A Fire Sparked by Ice (Private with Ayato and Athena)

To say that the entire trek had been sluggish was an understatement. It hadn’t been pleasant for Sleet, due to she and Athena’s disagreements on pace. Sleet wanted to stop flying every few minutes, feeling absolutely exhausted. Not to mention her incessant complaining about how her wings had begun to ache. Athena seemed like she was much more focused on her goal, which made her extremely difficult to keep up with.

If the haughty ice dragoness didn’t know where they needed to go, she was certain that Athena would have left her behind before they even made it out of the Etcan Mountains.

“There!” Sleet exclaimed breathily, pointing a lazy talon at a small camp down below. She’d once again fallen behind Athena, so she wasn’t sure if her hired goon was close enough to hear her.

Without a moment of hesitation, Sleet dived towards the camp, landing on the ground and immediately collapsing onto her stomach. She took deep, long breaths in order to calm her racing heart. “I...don’t care what...she says,” the pristine dragoness closed her eyes, “I’m taking a cart back. I refuse to fly that far ever again in my life. Or my next life for that matter!”

The exhausted mother’s ears perked a little bit when her eyes opened. She looked around and realized that this campsite wasn’t an ordinary campsite. It
was very dirty and unkempt. Rugged, much like a bandit.

Bandits.

This must have been their camp. Any dragon would have been able to notice that while flying by, but Sleet had been far too tired to take notice. Luckily, there didn’t seem to be any bandits around. The place was abandoned.

No, not abandoned. Attacked. There was a tent that looked to have been annihilated, the only remnants being a few wooden stakes in the ground with ropes around them that were connected to singed fabric.

Raising her head, Sleet spotted some cages, but there was nobody in them. For a moment she’d hoped that Silver was there, and that she could finally return home.

Letting out a small sigh, the dragoness rose to her feet again before sitting with a formal posture. As though she were attending some sort of royal banquet. “Athena, darling, it seems we’ve come out here for nothing! I absolutely dread where they might have taken my darling daughter.”

—
It had been a long flight, as usual, but the payoff was bound to be worth it. Lock was going to have her head for being late, but she’d make it up to him by being the driving force in their next raid. She planned on stealing something nice and shiny to help draw his attention away from any of her mistakes.

Something had started to feel strange during her approach, however.  Normally, at this range, she would have started to smell the meat that was always cooking at the campsite. Or hear the faint sounds of laughter and cheering amongst her clan. All she could hear now was the wind and the wildlife.

It made this part of the cold forest feel empty. Like she was flying into some sort of void.

As she got closer, her altitude dropped and she kept herself low, before slowing to a stop and landing in the forest just outside the camp.

Her suspicion was validated as soon as she peered around one of the tents and noticed a snow white dragoness who was examining the campsite...which seemed to have been destroyed.

Dirge gritted her teeth and bit back a growl. Were they attacked by this lady? Did their hideout get found and wiped out? And most importantly, where was Lock?

The fiery red and orange dragoness let out a roar before charging out from behind her cover, barreling towards Sleet with a snarl on her face.

Sleet yelped and turned around. She tried to back away as fear filled her eyes.

The journey to the Aeria mountains had gone at a snail's pace, and not because of Athena. She was so tempted to turn around and drag Sleet the rest of the way. Heck, it would probably be faster that way. The bone white dragoness had to take a break every few minutes, unable to last long in the air. Probably due to a lack of exercise. Athena could fly for hours without a break and not break a sweat, but the noble she'd been hired by had about as much endurance as a hatchling. Athena constantly had to flare her wings to slow herself as to not leave Sleet behind by accident. Every moment spent taking a break made her scales itch, knowing Silver could be dead within hours, minutes. The clock was racing for Sleet's daughter.

Finally, oh finally, the camp came into view. Athena's eyes narrowed as she tilted her wings back, further slowing her pace. She scanned the settlement, eagle eyes mapping out the area and searching for any signs of life within the camp.

Suddenly, a streak of white shot past her, almost knocking the wyvern out of the sky. Letting out an indignant hiss, Athena twisted around to see it was Sleet, diving towards the camp. Idiot! she thought, folding her wings in and diving after her. They could be waiting to ambush us!

She spread her wings at the last moment and touched down somewhat gently on the ground. Athena looked around, feathers standing on end. The whole place was deserted. Her royal blue eyes flew to a tent which had clearly been blown up. Stepping closer to it, she sniffed at the entrance. A heavy, ashy smell filled her nostrils. Powder.

The camp was invaded, was her first thought, images of another bandit group taking Silver away entering her head. She glanced around. She couldn't see any spears or weapons lying around though, no signs of a massive struggle. Strange, she thought.

Sleet was clearly upset, but her voice could attract attention. Athena whirled around, hissing. "Shh! Quiet!" she growled, glancing up at the sky for flickers of motion in the clouds.

She approached the cages near to the damaged tent, clearly meant for prisoners. One was open, the door squeaking weakly in the light breeze. The bottom of it was covered in grime, dirt and brown blood. Eugh, she grimaced. Would hate to be kept in one of those. It was then she noticed the somewhat fresher blood splattering the door of the cage. Unlike the stale scent of the grime on the floor, the long browned substance still had a metallic tinge.

Her eyes lowered to the ground she stood on. More blood. Someone had been seriously injured here. Had Silver somehow attacked one of the bandits? Or was this her blood, the only sign of her last attempt at escape? Athena's talons clenched.

She turned towards Sleet. Her tail upset the singed grass that clung to the lower bars of the cage, sending a single crimson feather into the air. "I've no idea where the bandits are, what happened or where Silver's gone,"" she chose to break the bad news to her directly, as no amount of sugar coating would lessen the blow. The wyvern lowered her head slightly. "I'm sorry."


She was about to offer a plan when something fiery coloured charged out of the trees and straight towards Sleet. A dragon, and she was moving towards her employer like an enraged bull, fast and fierce.

Athy had expected an ambush or some sorts, but it still took her off guard. Move! she thought, and sprang into action, trying to barrel into the red dragon's side before they could touch Sleet, an angry roar tearing from her parted jaws. There was no time for fancy moves, her priority was getting the bandit away from Sleet.

It wasn't like Dirge to look uncertain when she was usually so full of herself and contemptuous of everyone else. That was the very behaviour Ayato had caught the Ugaan exhibiting as he passed Dirge, and this sparked his decision to tail her, even though he knew deep down he would likely end himself up in a very messy situation. Earning a mere Ugaan's ire was no problem, but a situation that would make an assured female look around furtively could turn out to be a secret that broke Ki'Shan laws. An Aliugaan interfering would be bad for Dirge, who would likely fight til her dying breath.

Or he was overthinking and dramatizing everything. Again.

With a sigh Ayato abandoned his dreams of sleeping at home curled up under his favourite blanket. He switched direction and followed Dirge at what he hoped was a reasonable distance, occasionally stopping to examine some product at a random store to look like he totally didn't suspect Dirge of being up to something. But he never let her out of his sight. Sometimes he entered crowds to add to the act, but Dirge never noticed him. The further they drew away from civilisation, the more alarmed Ayato grew. More suspicious. And harder to hide, damn it! Stupid desert.

He gave up all hope when she crossed out of Ki'Shan lands, and muffled a groan when it was evident they were going to fly. And fly they did, for a ridiculously long distance. Ayato's wings barked in annoyance at the sudden exertion, and he grumbled to himself as he made towards the clouds to hide in them. He emerged damp and unhappy with the sudden moisture on his scales. If only clouds were solid and he could use them for transportation or something.

At last they reached a forest, where Dirge touched down. There he spotted two dragoness of similar silver/white hues... Wait, was that Athena? From the clouds he cursed, disgruntled. Why her, of all dragons? He hadn't seen her around recently, and of all problems she could have gotten herself into, she got into the very one he was in? She did realise that interacting with non-Ki'Shans were generally forbidden, right? She would have a lot explaining to do, unless her companion turned out to be Ki'Shan as well.

Though, tribe members did not usually charge towards another and aim to harm them as Dirge was doing. Ayato dove down from the clouds, maw opened to release a roar of warning.

Dirge hadn't thought her plan through, which was common for her. She had a tendency to brute force her way through most situations, acting on emotion before logic. All it took was seeing one unfamiliar dragon in her ruined camp for her to immediately go on the offensive. An attack that was immediately met with another dragon she hadn't seen slamming into her side and knocking her to the ground.

The brutish dragoness hastily squirmed back onto her feet before glaring at Athena through gritted teeth. “What have you done with my clan, you mud-licker?!” she exclaimed, baring her teeth and walking back and forth in front of the other dragoness like a predator. “If you killed them, I swear I'll make sure both of you die slow.”

Sleet was at a loss for words. An attempt had been made on her life for the first time in a long time. Luckily, her trusty hirling had jumped in just in the nick of time. Not before she'd been surrounded by thunderous roars that felt like they were coming from everywhere.

As Sleet shakily backed away, preparing to try and hide while Athena distracted this bandit, her eyes turned skyward and widened with fear. “Take caution, darling! Another bandit is above you! I would gladly double your pay should you manage to do away with both of them!”

The dainty mother slinked away behind a large stack of barrels, hiding there as best she could. ‘Hiding’ was to be used loosely, however, as the tip of her pearly white tail still stuck out.

Dirge looked up for a moment, only for surprise to wash over her expression. Was that...Ayato? What was an Aliugaan doing all the way out here?

The orange dragoness fixed her gaze back on Athena, rage still in her eyes. She decided she would try to kill this dragoness before Ayato could question what was going on. Perhaps she’d be able to lie and say these two white-scaled dragons were actually part of a bandit clan, and that she’d been the one to clear out the camp.

“It’s time to fry, worm!” Dirge roared before opening her maw and unleashing a rather large cone of flames in front of her.

The sound of her body smashing into her enemy's side reminded her of crashing thunder. The earth shook as Sleet's attacker fell. Athena stood still, watching through narrowed eyes as she hurriedly scrambled onto her feet. She returned her glare, baring her teeth at her.

The dragoness standing in front of her was ruby red with orange stripes racing down her back. Two brown horns protruded from the back of her head. She was muscular, built to fight and win a battle. They seemed evenly matched, although her opponent would have an advantage thanks to her species. Athena's shoulder was stinging from where she'd knocked into her.

"Clan? Seems more like a group of flea bitten mongrels to me," she spat, watching her every move as she paced back and forth in front of her. She was like a massive, scarlet cougar. Fierce and intimidating. "Mongrels who kidnap dragons, too," perhaps if she subdued this dragoness, maybe she'd get information on Silver's location.

Athena's tail lashed, the spikes standing on end, ready to fire, the trident-shaped blades on the end of her tail gleaming in the sunlight that polished swords. Her head snaked back and forth, copying Dirge's motions, in a way.

It seemed this female had no idea where the bandits were, either. Or maybe this was a trick, to lure her into thinking she had no information on her. Right now, she wasn't sure. What she was sure of, however, was that this dragoness was going to kill her unless she fought back.

At Sleet's shout, the wyvern's blue eyes darted upwards. There! Up in the clouds, a blue dragon was diving down towards them. Crap. Now it was two against one, as Sleet would not be any help. Wait, he seemed familiar...

Oh no. no. Nooo. Not him. Please. She really didn't want to get it in the neck from Ayato. She couldn't tell if it was him or not, because she had to return her attention to the scarlet dragoness before she attacked, just as Dirge roared and parted her jaws.

Athena leaped into the air, but not before the flames caught her in the legs. The hide there blackened and she bellowed in rage and pain. Luckily, it was only her right leg that had been burnt, having shielded her left from much harm. However, it meant she would have to rely on her left leg for the remainder of this battle. Wonderful.

She swung her tail, firing four spikes at Dirge. The four, spear-like weapons shot towards her like bullets. She then flared her wings and dove straight for her, aiming to slam into her and knock her off balance again.

He released a roar, a warning: "STOP," and even as he was doing so, he knew that it'd come too late and would make no difference, especially as Dirge bellowed her battle cry. The Ugaan stopped her circling and her stance changed as her maw pulled open, allowing a blast of fire to ripple out, deadly tendrils of red and orange spinning towards Athena...

The ice wyvern dodged barely in time, and Ayato couldn't hold back a cringe as flame met feathers, scorching them black and making them curl. He wondered if the lotion would be able to fix it, if it weren't used up by now with the merciless heat that roamed the Ki'Shan desert. Briefly he felt concern for Athena before he dove down with a ferocity matched by no other predator.

He had initially planned to observe from the clouds and decide on the best course of action. Emphasis on initially; and not at all to his surprise, things didn't go according to plan, though he only had himself to blame. Instead of holding back and calmly assessing the situation, here he was, hurtling through the air.

Then again, he'd never been one for calm thinking and logical action. Charging into situations and using brute force to handle them was his way of taking charge, and in this he shared a similarity with Dirge. He allowed a grimace before his claws met ground and uprooted some soil in his haste to move forward, tearing forward with a frenzied speed.

He targeted the closest female in combat, which happened to be Dirge, and attempted to roughly shove her aside, crashing into her side. If his limbs were caught in the line of fire, they would blacken as well, but he would pay the pain no heed, having used to burning himself. If Dirge tumbled onto one side, Ayato would fall onto her and narrowly avoid being speared through with Athena's spikes, though the crash depended on whether Athena pulled away in time. If Dirge didn't move, Ayato would throw out his wings in front of both of them, and three of the spikes would go through his wings.