Roleplay

Obediently following the hole left in the cloud layer by Aural, Falice shot through with a lot of accuracy and no trouble. Being slightly smaller and so close to the guardian, the hole hadn't reformed any, and was more than big enough to let her through. Once through the hole, the world turned sepia toned, more yellow than any other colour on the spectrum. It was disconcerting, but not entirely unexpected. The surface was bound to be a weird, unusal world. There was a reason they lived above it, not on it.

Falice landed on the black near-rock before she'd gotten used to the smell, the impact of landing combining with sulfurous fumes to make her sneeze.She drew her wings in close, automatically extending a forelimb so that her rider could dismount. Above her, the clouds closed. The ridgeback considered them carefully, weighing up her chances of being able to break through from below.

Tally had no intention of dismounting. The black rock seemed almost sticky in the yellow world, horrible and clearly not meant for anyone to actually attempt to touch. She wrinkled her nose, staying firmly strapped in as the other dragonriders landed and began to ask questions. Idiots, they clearly had no idea who they were dealing with. "Isn't it obvious?" She called.

@kingcrubles @antibus @DarkLordIvy @GiftOfArtemis @Blackcat0989 @apocalyptichorse

@kingcrubles @antibus @DarkLordIvy @GiftOfArtemis @Blackcat0989 @TiritiriMatangi

Lucifer decided to drop himself seeing the cloudlayer close in on them, he flared his wings out to catch himself, sneexing as the new scent caught his nostrils "ewwwww...." he scrucnhed his nose and flew down to land on the weird black rock that the others stood on, looking around he twitched his frills nervously. This was very different then the world he knew...Zach climbed off and covered his nose some his brother didn't mention it'd smell like this down here...He looked at everyone before looking at Tally "what is obvious?" he noticed the skydancer wasn't here yet, he looked up a bit worried, hoping they didn't get lost

Eve turned to look at the girl who had spoken back, shaking her own head. "If it was obvious I would not have asked." Looking back to the overly clothed rider and giant guardian, Eve tilted her head, ignoring the fact that Dark was prancing around behind her again, hissing at the asphalt. "I have never seen you're guardian before, so I am assuming I have never seen you before. Which also makes me wonder how you know who we are and why you want us to come with you here...and oh my god Dark stop it!" She whirled around finally, the ridgeback freezing in place with wide eyes like a child caught with a cookie in his hand. "Behave! We're in public!"

Dark just lowered his head, tucking himself down to the ground, wings close to his side as he nodded his head to Eve, eyes still wide. The moment she turned back to Zara though he was back upright, head turning this way and that to look at their surroundings.

@kingcrubles @tiritirimatangi @DarkLordIvy @GiftOfArtemis @Blackcat0989 @apocalyptichorse

Tally snorted. "Believe me, even if you haven't seen her, you've heard of her. Everyone has." She narrowed her eyes in the direction of the masked rider. If Zara didn't reveal herself soon, Tally would.

Falice could see it coming. She could also see why that might not be a good idea, to do anything to upset the only person who knew anything about their current environment. "Out of the saddle, girl."

"Why?" Tally whined, looking at the weird ground distastefully.

"You're heavy." Which wasn't strictly true, but Falice couldn't say that the actual reason she wanted Tally down on the ground was because installing a little vulnerability in the child was the best way to get her to shut up.

Grumbling, Tally unhooked herself from her saddle and clambered down Falice's forepaw to the ground. Her white cloak made her stick out like an eyesore in contrast to the black stone ground, both her and her white dragon blindingly obvious targets placed on that background.


@kingcrubles @antibus @DarkLordIvy @GiftOfArtemis @Blackcat0989 @apocalyptichorse

((I've seen everybody's posts, but I've been waiting for Blackcat. I know its the fourth of july so perhaps thats the reason for their delay. I'll go ahead and move on though, and they can catch up. There's not much to write about falling through clouds anyways. Sorry my dear!))

Zara moved to pulled her hood down, grabbing the bit of fabric that covered her mouth and nose, but she stopped. Her eyes narrowed under the fogging glass of the goggles.

But the small ammount of anger that boiled across Zara's face was nothing compared to the storm that was brewing within her guardian.

Aural stomped forward, a growl deep in her throat. She kept her distance, stalking around the two. In her fury, a small brown ball of feathers tumbled out from where it was nesting behind Zara's saddle. The owlcat skittered over to rub against Zara's leg.

"How about this, my charge will reveal her identity after you tell everyone else here how they earned a spot, and you just snuck your way in. Look them in the eyes and tell them that you didn't actually recieve an invite. They made it here on dedication, hardwork and bonds with their dragins, but you're here because you're a lying sneak." Aural was steaming mad, practically spitting the words. The large queenly guardian was normally composed, but there was one thing no one messed with, and that was Zara.

"Aural." Zara said, pulling the cloth off from around her mouth. She pulled her goggles down around her neck and unbuckled the cape. Her dark brown hair fell in waves passed her shoulders and her eyes were a muddy green. Worry and stress lines littered her extraordinarily pretty face, dimming it a bit. She looked younger than she was, untill you saw her eyes, which were almost ancient. "Perhaps our stowaway will prove useful."

Zara was calm, down to earth and laid back. With the cape off, she was wearing a black button up shirt, tight khaki pants and black lace up boots. She casually rolled up her sleeves a bit, and put up her hair.

"I'm going to speak now, I only ask you hold your questions to the end. My name is Zara, and this is my guardian, Aural. Years ago when I graduated flight school, I chose to be a Surface Salvager. It was a job most would hate. Actually, there are very few riders that venture to the surface. One is because of the size of dragon it takes to break the cloud boundary, the other is the danger. The surface is polluted with radiation, No human or dragon can stay down here for more than 8 hours. However, some animals have adapted. Some even thrive off of the very chemicals that would kill us." Zara crossed her arms.

"But I've discovered a few things. The first are what I call cool spots. These oasis' are habitable areas with clean water and fresh air. If these are reached by nightfall and slept in, one can stay down here indefinitely. My other discovery is that most of the large cities here remain, and if we get to them, and explore them, we may find out what happened here. And more. But the cities are thickly populated with every kind of monster." Zara reached down to pet her owlcat.

"I apologize for my earlier anomalies. I had to remain anonymous due to... legal obligations. If any one of you was to back out and reveal my doings to Chamberlin, I would be dealt with swiftly and mercilessly." She looked up. "Questions?"

@kingcrubles @tiritirimatangi @DarkLordIvy @Antibus @Blackcat0989 @apocalyptichorse

((@kingcrubles @antibus @DarkLordIvy @GiftOfArtemis @Blackcat0989 @apocalyptichorse, this will be my last post before I'm off on holiday to a place with very little internet. Artemis, if my characters could follow yours around to some extent that would be great, but if not, Tally and Falice can just be off doing their own thing. See you in two weeks, guys!! :D ))

Tally managed a fairly impressive snarl, by human standards, though it was under her breath and only Falice was close enough to pick it up. She made an aborted gesture, like the tiny human would actually try a fight with the massive guardian, her hair tangling wildly as she jerked up her chin defiantly.

The child looked a touch away from a hissing, spitting temper tantrum. Falice sighed heavily, familiar with the symptoms and their consequences even if Tally had gotten better at acting less bratty in the past couple of years. Forestalling whatever ill-advised action her rider was about to take, the female ridgeback slammed a wing across the ground just in front of the young employer, trapping Tally in a tent made of dragon wing. "I have many questions," she answered Zara, "but some are more important than others.

"I would know how to find these cool spots of refuge, the methods by which you seek them. I would also be interested in the division of labour here, whether we will all fly in a group or in pairs and smaller teams. And I am not so proud as to be unable to admit my own inexperience here." Falice turned to Aural. "You may not want me here. That is understandable, but reality must be taken into account. My wisest course of action appears to be to follow you and learn from someone already familiar with the dangers of this place. Respectfully, I'm asking to do so."

A muffled scream echoed out from her wing as a foot connected with Falice's wing membrane, making the flexible skin stretch. Falice brought the edge of her other wing up the her forehead, rubbing at her cranium with the grimace of the long-suffering. "I am also very interested in how to break the cloud barrier from beneath and return home. I have a partner and nest who I promised to return to. How do you do it?"

@GiftOfArtemis ((I am so sorry for my delay! I'm not actually in America, so i don't celebrate 4th July. It's 5th here and i was at a play all day. Sorry! Just assume that Sam and Imp just landed along with the rest, kay?)) @antibus @darklordivy @KingCrubles @apocalyptichorse
@TiritiriMatangi ((have fun on your vacation! :) ))

Sam and Impala listened in silence, sparing the 'lying sneak' barely a glance before returning their attention to their new leader. The existence of these 'oasis' was a fascinating discovery, to think that people and dragons could live down here indefinately... providing that they stayed in an oasis overnight.

"I, too, would like to know how to break through the cloud barrier." Impala spoke up, startling Sam, who'd been lost in thought. "Though not because we're eager to return. While we do have family we'd like to return to eventually, we have wanted to come here for a long time."

"Though," Sam interjected, laying a hand on his dragon's black shoulder. "I would like to know, why did you choose us? Aside from what Aural has unwittingly told us, I have never met you before, and I'm nothing more than a lowly farm boy. Most others here seem to have had at least some formal training, while all I have is self-taught. Plus, no one has seen Impala and I fly before since we usually flew at night and away from the town, so I'd like to know how you found us."

@kingcrubles @tiritirimatangi (( have fun on your vacation :D see you within two weeks)) @DarkLordIvy @Antibus @Blackcat0989 @giftofartemis

Zach watched the argument happen, so the girl with the white rdiegback didn't get invited? The others did, including himself, he looked over at Sam and nodded in agreedment "I agree, how do you know us? I'm not exactly one of the richest people around, actually I'd just be on the bottom pretty much" it was True zach was manging a small farm on his own, he didn't have much to work with, he managed to come by but not to easy. "less you happen to know my brother I can't exactly think of any other logical explenation" He too mainly thought himself how to fly, although he hadn't flown around that much with Lucifer unless he had to deliver some goods to a customer if they didn't come pick it up themselves.

((Have fun Tiri!))

Eve turned, looking to each person as they spoke, and gave Dark a subtle shove to push him off to the side of the road so he would stop getting in the way, and possibly stop dancing on the pavement. It want really the shove that got him to move though, puny human against big dragon, not so good. But the touch order that it was got him to shift over to the side of the road, his head turning now and again to the dragons whose humans spoke.

Finding it to be Zara had made Eve wide eyed a moment. Of course they had all heard of her, from the sounds of it some of these people may have met her. Eveline hadn't, met her that is. So she took in the womans appearance and smiled lightly. Oooooooooh this was going to be so much fun.

"I'm all for this to be honest. When you look back in our histories it's like most of it has been cleaned out and hidden. It's a little suspicious to me, though most just brushed it off and lost history. I to would one day like to go back up top, but I am going to enjoy every minute down here, once you teach us how to survive." Eve smiled and made a small bow towards Zara. "I'll follow your directions captain."

Dark eyed his human, his mouth pinched and eyes wide at the bow, but more in a comical fashion than for any real emotion. Eventually though he turned his head to Aural and dipped his head to the Guradian. "If she's going I am tooooooo!"

(( @kingcrubles @tiritirimatangi @DarkLordIvy @GiftOfArtemis @Blackcat0989 @apocalyptichorse ))