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Post by Deleted on Jul 29, 2013 20:31:44 GMT -5
The flight from her home had been a long one. Sylvia flew without much rest, wanting to get as far away from her father as possible. The dangerous look in his eye when she refused to conform to his ways still was burned in the back of her mind. She could almost feel the heat of his breath as he yelled at her to get out. A days flight brought her here, to this secluded bay. At least, it seemed that way. She hadn't seen any settlements quite yet, and it seemed a peaceful enough place to rest her wings and get a meal in her belly.
The red dragon's wings stirred up sand in all directions, sending it lashing over the water to slowly cloud down to the sea bed below. Her claws sank deep into the soft sand, and the heat of it felt wonderful on her paws. For a moment, Sylvia allowed her belly to sink down into the sand, slowly wiggling her body to allow the warm grains to surround her. She let out a content sigh. She never felt sand this soft before. It was quite interesting.
The sound of the water crashing upon the bay was also nice and relaxing. It was a perfect spot to rest. As she looked to the green sea, she spotted the darting forms of fish swimming about. Her stomach let out a low rumble, and a grin came to her reptilian face. Pushing up onto all fours, she pulled herself out of the beach sand and crawled towards the water, her claws resting on a bit more of a solid surface, the compacted mud beneath the water. As she crawled out, she sat down on her haunches till the water was up to her shoulders, her wings outstretched on the waves to shade the area below her. Slowly, a few fish began to dart close, pecking curiously at her raised claws. With one swift twitch of a sharp talon, she managed to spear one of the small fish and immediately tossed it into her mouth, the meager snack vanishing with one quick gulp down her throat.
Patiently, she continued waiting, eager to catch more of the fish to satisfy her hungry stomach, enjoying the tranquility of the bay while she could.
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Post by Red Charge on Aug 1, 2013 4:32:53 GMT -5
The beach was amazingly tranquil, waves gently lapped at the beach, the sounds of seagulls in the distance indicated it was a good day for fishing, the sand was soft and warm and the salty breeze did wonders to open one's sinuses. In the distance Sylvia could see the island of Trottingham, she almost felt she could swim across to it.
Near her, the dragoness could hear the sound of soft laughter. It wasn't clear where it came from, as Sylvia was the only one at the beach, but soon enough she discovered what it was as something tugged on one of her claws. A kelpie, apparently dared by his friends, tugged on her talon and quickly swam back out. She could see several pairs of eyes peering at her from underwater. Apparently they were hardly afraid of her being a dragon, since they were underwater. Apparently they wanted to play with her.
"See I told you I'd do it," Said the one who tugged on her claw proudly, as another gave his kelp-like mane a tug.
"Oh come on, everyone could have snuck up, do it now when it knows you're here." Another egged him on.
"Hey uh... dragon umm... sir, you mind if I yank on your claw thingy again?" The cheeky Hippocampi asked.
"How do you know it's a boy dragon?" Asked another one.
"How should I know? I'm no dragon expert!"
"Maybe it's a she and you offended her!"
"Maybe you should shut your face!"
"Oooooh looks like someone has a crush on a girl dragon!"
"That does it!" Declared the one who had tugged on Sylvia's claws and the winged reptile could see the outlines of an underwater struggle, at the end of which the taunting hippocampi was thrown straight between her claws.
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Post by Deleted on Aug 1, 2013 6:32:34 GMT -5
Sylvia was caught off guard by the strange undersea ponies. She self-consciously lowered her claws to make sure she didn't accidentally slice one of the sentient beings. As they began to argue, she felt the heat rise to her cheeks as they talked about her, "You...guys know I can hear everything you're saying, right?" She asked with a tilt of her head. As soon as she saw the creatures, she wanted to know more about them. Even as they had a little tussle and one spun in front of her, she didn't show any signs of wanting to cause harm to them.
As the taunting Hippocampus stared up at her, she lowered the tip of her snout to the water to get a good look, though through his eyes, it would seem as if she were looming over him, giving him a good view of her sharp teeth as she spoke, "What exactly are you strange creatures...if you don't mind me asking? You look like a mix between a pony and a fish..." She stated. A frown came to her reptilian face, "Oh no...I didn't just eat one of your cousins or ancestors...did I?" The dragon seemed genuinely concerned. Her knowledge on other beings wasn't the greatest, all she knew was that fish were food, and ponies weren't...
"Oh...and I am female. But I take no offense, as long as you don't take any offense to me eating a fish."
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Post by Red Charge on Aug 2, 2013 17:45:52 GMT -5
One of the hippocampi laughed, "We're not related to fish! Well, sort of, maybe? I don't know, really." It was the third one who was floating underwater in the back. She noticed none of them surfaced, perhaps out of fear of her fire breath. The one between her talons quickly swam back to join his friends.
"We're kelpies!" Said the one who had tugged on her talon, "We're like ponies, only under the sea."
"We're way better than ponies! Ponies can't breath underwater, we can go both under the sea AND above on the land. Way better!" Said the one who had escaped her talons.
"Yeah, we're just chilling out in the waves, don't worry about the fish, our sharks eat them anyway it's how things go!"
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Post by Deleted on Aug 2, 2013 21:11:49 GMT -5
"Kelpies? Very interesting..." She pondered this. She never heard of underwater ponies before. To breathe under the water? It must be fascinating! She was interested to learn more. Settling her rump more into the wet sand beneath her, she held her claw out to catch another fish while she visited.
"So, are there many of you?" She asked curiously, her head tilted to the side. "I've never head of your kind before, well, I never really been this close to large water like this before either. This is really the first time I've been away from home, and there's so many things I want to know about the different creatures that live in this world." The dragon's tail curled comfortably around her three legs that were holding her up, while the other claw snatched a much larger fish that darted too close to her. She popped it in her mouth and gulped it down without another thought.
"Do you live in a large underwater city?" She asked curiously. "How can you breathe underwater? Do you have gills?" Sylvia was determined to learn all she could about this strange race. Her wings started to warm up from the sun so she submerged them and caped them tightly to her back, feeling the waves tug at the thick leathery membranes. "My father told me ponies were lesser creatures to us, but I always wanted to know more. I've heard of the great cities they have, and well, if you guys are similar to ponies, maybe you can tell me about your culture!" Her excitement was clear in the gleam of her golden eyes.
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Post by Red Charge on Aug 9, 2013 16:49:37 GMT -5
The Kelpies looked at her for a moment, trying to decide whether they should answer her or not, when suddenly they scampered off entirely, leaving her alone on the beach, or so it seemed anyway.
Of course, a dragon older than Sylvia would have expected the armed Griffon Patrol landing on the shore at a safe distance from her. Griffons and Dragons were like oil and water since the Dragon Wars, they couldn't trust a dragon as far as they could throw it and needless to say, they couldn't throw them very far.
The patrol was made out of about five or six griffons, all armored to the teeth, their armor emblazoned with three lightning bolts coming out of a storm-cloud. "What's your business here dragon?" They asked, Sylvia noticed they all had weapons pointing at her, crossbows and some device crackling with electricity.
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Post by Deleted on Aug 9, 2013 16:55:24 GMT -5
Sylvia was taken by surprise as the Kelpies left, "Wait! You didn't answer my-" She stopped mid-sentence when she heard the rustle of feathered wings near the shore. She turned her head, her eyes wide as she saw the armored patrol nearby. She knew she was near the griffon lands, but she did't realize they had armor and weapons at their disposal. Keeping her wings tight to her back, the dragon turned to face the griffons. She bowed her head in respect to them and gazed up, "I mean no harm, I assure you. I just stopped here to rest my wings for a bit and get a few fish to eat." Her claws were sinking into the wet sand, so she pulled one out with a wet squelch, then another.
"You see, I left my home to find a place of my own, and it's been a long journey so far. So I needed some time to relax. You know how that is, right?" She didn't seem at all worried about the weapons that faced her. She knew she meant the griffons no harm. Though she was aware of the tensions between her kind and theirs, she was confident that they would do the right thing and let her be.
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Post by Red Charge on Aug 9, 2013 17:06:43 GMT -5
"What is it exactly you're looking to accomplish then, hmm? Why not stick to your own kind?" The patrol leader asked, none of the griffons lowered their weapons yet. "Come here of all places, a lot of griffons don't like dragons, you know."
The breeze was starting to pick up, almost in cue with the ominous situation Sylvia suddenly found herself in. Of course, they had good reason not to want a dragon around. Dragons usually did not keep to themselves and were always trying to increase the size of their hoard, one way or the other. Griffons would have none of that.
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Post by Deleted on Aug 9, 2013 17:11:44 GMT -5
Sylvia tilted her head, "Well, I would've stayed at home a bit longer, but my father made it clear that I wasn't wanted there." She felt a bit more anxious due to the tension in the air. She took a deep breath to calm down, "This was the closest place to home. You all know what flying's like, I can't stay in the air for too long without tiring out."
She tried thinking of a way to convince them that she meant no harm, "Listen, I don't mean anyone any harm. I just need time to rest my wings before continuing on my journey here. I understand our kind don't always get along, but I assure you I'm not like most dragons. I care about other creatures. I was just conversing with a few Kelpie earlier to learn more about them. There's a lot I want to learn about the different races of the world." Her tail flicked back and forth slowly in the water as she patiently waited, not wanting to make any sudden movements. The weapons at the griffons' disposal did not look friendly.
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Post by Red Charge on Aug 14, 2013 7:13:01 GMT -5
One of the other soldiers looked at the one who was apparently in charge, who nodded. "Alright then, dragon." He said, "If you're serious about your intentions, we can think of an arrangement. We can show you the world, give you the run down on things... but we'll need your help. A dragon is always good to have around, when they're on your side." He said, "But I'm sure you'll understand if we ask you to allow us to blindfold you. After all, we can't be one hundred percent sure of your intentions."
At that he presented a blindfold and upon realizing it would not fit, he took out a couple more and tied them together. "What do you say?"
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Post by Deleted on Aug 14, 2013 7:17:03 GMT -5
She frowned, pondering this. Blindfolded, she would have to trust that the gryphons weren't going to trick her. She scratched her chin for a moment, before giving a small nod and making her way towards the shore slowly, "Alright, I'll take you up on that offer, as long as you give me your word that I can trust you." She pointed, "No using those weapons on me, besides, it wouldn't be very honorable to attack a blind dragon, now would it?"
She sat down on her haunches and sighed as she lowered her head enough where they would be able to put a blindfold on her, "So...how exactly is this going to work? I'm assuming you're going to lead me somewhere, right?" She asked, her tail flicking a bit nervously, yet excitement showed in her eyes. Perhaps she would see gryphon architecture and maybe learn about the strange weapons they held? The thought of travelling with these creatures was exciting, more than what she bargained for when landing here.
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Post by Red Charge on Aug 14, 2013 7:22:02 GMT -5
"Yeah I... haven't thought that through." The griffon sergeant said, blindfolding the dragon.
"Uh, how are we going to transfer her?" He asked one of his soldiers.
"I have no idea, carry her? We only have one roc, I don't think it'll be able to carry her." Replied one of the others.
"Okay look, it's simple logistics, we tie the dragon to the roc and it flies after him."
"What if we get spotted by hostiles? It'll weigh us down." The sergeant asked.
"Well, there's not much choice. Unless, okay, we tie the dragon to me and Aurelius, we fly on both sides and guide it along. If we get into trouble we'll just ride the dragon and take the blindfold off."
"If that's okay with the dragon, it's okay with me." The sergeant turned to Sylvia again, "What do you say, dragon?"
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Post by Deleted on Aug 14, 2013 7:24:54 GMT -5
Sylvia listened to their banter, her head turning to each voice to and fro. She frowned, and patiently curled her tail around her foreclaws, "Well, that's fine, I can fly between you two, but you'll have to lead me, and if we get into any fights, I want to help you." She stated, "I can't do you much good if I'm blindfolded, and I don't want to slow you all down. It would be a shame to lose you all before I can find out what amazing culture you have." She stated with a low chuckle.
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Post by Red Charge on Aug 14, 2013 8:35:30 GMT -5
The group gathered around her, she felt her front legs being tied to two griffons and heard the screech of what sounded like a large bird, probably those rocs she heard of and they took off. The flight felt like forever, unable to see and with no idea where they were going. Occasionally the griffons would turn or swerve, guiding her between them as they flew. It was an odd sensation, flying blindly. It felt like she was going to collide into something at any second, yet she didn't. Her griffon guides took care of that. Soon the air changed, from the moist damp air of the ocean with that little tinge of salt it became clearer, fresher and thinner. They must have been flying higher in the air now.
None of the soldiers talked during the ride, Sylvia had to assume they didn't need to talk or maybe just didn't want to talk while she was with them. Back at the beach they seemed just as curious about her as she was about them. Hopefully they'd keep their words and not ambush her. Although she had to admit, if they wanted her dead they could have just took her out at the beach when they first came across her.
After such a while of flying they finally landed... somewhere... Sylvia had no idea what was going on and the soldiers did not remove her blindfolds yet. She was led through to someplace, though she could not tell where. She heard ambient noises of movement and industry at first but the more they walked the more quiet it went.
"Now, if you don't mind, just a couple of tests, to make sure you're a dragon and not really something else pretending to be one." Said one of the griffons, "We'll start with a taste test. On the table in front of you, don't move now or you'll tip it over, are four plates of ice cream. One of them is vanilla flavored. Could you please taste them all and once you're done point out which one is which? Use only your tongue for this, we don't want you knocking anything over with your claws and snout." She felt the griffons guiding her snout towards the table.
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Post by Deleted on Aug 14, 2013 8:41:38 GMT -5
Sylvia had a hard time adjusting to flying blindly, but she trusted that the griffons would not mean her any harm. As the air changed and their surroundings turned, she was relieved when her paws met solid ground.
Their words confused her. What else would she be if not a dragon? However, she wasn't going to turn down a free meal, and despite the fact that she wasn't huge on eating ice cream, she wasn't going to turn it down. She had smelled vanilla before, so she knew what it possibly would taste like. Her lizard-like tongue darted from her mouth, and a chill ran down her spine as it made contact with the cold food. She lapped a large glob of it and allowed it to melt in her mouth. She contemplated on the flavor, it tasted fruity...not like the smell of vanilla at all. She waited for them to turn her head to each one, tasting each carefully.
"Alright....I believe the vanilla one is this one." She stuck her tongue out and lapped another bit of the ice cream to make sure, nodding once she let the familiar flavor flow over her taste buds, "Mmm, yup, that's the one alright."
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