Opposites In The Moonlight, Slayer and Rider- (moonpearl and rogue)

Rules:
https://dragonscove.darkbb.com/welcome-to-dragons-cove-f1/forum-rules-t331.htm

Setting: A small town just inside a valley with a lake nearby. The town barely has a name, an inn, and a market, it's easily navigated through. There are some mountains close by, and though they're tall, the wide paths make for easy climbing, relatively.

Plot: If by chance, two people with completely different relationships with dragons were to meet unknowingly... what would happen? If they were to be friends, or enemies... who knows?

Phoebe arrived in this small valley town by dragon, more specifically, by Evren. Her reasons for staying here are unknown, but considering that this is such a remote area... without her dragon... probably... to goof off. You know, on vacation. Phoebe went to the inn and rented out a room for a week, then quickly strode off to the lake. It was already dark outside.

"A perfect chance to go swimming." she thought.

Rolling down the soft slope of the valleyside, half asleep, half very-awake was Static, just keeping her seat on the leopard-spot horse that she rode- And had been riding for many days. As the mountains started to level off near the bottom, the figure drooped more and more sideways off the horse, then fell off in a heap and a clatter. She sat dazed on the ground for a moment, then rubbed her head slowly and stood up, catching her reins.
"Been riding too long..." She mumbled to herself, climbing back into the saddle and looking to see what lay further down the hills. She was thankful to see tiny dots of light at the bottom of the valley, and the glitter of water.

Squeezing the horse into a trot, she headed down the lake, intending to make a camp there.

The water in the lake was cool enough to be refreshing, but warm enough to be relaxing. Phoebe was soaking in it for only a little while before her thoughts began to drift.
"I wonder how Evren is doing... he said he's be fine, so I shouldn't worry, but... oh, I really need to stop talking to myself.... what's that?!"
Phoebe heard a horse trotting in the distance. She turned around and saw it, too, with a person riding it. She hurried and dried herself off, then got into her usual dress.

As the distance between the lake and the rider decreased, Static could make out more of the land around the lake in the gloom of the night. The lake water glittered with underwater stars, scratchy hawthorns and bent bushes tufting the shoreline here and there, where the small pebblestone beach did not stretch to the gently lapping waves the wind stirred. Thin dirt paths lead to the lakeside, tracks from the animals that came from the mountains down to drink, or where the humans came from the village to gather the bushberries or take a dip from the lake.

Standing near the lake, damp from a latenight swim, Static saw a girl watching her movement down to the valley bottom. Not wishing a confrontation with -Well, anybody- she turned away towards the side of the lake that was less inhabited, intending to make a lonely camp, catch herself some dinner and a few winks. However, always vigilant, she checked the sword strapped the saddle behind her, allowing easy removal from it's sheath. Never could be too careful...

As the person got closer, she could tell it was a woman riding the horse. Phoebe watched her for a while and decided she wasn't dangerous, not at the moment anyway. Until Evren told her she was too vulnerable on her own, she hadn't picked up a weapon in her life. But recently Phoebe has taken up learning different spear techniques. She didn't have one on her now, of course, and she didn't need it at the moment anyway.

Phoebe thought to herself, "I wonder if she'll really be okay camping like that... no, she looks like a warrior, and not a poor one either. If she wanted to rent a room in the local inn, she would have. She must be important... huh... I wonder what reason she's come to a remote place like this for?"

Not seeing the other girl make any movement, Static continued her set course to pass past her at close range. Closing the gap between themselves, Static examined the other, taking note of her slim stature, pointed ears and unusually bright purple hair. From these characteristics, obviously of elf heritage. Coming to a parallel with her, Static looked down from her perch on horseback, almost dismissive in her emotionless watching, then steering away to the left towards where a prospective camp may lie for the night.

"Huh, she looked at me kind of weird... probably just my ears." Phoebe tried to look at her, but be sneaky about it, which didn't work at all. What a horse! But Phoebe yawned. "Jeez, what time is it... midnight?! I was soaking longer than I thought!" She walked off into town, where that inn was. "I'm so glad I went on vacation!"

Thankfully, the other girl didn’t stop Static, and she continued on her way un-harassed, the other walking away towards the direction of the town with a yawn. Static turned as the other entered the town’s borders, seeing her silhouette against the flickering lights of the town, still bright even at this time of the night. About midnight, from what she could tell using the position of the stars (the normal method of clockwatching at night in parts where she had originated from).

Finally, Static came to a halt, wearily stopping her horse on the sandy bank, where she dismounted once again, removing her belongings from her horse’s back into a pile on the floor. The horse itself wandered to the grass, where it gave itself a good roll, then lay down for the night. Static herself only undid her bedroll, crammed some bread in her mouth for a supper and laid her sword next to her, wrapped in her cloak for the night as she finally caught some sleep until the dawn came.

Phoebe woke up late the next day, around noon. The cozy room and soft bed in the room she rented had put her to sleep immediately. (It was incredibly expensive, of course, but she had money.) It was even possible to ask the maid to get hot water for the bath... which Phoebe did. While she was in the bath, she thought to herself,

"Hmm... it's such a nice day outside. Maybe I'll go into the valley and pick flowers and look at the sky..." Her stomach made a loud noise.

"...after I get something to eat!"

As the dawn sun rose over the cold mountains, the thin morning rays slowly warming the earth, Static cracked open a bleary eye at the birds singing the dawn chorus in the nearby bushes. Blackbird, robin, bluetits- Nothing really large enough for breakfast. Sitting up, she gave a yawn, pushing back her hood from her face to let the cool wind blow over her face. Behind her, the leopard-spot horse lumbered to his feet to take a drink from the lakewater. Static followed him down to the lakeside, cupping water in her hands to splash it over her face. It ran down her long striped strands and dripped back into the main body of water.

Pulling off one glove, Static put one finger to the lakewater, sending a low shock of electricity out into it's depths. Almost immediately a fish floated to the surface, stunned- Breakfast. Static gave a hard smile, before straightening and pulling off her cloak, gloves, boots and heavy metal armour. Having stored these with her earlier belongings, she walked into the lake to retrieve her breakfast fishy.

((Please don't eat me, I was away on a geography trip! Rolling Eyes

))

"Something to eat, something to eat... the restaurant here seems great, but what I really want is.... deliciously salted fish made over a fire right after it was caught..." thought Phoebe while walking around in the tiny town. Her mouth started to water, and some people have her some strange looks.

"And then there were some lemon trees and herbs growing around that lake... oh, but that strange woman... would she mind?" Phoebe's stomach growled again and she decided she would take a chance. She approached the lake.

Duck-diving under the cool water, Static made her way quickly towards the fish, revelling in the change of environment. Long, thick strands of waterweed brushed past her legs and feet, twisting in the underwater eddies that her strokes stirred. In the depths of the lake, the fish trembled.

Returning with the fish flapping weakly in her fist, she quickly disposed of it before collecting a small pile of wood. Lighting it with a flare of electricity, it crackled and spat as the wood caught. Behind the fire, Static could see the village in the distance, and out of the gates towards the lake... Why, it was the girl from the night before! Running for her cloak, she swept it round her shoulders and over her head, then buckled on her sword quickly (no time for armour too). Taking the fish from it's discarded place on the sand, she busied herself with it for breakfast, watching the other girl's approach through the rising flames.

That soldier lady was there, and she looked very scary watching her from her campfire. "Maybe she thinks I'm dangerous..."

Phoebe walked over to the woman and said, "Hi! I'm Phoebe. I came here to the lake to catch and eat one of the fish. You know, salting it, then grilling it over an open fire with lemon and herbs and..." her mouth began to water. "Well, you know. So, I'm wondering if that's okay, because if not, I saw a really delicious cake for sale in the bakery and... oh, if you want, we can share it. I'd feel bad if I ate a whole cake by myself!"

Hefting a large stone onto the heart of the fire that she had collected from the edge of the lake, Static laid the gutted fish in the flames, watching the skin crackle. The other side of the fire, the girl had approached. At her garbling speech, she rose one eyebrow and looked back down at the fish, prodding it with a stick and hiding a cruel smile. Obviously not very dangerous after all.

When she had come to the end of her rambling, she looked up again from under her hood and spoke quietly.
"Who am I to stop you from fishing? Good luck in catching something though..." She was sure her early swim had scared all the fishies to the bottom of the lake and they weren't going to come back up again for a good while.

"Oh, okay.." this lady was starting to creep her out. But, hey, who was she to judge a weary traveller?

Phoebe looked in the lake, and something was very odd. Last night when she got here, the fish were swimming all over the place, but now you couldn't see any at all... how strange! "Um... this is interesting... maybe I'll get that cake after after all... it's lemon! Do you want some?"

Prodding the fish again, Static flipped it deftly, a thin whisper of smoke escaping from under the blackened skin. Static had never been a very talented cook, not that it mattered to her. As long as it didn't kill her and wasn't too nasty tasting, well it was food, and edible. Although lemon cake did sound tasty... Something sweet (apart from fruits and berries) was something Static hardly got hold of... And free food was something not easily passed up- When you were constantly on the move, you didn't know when you could get food next.

"Sure, lemon cake. I'm going to finish this fish first."

"Alright then!" Phoebe smiled. That day was very light, the wind was blowing, the sun was shining, puffy white clouds in the sky... the only thing that seemed out of place was all the missing fish. This lady might look a little weird, but maybe they could be friends? Nothing like lemon cake to start up a friendship! Thinking of cake made Phoebe's stomach make a loud noise. Oops. She started walking back towards town.

"Oh, I almost forgot... what's your name? I'm Phoebe."

Perky. That was probably the best word to describe Phoebe, thought Static. Probably the most polar person you could meet on the whole isle compared to herself, who was anything but the word. In response to Phoebe's smile, she pulled up a feeble half smile (which was not very comforting to either herself or to look at).

As Phoebe started to head back to town, Static started to breathe a small sigh of relief. Not only was it early in the morning and she had been caught off guard, but she didn't like talking to people generally anyway. However, it wasn't over yet, as she turned around to ask her name.
"You said your name was Phoebe before." Static said ironically, finding the slip amusing. "Static." No embellishments, just the name. Why say more than was needed?

Phoebe didn't notice the attempt at a smile. She didn't even realize she had introduced herself twice. "I... I did?! Oh jeez, how embarrassing!" She almost blushed, talking to people was so awkward all of a sudden. Maybe she had spent too much time only talking with Evren. Maybe that was why he wanted her to take a vacation? Oh well. "Static, huh... sounds cool! Anyway, I'll be right back!" she shouted, running off to town.

Back in town, she felt more at ease. Sure, there were a few stares at her ears, but that was about it. That Static lady made her nervous. She bought the cake, and it even came with cute plates and spoons.

Static gave a sigh and pushed her hood back from her face again, letting the cooling breeze play across her face. A waft of smoke blew across on the twists of wind, bringing her to her senses with a shock. She swore and quickly scraped the fish off the rock where it had been cooking, it's blackened skin singed ((sp?)) and burnt with the heat. What a great start to the day. She stood, and started to collect her belongings together, packing them back into the saddlebags where she had stored them on her journey. She wouldn't leave yet, but it was good to be prepared... At the back of her head, she felt a storm of a headache starting to brew. Yes, today was not going to be the most pleasant of days.
Sighing again, she pulled her hood back up over her face.

Walking back from the town, Phoebe carried the cake carefully. After all, if she dropped it, Static would hate her, she would have wasted money, and waste perfectly good cake!
"Hey, I've got the-! Oh..." Static didn't look like the creepy person she met earlier. She didn't even look strange anymore, not with that look on her face. She looked like a weary traveler. Phoebe walked over and gave her one of the plates with a piece of cake on it.
"Here you go!" she smiled, "So, tell me, why are you traveling?"

Turning back to the fire once more, Static sat back on the dusty ground, tired from lack of sleep and her long days of travelling. Out of the town came Phoebe, carrying cake in both her hands. She mustered a small smile as Phoebe handed her a plate, a waft of the sweet smell making her suddenly hungry. She waved a hand in the general direction of the floor, feeling suddenly and unexpectedly generous towards the other female.

Taking a mouthful of the sweet delicacy, she paused a moment to "savour the flavour", and think up a good excuse for being in the mountain areas.
"I'mon my way to the Desert Races..." She started, not wanting to reveal that she was really in the mountains for some good ol' dragonhunting. Wouldn't do any good at all for everyone around to know what she was doing, slayers never went down as great company in towns, especially those as small as this.
"Why're you here?"

Phoebe took a bite of her cake, too. "What are the Desert-," she started to ask, but then Static had counter-questioned her! A tricky move. "Oh, um, I'm basically on vacation... You see, my... friend... insisted." She didn't think her dragon would be okay with telling strangers about him... that might be dangerous, you never know who might be a slayer. But... Phoebe didn't want to believe that Static could be a slayer. Okay, so she was a little strange... but that didn't mean she was a bad person, right? Right?

Static laughed at Phoebe’s faltering reply, the noise sounding bitter and cold in the brightness of the morning.
“Why would you ever come on vacation to a place like this? It’s nice an’ all, but somewhat chilly, don’t you think?” As it were, Static had hardly ever been on holiday herself- Just the odd trip when she was very young, before her powers manifested…
Static wondered who Phoebe’s friend must be- After all, if she were to speak so slowly and hesitantly of them, there must be something about them… Static decided not to press the matter, instead secreting the nugget of information away for future reference. After all, pressing the girl might only make her more cagey, and then nothing would ever be said, would it?

» Polar Immersion & Ghost (Sometimes, a Slayer is just a Slayer...)
» Moonpearl's Eggs/Dragons
» Akira-----Just a cute little rider ^^ (Human)
» Rogue and El- A Chance encounter
» Rogue X Saphire [title to come]