Quests & Challenges

>> Entry 8

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I was woken up in the night by the sound of a commotion outside the tent. I bolted upright, readying myself for some kind of fight -- I was just on edge, I suppose. Hather was fast asleep still. Kunda was nowhere to be seen. "Wait, wait, it's me!" an unfamiliar voice yelled from outside the tent. I poked my head out of the tent flaps, trying to make no sound. In the light of the nearly full moon, I could see two dragons, one which appeared to be lying down, and another stood over them. As my eyes adjusted to the dim light, I recognised Kunda pinning down some stranger, with... what appeared to be a dagger, held against their throat. "Wait-- gods, is that you, Akren?" Kunda said with surprise in his voice, and a moment later he was throwing away the blade, taking a step back. "Yeah, it's me!" replied the other dragon. Their voice was youthful, and surprisingly steady considering the situation. "Grand Master, I had to come and warn you. They're coming for you. They know you're here." "Damn," Kunda growled, and there was something unfamiliar about his voice, a coldness. "You're-- they didn't send you to kill me, did they?" "Nope! Thankfully. Pretty sure I wouldn't survive that encounter," the stranger, Akren, said. "No, I had to come warn you--" "You shouldn't have done that. You'll be on their list now, too." "I know that! But I had to-- I had to warn you, not that they're coming to kill you, I know you can handle that. But that they're coming to bring you home. They need you back, Grand Master." Kunda tilted his head, and Akren continued. "I had to make sure you wouldn't go back when they come for you. You did what none of the rest of us were brave enough to do. You're an inspiration. You can't go back. You gave us hope." "I... oh," he said, and the coldness fell from his voice. "I'm not going back. Never. I'm happy now." I could hear a smile in his voice as he continued, "and now I'm not the only one who got out. You did too. Damn, I'm so proud of you. Always was. None of you kids deserved this lot in life." "Neither did you," Akren replied. Kunda turned, and I darted back into the tent before he could see me. Gods, I'd hate to be caught eavesdropping. How awkward. I went and lay back down. It was hard not to keep listening, though. A light shone through the leather of the tent, and I could smell a fire being coaxed into life. "Here," I heard Kunda say. "Get that gear off. We'll burn it. No point making your... former affiliation any more obvious than it needs to be, right? Oh, go hide those daggers somewhere too. Won't be needing those anymore." "Yeah! I almost can't believe it. I did it. That was pretty brave of me, right? And I got out without them even knowing!" "You did good, kid. I'll have to think up a story for why you're here, just to keep my travelling companions from asking too many questions. Don't want them getting tangled up in this mess. Speaking of--" there was a pause, then Kunda continued: "we should maybe keep it down. Don't want to wake up the others." They continued to talk, but their voices were now too quiet to make out. I glanced over at Hather again. Had they heard any of it? But no, they seemed fast asleep, far as I could tell. I should probably get back to sleep too, before Kunda and the newcomer notice I'm awake. But I wanted to write down what happened before I forget. I'm not being nosy, just... if something more's going on, if Kunda's being... hunted down for something, I want to know about it -- right? I want to be able to keep him, uh, all of us safe. Gonna settle back down now. Try and get some more sleep. We'll see what comes of this in the morning. -- Zari Turn: 5 @Uyi @sedge122 @chippertowns New dragon woo! Also mysterious backstory woo! Since Akren hasn't been seen or properly introduced yet I'm not posting her image in this entry, but you can snoop in my lair and look at her if you want, she's SO COOL. *-*

[color=#852B19]@chippertowns I am a huge sucker for characters with mysterious pasts ahah,, can't wait to explore them both more! And can't forget Zari's own mysterious past, that is a mystery even to him. Just... mysteries for everyone! And then there's me like this trying to fit it all together: [img]https://i.postimg.cc/cLYbRt7s/me-me.png[/img]

[color=#6E4135][size=6][font=courier]>> Entry 9[/size][/font][/color] [columns][color=transparent]..........[/color][nextcol][color=#6E4135]I was surprised this morning when Kunda didn't wake me up early. Ever since we left that clan, he's had us up before the sun had even emerged from behind the rim of the mountains... at least now I have some idea why. I suppose he's getting tired of running from whoever's chasing him. Not sure what will come of that. It has me on edge, if I'm being honest. If that conversation I overheard between Kunda and... Akren, was it? Well, if that was anything to go by, then it would be a serious problem if those people caught up to us. The newcomer was resting outside when I woke up. This was the first time I'd got a good look at her. She was... not at all what I expected. [url=https://www1.flightrising.com/dragon/79869531][img]https://i.postimg.cc/nhzDDLb1/image.png[/img][/url] The banescale's red eyes stood in stark contrast to her jet black scales, and she had dark growths across her body that looked like nothing less than a skeleton -- like her bones were escaping from her skin. She was the epitome of intimidation, almost a caricature of it. But her eyes were bright and friendly, and she had the awkward proportions of a dragon not quite grown into their adult size. A teenager, I'd guess. She smiled at me but seemed a bit nervous, then looked down at her feet as if shy. Poor kid. I wondered what mess she was tangled up in. And if Kunda really had anything to do with it. Kunda himself was sat nearby, reading a book I guess he'd had stored on his cart. When he saw me, he stood and approached. [b]"Zari! Meet Akren. She's a friend from my old clan. She asked if she could travel with us for a while, if that's okay?"[/b] I nodded. [b]"I'm not the boss around here, you don't need to ask my permission,"[/b] I said. I introduced myself to Akren, and she replied enthusiastically, [b]"nice to meet you! So funny that I just encountered you guys while wandering the wilds, right? What a weird coincidence!"[/b] Her eyes darted around as she spoke. [i]Not a natural liar then.[/i] Kunda gave her a telling glance. I pretended not to notice. The morning passed mostly without incident. Hather woke up and seemed curious about the new face, but thankfully for her and Kunda, they didn't seem to care enough to pry. We set off after a few hours, still heading south but at a more comfortable pace. Good thing too, because the further we go, the rougher the terrain is getting. Even sticking to the road, I can tell it's going to be tough going crossing the Rotrock Rim. Hather set off early to scout ahead. Me and Kunda chatted, and I tried not to let on that anything was amiss. Thankfully for me, I quickly discovered that I'm better at keeping secrets than Akren seems to be. It was easy enough to act like nothing was strange about the whole situation. I just hope Kunda opens up to me of his own accord, before whatever trouble he's in comes to a head. Akren just listened, for the most part. I think she wanted to join in the conversation, but the poor kid was so awkward and shy. At one point she did speak up though. [b]"Gr-... [i]Kunda[/i],"[/b] she said with what I can only describe as the kind of discomfort a child feels when using the real name of their parent. [b]"Can I go hunting?"[/b] Kunda hesitated. [b]"I'm not sure that's a good idea."[/b] [b]"Oh come on, please! I'm so bored. And you know I can handle myself!"[/b] [b]"Hunting is different to-- it's different."[/b] [b]"I promise I'll be careful."[/b] Kunda stared at her for a moment, then sighed. [b]"Okay, fine. You'll be able to find us again okay when you're done?"[/b] [b]"I found you the first time, didn't I!?"[/b] Akren said proudly, then immediately winced. That didn't line up with the little story she'd given me, but I pretended not to notice, and so did Kunda. She immediately took flight, soon disappearing into the distance. We travelled a few more hours, but set up camp relatively early. It was nice to be able to relax a bit, but we were camping out in the open. It was almost like Kunda was inviting confrontation with his pursuers. Maybe he was. I just wished he'd tell me what was going on. Akren thankfully returned, and mostly unharmed. Her scales were a bit scuffed in places, but they'd kept her well-protected it seemed, because there were no injuries to treat. And even more, she'd brought a whole death's head stag with her, clutched in her talons. Kid had fared far better than I had on my first hunting expedition since this all started. I could respect that. The sun began to set. We were lazing around the campfire. Kunda butchered the deer and started to cook it over the fire. I know it's normal for some dragons to eat meat, but the thought makes me a bit queasy. It gave off a weird smell as it cooked. I don't know how they eat that stuff. [b]"Weird that Hather's not back yet,"[/b] Kunda said. I hummed in agreement. I hadn't noticed honestly, but now that he pointed it out, it [i]was[/i] kinda weird. [b]"Maybe they ditched us,"[/b] I suggested. [b]"You know they had some serious problems with me and my... [i]condition[/i]."[/b] [b]"I don't know. I guess we'll see by morning."[/b] I was probably right. They had probably just gone off, found a new group to hang around with. But something in me felt uneasy about the situation. Hather never struck me as the kind to just sneak off. Maybe they just got too far ahead and decided to stay in a cave or something for the night. I hope that's the case. -- Zari ----- [color=#AE8272][b]Turn:[/b] 5 @Uyi @sedge122 @chippertowns Took a little break from writing this, but I'm back... and I have plans. >:)

i love Akren! and im super curious to see what happened to Hather, im hoping they didnt die [emoji=banescale scared size=2]

@harpyja @Jaspernoir

Thank you!! I'll add you both to the pinglist. ^u^