The Hunt (Private with Ayato)

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“By Fae’ela, I swear you will not elude me this time,” Dirge murmured as she crouched down low, trying to blend in as best she could with the sand. She’d been tracking this camel for quite a while, hoping that it would at some point meet with its brethren. So far, it seemed to be aimlessly wandering from place to place without any sort of real direction.

The stupid camel didn’t even look like it was trying to find a herd! Part of the dragoness wondered if it was brain-dead from being in the sun for too long. Or perhaps it was somewhat of a loser amongst its kind, and had been sentenced to living as an outcast. Regardless, its presence only served to make Dirge more and more furious. As though it were taunting her with its continued existence.

“You stupid...humpbacked...lumpy pile of fur,” the red dragoness remarked with self-contained anger. Her claws flexed outward as she so badly just wanted to kill this prey...but the logical side  of her knew that one camel was hardly worth the the effort. If she could find and catch a heard, she would have gathered enough food to meet her quota for the day.

She hated logic, and how it constantly contradicted with what she wanted to do.

The camel lifted its head and looked off in the distance as though it heard something. Dirge’s ears perked, and her eyes lightened a little at the thought that it may have found more of its kind. In the mammal’s painfully slow fashion, it began lumbering off towards a sand dune.

The dragoness stalked behind him slowly, her tail lashing a bit in anticipation for the bountiful feast she was expecting.

Ayato's eyes were lifted heavenward, praying silently to whatever godly forces up there - Fae'ela, perhaps - to make sure that no one saw him or Dirge in this mess. If he did fall in with her, it was a sight that he wanted the least eyes recording, though he was sure this day would plague him for quite a while. He thought grimly that if he ever heard a whisper of him practically showing a particular Ugaan his butt while pulling her up, he would in turn announce that Dirge had been stupid enough to fall into a trap.

His back was to the pit, his hindlegs crouched and his tail hovering uncertainly above the pit. He offered another prayer for his tail: Dirge was big, almost muscular, and undoubtedly heavy, but without hesitation lowered his tail when he heard Dirge's insult. "Screechy sand lizard?!" he echoed indignantly, "then what are you, an oversized elephant?" He made a 'hmph!' sound, then said, "Let's get this over and done with as soon as possible, then we don't have to see each others' faces after this."

On two, he braced himself, claws digging into the sand to find something to latch something onto - all he accomplished was discovering that there was nothing but more sand, and his sigh of frustration was cut off when Dirge suddenly latched onto his tail. He leaned forward as he felt himself slip backwards alarmingly fast, naught more than a silent gasp of surprise escaping his maw. Thankfully the weight on his tail on brief, and his pounding heart was given a break.

Dirge's movements were surprisingly deft given her large size and injured wing, hauling herself up to beside him. He glanced at her shoulder and frowned at the painful sight, and looked up to find her checking on him. Ayato could tell it was an uncommon gesture she made, and nodded once at her as if acknowledging her action.

"We'll have to get that treated. I know a healer who can patch you up, are you willing to let me lead you there?" said Ayato, and if she said yes, he would lead her back towards the Ki'Shan city, away from the borders they were nearing. They would walk and walk for roughly twenty minutes, passing small villages, and at last they would come upon the city, where Ayato led them to a small hut and knocked. A female slightly taller than him and the colour of the sky would open the door and tilt her head inquiringly, and he would gesture to Dirge.

She would let them in and seat Dirge on a soft cushion, while Ayato explained to her what had happened; she would nod and place a paw on Dirge's dislocated wing, muttering an apology before yanking it back into its socket.

When Ayato acknowledged her checking on him, she rolled her eyes. She tried her best to raise her head and fix her posture, but it seemed the jabbing pain made her keep her head lowered.

At the offer of help, Dirge scowled. “No!” she hissed, “I’m fine! I don’t need you or any stupid healers. I’m not some delicate little tumbleweed like you. I know how to take care of myself.” With a few steps forward, she made an attempt to spread her wings.

Immediately a shockwave of pain reverberated throughout her body. It hurt so bad that she staggered a little. Lowering her wing made the pain a little more bearable, but it still jutted out at an awkward angle. Clearly she wasn’t going to be flying anywhere anytime soon.

When her eyes fixated on Ayato again, she growled. “...fine. But as soon as that healer fixes my wing. We’re done. I can’t have you distracting me when I’m trying to hunt for my prey.”

Turning towards the Aliugaan, she stared at him expectantly. As if to convey that he was taking too long to lead the way.

The whole trek was very strange. Dirge hadn’t had to walk for an extended period of time for a while. Especially not as far as it was to the healer. It felt good on her legs, just like all exercise did, but the pain in the wound mixed with the hot sun on her scales was beginning to make her feel a little lightheaded. Time and time again she fought the bits of darkness that tried to creep into her vision.

Arriving at the city, she felt a sense of dread. As though every dragon here was watching and judging her worth. The fact that some of them seemed to be cringing at the sight of her wing didn’t help too much with her fear.

Once the duo made it to the hut that housed the healer, Dirge stayed back a bit behind Ayato, allowing him to do the talking. During the whole trip, she’d been quite pouty and quiet. Possibly a welcome change considering her usual boisterous, brash mannerisms.

The healer lightly touched Dirge’s wing, which caused her to flinch. Then, in one rough moment, the wing was yanked back into its socket, making Dirge roar out in anger. One claw dug into the cushion, while the other instinctively swiped at the healer. She then reached out again with the same claw to grab at the other dragoness’ neck in an attempt to aggressively hold her.

She turned and glared at Ayato again. “You son of an armadillo! This is why I never see healers! They always end up making the pain worse before it ever gets better!”

Ayato couldn't help a curl of satisfaction in his chest when Dirge tried and failed to lift her head, the action undoubtedly hindered by the poke of pain washing through her dislocated wing. Served her right for being so rude, for holding so little respect for him. He was an Aliugaan, damn it, he didn't work hard to get scoffed at and treated like this! He'd had enough, he decided. He would physically discipline her later, when they were within sight of more Ki'Shans so that he could set an example. For now, he would handle her with words.

"But," he said smoothly, an undercurrent of smugness in his tone, "the delicate little tumbleweed is smart enough--" (and you're not) "--to know when an injury requires a healer's attention." Smirking, he tilted his head to the side. "Or would you rather limp around with that wing and attempt to hunt? It would certainly be entertaining to watch a supposedly talented Ugaan throw a tantrum over a camel but be unable to do much because she was not a little tumbleweed." He mocked her, each word coming out precise and sharp and venomous. However, he was as usual speaking only the truth, even if it was infused with a cruel jab at her temper. Any attempt to hunt would certainly be hindered by Dirge's broken wing - and he was aware that Dirge knew it.

He observed her desperate attempt to take into the air with no small amount of contempt. What an idiot. She has the brains of a rodent bashing its head into a rock. "You call that hunting?" he murmured to himself, referring to the fuss she'd kicked up earlier, before turning away to lead them to the healer. He found her silence refreshing, but also rather... odd. Even though they'd spent not much time with each other, he had already grown used to her brash demeanour and frequent, arrogant remarks.

The healer reacted swiftly, leaning back as Dirge swiped at her, then calmly batting away the paw and pinning it down onto the couch with her own paw. Meanwhile, Ayato, disgusted at Dirge's lack of gratitude, remarked, "Oh, I didn't know that the fearsome Ugaan warrior was afraid of a little pain." He bowed his head in apology to the healer, who said, "Quite an aggressive one you've got there." He rolled his eyes, replying with an "So I've observed" but he was still warily keeping watch on Dirge.