...And the Jewel Falls(Open to 8-12 players, advanced)

[†NocturnalBeast†]

Draven cursed as his failed attempt to connect telepathically with his friend. Astraeus must be knocked out somewhere. No doubt the humans were immobilizing him with some kind of potion or tranquilizer. The black dragon dug his huge ivory colored claws into the ground, angry that he failed his friend.

He remembered their first meeting. Draven was flying around and heard a distress cry. It was a baby dragon caught in the mountains by jagged rocks that were piercing her wings. Seeing that no one else was around to help, Draven went down to rescue the little female. Then she directed him back to her home, the Clan of Wind dragons. It was there that the Clan thanked him but were wary. Only Astraeus welcomed him and thanked him for rescuing his little sister.

The two became friends but due to the Clan's distrust of outsiders, Draven didn't visit the clan itself much. He and Astraeus met else where to fly together and have fun. When he saw that Astraeus was in trouble the black dragon flew in to help without a second thought.

His thoughts went to the female that was sulking in her cave. With her kind of personality, she was bound to go after Astrae, but she had no damn idea where he was. Dragons had to be close in order to form a telepathic connection, and they had to have connected before. Only Draven could find Astrae's location. If she, Alex, or whatever her name was, was going to kick him out, then she'd be on a wild dragon chase.

Headstrong female. Head over heels for Astraeus apparently. Whatever. Draven shook his head out as he tried once again to connect with the green dragon trapped somewhere by humans. If this female didn't want him around, fine with him. He'd leave her and find Astraeus himself, not like she was going to help him anyway.

[DrgnAlexandrite]

After a long night, and a long morning of deep sleep, she finallly woke up, smiling as she admired her work. She wouldn't wear it yet, but she was proud of what she had done with it. For the time being, however...

She grabbed a few pieces of steak, throwing a bit of fire onto her heating rock to cook it, something she actually learned from the humans. She threw a few spices she had onto them, and before long, she grabbed them all, letting them sit on her tounge for a moment before swallowing them.

She was quickly after out of the cave, lightly jumping off the high plateau, foregoing her usual display. She decided that she'd perhaps work off some stress just cruising around...

((Sorry for the short post, a bit tired lol))

[†NocturnalBeast†]

(she is so totally ignoring Draven XD )

Night passed and morning came. Draven was up all night trying to forge the connection, not wanting to be missing the moment Astrae woke up or came around. He only slept for 3 hours to take a short break but was up again trying to connect with the emerald dragon. It didn't work. Draven growled in frustration and stamped his taloned foot against the ground of the plateau. He'd find him, he promised him he would. If only he had an idea of where the human base was. There were millions of human bases, which one would Astraeus be at?

He took some time to go hunting before dawn, before the female woke up so that she wouldn't run away. If something happened to Alex, Draven wasn't sure Astraeus would be too happy with him. So the black dragon left before the sun rose and caught a tender buffalo and chowed down on it while still trying to establish the bond. 

He had finished his meal and it wasn't long till he smelled what was coming out of the cave. He wrinkled his snout in distaste as he smelled the cooked scent and smells of the spices and flavorings the humans used. Was the female cooking her food? What was she a dragon who thought she was human? What purpose did dragons have to cook their food? Foolish thing to do if you ask him.

He ignored her actions and concentrated on his task. Soon he felt the wind stir and he opened his eyes to see the amethyst female leap off the cliff and go flying away. He'd be worried but had a feeling she was just flying to let off some stress. Where would she go anyway? She had no idea where Astraeus was taken and no one else to help her fend off the humans either. If she went and tried a dare devil tactic, she might as well hand herself over to the humans now and save them the trouble of being attacked and subdued.

He knew she would return, she had no other choice.

[DrgnAlexandrite]

((Darn you lol. I wanted another choice ))

She saw Draven, down on the ground, but didn't bother letting her gaze linger. Wretch she thought to herself, as she continued to fly around. She thought she'd, perhaps go and try and find him today, but thought better of it. He was likely nowhere to be found around here.

She went lower as she saw something shiny on the ground, looked like a blade of some sort. She spiraled a few times, carefully checking everything out before going in and quickly grabbing it, before flying up again. She kept flying, landing on the plateau a distance away, where she had landed with Astraeus only yesterday, after that... exciting incident. She kept thinking about him, what they would do once she freed him, what her brother would think about him..... what the- no. She wouldn't go that far in her thoguhts.

But she looked at the blade, and found it to be remarkably ornamented. Jewels adorned the hilt, and a slit ran down the middle. It seemed to be a huge claymore, as it fit perfectly even in her front claw, and had a decent reach as such. Must have been a giant of a man to wield a blade such as this she thought, laughing at the thought of such a man fighting one of the Ancient Dragons. She proceeded to sleep on the plateau, letting the sun warm her scales.

[†NocturnalBeast†]

((If she had another choice, then Draven would be useless in this RP))

He bashed his taloned claws against the hard rocky surface of the plateau. Draven was either too far out of range to reach Astraeus, or the humans knew of telepathic connections between dragons and made sure to keep the emerald male sedated so that he couldn't cry to help. Draven hissed at the thought. Humans, they disgusted him with their thirst for power and control. And they said dragons were beasts, look at themselves!!!! At least dragons didn't go out of their way to capture humans and turn them into slaves. Those ignorant humans...rubbish.

The black dragon stood and and took to the air, flying around and trying to see if he was getting anyway near range to reach his friend.

"C'mon Astraeus, respond!" he thought, shouting his thoughts out hoping to reach the green dragon.

......

It was silent for a moment as Draven waited.

"...! D-Draven?!?" an answer came.

Draven smiled and did a wheel barrel in the sky in joy. The connection worked!!!

"Astraeus! Thank Ragnarok you're alive? What's happened? I've tried to establish a link with you for the past day and it failed. Are you hurt? Do you know where you are?" Draven asked an onslaught of questions as he drifted through the sky.

It was quiet for a moment on Astraeus' end. "I..I don't know where exactly I am. Only that I'm in a holding cell and there are lots of other dragons in the cells around me. They haven't brainwashed me yet thank Ragnarok. I'm fine, they healed my wounds but they've run multiple tests on me and such. I was knocked out for a few hours. Where's Alex? Is she alright?" the green dragon asked.

Draven frowned. Was that concern he heard in his friend's voice? Did he like Alex? Eh who cares. "The female is fine, she's off somewhere now, perhaps sulking or something," he responded.

"Draven!!! I asked you watch over her. She's a headstrong female and might try to find me without your help! I can't let harm come to her, I dragged her into this. Please don't let her leave your site," Astraeus said almost pleading.

Draven was taken aback and faltered in his flight. "...Fine fine, don't get your tail twisted up. I'll find her. Even if she does look for you, it'd be futile without my help and our connection. But I will keep my promise," Draven said as he started on a downward descend to find the purple female.

"*sigh* Thank you friend. The humans are coming now, I'll see what they are doing and try to connect with you soon. Until then," Astraeus said and ended the link.

Draven found the female soon and floated down beside her sleeping form. His red eyes watched her and contemplated on waking her up to tell her the news.

[DrgnAlexandrite]

She laid there for maybe... an hour or so? She didn't keep track of time very well, unfortunatley. But before long, she heard wingbeats, and was instantly alert, ready to take off, until she saw Draven, his clumsy flying that she heard from a mile away, and snorted. She didn't want to talk to him, or even look at him. For some odd reason, she was pissed at him. Maybe because he dragged her away from Astraeus, but she didn't think that was it. No, it was something else, but she didn't trust him.

She liked it even less when he landed near her, like he owned this land. She felt as though he was being a bit disrespectful to her, and to Astraeus, by coming here, when he clearly wasn't invited. She didn't owe him a damn thing, as far as she was concerned, and nor did Astraeus. She didn't much care for him, but she did realize that he may have his uses. So, for the time being, he was to stay, she supposed.

"What do you want?" she asked, sneering, her violet eyes almost violent. She didn't trust him, and she let it show, and she knew she was a better fighter to boot. Let's see him start something with her, and it would be the last thing he ever started...

[†NocturnalBeast†]

"What do you want?"

Draven returned a equal look of dislike towards Alex. He sneered at her as he folded his majestic black wings close to his body. "No need to give me an attitude female. I don't have to tell you the good news if I don't want to," he said as he snorted at her. She acted as if he were an insect compared to her. Who the hell did she think she was? Like she owned this piece of land they were sitting on, it wasn't even hers!!

(wow she is harsh to him)

He whipped his long black tail back and forth as he eyed her, thinking if he should tell her. "If you want to know, I don't give a rat's ass if you care for me or not. I'm in this for Astraeus because I owe him a favor as a friend. You on the other hand I don't. I'm only here since Astrae told me to watch over you," he said as he pointed at her. He didn't like how this female was eying him, as if he was not worthy of being in her presence. The nerve of this female. If it wasn't for his friend he'd already have this female whipped and begging at his talons.

Draven was not a pushover. Though he didn't like to hit females, this one was starting to piss him off and hitting her wouldn't make him feel guilty. By size he was much larger than her and packed a more powerful punch and he was very verse in using his claws like hands and could very well take her on and bring her down if she wanted to fight him.

"So you want to know the news about Astraeus or not? Keep giving me the lip and I can go rescue him myself without you. You'd probably get in the way anyways," he said with a growl. He eyed the sword she had found somewhere oddly. A dragon with a sword? While he was accustomed to adapting new fighting ways he didn't like using human weapons unless he was out of options. It was his dragon pride. 

[DrgnAlexandrite]

She sat there as he talked, like he was some god, a grin full of malice playing across her face. She stayed silent for a few moments, but cut him off as he began to talk again.

"Now you hear me. While I thank you for the assistance, I do not trust you. I trust few dragons, especially males like yourself" she said, almost snarling. "Your... well-timed arrival is suspiscious at best, and your machoistic behavior is quite frankly aggravating. That, coupled with the rumors I've heard of a black dragon present at some of the Tribe captures, makes you a dragon I just love to hate. So, drop the attitute, and maybe I'll consider acting civil as well" she said, snorting a bit of smoke as she finished.

"Now, you said there was news of Astraeus? How'd you get it?" she asked.

[†NocturnalBeast†]

"Now you hear me. While I thank you for the assistance, I do not trust you. I trust few dragons, especially males like yourself" she said, almost snarling. "Your... well-timed arrival is suspiscious at best, and your machoistic behavior is quite frankly aggravating. That, coupled with the rumors I've heard of a black dragon present at some of the Tribe captures, makes you a dragon I just love to hate. So, drop the attitute, and maybe I'll consider acting civil as well"

Draven gave her a droll look, the look that said he thought little of her current attitude as of now. "Never asked to be liked or to be trusted by you did I?" he asked her as he narrowed his eyes. This female was irritating him, pushing his buttons and pushing them wrong.

"Males like me? What are you a sexist? I can tell you, you females aren't all angels either. And if you must know I happened to be in the area after Astraeus told me that there have been captures around here. He told me about his plan of rallying up a dragon army and that's why I'm here. Masochistic behavior? When have I ever acted like I loved inflicting pain upon myself? And for your information hatchling, there's more than one black dragon flying around these parts. Doesn't mean that I'm that black dragon," he told her as he snorted. God this girl was such a child.

"If you would open your eyes and stop being so simple and narrow minded I might be more gentledragonly. First you hate me due to a dislike of males in general, then you hate me because I'm a black dragon. Way to be understanding. I don't know what that dragon sees in you," Draven said referring to Astraeus. Che, this female...what could Astraeus possibly see in her besides a stubborn side and a sassy side? Obviously she was a sexist and a racist as well, what more could a male ask for in a girl?

"Now, you said there was news of Astraeus? How'd you get it?"

He narrowed his red eyes at her. "What are you to Astrae? And more importantly what is he to you? From what he told me, you two knew each other for about 2 days...I've known him for 10 years. And why do you want to know how I got the info? I got in touch with him is all, not that it matters to you anyway. So if you will just put your discrimination aside, we can go rescue him, or we can sit here bickering and wasting time," he said.

He sized her up. She was slender, big wingspan, long body, light. On the other claw he was large, tall, but packed with muscle. His wingspan was shorter, he wasn't a fast flyer but he could carry more weight and he was adverse in fighting than flying.

[DrgnAlexandrite]

She sat and listened to his rant, then smiled as he finished. "Good points all. I may have judged you too soon, and I do apologize, but I've been rather... busy lately" she said simply. "Nonetheless, for safety's sake, I'm going to remain suspiscious of you. I do hope you understand" she said. She wasn't about to drop her suspiscions, and she planned on staying alert around this dragon.

"And quite frankly, though you have known your friend much longer, I'm still intent on helping him" she added. "And I warn you, it won't be easy, if they picked the holding cells I think they did" she added. "I just need to know that while we're there, you won't 'accidentially' bump me into a cell and lock it. You're in this for Astraeus, not for me" she said, watching the other dragon's face carefully.

"Now, if there is nothing else, we need to plan" she said, moving to the edge of the plateau

((Sorry for the short post ))

[†NocturnalBeast†]

"Good points all. I may have judged you too soon, and I do apologize, but I've been rather... busy lately" she said simply. "Nonetheless, for safety's sake, I'm going to remain suspiscious of you. I do hope you understand"

Draven nodded his head stiffly. "Fine by me. We can both drop our silly squabbles, drop our judgmental issues and attitudes, keep being cautious, but we have to work together. Deal? I don't really care if you are still suspicious of me. As long as that suspicious won't push you to try and get rid of me before we rescue Astrae then go ahead and continue. I shall do the same for you," he said now a bit more courteously.

"And quite frankly, though you have known your friend much longer, I'm still intent on helping him" she added. "And I warn you, it won't be easy, if they picked the holding cells I think they did" she added. "I just need to know that while we're there, you won't 'accidentially' bump me into a cell and lock it. You're in this for Astraeus, not for me"

Draven once again nodded his head. "Understood. And he didn't tell me what cell he's in so we'll wait for his message. And I'll have you know, Astrae does care for you. If I were to lock you in a cell then he'd have my hide. Don't worry your scales off, I have no grudge against you and I hate humans, wouldn't dream of helping them. You can sleep soundly now at night knowing that. In return I need to know that you won't trap me in a cell once Astrae is free. Do we have an accord?" he asked her as he stuck out his claw for a shake.

(no problem, mine's short too)

[DrgnAlexandrite]

"Fine by me. We can both drop our silly squabbles, drop our judgmental issues and attitudes, keep being cautious, but we have to work together. Deal? I don't really care if you are still suspicious of me. As long as that suspicious won't push you to try and get rid of me before we rescue Astrae then go ahead and continue. I shall do the same for you," he said, and she nodded. He would be stupid not to be suspiscious of any dragon in this region. It was on the forefront of the human expansion

"Understood. And he didn't tell me what cell he's in so we'll wait for his message. And I'll have you know, Astrae does care for you. If I were to lock you in a cell then he'd have my hide. Don't worry your scales off, I have no grudge against you and I hate humans, wouldn't dream of helping them. You can sleep soundly now at night knowing that. In return I need to know that you won't trap me in a cell once Astrae is free. Do we have an accord?" he said, sticking out his claw, reminiscent of a human handshake. At least he didn't spit in it.

Nonetheless, she left the claw alone, and instead drew a symbol in the ground, something that her mother had taught her. It was a complicated thing, and took a few minutes to draw. But the Ancient Language wasn't an easy thing, especially with pacts. After a few minutes, it was done. It looked like a mess of scribbles, but it was a simple pact, really. A pact of action, with little consequence. But consequence took a LONG time to draw out, and the more complex pacts could take upwards of weeks, and were usually used in Clan or Pack treaties, sometimes planned months or even years in advance.

This one, her mother had taught her. If the dragon that marked it betrayed her in action, in this case, by pushing her into a cell of any sort, they would experience severe itching for a few days. It would at least be enough to distract the fool.

"Now, put your claw through this. Just drag it through, and that'll be our agreement" she said, waiting for him.

[†NocturnalBeast†]

sorry slow, will get to this

[DrgnAlexandrite]

Not a problem, my posting is slow too lol