Ghost & Rogue [In for a penny, in for a pound...]

Rilos pattered after Ladon, trying to keep his gait smooth to stop the dragoness from sliding off his back, but he had limited success without using his wings to trap her in place. He was somewhat thankful when they came to a halt near a tree- somewhere to sleep for the rest of the night, perhaps? He saw Ladon’s worried look and tried to reassure him.

“I’m sure he’s fine… He’s still upright, so it cannot be that bad, can it?”
As Silver walked away from them to rest under the tree, Rilos deemed that it was safe to put the antler dragon down. He sunk to his paws, slipping onto his side and shuffling his wings so the female slid off his side. She landed with a thump on the ground.
“Oops… Ladon, do you think we should try and wake her up?”


((Sorry for overall fail and taking soooooo long to reply :/ Schoolwork=crazy!))

Ladon nodded, Yes wake her up. She might have useful information from the time she was captured. He looked around, ensuring that there was no threat tear them and sat curled up next to a tee.

As he heard Rilos talk about his rider, he looked up. That was nothing compared to what we sometimes go through, the fight I mean. He should be alright by tomorrow and then we can leave somewhere even further. You're welcome to join, the two of you. He made a low rumbling sound which sounded like a chuckle.

Nodding again, the magpie dragon confirmed what Rilos just said. We should be on the lookout for danger, you never know what awaits.

He looked back at the other dragon, Are you alright? Do you remember anything about your imprisonment? He questioned softely.

Anyhow, you have to stay here. I am going to look for my Rider's weapons, I shall be back shortly. Until then, have some rest. Any with that, he took off.

Returning to the battle site, he first got in the cave, noting a strange writings all over the walls. He soon got out and looked around the meadow, trying to find the black sword. Surely his rider wouldn't drop the Stele, wold he?

The magpie dragon already found the bow and the equally black arrows... But where did the sword disappear to? After looking around some more, he returned to camp with what he found. He hoped that they would find the sword sometime soon, it was a special sword that should never fall in the wrong hands.

He made for where his rider was, and by the looks of it, he was out cold. He settled next to Silver, covering him with a wing, his thoughts sought the Spined Shadow, I'll keep guard, you can rest for now.

The Shadowhunter awoke the next morning with just light scratches and a few bruises here and there, seemingly healed from most of the wounds he had the night before. The sun was just beginning to rise over the horizon, a quick glance around confirmed that Ladon was keeping guard while the other two slept on peacefully.

With a sharp nod, he dismissed his dragon to have some rest. His eyes dropped to the weapons next to him, and he felt a painful feeling blossoming in his chest as he realized that his sword was nowhere no be found. With a weary sigh, he reached for his belongings, sliding his black armor and slinging the bow and arrows on his back, while dangling the dagger from his belt, tucking the stele safely in the nearby saddle.

The chilly morning air blew on his face as he settled once again next to his dragon, keeping a highly trained eye on their surroundings, enjoying the silence. However, a few seconds later there was a low shuffling noise, and he looked over to see that the antler dragon woke up. "Greeting, how are you feeling?" He questioned.

The Shadowhunter smiled brightly at the two dragons. "Oh, that, I, um... It has to do with being a Shadowhunter" He scratched the back of his head, trying to explain that he heals faster than any creature around. "It is still early, you might want to get more rest," He got up, the faint sunlight making his eyes glow a deep shade of golden, "I won't be long."

As his rider walked away from the group, the magpie dragon opened an eyelid with some difficulty, groaning as he got up. Gods above, his whole body was aching! Am I the only one who feels like hunting breakfast around here? He questioned, and started stretching his sore muscles.

Silver could feel his sword being nearby, pulsing with its own energy. He silently walked on, and came to a stop near a lone tree. Digging under its shadow, his face lit up as he held his sword, thankful that he found it.

Upon his return to their camp, he found the Antler Dragon sitting alone. He chose to sit cross-legged in front of her. " I see that they went to hunt for breakfast, are you not hungry?" He questioned. "If you want, you can join me. I have seen a river nearby."

Ladon felt his lips twitch, a grin plastered on his face, he wasted no time in jumping towards their prey, knocking two deers in one go. He'd need a decent breakfast, one never know when he could find food again.

The magpie dragon wolfed down his food, tail twitching as he tasted the fresh meat.

-

The Shadowhunter shrugged and got up, " We can drink some water... And I need a fish or two to grill for breakfast." He explained, "Maybe you want to wash your feathers too?" He half asked, half offered.

Unlike Ladon’s first attack at the deer, Rilos (due to his size) was less lucky, and had to chase around the dainty doe that he had picked for quite a while, until he suddenly gave up all attempt at stalking like a panther and just blasted a ball of fire at the irritating creature. It died instantly- and got cooked just to the way Rilos liked it at the same time. He jumped on the carcass, a happy rumble rolling around his chest as he tucked into his meal.
“Ohhh, this tastes good.” He said between mouthfuls, skinning the thin fur off the animal with years of learned skill.

==X==

Cerid smiled at the thought of fish, rising to her feet too, supplying another rhyme just out of habit. “Fish dive down deep into this tiny pool.
They dive deep down when cats come into view.
Cats wait, look hard, stay calm, play cool.
Sun’s rays lull fish. Free from fear, they swim near. I’m sure you’re a very good fisherman, hearing that. I think I might wash my feathers, unless it will disturb them?”

Ladon started cleaning his claws, but then stopped, he'd carry the other deer back to camp, they'd get dirty again. He eyed Rilos, who seemed to still eating. Knowing Silver, he'd want to stay here. But he had to convince him otherwise, they weren't alone in this this time...

-

The Shadowhunter made for the river, he took several small stones and sat cross-legged, eyes closed. In one swift movements, he hit the stones on the surface of the water, three fishes floated, and he took them out, and sitting on a nearby rock. "All done, you can have the river for yourself" He smiled.

Fresh deer was quite the treat for Rilos, and every mouthful was delicious. Ladon seemed to enjoy it as much as he was, guzzling his own kill as fast as he could go, but the larger dragon managed to hold off on such an indulgement, knowing it would be quickly followed by indigestion. And that, he didn't really want. He continued munching, inbetween a couple of mouthfuls addressing the smaller dragon.
"Are you going to gulp! take that back for the others?"

==X==

Cerid followed Silver to the river, letting him go about his hunting before taking a dip. The way he hunted was fascinating- she had never seen anyone fish like that before! It seemed she had really scored an interesting companion here. She gave him a warm smile when he was finished, testing her front paws in the river before wading slowly in and spreading her wings, letting the water slip between her feathers and take the little dust left off down the river.
"Mm, this is rather nice." she said, sinking in up to her nose for a moment. "You should try it."

((wow, uninspired post there XD))

Ladon just nodded, and waited for Rilos to finish eating before heading back to camp. I'm thirsty, should we go and look for some water? He finally questioned.

-

Silver smiled back before putting the fish aside, he only removed his light armor before jumping gracefully into the river. Golden eyes glinting in mischief, he started splashing water on the Antler dragon, he deemed it a good way to let go of the tension that was gathered in his body due to the recent event.

Rilos unwillingly came to the end of his meal, still savouring the taste. Ah, wish there was more of that to eat.. he mused silently to himself as he licked the last strips from his teeth and rose to his feet again.
"Yes, that's a good plan. Maybe the others have found some?" He padded alongside the smaller dragon, quite enjoying the bright morning. For one of a species that lived by the dark so much, he was quite unique, enjoying the sun (and especially sunbathing) quite so much.

And another thing he liked, liked best, was swimming. He heard splashes before he saw Silver and Cerid playing in the river, and with a bright look at Ladon rushed over the meadow towards it, jumping into the deepest part of the river with a splash.
"The day just got better!"

==X==

When Silver jumped into the river too it caught Cerid by surprise, the dragon inhaling a mouthful of water before she spluttered and pulled her nose out of the water, sneezing before she gave a giggle and swept her tail across the surface of the water, sending up a fine spray into the air. She laughed more as Rilos joined them, jumping with her front feet to send more water into the air, all her fears from the night before melted away with the good company.

Ladon shot a puzzled look at his rider who was enjoying himself it seems. When Silver felt a pair of eyes watching him, he turned around and shrugged at Ladon's look.

The magpie dragon chose to lay under the shade of the trees surrounding the river, looking at the others amused. He was just about to drift to sleep when cold water was splashed with deadly accuracy in his face. He glared at his now laughing rider before deciding to have revenge.

-

Silver scribbled some runes on the wood pile, creating a large campfire. He settled cross-legged next to Ladon who was waiting for the conversation that was about to start with closed eyes.

The Shadowhunter cleared his throat to get the dragons' undivided attention. "We shall stay here for tonight, and move tomorrow morning. It is safer this way. You are welcome to travel with us for the time being if so you wish."

Rilos rolled around in the cool of the water, shaking his spines in pleasure as he felt the current breeze past them and wash away the little dirt stuck to them. Mmm, it really was perfect. After a lot of splashing, a little swimming and some waterbathing (which was sunbathing while still being in the water), he crawled onto the bank, stretching his wings out to his sides to dry as he took a nap. Cerid was off exploring the meadow, occasionally sniffing the flowers she passed.

==X==

Everything that Silver did was interesting to Ceridwyn, and she watched with excitement as he drew some rune onto one of the logs that made up the fire-to-be, pulling her nose back in interest as they suddenly caught fire. That was certainly a new one for her, and she would have to find out later what he had done to make that happen. She tore her eyes away from the burning logs as Silver spoke.
“Oh, I’d like to stay with you for a while.” She gave a smile, her eyes crinkling at the edges with sincerity. Rilos nodded from his place a little further away. “Thank you.”

==X==

Night flying was, for any dragon that wasn’t adapted to the dark, a dangerous pursuit at best, and a deadly one at worst. For once though, the lightning storm dragon Tabri actually had some luck on her side, because lightning storms actually saw pretty well in the dark. To see her though, it was definitely a good thing that it was dark- the dragon was, quite frankly, a mess, and it was entirely her fault. She just didn’t care enough about even herself to clean up her scales when they got dirty or she cut herself.
She lazily flipped in the air, plunging out of the sky like a dead thing before ripping her wings open with a satisfying pain as she saved herself from a sticky end over the meadows below. She was flying low now, so low her claws might have scraped the ground if she stretched them out, so when she suddenly came over the top of a gentle slope and saw a bright campfire only metres away, she was more than surprised. It suddenly turned to a coy thought as she caught sight of a two-legged figure, and three dragons- but what matter were they? She swept right over the fire, stirring up the ashes, then spiralled up into the sky with a roar, looping over before heading back down at a vertical with a roar.

As the Shadowhunter felt another presence in the meadow, he held his sword and got up just as a loud roar echoed in the nightsky. Before Silver could give out orders, Ladon already took flight, knowing what his rider was going to say before he did.

The young Shadowhunter cursed when another roar shook the place. " Stay here until we identify the other dragon!" He addressed the two dragons and leaped on Ladon's back who was waiting for him a few myers above. Together, they headed towards what they thought was the dragon.

Rilos was quite enjoying their evening bonfire, his tails flicking lightly as the fire warmed his scales, making him drowsy. Maybe it would be good to have an early night for once, and keep respectable hours, instead of the inhospitable nighttime hours that he loved. After all, not everyone liked to be awake at 3am… Ceridwyn certainly seemed tired already, her head down on the ground near the fire, watching the flames.

The new lightning storm’s pass was so abrupt that he almost missed it, the dragon scattering a trail of cinders in her wake and confirming that she hadn’t been a strange dream. The other two were already on their feet and up in the air, leaving Rilos bewildered but thankfully left out of whatever chaos would certainly come to pass next.

==X==

As the two took to the sky, the dragon actually permitting a human on its back, Tabri dived down towards them, veering off at the last possible moment to one side and twisting over the meadows, cackling at her erratic flight. Looping up over into the sky again she bore down on the smaller dragon, turning to look at them in a blur of backwards-falling purple before saving herself from an embarrassing crash and looping around them again like she was playing with a new toy. Which she was.

There was a rush of power that was moving within Silver's veins which was the only warning before his eyes turned silver. Ladon looked up fearfully at his rider noticing the huge amount of power radiating from him. There was a soft hum in the air before the two vanished, becoming invisible in the darkness of the night.

Ladon maneuvered himself above the other dragon, Silver's cold voice drifted almost lazily in the meadow, not hinting what powers he held. " Identify yourself dragon, if you wish not to fight" That arrogant, cold voice sent a shiver down the magpie dragon's spine.