1x1 with sugarbird

[sugarbird]

-----While Lehra moved closer to the sound, Orion stayed behind and let her handle this one. He backed off a little and watched her stalk her prey as it simply moved closer to her. He figured that watching this would help him learn something about hunting. After all, he's going to have to do quite a bit of it in the future if he wants to survive out here. But he wasn't learning much, because honestly she didn't have to try too hard for this. The animal was completely unaware of her.

-----Orion almost jumped out of his skin when she hopped out from her cover and attacked the thing. He didn't quite see what the animal she got was, but it must've been something of notable size, as it looked like she wrestled it to the ground to kill it. It was a brutal display, for someone like him who's never seen an animal get hunted before. But if anything, Orion was mostly interested in it. He didn't read a lot on how different dragons attacked their prey. Nor did he read up on how Lehra's kind killed. All he knew was that her approach would no doubt be a lot more rough and head-on than how dragons like himself would hunt. Orion's no doubt weaker, more lithe than her. This approach wouldn't do him well.

-----He particularly didn't expect her to set the ground on fire. Perhaps to help end her prey? That was a little excessive. She didn't seem to notice it, though.. it must've been a part of the plan. He kept calm despite the fact that the grass was burning up, and the small flames that were there before started to spread a little. She had this under control. He wasn't the one hunting here. But it still made him awful nervous. She did say they weren't trying to burn the forest down. "Er- Lehra." Orion spoke up, feeling terrible for interrupting a pretty important hunt. He was too timid to speak too loudly, and that didn't do him any favors. "Lehra.. the ground is on fire..!"

-----He didn't know if she could hear him or not while she was busying herself with the prey. He kept telling himself multiple times that she knew what she was doing, and this was fine. It didn't help that he felt incredibly unhelpful and stupid for worrying about this at first.

[Bronzewing]

She wasn't even thinking about the dragon behind her, instead focusing on wrestling her prey to the ground and holding it there with sharp claws. She had made some terrible tears in its side, but it was dead, and that was enough for her. Breathing a bit heavily, she heard her companion yell at her- at first she didn't register their words, but soon what they were saying leapt into their mind just as she had on her prey.

The- And it was on fire. Lehra was used to desert hunting, where the earth itself wasn't flammable- but this place was nothing but kindling. Turning her scale heat off she leapt up into the air, wings spread, looking at the burning patch of grass. Uhh...whoops. I guess we're cooking it.

Not even hunting was the same here! She knew Orion with his water magic could stop it, but it didn't change the fact that she had to adopt new hunting strategies. It was so, so much easier in the desert where nothing could be set aflame and the heat of the sand was just an extra furnace for the food to run into. If she wasn't careful, the smoke would drive something towards them or burn the whole place down.

You mind putting that out with your fancy watery stuff? she asked, pointing at the burning grass- was it spreading? Quick, please. And then I can show you how to prepare food. Before someone comes- No, no! Nobody would come. They would put it out fast and nobody would even notice!

[sugarbird]

-----So this whole fire thing was actually a mistake? Oh.. that's bad! He supposed that this was a different environment to the one she lived in. Forests were a lot more flammable than deserts, after all. She may have just forgotten that. She seemed to be calm about this, which was a good thing considering that Orion was feeling the exact opposite of that. The fire was at the point where it was noticeable. Maybe not so much the flames themselves, but the smoke certainly was. It rose to the trees' height, and it wouldn't take too much more time for it to rise even higher. Thankfully, this fire seemed to be more smoke than flame, so it wouldn't be too hard to put out if needed.

-----So, when Lehra asked that he put it out with his magic, Orion quickly agreed. "O-okay!" Backing up to avoid choking himself with the smoke, he afterwards sucked in as much air as he could. He didn't take the air into his lungs, but rather, stored it all in his throat. His neck swelled up a bit and eventually back down after taking as much moisture from the air he took in as he could and turned it into water. He produced quite a bit of it as well. The air here wasn't as dry and stiff as the air back in the mansion, so there was more moisture here. He then rushed back up to the fire and spat out all the water over it. It steadily but quickly put out the fires on the grass by continuously showering down on the burning area, almost like rain.

-----After about half a minute, the fire was essentially gone. The smoke only cleared a little bit, revealing the burnt grass Lehra left behind. After all the water was used up, Orion coughed a bit and wiped his mouth with the backside of his front foot. "Ugh.. this air tastes cleaner.. b-but also like dirt." he spoke through pants. He turned back to look at the patch of blackened ground, he sighed with relief. "It's okay. C-crisis averted."

[Bronzewing]

She sort of wondered why he hadn't leapt up to stop the fire first thing, but guessed at the same time that he was so unfamiliar with hunting and the way she did things that maybe he thought all the smoke and almost starting a fire was...meant to happen. She would have to tell him some basic rules, one of them being the forest being set on fire is not at all on purpose. At least he was a Water dragon- it could and would have been much worse if she had been alone or with another kind of dragon. It made her even more appreciative of her company.

She stepped to the side to let him work, watching as he spat water over the fire- she had no clue where he even got the water from, and she wasn't even sure if she wanted to know. Actually, she wasn't even fully sure how her own flames worked. But whatever they did, no matter where the water was from- they did it, and the fire hissed out and only left charred spots of grass and a lingering hint of smoke in the air.

"Good." she said, not able to hide her relief. "I...think we should eat this away from here, in case it called attention." She picked up the prey, slinging it over her now much cooler back. Hopefully it wasn't too burnt. "Come on. We should move fast- I don't trust that something or someone isn't coming towards us right at this moment. And...I bet the humans haven't stopped looking for us."

Hmm. Now she was starting to get a bit worried.

[sugarbird]

-----The fire was put out, but it seemed that Lehra got more antsy, if anything. He was a little confused at first, but he understood pretty fast why. This could indeed attract unwanted attention. He watched her sling their lunch over her shoulder before walking away from the area. He followed behind, suddenly growing paranoid himself. Humans must've infested so, so much of the planet at this point. Who knows if there were more poachers out in the woods, hiding and waiting for what remains of the dragons to come through? Knowing how desperate and perseverant they could be, he wouldn't doubt that.

----- He remained nervous for a few moments more, before suddenly remembering the lunch that Lehra had caught for them. He was already getting ready to drool. It was so bizarre, he's never seen an actual animal carcass before. He can't say he's seen them in books either. It was like a deep, primal part of his brain just registered the grisly sight as food, even when charred. He's eaten nothing but meaty mush for a majority of his life. This will be the first carcass he'd ever eat from since his fledgling days. And, he barely remembers anything about his childhood.

-----He briefly forgot why he was nervous in the first place. But, it didn't take too long to snap back to reality when a snap could be heard. He jumped out of his skin and almost made more noise on accident, but he looked down to see that he was the source of the sound. His foot crushed a fallen tree limb. It was relieving knowing that there was nothing after them in this moment, but it only reminded him to be wary. He spoke not a word, but lowered his head in silent apology before continuing to follow behind Lehra.

[Bronzewing]

She moved at a quick pace, wings held outwards as she moved, breathing softly and trying her best to move fast while not stirring many of the leaves covering the ground- but just the movement of the dragons caused them to whirl and twist into the air, hopefully not causing as much attention as the smoke did. They needed to be gone by the time somebody came by. "Quickly." Lehra called to her partner, hoping that they wouldn't be found- she had just gotten out and did NOT want to see another (living) human for a while.

She seemed to be heading deeper into the forest, her lack of knowledge not helping at all with navigation or knowing where to go. And furthermore they didn't realize that the smoke had already called attention, with a small clan seeing it from nearby... Fire isn't very common in the forest, and if it was to spread it would be a disaster for them, so a few young members were sent off to find and apprehend the perpetrators.

It would take them some time to find the dragons, of course- but they were quick and knew their way around. The rustled leaves formed by their movements made it easier for the feathered trackers to follow them, chasing after the upturned leaves, the smoke and the drips of blood from the dragons' prey. Of course, they didn't expect dragons- more like some humans or smaller creatures that came too close to camp and were causing trouble. They were too small to fight dragons, after all- and besides, didn't the humans get them all?

[sugarbird]

-----They had been walking for a little ways by now, after having extinguished the fire. They had already put at least a considerable distance between them and the burnt spot by now. Orion followed behind at just as quick of a pace, not daring to stray too far from the survival experts' side. She was in a hurry, and he couldn't help but wonder if it was because she felt they were being watched. Orion certainly felt that way. Well, perhaps not watched. But, he had a nasty feeling that something- or someone- was approaching them. Maybe all the little sounds that invaded his ears were causing his anxieties to spike. Whatever the reason, out of the blue, he was even more on edge than when he first arrived here.

-----His fears were not incorrect. It didn't take too long for him to hear something that sounded different to the hums of nature. Flapping? Or maybe skittering? It was a sound made by things that weren't too big, but were not too small either. It was still too distant to hear clearly what it was, but it was approaching fast, whatever it was. Orion's feathers stood on end, and he couldn't help in trying to speed up. "W-what-- what is that?" he whispered sharply, turning back in the direction of the noise as he kept rushing foreword. Eventually it got to a point where his legs trembled and suddenly felt as heavy as lead. He froze in place and stared like a deer facing a bear at the woods behind them.

[Bronzewing]

Lehra looked around, hearing the same sound- the ears of dragons were rather good, after all, and the flapping/whatever else was clear to her ears. Humans don't make sounds like that, do they? she thought, but honestly would not worry about it, and instead continued on with a brisk pace. "I've got to admit: I have no idea at all. I TOLD YOU, I know nothing about forests!!" she hissed, walking quickly.

"Did your books say anything about forest creatures? Apart from tasty ones?"

About at the same time, the trackers had searched a large area where the dragons had rustled the leaves- but eventually the trail dwindled out as they started to walk, their panicked movements similar to that of a deer or boar- something more common to the forest. But the amphithere gang wasn't much for giving up, and continued to move at a rapid pace, wings outspread as they fluttered from tree to tree, relaying information not here or weird smell here to one another. They still had no clue what they were gaining on, but they were getting much closer to the group of them.

[sugarbird]

-----Orion was already becoming annoying, and he hasn't been with Lehra out here for more than a day. Now that he's actually earned the trust of a dragon, another one of his kind for the first time, he was now desperate not to lose it. If he did attempt to argue with her and say "well, actually, as a matter of a fact, they did," it would only irritate her more. And considering she was given the title "Warmaker," it wouldn't be too hard to get her violently angry. Or perhaps, Orion was just being overly judgmental and paranoid around her. She was a wild dragon, after all. And, no amount of books he read could properly predict how a wild dragon would act. Even though Alphonse's library was vast and full of knowledge on a lot of things, those books were written in the perspective of humans. Even he could recognize that they had some bias in there, portraying dragons as lethal and violent creatures that are always on the verge of striking out. Still, the drake couldn't help falling back on them, as they're the only pieces of knowledge he could go off of to help him survive out here.

-----So, he just kept quiet. Any attempts to say anything would've been pointless. And this in turn meant that he felt the need to suppress his growing fears about whatever was approaching. He was afraid of it, but it wasn't as big as Lehra or him. And she was no doubt going to be scarier than it. That doesn't mean that whatever approached was going to be nice, though. And it wasn't just one. It sounded like several. The tense expression was still frozen on his white face, both from fear of the pursuers and fear of losing Lehra as an ally. Would she even be patient enough to deal with him? Would he be competent enough to be worthy of her time? All he had to do was stay out of her way and follow her every command. This might just be another situation where he's kept for personal gain. Maybe this time to be a servant for another dragon. Honestly though, he'd prefer that life over his old one. At least now, he would be dragged possibly around the world to see many different things with her.

-----He got so caught up in his thinking that he forgot about the pursuers until they actually revealed themselves. The flapping was now right where they were, and it was clear that whatever they were, they were deliberately going towards them. Orion whirled around and watched as the foliage behind them rustled before stopping. These things were.. actually not big at all. They were stealthy and small enough to not disturb the underbrush too much. But of course, hiding from a dragon's ears was almost pointless to try. Orion stopped in his tracks and focused on the spot where he last saw the foliage move. His ears swiveled back and forth before pointing straight at the source of the noise. And out came-- oh, wow. Amphitheres.

-----Their serpentine bodies and little wings were immediately recognizable to him. He's seen these before in many educational books he's read. These creatures were awful bold to chase after them, especially knowing that they're smaller. However, he also knew that they dwelled in packs. Or, at least, the human writings told him that. Perhaps they acted differently. They moved out in a cautious and almost methodical nature. One of them slunk up a nearby pine tree as quick as lightning and stared down at the two dragons from the safety of the perch. Others were a bit more bold. But they all held together in a certain position, a formation, that surrounded the dragons within seconds. They were prepared, and there were more than he was expecting.

-----One of them slunk towards Orion, staying a decent ways away while hissing. "O-oh. Amphitheres!" he stuttered, still afraid of them despite his obvious size advantage. That doesn't mean they were too small in comparison to them. "Uhh-- w-we don't mean any harm. Apologies if we're on your territory.. W-w-we're just p-p-passing through!" He smiled sheepishly, lowering his head and backing away. The one that approached noticed the prey that was on Lehra's back, and noticed how scorched it was. She must've been the cause of the fire. He smelled at them before wrinkling his nose. Not too afraid, he hissed at them. "You both stink. Been around humans before?" it spat. Orion, hoping to make this a civil conversation, tried to appear friendly. "W-well, maybe. Yes. Yes, actually. But! We're long gone from them now." The green amphithere squinted his eyes, still keeping his distance should they attack. "Should be dead now. Humans kill all dragons. They will find you."

-----Orion cleared his throat. "We're- we're not going to stick around here, if that's what you're concerned about. We were just leaving!" The scout shook his head. "The female started a fire. Fire is very, very bad here." he started lowly. "People must've driven you from your home. Forests are no place for desert dragons. You bring your fire with you and kill our trees."

[Bronzewing]

She tapped her tail across the ground, sighing, looking around at the trees and the whispers of the wind and all the stuff that was most definitely NOT the desert. She waited a moment for him to speak until she finally took his silence as a sign that he just didn't know. And that was... not preferable, to say the least, as she didn't have any idea of what she should be doing. SURE, she was a Warmaker and a dragon that could fight basically anyone, even wizards- but dealing with unfamiliar forests was a whole new thing. And sure, Orion could get annoying, but she had to admit that his books were the only thing that allowed her to have even the smallest idea of what she was doing.

Were those books even accurate? She doubted they talked about things in the way a dragon would understand it- the things they called animals, the hunting techniques passed on through clans, the information about their own kind that they wrote down and taught to hatchlings... did Orion's books have any of that, or was it all useless human stuff? She realized that they may even talk about dragons, and wondered what they would even say about her kind. How nice they were to kill? How to hunt a dragon akin to how one would hunt a wild boar? She didn't want to think about it.

The lead of the group of amphitheres had been the one to find the dragons- and he rapidly called to his group, the gathering of them coming together to surround the pair of them at a good distance. Hissing with snakelike mouths, the rare beasts stared at them with unblinking eyes and flicking tongues... only one of them moved to speak, the same leader that had found them in the first place. Many of the younger ones, unfamiliar with dragons, moved backwards as if they believed the dragons would charge at any moment. Lehra could confirm that she was thinking about it. After all, she stepped on venomous snakes all the time- rattlesnakes that threatened food stores, or hatchlings, or the safety of her leg. Were these anything different from bigger snakes?

"Well, turns out trees are VERY flammable." she admitted, shrugging. "And hey, no harm done. We put it out! Nothing but smoke, right? And... maybe a bit of ash... but no real harm!" Was she making things better? She honestly had no idea. She had the strange idea that they may be willing to sell them out to the humans- maybe she should step on their heads, make sure they couldn't tell anybody that they were around. Or maybe humans also did something to amphitheres? She had heard once that their feathers were in demand- and somebody once brought in a lovely amphithere scale necklace to trade. Being humanmade, it would barely fit around a dragon's spines, but it did look nice.

"We can leave as soon as possible. No more fire. And yes, they're driving....basically everybody out." she said with a sigh.