Raeoki's Clan

The screeched song of metal pistons through the sands of the Highland Scrub. Beneath the scraggly cactus and the tidal dunes and the bongs of iron, a low bowl-shaped floor rattles with the chatter of crowding dragons and the clamor of the little war flaming in the center. Two small, man-made animals tear and buck at one another, their bodies and their weapons whirling with dodges, parries, and wounds. Their quasi-inventors sit at opposite sides of the center, their bodies warped with tension as controllers rattle and click in their claws. Bets fly; the splinters of screws and metal sheets soar with them. Cold light flickers from the breathing shafts in the ceiling, the room’s only bulb radiates a dry blood light; dense shadows morph in one flashing hive.

Silence snaps across the crowd as one bot’s titanium head shatters like glass, and tumbles into a sputtering puddle of electricity. The sound of its controller clicking clatters about the room; one of the duelers, a young Coatl, lacerates his lips with his fangs as he tries to revive his maimed bot by flailing the buttons on its console. From the haze of silence, a low, still voice murmurs: “Three.” The crowd lights up. “Two.” Grinning, the Coatl’s opponent, a female Snapper, joins in, thrusting her stony paw into the air: “ONE!”

Cued, a purplish Fae swoops off from her perch atop a blood-colored Guardian’s claw; they had both been seated practically inside the ring. With a fanfare of bristling wings and frills, she alights between the two dented robots and their authors. Standing on her hind legs, she stretched out her Lilliputian body as much as she can for her audience - but everyone took notice of her since the moment she stepped off of her Guardian, Waldemar. Everyone, even newcomers, knows who Viveca is. Her stage presence is magnetic. Her movement is a swirl of color; her eyes are fire. She tilts her head back in decree and challenge, out of habit and not performance - she has a tyrant’s heart - and she belts, in her scratchy but lyrical voice: “LADIES - AND GENTLEDRAGONS - THE WINNER, BY TOTAL ANNI-HIL-LATION, FOR THE TWENTY-FIFTH TIME THIS SEASON...” With a sporadic gesture of her frills, she swings her fore-claw around, pointing at the Snapper. “GREEEEEEGOOORRRRYYYY!” The audience roars. Pride stretches Gregory a few inches taller. Her brother and sister, Pearlcatchers both, leap out from the audience and shrink her down with back slappings and dog pilings and shrieks.

The loser, Ezar, watches with a tight, trampled countenance. He leans over and picks up the remains of his small robot, and it buzzes in its claw. Whatever parts were left attached dribbles to the ground. Through the riot of triumph, he hears light claw-steps, and he turns his head. A Skydancer - Ezar’s business partner and translator, Aster - leans over, and hisses something in his ear. They snap at one another in hushed tones; Aster practically forces Ezar to shove him away. Twitching his wings, Ezar yanks himself to his feet and trots away. Aster stares after him. With icicle eyes, his gaze sweeps away, perches like a knife-tip over Viveca’s and Gregory’s heads. He sucks air through his nostrils; his eyes clatters atop the strewed limbs of Ezar’s robot.

Viveca throws up her claws; the audience falls silent. “Will anyone interested in LEAVING or just getting PAID, please collect your AWARD MONEY over by the COUNTER THERE!” She paused; her frill twitches like a thief’s smirk. “I’m sure you were ALL smart enough to KNOW who to BET FOR!” Gregory’s siblings pump their claws and whoop.

Aster’s eyes roll, but a stiff smile curls across his long, fox-shaped muzzle. With a little sweep of his tail, his talons click like trumpets as he pads away to collect his earnings.
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Hi. My name's Raeoki. I like cats and turtles. I also like writing, especially about my dragons. I'd like to apologize in advance if my writing on this site isn't that original so far; I'm experimenting with genres, so I'm kind of starting off with what I know has been done before.

Everything you see here will change over time.

Hit me up for...whatevs. This clan is also intended to be a rp clan, so if that tickles your fancy... ;)