Peculiar Encounters (Open to all)

It wasn't that common that Vortex traveled to Shiveki. Too buggy, he would complain to no-one but himself. But today was different. He was in Shiveki for the first time in a while, and what do you do first when going to Shiveki? Fishing, of course. Not that he couldn't fish anywhere else, but the radioactive gasses which the underwater flora released caused... interesting results. Now, these radioactive plants only existed in a particular location on the continent, which happened to be dangerously close to Xoya borders. Not on the borders, mind you, but pretty close. Vortex had decided to go fishing here, as he did every now and again, just to test the results. He wasn't at all worried about the possibility of some random guard or patrol finding him, as that had happened to him in the years before. Unlike some people, he learned from his mistakes, and developed an alias for just those occasions. It was rather funny, how whenever approached by some patrol nowadays, he could just say in Xoyan that his name was Eshkoshtar and that he was a researcher, and nobody even checked twice. He looked the part and sounded it too, why would they check twice?

Usually, Vortex would stay for two to three weeks at a time, to see what results he could conjure up. Today... well, it wasn't going so well. He had caught a single, double-tailed salmon. Terrible findings. Nothing like last year with the three-headed swordfish or the jellyfish with eyes. All around him, there was still snow leftover from the past winter, meaning he could simply set his findings on the snow and not have to worry about them going bad while he fished. Returning to his thoughts, he managed to reach down with enough swiftness and accuracy to capture a legged trout, which wasn't all that great compared to the previous years but was still pretty neat in his personal opinion. While being this deeply concentrated on the wide river he was fishing on, he wasn't really paying all that much attention to anyone or anything behind him.

Viddera had wandered perhaps a bit farther from the borders than she should have, but oh well. She was in an adventurous mood. Besides, what better way to come up with monsters for your new book, than go out and see what strange new mutated monstrosities had evolved within the past month? Her satchel hung from her neck, and she felt the weight of her notebook, pencils and paint inside. Comforting. Out here, away from the prying, scrutinising eyes of her superiors, Viddera could truly be herself. She grinned as she performed a small barrel roll and dove down to soar just above the trees.

Her wings beat a steady rhythm. Quiet, but audible over the din of the swamps below. She scanned the watery floor for a place to land, silvery eyes darting back and forth for flickers of motion. She resembled a huge, black and red bat in the sky, brushing the dark canopy with her talons.

Wait.... what was that?

Tilting her wings, Viddera spun around to face the dark shape huddled by the wide river. She couldn't see their face, for they were concentrating on the water. It was like staring into a dragon shaped void. Empty. Impossibly dark. her eyes narrowed. She didn't recognise them. Were they an invader from another tribe? Immediately, the urge to protect her tribe stirred. Tucking her wings into her sides, she dropped onto the upper branch of a tree. Moving silently and swiftly, like a panther, she climbed down and hit the forest floor. She stalked towards the dark dragon, prowling like a hunting tigress.

if he didn't notice her, she would try to come up behind him and press her talons into the side of his neck. "Make any moves and your guts will be lyin' all over this damn bank. Now explain yourself," she hissed, if she succeeded.