[Trickster meets] Rogue and Polar [the resident loony]

Last edited by Rogue on Sat Jun 18, 2011 5:28 pm; edited 1 time in total

For one who lived in the desert for most of the time, the weather (although still warm) was bordering on the chill for Hone. Of course, the coming autumn was making the temperature of the land drop, but even the milder climate shouldn’t have had such an effect on a lash dragon- but of course, she wasn’t the most normal of dragons. After all, lashes should live in the woods, not the desert! Either way, it wasn’t something she pondered- more, the slow change in colour of the leaves of the trees caught her attention, and she wandered from plant to plant, admiring how some leaves were still green, others starting to go gold, some even red- those, she decided with a firm nod, were her favourite. And it wasn’t because they were the same colour as her scales!

So much so, she didn’t even notice (wrapped up in her little world) when she wandered into an almost-derelict farm, the evening light casting long golden rays through the broken windows of the barn, shadows thrown across the gently bowed walls of an old wooden shed and creating deep, mysterious places to explore. Her silvery claws clacked on the cobblestone courtyard as she followed the path of a twisted strand of ivy over the beam of the largest barn. She frowned in confusion at the black void that suddenly appeared, then gave a silly giggle as she realised it was a doorway.
“Cooee Hone, whistae taken y’self? Y’weren’t even lookin’ where y’were gaarn, an’ now y’lost.” She looked around the courtyard, her ears perking up at the sight of so many places to explore (big places to explore, all the better), then ducked as a swallow dived over her head into the barn, twittering madly at her intrusion. Oooh, a companion!

A smile spread across her face, and donning her imaginary fedora and whip, she wandered further into the farm, her eyes as round as moons as she took in all the sights.

Guest

The temperature up in the loft of the abandoned farm building granted it's resident with a perfect kind of warmth. Felt in the bones and accompanied by the darkness with slivers of autumn tinged light seeping in through the cracks, painting the greying wood with vibrant oranges. A mass of scales and fluffed fur lay sleeping amidst old cloth and cobbled together farm equipment, forming a makeshift den of sorts. A light, almost chaotic chuckling uttered forth from pursed lips every now and then, as well as the kicking of clawed hind legs in a jovial pursuit of an imaginary cricket coated in chocolate within the dreams of the loft's curious inhabitant. It would have been a loveable sight, a dragon with it's fur-tipped tail curled around it's flank and up to it's head, twitching with utter delight and excitement.

Of course, Rudindri Dynus was always one to cause some sort of mischief, even upon himself, despite him being conscious or not. Knowing that, he should have been aware that the shovel that he'd decided to stand on end, metal end hovering in the air and held secure by only the wall and a beam above it, was inviting troublesome results. As his dream continued, Rudi's chase of his quarry coming near it's end, his kicking and chuckling grew ever more rapid and fevered. A beating clawed foot of a Hobbit Dragon against the handle of the shovel hovering over him, causing just enough motion for the head of the shovel to slide along the beam atop the low roof until it no longer could. Just before Rudindri could complete his triumph, biting into the sweet, chocolatey goodness of the cricket, the flat of the shovel made it's rapid and unmerciful descent to Rudindri's head...

"OUCH!" Rudindri yelped, a hand going to his head whilst his tail beat back and forth furiously. He rubbed the sore spot on his head, the shovel sliding off his side as he looked at it through a single squinted eye, blurred from tearing up. "That's not fair..." he grovelled to the inanimate object, "I didn't even get a lick of the chocolate you cruel thing..." Rudindri pouted, his attention temporarily devoted to groveling and petting his head.

The annoyed, obviously perterbed chattering of a bird--probably the same swallow that tried to chase him out earlier--uttered it's racket from outside of the building before streaking in, seeming to realize it was about to fly right into Rudindri a moment before hand and banking hard to leave the building through the lower set of double doors. Rudindri looked at it curiously, realizing he could sense another being around, curiousity filled to the brim. The Hobbit-Dragon gave a toothy grin, his blue eyes now lacking all trace of the dream and pain of unsettled scores as he stood carefully upon the loft, looking down with interest for any movement outside.

It was very much like Hone to get distracted before she had hardly moved an inch, even with the call of other buildings to explore luring her away from the door of the barn that she stood in front of. Well, that little beetle scuttling around the frame, trying to find its way up (or down, it couldn’t seem to make its mind up) was just too amusing to leave behind. Did it taste good? Would it taste bad? Did it have wings? These were questions just too pressing not to be investigated, and she watched it wander merrily along until she just couldn’t help herself, and gave it a sticky lick. Which it did not like. At all. It gave an angry hiss, suddenly flaring the bright red wings that had been hidden underneath its shell-like casing, and turning (in Hone’s mind) into a hissing cobra, flaring its head fins angrily, ready to attack!

She scuttled backwards with a squeak, flaring her head fins in return- and promptly falling over some abandoned piece of farm equipment and tumbling into a pile of hilarity in the dust. Why, this human place was fun! She scrambled to her feet and fluttered her wings, shaking the dust from them, then tugged out one that had snapped as she had caught it under her claws- her friend had told her not to pull out her feathers (it was something she did a fair bit), but well, he wasn’t around, and what did one feather matter? As long as she didn’t go home bald…

Whatever noise she was making, it was suddenly negated by a crash from within the barn, halting her in all her fluffing and flapping. Her ears swivelled towards where it had come from, pricking up in interest. Someone else? How exciting! Carefully detangling herself from the mess of farm equipment, she padded to the edge of the doorway again, peeking her head around the frame before sidling inside. The swallow chirruped on some beam high up in the darkness, and a little evening light filtered through the grimy windows to one side, lighting it enough to reassure the lash dragon that the place was quite big. And there was a loft! And some stables to one side- maybe it was a rat? With that thought on her mind, she padded slowly towards the nearest stall, licking her lips slowly with her long black tongue. That would do nicely for supper… then, if this was a farm (and she knew enough about humans to know they normally liked sweet things, not as much as her, but they still had a taste for them), she could hunt down some berry bushes or something- Weren’t strawberries or blackberries in season? Perfect! And then… and then… well, she didn’t know what then. Maybe a little exploring before the day called it a night. Which it might quite soon… She would need to find somewhere warm to snuggle up.

Guest

Rudindri angled his head, his ears picking up the sounds from outside. He frowned, knowing that there might have been some amount of farm equipment out there that he may have heaped into a pile for no apparent reason. After a moment he chuckled a bit, lips open and exposing a maw of white teeth. His tail swept back and forth as he considered what to do, watching the door to see if the individual would perchance visit the inside of the barn. Almost as soon as the thought crossed the Hobbit-Dragon's mind, a shadow angled sharply from whatever was outside caught his attention. The shadow itself looked warped, somewhat foul, almost like a grotesque monster that had somehow crawled it's way out of the shadow realm. Rudindri swallowed hard, suddenly a little less curious as to what it was.

Nonsense... it's just the angle of the sun is all, it must be mid-day, or maybe even evening right now... I'm sure it's just a-- Rudindri's effort at making the shadow seem less fearsome dwindled away when it looked as though it pulled a piece of it's body off without any kind of remorse whatsoever, dropping it half-heartedly to the ground. Rudindri's taloned fingers ground into the edge of the loft, his power of invisibility seemingly causing every fiber of his being to vanish without a trace on it's own. He stared at the opening, his heart beating as his tail lay frozen mid-twitch. Anticipation, and indeed perhaps a twinge of curiousity rising back up from his mind, gripped all conscious thought. Did it have wings? Did it look tasty? Was it as foul as it's shadow suggested? He couldn't say, but as his grip on the wooden loft slowly eased, he found himself ever more mesmerized and intrigued. Could it be pranked? How fast could it move?

Maybe a little playtime after all would be a good idea, Rudindri thought to himself with a vindictive little grin, stooping back from the edge and eagerly waiting. The sound of clawed feet against the sandy floor met his ears as they twitched ever so slightly at every motion. His own body moved forward, silent as a snake with a curious taste for mischief. He didn't even look around and see for sure what it was that had ventured into the barn, merely opened his invisible jaws and let forth a stream of air...

This stream of air was moving for the hind-quarters of the said Dragon, bearing magic that would cause a great deal of sparks, similar to small fireworks, and heat to beset the entities former half. Rudindri almost couldn't resist a maddening chuckle as he did so, and eyed his quarry eagerly, awaiting to see what it would do, or what it actually was since the light would no doubt expose it's form.

A thin rope, which had probably kept horses inside the stable at one stage of the barn’s life, lay across the ground, so the first stall that Hone wandered into had nothing to bar her from getting in. And if there was nothing to stop her, then obviously she was allowed! That was the way it worked, right? Whatever had made the clanging noise wasn’t inside, and she retreated a little disappointed, hoping to find dinner, or at least something a little more interesting than old straw and a dirty bowl left behind when the last horse abandoned the stables many years before. She pottered out of the stable again, blinking as she examined the rest of the barn. Where had that noise come from…

Maybe it had come from the next stall along. She swished her tail from side to side in absentminded amusement as she wandered along, snuffling at the ground. There were some traces of rodent left behind, but they didn’t smell very fresh, which was strange. The rope that had trailed along the floor hooked under one of her claws, wrapping itself between two of them. She twitched her foot, trying to shake it free, but didn’t really pay much attention, so didn’t notice when all the motion did was wrap it more firmly around. It made a hissing noise as it dragged, and she whipped around, claws bared at the sudden threat of… nothing? Maybe it was a ghost? Suddenly unnerved, she decided that maybe she would skip dinner (as disheartening as that was) and maybe make a nest outside the farm somewhere, snuggle up, have a good long snooze and then come back when it was properly light, and things wouldn’t be so creepy. The place was sort of freaky in the evening light, and if there was one thing she hated above all others, it was being trapped in a small space. And although the barn hadn’t seemed small, it was suddenly feeling quite claustrophobic…

Trying to quell her rising fear, she turned for the exit, setting her eyes on the open door. There was complete and utter openness, and none of this close tightness. So much so, when a stream of magic suddenly erupted behind her, making a great crackle of fireworks and light and noise, she gave a terrified scream, leaping away from the bright fuzz of lights. The rope around her foot suddenly tightened like a web, dragging her balance from her; she wobbled, then crashed solidly to the ground, another squeal echoing around what she had thought had been an empty barn. Inbetween her first and second yelps she heard the sound of laughter, which made her scream all the more- was it a ghost?
“Divn’t eat es, divn’t eat es!” she yelped, kicking out to try and untangle herself. “Ars divn’t taste geet good! Y’can eat tha’ there ratty I was lookin’ for, ista ower yonder!” She pointed a frightened claw into the barn, gesturing wildly in the hope that her hidden opponent would go after the imaginary rat and leave her alone. Not that it was easy to understand her, if they even wanted her prey- her normally thick mountain accent was just made worse by her fear, and made it hard to discern quite what she was trying to say.

((If you’re finding it hard to work out what she’s saying, then that’s kinda the plan ^^ Her accent normally isn’t this bad, but well… The answer’s there Wink

It'll get better next post!))

Guest

That was it. He had to do it, there was nothing left to be done. A bemused cascade of snickering laughter dribbled forth from Rudindri's mouth, his tail flicking back and forth and thrashing the various metal bits of farm equipment up in the loft like a storm. Not only had that quite possibly been the best reaction from one of his pranks of all time, but it was made sweeter by What made the noise. It wasn't some monstrous thing, it was just another dragon. If not for his laugh at the prank, the nervous laughter would have taken hold instead, as sure as he'd been that there was something worse at the door come knockin'.

But what was this? She was truly frightened... Rudindri smiled warmly, not knowing whether he should continue on with the prank or reassure the dragon that there was nothing to fear within this old barn. He listened as she spoke, catching bits and pieces of her broken, mountain accent and attempting to piece it together. He was pretty sure she was asking not to be eaten, and that there was a rat or something of equal edibility in the corner somewhere. Curiously, he shuffled, looking down, invisible, mere feet above the dragons head as he looked down. There were indeed tracks, but it seemed less fresh than what he'd liked...

A mischevious grin came upon him then as he clawed deeply into the wood, making it apparent that there was some unseen force--whether ghost or invisible dragon--sitting upon the corner of the loft. He slid off, flapping his wings twice in a dramatic manner to set the stage for the rest of his trick. The footprint of claw and talon, likely made to look far more terrific and fear-inspiring by what the other dragon thought was in the barn, set down only a few feet from the dragon, followed by others. He made sure he was out of range of her tail, now realizing that there was what looked to be a scything appendage upon it.

Oh, you mean the wretched morsel from earlier. I detest, yet must confess, that such a creature was a treat. But of you, what to do, i have but one clue... Rudindri let his bouncing rhythm and a grovelly, mentally attached voice sound to the dragon, careful not to let any stray thoughts or the ilk come over across the link. A moment later, he spoke with his actual vocal chords, using his skill in ventriloquism to make it sound as though his voice was behind her now. "Perhaps you too shall be a treat?..." Rudindri resisted the urge to chuckle, dearly hoping that he wasn't terrifying the poor thing too much.

"Perchance, would you have a ponderous and wonderous apetite for games? Perhaps a race, a riddle?" Rudindri continued, wondering if the dragon before him had even the frame of mind to understand his words. He slowed then, looking at the rope that binded the dragon and pulling some of it down, hooking a claw under it and making it look as though the threads themselves were unravelling.

(OoC: Kinda got writers block on the rhymes, sorry if I'm not getting the idea across ^_^; He's basically asking if she'd like to play a game, pretty much any kind, though he suggested races or riddles.)

The sound of cackling laughter above Hone just served to frighten her even more, and she whimpered as she scoured the heights of the barn, trying to see what hideous beast plagued her. Oh lords above, it was a poltergeist, a ghost to be sure! Now it had trapped her in this rope like this, it would be sure to torment her until she was mad- the stories of such beasts weren’t your average fairytale, but something much darker, and for all her adventurous streak, Hone had no wish to cross paths with one unless she was armoured to the very maximum and backed by an army. Preferably an army of lash dragons; she knew they could be relied upon in any situation to not only protect her back, but crack a joke at the same time.

She tried to squash her fears, pretending that she really did have an army of lash dragons at her back, but the sudden scratching scraping sound above her, coming from the loft, once again frightened her, and she let out a shrill squeal. Oh, she wished she had never set eyes on that fateful void of a doorway that had lead her into such a pickle! More noises came from above her, then much closer she heard the faint tap as whatever demon was around landed nearby, the wind from his wingbeats stirring up the straw that lay over the ground. Her ears swivelled to try and pinpoint its location, her fear slowly dissipating as she saw clawprints. So, it was some sort of dragon…

A dragon in her head! She pawed at her face as a voice came out of nowhere, covering it over with her front legs and peering from between her claws. Why, only a monster could have a voice so growly as that! And only a monster wouldn’t share their dinner with her, what rudeness! Why, they needed to learn some manners, monster or not- not only had it eaten her dinner, but now it was creeping up on her, and playing foolish rope tricks, and messing with her mind, and it had eaten her dinner! What cheek!

Twitching her ears this way and that to try and work out exactly where the strange dragon was, she quashed all her fear into a little box for later (no doubt to laugh at) and listened carefully, concentrating more on where the sound was coming from, rather than what it was saying. “I ain’t a snacky treat for nobody, if tha’s whistae meanin’.” she said, trying to make herself seem a lot more brave than she felt. No no, she wasn’t even going to think that way- she was the bravest lash dragon in the pack! After all, she was an Elite, and Elites didn’t quaver at silly little things like ghosts. Even if they were invisible… But wait, they had just made a mistake. A double mistake- now her feet were free of the rope that had held them, and she knew exactly where they were!

With a banshee-like warcry, she leapt for where her hidden assailant was, her wings fluttering open and her head fans twitching as she made herself as big as possible. Ha, she would like to see them try and escape that, when she knew they were so close as to be able to free her!

Guest

Rudindri chuckled at the Lash Dragon's reply. It was not lost upon Rudindri that every moment more that this trick played on that his victim became more and more emboldened--or perhaps desperate--he wasn't sure which it was. Though, he simply could not bring himself to relent, not just yet, after all, he was so close now, every last second eeked out of this would be worth it!

"Indeed, perhaps not! Though a delightful sight of company you be, I doubt that you would be tasty!" Rudindri stated, overemphasizing the 'y' sound at the end of his words. At that, he let the last of the rope be cut through, believing that he was not in immediate harm from the dragon. His tail twitched back and forth with interest, sweeping the sand amidst the barn floor. He was hardly trying to conceal his position now, the prank itself nearing it's end. He found it was best to ease one into the end of a trick, rather than hit them with it all at once--at least when that trick had to do with fear.

Although, it was Rudindri's turn to swell with a bit of fear, or perhaps surprise. The pair got mixed frequently within his mind, yet it was clear that he'd played with his new found friend for just a few seconds too long. The Lash Dragon sprang up with a ferocity that left Rudindri recoiling, his head slamming into the loft where his skull was still sore from the mishap with the shovel a minute or so before. Before he realized it, he was under-foot the Lash Dragon, his own tail wrapped somewhat around it's own tail more out of pain of the head than any conscious effort to shield himself from it's weapon.

A that moment, he began laughing, the kind of irrational laughter that happens when your plan just unfurled and bit you in the arse and your own incautious movement delivered upon you a great, beating head-injury. This laughing, all-out as it was, didn't really slow even as his invisibility unwrapped his body to easy sight, his brown scales and blue eyes now shining with the new gap in the loft, due to how hard his head hit the wood.

"Oh me, oh my, I think I'm going to die! Bhahaha!" Rudindri rhymed, tears welling in his eyes from sheer laughter, pain dissolving in the background of it. He looked straight at the dragon, not yet realizing that he might be in for a beating, and spoke through seething laughter. "You should have seen your face! I thought the trick rather delightful! Even I fooled myself into thinking myself a ghost!" He laughed again, an infectious kind of Trickster's laugh, no longer the rough, ragged voice he used before. Slowly, he stopped, slowly realizing that he might have just earned himself a few more wounds...

Hone gave a victorious snarl as she felt her claws catch around the ghost- ha! So it wasn’t a ghost at all! There was an almighty bang-crash as the dragon destroyed one of the beams of the loft, sending worryingly loud creaks and rumbles through the building. The lash dragon was quite oblivious to such things however, her head fins fluttering up and down like an ostrich would flutter their feathers when he was angry. This invisible dragon was big! She felt its tail wrap around her own and whipped it back and forth, trying to dislodge the strange creature’s grip.
“Who ista? Who ista?” she demanded, unnerved by the sudden cackling laughter. There were more cracks from above, making her look up for a moment, wondering whether the ceiling would come down on her- when she looked back, a strange brown and cream dragon had appeared below her paws, his mouth open in a wide laughing grin. She gave an angry growl, not quite understanding how a visible dragon had suddenly appeared beneath her paws- where had that nasty poltergeist gone?

Really not understanding what had just happened, she gave the hobbit dragon an uncharacteristic whump with one paw on his chest, leaning in close to hiss in his face. “Where’s tha’ ghostywoo gar? Wotcher done with him eh?” It couldn’t have been the same dragon being so frightening, because this dragon sounded completely different from whatever had been tormenting her before. “’T’ain’t funny, ‘cos he was gaarn t’eat that ratty I was gaarn t’eat, an’ now I ain’t got no supper!” She pouted, sitting back on the other dragon with a flump! of feathers. Why, it just wasn’t fair, that this dragon though it was so funny.

“Whistae mean, y’fooled yourself into thinkin’ y’were a ghost?” She frowned, trying to work out what he meant, then it suddenly dawned on her and the angry scowl on her features melted. “Tha’ was you? Y’were tha’ ghosty?”
She gave an indignant squeal that echoed back from the roof, flapping one wing across the hobbit dragon’s face. “Wotcher do tha’ for? This your barn or summat?” She looked around, wrinkling her nose at the cobwebs hanging from the ceiling. Ew. And, he had just put a hole in it too- it wasn’t her fault he had been in the wrong place and had managed to land where he had. “Well, if y’didn’t want me ‘round (‘though, I dunno why y’wouldn’t) then y’could ‘ave jus’ said. I was jus’ investigatin’ a bit, tha’s all. An’ it weren’t my fault that y’jus’ made a hole in your barn, ‘cos you were t’one who sneaked up on me. So there!” And just to make her point even more, she stuck her tongue out and folded her wings across her front, crossing the tips.

Guest

Rudindri's beaming smile wavered somewhat with the impact against his chest. It was honestly still funny, and the Hobbit Dragon was indeed still restraining the urge to snicker, but at the same time, he couldn't help but let a little bit out here and there. After all, she seemed to innocently confused about the whole ordeal, not sure immediately that it was Rudindri that had been the 'Ghost' so-to-speak. Though, it dawned on the Lash Dragon shortly after he'd stopped talking, and that only made it ever the more entertaining. Rudindri's broad white-toothed grin came back as he snickered, tearing up a good bit from the hilarity of it. He registered the impact of the dragons wing against his face only a few seconds after it happened, and that in itself gave him a bout of giggling. He slowly stopped though, tail unwrapping from around the other dragons as it started twitching back and forth as per his usual habit.

"Ah yes, alas I must confess it was me," he spoke, leaning up slightly before the pain in his head decided it was best to keep laying down. Rudindri quirked a brow at the other dragon, her thick accent at least not as powerful as it was earlier. Oh how interesting she was! Not even the least bit terrified now, at least he was pretty sure, and was more frustrated over the rat than his prank! HA! If Rudindri didn't know any better, this was either the best dragon he'd even met in regards to taking a joke, or the most one-track minded. Maybe both? Was that so bad? He chuckled, putting a paw up to his head and gently feeling the bruise, cringing even at the tender touch.

He looked up a moment later though, tilting his head slightly, "hmm? My barn?... whatever in the world made you think that this was My barn? No, no, no... I'm merely a visitor here, much like yourself I'd say. By curious cusp you draw yourself near, just as I had found my own curiosity enticed by a visitor at the door, so-to-speak." He clucked his tongue, looking up at the hole in the beam, realizing that he might have just structurally compromised the building. What with all the weight up in the loft, he figured that it would be a little bit top heavy...

"And my my, guilty conscience? I'd never suggested, nor would I have--" he pointed out, pointing a finger at the child-like dragon sitting on top of him, "--pointed such out. Though, yes, that may have somewhat been my fault, just a little. The rest of it is yours of course!" He shouted playfully, snickering as he looked around, hearing creaking and cracking as some of the wooden frame began to buckle. It wasn't surprising--though he frowned nevertheless--due to the truly egregious collection of leftover farm equipment that he'd piled up in the loft for his little bed. Rudindri looked to the Lash Dragon, "I think that we shouldn't be in here anymore, maybe outside? Perhaps, like, now?" Rudindri spoke, gently pushing at the Lash Dragon as the ceiling seemed to start moving backwards.

Hone tugged her tail free of the hobbit dragon’s as soon as he released it, curling it around her back feet like a prudish cat might. This dragon was so strange! Although, she had to say, it wasn’t completely unwelcome- his laughter, despite being somewhat confusing, was quite the welcome change of just her own voice twittering along in the silence of the day. And anyone who laughed so much had to be pleasant company, if a little odd. But she wasn’t one to complain.

“Whista do tha’ for then eh?” she asked, cocking her head to one side so her ears flopped against her face. “’Specially if it ain’t your barn, wotcher want people t’be scared off for? Djur not like people?” She shifted her front paws as he moved, watching him with no hostility now he had confessed to his tricks. Her mindless smile faded as she saw the dragon flinch, her head fins drooping- had she hurt him by jumping on him like this? She hadn’t meant to, if she had, it was just, she had wanted to know who it was, and that had been the only plan she had thought of. She bit one claw anxiously, as was her habit, mumbling an apology. He seemed alright, from the way he was still talking (although what “cusp” meant, she hadn’t the foggiest idea), but of course, he was still lying down, and it could be a completely different story when he stood up.

“I’m sorry, I dinae mean to… y’know, hurt you or anythin’… Y’ahreet?” Now she thought about it, she really didn’t like the idea of whacking something so hard with your head it broke… She had done it before with small things, and had walked into a tree a few times (even ran into one once, that was a bad memory), but she had never broken anything really big before. And if she had to help the dragon up, now she had hurt him… well, that would be embarrassing enough, to say the least.

“Wait, whista mean, my fault?” she cried, diverted from his headache once again. “It ain’t my fault, y’were the one a’scarin’ me!” A moody pout came over her face and she looked away, shutting her eyes like a haughty child, but she couldn’t help but peek at the dragon to see if she was doing it right. It seemed as though he was hardly paying attention though, looking at the ceiling instead of her! Well!
“Hey, I was djarn m’best pout then!” she complained, but quickly recognised the error of her complacency. No wonder the hobbit dragon had only eyes for the building- it looked like it might come down! She scrabbled off his middle onto the floor, spread in a brightly coloured pile for a moment before she leapt to her feet, taking hold of one of the paws that he had gently tried to push her off with. “Come on y’silly, whista lyin’ round here for? T’ceiling’s gaarn t’come down!”

Guest

Rudindri yelped with surprise as he was dragged along by his paw. This slightly smaller dragon was all sorts of odd flavored cupcake wrapped in a cocoon of interesting sprinkles.

Wait... what did I just compare her to?... Rudindri thought, wondering if there was any actual damage in his head from the smack into the wood. He didn't have time to really fuss over it though, what with the snapping wood and groaning of the building. Grimacing and letting out a nervous--or extrememly excited--chuckle, he moved on his own, flapping his wings in complete disarray. The pair escaped the dark confines of the building, Rudindri sparing a glance backwards at the wooden structure as it twisted and fell down to the earth. Every creaking noise and the ultimate crash against the ground made Rudindri cringe, hoping that nobody really wanted the building anymore anyways.

He walked forward, still looking back at the building, unwittingly running into the pile of farm equipment that Hone had tripped over. Rudindri sprawled out, turning just in time to go face first into a shovel... again...

Tears welled in the Hobbit Dragons eyes as he pushed himself up and sat on his haunches, tail flicking back and forth with feverish intensity. His front paws were covering his nose as he felt it, hoping he didn't just bruise it. Tentatively he pulled his paws away, lightly touching the tip and nearly hissing at the pain that came from it. Rudindri's eyes wandered to the other dragon and then back to the building, a plume of dust coming up from the ruins of it. He sighed, getting up on all fours and stretching out like a cat, the fur on the back of his neck hackling and his wings stretching out fully as he did so. That was pretty fun, he had to admit, even though now his previous cat-nap location was definitely not going to be in use again for a long time.

"Well, that was fun..." he stated, letting out a long moan from his stretching and then looking to the Lash Dragon. He tilted his head and smiled, "I'm sorry, I haven't even given you my name yet. My names Rudindri Dynus, Hobbit Dragon and Trickster," he started, then paused with a thoughtful look, "actually, that last bit about me being a Trickster isn't exactly accurate. I'm more like The Trickster... which kinda explains why I had to play that little prank on you. Yes, in fact that's a perfect way to explain it!" Rudi nodded, seemingly proud of his conclusion. It was possible, of course, that he was still a little... off... from his head injury though.

"I meant nothing personally to you of course, just that I wanted to have a little fun. Just a little joke is all... No hard feelings?" Rudindri smiled, prancing a bit on his back legs, primed and ready to start running if he needed too. After all, the last phrase pissed plenty of people and dragons alike off. It seemed asking if there weren't any hard feelings was essentially begging to get hit or something. Right then and there, his ever moving tail froze yet again in mid-twitch as something occured to him that might remedy such things.

"How about I make it up to you somehow? Anything you want, I'll help you with, would that do?" He grinned, satisfied with what seemed would be an easy way to make a friend rather than an enemy.

Hone dashed after Rudindri as he jumped to his feet and ran for it, fluttering her wings in excitement and bugling into the air. Ooh, this was fun! She jumped as the building crashed to the ground in a pile, dancing away from the rubble that billowed out from underneath the collapsed roofing. The hobbit dragon seemed to be having just as much of an exciting time as she, giggling madly as he looked at the carnage they had just wrecked. No, Hone told herself, it was hardly her fault, he was the one who had fallen where he did.

She ducked as the swallow from before dive-bombed over her head, loudly complaining as she wondered where her nest had suddenly disappeared off to. Hone let out a similar chirrup, flaring her ears as it zoomed past her.
“Sorry miss birdy, I think y’might need t’find somewhere else t’live now, tha’ there dragon jus’ knocked your home down an’ all.” She spread her wings, shrugging as the bird swore at her again. “Dinae blame me, weren’t my fault. Aye, but I’m sorry all t’same.” The bird seemed little consoled by her words, and returned to trying to work out where her nest had gone.

The lash dragon turned to see where the other dragon had got to, wincing as he fell headfirst into a spade. He seemed to have worse luck when she did when it came to falling into things… She padded over to his side, turning her head to one side.
“Your nose is bleedin’.” she stated, drawing a line through the air with one claw where a thin scratch ran across his nose. She watched him stretch, fluttering her wings self-consciously to her sides when she saw how full and useful his were- completely the opposite to her half-wrecked, pretty much useless own pair (unless you wanted a feather duvet, in which case they were perfect).

“Ars Hone, an’ I’m a lash dragon. An’… I dinae have a las’ name, but… Canst take my best friend’s? In which case it’d be Passal.” She wrinkled her nose. “Hone Passal. Coo, tha’s weird t’say!” She bit one claw, getting used to the name, then let out a giggle at Rudindri’s dancing. “T’trickster eh? Tha’ sounds like a geet good game t’be playin’.” In fact, it sounded really quite inviting. After all, after she had worked out he wasn’t a ghost, the hobbit had been quite sporting! Her eyes widened at his offer, a smile growing across her face as she answered immediately.
“Choc’late digestives!” she crowed, giving a little skip and a jump towards Rudindri, twirling around him in an excited circle. “Ooh, ooh will y’help me find some choc’late digestives? Pleeeease?”

Guest

Rudindri wrankled somewhat at the mentioning that his nose was bleeding. He was somewhat aware of that already, and didn't need a helping hand in finding that out. Then again, being a sour-puss would do nothing but make him feel like an arse. He slowly stopped prancing back and forth, deciding that he wasn't about to get jumped on again. Though his tail still twitched, as usual. Always a habit that that he had a very, very hard time breaking. He tilted his head, one of his ears laying flat against his head and the other swiveling forward with a toothy grin and bright blue eyes directed towards the other dragon.

"Hone, the Lash Dragon, hmm?" Rudindri spoke, then watched as she changed it slightly to sound more like the formal greeting that he'd spoken--or maybe felt that she was supposed to. "Oh, Passal is a good name though. But, don't tell humans that's your last name, they have that suspicion that if you have the name of another dragon as part of your own, your married or some other folly like that." He chuckled, and then quickly interjected again, "unless you are married to the said friend and take human customs into account, in which case that's fantastically functional and overall thrilling to have such a custom!" He smiled another of his broad curious smiles. Of course he didn't want to upset the slightly smaller dragon--that tail looked as painful as ever--but as ever he was curious about everything in the Lash Dragon.

That curiousity was only made greater when she expressed that she thought his occupation sounded like fun. Fun! No one else had ever said anything of the like. Only that it was an irritating, deplorable, and usually dangerous position that had no real place in society. At least, that's how some people had viewed it in the past, more with having been pranked mere moments before or hearing about it. Yet this one dragon thought it was fun, and had been pranked! He smiled, perhaps his biggest smile yet, his mane standing up with the overflowing gratitude of hearing that.

Though, the request that she made afterwards caught him entirely off guard...

Rudindri sat on his haunches, tail pausing briefly and mouth ajar in a suprised fashion. He looked around at the circling Lash Dragon, blinking, going back over what she'd just said in his head. And then again for good measure. She certainly seemed bubbly about whatever a Chocolate Digestives were, so they must have been good. But he'd never heard of it before! Oh, new things were always such an experience! He had to help now, not just because his word but because he was curious about it. He wanted some too! Yes, that sounded right, he'd help, and he'd grab some for himself. It was completely out of his range of thought to wonder if they were plants or animals. Instead, he lept up from his seated position, both ears completely spiked forward and to the Lash Dragon, Rudindri himself was prancing around, tail and feet aike seeming to twitch and writhe with excitement.

"That sounds like a positively wonderful idea! We'll go out and look for some right now if you want!" Rudindri very nearly cheered, his wings subconsciously stretching out and flapping slightly. He was already walking away with his enthusiasm, before he stopped rather suddenly, nearly tripping over himself. "Oh... but... what exactly is a Chocolate Digestive?... Is it a fruit or something? You do eat it right?..." Rudindri slowed, then cowed his head slightly at his newest realization, "I'm not being much help am I?..."

“I ain’t married t’him!” Hone protested sharply, her voice squeaky and indignant. Why, what a strange thought! It was, quite frankly, ridiculous. “Why, whista y’own name from then eh, that Dynus? Ista married?” She gave a giggle, wrinkling her nose. This dragon was so strange! She gave a twirl as she circled him, tapping one foot twice on the ground as she unconsciously slipped into one of the little dances that she had learnt with her last patrol. At least he had recovered somewhat from his frequent head-bashings, looking a little like a cat as he sat flicking his tail and watching her.

She gave another twirl in the air, coming down with a bump of her back feet and a puff of dust, suddenly excited at his proposition. Ooh fabulous! Last time she had been in the area (a long, long time ago) she had… acquired a packet of the sweet biscuits from a nearby town- and was promptly discovered to have them, which resulted in her having to run quite fast and quite far away. Still with them, of course. But, this time, if there was someone else around to be a diversion, then she might not get noticed! Oh, it was perfect! Of course, she might have to share a few, but they tasted all the better with friends anyway.

She gave a bugle of happiness into the air as Rudindri suddenly leapt to his feet too, spinning in a circle and beating her feet on the ground until she fell over in a puff of dust and feathers, her dance suddenly interrupted by the ground. Laughing, she rolled over onto her front, looking up at the hobbit dragon from between her feathers.
“Gar now? Like, now now?” A big grin spread across her face and she tried to scramble to her feet, but one of her wings caught under her paws and she went crashing to the ground in a brightly coloured heap again. He seemed almost as excited as she was, and she was convinced he had just as much a liking for them as she did- until his next little addition.

Her face fell, her eyes flicking from side to side in confusion as she picked herself out of the dirt. “You… dinae know what a choc’late digestive is?” She blinked, trying to work out how the dragon could not know what one was, then shook her head. “Well, ista… ista biscuit, with choc’late on it.” Hmm, that wasn’t a very good description. She scrunched her nose up in thought, then rubbed a little of the dust under her paws flat and drew a round circle with one claw. “Like this… with tha’ choc’late on top.” She looked up at him, patting the middle of her drawing. “An’ there’s human writin’ on t’biscuit side, like this.” Next to the circle she wrote, in careful but rather crude handwriting, ‘Hone’. The E was backwards.
“It don’t say tha, tha’s my name, lookee, “HONE.”. But tha’s the writin’ that’s on it, y’see?” She underlined it, scratching the H into the dirt a little better. “An’ they taste yummy.” She nodded firmly, then looked up at Rudindri again.

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Rudindri gave a curt grin, head tilted in his most practiced adorable fashion. He hoped he didn't just deflate his new friends bubble, that wouldn't do at all, especially not after he'd gotter her so hyped up to go forward for their little quest. Even her last comment about his own last name fell out of mind--though he honestly had no idea how he could reply to that other than the light blush that clung to just beneath his eyes. He didn't realize his own last name kind of hinted to the very same thing he'd pointed out to her. Rudindri shook his head slightly, edging forward slightly with his paws at the lead, looking like an intrigued cat that wasn't quite sure how close it wanted to come.

Only a few moments before, she was aflutter with elation and had herself made a few clumsy errors. Now she seemed like she was trying to explain some foreign idea to someone who had no background in the topic... which he supposed wasn't entirely untrue. Eagerly he watched as Hone tried to put it down in the sand, telling him about biscuits covered in chocolate--and nearly getting distracted by that particular bit as soon as she touched on it. When she wrote her name in the dirt on the side of her picture, which he promptly realized that she probably didn't write in english that often, and somehow made it seem all the more appetizing. Rudindri's ears twitched forward and then side to side as he looked up to Hone again, marvelling at how such an odd dragon could teach him a new thing or two. He smiled broadly, big pearly-whites showing with an eagerness reflected in his eyes.

"Okay, so, they are like snack-food for humans or something, right?" Rudindri spoke, not waiting for a reply, nodding to himself in agreement, "so that means that the humans probably have to have a bunch of them on a merchants... err..." he stopped talking, a flustered look coming upon his face at forgetting a particular word as his sweet tooth started perking up. After a few moments, he just scratched the side of his head and sputtered out the next word he could come up with. "There, umm... luggage, yeah, that's it, luggage!" Rudi stood tall, ranting onward, "we'll just go out and find a trade road and see if one passes! Then we'll get in and grab the snacks before we get spotted! It's perfect!" He clasped his hands together, leaning on his hind legs and looking to Hone.

"Unless you know where there are some already, then we could just go there, but there's nothing like a little michevious fun to work up an apetite," he grinned, sitting down and seeing what his somewhat smaller Lash Dragon friend thought about the plan.

Hone returned Rudindri’s smile, twitching her head fins in excitement. She had managed to explain it right! Half the time, when she tried to explain something, she described the wrong thing, or got sidetracked, or just downright confused the other person- not that that had put her off explaining further. She gave a hop of excitement, erasing her drawings with a sheen of dust and nodding animatedly.
“Aye, they come in packets, wrapped up in paper.” She interrupted him while she had the chance, her eyes alight with excitement. “I like t’eat ‘em for brekkist, but I guess y’can eat ‘em jus’ as a snack, aye…” She watched him with curiosity as he scratched at his head, giggling at his gesturing. In some ways, he was quite like a human, the way he used his front paws for this and that, but at the same time, very different too. She wondered if he knew humans, or had grown up around them. It certainly seemed likely.

“Luggage?” Her voice took on an incredulous tone, looking at the hobbit dragon sideways. “Y’mean, like them boxes and bags tha’ humans seem t’carry ‘round?” She broke into more laughter. “That doesn’t jus’ gar along by itself, there needs t’be a two-leg pushin’ or pullin’ or carryin’ it!” How silly, to think that luggage could move by itself! She covered her nose with her wings, going into fits of silent laughter and making her wings shake. Once she had managed to pull herself together and back to a state fit for talking she managed to gasp out, “You’re silly!” before laughing again at his strange sitting-up position.

When she had recovered for a second time, scrubbing away the tears of mirth that pricked at the corners of her eyes, she looked up at him, thankful he had sat down again. She stuck one claw in her mouth and chewed on it as she pondered his question, her nose wrinkling in thought. “There was this one village over yonder, but they know I like choc’late digestives, an’ last time they chased me out with a broom.” She grinned cheekily at the memory. “Might not be a geet good idea t’gar there an’ try again. But we can try an’ find some o’your ‘luggage’ an’ see if there’s any there.” Her smile spread at Rudindri’s turn of thought to tricks. “An’ fun’s always fun, so lets gar do that!” She jumped to her feet, having sat down as she lost her breath laughing, then beetled over to his side, gesturing wildly with her front paws for him to get up. “Come on, let’s gar and get gaarn!”

Guest

Rudindri smiled shyly as Hone pointed out that it wasn't 'luggage' and made him feel ever the more foolish by her thinking that he didn't know about people needing to pull it. He didn't say anything about that last part though since she seemed to be having a great laugh out of it. In his mind, laughing was always better than getting all factual and such over such a small thing. He watched her, nodding coyly and whipping his tail back and forth as she laughed, seemingly becoming ever the more entrenched in her jovial chorus.

He almost jumped as Hone practically scrambled over to him, flailing madly with her fore-paws to get him up. Promptly, he did just that, and then proceeded to flap several times to gain lift, stirring up dust and throwing around old leaves and foliage as he did so. Before a seconds time, he was already ten feet over her head, smiling broadly and mischeviously, using his bushy tail in an attempt to tickle the smaller dragon in the side just below the wings.

"Alrighty then! Since we can't go to the town, I'll scout around from up here and tell you if I see anything," Rudi started, then beamed with a voice both of material and psychic, "Bet you can't keep up though!" With that, he flapped his wings several more times, gliding around the abandoned farm, over the now crumbled building, and then banked his wings to come back around, ever so low and elegantly, to nearly touch the earth with his wing-tips with every flap. After passing over Hone one more time, flashing one of his wry grins as he went, he started to set off toward the tree-line. Unless the road moved, the trade line was just beyond a few corpses of trees and past a river. A short flight, but he wasn't sure how Hone would manage. After all, it didn't seem like her wings were quite made for flying--plus the general way she walked made him imagine a Lash-Tail Dragon to be more suited to being on the ground.

Come on slow-poke! We won't get any of those treats if we miss our 'luggage'! Rudindri crowed jovially to Hone using his telepathic magic, flicking his tail and wings to fly upside down for a few moments before righting himself again. He already knew that this was going to be very fun, and even funner if they could pull off a really good prank!

Hone’s eyes grew big and round as Rudindri leapt into the air, hovering above her and gusting leaves and dust and all sorts up into the air. She rubbed at her eyes with one paw as it got into her eyes, blinking furiously and wincing through her laughter as she flapped away his tickling tail.
“Stop it, y’silly!” she giggled, batting at his tail with her paws and wrapping her wings around her middle to try and protect it from his tickling. Despite her protesting, she didn’t mind it much- in fact, it was quite refreshing to have someone who was as ridiculous as herself.

She nodded at his idea, a bright grin stretching across her face and a competitive glint entering her eyes as he announced his competition.
“Bet I can!” she cried as he whizzed off around the remains of the barn, pawing in readiness at the ground as he returned to soar overhead. A touch of jealousy at the fact he could fly crept across her, but it disappeared as soon as it had arrived and she leapt after him, her paws pounding the ground and wings fluttering excitedly by her sides as she flared them while she still had space in the little courtyard of the farm, flashing her bright purple wings. They were completely useless, but she still liked to show them off- and she was ever hopeful that one day, if she was lucky, the wind might scoop her up and she would actually be able to fly. Or maybe she would accidentally whack something magical and it would let her fly. Well, you never knew!

“I ain’t a slow-poke!” she called up at the hobbit dragon, putting on a burst of speed as she rushed away from the abandoned farm (she would have to remember the route she took so she could come back another day and find out if it really were haunted by ghosts) and into the trees, almost running head-first into a trunk as she glanced up at her new friend and found him… flying upsidedown? How? Giggling madly she dashed onwards, swerving and leaping around the trees that loomed in her path. Luckily her wings and tail made for good rudders and she managed to avoid most of them, only tripping and falling when she missed a log that lay across her path, getting a faceful of dirt as she plunged tail over nose into the brush.

Guest

Rudindri grinned down at the Lash Dragon, chuckling madly as he went. Every now and then she would stumble slightly, and it was amazing that she was even able to run through the forest at such high-speed. Heck, she was about as fast as he was on the ground as he in the air. He floated downward, giving the impression of effortless flight despite his tail and wings dipping and weaving ever so slightly here and there, avoiding branches that lay in his path. Paths opened between the pines, their branches grazing him as he slipped between their looming grasp. His blue eyes gazed downward to Hone just in time to see her slam head-first into the ground after tripping on a log. He cringed, knowing how much that probably hurt.

He narrowly ducked under a branch in his distraction, flapping hard to avoid slamming into a tree as well, his tail breaking up a few more of the smaller branches that seemed to reach out like fingers. Thick, sharp claws dug into the side of the tree, becoming sticky with sap in mere moments. He frowned, tilting his head backwards to look over and down at Hone to see if she was alright.

"You alright down there?" He called out, "wanna slow down a bit?" Rudindri spoke out of concern, realizing it might be taken as a challenge. He smiled warmly, his head nearly upside-down as he looked at Hone. Out of the corner of his eye though, he could just make out the trade-road, as well as a several wagons with humans on them. He blinked twice, his tail flicking against the tree with a dull thudding sound.

"Hey Hone! Found the road, and there's some people with wagons on it!" He announced with a slight bugle of enthusiasm as he looked back to her, a broad, goofy grin on his face.

A little yelp of muffled pain came from Hone as she picked herself out of the dirt, pawing at her nose carefully in a way reminiscent to how Rudindri had pawed at his own only minutes earlier. She crossed her eyes and looked at the tip of her snout, wrinkling it experimentally to see if there was any damage hidden underneath the thick layer of mud that dripped from her muzzle onto her paws. Wiping away the mud gingerly with one wing, she pawed at it again, then looked up as the hobbit dragon perched on a branch above her somewhere and shouted down from the tree.
“Naw, I’m ahreet!” she shouted back, wrinkling her nose again. Ouch, that hurt a bit. She struggled to her feet again, shaking her head to dispel the sparkling stars around her head and blinking towards the direction that Rudindri was looking. “I can gar much faster if y’don’t think I can!” Although probably not without going face first into a tree this time.

She bounced over to the tree that he was sitting in, patting lightly on the bark as she craned upwards to look at him. A splodge of sap dripped onto the ground next to her, a sticky puddle already starting to form underneath the tall tree where he had accidentally gouged at it with his claws. She turned to look through the trees in the direction he was looking, jumping up into the air when foliage got in the way.
“Where? I cannae see… Oh, there!” She giggled and kept bouncing, then suddenly launched off through the trees again towards the road. “Y’cannae catch me!”

This time she took a lot more care with where she put her paws, and managed to make it to the edge of the road without falling again, secreting herself in the undergrowth nearest the track road. Thankfully, for once, her bright colouring was on her side, her bright red upper scales making her look like a smudge of sunlight as the last vestiges of the sunset darkened the sky, while her darker purple scales blended into the earth. All in all, a pretty convincing camouflage- if only she lived in the forest full time, and not in the desert…

Guest

Rudindri looked down at Hone wide-eyed. She was definitely filled with energy all the time, it almost made him wonder what kind of food the Lash Dragon ate on a regualar basis, or maybe if that was just the way she was. He chuckled a bit at the smear of mud that had made her face look so funny. It reminded him of what he did earlier though... at which point he stopped chuckling and just offered a thoughtful smile as she came closer to the tree. The Hobbit dragon looked down as she said something else, seeing that she was now eagerly trying to see through the forest in the direction that he had been looking in, jumping--or rather bouncing--up in order to peer through the foliage provided by the trees and underbrush. Rudi couldn't help but chuckle from seeing her antics, such an adorable display could probably warm even the stoic from their apathy.

And then she was off, running at high speed through a forest with plenty of ways to run into something. He blanched, and then dropped from the tree in the flutter, trying to catch up.

"H-hey! That's not fair, you got a head-start!" Rudindri announced after her, already loosing sight of her as the her skin melded with the light filtering down through the forest canopy. "Damn she's fast..." Rudi stated to himself, picking up the speed and trying to avoid smacking into anything that might end up with a nose-bleed. He glided in low, looking around for Hone and then looking back to the trade-road, seeing the three wagons with a handful of merchants escorting them. He frowned a bit, not seeing many weapons on them. That was usually unsafe for humans, mostly due to the fact that other humans liked to take their goods if they weren't guarded well. Rudindri shrugged, going about looking for Hone again as he slipped into the under-brush.

He almost stepped right on her hind-quarter without even seeing her...

"Whoa, you've almost got as good camoflauge as I do," Rudindri tilted his head in astonishment, looking at her and then back at the merchants, lowering himself down next to her to see through the foliage better.

Just as he was about to suggest a plan though, something very unexpected happened. About fifty feet away, from the forest on the other side of the road, came about ten humans on horse-back. Rudi frowned, eyes narrowing as they closed the gap quickly upon the merchants, armed far more lethally than their quarry. He gathered quickly that they were bandits, coming to take the supplies that the merchants carried--and maybe their lives if they gave any trouble. Rudindri frowned, talons scratching into the ground uncomfortably as he looked right towards Hone, tilting his head as though to ask what she wanted to do, his blue eyes shifting uncomfortably between she and the bandits.
(OoC: Sorry if it seems rushed toward the end, have to go unexpectedly. Hope this is fine! Very Happy

)

“So what, y’shouldha been ready!” giggled Hone as she dashed through the trees, Rudindri fluttering wildly above her through the treetops. He was pretty well camouflaged against the darkening canopy with his brown dappled fur, so she was very surprised when he seemed to lose track of where she was in the undergrowth- if his kind had such good camouflage, couldn’t he be able to see pretty well where they would be, and in turn, her? After all, she was red and purple; perhaps she had taken her brightly coloured scales as less of a camouflage advantage than she had thought. It was quite pleasing, knowing that she blended into the ground.

She grinned cheekily at him as he came in to land next to her, her eyes bright with mischief. “I beatcha!” she whispered before turning back to watch the three carts rumbling slowly down the road towards them. Perfect, it was even better than she had ever hoped for. Not only were there actual carts on the road, there were three, and they didn’t even have to wait for them to come past! She could hardly contain her excitement. She shuffled deeper down into the layer of dry leaves that she had secreted herself in, waiting for the first one to come past so they could ambush it and find some chocolate biscuits. Ooh, the thought just made her mouth water…

Sitting still as a mouse in her intent, she suddenly lost her fierce concentration on the merchant carts as a group of horseback riders burst out of the bushes the opposite side of the road, blinking in confusion and tipping her head to one side as they advanced on the little merchant group. Hey, that wasn’t right… they were stalking these merchants for chocolate digestives, and some other freebooters who had decided to jump ship were’nt going to take their biscuits for their own! What sort of idea was that? Bristling with indignation at such a wrongdoing to them, she watched in frustration as they rode after the little merchant group, circling around the carts in no time and worrying the men that were riding nearby.

“This ain’t right.” She whispered, kneading the ground with her front paws and gouging long grooves in the soft dirt. She could feel Rudindri’s eyes on her, and all of a sudden it was too much. With a loud bugle she sprung from the undergrowth, flaring her wings as wide as they would go. “Oi y’all, leave these here traders geet alone or we’ll make y’see y’aint t’mess with them, y’hear? Now bugger off!”

Guest

Rudindri's eyes lit up with surprise as Hone jumped forth. For a moment he was stuck in his lowly position to the ground even as the slightly smaller dragon demanded that the merchants be left alone. As a few of the horses reared up and neighed at the Lash Dragon though, one even throwing it's rider to the ground and sending him cussing and swearing backwards as he sprawled for a simple wood-axe. They weren't an organized fighting force, that was for certain, but they seemed determined to get the prize that they came for, and more if they could have it. Simple leathers and furs adorned their large figures, burly men whom knew well the hardships of the wilderness and how to survive harsh winters.

The Hobbit Dragon bounded up into the air with a few great wing-beats, invisible even before his frame lifted up above the branches and lay suspended over the group of bandits for a moment. He stared down at them, trying to get a grasp of what they had for weapons. Most of them bore only simple things, spears and axes, but there were a pair of men near the back of the group who bore crossbows over their shoulders. Those two men changed their aim to Hone, only to fall back and forth between they and the merchants. The other bandits broke up somewhat, a few of them reigning in their horses to get them under control.

As soon as they did, a few of the horsemen expanded the ring, rounding toward Hone with spears at level as they attempted to drive Hone closer to the merchants with curses and harsh utterings, as though the Dragon were a mere inconveniece rather than a true threat. Rudi doubted she'd need help against those few, especially since they obviously didn't see her tail. Instead, he descended just behind the two men with the crossbows, gathering magic under his wings before sending it crashing down as a wave of force with the next wingbeat. That was always his problem with magic, it was hard to get it to actually Move where he wanted it too. He landed upon the grass behind the pair as their mounts and the men lay sprawled out upon the ground, one of the two unconscious from smacking his head into the merchant wagon on his way down, the other dazzled by the impact with the earth itself.

"I'd listen to her if I was you, a smack or two 'outta do if you'd rather too!" Rudindri crowed from his slightly higher ground, the invisibility fading. After all, he'd probably have to use it again, and he'd rather not waste it. He flashed his toothy grin, showing off his white fangs as he stared down at the one crossbow wielding man as he fumbled to try and reach for the crossbow, only to freeze as Rudi growled at him. He didn't know how this would go--and in the back of his mind he was somewhat apprehensive about the whole thing--but what was done was done, and now they'd have to make it work...

As one of the riders fell off his horse, Hone couldn’t help the snort of laughter that exploded from inside. She had seen it happen so many times, yet people still insisted on riding horses- it just didn’t make sense. Her head fins flared as the man started cursing loudly.
“Djur need some soap? Wash out them icky words. T’was y’fault anywhichway, don’t blame y’horse.”

She wondered what Rudindri was up to as the men quickly organised their weapons at her, not really impressed by the array of long spears and a couple of axes they levelled at her. Pft, it wasn’t much of a challenge if she could just hack all their weapons in half before they even got close. Humans really didn’t learn. And they were supposed to be sophisticated! The crossbows at the back were a bit more of a problem, but she was sure Rudindri could take care of them- he was bound to be off making mischief already- funny how she already knew him well enough to expect that.

“I don’t like spears much,” commented Hone as she casually watched the men manoeuvre their horses into a loose circle around her and the carts. “Don’t y’find them a bit… swingy? I suppose they’re good up to a certain point, but after tha’… jus’ kinda annoyin’.”

The moment she saw the men at the back of the group go down, apparently felled by nothing more than air, she moved, swinging her tail around in a wide circle. The sharp blade on one side of it sliced right through the first spears it connected with, leaving three men staring dumbly at the short splintered ends they now held. Another man had his spear swept right out of his hands, the motion of Hone’s tail flinging it across into the bushes at one side of the road. She tutted under her breath and leapt over to stand in front of him.
“Y’ain’t supposed t’let gar silly, now y’ain’t got no spear at all, not like y’mates! If y’gaarn t’do somethin’, y’might as well do it proper like.” She rolled her eyes in frustration, casually snapping out one wing and catching a man who was trying to sneak up on her in the face with the end of it. “Wait y’turn!” she squawked, before turning back to the first man again. “I think y’might need a bit more practise, eh?”

Grinning wildly, she turned towards where Rudindri had now appeared behind the men, flaring her head fins. “Y’rhyming stuff again!” she crowed. “But aye, this ain’t nothin’. Clear off, we’ve come t’get choc’late digestives, an’ we ain’t not gettin’ them ‘cos you lot’ve decided y’want ‘em instead, savvy?” Arr, maybe a bit of pirate talk might persuade the bandits to leave the cart train alone. And, it was fun too! She flashed a glance around at the men that were still close, keeping a particular eye on those holding axes, before she looked back at the hobbit dragon. “Ain’t that right Rudi?”

» Get 'em! : Polar, Tajy, Kat, and Ghost
» Arty} Just a case of girl meets boy... {Kat
» Darkness falls. Jaej meets his end, another finds more friends.
» [Any psychotic ex-boyfriends I should know about?] Prince Meets Princess [You have NO idea!]
» Polar Immersion & Ghost (Sometimes, a Slayer is just a Slayer...)