{OOC: Not that great of an opening post... Sorry >.>}
The misty forest seemed the perfect place for adventure. It took guts and daring to enter a land where one could not rely on eyesight. Lupa walked the terrain, Shyam pacing the confines of the mind. The woman seemed to be the voice of reason sometimes, urging Lupa to keep out of trouble. What sort of insanity drove the canine to this land? Was she so desperate for adventure. Just go join a bar-room brawl. At least you knew your chances there. Shyam berated herself for letting Lupa run wild tonight. Deciding it would be better not to observe this, she hid herself deep in the back of her mind.
Lupa wandered the earth, her paws sinking into the ground slightly with each step. Her large frame -- much larger than that of a traditional wolf -- seemed a shadow in the white mist. Perhaps that's all she was these days. After all, for a time, she had lived as white mist similar to that stuff in which she walked. Perhaps these too were spirits unable to continue on to death with their bodies, their time on this land not yet up. The idea of walking through such spirits was slightly perturbing, but soon the thought vanished. Instead, her mind was weaving a tapestry of sounds, tastes, and smells. Sight could not be included, for her vision was unclear. No, this tapestry of a memory would be without sight. She could taste the air, the mist which hung around her in thick sheets. Her sensative auds flickered at the silent sounds of creatures nearby, as odd as that was. It was as if she could hear the intentions of their movements. Her gaze flickered around her, though it was a futile attempt to see what was in this deep and dark portion of the Misty Forest.
A deep growl came to her ears, the black triangulars perking atop her head, her body stopped in mid-stride. Was this her imagination playing tricks on her again? She could be hearing things here. Nothing could find her in here -- the scent was masked by the mist, as was the sight of her, wasn't it? She grew nervous, immediately picking up her pace. She moved almost silently through the forest, though without eyesight, she was prone to stepping in mounds of leaves and twigs, causing quite a large amount of noise. Not until she almost ran into the trunk of a tree did she pause. Her breath came in short gasps, her tongue lolling out of her mouth. Her golden orbs took in the trunk before her. It was quite an odd tree, having the appearance of charcoal coloured scales. Wait -- a new scent filtered through the mist, Lupa backing away slowly, her gaze attempting to see above her.
What she did see, was a large snout lowering to the ground to get a glimpse of her form -- small in comparison to his form. She lifted her nose, as if to catch his scent -- smoke. So he had breath of fire. She backed slowly, her tassel swaying behind her. Her auds flickered, attempting to filter out the noises belonging to the cruel forest, and those which were truly existant. Her claws dug into the soft earth, her teeth baring. Well, she got what she wanted -- some adventure.
Sgiathatch had left the halls of the Draconic Balance's keep in Lhachlith to hunt, the feeding room was dreadfully empty and she was famished. Since Kreth'el had been alone there for so long there was no need to keep a stock pile. She hoped to bring more life back there, but for now her focus was here in the forest. She wasn't familiar with this land, she was used to the icy tundras of Khelek and Calaring, hunting in the open lands where she was a master predator. The forest was a different story entirely, especially trying to fit herself among the trees. She had seen herds of deer and did her best to hunt them but it was useless given her size, mobility, and lack of experience hunting in the forest. She growled to herself in a low tone and muttered unhappily to herself in Draconic for a while.
She followed in the trail of the deer, wandering deep into the forest hoping to find something, anything to eat. Soon she began to notice a fog settling into the forest and her visibility lessened. She continued along her path, slowing down to adjust to her inability to see very far. Where was she? She growled again and tried to turn back but the fog had swallowed her entirely. She had lost her sense of direction now and her vision failed her, and in all this she could feel her stomach rumble gently, unfed for days now. She lowered her snout to the ground and sniffed for a trace of the deer she once chased but it was long gone. She did, however, detect a hint of something else. There was a familiar scent and immediately she knew that she was not the only dragon in this region. She couldn't tell more about the dragon, what race it was, but she got the distinct impression that it was male. A male dragon could be dangerous, but he could also be helpful to both the Draconic Balance and her poor stomach.
She pushed her way through the brush and trees, following the scent of the other dragon. She followed the scent for many minutes and it didn't get much stronger which meant he was probably traveling much faster than she was; another good sign that he was familiar with the land, but it was a little odd. Her usual confidence was slowly being replaced with uncertainty and she suddenly felt that hunting wasn't so important, maybe returning to the volcano would be better. She turned around again feeling lost but she couldn't escape, couldn't find the way out or get enough space to fly up and out of the forest. She stumbled unhappily in the mist and suddenly she saw motion ahead of her. A glimpse of a black wing disappearing ahead of her. She perked up and chased after grateful to have some small direction. As she lumbered forward uncomfortably, she thought she heard a faint growling nearby... She stopped again and crouched low to the ground, sniffing again and hoping to suddenly conceal herself. She was white and the mist may provide her good cover. The scent that greeted her nostrils was not only that of an unidentifiable male dragon, but also that of... could it be a werewolf? Some other scent lingered nearby also, but it was too faint to tell what it was. She crept slowly forward still crouching low, unsure of what lay ahead of her.
Ploay walked though the misty forest calmly without a care in the world. But a small fear did linger in, because the last time Ploay got lost where she was here. Yet she couldn’t help but wander the lands for she loved to explore, and loathes sitting around for more then ten hours. Something about this forest, this mysterious forest seemed enchanting. Ploay couldn’t place way she would test her luck out on a tricky place, perhaps she just loved the outdoors. A soft mist covered the area, a soft mist that would be hard to get lost in. The deeper she went the thicker the fog, and the more her vision became dim. Now it was the time to be a bit worried, losing your vision is the first step to getting lost. Ploay’s head hung low as she watched her step while squeezing between two trees, a feat she could never do if she was in her angelic form. The archangel took a slow and deep breath, the air felt wet which led Ploay to sneeze. Her hands covered her mouth out of instinct as she made a small sneeze. A small piece of her shirt got caught, and ripped a small hole from her shoulder. Ploay’s clothes always seemed to need repair or cleaning, when she would fix her clothes they ended up being ripped again later.
While leaning the two trees, Ploay stumbled down a small slope, the fog just seemed to be so much thicker now. The archangel continued to move forwards, she didn’t know where she was going but she figured that nothing is forever. Or is this misty place forever? Ploay looked around, now her vision was getting so worse she couldn’t see anything. I’ll just turn back around, Ploay thought to herself as she turned around. Her eyes squinted so she could see better, but no such luck, she would have to trust her other instincts. Holding up her hands in front of her, she pressed onwards in an attempt to leave this mind tricking place for she had enough adventure for one day. But the slope, nor the two trees were able to find by touch. Ploay stopped, she thought she could turn into her angelic form and fly out. But when she looked up, all she could find was mist and more mist, Ploay wasn’t going to take a chance at banging her head nor wings on the trees she couldn’t see. Her breath was white, this place seemed so cold, she looked around frantically to find someway out, but this was pointless, she couldn’t see a thing! Then she just let go of the worry, once again her curiosity touched her so she kept walking into the unknown.
Then a growling sound filled the air, and it was hard to tell what creature could growl like that. Ploay stopped to see if the growling would stop, but it didn’t seem to be. Her ears twitched as she started to walk to the side, trying to find something to hide with until the creature passed. She was uncertain that the creature could see though to fog or not, and Ploay didn’t want to scare the poor thing if it was a gentle creature. But the more it growled, the more she believed it was something else, something dark. The archangel kept walking to the side until she felt like she stepped on something rather hard, yet soft at the same time. Whatever it was, Ploay could feel hot air coming from her sandals. Something was . . . breathing. Looking down all she could see was white, then two yellow horns came to view when the archangel looked closer. Her eyes widen and almost jumped up, but rather she back away, right into something hard. Another tree, and she sat down as she prayed in her head that the creature she stepped on wasn’t too angry. But she couldn’t help but dart her head to where the growling was coming from. Ploay didn’t know what to concentrate on more, the creature she stepped on, or the growling creature. The archangel wanted to say sorry to the creature, but those growls seemed to seal her mouth shut as she tried to make her presence known.
As Sgiathatch lay against the ground she felt a creature step on her feet and she jumped back, surprised. It hadn't hurt, the creature was much smaller than she was and Sgiathatch was well scaled, but she hadn't even seen or heard the creature approach. Did this strangling mist muffle sound as well as it blocked sight? She looked down curiously to see if the creature was big enough to eat, turning her head to the side like a curious puppy, but she realized with disappointment that the creature was a human. She had no interest in human flesh, especially in light of her current disagreement with Valdearg's decisions. Sgiathatch stood up and rose to her full height of nearly thirty feet to address the human that had just trampled on her toes. The female was a barely a fifth of Sgiathath's height and looked confused or scared or something; Sgiathatch wasn't an expert on human facial expressions.
She spoke with her thick Draconic accent in as best a whisper as she could manage, wrapping her tongue around the common language. "This is a dangerous land, human, there is a male Urulóki afoot and the mist has a tricky life of its own." Her former uncertainty eased a bit and at this point she felt no need to fear the unknown. Her thoughts strayed away from the human as her eyes scanned through the mist hopelessly, looking for the other dragon. She sniffed at the air but stopped suddenly, muscles tightening. The dragon was very close, his scent filling her nostrils, and she could smell the evil upon him like a foul stench. She backed up a few paces, ignoring the human entirely now, looking around sharply to try and locate the bull before he found her. Then the air filled with the great bellow of the bull dragon, a painfully loud roar of anger filling the air and reverberating off of the trees. She looked around franticly and crouched low to the ground again, unable to tell which direction the angry roar came from and where the cross bull was hiding. She looked down at the human once more and whispered, "This might be a good time for you to leave."
Pinnae flickered atop her crania once more, her body tensing as her golden orbs took in his shape, larger than she had first imagined. Drawing upon all her courage, she crouched closer to the earth. It was as if this were the best way to put distance between herself and the dragon before her. Of course, in her panic, she was not thinking properly. A dragon, of all creatures! It was not so much that she despised them in general, but she was enormously jealous of their size and strength. And it seemed that this one was not too fond of her either... Or perhaps he was fond of her -- as a meal.
Her auds flickered as she picked up some sounds nearby -- perhaps not as near as she imagined, but they were there. Perhaps she did stand a chance if she were able to contact them... That is, without alerting the beast before her. At a snail's pace, she began inching towards where she last heard a noise from, hoping they were not diverting their course to avoid the dragon. She doubted she had any hope for that line of travel. Her forepaw pressed against a twig, her weight snapping it without effort. She froze.
Apparently the dragon heard the twig, and snorted its protest at her escape. He simply preferred his meat to stay still while he devoured them. Her mind ran to many possibilities, even if she could not see the beast, she still could sense his movements. He seemed distracted. The wolf's instincts took over completely, pulling her from her frenzied mind. She sensed the weakness of one of his movements, for he seemed to turn his head, followed by his body, in a completely different direction. Perhaps he heard the noises from another creature, and it seemed his eyesight was no better in this mess -- though he did have a thorough knowledge of what he was doing and where he was headed. Sensing this opportunity, the wolf lurched forward from her position, tossing it's head slightly with the freedom. She was preparing to desert this area with such finality that she knew she would not return, when she noticed the shadow of the beast stalking off to the mist in the direction Lupa had placed the noises.
Her nostrils flared as she attempted to filter the scents from the forest. Mist masked most, but she could still sense their presence. She had not yet considered what creatures she was smelling, nor what had possessed her to feel so protective of them. If the dragon was going to attack them, they should at least be warned of his intentions prior. She darted beneath his feet, his large claws narrowly missing her skull at one moment, her tail at another. She moved as silently as she was able, attempting not to be squashed by this giant.
Her own talons dug into the soft soil for a moment for she leapt for his underbelly. Of course, she was met with scales, though these were softer than the scales which covered his back. She dug her teeth in a futile effort to pierce the natural armor he possessed. Instead, she felt herself flung from him with a strong swipe of his claw. His vocal chords tightened as he let out a deep throaty roar. Well... At least the others know he is coming now... The darkness of her mind was quickly trying to claim her. She felt the unconscious tugging at her mindframe, but she knew it would not be safe to surrender now. Her jaw clenched with the effort of trying to remain awake, and she managed this with effort. She pulled herself up to her feet with effort, orbs closing then opening quickly with an attempt to right her vision.
Unfortunately, the mist still caused her to be a little disoriented. She stumbled around slightly, feeling quite wobbly even on four legs. Her head pounded furiously, but when she glanced upwards, the dragon was not paying her the slightest attention. Thank the gods... or the fates... or whoever for that she thought dryly.