Day 0
An Unexpected Arrival
Radiant watched the sun set from the safety of her cave. Though she was young, barely older then a hatchling, her green eyes were weary and world-worn. She scanned the horizon, searching for any flicker of movement.
"Heh, any mice out there terrorizing us? Should we be scared?".
Radiant turned her head to see the ridgeback behind her, laying lazily by the fire, his mouth fixed in a mischievous grin. None of his humor seemed to spred her however as she remained stone-faced "That's not funny, Tyran, we have to be alert,".
For a moment loosing his grin, the ridgeback stood up, stretching exaggeratedly as he came to sit beside her. Despite herself, Radiant smiled a bit. She had been traveling with him for some time now, both exiles thrown into the wilderness far too young. They didn't talk about their respected histories, Radiant not remembering a good portion of her's and Tyran seaming reluctant to share his. Still, there was an understanding they had of each other, a respect for similar abandonment. If Radiant had anyone she could describe as a friend, it was Tyran.
"So tomorrow then...,"
Radiant nodded, "Tomorrow," she repeated, "We'll leave at sunrise, cover as much ground as we can before making another camp,". She turned to the ridgeback, "So try to sleep,".
At the mention of sleep, Tyran plopped onto the ground with a thud, "Sounds great," he replied, resting his head in his front legs, closing his eyes. He opened one eye however to look up at Radiant, "What about you?"
Radiant looked out the empty expanse outside, it seamed safe...but something about the quiet sent shivers down her spine. "I guess I should rest too...," she mumbled reluctantly.
Seaming satisfied with her answer, Tyran closed his eyes, this time serious in his attempt to sleep. Laying down, Radiant closed her eyes, attempting to the same, however, unlike Tyran, she just couldn't bring herself to relax, tossing and turning.
What didn't make it better was the coughing. "Could you quiet down," she growled, wishing Tyran could at least turn away or go further away to have his coughing fit.
That was when Tyran murmured something, and Radiant's blood ran cold. The coughing continued. Radiant shot up, eyes wild as she searched for the intruder. "Who's there?" she demanded, baring her teeth, her head feathers up as she tried to make herself as threatening as possible.
There was no response.
"What's going on?"
Radiant gave a quick glance to Tyran who was slowly getting up, "Someone's out there," she whispered, seeing Tyran's eyes go wide as he looked around.
There was a long, tense, silence before the coughing began again, this time closer. Radiant had to strain her eyes to see out into the now pitch black sky. A short ways away, limping towards the cave was a guardian. Her starry dark blue scales camouflaged her into the night sky. She looked tired and out of breath, swaying a bit as she hobbled towards them.
Tyran barred his teeth menacingly, but Radiant just frowned, "She looks hurt," she whispered.
"Sick is more like it," Tyran growled, not noticing as Radiant walked out of the cave, moving towards the mysterious dragon.
"What are you doing!".
Radiant ignored him. As she got closer, she smelled no sickness. She wasn't sure how she knew the stench of the sickness spreading across Sornieth, but she was sure, this dragon didn't have it. She did however, look dangerously malnourished. "Come on, we should get her inside,"
"Are you serious?" Tyran looked at her as though she had gone mad.
"She's not sick, I think she just collapsed because of hunger or dehydration, or something,". Tyran still didn't look entirely convinced, so Radiant continued, "If we leave her out her to die, her body will attract scavengers, those, will be dangerous,". Reluctant still, Tyran followed, helping the smaller dragon as she grabbed the guardian's front legs, dragging her towards the cave.
By the time they got the guardian into the cave, they were both exhausted and out of breath. The fire still crackled behind them, its last stubborn embers illuminating the stone walls around them. Radiant looked down at the half dead dragon before her, wondering if she would even make it through the night, still, her conscience felt better for having at least tried to save her. She looked across the cave at Tyran, who shared her worried expression, though she respected for different reasons. Either way, it seamed unlike either of them were going to get a good nights sleep.
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@
Petall
(wasn't sure if you wanted me to ping you, I'll take you off if you'd like)
