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Post by Kitten King on Sept 10, 2012 1:56:45 GMT -5
The morning came quickly. The sunlight began to filter over the edges of the mountains, not yet visible itself. In the tent, the small black form of Xan uncurled and stretched, yawning lovely mouse-breath right into his partner's face. "Ugh, Xan," she groaned, shoving the Min away. "Do you have to do that every morning?" "Every morning," he purred, leaning back over to lick her nose. "Rise and shine, darling. Time for the hard part." It didn't take long for Mika to pack up the inside of her tent. She quickly downed a piece of her jerky as she went, trying to get a little bit of protein in her system before Shayla poked her head in. Speaking of which, she should probably check to see if the other girl was awake... Tucking the last of her supplies, tent excluded, back into her bag, she emerged from the tent. She paused to stretch, dim morning light shining on her back and casting a long shadow. It was early - but today she didn't mind. When she got back onto the road, back into the journey... the morning wasn't so bad, anymore.
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Post by Silver on Sept 10, 2012 2:11:43 GMT -5
Shayla awoke to something sharp kneading into her thigh. She yelped and sat up, reaching for her glasses in the dimness of the tent. She wasn’t surprised to see Halcy as the world once again shifted into focus through the thick glass. This seemed to be a regular occurrence.
“You know, you could just nudge me or something. No need to be violent.” She pouted, yawning as she grabbed her discarded tunic off of the floor. Halcy did not seem to be listening, because he immediately started fishing around in her pack for food. “Mika probably isn’t even up yet.”
“Oh, she is.” Halcy’s muffled voice was barely audible through the thick cloth of the bag and the fact he was in the middle of eating something in there. “Hurry up, we still have a long ways to go.”
“Like you would know...” She mumbled, stretching her hands above her head and arching her back while letting out a loud yawn. She hadn’t slept well. The ground must have been covered with rocks, because she could feel them poking her throughout the night through the thin canvas shelter.
“Good morning!” Shayla said cheerfully as she crawled out of the tent, surprised to see that Mika was in fact up. That could only mean one thing; they had a long day ahead of them.
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Post by Kitten King on Sept 10, 2012 2:28:35 GMT -5
"Morning," Mika responded, turning to start pulling her tent down. "Sleep okay?" With speed and precision, her tent was soon folded back up with the skilled hands of someone who had been traveling for awhile. The only thing left out was a small bag of dried apricots, for a little more breakfast. "If you need a little bit of time to eat, I'd take it now."
At her feet, Xan was sitting, eyes closed as he basked in the rising sun. It'd be a long day... but the winds in the mountains were some of his favorites. There was something bizarrely comforting about them - Mika had said the same, when they'd first come here. He guessed it was just in their blood. Speaking of which... his eyes opened, and he blinked, slowly. ....huh. With a flash of amber his gaze moved back to Shayla's tent, where he zeroed in on the fluffy tail of Halcy. He wondered if the silver cat would realize... no. No, surely he would have realized last night. He was over thinking things. He shook his head, wiggling his ears and pursing his whiskers as he yawned. No. He'd be fine.
Nothing to worry about there.
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Post by Silver on Sept 10, 2012 2:38:03 GMT -5
“Um, well... I suppose that depends on your definition of ‘okay’.” Shayla laughed, quickly retrieving her pack from the tent and shaking Halcy out of it and onto the ground with a thud and a hiss. She then proceeded to plop herself down on a log and rummage for something to eat. Ah, so that is what Halcy had gotten into. The small bag of dried fish was torn open at the corner and bits and pieces were strewn around her pack. Oh well, there was enough left for breakfast.
“So, what is the plan for today? Are we going to change our route?"
Halcy glanced at Xan suspiciously as he sat next to Shayla. Last night had been much too hectic for him to even think about it much, but when he finally did get a chance to think about it he was incredibly suspicious. He wasn’t exactly an expert, but even he knew that Dryads were averse to fire. That made him highly suspicious of why a nim would be so adept at fire spellcraft. There was really only one explanation, one that he had already suspected when a so-called ‘dryad’ seemed to know so much about these mountains.
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Post by Kitten King on Sept 10, 2012 3:03:10 GMT -5
"I'm not sure," Mika admitted, sitting down across from Shayla. "I was just about to check on that." She glanced over at Xan, who rolled his eyes and stood back up, fluttering his wings.
"Yes ma'am," he droned sarcastically, and she stuck her tongue out back at him. The little feline spread his wings, taking off and fluttering up into the sky before catching an air current and heading swiftly towards the mountains. He flapped strongly, speeding along as quickly as he could without wasting too much energy. He scanned the ridges of the mountains, searching for any signs of guards.
"Shouldn't take him more than a few minutes," she said, watching him go. "He travels pretty quick on the thermals here." She squinted her eyes as the first golden rays of the sun peaked over the mountains, shining in her eyes and illuminating the ground around her in gold light. Such a gorgeous color...
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Post by Silver on Sept 10, 2012 3:11:52 GMT -5
Shayla stared in awe as Xan took flight and vanished over the treeline. Min were definitely amazing creatures. Despite the diversity of Mithras, Xan was the first min she had actually seen in action.
“So...” She began, thinking about the situation at hand. “If there are guards, that means we probably have to find a less known route?” The path they were currently traveling was well known in Mithras as the gateway to the eastern mountains. However, with the tensions so high between humans and dragons, there was probably a good chance that guards would be stationed to stop unwanted humans from entering the domain.
Halcy watched as Xan flew higher into the sky, a plan forming in his mind. Obviously these two didn’t want anyone to know that Mika was part dragon. That meant blackmail. Xan couldn’t tell Mika about him or he would tell Shayla about her!
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Post by Kitten King on Sept 10, 2012 16:16:33 GMT -5
"We'll have to take one, yeah," Mika said, chewing down an apricot. "There's one a little farther southwest, if we follow the base. It's not as defined, and more of a hike, but outsiders never use it." She had to pause again there, thinking. That... warranted a bit of an explanation. "I have a friend here who showed it to me. I used it to leave last time, since it was actually closer to his den." She wondered briefly if they'd run into him on the route. It was a distinct possibility, and she wasn't sure how she felt about it. He was a good friend yeah, but there were some... things... she didn't want to deal with when Shayla was there, too. That'd just be plain awkward.
The heat of the wind drove Xan upwards, tracing the path up the mountain. So far it seemed clear... his sharp eyes traced the red rock, not spotting anything immediately - but then, there it was. Movement. He circled, observing for a moment, and saw just what he was looking for. Dust coated the bright red scales so that the large dragon blended in with the rock. It paced over the rock, tracing the path up the mountain for a moment before climbing another ridge and turning around. It curled up, sharp orbs of ruby scanning the path below as it bared its teeth. Not good...
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Post by Silver on Sept 10, 2012 19:01:23 GMT -5
Shayla was glad that Mika decided to explain the situation to her, because she was rather confused by her statement. The more she thought about it, the more strange she found it that a dryad would have spent so much time in these mountains. She understood that the girl had a friend, but why would a dryad and a dragon be friends? They were complete opposites, and traditionally had never worked closely with one another. She wasn’t about to complain though, it was her luck that she managed to find someone who actually knew where they were going. Short of hiring an actual dragon, she thought it would have been impossible.
“Good thing we got up early then, huh.” Shayla laughed, trying to make light of the situation. The truth of the matter was that their current predicament was rather dangerous. If there were guards stationed, she didn’t think that the dragons would be very understanding if they ended up getting caught. That was a situation that they were just going to have to avoid at any cost. She was rather glad Mika hadn’t actually asked where they were going in the mountains, because then she might lose her guide.
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Post by Kitten King on Sept 11, 2012 21:30:41 GMT -5
Mika nodded, smiling a little. She was thankful that Shayla didn't want to ask any more questions - there were some things she just didn't want to talk about. She glanced back at the sky, and could see something circling high above. She squinted at it, trying to see what it was but she couldn't tell from here. Hopefully just a mountain hawk...
"Mika!" The familiar yowl of Xan carried on the wind, and Mika's head turned as he fluttered down between the two girls. His ears were back, and he didn't look eager to go.
"Bad news?" she asked, a frown forming on her face. To her disappointment, Xan nodded.
"There's a big red dragoness pacing the path," he said, settling down on a rock. "And that's not all - there's a royal banner planted in the middle." Mika grimaced, not really wanting to hear what was next.
"They wouldn't put a total ban on outsiders..." she said, though unsure. "That's the only way to the northern forests." The cat shook his head, and she felt slight relief.
"No, they're smarter than that," he said, but his voice lighten. "But I don't know what they're doing. I couldn't get close enough without risking getting seen, and I'm not exactly native wildlife." Mika sighed, nodding.
"You made the right choice. Okay," she said, standing up and tucking the last of her supplies back into her bag. "In that case, we better take the alternate path. Once we get stuck on the main one, it sounds like there won't be any deviating from it." Come to think of it, she really didn't know where in the mountains they were headed... but that would be the easier part. The only place they didn't allow outsiders was the inner valley, and especially the hatcheries. She couldn't imagine that Shayla would want to go there.
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Post by Silver on Sept 11, 2012 21:50:08 GMT -5
Shayla’s heart fell as she heard the bad news. So, not only were there guards, but they had royal approval to be there. That probably meant that there was no chance of being able to sneak into the hatcheries if they went the main way. Those guards would be watching them like hawks and alerting everyone about them. Mika’s side path was sounding better and better every minute. She just hoped that there wasn’t anything unpleasant waiting for them there.
“So, sounds like our best bet is sneaking in the back door?” She laughed nervously while adjusting her glasses. Their little group was definitely conspicuous. Humans rarely travelled alone towards the kingdoms on the other side, and she was fairly certain most of the dragons in these mountains had probably never even seen a dryad before.
Halcy looked up at Shayla with a mixture of anxiety and doubt. Considering their destination, if they got caught it would all be over. Not to mention what Shayla was carrying. Most people didn’t know about black powder or the destructive force it could have, even other human kingdoms were relatively in the dark. However, if these dragons did happen to have even a notion and they were caught near the hatcheries.... He couldn’t even think about it. That was the absolute worst case scenario at this point, and it was bad.
“Well, we should probably be heading off then. It sounds like our alternate route may take a bit longer.” She was trying to sound brave and confident, she really was, but despite her best intentions her voice continued to shake.
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Post by Kitten King on Sept 11, 2012 23:42:51 GMT -5
"Yeah, we better go." Mika shouldered her bag, and Xan took off again, fluttering next to her. "It's rocky and uphill for the first part, and it's a narrow path - but once you get going it's pretty sheltered. We shouldn't have to deal with any unexpected visitors once we get deep enough. Until then... eyes on the sky again." She glanced up herself, but the shadow that had been circling earlier was gone. Must've been a mountain hawk after all.
They followed the main path for another hour or so, until they were right up against the base, and then turned to the southeast to follow it downwards. By the early afternoon, they'd reached the mountain base where a worn crevice traveled upwards, footholds barely visible in the rock. It was a bit of a climb, and the slope was giant and steep. Mika had to admit, she was fairly impressed by the way both Shayla and Halcy were able to keep up. It wasn't the easiest climb, but they seemed determined, and that was helping.
It was already late evening by the time they reached the easier part of the trail. They still had a long ways to go, but at least the slopes were gentler from here on out. It was still awfully open to the sky though... Mika leaned over, pausing for their first real break since starting the climb. Man, she forgot how much this could take out of you!
A dark shadow passed over head, and her gaze shot upwards. A low-flying dragon passed, wing beats barely silent. She froze for a heartbeat, watching it get farther away.... and it turned around.
"Shit, watch it!" she warned, quickly moving underneath the best overhang she could find. Unfortunately, there wasn't much to hide beneath yet, as they weren't in the most canyon-like of spots. "Hopefully it'll just pass over again. It might just be hunting." She wished she could be as certain as she made herself sound.
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Post by Silver on Sept 12, 2012 0:09:20 GMT -5
Shayla was trying her best to follow Mika, but she would be lying if she said it was easy. After a life of tending to the library and doing research, climbing the side of a mountain was exhausting. She couldn’t even make out a path anymore, and she really hoped that Mika remembered the location of the secret path correctly.
She was too busy climbing to even pay attention to what might have been happening overhead, but Halcy was not so careless. Every few moments he managed to sneak a glance upwards, half expecting an angry dragon to be swooping down upon them. They had come much too far to be stopped now. If this excursion failed, he wasn’t sure when they would have a chance to try again.
When they finally reached the top of the steep incline, Shayla stopped for a moment to try and calm her racing heartbeat and steady her ragged breathing. Mika seemed to be stopping too, she must have been tired... That was until she heard the other girl curse and run for the shelter of a small outcropping. Halcy hissed insistently and clawed into her shoulders, urging her to follow. She wasn’t sure where exactly to hide without jumping back down the steep hill, but she crawled over near Mika anyways. Hopefully the dragon would just keep going.
“Is this a normal hunting area?” She whispered sharply, heart beginning to race anew. This was the first dragon she had seen the entire journey so far, and it was terrifying.
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Post by Kitten King on Sept 12, 2012 0:55:50 GMT -5
"I don't actually know," Mika responded with a hiss. "Hunting patterns are way over my head." She didn't spend enough time observing the actual flight patterns of the locals to have any clue. At her feet, Xan was curled up with his fur bristled out, growling gently. Oh man, any dragons just try to come near him and his girl. He'd shred 'em!
For a minute, it looked as though the dragon was going to land... and it passed over. She sighed, relieved, when there was suddenly a THUD behind them. She froze again, and then violet fire shot above them, accompanied by a most ferocious roar. Not good, not good, not good. Yeah her escortee getting eaten on the second day would definitely not get her paid. Or be a good thing in any way. Shit, they were- wait a minute. Wait. V... violet fire? There was no way...
"WHO DARES ENTER THE PATH GUARDED BY THE GREAT LYCODEMUS?" came the bellowing voice. It was gravelly and rumbled, as any dragon's voice did when they spoke in true form. "FOR I SHALL BREATHE FIRE AND EAT YOU AND ROAR AND... STUFF..." He was ridiculous. He sounded in no way terrifying and if he thought he was seriously being so, he really needed to work on that.
"LYCO, YOU DUMB SHIT," she yelled back. "STOP THAT!" There was a moment of silence, before-
"...Mika?"
"YES, stupid!! You almost fried me!" Oh god, Shayla would be really confused right now. Mika shot her an apologetic glance, visibly relaxing and stepping away from the rock side.
"Whhhhoops..." Mika turned around, staring at the top of the giant rock. Perched atop was a large lavender dragon with a pale, fluffy mane around his neck. Bright purple eyes blinked down at her, and he had a mischievous grin on his fanged muzzle. UGH. Big fat pain in her ass, he was. She almost hated what a good friend he was, then she wouldn't feel as bad for yelling at him.
"You are a dick," she spat back at him, still frazzled.
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Post by Silver on Sept 12, 2012 1:33:24 GMT -5
As soon as Shayla heard the thud of the ground and felt the heat of purple fire flying over her head, she knew that it was over. They weren’t just going to get kicked out, they were going to get eaten. This was the end of everything. She could practically feel sharp fangs tearing into her body and crushing her bones. She only hoped that death would be swift and- wait... She really shouldn’t still be alive.
She slowly opened her eyes and looked behind her, wondering why the dragon had not attacked yet. Even more strange, why was he talking with Mika as though- oh... wait. Maybe this was the friend she had mentioned before. Even so, he was still incredibly intimidating. She had never been so close to a dragon in its true form. The sheer size was awe inspiring.
Halcy seemed to recover a bit more quickly than Shayla, and he cautiously stepped towards the figure. Yes, something was definitely suspicious here. If he had any doubts before about Mika’s lineage, this new development completely dispelled them.
Shayla slowly crawled out from the other side of the rock, standing up and dusting her tunic off. She looked rather a mess, and wiped her cheek sheepishly as she positioned herself defensively behind Mika. “H-hello.”
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Post by Kitten King on Sept 12, 2012 2:05:36 GMT -5
"Sorry," Mika set a hand on Shayla's shoulder. "I honestly didn't expect to run into anyone on this path. It's normally fairly deserted."
"Except for those of us who live here!" rumbled the dragon, still grinning.
"Hush," she snapped at him, and he simple gave a rumbling laugh back at her.
"Seriously, you know all of two dragons, darling!" He blew a puff of purple-hinted smoke their way, and it fanned out into a ring. "You're lucky it was one of us!"
"Define 'lucky'," she said wryly, before turning back to look at Shayla. "Shay, this is Lyco - Lyco, Shayla. I'm her hired escort." Lyco paused a moment, tilting his head, before he stood. He took a step forward, and as he did, his talons sparked. In a split second, he was engulfed in violet flames. They were heatless, not even disturbing the air around the event, and when they cleared a young man stood, wearing the same grin the giant beast had.
"Charmed!" Lyco said, sliding down the rock to greet them on the same level. His outfit was a mixture of tough, purple fabrics and black leather, clearly made for wear-and-tear. The sleeves ended at his elbows, showing off the lavender scales that ribbed up the tops of his forearm. A sleek pair of ebony horns rimmed his ears, curling around to point forward, and his eyes remained a deep, sharp violet. "So what brings you into the belly of fire this time of year?"
"That's need-to-know," Mika said briskly, unwilling to admit that uh... she didn't even know. She was worrying about that once they actually got in the mountains. Lyco held up his hands, raising a ridged eyebrow.
"Okay," he said, as he stepped even closer. Mika had to resist taking a step backwards, and focused on willing her face not to go red at any point. "Just wondering what tempted such a lovely flower back into my sight~" He winked at her, grin returning. Mika ground her teeth together and willed herself not to punch him in the face. So embarassing...
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