Quartz

ORIENTATION: bisexual
OCCUPATION: commander of the honed blade (ex-mercenary)
PERSONALITY: keen, determined, clever and pretty quick-witted (especially with his jokes).


ART:



BEAUTIFUL ART DONE BY MY FRIEND @SpiritX GO THROW COOKIES AT THEM



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Scarlet blood flecked his claws, his wings. Not his own. His uncurled tail kicked up the gritty sand as Quartz paced, once again sizing up the wildclaw snarling in front of him. A stiff breeze ruffled his feathers. They'd been in this damn arena for hours, long enough for the rising sun to cast their snarls in the light of dawn, and his opponent hadn't let up. But neither had he.

"Come over here, you coward, show me what you've really got."

The dark wildclaw leered at him, swiping out with his tremendous claws, also coated in crimson. The coatl watched as he liberally kicked up the sand, trying to goad a reaction from him. Quartz narrowed his eyes as an idea began to take shape in his head.

"C'mon, fight me!"

The wildclaw lunged, and–

Now.

Quartz roared and leapt up, flaring his huge white wings. The sun slammed into the glittering facets and into the wildclaw's eyes, blinding him. The dragon stumbled back, braced defensively but still struggling to open his eyes, his own wings flared for balance. Quartz immediately reared forward and shoved the wildclaw's long snout into the sand, swiftly pinning his kicking legs underneath him–

–Before jumping up and lending the wildclaw an apologetic claw.

"I'm so sorry Dakari, I think I got a bit carried away. You were really riling me up there!" Quartz laughed amiably, helping his sparring partner get to his claws. Dakari laughed and shook his wings of wayward sand. "That was really good, don't apologise. Flaring your wings the way you did was something I've never seen before. Unique, too." he smiled.

"Yeah, well, it was a spur of the moment thing."

"It was really damn good, Art!"

"Pfft."

"I don't know about you but I'm done for today. That was great work." Dakari tilted his head back and watched as the last stars winked themselves out. Quartz nodded, giving his wings a final stretch, exhausted but content. "Sounds about right. Looks like we've been at it all night."

And there the two stood, heads skyward, as amber became gold, rich blues and velvet purples melting into tawny amber daybreak. In wordless appreciation of the dawn gilding the arena's stone walls, for a moment, all there was in the world were two warriors and the boundless sky.

Eventually, they headed off into the morning, on the well-worn track to the huts. It wound quietly through the trees to a humble but neat village that a small river crossed partly into. The huts they were staying in were near the river. Yet, the village was a place that they both knew they wouldn't stay in for long. The residing dragons were good-natured, sure, and welcoming too, but it wasn't for them. The villagers knew it too, somehow. While their generosity was abounding, the dragons kept them at an arm's length.

Quartz let a crooked smile slant his mouth as the pair walked in companionable silence. Somewhere above a bird greeted the sun, and he idly kicked a rock by the side of the path.

"Tomorrow?"

He could hear the answering smile in Kari's hum. "Yeah."