Roleplay

@PastelPerryton ((I'm subscribed!)) [center][url=https://www1.flightrising.com/dragon/92367175][img]https://www1.flightrising.com/rendern/350/923672/92367175_350.png[/img][/url][/center] The vast rocky terrain of Dragonhome stretched out for as far as Finlo could see as he walked along a dusty road to give his wings a break. It was a boring and uninteresting landscape made hazy by the heat of summer. As a Fire dragon, the heat didn't bother him despite the leather armor he wore. His glowing eyes shined with boredom as he kept his senses on the alert for possible trouble. His right eye was yellow, white the left one was orange. Despite this odd coloration, Finlo had no connection to the Light flight. The only magic he could use was fire. He was traveling north through the Shattered Plain towards the distant mountains of Cairnstone Rest, hunting a thief who had murdered their victim. He had yet to lay eyes on them, so who they were and what they looked like was a mystery. But his calling pulled him onwards, as whoever they were, he was going to bring them to justice by taking them back to the clan they'd wronged. Killing them would have been easier, but that wasn't what was required of him for this it seemed. Sometimes his calling could be such a bother.

[center][font= times new roman][emoji=apparel helm size=1] [url=https://www1.flightrising.com/dragon/67373733][img]https://www1.flightrising.com/rendern/350/673738/67373733_350.png[/img][/url] [b][i]Aeowyn[/i][/b] Roving Mercenary Dust settled low beneath the guardians feet, her head tipped up and listening to the depths of silence that rattled against stone. It was well and truly deafening. Aeowyn shook out and let forth a low and irritated grumble. The suns glare did nothing to hinder to dragoness hailing from the far east. A land of ruins and swaying reeds, the ever desolate light domain. Home of archavists and a boon for delvers. Her tail swung languidly in her wake, knocking rocka and dust out of her way as she lumbered along through the plateau she'd found herself. Tracking on foot made enough sense. Though it left her lacking some additional foresight. Something she rather admittedly, was not pleased with. Her wings wouldnt carry her long, no longer as impressively powerful as they used to be. Her time as a falcon of the radiant sun was well and truly gone. Wings swept out beside her and flexed gently. Her left eaten by scarring laiden with glass to in theory aide her. It was in truth little more than a hindrance. It was a heedless craving, one she wasn't sure she could, or even should, commit to. Aeowyn sighed, expanses of leather on prosthetics folding back against herself as she lept over crumbling stones left blocking certain paths. The mountains loomed precariously to her North West. She had started her trek this way from the Colonnades. A lovely place really. The people here never were unpleasant as far as she was concerned. Thus coming as a surprise when her recent hunting job sent her well, here. These plains were misserably warm. Though at least this wasn't the emberglow. [emoji=apparel helm size=1] ((subbed!))

((I forgot to put a link to Finlo in my first post, so I edited him in there to make it easier to see his appearance/his profile if you need it.))

Finlo would come across the occasional traveler, mostly merchants or other dragons hauling carts with goods they otherwise wouldn’t be able to carry in flight. Some would call a greeting and he would ignore them, leaving disgruntled remarks in his wake. Hurrying clearly wasn’t in the vigilante’s agenda as he stalked along at an almost leisurely pace, unconcerned about his target getting away.

They could flee to the farthest reaches of Sornieth and he would still find them. He didn’t know if the target was aware that they were being hunted. He wished he did because he didn’t fancy walking into an ambush. He also wished he knew what the target looked like. He hadn’t been able to get a good look in the vision he’d had of them, as it had been too dark wherever they had been to make out any details other than the impression that they had just murdered someone and he was being called to hunt them.

Were these visions from the Flamecaller? Finlo had lived and died too many times to count at this point. He couldn’t even say how old he was in terms of his spirit, but despite his time on Sornieth, he still hadn’t been able to figure out who had given him this curse and who—or what—sent the visions. It had been maddening at first, but he had long since resigned himself to his fate.

Cairnstone Rest was growing closer and eventually Finlo was forced to leave the road, the vigilante picking his way through the now rough terrain as the mountains loomed closer.

[center][font= times new roman][emoji=apparel helm size=1] [b][i]Aeowyn[/i][/b] Roving Mercenary Long winding paths laid forgotten. Strode past in a haze to cover more ground. To close the distance, To seize the vile worm she was here for to begin with. There were tracks every now and again. Strewn about through the space before her. Most were muddy with age and shifting stone. Though some still stood. The hulking guardian leaned down now and again to look them over. They were featherlight with long dextrous fingers on a narrow and soft pad. Those would be skydancer prints. Maybe a traveler? She didnt want to believe that a skydancer would be her quarry. That would be a first, and also a terrible plight. An earthbound guardian standing against one of the windsingers sons and daughters? A truly atrocious thought if she was to be completely honest. The radiant but not harmful lick of fire danced over her shoulder. Salamander perched tall, watching the Rest with boundless curiosity. A gentle nudge from Aeowyn had the small lizard reeling back and giving a silent giggle. Folding back up into loops of metal for safe travel. Aeowyn worked to make sure they were tied down safely before setting into motion once more. Gaze picking back up to the mountains ahead the dragoness picked up a jog. Kicking up dirt and shale in her wake. Claws gouging scars into the earth with every powerful swing of shoulder. Swiftly closing the distance to the mountain pass. [emoji=apparel helm size=1]

He was being followed. Chalk it up to being too suspicious, but Finlo had the gut feeling that he wasn't alone in the pass he was traveling down. Who—or what—was following him had yet to be determined. There was always talk of the dead walking here, restless skeletal remains given mobility through nefarious magic. He had no idea if there was truth to the rumors, as he'd only been here a few times in the past and had never seen anything. Granted, he didn't go about plundering tombs and angering these potential skeletal guardians.

Regardless if the rumors were true or not, he knew he needed to find out who was following him before he continued to track the thief, who was still somewhere in front of him. For all he knew, the thief had backup and was trying to trap him in between.

Spreading his wings, Finlo leaped onto a nearby ledge and found a nice boulder to hide behind, giving him a view of the path he'd just come down on.

[center][font= times new roman][emoji=apparel helm size=1] [b][i]Aeowyn[/i][/b] Roving Mercenary Dust churned under the weight of paws slamming the ground. A gentle hazy wake trailing behind the guardian as she ran. The heat was a bane, the light a boon, but long shadows cast off distant stone would give priceless solace from the former. Slowing her pace as she drew nearer, her run slowing to a gentle amble as she slipped between the cast shadows. The tracks continued here for some while before they went airborne. At least that is what the small gouges and abnormal spacing of steps told her. Theyd taken off, and she was rather simply, stranded here. "Deities really?! Of course it's a skydancer. Of course. This is ridiculous, they aren't even regarded as being so violent, as far as I know. There has to be something else here." The guardian lumbered around, tail lashing behind as she stepped. Searching for anything to suggest another dragon had been her. Taking several long moments before finding dips and indentations. Nothing so detailed as the skydancers, but certainly something. Aeowyns eyes glanced up, meeting the gaze of her, well, initial quarry. Her stance squared and ready to fight if they felt cornered. "Children of the sun are not ailed by it's haze, you are seen." [emoji=apparel helm size=1]

The guardian's voice rang out, echoing among the rocks. Finlo leaped on top of the boulder he'd been using to conceal himself. He had the advantage of height from up here on the ledge, but he wasn't looking to attack her unless the dragoness gave him a reason to. Focusing on his mind's eye allowed him to view her life essence. She felt wary, but that didn't tell him if she was a possible enemy.

She was heavily scarred and wore the same type of leather armor that he did. Had she really been following him? This was the first time he'd picked up her presence since he'd entered Dragonhome, which he'd been traversing over the course of days to reach here. Either she was really good at concealing herself or it was coincidence that had led them both here.

"Are you after the thief too?" It was possible she had known the theif's dead victim and was seeking justice. If that was the case, this might not be a calling he'd have to personally finish.

[center][font= times new roman][emoji=apparel helm size=1] [b][i]Aeowyn[/i][/b] Roving Mercenary She watched as the once assumed figure lept forward in announcement, he seemed bold and self assured. Dressed in a similar well made gambeson, he looked like a soldier, or a well prepared traveller. Not that either mattered based on look alone. She gave a small tilt of her head and listened quietly. Her fins shifted as her head followed the skydancers frame, one of the flameforgers sons, if nothing else she knew that much. Runes scaped over his feet and down his form, etchings of her diety laid over him gently. To be writen on with the quilled talons of the lightweaver was a beautiful and tender thing in her home. So in part he was some grand illuminated figure, however odd he seemed in his path. "Hired to settle scores. Dragonhome is a place of few issues y'know, you a hired body or here over personal grievances?" Her tail swung in coiling loops behind her, fluid like the domain every guardian hailed from at their rawest core. She hoped that he would step down or leave soon. She hoped her earthbound nature wasn't quite so obvious. Lest her lack of flight be taken advantage of. [emoji=apparel helm size=1]

So she was tracking the same thief he was. Though what she meant by settling scores left the guardian’s motives up in the air. For all Finlo knew, she was going to kill the thief and if that was the case, he’d have to convince her not to because his vision was very clear when he’d been called to hunt the thief, he needed to bring the thief back to the clan they’d wronged.

And if he couldn’t convince her to let him turn the thief over, he’d have to stop her from killing whoever the thief was and he didn’t fancy a fight with a guardian. He would be physically outmatched and with the color of her eyes marking her as hailing from the Sunbeam Ruins, their magic was on even ground in terms of elemental advantage.

“I was hired to capture the thief and turn him over to a clan in the Viridian Labyrinth.” This wasn’t really true. The clan the thief had stolen from wasn’t even aware Finlo existed, much less having hired him. But it was an easier explanation than trying to tell someone about his curse.

[center][font= times new roman][emoji=apparel helm size=1] [b][i]Aeowyn[/i][/b] Roving Mercenary "Capture huh?" The dragoness gave a thoughtful hum and inclined her head, worrying her jaw, looking over the skydancer perched in front of her. He didn't appear overly strong if it came down to hand to hand combat. He appeared more of a stealth daggers and magics sort of fellow. She supposed that tracked? Skydancers are regarded as being a bit bird-boned in her experience. Comparing that to the high pressure tolerance of a more whale boned guardian, such as herself. Grounded or not she made for a good physical fighter if ever the need arose. "Well... you need some muscle? Since we're on the same task I spose. I've got ale and a strong back, and that'l get you about anywhere you need." The guardian stood among the cast shadows of outcrops and overlooks, awaiting the skydancers verdict on whether he deemed her help necessary, or worthy even. He seemed, classier, in some way. Aeowyn stood quietly and watched him, wondering whether he'd even bother to meet her on her level. [emoji=apparel helm size=1]