[IC] Dragons of Caerel [accepting!]

[BlackPanther]

Cabhan gives Anara a are you sure? look before lowering the bow. He then watches as his fellow party member is kneed in the groin. That caused him to grimace. "Not cool" Considering how angry his superior and her dragon looked he remembered to get his horse sized puff ball of a dragon to calm down. He starts petting Sapphire's nose and sends his dragon waves of happy feelings. This does work and Sapphire's fur smoothes out and his growl dissipates. His ears go back to a more neutral positioning and this is Cabhan and his dragon standing down.

[hoppiholla391]

"THAT IS ENOUGH!"

Anara's shout alone probably would have silenced the Council in full swing, but it was Inirath's roar that packed a real punch. There were certain perks that came with being the biggest and the bossiest, and she wasn't about to just let those slip because they were away from Draketooth. The thunder dragon rose up to her full height, chest out and head up, and her silver claws dug deep furrows into the dirt—most worrying, though, was the fact that each and every rider on the islet felt their hair stand on end, and the air carried a distinct scent of ozone.

Keltor held her ground, standing with her feet planted, a few feet away from Inirath's front paws. One of her hands was tight around the hilt of her still-sheathed sword. She wasn't just irritated now; she was angry. When Quincy landed at her feet, she hauled him to his feet in one smooth movement before turning back to the group at large.

"Sarai," she said, teeth clenched and tone icier than any frostbite's breath. "Control Razeth or Inirath will. Quincy, Alejandra had better not lunge at anyone right now or we're going to have issues. Cabhan—wake the others. Anyone who will come."

Her hand tightened on her sword, and there was a grinding noise as she slid it a bare inch out of the scabbard, then sharply back in. Inirath's head sank lower, her frill standing on edge and her eyes gleaming an unnatural gold as she showed just an inch of her silver teeth.

"I suggest you start explaining, Axon, before you make another bad decision."

[FrozenPhoenix]

Axon was already watching Anara even before she snapped and as she tore through the air with her words of ice he slowly lost his fighting stance for one of a almost scared child. One leg back as though bracing himself against the tide of venom. Really she wasn't scary or her dragon, it was more the sense that she was like a mother to many of Cerael given her position and what she's done for the people of Cerael, to see her like this was what made it hurt.

Razeth wasn't so quick to bow his head as he felt that he could take the pair of them, but it would require something he didn't want to spend and as his mind touched Axon's passivly as they do he felt his sadness for angering her. Slowly he too brought his wings back into their folds and lowered his raised arms back to the ground. With all six limbs on the ground his tail also lowered and he walked over to Axon to which he brought his head down to nudge Axons cheek gently with his snout to comfort him.

Axon reached over and began to stroke Razeth's snout as he began to rumble with a dark and demonic, yet happy purr. It was then Axon decided to start talking, "We saw you leave. We uh... we were curious what was going on and nobody wants to be our friend since we're... we're..." He began to drone off as the Demon beside him closed his eyes feeling the pain his brother felt. It was then anybody could really see what they were. A savage man who never grew up in the 20 years he spent in the wild and a dragon who's mere essence told a story of evil and just what a monster he really was. They were rejects and freaks, no place among the rest of the world. "That's why we had to follow you... To prove we can be good too. Maybe then somebody will like us then." He finished, his voice breaking and sounding pained as though about to cry. Placing his head against Razeth's, closing his eyes to fully bridge the gap between their minds allowing them to comfort each other, reminding that they'd always have each other, no matter what. And somehow that gave them a little solace, enough to continue trying to prove to the everybody else that they are not monsters.

Snapping his eyes open and turning to face Anara and Inirath Axon spoke for the both of them, speaking what they were both thinking, "We won't go back. This is our chance and we won't give it up!"

[Mictlan93]

"...To prove we can be good too. Maybe then somebody will like us then." Quincy couldn't help but loudly scoff at the claim. Usually, in the presence of Anara, he would've held off on such frivolous actions. But, given the context of the encounter, his mouth moved faster than his brain. "So kicking dudes in the nuts is your definition of good? Your views on morality are absurdly skewed, kiddo." Quincy quickly shot back, still obviously heated about the nutshot situation.

Quincy couldn't help but roll his eyes and cross his arms as Axon continued. The spontaneous emotion the boy displayed really seemed artificial to him. Granted, he knew nothing about Axon's upbringing or background. But as it currently stood, to Quincy, it seemed the boy was doing nothing but showcasing some terribly accurate crocodile tears. Even so, he kept quiet and waited for anyone else to weigh in on the situation. Even if he could prove to be a great help to the cause, Quincy felt he didn't give himself the best introduction.

[FrozenPhoenix]

Axon was waiting for a response when Quincy made his and his sadness and determination almost instantly turned to anger. In a sudden outburst he yelled at Quincy, "Yeah of course! It's my fault you attacked me. It's my fault you assumed I was evil! It's my fault you made Razeth angry trying to protect me. It's my fault you aimed an arrow at my head! It's my fault you made me respond in self-defense! This is exactly what I'm talking about! The hatred because of who we are! We're always the monsters, even when we're the victims!" His rant over he let his head fall and once more his was disheartened. Going back to Razeth he began stroking his snout to remind his brother that he wasn't really a monster, he was a good boy.

All during Axon's rant Razeth was backing him up, giving Quincy an mean glare and hissing at him. Now while nobody could read his mind, the one thought on it at the time was, "Racist Bastard." When Axon calmed down Razeth nuzzled his nose towards Axon to try and comfort him, even though Axon seemed as though he was trying to comfort him. Axon was the one who needed it more.

[Lord Zee]

Oberon had been dreaming for who knows how long, maybe not long at all. He had been riding on Sicarus in the night, it at least looked like, yet the moon was oddly shaped. He was aware that he was being followed, but by what? He tried to look behind but just couldn't come to it. Suddenly he was aware that he was falling and could not find Sicarus anywhere but Oberon was oddly calm and he shut his eyes. Then without warning a mighty clap of thunder struck and he awoke with a start. He really hoped it had been at least an hour before he realized that the thunder was actually a roar. He hadn't though about waking Sicarus as he grabbed his sword and made way to the shouting.

He came upon the mixed group, his sword fixed in his hands- ready to strike at a moments notice. He came to a stop next to Anara, right after Quincy finished talking, and gazed at the newcomer with a deep animosity in his eyes. Is this the reason that he was awoken? Over Axon Sarai, with his demon dragon? Of course it was and when he spoke about what Quincy and Cabhan did, it only sounded logical that they would retaliate in that way. They probably had never heard of him and he was here, hiding in the thickets watching them. Now Oberon didn't know how this started but he was almost confident in what he was about to say.

"Axon Sarai, how strange that we find you here, in the thickets watching us from the shadows," His tone became hardened, "Is it really their fault that they found you, a stranger, and proceeded with appropriate force under this...situation? Just look at you dragon, quite the exquisite thing but you ask anyone back on Caerel about it and they will say it is a myth, regardless if some know that to not be true. Also, the only hate I feel see here, is that you kicked this man in his balls. So, lets all stop with these, emotions, and move on to more important matters. Like, what are we going to do with you?" He finished and relaxed his sword a bit.

[Mictlan93]

"Uhhh, yeah? It is your fault. It's ALL your fault. This situation you got us in right now is completely your doing." Quincy's expression couldn't help but curl into one of confusion and disbelief. "What's this guy going on about? Hatred? Monsters?" He squinted a bit as he tried to figure Axon out. He was ready to give the boy another piece of his mind, until Oberon entered the scene, saying essentially everything he was going to say himself. "Yes! Thank you, Oberon! I'm not going crazy here!" He addressed the armor-clad rider. "It's not just me thinking he really handled the situation the wrong way." He added. "I mean, couldn't he have just, approached us? I'm failing to understand why he thought he needed to be a sneak." He sounded smart for once. It was a rare occasion.

...Like, what are we going to do with you?" Oberon stared the kid down, yet seemed to calm. Quincy crossed his arms once more. "Let's keep him with us." Quincy piped up, surprisingly. "He said he wanted to prove himself for whatever reason, so let's have him help. After all, why would we turn down someone who just wants to help us save our home?" Quincy shrugged. Then, he gave his own staredown to the dingy kid, but with this time with less of a furrowed brow.

"I dunno why you call yourselves monsters. I dunno why you think i'm supposed to hate you (other than, y'know, the nut kicking thing). Dude, I don't even know who you are. But, if anything, if you really felt the need to defy those feelings, now would be the best time to do it, yeah?" He smirked.

[BlackPanther]

Cabhan sighs heavily. "No one is being racist...no one is calling you a monster. Personally, when I see a part member caught up with a stranger I tend to take the side of the party member. Hence the arrow pointed at your skull earlier. You are being slightly childish Axon, at least that is my opinion. Anyway, I am going to gather the others like I was asked" With an eye roll and a head shake at Axon, he heads to where the rest of the group is with Sapphire by his side. With a faint smile he makes a hand gesture and Sapphire starts mimicking elk screams, which is the loudest most annoying effective sound Cabhan could think of. Hopefully it will work because otherwise he is going to have to have Sapphire lick their faces and not everyone reacts well to that. To those who are not sleeping, Cabhan gives a small apologetic shrug. "A stranger was watching us so we must gather around Anara as a group"

[hoppiholla391]

Anara came down from her fighting stance slowly, the air huffing out of her as she pinched the bridge of her nose. Tonight was turning much more taxing than she'd expected, and she was already tired after the long flight—fatigue certainly made up half of Inirath's anger. The thunder dragon was more reluctant to relax even a fraction, her spines standing straight out and the air still carrying the scent of thunderstorms.

"Axon," she said, and her voice belied the exhaustion her posture hid. "This is not a popularity stunt, or a good will trip, or—we are not here to prove that we can be good, or to get people to like us. We're here because our mission is necessary. So while I appreciate that you're honest about your motives, just—"

Keltor sighed again, before dropping her hand and squaring her shoulders. "I am going to be asleep in an hour," she said flatly, looking between all those assembled. "You can come to the camp, it's not like this island is a secret. We'll decide what to do—in the morning." The decide what to do with you went unspoken. "If you cause any fights in the meantime, though, I can tell you right now what will happen—you will return to Caerel or stay here, but you will not be following us."

She turned her back on them and headed back for the camp, laying her hand against Inirath's silver scales for a moment. The thunder dragon rumbled angrily for a moment, before her rider calmed her enough that the great beast turned, returning to the dip in the stone that she'd claimed for her bed. Both rider and dragon, however, still gave off static shocks to the touch—acquiescent though she may seem, Anara was far from pleased.

[FrozenPhoenix]

Axon was watching Anara waiting for her judgement and when she only delayed it he was let down to say the least, though convicted to not press the matter he was about to address the others when Razeth nuzzled him in the back of his head, almost knocking him over. Then with a series of whines, chirps, and hisses Axon looks at him and nods sagely before saying in a normal voice, "Yeah I don't think they are buying it... I told you it would never work!" It was at this point that Razeth tilts his head looking at Axon before squinting and jabbing him with his snout suddenly knocking him to the ground and letting out a repeated grunting noise.

"What do you mean it was my idea?!? It was clearly your idea because my ideas don't fail like this one!" He shouted up at Razeth waving his hands to fend off the snout coming down to crush him. This little playful show continued for a few more seconds before Axon got up and turned to face the remaining members, "Look we got off on the wrong foot, literally in the case of the guy with the funny hair. My name is Axon Sarai, you may have heard of me and you may not have, I don't care. The truth of the matter is I don't care what people think of me because I already have my friends and family. The only reason I came on this adventure was because I thought you could use my help. I have frequently left Carael so my knowledge of the local area could really help. And besides that I just want to leave again, be free and have a guiding purpose. I don't know what you are doing but I want to help." He said all traces of sadness and fear leaving his voice. He sounded almost jovial now, it was strange to be sure. "As for kicking him in the balls... Well... he took me away from Razeth and I felt kind of bothered by it, so I got revenge. No hard feelings I hope!"

[Lord Zee]

Oberon was completely disappointed. Not only had he been awoken by this incident but he already didn't like Axon. He rolled his eyes and said, "Way to go kid, making a fool out of yourself can only get you so far in this world. Obviously you never received an invitation to come but hey, whatever, like Keltor said, I guess we will figure out what to do with you in the morning."

He sheathed his sword and turned to walk away before looking back and saying, "By the way, you should probably figure out what we are doing on this "adventure" because if you mess it up in anyway, there will be consequences." Having said that, he turned around and left them again.

He eventually found his way back to the tree he had leaned up against before. After thinking about a suitable course of action, Oberon decided that he would watch that kid like a hawk, to make sure he didn't do anything else stupid. He eventually drifted back to sleep again, this time, his dreams were not pleasant.

[Mictlan93]

The little group was beginning to disperse, and Axon was doing his best to save face. "I'm only doing this for myself, I don't care what you people think of me, even though I was literally crying about it a few seconds ago, blah blah blah." Quincy thought mockingly, scoffing again. "Sheesh! And I thought I was selfish and arrogant!" And what was he going on about with the mention of the funny haircut? "What's so funny about a buzz cut?" He pondered defensively, smoothing down what little hair he had.

"Whatever dude. We're gonna save Caerel." He approached Axon. "No hard feelings about the nut thing." He lied, placing a trusting(?) hand on the wild man's shoulder. "But, if we're gonna work together, we need to be on even footing, yeah? Else, how're we gonna be a functioning team? You understand, right?" He had half a mind to dish out his own retaliation right there and then, but, decided against it. It could wait until another time. He gave him one last lingering look before heading off towards the camp, Alejandra in tow.

Back at the fire, looked like everyone was going down for the night. Quincy checked on his clothes, still lying at the crackling cinders. "Still damp." He decided to leave them there til' the morning. Lethargy was taking over Allie once more, and she began to coil up behind her rider. "Looks like a good idea." He mentioned, climbing into the coil and reclining as if he were wafting down a lazy river. She went back to resting her snout in his lap, and Quincy gazed into the campfire, hoping the rhythmic dance of the flame would drift him off to sleep.

[BlackPanther]

Cabhan, having come back to where Axon is along with the others, shakes his head. "I don't care what you have and what you have not done. I care that you followed us, spied on us, and kicked a man in this party in the nuts. With that in mind, I am already against you being here. My name is Cabhan Walsh and I would like you to stay away from myself and my dragon." Sapphire who was standing beside Cabhan, glares at the two. With a snort and a chirp he stands and nudges Cabhan to encourage him to go over to the fire he had started. Once back to where his bags are, he sits and pulls out a piece of dried fish feeding it to Sapphire as the furry dragon lays down beside its rider. Cabhan then proceeds to pull out the necessary equipment to make more arrows, with someone he doesn't trust in the area he will not be sleeping in order to keep an ear out. His dragon however, curls up and falls asleep once he finishes his dried fish.

[FrozenPhoenix]

Axon and Razeth stood there as they were berated and left alone again. As they turned their backs though Axon could help but flip off Cabhan behind his back with an unamused look on his face. When everybody had gone Axon turned to Razeth saying, "Well that went well. See this is why I believe humans suck and we dragons are-..." He caught himself referring to himself as a dragon again. A common mistake he made given most of his life he spent grow up with them. "Look it doesn't matter. Come on let's just go to bed and deal with them in the morning." He finished wandering off to Razeth's side to take out a blanket and then wander off to find a cozy spot against a tree believing Razeth would follow, but when he turned back around Razeth was seen bounding towards the camp. Axon, not bothering to deal with that problem elected to just bundle up and wait for him to return.

Razeth broke into the camp and seemingly to have never ending pools of energy he began to jump, leap, and bound around Cabhan and Sapphire, pawing at the air and ground, keeping his distance but trying to get a rise out of Sapphire so they could go back to playing as though the last 5 minutes never happened. Chirping and whining at the pair he was more than ready to play again!

[BlackPanther]

Cabana looks over at the bouncing, chirping black dragon and sighs. Technically he told the rider to stay away from himself and Sapphire not the dragon. He looks at Sapphire who is now awake and wiggling himself and sighs again. He stands and removes the rest of Sapphire's riding gear before giving a nod to the brightly colored fluff ball.

Being given the go ahead Sapphire chirps and starts bouncing about Razeth. His tail waving back and fourth as he bounces about like a playful puppy. Of course, he is much smaller then Razeth so bouncing around the black dragon takes a bit more effort then the reverse.

Cabhan chuckles and watches the duo from where he is sitting. Keeping a watchful eye out for the large black dragon's rider and to make sure there isn't any accidental harm done to his dragon. That and this is quite entertaining to watch.

[FrozenPhoenix]

Razeth continues to prance, bounce, pounce, and paw at the dragon who was quiet literally about an eighth of his size. But despite the huge size difference he still rolled onto his back when the much smaller dragon made his playful attacks letting him have a fair fight as they rolled about.

However Razeth was still wearing not only his riding gear, but also many of the packs he came with and when he rolled over while playing with Sapphire one of the packs let a small wrapped object fall out. It couldn't have been bigger than an a Pringle can and as if fell out it rolled towards Cabhan, still tightly bound in the leather wrappings that kept whatever was inside safe.

As Razeth and Sapphire continued playing Razeth was having his day made having to get to play with such an energetic friend, but their fun was abruptly cut short when Razeth's bladed tail lashed through the air and sliced a large branch clean off of the tree. When it clattered to the ground Razeth leaped up in surprise, his wings extending as a natural response and once agin he looked intimidating as all can be. Though this time he quickly calmed himself. However, Razeth decided to take this time to chirp and whine at Sapphire signalling that their fun would be over for now and he was going to retire for the night.

Wandering off he returned to Axon who hadn't fallen asleep yet and when Axon stood up, Razeth curled up around him, using his winged arms to provide a warm shelter for Razeth's head and Axon's entirety. Together they bundled up to enjoy a night of rest in each others arms.

[BlackPanther]

Cabhan picks up the bundle and carefully opens it. With a sigh after he looks it over, he rolls it back up and puts it into one of his bags.

Sapphire was keeping up with the larger dragon, his energy seemingly endless. Of course, he nearly leapt out of his skin when the branch thudded to the ground. After calming down, he chirps back to Razeth and heads over to Cabhan. With a soft chirp, Sapphire curls up next to his rider and falls asleep.

Cabin goes back to making arrows, thinking that the more he has the better since he has no idea what all is out here. After awhile though, the warmth of the fire and his dragon get to him and he puts away the arrows and the tools and falls asleep. Luckily, he doesn't snore.

[Gisk]

Rolf readied himself during the encounter, but made no actions. His companions had it well in hand. He might have arrived first had he not already unsaddled Forge; he would have mounted and been on the newcomer in moments.

As events transpired, however, he stood in the background, one hand holding his sword and the other supporting his pipe, which he was loath to give up.

When everything was over, he sheathed his sword and went back to his patch of the camp, unusually quietly. He had to hold Forge back from frolicking with the other dragons, but he made himself clear by giving his partner a taste of his suspicion and dislike for the newcomers. They had soured his mood, but he tried to salvage it by rekindling his pipe and resting, his back leaning on Forge's warm belly.

When the time came to discuss their followers, he would voice his opinion of them. But until then he'd keep his own council. Let the kid think for a night that he might get to join them.

[hoppiholla391]

Morning dawned cold and crisp on the island, a far cry from Caerel's balmy sea breezes. There had been a minimum of talking after the camp took a turn for the tense, but Anara had made sure to bank the fire so that there was at least a little warmth in the morning. She'd spent the night wrapped up in the waterproof furs she'd brought, couched on a curl of Inirath's tail, and she was the first to wake. Inirath stayed sound asleep as she rose, stumbling over to her bags to dig out breakfast.

She coaxed the fire back to life and started heating up some of the dry rations, using a dry-ish stone as a chair. As she waited for the others to wake, she let herself heave a sigh. She'd known this was going to be difficult—flying across the ocean, landing on islands no one had seen for a century, and somehow solving a change in the seasons—even without dissent within the ranks. Now, the problem of moving a flight of dragons across hundreds of miles of sea water seemed the least of her worries.

[BlackPanther]

Cabhan slowly wakes up. He has no idea when exactly he fell asleep, but he has a nice amount of well crafted arrows now. He gathers them up and puts them away before sitting opposite to Anara. "Mornin" His voice sounds a bit gruff since it is morning, and Sapphire remains asleep. He opens his bag with food and pulls out some meat for himself knowing that his dragon will want the fish. He digs in while waiting for either her to speak or some of the others to wake up. Oddly, his hair is messed up from sleeping and since he hasn't shaved he appears to have some shadowing of stubble on his face...which is also multicolored. Probably a neat effect, but not something he goes for. Most likely, he will shave as soon as he can finding that facial hair doesn't suit him.