The arrival (open for all)

- Welp, here we are
The world materialized in front of Tsidias eyes, as she stepped out of the void. She had to cover her eyes, not adjusted to the blazing sunlight of a desert. She turned around expecting him to be there, but he wasn't.
- Are you coming or not?
- ...
- Come on
- ...
Ether around her started evaporating. Only seconds left before the portal disappears completely.
- Don't do it.
- I'm sorry. That's just who I am.
- I need you.
- I'll be around.
Energy around her dissolved into the air. Now she had to focus at tasks on hand. It was so hot. Her body wasn't used to dealing with such temperatures.
- Always better to be going somewhere than nowhere - she said as she stretched her wings and caught the wind. - At least the air is fresh.
Hours past without any change in scenery. Tsidias body signalized, that the burning pain in her wings couldn't be ignored any longer. Only now, when hallucinations started, she noticed how thirsty she is. She wasn't good at taking care of herself. She tried mapping nearby terrain, but she was too tired. While trying to remove that fatigue, dread took over her throwing her on the sand. Her vision blurred, and body paralyzed. Focusing on what remained of her energy she sent out call for help, before passing out.

The small, young night fury had been soaring through the clear, sun scorched plains. He wasn't entirely sure where he was, to be perfectly honest. And he didn't like all this sand and heat, it greatly bothered him. As long as he stayed away from Ki'sha territory, he should be relatively safe, he thought to himself. He wasn't entirely sure why he kept flying, when he had a perfectly stable environment of available food and shelter back on that other continent he had been on, but the promise of new lands always intrigued the young western dragon.

While flying around, Xash heard a distant cry for help. He paused, hovering in the air for a moment. Had he been hallucinating? Was it the desert playing tricks on him?

Fate didn't know why he had decided to fly this way. Why did he leave the cool ectan mountains to explore this way? It was way too hot. The scales on his back felt slick with perspiration and his wings felt heavy. He was getting desperate for water and was starting to panic a little bit inside. All of the scenery looked the same. What if he couldn't find his way back?

A few minutes later, he saw an oasis on the horizon a couple green trees and a pool of shimmering water. He pounded his wings harder, somehow finding the strength to go faster. But that's when he heard something. A call for help. He stopped, hovering, before noticing a dragon not too far off from him, also hovering, as if he heard the noise also. Somehow he had missed that dragon while he was flying towards the oasis.

But the call for help hadn't come from him. He could tell. He scanned the ground below him, before spotting a female dragon lying on the ground not far off. He flew down to the unconscious dragon urgently, knowing that fatigue and thirst must have taken over her body. He landed, his claws sinking a little in the burning sand. It was painful to stand too long on the burning yellow specks. He looked the dragon over. She looked okay, just exhausted and soaking with sweat. The oasis was still far off, but suddenly he was filled with determination to bring this female to safety.

The only problem was that she was over double Fate's size. He swallowed the panic in his chest, trying to move the dragon into a better position to keep up. He didn't know if the dragon that he saw in the air would be friendly or hostile, so Fate really hoped that the dragon wouldn't chase and try to attack him.

Fate grabbed the female with one of his front talons and started walking, slowly making his way toward the oasis. He was not about to leave this dragon to die. Only one thought was on his mind now: To save this female before he fainted from exhaustion.

Winging, almost lazily through the sky, Rihzome watched the largely featureless and barren land below him pass by in a blur. Not for the first time since assimilating into the Stormcallers, he cursed and despised his darken scales. The sun burning downwards, combined with a just as vicious heat rising from the ground would be unpleasant to anyone, but to someone who was from a lineage evolved and adapted to pull whatever heat they could from the air, it was simply torturous. But it had to be done. One of the diplomats on their way back to the Twilight Palace had stumbled upon a new ruin. Or maybe an old one uncovered. It was always difficult to tell from second-hand accounts. Regardless, he had taken it upon himself to find and examine it. Diving towards one of the few oases he could see from on wing, he quickly reached ground level, wincing as he landed, the sand unpleasantly warm on his paws. Bending his head to drink, he sighed in relief, before freezing, his maw still dipped into the water. Lifting his head slowly, he turned his head to gaze into the distance.

Dipping into his magical ability, he cast his mind out, and was almost blinded as a result. There was someone out there. Maybe more, but all he could see was a single mind, burning and almost as brightly as the sun with magical power. The direction also seemed to match the direction from which the cry he had 'heard'. Spreading his wings, he threw himself into the air, winging quickly towards the blazing beacon of power.

Minutes passed, and nothing. Frowning, Rihzome mused that the mind was probably much further away than he had guessed, owing to the power. It was another half an hour or so that he finally spotted… them? Frowning, he began to slowly circle, looking down, fully aware how imposing his almost pitch black bulk could be, especially so, judging by how small those below him were. Shrugging, he slowly began to descend down, landing in front of the two, a purple scaled female who seemed to be in serious trouble, and a smaller male, who quite amazingly, imitated a walking nebula, trying to drag her towards an oasis he had seen from the air. Looking them over, he highly doubted either of them would make it.

"Hello?" He called softly, his wings pressed to his side and head lowered uncomfortably towards the ground, trying not to tower over the smaller dragons. "I see your… friend is in quite a serious condition. Do you require my aid?" He asked, a combination of uncertainty and genuine care in his golden-silver eyes. If neither made any move to run from him, he would slowly move forwards, spreading a single large wing, and bringing it around to provide shade for both smaller dragons.

Fate had been walking for what seemed like an eternity, dragging the limp body behind him. His thoughts had boiled down to almost nothing, except for getting to the oasis. He could barely walk anymore, but he somehow kept finding the strength for one more step. The oasis barely moved it seemed. He was feverish by now and almost passed out himself a couple times. Sweat had stopped rolling into his eyes because his body was too dry. He definitely had heatstroke at this point.

Fate barely even noticed when a jet black dragon circled above them. He wouldn't even try to fight if it was an enemy. He didn't have any strength. The large dragon landed in front of them. Fate stopped. The dragon asked if they needed help. Fate wobbled on his feet before collapsing to the ground. Must... Stay... Awake... he thought to himself, his thoughts slow and jumbled in his mind. "Help... her," Fate flicked his tail tiredly to the female, before darkness enveloped him and he slipped into unconsciousness.

Inaros looked calmly over the desert, looking for signs of something to do. He had been sleeping there for days, waiting for some one or something to find him. Unaware of what he was doing, his gaze fixated on a small piece of discarded glass wedged into the sand. A image filled his eyes, he saw three dragons, one was partially covered by the larger ones wing. He quickly shut his eyes and waited for the ringing in his hears to stop. He blinked as the harsh sunlight shone in his eyes. He would soon have to take shelter from the heat but, he had to find those dragons, one seemed injured, another seemingly unconscious. Leaping from the mound of sand he had been standing on he raced towards the nearest Oasis he could find, hoping he could find them easier that way. He looked for a few minutes before finding them, he stayed by the Oasis watching them, for he did not know who they were. He laid in the warm sand, half sub-merged in the water. He was mostly camouflaged, his spines pressed down against his back.

Xasheski wasn’t quite sure what kept him hovering in suspense, after he had paused mid flight when he heard a distant cry. Once he had stopped to better try to focus, the sound had disappeared. Was it just his imagination, playing tricks on him? Besides, as he looked around the sandy plains below him, he didn’t see anyone that looked like they were in immediate danger.

He came to the conclusion that it was just the desert playing tricks on him. Kind of like one of those things he had heard about once. What were they called… a maraje? Meerige? Whatever those were. He had heard the desert could play tricks on your brain, but he had never really believed them. Nonetheless, being stuck in suspension remind Xash of how thirty he was. And remembering how thirsty he was only made him thirstier, as his mouth began to water.

Luckily for him, as his eyes scanned the beyond for any signs that there could be somewhere he could fly to to replenish himself, he spotted what appeared to be an area full of beautiful trees. He knew what those were called! Oasis! The only saving grace of the desert, he thought with a relieved smile. At this point he had completely forgotten about the call for help, dismissing it as just his mind playing tricks on him. Quickly, he started to make his way towards the oasis.

One thing Xash normally was pretty good at was observing his surroundings. Having grown up in a vicious and aggressive world, where everything want to eat him, he needed to always be on his toes. But having never been in a desert, or rarely, at least, and being as tired as he was, he didn’t really take into account the fact it was the middle of the day, and he was as black as night, which would make him easily noticeable against the sandy colors of the desert.

However, as Xash would fly towards the haven, he noticed a spec of movement, and paused, his wings beating to allow himself to hover in the air. Was that a dragon? Curious, he decided to get closer. That was, until he realized what it was, making his heart sink. It was a dragon whom had appeared to be unconscious, with another dragon beside it, looking like it was about to go unconscious as well.

At first, Xa’s first instinct was to keep flying in the opposite directions, as for all he knew, those dragons could be Ki’sha soldiers! After all, Xa had only ever heard rumors of the vicious tribe, and most his age had never actually seen a Ki’sha. So staying away from them at all costs would be his best bet.

But then he remembered the call for help. Xa perked his ears a bit. Had this dragon called for help? Curious, the small night fury began to descend down towards the two, landing by a sand dune a couple hundred feet away from them.

He was about to cautiously approach them, when the wingbeats of a much larger dragon interrupted his thoughts, followed by the approach of a dragon much larger than either one of the dragons Xa had been about to help. And obviously, at the appearance of the much more intimidating beast, Xa shrunk back, hiding behind a sand dune. Okay, that had to be a Ki’sha soldier, right? Maybe he should run while he had the chance.

But something kept Xa. He clung to the ground, studying the group of dragons from a distance, though he couldn’t really see much now, considering that the bigger dragon’s wings were now blocking his view of the other two.

Twitching a bit, his tail curling up slightly, he wondered what he should do, and he wondered if it was just his mind playing tricks on him when he thought he heard one of the dragons call for help once more.

BUMP Rihz

His mind made up in an instant at the plea from the much smaller dragon, Rihzome nodded to him. “Not just her…” He said softly, as he slowly moved forwards. First was the larger female. Pausing for a few moments as he glanced down at her, he lowered his head and dug it into the burning sand, wincing slightly at the discomfort, as he pushed it under her belly and side, followed by his neck. Sliding down to his knees, he let his chest fall to the ground as he reached forwards with both fore-paws and grasped her back and front legs, pulling her towards him as he lifted his neck. Wincing as he felt her roll onto his back, he slowly pushed himself to his feet, Tsidia slung over his back. Shaking himself lightly, to get used to her weight, he reached a paw down and wrapped it around Fate, picking him up and placing him on his back as well, the small wyvern far easier to deal with than the much larger dragoness. Hoping and begging that he was not too late for them, he set off forwards.

Striding forwards over the sand, Rihzome mused over the two he had found. The dragoness… She was an enigma. Definitely not a Ki’Sha, and not a Stormcaller he had met. Why was she this far out, in the middle of scenic nowhere? The Wyvern was just as odd, but he knew slightly more about him. A Nebula Wyvern… Odd, definitely, to see him so far from the Ectan Mountains, saving the question for later, when they were both well. Shaking himself lightly, he was startled to find that the ground was already quickly hardening under his paws, before he realised with a bigger start he had been walking already for far too long. Picking up his pace, he neared the water’s edge. Glancing around, at first seeing nothing out of the ordinary, he crouched down, unceremoniously dumping both Tsidia and Fate down. “Come on…” He prayed softly, as he dragged first the dragoness and then the wyvern into the water. Cupping his paws into the cool and sweet liquid, he lifted it to her maw, clumsily pouring it down, careful not to drown her, before doing the same to Fate, hoping the cooling water and the little shade offered by trees would help them.

Tsidias eyes slip shut, as dreams covered her head. She dreamt of being chased by shadows, reaching out to her, calling her name. It seemed like there is no escape, but in the last moment a bright light disintegrated reality around her, leaving not a single rock unaffected. Tsidia was standing in the void.
- I left you for literally a moment, and you're already...
- In the middle of a **** desert!!!
- Okay, maybe I should have thought a bit more about the end points. Sorry for leaving you like this. It's... important.
- You know that I can't think in hot areas. Are you ever coming back?
- We will see Tsidia. We will see. (wink to the moderators, breaking the forth wall)
Her vision blurred, breath got faster, adrenaline rising in her blood as she woke up.
"Am I alive?" - was her first thought, as she lazily failed to open her eyes in the drying sunlight. Sudden mixture of emotions rose inside her, as she started sensing nearby area. Confused she couldn't tell exact number, only that many minds were centring their attention on her. Only one was... dimmed out.
- Hello? - she started shy and confused, but progressively getting more aware of the situation.
- I don't know if you can understand me. - She quickly cleared her speech, jumping from her native language to universal.
- But in case you do, thanks. If you didn't do whatever you did -She coughed a few times, her immune system adjusting to local diseases- I'd be dead by now. I'm not... - was as much as she could say right now. She needed a break. A long one.

Fate's eyes slowly fluttered open, his vision blurred and his mind a fog. It took him quite a few moments to realize what was happening. He was sitting in water, with a large black dragon carefully pouring small amounts of water into his mouth for him to drink. He had a splitting headache, which made it hard for him to focus on a single thread of thought for more than a couple seconds. It slowly all started coming back to him. First the cry for help. Then dragging the much larger female for an eternity to try to get to the oasis. Then the large black dragon landing in front of him. And finally, blackness.

Fate tried to move out of the black dragon's grasp to see if the dragoness was there and okay, and he saw her at the corner of his eye, starting to stir. "Thank you," he said to the black dragon, his voice still a little dry from dehydration, even though he was being fed water. "For saving her... And me..."

Closed with a happy ending, since nobody show any interest in continuing.

(Make new topics, harass Imperia to make tribe topics, continue this topic, or join other topics :p