I hope it's okay their names are links? .__. It's the same on my page as well for convenience...
Nayair walked slowly through the long grass of the Windswept Plateau. She'd never been in such a lush, beautiful place. The grass was soft under her claws, still wet with the early morning dew.
She couldn't help but think back to the dark, gloomy wasteland that she had been born into. It wasn't exactly the worst place that she could imagine, but it held none of this natural beauty, none of the glorious, cooling winds, and lay like a festering wound.
"How fitting." She mumbled morbidly, "Of course Plague would have a home as wretched as itself."
"Nayair, you shouldn't insult your family like that."
Faldree, her mate, replied.
She sneered at him, "I can say whatever I wish to."
He paused, turning and looking deep into her eyes, "Should you, though?"
She flinched slightly, frowning at him. She didn't understand how he could be the only dragon to make her feel so strongly. She snorted at him, forcibly looking away from his gaze.
She could sense his smile as she walked though. It irritated her. He shouldn't be able to get to her that easily. No matter how much she disliked the land she had been born into, she took pride in her Mirror heritage. Mirrors were savage and brutal, and most of the time she thought she was too. Unless Faldree was around...
She was just about to snap a retort at the still-smiling Fae when a shadow passed over her. She looked up quickly, instinctively spreading her legs into a fighting stance. Her eyes met an
Imperial that was soaring high up on the thermals.
From so far away it was hard to make out, but she was sure she saw his eyes roll back. She was certain she at least saw the whites of them. In that instant, he started plummeting towards the ground. His wings collapsed to his side and he began falling, fast.
The winds helped slow his fall some, but gravity had a tight grasp on him. She leaped into the air at the same moment his eyes flickered open, his eyes widening immediately. He pushed his wings out, wincing at the strain as the air caught, and pushed down hard.
Nayair was amazed at his quick reaction, but he quickly fell again, slamming into the ground. He landed hard, but it was an infinitely softer landing than he would have had. Stunned, she flew over to his still form.
He lay crumpled on the ground, his eyes closed. He drew in a sharp breath, cracking his eyes open hesitantly. He winced instantly, his gaze traveling to her and her mate.
"A-are you alright?" Faldree asked, his worry obvious as he inspected the dragon.
"Yes, yes, I'm fine." He replied impatiently, brushing away Faldree's concern as he stood up, "But you won't be..." He swayed, stumbling slightly. A short growl forced Faldree to stop before he could help him.
"What are you talking about?" Nayair snapped, irritated with this stranger already. Who was he to just randomly fall out of the sky and then refuse help? Then he had the audacity to say some weird, shady crap to them?
"There's danger on the path ahead for you two." The Imperial replied vaguely, panting between words. "You must find another path to-"
"Cut the crap." Nayair snarled back, ignoring Faldree's look, "Why should we listen to
you? What do you take us for? Idiots?"
"N-no, I-" He tried to say, looking stunned, but he was interrupted again.
Nayair glared at him hard, growling low in her chest, "Ignore him, Faldree. He's not worth our time."
She turned away from the Imperial, stalking away back into the long grass. What was
wrong with that guy? Seriously, trying to take advantage of two travellers...
"Nayair, I think we should listen to him. He says that it's dangerous here." Faldree murmured, flying in beside her. "It wouldn't hurt to avoid it."
"I told you not to listen to that guy! He just falls from the sky and expects us all to listen to him? Well I'm not falling for it!"
He frowned at her, "You're being unreasonable."
"I'm the only one being reasonable here! You want to listen to him? Then you can go find somewhere else to walk. I'm going this way." She snarled at him, glaring back at him.
He blinked at her for a moment before he lowered his gaze, landing softly behind her. She could hear him padding slowly after her.
Ha! She thought,
See? He's not going to listen to him either.
They walked in silence until the sun was high up into the sky. A loud screech behind her made her whip around, a snarl on her face. Despite all of her words, she was finding herself jumpy after meeting that stranger.
Faldree lay in a heap on the ground, mumbling to himself as he struggled to free his paw from under a root.
"You're the clumsiest guy I've ever met..." She muttered as she started to backtrack to him.
He chuckled at her, "You know my legs are shorter than yours-" He stopped suddenly, his expression turning into a mask of surprise.
"Faldree, what is it?" She asked just as a pair of sharp talons embedded themselves into her shoulder. She shrieked loudly, digging her claws into the ground to keep from being pulled into the air.
She whirled her head around just as the Harpy swung a taloned forelimb at her. The claws caught just under her chin, ripping through her scales easily. She screeched loudly, snapping her jaws around its arm and biting deep into its flesh.
The Harpy gave an earth-shattering cry, lashing out with its legs. The talons caught at the thin membrane of her wings, ripping through them. She forced back a cry, focusing all of her strength on biting down on its arm.
With a strangled cry, it shoved away from her, flapping hard to get out of reach. Its arm swung uselessly at its side, likely broken.
Battle cries rang from all around her, the masked faces of Harpies appearing from the cliffs above and through the grass around her. They were surrounded.
Faldree shrieked wildly beside her, lashing out at them as they swarmed around him.
"Picking on the smaller one, are you?!" Nayair roared, launching herself at one that was pecking at his tail. "You won't get away from me!" She snarled, slashing a deep mark across its wing.
The Harpy howled in pain, retreating back into the grass. She snarled at the remaining ones, baring her fangs at them as she beat them away from her mate. He was really in a bad shape.
Blood was already coating his scales and he couldn't stand on his leg right. He must have sprained it when it got caught on the root. Nevertheless, he was still holding his ground against the Harpies.
"We can't go on like this, Faldree!" Nayair shouted, leaping away from a Harpy that was diving for her eyes. Her wings were ripped in several places already and there were deep scores across her back and shoulders.
"Fly!" Faldree cried, knocking a Harpy off of his leg and throwing himself into the air.
Nayair followed suit. The Harpies might be able to fly, but nothing in this land could fly as fast as a dragon. Especially a fleeing dragon. She ignored the stinging pain in her wings and the blood streaming down her body. She focused only on following Faldree, panting heavily.
Just as she thought they were getting far enough to be safe, a heavy body slammed into her from above. She whirled around, flailing wildly as she struggled to catch air with her wings. She was falling fast, a Harpy still clinging to her leg. It was ripping away at her with everything it had.
She screeched, her screams echoed by Faldree as the Harpy ambush completely overtook them. They had been lying in wait for the time they would flee... Nayair felt her consciousness begin fading before she could hit the ground.
Good... She thought,
I don't want to feel that.
"Wake up!" A loud voice shrieked, something even heavier slamming into her side. The Harpy clinging to her leg was ripped, screaming, away. She recognized this voice. It was that lousy Imperial!
She forced her eyes back open as the Imperial flew in underneath her, supporting her weight just before she could crash into the earth. "Faldree!" She cried as she saw her precious mate valiantly battling against the Harpies above.
He was faring badly though. His fins were ripped and he was covered in blood. A sharp blow to the head from one of the Harpies surrounding him was all it took. Like her, he began to plummet towards the ground far below.
Nayair screamed, forcing herself back into the air despite the pain it caused her, flying towards her mate. She caught him heavily on her back. He'd completely lost consciousness, his full weight falling onto her wounds.
She cried out in pain, dropping altitude despite her attempts to fly to one of the ledges. She missed completely, her wings aching from the strain of trying to support them both.
"Nayair!" The Imperial shouted, "This way!" He motioned towards a dark crack that split the cliff. She swerved towards him immediately, aiming for the cliff and letting herself glide towards the Imperial.
It was a rough landing, but they had at least managed to outrun the Harpies. For now.
"Come." The Imperial said, walking quickly into the crack. Nayair had no choice but to follow. She stumbled in after him, still carrying Faldree on her back.
The Imperial paused suddenly, a deafening crashing echoing from farther in the cave.
A waterfall? Nayair thought, frowning at him. As they drew further into the cave, she saw a deeper darkness infront of them, that she assumed lead further down into the underground river.
"We can't." She panted, "The river..."
He met her eyes, "Trust me." He replied, the sound of the Harpy cries echoing into the cave. He suddenly ran at her, shoving her over the edge and into the darkness below.
They crashed into the river, the water forcing her under and stealing her breath from her. Faldree was swept off of her back and carried away from her. She flailed wildly, water flooding into her nostrils and choking her. She lost consciousness then, completely at the mercy of the river.
She woke slowly, her lungs burning and her body sending waves of pain through her. She felt awful, her breath sawing through her. Her leg was the worst... She almost didn't even want to open her eyes to look.
Reluctantly, she forced her eyes open, blinking against the harsh light. She turned her head, gasping in pain as she laid eyes on the sorry mess of her back leg. Ignoring the pain, she forced her leg to move. It at least twitched...
"You're awake!" A male voice cried excitedly beside her. She felt a heavy body press against her side, making her wince.
"I'm sorry, I'm sorry!" Faldree cried, pulling away from her. He immediately pressed his face to her's though, nuzzling her gently. Not that that felt much better...
"You've been out for a whole day!" Faldree murmured worriedly, "Wisp says it was probably because of your leg. Your other wounds weren't so deep..."
"Wisp?" Nayair mumbled, coughing quietly.
"The Imperial. He pulled us out of the river and brought us here." Faldree replied, blinking down at her anxiously.
Nayair frowned, "He's still here?"
Faldree nodded, looking over his shoulder as Wisp entered into her view.
"How do you feel?" He asked, his gaze falling on her leg. "It doesn't look infected at least."
"Wisp..." Nayair said, forcing herself to sit up. She ignored Faldree's look, snorting at him under her breath. "Thank you. For helping us. And for warning us beforehand, even though I didn't listen to you."
Wisp nodded, a small smile visible on his lips. He seemed to be enjoying this thanks. Nayair gritted her teeth, but she knew better than to comment on it. "Speaking of which, how
did you know?"
Wisp blinked at her for a moment before he replied, "I am a Seer. Upon meeting someone's eyes, I can sometimes see their future. It doesn't happen all the time, but I usually see devastating events that are going to take place.
"In your case, I saw your ambush. The difference was that before I had told you, I saw your death in the vision..." He blinked down at her, "Whether it was my interference or your actions thereof that changed the future, I do not know."
Nayair frowned at him slightly, though she had heard of this gift. It was rare, but not unheard of. If this dragon was able to do something like this...
"Wisp." She said, meeting his gaze with her own, "I would like it if you would join us. It's just me and Faldree right now, but I believe you would be a vital component to our Clan." She bowed her head to him.
Wisp stood still for a few moments before he bowed his head back to her, "I accept your offer, Leader. I am honored to be a member of your Clan."
Faldree smiled, "If it's a Clan now, we should have a name. Something that tells us we're home."
They each turned and gazed out into the calming landscape around them. The waving breeze was twirling the leaves around them and swaying the grass. The sun shone down on the three dragons, warming them with its gentle rays.
Nayair smiled, ignoring the pain in her body as she stood completely, basking in the warm glow. "Here, The winds will carry us and the skies will warm us in this place. Here is where we shall call home. Yes, here we shall be known as the Clan of the Frolicking Whirlwinds."
