Sandy Shores and Dark, Dark Waters -Open!-

The sand was dry, and stuck to her back paws like glue as she moved along the coast, royal blue eye fixed upon the amber horizon. It was a beautiful day, the setting sun was shining, casting golden light upon the world, bathing it in beauty rarely seen. The heat was a mild discomfort to the ice dragoness as she drifted down the beach, tail dragging gently behind her.

Athena allowed a sigh to escape her, a sound that came in the form of a white, wispy cloud. One of the perks of being an ice type, your own breath was chilly enough to be seen. The rhythmic sounds of the water lapping against the shore was oddly calming to the battle-scarred female, soothing the soul and slowing the heart. How Nature did that was beyond her, but it was oddly.. stress relieving.

Taking a deep breath, Athena inhaled the sea air, stopping mid-step to gaze at the sea. Slowly, she lowered her behind to settle onto the ground, wrapping her tail around herself and tucking her wings tightly into her flanks. Leaning back, Athena sat down and watched the ocean, observing the waves as they curled like claws to slam down on the sand beneath. The tide was out, the sun was shining, and no fights. A bit disappointing, but... oh well, that couldn't be helped.

Her shoulders ached from a lack of exercise. No spars in a few days would do that to you. Athena had yet to encounter another dragon since three days ago, why was beyond her. It seemed everyone had just disappeared and gone and died in a hole somewhere. Not that she was complaining. The ice dragon enjoyed her own company.

Closing her eyes, she timed her breaths with the waves. When they went out, she inhaled. When they came crashing down against the sand, she exhaled. A calming rhythm, that nearly made her doze off there and then. Meditation, her mother had called it. Oddly soothing.

Sometimes, you just need to get away for a little bit before you are able to take appropriate action. Escape to a quiet place, and think for a while. There were plenty of opportunities to do this in the ocean. After all, it was quite large. It was like an endless supply of salt water, with endless life and places to hide and think. The lakara only spanned a very miniscule part of the oceans of Nuira. The rest was an empty darkness, a mysterious, unexplored world, that even the most adventurous of salmon had never dared to tread.

But what about Rapid? She was no different from any other Lakara salmon, except for the fact she was rather young. She was only 35, pretty much a child in dragon age. She had only recently received Salmon status, and her inexperience showed. She was known to be quite nervous, easy to fluster, and tended to be hot headed and quick to act on her emotions. All of these were perfectly common in the young and temperamental dragons of this age. They weren't exactly prime examples of the culture within such tribes.

That being said, living as a Lakara was actually quite peaceful. Some could argue it was more peaceful than being a Stormcaller. After all, the Stormcallers lived on the same continent as the Ki'sha. Granted, they lived on opposite sides of Verula, but they still faced that fear nonetheless. The lakara, on the other paw, lived within the Regima Ocean. Very few dragons wanted the ocean. After all, not many could live there. So the Lakara were rarely under siege, and when that did happen, it was usually because of a giant squid, a large sea monster, or a rogue sea dragon. Something unusual and out of the blue like that....

Now, if you asked her, Rapid wouldn't be able to tell you why she had wandered so far from the Lakara. Was she going wrong? No. But she had been put off by that sudden black smoke that had rained down several weeks before. It had absolutely littered the ocean, and many of the coasts along Layrian had been coated in the stuff as well. It made Rapid uneasy, staring at the black snow, the way it would drift down to the sea floor. It was unsettling.

As she swam, Rapid would poke her head out of the water, glancing over at the nearby beach. Darn.. she thought, Have I really swam that close to the shore? Sure, she had known she was near the coast, but not that close.....

While Rapid watched, she noticed another dragon.... a wyvern, to be more specific. An icy white wyvern. Rapid had never seen a wyvern before. She blinked, watching them with curiosity. Her tail flicked a bit. Should she get closer...? She didn't know whether to approach the stranger or to simply observe from her place in the water, with only the top of her head and snout visible, blending in with the waves.

Of course, Athena could never stay still for long. That tiny, tiny part of her that said; keep an eye out for enemies, reminded her that she couldn't be idle for prolonged periods of time.

With a sigh, the ice wyvern opened her eyes, the pupils narrowing to form thin, cat-like slits at the glare of the sun. It had been quite a few minutes, the sun was halfway sunk into the ocean. Humph. Athena observed it for a few moments longer before she glanced around her, scanning the foliage and sands for any sign of movement. Nothing. She was alone, as she had been for three days.

Sighing, Athena scratched an itch behind her left horn, the big one, and went to get up when she.. Got that feeling. A feeling that she had grown used to, had nurtured and grew, to allow her to sense when she was being watched.

Slowly, Athena turned her head from left to right, scanning the area around her, her blue feathers standing to attention and her tail stilling. Slowly, it coiled around to stand to attention at her side, tip raised to expose the large, double-axe like blade on her tail, the spikes behind it rising, ready to fly at any second.

Rapid remained vigilant and alert as she stared the other dragoness down. Her eyes were narrow slits, her body tense. The dragoness didn't really seem super hostile, but then again, one could never tell. The young Salmon rarely interacted with land dragons, considering how she was primarily an aquatic species and she had a job to serve as a Lakara scouter. The few dragons she did run into were generally rogues. Why? Because the only tribes on Layrian were up north, and Layrian was probably the closest tribe to their territory.

But as she stared down the stranger, tempted to greet her, she noticed how the other dragon seemed to get suddenly on edge. Her body suddenly perked up, and Rapid's ears went back when she saw the dangerous looking tail spikes that had suddenly popped up. Okay, now that was certainly something that made her uneasy, she thought, now more than a little cautious.

She decided to swim back underwater, wondering if she should just leave. What reason did she have to be here? She doubted she was even within Lakara borders anymore. Her head poked back up out of the water, trying to get a closer examination of the dragoness. After all, if she was attacked she wanted to know what to avoid.

The dragoness appeared to be some kind of ice wyvern. Perhaps a Kaamil or Vuari? Unlikely, not this far south.... She got a bit closer, not really paying attention to her distance from the shore.

Athena could feel it, eyes, burrowing holes into her form. As the silence prolonged, one could hear the clicking of teeth as her lip pulled back slightly. Her pupils gradually thinned, forming agitated, skinny lines that darted to and fro. She couldn't sense a prescence anywhere near by.. She could just feel the eyes, peering at her seemingly from all directions.

Finding the land around her to be clear, the warrior lowered her tail, deciding to play idiot and sit down again. If they show their face, she decided. I'll kill them. Her eyes scanned the ocean, finding the space where the gradual slope of the shallows dipped suddenly into sheer underwater cliffs. It was as she waited for the enemy to appear Athena noticed the shape in the water, far too big to be a fish or a sea-snake. Sea dragon..

ZIIIIIING! The spike that flew from Athena's tail was fired with such precision her target would only have about three seconds to register it and dodge. It was shaped like the tip of a spear, zooming towards Rapid at a frightening speed.

Athena had stood up and gotten into a battle position, wings spread slightly, crouched, and head tucked in to protect her throat. She waited for her opponent to show itself, or flee.

(Poor Rapid ;-

Rapid was not a fighting dragon, far from it She had only the most basic survival instincts, nothing like the war tuned instincts of a dragon who had been fighting for most of their life. In fact, Rapid couldn't remember a single time in which she'd gotten into a fight. Her whole life, she had been pretty sheltered, and although she knew of the threats that awaited her outside of the Lakaran borders, she had never actually encountered any of them.

Until now.

At first, the dragoness didn't display any signs of aggression. In fact, it looked like she was calming down. Rapid watched with renewed affirmation that perhaps this dragoness wasn't a threat. But Rapid still wanted to get closer. Perhaps she would be able to say hi? Though, she still wasn't so close that her feet touched the sandy ground, as she was still a good 10 to 15 meters away from the stranger.

She raised her head a bit, prepared to call out a hello, when suddenly, the dragoness shot what looked like an ice spear in her direction. Rapid screamed, ducking deeper underwater to avoid the spike. She felt the waves press against her as it shot through the ocean, making her shiver. So this dragoness was hostile!

Rather than doing the probably smart thing and running off, Rapid stuck her head up again, shouting, "Mercy! Mercy!" she said, flashing her scales in bright, soft blue light to indicate she wasn't a threat.

As the spike was fired from her tail, Athena's feathers twitched at the sound of a muffled scream, coming from beneath the waves. This was no scream of anger, or frustration, or any given sign that they had originally been planning to sneak up on her, no. This was a cry of fear. Still, Athena's battle-forged instincts drove her to keep her tail pointed at the dark shape in the water, eyes betraying no short of confidence, of certainty. Come on, she urged. Show yourself..

That is, until a face appeared, poking out of the dark sea. "Mercy! Mercy!" The dragon, who by her voice Athena identified as female, shouted, scales rapidly flashing a bright cyan. Athena's eyes widened slightly and she lowered her tail a bit, having it position at her stomach.

While's Athena's face was stone cold and layered with marks and scars, this female's face was young and pretty, with beautiful eyes. Athena didn't envy her, but she couldnt help but feel this was a beauty and the beast scenario. Slowly, the tail she used as a deadly weapon pressed itself against the sand, and she uncurled her head from her neck, raising it to address the newcomer as her shoulders relaxed a bit.

Apologies, she said slowly. I thought you were sneaking up on me. She inclined her head briefly as she sat down once again. Slowly, she dragged her tail behind her, pressing her wings into her sides in an effort to appear less.. Threatening, to the scared female.

Of course, nearly being speared to death by a stranger was incentive enough for Rapid to get the hell away from there, but something stopped her. Maybe it was the fact that the strange ice dragon seemed.... a bit surprised, was it? Surprised by the fact that Rapid hadn't meant any harm? Rapid herself could only guess, while she tread water, desperately trying to be prepared for another attack, were one to come her direction. She wasn't a fighting dragon, and hopefully, by staying her distance, she'd be able to avoid getting herself hurt.

But something peculiar occurred. The icy behemoth seemed to lower her tail, and took on a more friendly posture, but her face was still stone cold. Rapid wasn't entirely sure what she should do. Should she try to escape? No? Yes? Would the dragoness perceive that as a threat? There were so many possible outcomes she couldn't be sure which one was the appropriate options.

Then, the stranger spoke up. She mentioned that she had thought Rapid was trying to sneak up on her, and the sea dragoness quickly shook her head, "Oh, no no! I was just.... trying to get a better look. I wasn't sure if you were aggressive or not..."" she pointed out. She had heard stories of rogues that had slaughtered entire border patrols. A terrifying notion, really. It was reasonable of her to be on edge, especially after the whole black snow incident, that still had left everyone uneasy...

The fact that the female didn't turn tail and run away screaming both impressed and bewildered Athena. She's either incredibly brave, incredibly curious, or incredibly stupid, she decided, weighing each of the options as she stared at the female, her stormy blue eyes masking her apprehension. As the dragoness 'hovered' in the water, Athena wondered for a moment what a life in the ocean was like. Fun? Exhilerating? Similar to this one? Athena would take a dive into the ocean and become a sea dragon, as long as she could still fly. The idea of no limits of gravity was fun and all, but it didn't compare, she knew, to the adrenaline-rushing, bone-chilling act that was known as flying. Dangerous. Unpredictable. Just how she liked it.

At her words, the young beauty quickly denied such a deed, shaking her head rapidly. "Oh no no no!" She cried, as if doing something like that was utterly appalling to her. "I was just trying to get a better look! I didnt know if you were aggressive or not.." At this, a pale brow was arched. Athena sighed and rubbed her face with a wing, leaning onto her right for a moment to stop herself from toppling over. Now that would be embarassing.

Fair enough, she decided to say. You were smart. Diving in to a conversation can get you slaughtered. She nodded, a gesture of approval, before she sighed. Sorry.. About the, y'know, trying to shoot you thing.

Everyone seemed to be relaxing up. The atmosphere itself was getting calmer. The winding dragoness found herself calming down, her heartbeat starting to go from racing to hardly noticeable once again. Her body would slowly unwind itself as the ice wyvern spoke. Rapid couldn't quite explain it, but it seemed that the female's voice was.... full of wisdom? No.. that wasn't the right word..... experience? Perhaps that was it. That sounded about right for the situation they were currently dealing with.

Athena herself wasn't much of a looker. Now that the immediate threat had vanished, and Rapid felt more comfortable getting near the shore, she could get a cleaner look at the wyvern. She looked fierce, with white scales and blue spikes and horns on her back. Athena was certainly far past mature, and definitely was several times older than Rapid herself. Of course, Rapid wasn't entirely sure what the lifespan of a wyvern was. She was almost 90% sure it was shorter than that of a western dragon, though, and definitely shorter than an eastern dragon, since eastern dragons did have the longest lifespans. Rapid was a baby, considering the fact she could grow as old as 4000.

Rapid blushed a bit when Athena said she was smart not to assume friendliness. By then, the curling dragoness had made her way to the shore, with her feet touching the cool sand. Of course, she still couldn't be sure this wasn't an enemy - perhaps she was just trying to lure her on land to finish her off quicker - but this thought didn't really occur to her. She glanced back up to stare over at Athena, offering a smile.

"Ah, er, thanks. And it's fine, I think. I would be cautious too if I thought somebody was trying to sneak up on me. I'm Rapid, by the way," she added with a dip of her head towards the wyvern.

The young female seemed to be calming, her long, snake-like body easing itself out of the tight coil it had gotten itself into. The scales had stopped flashing too. Now that the danger had passed, Athena was able to get a proper look at her. She seemed like a typical sea-type dragon, only far more beautiful than she thought one could be.

At her small complement, the female blushed, something that surprised the older female. Perhaps she wasn't complemented often? Either way, she was shocked at her own ability to make someone embarrassed apart from beating them up in front of their friends and superiors. Something she had done more times than she'd care to admit. (Out of self defence, of course)

The female drifted closer, claws gracing the sand that sloped upwards into the beach. Athena detected a hint of wariness, and she was right to be. After all, while Athena had no intentions of harming her, she was still a complete stranger who had just tried to kill her. The sea dragon introduced herself as Rapid, a name that was short and sweet. She forgave her attack as well, which was nice.

I suppose so. It's nice to meet you, Rapid. My name is Athena. Well met, Athena said, returning the dip of her head with a bow of her own, shutting her eyes for a second for added effect. She tilted her head slightly. What brings you so far from the Lakara, if you are a tribe member? she knew the Lakara weren't exactly violent like the Ki'Sha, and judging from the female's more evasive reaction to her attack, she had been brought up that way. No violence.

Athena? thought Rapid to herself, observing the stranger who now had a name, What a pretty name... her head would dip into a respective bow when Athena introduced herself. It wasn't anything fancy, like you'd do if you were meeting your superior or the leader of the tribe. Instead, it was a simple dip of the head in respective greeting. Her thought process was, if she was pleasant, she wouldn't give the stranger rogue another reason to attack her. And after all, what better reason could you have?

After hearing Athena's second question, Rapid's tail twitched. Her ears perked up slightly, and her face seemed to brighten, similar to how peoples' moods seem to suddenly improve whenever they get to tell somebody else something good about themselves. Boasting, as you'd call it. Except Rapid wasn't very boastful. Just very excitable.

"Well, you see, I am a Salmon. We are often tasked roaming outside of the borders in search of potential new territory, possibly good hunting spots, and dangers that could possibly threaten our tribe. Though, considering how close I am to the shore, I probably got a little carried away...." she said, saying the last part with a nervous chuckle. She had certainly been carried away in more ways that one.

She had not only been swept away by her own thoughts, but also by the current. If you wander aimlessly in the sea, there's no telling where you'll end up, after all. The ocean could carry you into unknown depths if you don't pay attention to where you're going. Gotta be careful of those pesky currents!

Rapid was polite enough, dipping her head in response to Athena's name. They raised her well. Was this how all dragons from the Lakara behaved? Athena hadn't met any of them before, only glimpsed them from their borders when she had gone for a moon-lit flight over the sea. One of her preferable memories..

At Athena's inquiry, fueled by curiosity, Rapid seemed to light up like a light, as if she'd just been told she was the most beautiful dragoness in the world by the object of her affection. In fairness, she wouldn't be that surprised if someone called her that. Rapid was rather pretty, with colourful scales that would dazzle and wow any crowd who watched.

She explained herself, describing her position as 'Salmon,' a name that made Athena blink. Was there a 'Shark' rank in the tribe? She hoped not. Almost immediately, her head filled with possible names. Shark Athena, Hammerhead Storm. No, no, she knew well enough the ranks had names that fell into the same genre as the Ki'Sha's ranks, hard to pronounce and a bit strange to write and read.

She tilted her head slightly. Impressive. Find anything interesting so far? she asked. The rogue had never really interacted with the tribe, didn't attend parties or festivals or the like, so she wasn't familiar with the way things were run in each of the tribes, only knew what they were like and where they lived.

Athena had always wondered what a life in the ocean would be like. She couldn't breathe underwater, so there was a fat chance of her joining, unless of course she grew gills and fins. But then she'd be a fish, and Athena preferred being a dragon.

"Well.... no, not really. I'm pretty young, and I've only started this job recently. I'm only 35," Rapid said quickly ducking her head a bit, lighting up again in embarrassment, but this time in shame rather than in being flustered. Her tail flicked a bit, and she avoided eye contact with Athena. Rapid was generally a pretty nervous person, and usually always aimed to please. That was true even for rogues, even though it wasn't suppose to be. She always tried to seek approval from others, especially considering how young she still was.

(Short post is short, I'm sorry)