Roleplay

S A N C Y S T A L L O S

The whispers were restless today.

They were always there, speaking softly to him in a language he couldn't know. Most of the time, it was in the back of his mind, and there was little need to pay it much attention. It was the Trees speaking among themselves, he supposed, and he was merely overhearing it. Besides, the majority of his communication with them was through touch.

But now, the whispers were louder and more continuous. They refused to be ignored. Despite all his checks with them for information regarding intruders, nothing unusual came up. He even patrolled the area thoroughly, though he couldn't sweep the entire Strand in a single day. Aside from other typical residents, no one was in the forest... And yet, they were horribly unsettled, even... afraid. These immortal, ethereal beings, afraid.

Understandably, Sancystallos was on edge. He would sooner die than let the Trees fall.

But what was he to do if he couldn't find what was wrong? How could he help? Could he?

He didn't have long to consider these things, his head pressed against one of the colossal Trees. Because soon, something new approached the treeline, something warm. Its warmth was felt by the nearest Trees' branches, leaves, and flowers. The information of the stranger spread through the Trees like a forest fire, each passing it onto its neighbors. Within moments, Sancystallos's ears pricked. Dark eyes flicked open to stare at the Tree's pale bark. He was alerted to the new individual on the edge of the Strand. And he knew that this had to be why the Trees were so uneasy.

Lifting his body from against the Tree, Sancystallos brushed his cheek against it once, lovingly and with reassurance. The imperial then took off at a sprint, making a beeline for the unusual entity. Whatever it was, he knew, it didn't belong here.

@cornleaf

F E N N E K I N

The flames underneath the soil are hungry once again, it hounds like a dog sniffing for it's favorite treats, sending their partners to where it wishes to feast. Smog clouds with the bones of victims whipping through the air similar to vultures. A few come down to their tool, the steel to their flint, a singular match that ignites the craving of destruction and lost. The smog growl lowly to Fennekin as she lays among the burning hot stone and coal. Clueless to how much pain her fire brings, Fennekin's curiousness and friendliness agrees to the smog's destructive duties. So... She did. Her palms wilting the grass and plants beneath from excessive amounts of heat radiating off of her. As Fennekin wanders, she decides to touch one of the beautiful large trees. Placing her claws against the chipped bark, scorning a dark print into the wood, leaving a mark no-one can remove without the tree being hurt even more.

Fennekin travels closer to The Strand, taking her time admiring every detail, she flinches at a harsh yell nearby, her defensiveness and fright only making the heat grow closer to dangerous temperatures.

//sorry it's not as interesting as yours ;; @Resorant

It wasn't long before Sancystallos saw the edge of the treeline, and though he was forcefully huffing air through his nostrils, his heart slamming against his ribs, he pushed on, bounding across the forest floor. His claws kicked up leaf litter as he weaved between the Trees, and soon, his gaze fell upon a dragon. He shouted out for the stranger, sharply,

"Get back!"

Once the imperial neared the forest's edge, he slowed, giving him the opportunity to actually look at the unwelcome visitor. It was a pearlcatcher, female and bearing vibrant hues of orange and red. She seemed scared and certainly didn't come across as a creature who would threaten the spirits of the Strand. For a moment, he had his second thoughts. Maybe he had been mistaken. But as his gaze flickered over the female, he noted the dead plants beneath her feet... as well as the burn mark on the nearest Tree. His eyes widened and his mane bristled as he leapt to the defense of his family, putting himself between her and the Tree.

"Why are you here?" he growled, gaze fixed on the smaller, seemingly harmless drake. Though his lips were twisted in a snarl and his eyes were glaring holes in the pearlcatcher, he would not lay a claw on another without being certain it was justified.

... But this fear that twisted in his gut seemed like decent justification.

//don't worry at all!! I loved it <33 super excited!!!!

The heat crawled closer to the leaves of the trees as the imperial rose his voice like a defensive hound, Fennekin's sparkling eyes didn't leave his. She took a small step back causing the heat to make the leaves wilt and flare up on the branches, "I-I was told of a place... A beautiful place... And wanted to see what it was." She answers truthfully, but with so much vagueness, she came out as innocent.

If Fennekin were to go back to where she came from without setting food into the strand, she would anger the controlling smog that taunts her. The pearlcatcher focused on the hairs of the imperial's muzzle, as they slowly started to shrink and burn by her radiating heat, she gasps taking a deep breath, trying to calm down her warmth. Gradually, everything around her stopped wilting... Fennekin looks down as if she was shameful.

"I mean no harm... Really."

As he stared down the dragon in front of him, he truly had a hard time seeing any kind of cruelty or malice in her. It was difficult tying the horror felt by his brethren to this seemingly innocent creature.

But looks could be deceiving. The darkest hearts could hide behind the brightest eyes, such as the very ones holding his gaze. And with that mark she had clearly left on that sacred bark... He was not letting his guard down.

Out of the corner of his eye, Sancystallos watched as leaves began to wilt on the Tree. He bared his teeth in a snarl, terror fueling his fury, until the vile scent of burning hair filled his nostrils. The imperial lifted a paw to his head and swiped at his snout, bits of burning whiskers falling off at his touch. Though the heat was not yet painful, it was notably uncomfortable.

"... You don't mean harm?" he echoed, bewilderment and unease muzzling the biting anger in his tone. "Then what is this?" He nodded towards the Tree, with its scorched bark and half-dead leaves. Though he had the thought in his head of attempting to capture the stranger right now, she was clearly a volatile being, whatever she was. Plants could be killed without the twitch of a claw, so for all he knew, she could set the Strand ablaze any second. The intense heat she gave off certainly suggested so.

"What did you do...?"

"That's something I can't control, I-I'm telling the truth" The pearlcatcher stutters, looking over the wilts of plants and the scorch mark she left on the tree. She pointed to her claw marks, "I wanted to touch the trunk because it's so beautifully textured. I didn't mean to burn the wood... I can't control what I am born with. Sir."

That last word... Sir... Very emphasized in a low tone. Fennekin's mood changed from frightened to irritated quick, she didn't want to be seen as a criminal for little she has done. Her words were just being thrown away.

Fennekin takes a step closer to the imperial choosing to never let go of his gaze. Sancystallos can feel a large whiff of heat return, almost closing in on his flammable coat. "I want to see The Strand. I have no where else to go... I'm curious if it holds it's name of beauty... Please." She barely begs for him to let her pass. Based on the Imperial's stubborn attitude, Fennekin didn't have any backup plan.

"Whether you can control it or not is none of my concern," Sancystallos bit back, quickly and bitterly, before giving pause to his words and letting her speak. He cared very little for the wants and needs of dragonkind, content to focus on this smaller world that he shared with those he cared about--and who cared about him in turn. Even standing on the forest's edge like this made him feel vulnerable, like a lone hatchling peering up at the wingspan of a hunting roc. Needless to say, that was not leaving him in a good mindset for negotiation.

... But this lone dragon, a stranger with some kind of bizarre "affliction," according to her...

The whispers voiced their hushed, urgent contentions, filling his head like wind through branches. Their anxieties drove him to dig his claws into the soil as he juggled his options, tail slapping firmly and repeatedly against the soft ground.

A wave of fervent heat dissipated the cloud of his thoughts, and as the dragoness stepped closer, he sucked in a breath, despite himself. His stare was affixed to hers as he let her request hang in tense, burning silence.

It was finally broken by the hiss of a long-held breath through the male's nostrils. He was the one to sever their eye contact as he turned his head back towards the Trees.

"... You may enter, so long as you allow me to escort you," he finally murmured, his rage having dissolved to show the tense, wary creature beneath. "This is an important place. It is a dangerous place, as well." Though the beauty of this place was bewitching, many drakes wandered to their death among the glowing blooms. "If beauty is what you seek, there are few better places than this." When his eyes finally fell upon the other, he looked at her more as a dragon, instead of a threat.

Well, more like both, maybe.

"There are those who will defend that beauty to their deaths."

The pearl-catcher's blazing scales had finally calmed to lower temperatures, a small radiation coming from her like a camp fire the brightness of the stripes partially dim. Fennekin smiled, exposing her bright fangs as the Imperial agreed to show her around the area.

She tips her head, having the rose thorn crown resting upon it, to glisten from the guardian's jewels. "The name I hold is Fennekin. I have a feeling we won't be stale strangers through this... Please, lead the way." she spoke, spreading her thin, bat similar wings to help her flutter slightly above the soft soil.

Right beneath Fennekin as she hovered, was brunt grass from her piping claws and tail. Maybe staying in the air during this trip is a good idea.

As the female's scales dimmed and heat calmed, a suspicion in the back of Sancystallos's mind bubbled to the surface. This odd affliction of hers seemed to be controlled by emotion, or at least tied to it. And it was true that she didn't seem to have much of a grasp on it. Where did she come here from? The Ashfall Waste made the most sense, but as far as he knew, those dragons had better control of their abilities...

She introduced herself, and the Starwood guardian dipped his head lightly in turn. The tension between the two had subsided along with the heat, but that did not mean he was letting his guard down. Nonetheless, he would be polite. "I go by Sancystallos," the imperial responded as he turned to step back beneath the trees. A sigh of relief left the male as he returned to his place beneath the canopy.

"The trees are stunning now," he breathed as he gazed up at their branches and slid his body against the next tree he passed. "But one must wait until night to see their true beauty." He glanced to his unlikely companion. "I hope you will stay to see it. I don't recommend attempting to traverse the Strand at night anyway."

@Resorant (( I'm so sorry for the late reply, I've been busy with work and haven't been given time to sit down and write ;;

Sancystallos snakes around the trees with such protective intentions, something Fennekin can definitely notice just by examining the stale emotion imperial. How dangerous can this place be? She thought. It does mask itself in beauty, but the pearlcatcher is too gullible to look past the various beasts that hide behind that mask.

Fennekin tilted her head in confusion at the imperial's words, fluttering closer towards him and the tree he leans against "Why not travel through when the rest is at it's best? It can't as dangerous as you mention it to be." she asks, her voice low but not enough to whisper. Her skin seems to glow ever so slightly in excitement, like a curious child.

"Then come on~ Let's start on our journey already!" She circles the tree with a few fast wisps of her thin wings, but then hit the ground at a harsh stop. The grass around her body quickly turning to dark ash.