1x1 with sugarbird

[sugarbird]

-----He pretty much was a show animal. That's all he's ever been, and what he will only ever be if this plan doesn't work out. She didn't have to tell him that for him to know. Alphonse has drilled it into his head that he was a living trophy. A trophy that displayed his wealth and luck, as feathered dragons of his subspecies were pretty much gone off the face of the planet. At least, that's what his master told him. Hopefully there was at least one more of his kind out there somewhere, undiscovered and uncaptured by any human or elf alike. It was such a sad thought, knowing there was a good chance that he was the only one left of his species. But, he supposed it didn't really matter much. It's not like he would ever see another one in his life anyway.

-----There she said it again. He kills dragons, apparently. He didn't know of such a thing. It seemed impossible, really. Orion assumed his master wasn't the type to poach dragons for profit. He thought he did that through the potions he's made. Everybody wants to live forever, of course, so when this new recipe was discovered to be reliable, it was obvious that people would come swarming to buy it. And if Alphonse didn't have people go poach dragons for him for profit, then why exactly would he ever want to do that? It seemed so heartless and cruel to kill off dragons for no reason whatsoever. Though, killing them for profits was still just as bad. Trophy hunting still would've been a lot worse than pretty much any of the other options.

-----Well, he didn't dwell on that, much less ask questions about it. He hoped she was either lying, or somehow getting the wrong idea of what Alphonse did. The dragon kept an ear out for any passerby, as it seems by now like they've been here for a good amount of time. Maybe the wizard was on his way down already. That could also just be wishful thinking. Pausing for a moment, unsure of whether or not to continue the conversation, he eventually spoke back up.

-----"I could listen to that!" he said quietly, planting one side of his head against the door this time in eagerness to hear. He could possibly be staying there for some time if he ever made it out with her, so it would be nice to get a vague idea of what it was like at least.

[Bronzewing]

Lehra couldn't tell what he was doing behind the door, even if she held her head against it to see if she could hear anything- like soft footsteps, the breath of the other dragon, or well, anything. Their voice was of course audible and easy to hear- but they wanted her to hear that. She didn't even know what they were thinking- so much relied on them, yet they were a rather large mystery. If they did escape, she would of course get to know them better- but that would take time, and it depended on whether or not they were trustworthy.

The best idea she had was to sell the desert best she could. Be truthful, but make it sound great- maybe even better than it actually was. Lehra was of course biased by it being her home, of course- but she could probably do a good enough job telling it like it was. She had no idea if dragons other than desert-folk could pick up on the wild magic there, but it was always worth a try.

"Well, the desert." she began, tilting her head to the side as she caught her breath and got her thoughts in order. "It's nice. Could look pretty bare at times- sometimes the only thing you can see are the dunes for miles and miles around. It's hot in the day and cold at night- sometimes it's easy to get lost since if you don't know where you are, every dune looks the same. " She breathed in, catching her breath before she continued. "Absolutely full of wild magic that humans can't pick up. There's not many of us, but everybody that goes there leaves a trail on the sand- where somebody was going, or whatever they leave behind there. A lot of the time it's directions to dragonmade places- old sandstone ruins, an oasis far away, somebody's secret stash of scrolls. Somebody that can read the sand may take hours or days just reading what the sand says, following the paths, finding treasures. The rule is that you don't take anything."

She paused another moment to collect her thoughts. "Humans can't read them. They can make them sometimes, but they can't understand wild magic like we can. The dragons know they can't, but we still spread out to make sure they can't get to us. I haven't seen another dragon in ages- I've even lost track of how old I am." How old even was she? It had been a long time, she knew that. "Beforehand I remember we would meet together- share our findings from ages past, tell others what they hid, train hatchlings how to see the world. Then the two-legged folk came, and they ran us out."

[sugarbird]

-----He kept silent and listened to her little ramble, trying to imagine it all in his head. He pictured a pure, untouched land that was teeming with secrets and life underneath its barren facade. A place very unwelcoming to outsiders, but a place where everything within treats each other with respect. Respect for other dragons, respect for life, respect for even the very sands themselves, it sounded like. It seemed dangerous, and he would not be fond of the hot weather that she mentioned during the day. It wouldn't matter. It would have to be where he would stay if he ever made it out of here alive. It would also be one last new experience for him- one more thing he could say that he could have accomplished in his life. I lived in the desert with this wild dragon, and we conquered its challenges together. What a whimsical, stupid thought.

-----But it was all cut short. The two-legs came and ran them out, apparently. Humans, is that what she meant? Orion has lived with humans pretty much all of his life, but he can't say he knows a ton about what they actually do. They're smart, they create weapons, they have a major ego, they hunt things for money and sport or food, and.. that's it. He didn't think they'd go out of their way to kick out entire other species from their homes. Why, he didn't think even people would be capable of doing such terrible things. Who would do that to a bunch of dragons who were just minding their business, not harming anyone? He had to admit, her accusation was hard to believe. But, he never saw it for himself either. "Wait.. what? But why? Why would they--"

-----Orion's ears caught the sound of faint footsteps coming from the outside of the basement, heading right towards the chambers. Not just steps, but rattling chains. They must be ready for her assessment. The drake quickly shut himself up. "Wait, shh!" He moved to the side and a bit of a ways away from the door, trying to make room for what he assumed was Alphonse. And, he assumed right. Down the wizard came, and followed by him were two guards, none of which carrying any chains on them. The master himself calmly approached the doors, chanting the same spell to himself.

-----"Out of the way." he scolded Orion, despite the fact that the dragon was at least five feet away from the door at this point. Again, he lifted the massive bar with ease and pushed through the doors, revealing the dragoness to Orion once more. He completely forgot what he looked like at this point, he was just so caught up in the conversation the two of them shared. But somehow, seeing her in flesh and blood once more, and not behind a set of doors, really drove his confidence up. She was so powerful looking.. so elegant. With her around, he'd be okay. He had confidence that he'd be okay. Behind the wizard's back, he gave her a knowing look. Hopefully she'd do okay with this assessment. It would really do them both some good for her to actually prove to Alphonse that she could be trusted outside of a cage first.

-----"Okay, my lady. Your time has come." he placed a hand on the ward he created that encapsulated the room, resting it on there as if it was solid and not just magic. At his whim, the ward had dissipated back into specs of light that floated out of view. "Now, if we do this the easy way, you won't need to be in chains during this. It won't last more than a few minutes." Alphonse walked out of her way, gesturing towards the staircase and welcoming her to leave this room on her own accord. "After you, Amber."

[Bronzewing]

She caught her breath, about to speak again when she realized she should give them some time to reflect on the stuff she had said. No use in filling them full of information and leaving them to get their head around it. Would they even be one for hot weather? Would the sand get into their feathers and make it unpleasant? Maybe they were more of a forest dragon- she wouldn't mind at all if she had to leave her desert home and go there. Maybe it would make it harder for the men- they would be combing the desert for the escaped dragon, after all.

She didn't want to think about it, but she couldn't go back. It was too risky, they would find her, and nothing good would ever come out of that. She wasn't going back here, or being killed like she expected in the first place. It would either have to be a different desert...or she would never get to hear the call of the sands again. It sickened her, hurt her soul, and she cursed the humans for what they had done to her entire kin. Displacing her kind like that...she wouldn't stand for it, but there was nothing at all she could do. Only hope that some day, some great day she would get the wizard's head in her teeth.

She was about to speak again when they told her to stop- and she quickly went silent, moving away from the door and prowling around just in case they got suspicions that the two were talking. She wasn't sure what was happening, and the anticipation took over her. It was only when she heard the voice of her new greatest enemy when she knew they were letting her out of there- strange, after the last time she asked she would have guessed it would be a while later. Wonderful- she would work with this. Even better to get the plan in motion, stop worrying about it, and of course the less time her partner had to rethink it the better.

Her partner was a tad small- and she didn't even recall their name, if she had even been told. Remembering things told to her by voice and not by the sand always challenged her- wild magic always spoke deeper than normal words did. But either way she believed the whole thing could be possible- a Warmaker like her and a small, unsuspected dragon like him. They would make a strange team, but it was formed out of necessity, after all.

Once the man asked her to leave she did, dipping her head. While she hated to do so she did understand what she needed to do to get him to trust her- and soon after destruction would follow. Maybe she could break a thing or two as she went, just to cause a bit of trouble for the men. (Heh.) Stepping out with slow, quick steps she looked into the man's eyes, avoiding gazing at the other dragon for the time being, as if she didn't even know he was there.

[sugarbird]

-----The dragon walked out without any troubles, Orion's cue that this plan was now initiated. No turning back now.. no backing out. No being a chicken. He wasn't going to be a chicken tonight or tomorrow. He was doing this, he was helping her. He thought repeatedly in his head that he was in this for good over and over again as his nerves started to return to him the moment Alphonse began to escort her out. He followed behind them from afar, his tall frame keeping a fair distance away from the torches to avoid getting accidently lit on fire. Hopefully she'd be able to handle this assessment. He knew Alphonse wouldn't do much, if anything, the most he'd do is probably observe how well she could handle noise. Still, he didn't know what would tip her off the edge and what wouldn't considering how much this dragon's already been through.

-----Alphonse took the group up from the cellars and through one of the halls. Already, some noise could be heard all the way from the main lobby that was still quite the walk away. Oh no.. right away, Orion knew very well what was coming next. Knowing how prideful and quick to boast Alphonse was, he most likely gathered his folks around to glance at his brand new catch and host a pre-party of some kind in the time they've been downstairs discussing their escape plan.

-----Orion slowed down a bit, showing great hesitance in having to deal with a party right before the main gathering tomorrow. But, since he was a bit nervous and curious about how his new ally would handle all this, he huffed a deep sigh and followed behind anyway. That, and he was certain that his master was just expecting him to be there for the mini-party anyway. They made their way to the main lobby eventually, and it was exactly as he feared. The loudest of the family showed up, including Esmerelda, one of the women of the family, who was gossiping excitedly with her husband about how pathetic and lowly some of the peasants in the nearby city were. Then there was Joric, the brother to Alphonse and arguably just as arrogant as he. And of course, he brought his "girlfriend," or whatever they called them. There were more people around as expected, but it didn't seem like too many guests were here, thank goodness. Hopefully no more would come.

-----They were scattered across the lobby, talking amongst themselves as they awaited their wizard host to return. Everyone immediately glanced over to stare at the two hulking dragons, along with some guards, following behind Alphonse himself. Right away, there was some commotion as everyone gasped. "Is that what you invited us here for?! That new one is huuuuge!" Joric yelled with a grin, walking up to him to get a closer look at the newest addition to the family. He wasn't stupid enough to walk up to the dragoness and possibly anger it too much, but still eyed the beast up and down with awe. "This, my friends, is Amber." Alphonse announced with a puffed chest. "She will be here today, but also tomorrow during our gathering!"

-----"Oh, Alphonse! She's beautiful, and.. dangerous looking! Where did your crew find her?" Esmerelda asked, planting her hands together in excitement at the glorious beast he showed her. "This here is a rare subspecies of desert dragon, hailing from the sands further down south." he hummed. The woman then turned past her to glance at her usual favorite part of these gatherings. "Oh, and you brought Orion with you! Oh, how's my big boy doing!?" she rushed over to him and pulled out one of wings to unfurl it. Orion's ears fell back in discomfort, allowing her to do so. The wing was spread out its full length, showing off the massive wingspan and glittering white spots that decorated it. The size completely dwarfed this woman, along with Orion's own body. "Still well groomed I see!" Alphonse sighed heavily. "Yes, mother.. he's doing just fine." Esmerelda was busying herself with patting his chest to the best of her ability, obsessively petting him like a dog.

-----"Well, everyone else, feel free to gather around! She won't hurt you." the wizard beamed. Orion glanced over at the dragoness while awkwardly enduring the affection, wanting to see how she'd react to all of this. He clenched his teeth and hoped dearly that she wouldn't get explosive or angry.

[Bronzewing]

She wondered what the man would be sending her through- there were just so many things they could do, and she was dreading every last one. She trusted them...not even a little, instead having deep hatred for the wizard and everything he stood for. Sometime she would ask her partner in crime if he knew about all the killings- whether he ever felt fear about being used for the same purposes. He had to know about it, right? There was no way he was clueless about what had been happening to his entire species over the years.

The noise- what was that? Like the hissing of scorpions...but many of them, and probably even worse than the stinging creatures were. One of them could give a dragon a sharp pain for a minute or two if it managed to breach the scales- a group of humans could do even worse. They were like a den of scorpions that almost always succeeded.

And what was this? More people? She slowly held back from snarling at them, her jaws twitching a bit as she held back her muscles from moving. She guessed the other dragon knew who they were- but to her, she didn't care at all. If she needed to remember them, it would be their faces or voices that tipped her off. As long as they knew what to do and kept a decent distance away from her, she wouldn't lash out at them. She did get to thinking, however- what would the wizard do if she attacked them? Put her back in a room? Death was probably more likely, but after all this she doubted he would want to waste all that effort. Holding back her anger, she did her best not to snap and deal damage to the newcomers. The plan was the most important thing.

She looked over them from top to bottom, tapping her tail on the ground as if to show the venomous part on the tip of her tail. She was a dangerous creature, and it was nice to see somebody in awe of her, as horrid as they may be. The wizard didn't count- he seemed more prideful, as if he had caught a nice prize instead of admiring the magnificent creature she was. As they spoke, she extended her wings as far as they would go before hitting into something, showing off the full wingspan. That gathering...that's what they spoke about, right? she thought. That's going to be the day. Just one more spot of trouble before the great escape. It was going to be amazing.

He listened to them before looking over at them as they hurried over to her partner- Orion, as she heard their name was. She made a note to remember that for later use. Strange name, but interesting. She made sure she wouldn't forget it. Just by the way the humans were acting she didn't want them to get anywhere near her, and instead preferred them to bother Orion all they liked. Gathering around sounded terrible, and she kept her wings extended as if to possibly hold back the humans from getting closer. They wouldn't go around the tail end, at least- and the wings made it harder to approach her from the side. Good. Not hostile, but let her keep her personal space. Wonderful!

[sugarbird]

-----The others murmured among themselves and did accept Alphonse's invitation to come closer, but they stopped in their tracks the moment the new arrival's mighty wings spread. Everyone gasped, but not out of fear. Instead, they gasped in awe. Well, all except Esmerelda, who still couldn't care less about anything other than Orion. The drake himself watched her as well, and he must say he was a little impressed. Though her wings were not as big as his, they were still pretty large. It managed to distract him from the woman that was patting him.

-----The master seemed pleased with her doing that. He grinned as he watched his audience gawk at his latest, shiniest new trophy. Orion couldn't help but begin to think back on his first few days here. It was so long ago, he couldn't remember too much. But was it something similar to this? Being shown off like some sort of medal of accomplishment? He did remember, however, that Alphonse paid a lot of attention to him the first few weeks of his captivity here. Mostly just to flaunt him around to both his guests and some of the servants that worked here at the time. And then, after that, he lost all caring for him. He never got tired of showing him off during gatherings, that never changed. But every day other than those days were spent far away from Orion, probably in the other wing of the mansion and overseeing his potion vats. Or maybe the servants did that? He didn't know, he was never allowed in the brewing room anyway.

-----Whatever Alphonse did when Orion didn't see, he at least knew that every day was spent in what was essentially just isolation. He saw servants every day, he saw the master at least once a week. But that was the most of it. And if his experience was anything to go by, then that means that he would treat "Amber" the same way. Which, thinking about it now, would be an advantage for them both. If this plan didn't work, and if they both got stuck in here again alive, then they would have a lot of time to make a new plan and try again.

-----"I've seen tons of dragons in my time. I've never seen dragons like yours, though! I look foreword to seein' them again tomorrow." The wizard beamed in return. "Well, you shall. She is doing an excellent job currently. And just a few hours before you got here, she was an angry spitfire. Seems she's learned her place rather fast. Really fast.." he placed a hand on his bearded chin with slight suspicion. Orion clenched his teeth together in nervousness, badly hoping he didn't suspect anything. "No matter, she's a smart one for doing so. After all, a life of luxury awaits her. To fight against it would be foolish." The dragon sighed quietly in relief. This was working surprisingly well.

-----"I mustn't keep them here too long. After all, they'll be here all day tomorrow anyway." Nope. Not even in your dreams. Orion just sat there, staring at the wizard's very irritating expression. He always hated the man's smile, never once did he get used to it or get over it. Something about the pompous old master showing off to other people or grinning when he ends up on top always deep down angered him. He always got what he wanted. Orion couldn't believe he was thinking this, but he would be glad to see it torn off his face the moment things fall apart for him. Success can't last forever.. surely.

-----"Bask in her glory while you can for a few moments more." He turned towards the dragon and walked a few steps past her, briefly stopping to pat her shoulder that was still fairly hot from before. The exchange didn't last long enough to really effect him, though. "You're doing great. Won't be too much longer." He then proceeded past her towards a servant who walked in with a tray full of glasses filled with some beverage that humans drank. The master then picked one up off the tray and held it up for all to see. "Sparkling grape juice for everyone!" he called, everyone averting their gaze briefly from the star attraction to get their drinks, murmuring excitedly while they gathered around the tray to help themselves.

-----It was almost funny, how quickly they managed to get distracted by something else. Humans were.. really something else.

[Bronzewing]

She was a bit proud by their awe at her wingspan- she couldn't even bring the entire length out, due to the small size of the room. Her kin weren't used to being kept inside and of course preferred to use their full wingspan to soar and move over the air- and maybe to cover their faces from sandstorms flooding over them. As long as they could stay in awe, the less likely they were to get in her way later on. The more fear they had the better, but this was good too.

She dipped her head, showing off her scales. She wasn't a shiny trophy for the men to show off- but for now, she had to be. Some day it would be their corpses being shown off to dragons... and then she would do the same thing to them as they were to her. Her mind was filled with thoughts of revenge and violence, stuff that she hoped would some day come to fruition. But seeing Orion being touched by the weird lady...did they want violence against them? Or were they just tired of this whole debacle, hoping something would happen someday, and she was that thing? Lehra had no idea, and didn't even know what to think about the whole thing.

Now she doubted they would want her dead. She was rare to them...? They saw some sort of weird value in her? Then they would hesitate to kill her off, and there was even a chance that they could create a second plan if the first one went badly. She would hate that to happen- being called Amber for ANY LONGER wasn't something she wanted. She felt as if she was stealing somebody else's name, something that didn't really belong to her. She didn't remember much of actual Amber but she knew they wouldn't want their name taken away.

She looked towards the wizard, feigning fear as she looked at them, taking a step away. There was nothing about the man that made her fear him except of course his wonderful track record for slaying her kind- this was just another part of the plan so he wouldn't be as suspicious. If he thought she was becoming tame too fast, then well, he may get curious and wonder what was happening. She had to show some sort of reason for the rapid change. I am not a stupid animal, and I don't know if he thinks I am. I don't think he knows much else except for how to kill us and the one he keeps around. she thought.

All day tomorrow...hah! Not for long! She would get out of there as fast as she could, and by the night hopefully the both of them would be gone. Maybe things would go wrong for the wizard as his gathering fell apart- hopefully embarrassing the man. Oh, that would feel amazing. She was ready for that, so so ready for that. Maybe they would feel fear that she was out, or disappointment...oh, it was going to be great!

She preened around, wings held outwards as if she was showing off for them. The more convincing the better- but she was rather surprised that they ditched her for some juice so rapidly. What was this stuff that they wanted so much more than seeing a dragon?! Turning her head towards it, she wondered if she could grab a cup of the stuff from one of their hands before they realized it.

[sugarbird]

-----Oh, thank goodness. They wouldn't be here much longer. This assessment went by much faster than he thought it would. Orion then did nothing but sit there and just wait for it all to end. He did notice the dragon stare curiously at the drinks they were served with a bit of mischief in her gaze. No one seemed to notice it, but he managed to. She was really playing the act up, even stepping back in slight fear of the master. Of course, this must've been faked, but it was a smart move. Alphonse seemed to show just a tiny bit of contentment at her flinch- almost happy to see her knowing her place.

-----Esmerelda eventually stopped and headed over to get a beverage of her own, leaving Orion to sigh with relief. Okay.. just, please let this end soon. I can't wait. This excitement is hitting me like a brick. It was the kind of adrenaline and rapid heart beat that didn't feel good, pretty much overwhelming. Just looking over at the door they had planned to bust out through made it really bad. His nerves were hitting their peak at this moment, making him realize that yes, this was real, no dream. And yes, he would finally be able to leave. What he wouldn't give to just rush out of there with his newfound partner right this moment and book it. But at the same time, going through with this was going to be a life-changing decision. And he wasn't going to lie to himself, this was scary. Part of him was already regretting this idea. He was afraid of freezing up in fear at the last minute of their break out, leaving them both open to capture.

-----While everyone's attention was focused on the mingling and the drinks, the drake was tapping his tail in anticipation to get off his haunches and back down to the cellars. Most likely she was going to return there for the night anyway. Moments more passed, some people had returned to the dragoness to soak in her brilliance. None of the folks ever came too close, still aware of the fact that she was very new and still at least a bit wild. But, her act was really convincing them, and they weren't straying too far from her at all the whole time. None of them noticed anything off about her behavior thus far, same with Orion himself. This "assessment" turned out to be pretty easy for the both of them after all.

-----Finally, after what felt like another eternity, Alphonse cleared his throat and tried to gain the attention of everyone there. It took a few tries, but he managed. "Dear friends, I'm glad you could join me this morning and gaze at my newest member of the family. But now, I must end this. The real gathering will commence tomorrow, and you can be sure that I will fix it up nice for you all." he announced, watching as his guards took this as their cue to stand either side of the dragon to escort her downstairs. "Tonight, she will spend her last night in the cellar while I furnish her new living quarters. And as a reward for her lovely performance tomorrow, she will get to use it!" The rest murmured among themselves again, quietly congratulating her like she was a child being given some sort of toy.

-----"Feel free to ask for more drinks on the way out." He waved them off while he walked past her and Orion towards the cellar chambers. "Good going, my dear. I told you it wouldn't last long." The other dragon scoffed to himself at that, feeling as if he was just sitting there like a statue for ages on end. "Wouldn't last long" my tail feathers. "Don't worry about looking after her tonight. She seems to be doing well enough." he spoke in a hushed tone towards Orion, continuing onwards without the caution he had before. It seemed he was really convinced that "Amber" was genuinely afraid. Orion turned back to see the party goers leaving out the front door, noticing that those two door guards were leaving the large doors open for them as they went. There really wouldn't be a moment where those guards would not be there. Despite knowing he wouldn't be the one to deal with them, he'll leave that job to the other dragon, nerves were still hitting him deep knowing they were going to be there for the entirety of their breakout.

[Bronzewing]

She stretched her neck over to one of the untouched cups, poking her nose into it before drawing her head back up with a snorting noise. The weird stuff humans drank would always surprise her. The sparkling part of it wasn't bad, but the flavor... not for her. The one thing she could say was how clean it was- no sand in the water or dirt flowing around on the surface, just pure liquid without any of the contamination she was used to. Still, it tasted bad.

Soon...soon they would be hatching their plan and getting out of there for the final time. Soon... it was coming closer and closer to that time. The men seemed happy, they didn't suspect anything, and that was good. They probably thought being in the cellar for all that time ruined her- maybe the claustrophobia, maybe something else. As long as they suspected nothing and they could make their escape with the humans' jaws dropping open in surprise. She had no plans to ever see that fancy room, let alone stay in it. Oh no, never. Before she even got to some fancy room she would be out of there, back in the forests and deserts and clear air... nothing they could do would convince her to stay in some luxurious room she didn't even want.

She really didn't want to go back in that cellar- but she would have to let them drag her back in. Whatever she could do to keep the plan working, she would- even if that constituted going back in there. The more she listened to them and acted like a good pet the more they would keep their eyes off her. And that was exactly what they wanted- eyes slipping away for a second or two, enough for her to attack and run.

Of course, they would know she escaped. They couldn't miss it! But hopefully they realized too late, when they were already in the air and the guards couldn't do anything to get them back. Even better if they realized once they were already long gone. Then something came to mind- Can Orion fly? He's been stuck in here...oh dear, he better be able to move fast! There was no way they would escape along the ground, and Lehra crossed her claws that the captured dragon still had full use of their wings.

She turned her head to the wizard as they spoke to her. Of course, she would be going back in the cellar. She shook her head solemnly once he mentioned it, acting as if she minded it- or if that was what "broke" her and got her to listen. Maybe he would think she tired herself out on the walls and would do that again, leaving a complacent dragon for the gathering. He would be getting the exact opposite.

She bared her teeth as he came closer, but quickly closed her jaws and took a step back like a scared animal. It looked like her faux fear was working- silly humans. They would believe anything.