[IC] The Hive

[CoyoteKisses]

Seulki honestly had no idea what she was doing here - surrounded by a dragon, two dragonelles, and a little drake. There was talk about heading north, to where the other dragons were heading. Although she would have liked to leave now to catch up with other Wimbornes, Seulki was quite attached to Feneya. Plus, having someone else catch her meals was nice. Thus, the young dragonelle decided to stay with this rag-tag group. As the others continued on, she curled inwards, watching the stony ground with much interest until the others began to move.

She watched Feneya gingerly open her wings before flying out. Seulki couldn't imagine being hurt like that. The thought of pain ripping through her body terrified her. Yet, the Aramoor dragonelle didn't utter a single complaint about her injury. Going ahead of the others, Seulki hurtled herself off the cliff as she let out a single squeak of joy. Before she hit the ground, her strong wings snapped open to take flight. Her mood considerably lighter, the Wimborne flew next to Feneya, glancing at the older dragonelle before a look of worry crossed her face. Feneya had a look of anger on her face - an expression that chilled Seulki.

"Are you alright?" she gently asked.

[Rogue Sloth]

"We had better get moving soon. SoNem, you will carry Dovah."

SoNem blinked in surprise at the dragonelle’s suddenly commanding tone. He drew his lip back in something of a snarl. Who made her the boss? She was injured and weak; not in any condition to assume a position of leadership. Nevertheless, he held his tongue and moved to where Dovah was finishing his meal to pick him up.

While he was reluctant to comply, Feneya’s orders were the unarguably rational. Flight was their quickest means to get from point A to point B, and he was probably the most capable dragon to carry Dovah for a great distance.

“I hope you’ve finished eating,” SoNem said as he gripped the drake’s flanks with his sii and hoisted him about a tail-length above the ground, trying to get a feel for his weight. Dovah wasn’t much smaller than him in mass and SoNem had to awkwardly adjust his grip to prevent himself from dropping the drake, but he determined the task was doable.

In the air, he spotted a small group of humans in the distance. They were a fair ways away from the hillside where the dragons resided, but their presence was still unsettling. Could it be a scouting party from the hunters that attack them before? SoNem narrowed his eyes to get a better look. One of the humans looked familiar. He remembered the straggling human from the previous night and matched the two faces in his mind. Yes, this was the same one. But why was he coming back?

SoNem let himself drop back to the ground and released Dovah from his grip.

“There are humans on the horizon,” he announced unceremoniously, spreading his wings to take flight again. “I’m going to find out what they want.” Without waiting for a reply, he took off.

“Wai—” Istatia started, but she was too late. She rattled her scales anxiously and turned to the others. “This isn’t good… If he goes by himself, he’ll probably kill them.” She paddled her saa with nervous energy and focused her eyes on the ground. “Sorry to bother you, lords, but I-I think someone should go with him… Just to make sure he doesn’t do any more harm, you see.”

Istaria briefly flicked her gaze up to the others to gauge their responses, and then lowered it to the ground again. She mentally cursed her master for causing so much trouble in such a short amount of time. She always knew him to be a handful, but this was something else entirely. The trauma from the Queen’s death must have affected him more deeply than she first suspected.

“I-If it’s too much of a bother, I can go instead,” Istaria suggested meekly. She didn’t want to cause these dragons any more of an inconvenience than SoNem already had.

[Charter]

Dovah perked his head up from his meal with a surprised look, he was to be carried by SoNem? He glanced at the dragon, granted SoNem could probably carry him but Dovah half thought the dragon would 'accidentally' drop him at some point. Dovah didn't have any time to protest as SoNem approached, "I hope you've finished eating." Dovah took a quick last bite as the dragon got hold of him and hoisted him into the air. A few moments were spent with SoNem's sii awkwardly finding positions to keep his grip. With that, they were off in the air.

Dovah lazily observed the ground and surrounding sky as they flew, he wasn't able to see much when every dragon was flying for their life at the time but now since it's a smaller group, he could actually enjoy seeing the world from this high, all he had to do now was actually get his wings. With that reminder, the sacks on his back started to itch in an area he couldn't reach, because of SoNem's grip. He did his best to ignore it, though it became a persistent nuisance in the back of his head.

Dovah became alert when the ground started to get closer, why was the dragon landing? Dovah quickly got his answer when SoNem released him from his grip, SoNem had spotted humans and was going to check it out. Before anyone could respond, he darted back into the sky. The serf, Istaria, made a fuss about SoNem killing the humans. Dovah gave a puzzled look, "Why are you worried about the humans? Why should any of us be worried? Their the reason we're out here in the first place! If anything, someone should go with SoNem to make sure none get away." Humans were violent, selfish and evil creatures, yet it seems that two of the dragonelles in the group were oddly protective of them.

[enkas]

Ignasius and his companions continued on her way... Guilin was constantly boasting of the fights she have one, and that was usually followed by her roaring laughter, as well as polite chuckles from the two men. And so, the rather calm riding was halted, when Ignasius noticed a dragon in the sky. He signaled his party to wait and then dismounted. He heard Guilin let out a chuckled, and as he turned back, he already saw the woman dismounted and wielding her morningstar.

''Guilin... We aren't going to need to fight... Hopefully.. So put the weapon away for now. Hartam, try to greet them in their language before they come too close.. While I do feel sympathy for them, I also know that they distrust humans, and we don't need them to burn us for no reason.''

Hartam nodded, still remaining on his horse. Guilin grunted a bit, but did put her her weapon away...

Ignasius waited for a while, looking around the trees and then turned back at the schollar.

''Hartam.. Try to call them out. Tell them that we come in peace.''

Hartam nodded again and cleared his throat, before begining to speak draconic with a very thick accent.

''We mean no harm. We come in peace... We wish to help.''

[CoyoteKisses]

[Disregarding the last post I made]

Seulki followed the group, somewhat amused at the sight of SoNem carrying Dovah. Before long, she was lazily twirling away, quite bored until SoNem abruptly announced that humans were near. Dovah was placed down, and the fearless dragon went off to encounter the group of humans. She just shrugged, landing next to Dovah before she noticed Istaria's, the serf, panic. "I'll go," she offered, nodding at Istaria. The other dragonelle was extremely kind, and Seulki liked her immensely despite knowing her for a few days. Before Suelki left, she glanced down at Dovah.

"Don't get in trouble, hmm?" she said, with an amused expression before darting after SoNem. She easily caught up with the dragon, but respectfully stayed a few meters back. She wasn't really going to say anything against the dragon's intentions - until she caught a whiff of that same human scent. The half-dead human? He was still alive? Elation bubbled within her - wait no, she shouldn't be happy! Yet, she couldn't just let SoNem roast them.

"SoNem, let's go. We don't need to -"

She cut off, hearing the declaration of peace. Seulki glanced around, confused. Where had that voice come from? There were no dragons near the pair. It was a human speaking in their tongue. "See, they're not going to hurt us," she hurriedly said, dipping down to land in front of the group of humans first to desperately prove her point.

[Rogue Sloth]

SoNem landed near the humans. He felt foua lick at the back of his throat like bile. If they tried to attack him, he would be ready. He then heard the thump, thump of the others landing beside him. His tail twitched in frustration. They had chosen not to listen and followed him to meet the humans. Well, no matter. If they wanted to help him finish the humans off, it was fine by him.

“We mean no harm. We come in peace... We wish to help.”

SoNem wavered. One of the humans was civil enough to speak Drakine? It had a thick accent, but the words were intelligible enough. Still, it could be a trap. Humans were tricky fiends, not to be trusted. He saw a flash of movement off to his right and Istaria came forward.

“How can you help?” she asked. SoNem looked at her incredulously. She trusted these humans after all their kind had done? Their Queen was gone; their home was gone; everything was gone. How could Istaria and Seulki go to them for help?

“This is ridiculous,” SoNem hissed. “We should kill them while we still have them trapped.”

[Burthstone]

Melinine was somewhat surprised that, while flying along, she saw a group of dragons and a drake. And she found her curiosity piqued when two of them flew off towards a group of humans off on the horizon. She narrowed her eyes, making completely sure that her skin matched the sky as best she could manage, moving to circle around the group that hadn’t split off, watching carefully. Her best guess was that it was a family that had heard the Queen’s last words and had fled. The theory made sense, since that was what most every dragon was doing, but the dragon who had flown towards the humans looked too young to have a child as developed as the Drake, unless he was a runt, which was unlikely.

Deciding against her better judgement, Melinine swooped down, poorly landing not far from the group that was left behind when the other two went to deal with the humans She let her skin revert to its natural yellow-gray color, tainted only by dirt she hadn’t had time to wash, as she landed. She landed in the opposite direction of the humans, and approaches with her head held high, but her size and clumsiness clearly denoting she has not had her wings for long. “Well, this is an interesting group to come across.” She announces, carefully eyeing Dovah like he may attack. “A small group of dragons, two of which are now off dealing with humans, and a drake that seems to be almost a full Dragon himself.” She stops a short distance from them, flexing her wings a little before fully folding them up against her side, her tail swishing lightly back and forth. “So, pray tell, what is it exactly that you are doing here instead of flying like everyone else?” She’s clearly speaking only to Dovah, ignoring the serf for now.

[enkas]

Ignasius watched as the conversation began. He trusted Hartam's judgement and wisdom, clearly understanding that the old schollar would not be needing to be given words to say, and he was not mistaken. The old man continued the conversation in a slow tone and with slightly broken words..

''We know strategies.. Of our kind.. We know... Retaliate.. We know humankind more than you.. And perhaps... People that want to help... Are more...''

Hartam looked to SoNem

''You wise for not trusting our kind... They kill dragons... And while we have no proof... We different.''

The old man took a deep breath and waited for the answer.

[Charter]

Dovah glared at Seulki as she flew off after SoNem, the comment she made was insulting. Before he could make a comment, he noticed the serf also flew off in the same direction. He quickly realised that he was alone. While a part of him sighed in relief at the prospect, he knew even he couldn't survive alone for long. He decided, with a heavy sigh, to follow their scent, hopefully it wasn't too far where he had to go. Not wanting to miss the sight of charred human corpses, he sprinted his way there.

After a few minutes of running, he managed to see the clearing and saw the humans still standing. Before he could speak, however, a new voice rang out, "Well, this is an interesting group to come across.” Dovah turned to see a dragonelle, one who evidently only recently 'hatched' her wings. She continued, "A small group of dragons, two of which are now off dealing with humans, and a drake that seems to be almost a full Dragon himself.” She flexed her wings, giving Dovah the impression she was taunting or mocking him. "So, pray tell, what is it exactly that you are doing here instead of flying like everyone else?” Dovah dug his claws into the ground, again insulted by a dragonelle, and one who just got her wings none-the-less! He half-wondered if she'd seen him come out of the forest. Before he could make a sharp response, he was again interrupted by the sound of a heavily accented, and poorly grammared, drakine. It took him a few seconds to realise it was in fact the human speaking. He stood there slightly surprised before realising they were asking to help them. Dovah, ignoring the new-comer for the moment, spoke with a hiss, "We should kill them, they're probably just scouts who'll try to give away our position."

[CoyoteKisses]

Seulki sighed in relief when Istaria came forward with no intention of harming the humans. It was comforting to know that she wasn’t the only dragon in the group who didn’t want to kill the humans; but what could two tiny dragonelles do against a dragon? When the older man finished his speech in broken Drakine, Seulki challenging stared at SoNem, her muscles tense. She was afraid and wasn't particularly keen on risking her life for these humans. However, they could gather invaluable information about those dragon hunters. Dovah then spoke up, suggesting that the humans could be scouts.

“I doubt that,” she said, turning her head to look at the man she had encountered before. “That man, I helped him. He was injured but not by us. Perhaps he was wounded by one of his own kind."