Athena's (bloody) Return

I hate everything, Athena wanted to roar as she stumbled through the fields. The long grass grabbed at her legs and slithered along her wings, still wet from last night's storm. She hissed, clenching her jaw. Wherever she walked, the grass was left scarlet.

She paused and lifted her head, breathing hard as she squinted against the sun. The cover of the forest was still a few miles away and there was no fog or rain to conceal her. Her dull, grey hide still stood out against the shimmering green of the meadows. To the west, mountains reached for the sky with huge, gnarled claws, like a dragon trying to fight its way free of the earth.
She panted, holding one leg off the ground. She couldn't rise more than a few feet into the air without blinding pain shooting through her body - no flying. She had to keep walking. She sighed and trudged on, mud splattering her underside.

She'd been in situations like this before. Alone, lost and injured, with danger potentially lurking everywhere. Nothing like this though. Before, her mind had been strong. Before, she was able to hold it together.

Today, she was struggling to keep herself from crumbling.

The memories, the bad thoughts, crept in and sat at the back of her mind, waiting for her to notice them. She pushed them away, blocked them off, focused on the sound of her wings sloshing through the muck, but they poked and probed until they slipped in and she had to stop - heart hammering, chest heaving, eyes burning.
The former Kuz'a had barely made it out alive. What had happened to her... it was taking its toll.
Yet still she dragged herself onward, though her body screamed for rest, for her to curl up and fall asleep. If she did that, she was dead. Her body was breakable, and even her formidable mind was too - but never her will.
Athena stumbled and fell. She groaned, the cool mud a relief from the burning sun. She pulled her wing out from under and heaved herself to her feet. Her tongue lolled out of her mouth, her eyes half closed. She thought she saw a thousand dragons, circling her, until she realised they were just flies.

Oh no, she thought. Here we go.

The wind washing across the grass began to whisper, as if she were wading through a crowd. She shook her head and focused on the pain - her sprained leg, her broken ribs, torn wings. It kept her grounded. As long as she felt the pain, she wouldn't pass out. She would not pass out.
Help, she thought, belly brushing the earth. Help... she was crawling now, head bowed, claws digging into the mud for purchase.
Athena collapsed. Above, ravens began to circle.

Malfawn was flying across the sky, a speeding bullet in the sky. He saw no one else in the sky so he felt no worries flying around up in the open, that and, who would even know who he was in this land? He doubted common folk would know at least. He had been sent her on a special mission from his tribe to spy on the others and gather essential information that could be of use and he wasn't sure how he felt on spying in unknown lands. Of course he knew the basics of every tribe but there would always be a bit of information that wasn't written down. Could be as simple as how Drakes would great each other in the tribe or could be dangerous as accidentally saying a taboo word and being attacked for saying cursed words.

Realizing he was spending too much time in his head, Malfawn shook his head to regain focus on the here and now. He scanned the area to see if there was any potential dangers around and nothing of note caught his eye till his keen eyes fell upon something on the ground miles ahead. A wounded dragon? He thought in his head. After fighting in his head whether it a bad or good idea to go up to this dragon, Malfawn dived bombed down to the ground.

He landed with the silence of an owl and walked quietly like a fox.Lowering his body, he managed to narrow his tall height to only a few feet above the ground as he approached the down dragon. He was surly no fighter at all but he figured seeing the condition of this dragon, he would be able to kill it if he needed to, Malfawn assured himself.

He then stared at the other dragon, only a few feet apart from it now. He realized that with all the reassuring of himself, Malfawn never though what to say to the other dragon so he opted to reach his long tail out and to softly budge the other dragon with his tail.

The ravens were what attracted June's attention. He heard their harsh caws, despite being miles upon miles away. Ears pricked, he looked in the direction of the gathering swarm. They sounded hungry, perhaps something had been killed... did he hear the labored breathing of a dying creature? An injured drake?
He jumped as a tail gently prodded his side.
"You alright there kid?" The soft voice of Pokaintien jerked him out of his thoughts. 
"Yeah. Fine... hey uh..would it be okay if I go check something out? I heard something." June tried to sound as casual as he could. Really, he wanted to go and get a break from the boring search for some petty thief. Pok shrugged.
"Just get back soon, eh?"


June quickly took his leave, jumping to the sky and flying towards the caws off the ravens, which had begun to die down. As he circled high above, he thought he sensed two dragons below him. June kept to the air, unsure if he should approach or not. One of the two drakes seemed frightened or perhaps cautious of the injured sounding dragon, who had a familiar scent to her.
Perhaps she was a lost Ki'sha? Or maybe a spy of sorts...
"Weird..." June murmured to himself.

It took him a minute to build up the courage to fly down and land. Eventually, he began to slowly circle downwards, trying to look as non aggressive as he could.
"Are... you two alright?" He asked calmly as he began to land.

The cries of the ravens faded away, as if she were slipping underwater. The sun soaked into her hide, drying her out until it felt like crust. She wanted to curl up, but couldn't find the strength to do so. She just lay there, breathing shallow, body quivering.

Something poked her and the pain, oh the pain, sharpened her. She grunted, opening her eyes. Her ribs cried out from that simple touch.

She lifted her head and bared her fangs at the blurry figure, her eyes struggling to focus.

A voice filled the air, from somewhere to her left. She turned her head, growling softly. The sound, once a glorious, thunderous noise that sent shivers down the spines of the bravest dragons, was reduced to a weak rasp. She could hardly make out the words. Her ears were ringing.

She didn't answer - she couldn't. She couldn't even move. She lay her head back down. Blood soaked the grass leaking from her wings, her neck. The wyvern was battered - dangerously so.

She kept her eyes open. Though they couldn't focus, they snapped back and forth between the two figures. Her fangs peeked out from beneath her lips.

The message was clear. I might be dying, but I'll still bite your head off if you try anything funny.

"I am just fine, she isn't" Malfawn spoke in a mono toned voice, the one benefit to having a dull voice was it was hard to tell where he came from. He moved back a little bit when he saw her flash her teeth. "Seems she isn't quite out for the count just yet.."

Malfawn moved back closer to her when he pulled out a needle and a vial of a strange liquid. "This is going to hurt quite a lot but trust me, you won't feel the needle once the medicine kicks in." Malfawn said this before he poured the green liquid in the wound.. Then Malfawn quickly backed away to avoid backlash.

The liquid felt like something was digging its claws back into her open wounds, a very painful feeling, but it slowly numbed away to a feeling of nothingness. While it worked its magic, Malfawn looked to the new dragon. "Are you good at suturing wounds? I could use a hand as she may bleed out very soon" He said as he prepared two needles. Once ready he gave one off to the other dragon hoping that they were decent at it and he started to suture the wounds closed once he thought the wounded dragon would be numb to the pain.

"Unfortunately i'm quite the expert at suturing." June said quietly, wondering if he should take off his Kyion armor helm. It was very intimidating, as it covered his eyes and most of his face, making it impossible to see his facial features or even his expression, and the two soft glowing horns that protected his mind could give off a very different impression...
Hopefully I can figure out what happened to her... she's hurt really bad. What if there is a new rogue group causing trouble? That'll be fun to deal with.
June thought sarcastically. He still had half-healed injuries from the Kyions' last fight with a group of vicious rogues.


June cautiously approached Malfawn, he couldn't figure out where he came from. If he was a Ki'sha..well it wouldn't end well. June knew all too well how most Ki'sha reacted to seeing a Kaamil, and him being a Kaamil in a sort of special ops wouldn't make that reaction any better. June gently accepted the needle, and quickly went to sowing up the wounds on the dragonets's neck. Despite being obviously blind, the Kaamil's suturing was surprising fast and precise.

The voices pulsed in and out of range, making it impossible to make out what the dragons were saying. The only clear sensation was that of her blood, trickling down her hide to stain the grass.

Yes, do look on, she thought. Look on like I'm an exhibit.

One of the dragons moved closer to her. She tried to lift her head. Tried.
"This is going to hurt," he said. "But trust... you... the medicine kicks in."

And then, her vision flashed white.

She cried out, trying to struggle, to thrash, to lash her tail, but her limbs had turned to liquid. She could only spasm and gasp, pupils dilating to slits. Her chest heaved. Her wing claws dug into the earth, leaving little grooves.

The pain faded away, numbness soaking into her hide. What...? she wondered. What is this?

Ink seeped into the corners of her eyes. Her eyelids drooped. She fought to keep them open, but the numbness felt so inviting... She growled, vaguely aware of another dragon touching her neck. The muscles in her neck twitched at his touch. If she was stronger, she would've tried to snap his arm off, but as it was, she could only move her eyes and even that was a struggle.

So the wyvern lay there, as vulnerable as the day she hatched. A warrior reduced to a weakling. Claws dug into her heart at the thought. Drums on the inside of her head. Darkness swirling across her eyes...

She was out like a light.

Malfawn seeing that she had calmed down and seemed to be fighting off slipping under he quickly went to work. He made sure to disinfect the tool at his disposal as an infection was something she did NOT need.

Working with the tough hide made things difficult. Namely getting the needle through, but luckily she wouldn't feel it. What felt like an hour, Malfawn finally finished his work. With everything looking proper, he would peep a look to her eyes to see if she was still awake

Malfawn did doubt that she would be aware much less able to attack him, but there was always the concern that she would be able to attack and seeing how much muscle she had, Malfawn was sure she probably could squish him easily. "Well.. If your still awake, your chance of survival has just skyrocketed. Thanks to me" He made sure to add

"...do you think she may be a rogue?" June asked Malfawn, stepping a safe distance away from Athena. He kept his ears pricked, listening to Athena's breathing and heartbeat.
"..and...who do you think did this to her?"
 June was slightly nervous. If the wyvern suddenly awoke and attacked.. well, he knew how it would go. The wyvern was incredibly strong sounding, and he didn't feel like getting into a fight with the powerful possibly rogue.
June turned back to Malfawn, slipping off his helm.
"When do you believe she will wake? I would rather not...just leave her here by herself."
June didn't want to admit openly that he couldn't stay for long, he didn't want to seem heartless...

"There is a possibility..," Malfawn said as he looked down at her, and he subtly back away towards June. "And I sure hope it wasn't one dragon as that's a frightening thought"

Malfawn stretched his lanky body, growing a bit sore from staying in one spot for a long time. "I'm sure she will be fine, she was still alive when we got her with such traumatic wounds and stuck with me for a while with the painkillers in her. I think she is a fighter" Malfawn said as he looked over to the injured drake then back to June "Are you in a rush to leave?"

The wyvern was out cold, her heart pumping as it tried to compensate for her loss of blood. She wore a grimace even in sleep, her teeth bared slightly.

You can't stay asleep. You can't stay asleep! cried some distant part of her conscience.

It took almost half an hour, but eventually, light pierced the peaceful darkness of slumber, stabbing into her eyes. She muttered in Ki'shin, squeezing her eyelids together.

Get up.

Were those... Voices?

Get UP!

She cracked open her eyes.

Two blurry figures loomed over her, the blazing sun darkening their faces.

Oh, hell no! She drew her head back, feathers  bristling. Her head pounded and she gasped as needles drove themselves through her skull. She shifted, trying to stand, but her wings had turned to jelly.

She realised she was rasping with every hard breath. That's not good. The sun wasn't helping matters.
She looked up, met their eyes. She could barely lift her head. Who....? she wondered.
"Heat," she managed to get out. "Too much heat." She switched between Ki'shin and Universal, her words slurring together. If they would help her, hopefully they'd understand.

June didn't answer Malfawn's question. He quickly backed away as Athena awoke, startled by her sudden movement. Ears pricked, he listened to what she was saying.
Too hot?.. maybe there is a lake or something around.
He extended one of his massive wings over Athena, shading her from the bright sun, he looked around for a water source.
"Are there any lakes or rivers around?" He asked Malfawn quickly.
"We need to cool her off, it's warm out here, even in the shade."
June pondered if he should alert the rest of his scouting party, they might be able to help the dragoness, though, something told him it would only cause more stress to the weakened dragoness if three or four other armed dragons suddenly appeared.

Malfawn stretched up to his hind legs and peered around for any sources of water. "North east, there's a decent size pond, few miles ahead. Shouldn't take too long to get to it" He said in a monotone voice before he looked back down to the hurt dragon.
He then looked through his satchel looking for something for them. He pulled out his trusty notebook but as well some cloth. "Is the light bothering you? I can cover your eyes with this if it will make you feel any better" Malfawn over the cloth to her, reaching out for her but in a careful way. Just in case she would bite.