| we'll just wing it | dragon&rider | full |

[miss nae.]

Ｊａｃｑｕｅｌｙｎ Ａｘｉｓ___________________________________

ＴＨＥ ＷＡＲＲＩＯＲ

Upon her dragon's landing, she swung her leg from around Binesi's neck and leapt to the ground, softening her fall by ensuring her knees were bent in the process, ending up in a crouched position before popping back up vigorously. Time to deal with the humans, she thought to herself as she looked around, isolated as always. She didn't like leaving Binesi, especially for her human colleagues who she knew exactly what they thought about her because she thought the exact same about them--except for a select few, of course. She turned slightly back toward the skala and placed her hand on his leg, then turned again and walked up to the line of riders, particularly next to Esperanza who was practically her only human friend.

Jackie got there just in time to hear the news--and indeed, news it was. They were finally leaving. A grin spread wide across her face, excited about finally, after years of waiting around, doing something with all of their cowardly, hiding selves. Jackie turned and playfully pushed Esperanza. "I'll be damned, I never thought I'd see the day! Can you believe it?" She avoided talking to anybody else, because only her sarcasm would ensue. In fact, she made it a point to not notice the violent reactions toward the news or between each other. For a group of people and dragons that lived together for years and shared the same common grounds--being hunted--they sure were divided.

[prince of heart]

Hunter
The leader
female

Hunter sent Antonio a look, one that she usually reserved for Quasar when he was being purposefully idiotic. She knew full well that it was a half baked plan with a great chance of failure, and she didn't need him pointing out flaws. "Well I would guess that the second word get to Marcus that theres a group of dragons flying around and not dead like they should be, he'll send out some scouts. As for fighting, I'll give lessons to anyone who wants them, or you could ask Jackie if she wants a sparring partner." She said, before being thrown off track by Oswalds cheering. She looked over the group, noting that most seemed pleased or exited by the news. She reached up, placing one hand on the warm scales of Quasars leg. "Have the dragons asked anything? she asked, though from what she could tell they were all pleased as well.

Idrina
the sword fang
female

Idrina snorted at Oswalds clapping, bringing her tail around to push him back towards her chest when he stopped clapping. At Antonio's question a thought struck her, and she looked down at Oswald " "You remember what I taught you, right?" She asked worriedly. While she couldn't teach him how to fight a human, Idrina had made it a point to teach Oswald about the soft spots of different dragons and their weaknesses. While they rarely spared, since an serious injury was much to risky, they had talked about the theoretics, and Oswald liked to coat his arrows in her venom for practice.

[Wolvine]

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Ａｎｔｏｎｉｏ  Ｔｏｒｒｅｓ

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Ｔｈｅ Ｄｉｐｌｏｍａｔ

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Ｗｉｔｈ：  Ｅｖｅｒｙｏｎｅ

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Antonio blinked, taken aback at the reply. Hunter had been blunt in her response, dismissive, without really answering his questions. He doubted very much that Jackie had volunteered her services; she remained somewhat distant from the rest of the group most of the time, with the exception of Esperanza. It seemed more than slightly unlikely that she'd had a complete change of heart and wanted suddenly to engage with everyone. He was slightly offended in fact at their leader's reaction. He'd asked a few, sensible questions that ensured that she was not just shepherding them all to death, and she'd had responded with half-formed ideas, and then had the gall to look at him as if he were the fool. Still, now was not the time for picking a fight. There had already been one display of insubordination, and it would not do to undermine Hunter, or even imply her judgement was faulty. He attempted to hide the hurt, but was unable to stop the stiffening of his spine and the terse note to his parting words of "Very well then." He began to make his way to the house to pack his bags, the only pause being to pull a face that displayed his annoyance towards Hunter at Vanessa, who would no doubt be amused by his somewhat uncharacteristic temper tantrum. Then again, she may have been too embarrassed by her dragon's display to find much humorous right now. He'd ask her about that later.

[astro!]

╔════════════════════╗
....ｑｕａｓａｒ
..........the british wildfire
..........tags; everyone, hunter mays
...............mood; thrilled
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Quasar blinked at his rider, then glanced at Antonio, who had turned away. The other dragons seem alright with it, he said, though he had to admit it was a bit of a guess on his part, seeing as he hadn't really taken the time to assess their reactions. You should probably have a word with Antonio later, let him know that we all know this quest is going to be an absolutely bonkers and completely impossible mess, Quasar suggested, trying to keep his thought-speak voice as positive and upbeat as possible. Just... the rest of them don't need to know that. Quasar privately wondered how many of them already knew this; he thought most of them seemed fairly optimistic about the whole thing.

We have to do this at some point, Quasar thought-spoke, half to himself and half to Hunter. The more we wait, the more people die, and the more powerful Markus becomes. He thought about what she'd said about scouts, then added, Also, stealth-mode time.

.
.

╔════════════════════╗
.........ａｌｅｘ
.............the scientist
...............tags; everyone
...............mood; excited
╚════════════════════╝

WIP, no muse.

[inactive20000009]

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F E L Y X I C T U S
the copper striker
tags: antonio, everyone
mood: concerned
╚═══════════════════════════╝

Fela pricked her ears in slightly irritated concern, flicking one ear and shying away from Hunter's somewhat jarringly harsh reply. The meeting seemed to have only begun, but Antonio was leaving already-- Fela was torn for a second, not wanting to miss any questions the rest of the dragons and riders might have, but loyalty to her rider kicked in. She was definitely worried about Antonio now-- after being rebuffed like that, when he wasn't usually outspoken in the first place, he was sure to have been a little hurt. Hunter must be very stressed, as well. Fela sighed. The quest, which had caused mixed emotions ever since it... well, it existed. And now that this was announced, bad feelings were already cropping up, and Fela wasn't very happy about it.

Anyway, important though teamwork was, the coppery dragon really wanted to have a private discussion with her rider about the quest. Dipping her head in respect to Hunter and Quasar, she chirped to the dragons-- "I'd better follow him." Turning quickly, she bounded after her rider, only pausing when he made a face at Vanessa. Fela automatically turned her head in the same direction and caught Alexei's eye for a second. Although she had been a bit thrown by his actions earlier, she offered him a small smile and a joking jerk of the head towards Antonio before following her rider back to the house.

So, what do you think? she asked after a suitable pause, seriously. Her excitement as to them finally starting on the quest had dulled considerably, what with Antonio and Hunter's exchange-- it had made her realize just how difficult this was going to be, working together towards a serious and common goal-- and of course, that wasn't even taking into consideration the physical difficulties that they were sure to have, as well as the somewhat LOOMING problem of the impossible aspect of the quest. But we were meant to do this, she reassured herself. The prophecy says so. And we're going to have to face it someday...

[Wolvine]

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Ａｎｔｏｎｉｏ  Ｔｏｒｒｅｓ

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Ｔｈｅ Ｄｉｐｌｏｍａｔ

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Ｗｉｔｈ：  Ｔｈｅ Ｓｔｒｉｋｅｒ

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You know what I think, Antonio answered, breathing out heavily. I'm not all that excited to go and fly to our deaths. I'd hoped that some sort of plan had been formulated but... He gestured vaguely behind them, smiling a little, rueful. Some small, selfish part of his mind was glad Fela had come after him, but most knew it was not beneficial for her to stay here. Fela, you should go back. I'm just in a bad mood because my date got interrupted before it even began, he thought-spoke after a couple of moments silence, referring to the cancelled flight. I just shouldn't stick around in case I want to argue. That's not what we need right now.

[inactive20000009]

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F E L Y X I C T U S
the copper striker
tags: antonio
mood: concerned
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Fela rolled her amber eyes and puffed some smoke at him. A plan made by Hunter and Quasar? You have got to be kidding me, she joked, flicking her tail in some amusement. Don't worry, I'm sure Hunter was just a bit stressed out. The plan will be better if everybody works on it together, anyway. Right? She was painfully aware that she was avoiding the whole 'not that excited to go and fly to our deaths' part, but she couldn't think of anything to say to that. It was true. Unless they had a better plan, they would all be fried by Markus's army before they had even begun to get close. Well, hopefully that would change-- even Quasar would have to see the merits of planning out something as big as this. They couldn't be thinking of just winging it.

Trying to keep optimistic, she looked behind them at the other dragons. Don't be silly, she said to him before realizing that truthfully there was no good reason for her to follow him-- that would just mean that they would both be stuck not knowing what had gone on, and she didn't feel like asking somebody what had happened. ...Alright, if you say so. she said. Fela often did this-- changed her mind abruptly after realizing something that should have been obvious. She bent her neck and nudged him in a hopefully comforting manner. I guess I'll fill you in on the chaos, she told him, somewhat unwilling to turn tail and leave him alone. It seemed a bit disloyal. We'll talk about this more later, right? There were all manner of things she could have said to him-- "hey, we'll be traveling with Alex from now on, plenty of romantic opportunities" --but given the present circumstances and Antonio's negative view of the quest, she felt it was uncalled for. Without waiting for an answer, she turned back, lifting off into the air.

She quickly landed back down among the other dragons, a little humiliated at the "I had to go make sure my rider was okay like a babysitter" appearance, but it wasn't like quote unquote "dignity" was what she valued, anyway. She and Antonio weren't afraid to spend time apart, but she still felt bad about leaving him that way. It was a constant battle for her, being stuck between her emotions-- caring about Antonio-- and logic-- needing to know their plan of action so she could fill her rider in later. Even for a decision as small as all that.

[[aaaaa ugh this sounds so awkward and wrong somehow
however i write it
i'm sorry ;;

[astro!]

╔════════════════════╗
....ｑｕａｓａｒ
..........the british wildfire
..........tags; everyone, hunter mays
...............mood; thrilled
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Quasar was waiting outside of the farmhouse for his rider, as were the rest of the dragons; they were about to start their quest, and the excitement of it all made Quasar want to leap straight into the air and take off immediately. They were leaving under cover of night, with merely a note left on the table for the nice lady who owned the farmhouse; Quasar and Hunter would be heading the group, and, on the way, discussing where they should go. They hadn't wanted to cause trouble by telling the others that they didn't know yet.

The Wildfire glanced at the others, then thought-spoke to Hunter, We're all ready when you guys are! Quasar squirmed a little bit at the saddle that had been strapped onto his shoulders; it really was just a slab of leather, and it wasn't too uncomfortable, but having leather wrapping around his neck and under his belly was going to take some getting used to.

.
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╔════════════════════╗
.........ａｌｅｘ
.............the scientist
...............tags; everyone
...............mood; excited
╚════════════════════╝

Alex smiled as she took the duffel bag containing the telescope out of the closet; she'd been sure her habit of packing it every morning was going to pay off. Quickly, she threw her clothes in a backpack, then rolled up her sleeping bag to put on the back of her saddle; Katido had practiced carrying all of the stuff loads of times, so she and the dragon both knew how they needed to pack everything.

Running out of the house, she went straight to Katido. You ready? she asked him excitedly, starting to clip the duffel bag and her sleeping bag in place behind his saddle. She wondered how he felt about the necessity of actually using the thing now; they never had before. Once everything was in place, Alex waited for Katido to bend down so that she could climb onto his back.

[uncanny valley]

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⇣
ＫＡＴＩＤＯ
the ala rapida
tags :: alex, everyone

Katido stood impatiently outside of the house; he kept glancing up at the inky blackness of the night sky, then turning to look at Quasar, who was next to him and as black as the night itself without the sunlight to bring out the blue in his scales. "We're finally going," he whispered gleefully, half to himself and half to his friend.

The saddle perched upon his back was annoying, of course, but it was a necessary evil; he could withstand anything if it meant finally leaving the dales. Katido refused to allow any bit of common sense to enter his thoughts when thinking about the quest; certainly, the whole thing could end horribly, with all of them being killed by Markus. But there was no point in staying here, either; if they'd been born out into the world and not brought here, Markus would've killed them. Since they were here, it seemed only fair to try and stop the bloodshed, even if staying meant safety.

Alex finally arrived, running out of the house, and Katido stood patiently while she fastened the bags to the back of the saddle. He crouched down when she was finished, responding to her question in thought-speak as usual: You bet! Time to quit this place. He tipped one of his wings as he always did to allow her to climb on board.

♕
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ＶＡＮＥＳＳＡ
the prankster
tags :: alexei, everyone

Even after Alexei's annoying, classic Regal Red behaviour earlier, Vanessa had to admit that she was looking forward to a nice, long flight. This quest was a chance, she figured, for Alexei to cool his jets a little and maybe get over some of his anger. Then again, she mused as she packed up some clothes and toothbrushes, they would be flying with Quasar from now on, for the most part. The Wildfire dragon and Hunter would be taking the lead on the quest. Vanessa herself was okay with that; Hunter was a fair leader, and knew what she was doing. Alexei, she figured, would not be okay with that.

Gathering up her things, Vanessa left her room, turning around to look at it one last time and feeling an unexpected twinge of contrition. They'd lived here in safety for so many years; it felt like home to her, as boring as she found it, and now she didn't know if she'd ever see it again. She closed the door gently, but not all the way, leaving the lights off inside but letting a sliver of the light from the hallway into the room, where it fell across the now-empty floor.

Clumping down the stair with her bag, Vanessa landed with a thud after the last one and then raced outside, flinging the door open. "Alexei!" she called, her voice muted, like a shouted whisper; nobody's after us yet, she scolded herself, but the mood felt like a hushed sort of excitement that required her to be quiet. She thought-spoke his name, as well, so she knew he would hear her.

[Wolvine]

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Ａｎｔｏｎｉｏ  Ｔｏｒｒｅｓ

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Ｔｈｅ Ｄｉｐｌｏｍａｔ

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Ｗｉｔｈ：  Ｅｖｅｒｙｏｎｅ

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The room looked empty.

Granted, he had never been a materialistic person, and the room had never had much in it in the first place, knowing as he had that this day when everything had to be left behind was coming, and yet there was something different about the room that he couldn't put his finger on. The books were all still there, as they were far too heavy to take with them. Technically they did not belong to him anyway, rather the owner of the house, who had helped him acquire them. She was a charming woman, and her son, who visited infrequently, even more so. He didn't know if she enjoyed reading, but he knew for a fact that John did, and so he knew his beloved books would not simply sit and wither away. The sheets off his bed had been removed, and his few changes of clothes packed into a bag. Perhaps it was that he was already distancing himself from it. Regardless, it made him slightly uneasy, something he had known all his life changing in some minuscule way he was unable to detect. He didn't like not knowing things.

Shaking his head to clear his thoughts, Antonio picked up his bag and left the house, his eyes taking a couple of moments to adjust to the change in light, spots of colour dancing around his eyelids, presumably caused by the vibrant array of the dragons' scales. He breathed out, long and slow, calming himself. Some of his worry was beginning to wear away, being replaced by a smidgen of the childish excitement his peers were displaying. A good thing most likely. He looked around for Hunter, determined to apologize, feeling Fela's presence in the back of his head without having to find her form.