Frost in the spring? (Spiritdragon & Stormkatz)

Temero chuckled, his tail slapping against the hearth. "Well even if they do it is of no concern to me," he replied. He cared not for humans and their petty concerns. The wolf dragon could handle anyone that came through the door. "Why whatever you like I suppose," Temero replied. "I have nowhere I need to be at the moment. What are your plans?"

Temero was interested in why the little creature was lurking around the small village. Clearly he was part of ME which intrigued the Wolf Dragon. "How long have you been part of our happy little group?" he asked quietly. That was important too, he knew. If the little dragon had only been joking with him, which he doubted that it had, he would have to quiet it quickly.

“Ooh, good question. A few months now, but I’ve followed their sentiments for the last two and a half years. Humans are no friends of mine.” He said, his emotions changing within his sentence quite drastically. He had started speaking in an almost happy tone, but when he finished, his voice was dark and flat, and filled with spite.

“What about you? You wouldn’t ask such a thing if you weren’t among the ranks yourself.” He said pointedly, pulling his poor injured tail out of the now ripped blanket to lick the cracked scales. Around the five pins was a bubble of scar tissue – long healed in by now, of course, but still almost alien to him. The bottom of each pin was embedded in the tissue too, so he could never have removed them, but they were the only weapon he had really.

They seemed feeble compared to Temero’s claws and teeth. A larger dragon could kill a human with a bat of one foot, whereas Dyavol had to really work to swing his tail around properly and catch them in just the right place. However, he did have the advantage of surprise. Sometimes he wished he was a bigger dragon, but only rarely.

"About the same amount of time," Temero replied, stretching his wings out for a moment. "Oh I agree, humans are quite annoying. They always seem to show up wherever I go, and eventually I got tired of trying to stay away from them. They are so weak anyway, what is the point?" His tail twitched slightly in amusement, glad that he had finally run into someone who agreed with him. So many simply put up with humans, or worse, allowed them to be their companions! Never would Temero sink so low.

"I take it that those spikes are not natural," he commented. "So how did you come about them? Or are they some mutation?" He was honestly curious, for they seemed like a good weapon to a point. Of course, one would have to learn how to use them properly, otherwise they would serve no purpose other than getting in the way.

“Staying away was never enough for me. I wanted to see them hurt.” Dyavol said, in an unusually bright voice to contrast with his actual words, then, as his tail was mentioned, he twitched it and grinned.

“Oh no, these are anything but natural. They’re just pins, stolen from some tailor somewhere. Getting them through the scales was not a pleasurable experience, I’ll tell you that.” He laughed lightly, studying the metal spikes. One still had a smear of blood on it, so he set about cleaning it, taking care to avoid the deadly tips of each pin.

It certainly hadn’t been nice, trying to get them in place, but he had been younger, and had far softer skin back then. It had been easy, really, and his grief at the time had sapped away some of the pain. Now, they were his pride and joy, and he would never have parted with them.

"Same here, and I would if they got too close, but it gets old after a while out in the wilderness," Temero explained, studying the little dragon. It was obviously a bold little thing, which he had to admit he admired. It was nice to run into another one of his comrades, however unlikely the prospect had been. It certainly was a relief to be able to speak his mind without concern for what the other person might think, because the other person would probably completely agree with him.

"That sounds painful," he commented, examining the spikes again. "Does it hurt to use them? Because it seems like the kind of thing that might not ever heal." Of course, it did not seem like Dyavol really cared, but Temero was simply curious.

“Not really. They pull a bit, but human are so soft that I can hardly feel it. After a big raid they hurt a bit, but generally they’re fine. That or I’m just too used to them to notice.” He said, smiling darkly. It felt good to be able to actually tell another dragon about this sort of thing – it seemed healthier than bottling it all up. Maybe one day he’d even reveal his full reasons for joining ME, but that would take a long time yet. He still wasn’t ready to relive that trauma all over again.

Ripping a nice new hole in the blanket with his tail spines, Dyavol managed to get himself comfortable in the little fold, his tail spines in a big free space instead of trapped in the fabric as they had been before. It was warmer than the frost outside, and he wondered if it would take long for that to go away, but for the time being he was happy enough to steal heat from whichever human the house belonged to. They didn’t deserve it all to themselves.

"They are, aren't they," Temero agreed with a twisted smile. He took a bit of a sadistic pleasure in destroying the lives of humans. Perhaps it was because he was slightly insane, or perhaps he was justified because of all that had happened to him, but either way he did like destroying things. "Well everyone is tired after a raid," he added with a slight shrug. "So I would say they make a nice addition." Of course, he would never do it, satisfied with his own natural weapons.

Temero yawned and stretched, baring his teeth for a moment and almost knocking over a small table by the fireplace with his tail. He glanced back idly and snorted, not really caring if he had damaged it. In fact he was half tempted to rip it to shreds just for fun. The only thing that stopped him was the fact that it might bring people running, and he did not feel like confronting anyone until the fire had warmed him completely again. "Hopefully those humans freeze out there and do not come back," he commented, laying down again with a smug grin. Oh no, he did not care about humans at all.

“Yes, that would certainly make things much easier.” Dyavol grinned. Then he remembered the shape shifter that was presumably still waiting somewhere outside.

“What are we going to do about the two-leg outside? That one that is sometimes a bird? I can’t say I’m fond of either shape.” He added, shuddering a little. Birds often made the foolish mistake of thinking he was an ordinary insect (which was a great insult indeed), so he didn’t exactly enjoy their company.

As he thought about it, something moved deep inside the balled up blanket. Dyavol jumped, hissing like a snake, as a mouse ran out of one of the folds. This one was bigger than the one he had killed earlier, and was almost his size. He hissed again, baring his tiny fangs and flaring his delicate wings. He was too comfortable to move much, but he had to show the little furry thing who was boss.

"If she bothers us again I will finish her myself," Temero grumbled, his tail tapping a staccato rhythm against the mantle for a moment. "But since she did not follow us in I suppose she plans to stay away from us." Of course, he could not be certain, but he figured she had learned her lesson. Temero did not let anyone push him around, so he always quickly established that he was dominant, especially with humans. To take an order from one of them would be the epitome of degradation to him.

"You know that is just a mouse right?" Temero said with a chuckle, spreading his wings out so that the fire could warm them as well. "Want some help there or do you have it under control?" He was of half a mind to eat it, though he was not really hungry and it would not fill him much anyway. Still, food was food.

“Of course I can handle it – as you said, it’s just a mouse.” Dyavol said disgustedly. However, the mouse seemed keen to have a go, and turned around to bite one of his colourful forelegs. He tripped it and slashed at the little creature with his tail in anger, and smirked as its fur started to streak with five thin lines of red. He then hissed again, and the mouse started to run away. He let it go, and turned his attention back to Temero, ignoring the tiny scratch the mouse’s teeth had left on him.

“I don’t think she will follow. We made it quite clear that she wasn’t wanted here. However, humans have an annoying tendency to be over-inquisitive, so you never can tell.” He grumbled in a slightly dangerous tone. He almost wished the woman would follow them, just so he could have the satisfaction of seeing Temero ‘deal with her’. However, he did suspect that she would be well out of their way by then – any creature with sense would be.

"All right," Temero replied with a shrug, watching the miniature battle. When the mouse began to scamper off, unfortunately for it passing right by him, he reached out and caught it, cleanly dispatching it and swallowing it whole, which was not exactly comfortable but fast. As he had expected the mouse was not very filling, but he did not care. Food was food after all. "Ever been attacked by rats?" he asked, running his tongue over his teeth. "Nasty little creatures, not to be underestimated."

"No, you never can tell, but I think she knows what is good for her," Temero added. "Of course, there are the people who actually live here to worry about, but we can handle them as well." Humans were so easy to take down once you got used to it. He had fought far more difficult things than them and won, so why should they cause him any trouble?

“Yeah, I have actually. When they’re the same size as you it’s much more difficult to tackle them.” Dyavol commented light-heartedly as Temero finished with the mouse. He was full after gorging himself on the slightly-frozen one outside, and didn’t care what happened to that other one.

“Hmm, yes, they will need dealing with. That should be fun, at least. There doesn’t seem to be a lot else to do in this dead-end, icy wasteland. We really should try to find out where the frost came from though – I certainly can’t fly out until it’s warmed up a little.” He complained, thinking about the little ice-shell he had left on the ground earlier. He would freeze where he was if he tried any sort of lengthy flight, which ruled out trying to re-join the rest of ME. However, Dyavol was convinced the frost wasn’t natural (it was supposed to be the middle of spring, wasn’t it?), which meant they could do something about it.

"I would imagine so," Temero agreed with a short nod. He hated rats, and that was the reason why. Bad first impression to say the least. Now he did not even like eating them, which was odd because he had figured it would seem like a sort of revenge to him. But for whatever reason it did not, and so he tried to stay away from them. "Nasty little creatures," he grumbled, baring his teeth in a silent snarl for a moment.

"Why should we care?" Temero asked, hearing Dyavol's comment about the frost. "After all, this town is none of our concern." Unless, he realized, the problem would only expand. And certainly it was nothing natural, seeing as it was far too late into the summer for it to be. "Okay, we should figure something out," he amended. But how was the problem. Clearly it was some sort of magic. "Do you think it is a powerful elemental dragon or something?" he asked, almost hoping that it was. Perhaps he or she could be convinced to join ME.

“Hmm, I suppose it could be, but we would have seen them, wouldn’t we? I was sure elemental dragons could only affect the area near them. Unless it’s some long-range magic, of course.” He said, thinking through the possibilities. A dragon would be nice, but he had a horrible, sinking feeling that told him it wasn’t going to be that easy for them.

“It could even be a mage somewhere – it could be one of the humans in the town itself.” He said, stumbling over the word ‘humans’ as it caught in the back of his throat. He disliked so many things that he could hardly name them all, but his hate for humans was so deep and cold that it made his blood boil, and his scales quiver. He was logical about most things, but no amount of reasoned conversation would ever convince him they deserved to live any longer.

Temero nodded slowly, recognizing the validity of Dyavol's comment. Well, they could always hope. "I do not know of any dragons who can work magic over a very long distance," he said. "Though I would imagine that it is possible. However you are right, it must be unlikely. So the best course of action would be to search the town." Of course, that in itself posed a problem. People were unlikely to allow a pair of dragons to poke through their homes.

"Personally I hope it is a human," he added with a feral grin. "After all, they are so easily annihilated, once we found the person responsible it would be easy to end them." Of course, finding them was the difficult part. "We could always just start breaking into people's houses, but that might get us run out pretty quickly. We will have to find an undercover way of going about this."

“Hmm, yes, that would be the best way forward. As much as I would like to go on a killing and destroying spree, it seems like now is not the time.” He said, almost sadly. However, a moment later, a thought occurred to him.

“Humans attract rats – it seems that vermin are drawn to each other – so there should be a full set of tunnels under the houses. I can easily get through a rat hole, but I don’t know how we can get you into a house discreetly. What would we even look for?” he asked, realising they still had no real plan. They were banking on finding a suspicious person amongst the many civilians, who may not even exist in the first place. However, they did need the frost to die away – maybe Dyavol more than Temero, but neither of them would be in a good position in it spread any further.

This caused the Wolf dragon to laugh aloud, so amused was he by the idea. "That is true," he agreed. "And the little creatures like to set up camp in human houses and other buildings, because they are warm I know but still. It is quite interesting." Well, they certainly did have a serious problem on their hands. There was absolutely no way they could search every house, even if the humans living in them decided to cooperate. "Well I am sure that female could get inside as well, not that I want to work with her," Temero grumbled. She would probably end up getting hacked to pieces if he was forced to actually.

Still... they did not have much in the way of options. "Perhaps we could make some sort of commotion and draw the person out," he suggested with a slight shrug.

“Hmm, a commotion could work, but what can we do? It would have to be pretty spectacular to lure them out into this freezing weather, and there is only so much we can do.” He said, a little dismally. He didn’t allow the idea of working with the human to cross his mind, but could feel the threat pressing down on him. The human would be able to get inside easily, that was true, and there seemed to be no other serious alternative. However, he couldn’t bear to cooperate with her – she belonged to the same race that had destroyed everything that had been dear to him, and that made her the enemy. He was genuinely terrified that it could be their only option, and he felt his anger growing even more as he realised that his loathing had almost become a fear. That was the final straw, and he felt dangerously close to the edge. He just had to hold his nerve until they had gotten rid of the unnatural frost, and then he could snap. Before then it wasn’t an option, but when he had time to allow himself that pleasure… maybe.

Temero grinned and chuckled faintly. "I would suppose that a dragon flying around, burning everything in sight and ripping apart their houses would cause a bit of commotion," he replied, his tail twitching slightly. "I could do that while you looked around. Granted it is a bit dangerous but I do not see what other choice we have." He refused to work with the humans. That went against everything he stood for. He would rather rip apart the village and kill everyone in it than stoop to that level. Of course, that would be completely brutal and might not even solve the problem, but it still seemed preferable to working with them.

Was he a little messed up? Probably. Did he care? Not at all.

“That sounds like a good plan, then. So what exactly am I looking for once I’m inside?” he asked, visibly relaxing now that the slim chance of having to work with a human was eliminated. Of course, he could see that it was the best way out of here, but he was too proud to sink that far. Every mention of the filthy two-legs brought back the same image, and it was enough to bring tears to his eyes.

He went very quiet as the memory swept over him all over again, all broken into tiny flashes. A rolled up newspaper with a dark stain against the ink. An overthrown nest. Broken eggs lying on the ground. High-pitched wailing, then silence. That silence was the worst part of it all.

Shaking his head to dispel the memories, he forced his mind towards the task in hand, and the prospect of the death and destruction that was sure to follow. However, his eyes were already misty with a thin veil of bitter tears which he couldn’t quite hide. He already knew he was more than a little messed up, but he knew exactly who to blame.

Temero's eyes narrowed slightly, spotting the distress in the smaller dragon, but he thought it best not to ask. Truthfully he was slightly concerned, a rare thing for him, but Dyavol was a member of ME just like he was, so of course Temero wanted to help. He did have some compassion, though it was not much. At any rate he doubted that Dyavol wanted him prying into his private life, so he continued as though nothing had happened.

"Anything out of the ordinary," he explained. "Or anything you want, I really do not care. I will be doing the same thing, though with as much damage as possible. I can scare people from the inside of their houses just as well as I can the outside." The Wolf dragon grinned evilly as he finished his sentence, already anticipating the fun he knew was coming.

At Temero’s comment, Dyavol found himself starting to smile. His memories warped into pure rage, and he knew he was ready to go. “Alright, then, let’s do this thing. Let the blood bath begin, and all the rest.” He laughed bitterly, before crawling out of the ruined blanket and readying himself for what was about to come. There was a mouse hole in the corner of the room, which looked just about big enough for him to squeeze through if he tried, so he was good to go.

“So when do we start?” Dyavol asked gleefully – maybe a little too much so. He was grinning like a skeleton, and he took grim pleasure from every moment of human suffering he got to cause. His compassion and mercy had been killed years ago, and even if he still had some left, he wouldn’t waste it on the two-legs.

Temero grinned and nodded in agreement, getting up and stretching slowly to get the kinks out of his spine and limbs. Even though he had not been sitting for long the hearth was not very comfortable and it was made of stone after all. So naturally he was a little stiff. Thank goodness of all the people in the world he could be trapped here with he happened to get another member of ME, one who was every bit as bloodthirsty as he was. Granted everyone in the group was, but some were less so than others.

"Yes let us get started," he agreed, already able to feel wood and bones breaking underneath his claws. "Now I suppose, unless you can think of a better time." He could not. The more they sat around the better the chance was that the people who lived in the house would return, and while they were looking for a confrontation Temero would prefer that it occur outside where he would have room to maneuver.

“Alright, now it is! I’m going to take the, erm, warmer way out through the rat tunnels, so I’ll meet you outside. Listen out for screaming – there should be lots if we’re doing it right.” He grinned, running his long, forked tongue over his teeth. It had been too long since he’d last done this, and this time he wouldn’t be sheltering in the shadow of the clubtail sisters. Oh yes, this was going to be a /good/ day.

Giving Temero a final nod of glee, Dyavol took a dive towards the little mouse hole across the floorboards, and forced his way through it. His wings scraped the wood a little, but it was a large hole, and Dyavol could squeeze through quite nicely.

Inside it was dark and smelly, and he could feel the rags that made up the creature’s bed all around him. Luckily he had some experience with mice and their homes, and knew where to look for the tunnel leading to the main tunnels. He darted down the steep tunnel, and looked around for a crack of light. He needed to get outside, of into another house, but that shouldn’t take long. He almost wished he’d had time to sharpen his claws and tail-spikes, but that wouldn’t matter. Once they were embedded in someone’s jugular vein, they would still be just as effective.

Temero took a moment to stretch out his back and wings before meandering over to the window and prying the rest of the boards off. Propping his front paws up on the windowsill for a moment so that he could peer outside. Everything seemed so nice and peaceful... it was almost sad to have to destroy it. Almost, but not quite. Retreating from the window Temero backed up a few paces, spreading his wings before taking a running start and launching himself into the frosty air.

Wings beating forcefully to keep himself aloft and warm the Wolf dragon soared over the village, looking for the first place to strike. He wanted it to be obvious and big, to cause turmoil right away. A tall building like a clocktower or the steeple of a church were best, but this village had neither. Granted it had a church but the building was small and out of the way, certainly not going to provide the bang he was looking for.

Grumbling under his breath about podunk little towns out in the middle of nowhere Temero finally chose a rather fancy looking house with smoke pouring out of the chimney. It probably belonged to the mayor or someone of importance, and was probably a good place to start. He circled above, pretending that he was simply out for a late morning flight, waiting for Dyavol to start.

» Mystery and Mayhem (Stormkatz vs Eldarwen)
» Average Jilurian Antics. (Stormkatz, Artel and Zay)
» Aiealoa's Spring Herald (Female, Nighie) [WIP]
» StormKatz's Eggs/Dragons
» A meeting in the City {Artemis~StormKatz}