Nighttime Hunt (Open)

Nova soared above high above the rolling hills and rustling grasses of the savannah. The air was cool this high up and the gusts of wind beneath her wings made her shiver. After the sweltering afternoon, she thought that she'd welcome the chill in the air, but the cold dug into her wing membranes. At least she had been able to sleep through the heat in her nest. Nova fought the temptation to drop down in altitude. She loved being this high up, seeing the savannah stretching for miles and miles and miles. She could see a distant river, scatterings of forests and groves, even a sleeping herd of zebras far below. They looked like tiny beetles from this far away. It made her feel big, like she could reach out with a talon and score huge chasms in the landscape with her claws. Of course, she wasn't much bigger than those zebras. Nova was small, even for a starscape dragon. Any gashes left by her talons in the ground would be a few inches long and easily covered by dust.
She circled the zebras, trying to decide whether or not to go for them. She'd already had zebra recently, and she had been really hoping to find some nice, lean gazelles. Besides, she hated going after zebras. Gazelles would flee the instant they saw or smelled her, but a zebra was stronger and might try to fight back. They were stronger than gazelles, and she had several very unpleasant memories of what it was like to take a kick to the face.
On the other talon, she was starving, she had been flying for hours, and she was really hoping to get back to her nest before the sun came up. Zebra it is, I guess. She thought. There were a few sleeping far enough away from the herd. She chose the oldest, frailest one she could find. There wouldn't be much meat on those bones, but a half-full stomach was better than several strong kicks to the face. She did a little more circling, and then dove. She extinguished the bioluminescent star patterns on her wings and frills as the wind rushed passed her. She fell, faster and faster before catching herself at the last possible second.
Her fangs sunk into the zebra's neck, her back talons pinned it down, and she used her front talons to slash its throat. The herd panicked and brayed and stampeded away. The kill had been messy, and she just knew that the bruise on her stomach from its surprisingly powerful kick would last for days. But at least now she could eat.
She devoured it quickly. She wasn't the only predator out at night. There were leopards, which were bad enough. But then there were hyenas, which were even worse because they traveled in packs. Then, of course, there were lions. Nova might be bigger than leopards or hyenas or lions, but that didn't mean she was stronger. She didn't belong on the ground, and trying to fight something on all fours sounded both terrifying and stupid, nevermind a whole group of somethings.
Nova glanced nervously around between bites. Being on the ground like this made her nervous. She always felt like she was being watched. Her eyes darted furiously across the savannah before her. She shivered again, although she wasn't cold anymore, and dipped her snout to take another bite.

Zollyunis had been wandering the savannah for a while now, terribly lost.
"If ya hadn't let those rogue's see ya...ya wouldn't be lost now.."
She growled to herself, grimacing slightly as she hopped up on a boulder to get a better look at the savannah around her. One of the rogues had managed to get a good bite on her shoulder, and Zolly really didn't feel like flying about, bleeding everywhere.
Worst of all, she was hungry. Perhaps she should have drained one of those mouse brained rogues. They had run off to quickly however, oh well, Zolly knew there would be plenty more chances.
Suddenly, Zolly noticed the herd of panicked zebra's stampeding away.
Strange...maybe another dragon is around here, hunting.
She leapt off her boulder with a grunt, and quietly trotted over to where she saw the zebras run off.
"EY! Pipsqueak! Can ya give me some directions!" Zollyunis shouted loudly at  Nova, spotting her eating from the zebra. She inwardly hoped that he night-black scales, fangs and red eyes wouldn't scare her off.

Nova jumped at the voice and hastily scrambled onto her zebra carcass, standing on her hind legs with her wings flared. The bioluminescent scales on her wings and frills were as brightly lit as she could make them (too dim to reach more than five feet in front of her). Between the blood covering her snout and her posture, the effect might have been intimidating, if it weren't for the fact that this stranger was eight times Nova's size, and the fact that Nova was trembling all over.
Nova sized up the stranger. She doubted she could reach the other dragon's shoulders, even on her back legs and using her zebra footstool. She really didn't want to fight this dragon. Nova couldn't even handle a leopard, and whoever this was, they were stronger than an oversized cat. Besides, they just wanted directions. Nova could do directions. Everything would be fine. Probably. Hopefully. Maybe. The lights on her frills and wings went out, and she dropped to all fours, slinking back behind her meal and folding her wings in tight.
Heart hammering in her chest, Nova spoke. Her voice was quiet, and a little rough from disuse. "Directions to where?" She spoke slowly and carefully, and she wasn't quite sure that she had pronounced the word "direction" correctly. The words tasted foreign in her mouth. It had been months since she had last spoken to anyone and years since she had a conversation that lasted longer than a minute.
Nova shifted her weight to her back legs, ready to take off the instant the stranger made any sudden moves.

Zolly didn't expect Nova to react so defensively, it startled Zolly and caused her to jump back a bit, fangs sliding out and back spines raising upwards as her wings flared out. She winced a bit at the sudden movement of her still closing injuries. Zolly tried to compose herself quickly, retracting her fangs and shutting her wings. 
Didn't really expect that from the tiny little thing..
When Nova spoke, it took Zollyunis a few minutes to figure out what Nova had said. The dragoness's quiet voice just barely met the massive drakes ears. She simply sat on her haunches, flattened her back spines, and tried to look as unthreatening as possible as she thought of a reply.
What would be around here anyways? 
"Uh...nearest tribe, civilization or somethin' like that...?"
This was one of the rare times Zolly wished her annoying brother was around. He would know the area like the back of his quills, he'd be able to find the nearest tribes and all that...
"Or like.. a safe place I guess...?"

lackluster motions would begin in the distance, but only for a pinch of a second as what seemed to be a silhouetted head would gently scrape against the cold ground of the savannas lands. Their body shuffled weakly above the weight of their long body, dragging themselves against what would be a small, rocky, almost dried up watering hole.
everything was wilting at this point, the stains of how far the water was now only a part of the past for what they were laying in... now just a mere pool of muddy water.
of course, muddy water was never a problem for this lanky dragon, but only this much... this would sustain them for a good three days. A wallowing buzz and multiple broken chirps would echo out from their cone like head before the figure began to sulk around once more, breaking their energy in two while flopping into the cold mud.
till come morning, siren would be alright in this sad attempt at keeping hydrated with their huge body. of course they had seen the two figures in the distance, watching as the zebras would make their great escape and leave a foul member behind.
all of this felt hazy, as if it was just a mere illusion of the heat and exhaustion deceiving tricks upon their mind. But siren couldn't think, she could only lay in the glossy moonlight of the savanna. The heat from the illuminated rocks felt nice against her fishy scales, smothering them with her long body while curling around the water bed.

Nova thought for a moment. The nearest safe place? Well, there was her nest, but she wasn't about to invite a stranger anywhere near her home. The nearest tribe was... what was it? It started with a K. "The nearest tribe is the..." she gave up trying to remember their name. "it's really far away. Head northwest for a while, you'll cross into their territory at some point. I'm not sure it's safe, though. I don't think they like strangers in their lands." It was the first thing her parents had taught her. Never, ever go anywhere near a tribe. There was a reason she had chosen land far away from any civilization.
"If you just need somewhere safe, there's a cliff near a watering hole. There's probably a cave big enough for you?" Then again, maybe not. This stranger was extremely tall. The caves had been big for Nova, sure, but were they large enough to house somebody eight times her size? She looked in the direction of the cliff, only to see, movement? She peered closer, listening intently. Chirping. And buzzing. There was something in the watering hole (which looked a lot drier than she remembered). Those sounds weren't even remotely normal. It was probably a monster or something, wasn't it? She launched herself into the air, hovering several feet above the ground. Whatever it was, now that it had stopped moving, she couldn't see it. "Do you... do you see anything? Over there?"

"See what? That snake looking thing over there?"
Zolly growled, looking over towards the water hole. "Probably just an alligator or somethin.."
Zollyunis opened her jaws and took a sharp intake of breath, scenting a mud covered, fish-like being near the water hole. Immediately, Zolly's stomach growled. Perhaps, well, hopefully, it wasn't some unlucky water dragon. She really hoped it was an alligator. If she didn't have something to snack on soon, Zolly would probably faint.
That would be embarrassing.
"Why don't.. why don't we check it out?

On the one talon, flying closer to a strange creature sounded like the worst idea Nova had ever heard. On the other, it probably was an alligator. Or a crocodile. Either way, they couldn't reach Nova if she stayed in the air. She would be perfectly safe. Probably. Steeling herself before her nerves could get the best of her, she nodded. Nova glided over to the muddy watering hole and hovered about a dozen feet above it. Crocodile jaws were extremely powerful. If she got caught, she was done for. With that thought, she was ready to turn around and fly back to her nest as fast as her wings could carry her. But... it didn't look like a crocodile. Even with her excellent night vision, it blended in too well, but its head and tail were the wrong shapes, and she was pretty sure it was the wrong color, too. The realization that this was some unknown creature, possibly a monster of some kind, should've terrified her (and it did), but it was her curiosity that won out. Besides, she was pretty sure that whatever it was couldn't fly, and even if it could, she doubted it could move as quickly or as easily in the air as she could. "What... what is that?"

The creature would let out a low, grumbling hum from which its head layed underneath the soaking wet mud, causing multitudes of bubbles to rise up to its surface and burst momentarily. The creatures body was huge, verryy huge. There was no absolute measurement of width because of all the mud they were under, but the dragon flying in the airs night sky could eadily see its more than 120 foot long body. Sharp frills would line its back, but not standing upwards like most aquatic creatures frills would, more of so laying against the large scaled body, giving a wet flap ever so often.But with the soft flapping of the dragons body from high up in the air, their presence would be known to the being as its head that was once submerged under layers of mud, would slowly rise up from the brown water. Bits of cracked mud and clusters of dried dirt would fall from their cylinder like head as it was now facing directly towards novas illuminated self. They did nothing, but stare for a full minute... before creakingly pulling themselves up and out of the the mud with a wet ‘schlop’. They could see how wide they were now, about 20 to 30 feet wide as it was somehow... floating? Their body seemingly not transfixed to gravity as its front forelimb would desperately reach out towards the dragon... before coming to a crumbling stop. The creatures body would falter in its floating, and fall straight back into the mudpit. A weak, mournful buzz and beeping sound would come out from them as their head plastered against the wet dirt.

Zolly stomped over, eyeing the creature. Her disappointment immeasurable when she realized that it wasn't a gator of sorts, and seemed to be a very misplaced water dragon.
"Thats disappointing..." She mumbled, before looking up at Nova.
"Jus some water drake...of unusual species.."
Zollyunis laid down beside the waterhole, knowing full well that she could kill the water drake if they even tried to lay a claw on her. Resisting the urge to kill the creature off then and there, Zolly watched the water dragon with great interest. She didn't get to see water dragons often, as they didn't go far inland from the shores.
"It'll probably rain soon anyway. Might as well leave it be." Zolly said, tail lashing the dry dirt. She was sure she could scent rain on the wind, and her sense of smell wouldn't lead her wrong. Rain would fall soon. Maybe within the hour.

Noctis wakes from his slumber to his stomach growling loudly. "Time to eat, let's see what I can catch." He stretches and then gets up, his eyes are well adapted for night hunting and he can see as if it is daytime. He looks around while walking trying to spot some prey. He occasionally sniffs the air trying to detect possible prey.