this sudden, albeit short release, and she immediately made a run for it. She did not even hesitate before she tried to curl up into a ball, jumping over the men that were now falling in little crumples to the floor, the flames still furious. A burning pain shot through her neck but Selene did not pay it any attention, and made a run for it as soon as she was away from the flames, which began to die down immediately after she had passed through. She did not pay attention to this weird fact either but simply kept running, and she didn’t stop until she was outside the city, where she dropped to the floor, panting, trying to catch her breath.

As soon as he saw Selene get out of there he took off as well to follow her. He would first see weather she was all right, then whatever she was trying to hide was what he would ask about next, he decided. He briefly wondered why his neck had hurt when Selene had run through the flame but he decided to ignore it. He could figure it out later.

Once he had his eyes on her it was actually relatively to follow her out of the city. Once they were out of the city he saw her collapse and landed right next to her gently lifting her into a sitting position with his paws, "are you alright? What happened back there?" He asked folding his wings a worried look across his face. He had seen her bite the thug on the neck just before he had fallen limp and he was pretty sure humans were not capable of killing men with their bites.

Breathing hard, Selene tried to gather her thoughts and wrap her brain about what had just happened inside that city. So much seemed to have happened in just that little span of time and she didn’t even know what half of it had been, or rather why it had happened. It didn’t take long before she could hear the flapping of wings and felt the rush of the air against her as Kono landed by her side, glad to have his steadying paws around her as she struggled up into a sitting position, leaning heavily against the dragon even when she finally had managed.

“I ended up in the wrong part of the city I think,” Selene finally muttered in response to his question as she had managed to recall the whole event herself. “They ambushed me and I didn’t know what to do. That’s when you suddenly showed up.” Frowning, a question popped to the forefront of her mind and she wondered out loud: “How did you even know where to find me? How did you manage to show up in just the right time?”

Sighing, she slumped down on herself, leaning her head on her hands as she sat there thinking with her elbows on her knees to support her, absently scratching the back of her neck every now and then. “Why does bad stuff always happen to me?” It was more a thought that was going round in her mind than something she actually wanted answered and thus the words came out in barely more than just a whisper. So many more images were beginning to flash through her mind, and the memories were threatening to overwhelm her even as she was trying to push them back into the back of her mind where they had come from.

Kono's gaze softened and he gently moved so that Selene was leaning against the side of his chest as he lay down next to her. "I don't know how I knew; something just didn't feel right while I was hunting and you kept crossing my mind....I guess it was just a coincidence." He nodded as she explained what she recalled, the thought about what she actually was crossed his mind again, but he mentally pushed it aside for a later time, when she wasn't such an emotional wreck.

He smiled sympathetically, "It's not always bad, you and I met didn't we. I would imagine saved your life." He said trying to lighten the mood, but when he notice her hair fall away from where she was scratching her neck he couldn't help but tense and let out a small his in anger at himself. She may have made it through the fire, but he was stupid enough to put it there in the first place.

In anger he tore at the ground with his claws before forcing himself to take a deep breath and relax. For a moment he considered the pain that had crossed the back of his neck but he only narrowed his eyes at the sky and snorted before lowering himself to wrap around Selene as comfortingly as he could.

Selene nodded, though she began to slightly wonder if it was such a coincidence that Kono had known where she was. Again, Akira’s and Mizu’s comments popped up and once more she pushed them away, not wanting to think about the implications of such words. Whatever was tickling her neck began to really hurt now as well what with all the scratching she had going on and she forced herself to keep her hand away from it. “You’re right,” she agreed with a slight smile curling her lips. “It was a good thing that we met.” Selene sighed at this turn of events. Somehow things seemed to have changed to the better now that Kono was around, and even though she still got into trouble, she at least had someone who would help her get out of it again.

When Kono suddenly started clawing the ground, Selene, out of reflex or instinct she did not know, put a calming hand against the dragon’s chest, and gently stroked him to get him to settle down, though the gesture was a welcome one. Not only did it keep her from scratching while her other hand was still supporting her head but it also felt nice to be patting the dragon. “Don’t worry, Kono, it will all be fine.” Her voice in the meantime came out as barely more than a whisper. The events had taken their toll on her, and while Kono wrapped himself around her to make it comfortable for her and himself, she let her exhaustion wash over her and very soon had fallen asleep in the dragon’s embrace.

The next morning, Selene awoke to a stinging pain in her neck and immediately began scratching again. “Ah, what is this?” she muttered, forcing herself once more to keep her nails away from the spot so she would not scratch it completely sore, it was already annoying enough as it was. It might be an aftermath of the fire, though in that case, would she not be itching or burning in more places than just the one?

Kono sighed as Selene fell asleeep against his chest, her patting had been at least slightly comforting, but he still worried about what had happened, as he started to close his eyes e noticed that whatever had hurt his neck earlier was starting to irritate his scales in the same area. But he mearly snorted and closed his eyes falling asleep.

He awoke to the sounds of birds and the feeling of needles es on his neck the next morning. With an irritated snort he finally opened his eyes and lifted his head, carefully stretching his wings so as not to bother Selene, "Good morning." he greeted her with a yawn

AKira checked out the fields outside, looking for the pair, she had decided that the proposition sounded interesting. She smiled when she noticed them and directed Mizu to start decending, though he already had. Though the scene she landed in on was quite interesting in itself. She raised an eyebrow and slowly greeted them, "Sooo. How is everyone today?" she noticed that Kono seemed irritated, like he had an itch that he couldn't scratch, which was basically the case, and Selene seemed to be bothered by something on the back of her neck.

Grunting, Selene rubbed her neck and her face, replying “Good morning”, as the dragon woke up as well. Wriggling herself out of Kono’s embrace, she got up and stretched, or at least, she tried to. Almost yelling out in pain, Selene’s muscles forced her to remember the work out session she had had with Akira the day before. It seemed like every single muscle she had in her body was reveling in the pleasure of making her ache and she felt stiff from top to bottom. Inadvertently, she kept rubbing at her neck in between trying to ease her muscles a little by lightly massaging certain areas.

As Akira and Mizu then suddenly turned up, she wasn’t too sure whether she shoul be happy or not, though running away was of course no option. She wouldn’t get far before breaking down – as sore as she felt.. A rather annoying look appeared on Selene’s face when Akira asked, and she grumbled: “Why don’t you ask a better question?” If she remembered correctly, there was a small stream not too far off, so Selene began hobbling towards that to freshen up a little, hoping that maybe a bit of water might get rid of her stiffness, but that was obviously just wishful thinking. She didn’t know what the plan was for the day and at the time being, she did not care. However, she did suddenly remember that the girl and her dragon were supposed to consider the offer Kono and her had made the night before. So, she turned around to face the two, since she hadn’t gotten really far yet she could still easily talk to them without shouting: “Have you considered what we offer as payment for the training?” At the last word, she pulled a slight face but she knew she’d have to go on eventually. She’d just quite like to wait for another few weeks, until these sore muscles had disappeared…

AKira smirked, "The idea sounds interesting. I will except it as payment for the lessons. oh and we are going to take a break from the sword lessons today, let your muscles recuperate a bit. We'll train with the dragons today" She explained then raised an eyebrow at Selene's attitude a knowing look crossing her face. "All right better question. What happened to your neck?" She crossed her arms before looking at Mizu who nodded and approached Kono and hopped up to look at the back of his neck before nodded back to AKira with a smile

Kono growled in irritation, "Wat are you doing Mizu?" HE asked still slightly grumpy from having just woken up. He notices that the dragon was looking at the back of is neck, but it was then that he remembered that the saddle was missing from its usual place, "Oh shoot." He cursed shifting his weight so that he was standing, nearly knocking of Mizu in his eagerness. "We left the saddle by the bush. He explained. They hadn't landed in exactly the same area as they were yesterday (i don't think) and so he had to find it, before some bum stole the stuff that was in there. "I will be back quickly" He said spreading his wings as Mizu hopped off with a huff or irritation and took off to look for the saddle.

(now the two of them can have a girl to girl conversation XP)

Selene only looked glad for mere seconds at the prospect of not having to train with the swords before Akira asked about her neck. How was she supposed to answer that question? She didn’t even know herself, she didn’t know how she had managed to injure it and she wasn’t even able to see what kind of huge scratch marks she had procured herself with. On the other hand, she probably didn’t even want to know. With all the major scratching she had been doing, she was fairly certain that her neck was not nice to look at. “I might have gotten it burned last night...,” she grumbled, not really feeling up for relating the whole story of what had happened with the thugs only a few hours ago. She narrowed her eyes at Akira and Mizu, growing fairly irritated with their behaviour, especially because once again she did not understand what was going on or what those two were grinning about. Her already bleak mood thus grew darker by the second and she did not like the fact that Kono seemed unphased by this, rather had completely different thoughts on her mind.

When the dragon mentioned the saddle, Selene barely reacted to it. For all she cared at this precise moment, that saddle could go to hell along with anyone thinking about stealing it. Sighing, she watched Kono and Mizu take off to get the piece of leather back, knowing that no matter what she said, she would not have changed the dragon’s mind about going to get it right at that moment. Her eyes flickered over to Akira and even though she was not in a very talkative mood then, she knew that the girl was not going to go any easier on her today, even though they were not going to be working with swords. “So what exactly is it we’re going to be doing with the dragons?” It was hard for her to image what this lesson might look like though she was dreading the fact that more of her muscles for going to suffer tremendous damage again despite Akira’s assurances.

AKira stepped closer arms still crossed, "Dragon fire is a lot more then a mere combustion of chemicals. There is an old magic hidden within dragons, that even some dragons don't know about." She said narrowing her eyes before quickly snatching Selene's hand and moving behind the females back. "Kono has a binding mark (idk about the name just kinda thought of something debated between the mark of the rider and the binding mark.) on the back of his neck. She moved the girls hair to the side, "and though it's very irritated and red, so do you." Akira stepped back releasing Selene's hand. "You and Kono now share a a bond of magic." she stated watching for Selene's reaction.

Kono landed as he spotted the familiar fields they had been training in yesterday. The grass was still flattened slightly from when he had fallen asleep. He landed but was supervised to see Mizu land next to him. "You and Selene are bonded." He stated very matter of factly.

Kono stopped his mouth open about to grab one of the straps of the saddle, "We're what?" He asked his brow furrowed turning to Mizu who had taken a seat and was flicking his tail gauging Kono's reaction. "But how?" HE asked quietly still a little shocked.

"You bathed her in fire didn't you? That is the ritual. Your fire contains a small amount of magical properties, either from our ancestors or from the stone. I don't think anyone is sure anymore. The few books we have found on the subject are vary vague." He sighed explaining. Kono sat thinking, "But how can you tell?"

"That burning sensation you felt, and the irritation your feeling on the back of your neck is the mark." Mizu explained standing up satisfied that Kono would not react violently. "Grab the saddle we should be heading back. I bet Akira is getting close to explaining the situation to Selene as well. Though I do admit we don't know a whole lot about the affects either.

Kono took a second to nod slowely back in return but eventually followed through taking back into the air to head towards his new...rider.

Akira sighed resting a hand on her hip, "Anyways we will be learning how to move comfortable about your dragon while they are flying or are in motion. It will not be enough to be able to move around on the ground. There will be times with a dragon where you will be fighting in the air, and the dragon needs to be able to move as freely as possible, and so will you to be able to escape any possible attacks. Dragons may have magical properties in their fire but you need to befriend them first. Otherwise it just hurts like hell." She chuckled trying to lighten the mood.

(wow I just made up a lot of stuff on the go. I hope its all okay. If you want to add or change anything just let me know. ^.^; )

At first, Selene was quite confused when Akira all of a sudden began explaining the particularities of dragon fire and she wondered whether she had unnoticed by her own self asked a question along those lines. With her head in such a confused mess still from the day before, it would not even strike her as that absurd. However, she quickly realised that the girl was heading somewhere else with her explanations and her forehead creased more and more as the young woman was trying to digest what was being hinted at.

To Selene’s utter surprise, Akira suddenly grabbed her wrist and stepped behind her to analyse the itching spot on her neck. “What a..?” The words remained stuck in her throat however as Akira kept talking and her fire speech suddenly made more sense. “A binding mark, huh?” Selene grew more and more confused, wondering how the heck she had gotten herself into this mess. When Akira stepped back, Selene’s eyes grew large in shock. “We have a what?” She knew that right about now she sounded very thick but she simply couldn’t wrap her head around what she had just learned, even though it at least explained a few bits about the previous day, particularly the evening’s events.

Slumping heavily down onto the floor, Selene tried to process this new information and of course began rubbing at her neck again, the irritation still present, probably more due to the fact that she kept rubbing now than anything else; after all, quite a few hours had passed ever since the ritualistic fire bath or whatever it had been. As Kono and Mizu came back, she frantically tried not to look at Kono, her emotions and thoughts one huge mess. Plus, she didn’t really want to know what he thought of the whole thing,although she was curious despite herself. After all, he was probably just as shocked as she was and the more she thought about this, the more she found that she would never be worthy enough to ever be a dragon rider. Many questions were swirling around as well and she desperately wanted to get a few answers but she pushed all of them aside, trying to first come to terms with this before she asked questions. Akira and Mizu would certainly be around a while longer.

Selene squinted up at Akira when the girl spoke again, shooting the girl a dark look. “Moving around on the dragon, eh?” It was obviously another aspect that had not even occurred to Selene in her minimal knowledge of dragons and even less of dragon riding but it made sense, even though she was not particularly looking forward to having to engage in aerial combat. “I thought we were going to go easy on the muscles today?” she couldn’t resist asking, frowning a little, but already getting back up, not quite gracefully however, from the position she had been holding on the ground. Anything would be welcome now that would distract her mind from the millions of thoughts that were whirling through her mind and even though she had to clamber on top of Kono soon, she still avoided looking at him, not quite sure on how she felt about this whole fiasco. “Right, let’s get moving then,” she said, sounding rather weak as she made to fasten the saddle on its appointed place on Kono’s back.

~((Oh don't worry, it's all perfectly fine, hehe. Quite interesting actually ^^))~

Akira laughed," of course it will be easier on your muscles its mostly just crawling and running and that's stuff people do everyday." than with a smile swung herself onto Mizu's back "We can discuss your questions in more detail tonight after the training.'' With that the pair took off into the sky. Mizu pushing down hard against the air.

Kono sighed feeling the saddle fall into place just below the bonding mark meaning it was still exposed (you can figure out what it looks like) He was still slightly surprised, but be had seen many things in his long life so he wasn't quite as surprised as Selene that they could have been bonded in such a meathod though he would say it was not what had been going through his head as an explanation at the time.

Once Selene had settled into place he lifted his wings and hunched close to the ground before launching himself into the air flapping hard until they had gained some altitude. Following Akira and Mizu they climbed high into the sky till the ground below looked slightly hazy.

Mizu stopped still slightly higher then kono so he could get a good look at the dragon below him. "Alright we're going to start slow. First, Kono, I want you to just fly straight, and selene I want you to get up and walk towards his tail."

Kono nodded and flew forward at a normal pace, flat with the ground. He was slightly worried that she would fall, but he now understood the reasoning for going this high into the sky. If she did fall he could easily dive down and catch her.

As Selene fiddled with the saddle, she suddenly realised that the mark that was supposedly binding her to this particular dragon was right above the edge of the saddle, plainly in her view whenever she was fitting him out or even riding him. A constant reminder of what they were. Sighing, Selene tried to brush away thoughts about what this meant for the both of them, for their individual lives and fastened the rest of the saddle, checking every piece of leather and every last patch more thoroughly than was necessary. Anything to avoid looking at the mark, which looked so familiar, even though all she could distinguish were swirls, and to avoid having to actually do some exercise. However, the moment soon came where she couldn’t avoid mounting up anymore.

With a muffled ‘uff’, she settled into her place and Kono was quickly lifting off and following their trainer pair up into the skies. Uneasiness spread in her stomach at the prospect of what was about to come and her eyes automatically fell onto the mark just before her eyes. It provoked another wave of mixed feelings within her stomach. On the one hand, it seemed to have a rather soothing comfort to it, but on the other hand, it seemed to make her even more nervous. To her luck, before she had to decide on one of the many emotions, Mizu started instructing them.

“You want me to what?!” Selene shrieked at Mizu’s words, cramping legs and hands around Kono’s body and spines as if she were holding on to dear life. “You’re insane!” But already, Kono was following the order and flying level to the ground at what seemed extraordinarily high speed to Selene under these circumstances. Every single cell in her body refused to let go, especially when she dared to venture a look towards the earth. It all seemed so tiny and quiet from up here, which was nice, but on the other hand, it reminded her that in merely a few seconds, she could be laying down there, squished flat from the fall from such a height.

Then of course, as Kono kept flying steadily like he had been for so many days before this, the young woman realised that there was no way she would ever hit that ground, should she fall down. With another furtive glance towards the mark, she took a deep breath and then gathered up her courage to let go. On wobbly legs, she lifted herself onto her knees on the saddle, and ever so slowly began to rise on her feet. Surprisingly enough, a dragon’s back was rather broad and from her vantage point suddenly did not quite look as frighteningly thin anymore. “I think I can actually do this,” she murmured, more to herself than anyone else as she slowly, very, very slowly began to ease her way, step after step, towards Kono’s tail.

Mizu sunk closer to Kono's back Akira leaning over his shoulder, "Of course you can do it now walk faster, woman. There's no way you'll hit the ground. You should've figured that much out by now. Kono will do everything in his power to protect you." Akira beamed inwardly impressed by Selene's quick learning, if not slightly jelouse. It had taken her forever to let go of Mizu's shoulders.....but Mizu was alot smaller.

Kono started to glide hoping to make it slightly easier for Selene since his wing muscles and the leathery membrane of his wings would not be contracting or expanding around her.

Mizu of course quickly caught him and shouted at Kono,"Don't you dare stop flapping. She needs to learn the ropes and she doesn't need you babying her!" He lifted his lips in an ever so slight snarl taking on the role of a nasty mentor.

Kono spit out a puff of black smoke from his nostrils in retaliation making sure he aimed it at Mizu's face. Mizu's hacking a spitting confirmed that he had hit his mark. Kono couldn't resist a slight victory smirk when he heard it.

For the few moments, Kono had been gliding, Selene had been grateful at the dragon’s protectiveness, even though Mizu had immediately snarled at him for acting this way. Now, however, that he was flying normally again and she was standing close, very close to the edge of his back where his body formed into his tail, the girl was suddenly frozen in the spot, not daring to take another step. The tail looked so slim and frail, even where it was still attached to the body and actually was still very broad but Selene couldn’t help imagine that it would break away from the dragon’s back as soon as she set another foot forward. Images kept swirling through her mind of her pummeling to her death, clinging to Kono’s tail, which was loosely swaying in her hands, ripped away in one big, bloody piece.

Akira’s words of her being able to do this drifted far off into the distance and Selene was alone with her own mind, scared. She wasn’t sure whether she was more afraid of falling to her death or injuring the dragon by ripping away its tail but the more she thought about it, the bloodier the images got, the shakier she became. Deep inside of her, something began to stir, feeding on her own crazed emotions, but even that was shoved off into the shadow of the situation at hand. Her mind was slowly beginning to almost sink into a red haze of blood with all the images that kept popping into the forefront. Until all of a sudden, another thought began to mingle with the others, a thought, whose touch was so light and gentle that the darkness soon began to dissipate and Selene realised that she was being stupid and absolutely illogical. Nothing could happen to her as long as she was with Kono. He was her friend, he was the other end of their bond, and nothing should feel more like home to her than riding on his back, whether it was in a sitting, a standing or a walking position, in any spot of his back.

With a suddenly bold grin, Selene took a few more steps and was standing on the smaller bit of his tail, as far as she could go out, without impeding his flying. Then she turned towards Akira and Mizu, asking: “Alright, what’s next on the menu?”

The smirk that had been on Akira's face suddenly vanished when Selene froze at Kono's back end. Akira knew scared but the woman was shaking like a leaf. Quickly she took action nudging Mizu's shoulder, who dropped back and down till they were almost next to Kono's tail so Akira could look straight at Selene. But her eyes were far away. Lost somewhere. "Steady out. I'm gonna try and jump." She mumbled in Mizu's ear.

Mizu shook his head, "You gotta let me get closer first." He beat his wings While Akira stood on his shoulders preparing to jump.

Kono had been flying peacefully when something seemed to change. Suddenly flashes of fear and blood were pounding at the back of his mind. He snorted and shook his head. It didn't make sense there was no reason for fear. Distracted he started ever so slightly loosing altitude. Then it hit him. Mizu had said that He and Selene were connected by a bond. And the flashes of emotion couldn't have been his he wasn't afraid of flight...which meant. Kono quickly corrected his flight pattern and thought of the open fields he enjoyed seeing from the sky, the bright sunny days, the safety of the sky, his home. Finally after a few moments the flashes were gone. He sighed and the muscles he hadn't realized he had been clenching relaxed.

With a sigh Akira settled back down onto Mizu's back. "Your both going to climb. Selene, your are going to climb up to the saddle." She smiled and flew closer to Kono's head "Kono I want a 45 degree climb." Mizu shouted against the wind.

Konk nodded, slowely tilting his wings forward and raising his tail ever so slightly to direct him upward.

Akira looked back towards selene as Mizu dropped away from Kono's rising form "Climb!"

Selene was happy she had overcome her bad moment, but she still was not quite sure how it all had happened. The only thing she knew for certain was that she had not only done this by own will and resolve alone, there had been something more, especially since she could still feel the peacefulness of open green fields brightened by gorgeous sunshine fill her mind. It was weird, if not a little unsettling, but at least it had helped.

“Climb while he’s climbing?!” Another surge of slight panic rolled through the girl at the mention of this newest trick and she was starting to shake again, wondering if this really had been a good idea. She should have never gotten herself into this. Why had she ever thought it would be a good idea to get on a dragon’s back? This was what her so-called sense for adventure had brought her to, shaking like a leaf on a flying dragon.

All of a sudden, she shook her head however, and remembered the open fields, sunshine, the light breeze of the wind soaring around her faze, whisking through her hair and she forgot about her fear of falling off. Slowly but steadily, she began to climb up Kono’s back. Her balance however did not quite like the fact that Kono was not flying straight and Selene regularly swayed, even tumbled a few times, having to catch herself with her hands as she went down on her knees. At least she was always falling forwards, hunched over as she was to avoid falling backwards towards the tail, towards the earth down below.

It felt like ages had passed before she finally reached the saddle and happily clung onto it when she had gotten there, not wanting to let go anymore. She might have had enough for one day, but something told her that their newly gained instructors would not go so easily on them. “This will take some getting used to. I am so not getting the hang of this,” she muttered, even though she had just managed to run back and forth on the back of a flying dragon, but never mind that now. “Can we take a break now?” she whispered to Kono, not sure he would hear over the wind, but she didn’t want to speak louder in case Akira and Mizu would hear.

Kono looked back to the saddle set on his back and met selene's eyes out of the corner of one of his own when he heard her request. With a glimmer of mischief he quickly looked forward again. "Hold on tight and close your eyes." he growled.

Only waiting a few seconds he snapped his wings shut and rolled so he was falling to the ground back first, which he remained doing for a few more seconds before he tillted his tail down and pointed his head to the ground which brought him into a straight on dive. He watched as the ground came rushing towards him his lips pulled back in a crude smile. Twitching his tail and opening his wings ever so slightly he angled himself on a diagonal towards a field below them and held that position until the very last moment where with a grunting hiss he snapped his wings back open to their full length and caught the wind just enough to slow him down so as not to hurt himself or his rider before he landed and abruptly laid flat on the ground wings spread and head on his claws. He gave one final snort of laughter when he looked up to see a dumbstruck Mizu still hanging in the air.

Akira gaped openly after them before growling in frustration. "Mizu....Lets punch their lights out." She quickly pulled out a piece of chalk before writing and alchemic circle on the palm of her metal hand as Mizu angled into his own dive, but he pulled out of the dive sooner flapping to keep himself in place in the air above the pair of new riders.

Akira let out a battle cry clapping her hands together and leaping from Mizu's back and landing with her hands on the ground creating an explosion around her with the alchemic circle she had just drawn, though it was really just to scare the pair rather than hurt them. "You two are so dead!" She shouted as Mizu landed behind her folding his wings and grabbing his tail.

Slightly surprised by Kono's request, Selene immediately followed suit however, having learned by now that dragons rarely seemed to leave a choice in the matter if they had gotten up to some sort of mischief. She couldn't help but wonder what it was he had planned, but she didn't ask and merely closed her eyes while tightly gripping the saddle.

A small shriek escaped her when the dragon let himself fall to the ground, back first, but she held an iron grip on the saddle, locking her knees tightly around Kono's body. It was an incredibly weird feeling and she was under the impression her stomach was still far higher up in the sky than the rest of her body, but she slowly came to enjoy the ride, no matter how neck-breaking it was. When Kono finally began gliding, moments before he lurched to a halt on the field, Selene felt her stomach finally catching up with them and she almost heaved at the motion. Feeling as if she were starting to turn slightly green in her face, she slowly opened her eyes, almost afraid to do so. However, they were safely on the ground and the greenery around them from grass and trees was oddly comforting.

"Give me a little more warning next time you do this," she grumbled to the dragon. "I kinda want to take my stomach along for the ride instead of having to wait for it to catch up." All the while, she kept her tight grip on the saddle, not quite having reached the ground yet it seemed, or at least not every part of her body, even though Kono was no longer moving. She had completely forgotten about Akira and Mizu as well. That was until they suddenly appeared behind them in a gust of wind and an almost deafening explosion, which finally brought Selene back to earth and made her lose her grip on the saddle. Flailing unhappily, she squealed in surprise and slid out of the saddle and towards the ground.

Groaning, she pushed herself up onto her elbows, trying to figure out what on earth Akira was shouting at her. Her eyes opened wide when she saw the girl purposefully striding them towards Kono and herself. "Oh, oh," she whispered. "I think we're in big trouble, Kono." The words Akira had been shouting finally reached her and she scrambled to get back onto her feet to hide behind one of Kono's large paws. "What on earth is she doing with the dragon's tail?!" she asked, still looking at Akira with wide-open eyes.

Mizu smirked enjoying Akira's little act, and tightened his grip on his bladed tail following a few steps behind her. Akira stompped to a halt feet away from Kono and Selene and glared at them for an uncomfortably long amount of time a dull fire burning in her eyes.

Kono parted his lips ever so slightly letting out a warning hiss though his head did not leave the ground and he spread the claw that Selene had hid behind to offer her more protection.

Akira glared a few moment longer her gaze shifting between Selene then Kono and back again. The suddenly she relaxed with a frustrated sigh. "Fine." She relented sharply spinning around and lifting her hands into the air in defeat "At least you guys look utterly comfortable together on the ground. We'll call it a day." she walked towards Mizu who released his tail a playful gleam in his eyes.

Kono narrowed his gaze curiously trying in vain to read what the heck was going on. when Akira suddenly turned back to them a beaming smile on her face and a playfully evil glint in her eye. "But don't think I won't get you back for this." With that she laughed and skipped the last few yards to Mizu's side.

Konos eyes widened back up and he let out a puff of smoke from his nostrils in relief and disbelief. "Well that was......unexpected." He mumbled lifting his head slightly and relaxing the claw Selene had been hiding behind.

Selene blinked as Akira purposefully stood before her, staring them down into the ground. It was uncomfortable to say the least and the young woman didn’t quite know what to make of it. Looking out from behind the dragon’s claw seemed to be the best idea for the time being. She didn’t want to come any closer, thus staying out of reach of that bladed tail. Up close, it looked rather vicious, something she had not properly realised until then. It was a comfort that Kono was protecting her but if it came to a fight between the two dragons, which all of a sudden seemed rather possible, Selene wanted to be far away. Very far away indeed.

However, she soothingly laid a hand on his paw just to make sure he didn’t do anything stupid. The tension was crawling around on her back, almost making her itch but all of a sudden, Akira stopped her glaring and all the tension drooped away quickly. Selene let out a small but annoyed sigh as she glared at the pair in front of them. For a moment there, she had seriously thought they’d attack though she couldn’t really fathom why.

The change was utterly off-throwing and Selene was still a bit unsure as to whether Akira had been serious or not. Trying to play over it would probably be the best idea, she finally figured and ignored the playful glint in Mizu’s eyes as the dragon released it’s spiky tail. “Well, yes, we sort of do,” Selene admitted, having realised as well that she and Kono were starting to work rather well together. She still found that relatively unusual and quite surprising but she couldn’t deny that she liked it. A lot even.

At Kono’s words, Selene thought: Oh yes, we will get you back for it. You can bet on that! Unbeknownst to herself, she was not the only one to have heard that thought however, now that the link between her and Kono was beginning to strengthen.

“Huh, unexpected.. Yeah, bit of an understatement right there,” Selene hissed, but she was only faking to be put off. Now that she thought about it, it had actually been rather funny. Stepping out from behind Kono’s claw, she addressed Mizu: “Say that tail of yours, may I see it?” She was rather intrigued now and wanted to take a closer look at it. “Can you honestly use that as a sword?”

Kono smiled looking at Selene fondly when he saw her reaction to Akira's comment about them being comfortable together. but they widened again when he heard a thought reverberate in is head and he couldn't stop himself from letting out a slightly surprised huff of smoke from his nostils. was that...? he wondered. He had never heard someone else's thought before but selene's mouth hadn't been moving and the only person who had even the slightest possibility of being in his head was her no matter how unlikely it seemed.

Once selene was out from behind his claw he tucked it under himself so he could push himself over into a more relaxed laying position letting his wings hang open slightly and soak up the sunlight. Kono chuckled again, But unexpected seems to describe these two doesn't it." he commented. From his new position he silently watched the exchange between Mizu and Selene.

Mizu stopped and turned to her flicking his tail behind him, "Well of course i can use it. I'de be a rather useless sword dragon if I couldn't.". With that he lifted his tail grabbing the area that would have been the pommel of a normal sword and held it horizontally in front of him for selene to get a closer look.

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