Roleplay

@DoppelBia
Patariki watched Almighty hit the snow, a little amused by the Spiral's quick nap. "With your dedication, I'm sure you would have found him, given enough time." The Skydancer's ruff flicked back against his neck for a moment. "Ah, may I ask-- you called the Windsinger 'Winddaddy'? If you're so fond of him, how did you come to be exalted to the Icewarden?" He paid Arash's flattened fins no mind; at least this was a conversation they hadn't had before.

@DoppelBia

---Blackberry---
Blackberry eagerly dove through the water until he reached the lair entrance. It was surprisingly hard to find. After a few minutes he spotted it, mostly hidden by seaweed and shells. He brushed all of that aside and swam in, avoiding rocks that had fallen and were now scattered around the entrance. Weird, it's like there's no one here... "Hello?" he called, eager to see his family for the first time in months.

Then his eyes adjusted to the darkness.

He gasped in horror. The lair was empty and in a state of disrepair. The seaweed nests were piled in a corner, rocks had fallen to the floor, and everything was covered in a fine layer of silt and mud. There wasn't any trace of his old clan.

Panicked, he spun in a cloud of bubbles and blundered out of the lair, slamming his head into a rock on the way. His vision was blurry when he burst of of the water, half-crying. He nearly fell out of the sky from exhaustion before he could land next to Jagiya. "Th-there's no one there..." he whispered.

"Four down, eight to go!" Ursa gritted through a mouthful of fur. The grey Longneck had enough. He wasn't going to let two tiny dragons and a slightly larger dragon get the best of him and his group. "I am in control here!" he growled. He ripped Ursa away from his neck and threw her like baseball. She impacted with a crunch into the trunk of the crystal oak, her body sliding limp down the tree. She was unconscious.

The grey Longneck howled in triumph, and the others followed suit.

Tears began to well in Starbeam's eyes at the sight of her motionless sister. No. They couldn't have. Ursa can't be dead. She's too strong to die like this. Her heartbeat was racing. Her body began to glow intensely, becoming enveloped in darker-than-normal aura. She started chanting in an unknown language and strange wisps of magic formed above the battlefield. Dark chunks of solidified magic rained down, leaving purplish-black flaming craters wherever they impacted. The Longnecks scattered and fled to avoid the hellfire, but some weren't fast enough to escape being crushed. Four more Longnecks perished.

"What kind of dark magic does this dragon possess, such that it can wipe us out in an in no time at all?" the grey Longneck whispered, astonished by the destruction caused by one little Fae. He began to flee the scene, favoring his life and the information he now possessed.

After the attack the glow faded from Starbeam's body and she collapsed. Both Fae were still breathing, but this left only Cephei as the lone dragon standing.

@DoppelBia
@Hurricanesong
@Loquaciousky

---Cephei---
@DarkDragonfly

"Keep it up!"

Cephei's words of encouragement were truthful. They had to keep fighting, they were almost there... and then the one who seemed to be the Longneck's leader simply knocked Ursa out cold. The Skydancer tackled him down to the ground, and was about to make a mess out of his face, when a buzzing sound and strange words came from above him.

He looked up, only to see Starbeam nearly breaking down, but surrounded by a magical aura - one he had seen only once before, on a particularly bad fight against Arcane mages, but he knew very well what it meant.

"Oh sh-"

Cephei quickly dodged the 'meteor shower', as some called it, flying just a little higher than the Fae. Somewhat impressed, but a lot more scared, he just watched as some Longnecks were crushed by her magic bolts and others fled the scene. He would have chased after them if Starbeam didn't flop down to the ground.

Luckily the grass was soft, and she didn't seem hurt. The Skydancer quickly landed after her and checked her vital signs - alive. He leaped towards Ursa - also alive. But both completely unconscious. The mage was worn out, and the fighter Fae with a Serthis-poisoned wound.

He carefully put the two over his back and flew back to the Starfall Isles. They were Arcane exaltees after all, so someone there might be able to help them, and even if some Longnecks had escaped, leaving them there to go after the beastclan would almost certainly mean death for both Fae.

---Jagiya---
@Hurricanesong

The Guardian waited patiently for Blackberry to return, watching his dark shape dissappear underwater, and after that, the waves. Her tail, still holding the egg firmly, was half into the pool, in case someone would take it for themselves.

After a few minutes, the Fae's sudden arrival caught her off guard.

"Whoa, wait! What you're running for- ... What do you mean, there's no one there? Are you sure you've looked in the right place?"

Jagiya stepped a bit closer and looked him over, seeing the cut on his forehead open again, and the agony he seemed to be in.

"Blackberry... What happened?"

--Almighty--
@Loquaciousky

"Well..."

Almighty landed softly, almost like the topic itself was heavy on his wings.

"It's kind of a long story, and my name has something to do with it too. But to make it short, I was raised to be sent to the Gods from the egg. Nothing wrong there. Point is... I always thought it'd be Windsinger who'd take me. It was my Leader's choice, and since I was leaving anyways, I couldn't just show up at his lair unnanounced, could I?"

Surprisingly, he said all of that very calmly, as if he had already told that story countless times. He then turned to the Skydancer in front of him, curious.

"What about ya? You're from Wind too, how come you're here?"

@DoppelBia
"Jomira was entirely too sof--"

"My egg was found on the edge of our old clan's territory," Patariki interrupted, antennae and ruff flaring outwards while he glared at the Fae. "Warden only knows how it ended up there, or how I survived outside a nest in the Icefields. The leader of our clan gave me to a pair who'd had bad luck with their own eggs, and while my magic is still wind-based..." He shrugged. "The Icefields are my home. It seemed only natural to come to the Fortress when it was deemed my time to leave. I'm sorry your own clan didn't give you a choice--"

"There shouldn't be a choice in the first place." Arash's fins flicked for emphasis, though they stayed close to his neck. "Wind dragons should go to the Windsinger, Ice to the Warden, Plague to the Plaguebringer--"

"--and debaters like yourself to the Lightweaver? Calm down, will you? We've better things to do than fight among ourselves. Or would you care to take the argument up to the Warden himself, see what he thinks of you ousting others who've pledged themselves to his service? I'm sorry," the Skydancer added, looking back towards the other Wind dragon. "Theology's something of a... sore point, shall we say. Are you adjusting well to the Icefields? You certainly seem to fly well enough down here, how different is the Windswept Plateau?"

((@DarkDragonfly will you please stop pinging me if you're not interacting with my dragons in your post?))

(( Sorry, I'll stop. ))

Starbeam opened her eyes and looked around very confused. This didn't look like the Windswept Plateau, and she was riding on Cephei's back. "What happened, and where did all the Longnecks go? Did you take them all out by yourself, Cephei? You must be very strong!" She gazed in admiration of the Skydancer, then remembered her sister was injured. She whipped her head around to look for her and found her lying still unconscious right next to her. She checked her pulse first. She was still alive, and Starbeam gave a sigh of relief. She then check her wound, which was now festering and oozing black liquid. If she didn't get help soon, she wouldn't survive, but Starbeam knew just the right dragon to get help from.

"Cephei, I know someone who lives up on Focal Point who is a healer. She knows how to deal with poisons and venoms, especially since most of her patients come from the battlefield."

"Yeah, Grandma Nadya will know just what to do." Ursa had woken and mumbled weakly.

"Ursa, you're awake! How are you feeling? Does it still hurt a lot? We're going to get you help, so don't worry."

Ursa looked at her sister and smiled. "I'll be fine once Nadya checks out this wound. You know a little bit of Serthis Poison isn't going to take me down." She chuckled a little, and then noticed a similar wound on the edge of Cephei's wing. It wasn't serious, but still needed attention. "You've been hit, too, Cephei."

@DoppelBia

(( @Hurricanesong I'll be adding another dragon for this part, if that's okay with you. ))

@DoppelBia

---Blackberry---
Blackberry's tail lashed wildly behind him and he tried frantically to slow down and explain. "They're gone, they're all gone, and I don't know where they are! My entire clan is gone. The lair looks like it's been abandoned for ages." He dropped to all fours on the rock, putting his head down, fins flicking back and forth in agitation. "I kind of hit my head on a rock while trying to get out."

(Sorry that I haven't been on a lot lately. I've had almost no access to technology. And it might continue for a bit XP.)

---Cephei---
@DarkDragonfly

The Skydancer glanced back at the two when he heard a voice. He smiled at Starbeam, happy to see she was awake.

"You were the strong one. I had no idea you could do that."

Her last sentence felt heavy on him, though. You must be very strong... Cephei suddenly felt ashamed for letting the Longnecks go. It wasn't like he had much choice, it was either that or risking the girls' lives. Still, he turned back without a word, until a little more movement caught his attention again.

"Focal Point, huh? Then that's where we're going. And... don't worry about that. I've been through worse."

((fine with me ^-^))

---Jagiya---
@Hurricanesong

"Calm down, calm down! I'm sure we'll find a way out of this."

Jagiya used the crests in one of her paws to grab some water, and carefully washed the Fae's head.

"Try to think. Did they mention something about moving before you left? Or anywhere they wish they could live? It happens sometimes. I'm sure your family is fine."

Her first priority was calming Blackberry down, then they could think of something. If the lair had been abandoned, there was sure a reason. And the Tsunami Flats weren't exactly an important target on the war for dominance.

"If it's the case, someone at my old clan might be able to help you with your wound. But they're on the Zephyr Steppes, so it's a bit far."

((take your time hun))

--Almighty--
@Loquaciousky

"Tch, don't worry. It's not like Arguros wouldn't debate it too every week. You'd like her, Arash."

The Spiral chuckled a bit at the thought of his old clanmate and the Ice Fae arguing. Now that would be fun to watch.

"Well, the Plateau is just like what most think it is. Lotsa kites, bamboo shoots everywhere, and tons of dragons coming and going over your head. Everyone's welcoming, thought there are a few tough patches, and if you don't know where you're going, it's easy to get lost on the stronger wind currents. The Icefield seemed almost deserted at first, you guys aren't really dragons dragons."

((to explain that last sentence, it's the dragon version of "you're not 'people' people", like the plural of a 'people' person, not a fan of people. idk it's confusing))

@DoppelBia
(Thanks. It might end up being about once a week if things continue this way though :(.)

---Blackberry---
The cool water calmed Blackberry slightly, and he sat up a little. "I think I can make it there," he said. "But they didn't really say much about moving - there were only about fifteen dragons in the clan when I left." He closed his eyes in thought. "...but Tidepool has always been interested in the Fishspine Reef. Maybe they went there!"