Pranking through the ages [Private/Arte]

Gray was doing her usual pastime, sleeping under a shady tree when her stomach growled arguably. Well, not exactly really arguing, but rather she was thinking about those arguing dragons and how fascinating those debates were. Not that Gray wanted to participate in any of those, of course. She sighed, her breath itself sending a few leaves flying, as she stood up creakily, repeatedly telling herself that this sacrifice was for her stomach and it was worth it. She steadied herself a little before taking off to the great blue sky just to go to another part of the forest to hunt for food.

Artemise hadn't been out in so long. Terrified by the encounter with Ardent, she'd ended up staying strictly within the borders, refusing to take one step out of Kaamil territory, and not really daring to leave civilisation even to hunt. Yet, after a few months, here she was, mostly because of curiosity*, and each wing beat drew her closer to rogue lands, where she had no idea what or who she would encounter. She was hungry too, the feeling burrowing a burning pit in her stomach. It'd been a while since she'd ate, as she'd tried to leave her den as much as possible, doing so only to hunt, and even then she minimised it, paranoid that she'd meet someone like Ardent who would do something to her. Her life had been turned upside down since then, Artemisa occasionally coming to visit her, the appearance of those hated slitted pupils like some kind of parasite. She came only to mock her, to tease her.

But enough of this gloominess! She had to focus on the task on hand, to eat. Her gaze sweeping from side to side, she could not see any prey in sight, and sighed, looking up, only to see a green dragon heading towards her, the dragon's gaze also fixed on the rogue lands below. Artemise turned, tilting her wings to dodge aside, calling out to the dragon, "Please watch where you're going!"

*lol like how I got back into TG..

When Gray first saw the dragon, truth to be told, her first instinct was to fly away immediately and hide under a rock. But something told her that she could make a friend, for the first time in 259 years. So, as Gray slowed down, her brain also slowed down and all she could say was, "Sorry! My name's Gray, what's yours??" That moment was the most embarrassing moment in her life. Gray thought,"Well done, you idiot.",as she waited for a probably embarrassing rejection.

Artemise would look at the green dragon wistfully as both bodies passed by each other - she wanted someone to talk to, but her skills of conversation had deserted her a long time ago... So, with a sigh, she continued on, but halted in surprise as the dragon spoke, swiftly changing her direction so that she now flew in the same direction as the female, giving her an almost-shy smile, uncharacteristic for someone who was usually as outgoing as she was. "Hello, Gray," she responded, her tone just loud enough to be heard over the wind, though barely. "My name is Artemise. Which Tribe are you from, if I may ask?" Maybe the Valeterrene? Artemise thought, running an eye over the other dragon, whose scales were of varying shades of green, pleasing to the eye, not one bit blinding.

Gray stifled a gasp; She hadn't expected that to happen. A brusque rejection, sure but a welcome? Uh-uh. But Gray tilted her lips to an identical shy smile as she stared into the dark blue eyes of the dragon's-Artemise's-deep blue eyes, the colour that reminded her so vividly of prussian blue. "I'm from the Stormcaller tribe, what about you?" It took Gray a moment to realize that Artemise wouldnt believe her, her scales are green, for goodness' sake. Gray looked away, slightly embarrassed.

Oh? That's weird... "Heh, I thought you were from the Valeterrene, with your colouring and all." Seeing the flush of embarrassment spreading a faint layer of pink across Gray's cheeks, she added, "Do not worry. I believe you. It's a pleasure to meet you, Gray. I'm Artemise, of the Kaamil." She said this with a hint of pride in her voice - no matter what happened to her, she was always proud of where she came from, the icy dragons, the Kaamil. "What are the Stormcallers like? I've heard that they're really peaceful. Is that true?" She'd always wondered about that. Books could only give you so much information - it was better to get it from a dragon itself.

"Thank you for believing me," Gray replied softly. "We stormcallers are peaceful, but I'm probably the most useless one in battle..." She looked away, embarrassed. Gray glanced down at the plains below, recognizing it as her usual destination to hunt. "Sorry, I've arrived at my destination. It was nice meeting you, Artemise." Gray looked at the sky blue dragon and smiled, before slowly descending do the almost empty plains.

"Useless? As in, cannot fight? I can help you with that..." Artemise said, trying to be helpful, hoping to lift up this dragon's - Gray - spirits, pushing in a warm smile - she would do that; she needed someone to spend time anyway... She had enough of being alone, even if it made her feel safe. But there was no time to do so, it seemed, for the dragon turned and told Artemise that she had arrived at her destination, but... What destination? All the blue dragoness saw were empty plains fanning out in front of the rock; she had come here often to hunt, before the whole incident happened. Had Gray come to hunt? If so... "I will be hunting too... If that's what you're going to do," she said, before letting her transparent third eyelid slip down over her eyes, to protect it from the wind that would be ripping at the eyes as she dove; her eyes swept from side to side, looking for deer, prey, anything she could hunt. And share, maybe? Spotting a dark shape moving against the plains, she realised that it was a herd of deer. "You go?"

Whats with the tg reference??? Please dont make another hide....imma hide with da feels..

Gray smiled softly. " Sure." She murmured as she hurtled towards the herd, and picked two deers in her jaws, killing them quickly with her fangs. Gray asked Artemise, sounding rather muffled with two dead animals in her jaws," Now you?"

Artemise shrugged, not really wanting to feel the warm red substance of blood coat her paws, even if it came from nameless prey. She hated the feeling of its presence against her scales so much, and was terrified of even having to see the dark red liquid. "Uh..." she began hesitantly, "seeing that you have two... Can we share?" She offered Gray a tentative smile, hastily adding, "Of course, if you don't want to, it's okay..."

Gray's eyes flared with amusement. "Of course!" She exclaimed. She rather liked Artemise. The blue's is incredibly nice and awedome, Gray had never seen this kind of dragon before, and it was probably because she never did go and did the initiative to actually interact with any kind of dragon. Mischievously, Gray suddenly threw a deer high up in air, cheekily, Gray said to Artemise," Here- catch!"

Really, Artemise was losing her charm - or did she even have any in the first place? She was stuttering, unsure, just like the shy dragons that she had so often scorned, and now she experienced the uncertainty that they spoke with. It didn't feel nice. But she had brought this down upon herself, hadn't she? She had been a coward and refused to emerge from her cave after the encounter with the... dragoness (whose name she refused to speak. She considered the word as bad as a profanity). What had she been afraid of? Of meeting the same dragon again? Or of encountering someone similar to said dragon? Or, perhaps, afraid of seeing the twin that had previously resided within her? Within the confines of her mind? She wanted so badly to apologise, but didn't want to look for Artemisa either. What was she to do?

She also wondered whether the fates were trying to coax her back into her previous life by throwing this kind dragon at her, who didn't seem reluctant to share food with her. Of course, not everything was served to her on a silver platter, Artemise realised in amusement and slight shock when the deer was tossed into the air. Playing with food...! What a horrible thought, but Artemise dived up anyway, her body moving swiftly and with ease and grace. Falling back into the usual patterns of aerial maneuvers, something she once took so much pride in and showed off to others. She caught it in her jaws, and swallowed it down. Dragons did not chew, did they? Artemise smiled and hovered in the air beside Gray. "Thanks."

After a while, she asked, "How often do you go out hunting?"

Gray blushed a little. "Four times daily..." She muttered under her breath. Oh, even the very thought of food brought her down in a frenzy, and soon after, it would send her for another hunt. Every time that frank reply escaped her mouth, every dragon she met with had identical looks of horror, shock, wonder mixed together. And every single time, the same words, if not similar, would send her down under a rock.

"So how do you manage to fly? Your weight must be out of this world!"

Heaven plays with her, sending her bumping into the most blunt dragons you could imagine. Speaking of that....oh dear. Gray wished with all her heart that Artemise wasn't like those dragons. But she doesn't seem to be like them. She released a soft moan, followed by a grumble coming from her belly. "Oh for the sake of- I just ate!" Gray rolled her eyes, thanks to the animosity of her stomach. Luckily, a doe passed below the two dragonesses, she said,"Excuse me!" before ducking down in an agile move, successfully killimg the animal and gulping it down in one bite.

Artemise blinked in surprise, and stared, her midnight-blue eyes wide. "Four times? A day?" she repeated in clear astonishment. "Do you get hungry easily, or do you just like eating?" Her tone was inquisitive, holding a clear note of curiosity, but no contempt or disgust showed. She had picked her words carefully - Gray muttering her response clearly meant that it was an answer that she did not take pride in. Perhaps she had been teased, or had snide remarks thrown her way? Artemise could relate; such things had been common in her childhood. No more, though. She smiled slightly at the thought. How much her life had changed repeatedly since she was a child! From peaceful to savage to peaceful again.

She watched as Gray dived down to swiftly swallow a deer before coming back up. Huh, funny how quickly one could eat. All you had to do was to chase after something and swallow it down, yet there were certain events where you would spend a lot of time eating. And talking.