A Walk Through the Cold (Open)

Snowblaze wasn't at her happiest right now. Sure, her and Atarijor had a decent home now to avoid the monster of the land, but the dragoness that found it for them was now gone. This was the opposite of what needed to happen right now. The strange dragoness's mind had been switching between intellectual and emotional all day. At least she figured Atar understood that her mind switched by now. Snowblaze just needed to get some air. To go outside and just be for a change. Not hunt, not fight off beasts, just take in what was left of the area.

With her goal in mind, Snowblaze took off, landing a mile or two away from the hideaway. She felt the snow crunch between her toes. It was a nice feeling she hadn't enjoyed for a long time. Her mind settled into its emotional state, allowing her to crack a smile as she walked forward. Her ice-like barb slide gently over the frozen water, and the cool breeze blew through her horns. Her blazing eyes looked around though, trying to find anything that would be interesting, or comforting.

It had been a few months since Snowblaze, Virgo, and the 15th son of Atarijor I had made the secret IceWing sanctuary hidden in a mountain their new home. At least, Snowblaze assumed it had been that long. Virgo had gone out some time ago for some reason Atarijor didn't remember and had never returned; it could only be assumed that she was dead. Some time after that, Vann, a SeaWing Guardian, had found them. He never went out; the cold of the ocean was one thing, but the frozen surface was a little too much for his liking. Snowblaze had been helping Atarijor improve his use of the Dragon language... She often went from being compassionate to most impatient. He didn't quite understand it, but then, he wasn't yet fully aware of his own change from one thing to another. His regressions happened a little less often, but since they spent their time cooped up in a mountain, which to him resembled his original home, he didn't run away like he used to. Sometimes, Vann and Snowblaze could manage to bring him back to the present. Other times, they had to wait him out.

Currently, Vann was sleeping and Snowblaze had just left. Atarijor looked around, almost fearfully. Though she didn't know it, Snowblaze had become something of a security blanket for Atar. Not long after she left, Atarijor followed. He caught up to her rather quickly. "Snowblaze. Wyvern wants to come with you, if you don't mind. Atarijor will be good." Despite his lessons, Atarijor hadn't gotten rid of his odd dialect yet.

Tharasis was hunting out today. For as this winter had swept across the land prey was a bit.. scarce so to speak. Tharasis did not mind it, in fact he loved this season. As he waited for a deer to come into view he shot a quick ball of kinetic energy at it before it could even have noticed what was happening it was struck and sent it flying to the ground. Then Tharasis quickly pounced and finished it off.

After a delicious meal. He set off to find his next victim when he noticed something. He picked up the scents of two other dragons near his vicinity. Choosing to of course meet these two he cleaned himself of the blood on his meal and went about to find the two.

Appearing just outside some trees he could see the shapes of two dragons. ” Hey! You two over there! “ he shouted. Trying to get their attention. Before continuing to walk towards them each step making an audible * CRUNCH *

Snowblaze looked out, looking at the frozen world with a slight shiver. Sometimes she wished she was even half Icewing. It was then that she heard a dragon flying up, and she turned to see Atarijor. The dragoness smiled a bit. The hybrid often felt like she and the wyvern were similar to each other. Both dragons' minds weren't quiet whole, at least in her mind. She had been doing her best to teach him the Dragon's Language. He had gotten better, though he still had his own way of speaking. Interestingly enough, she still felt more comfortable around him then Vann. The guardian then heard Atarijor's request and nodded, soon speaking in the way she usually did when her emotional side of her mind was in charge. "I don't mind at all. It'll be nice to have the company."

As Snowblaze and Atarijor continued to walk, she turned again to her friend. She was about to ask the wyvern about Virgo, something she avoided for some time, but was distracted by another voice. Her mind switched to being intellectual as she turned to face the voice. She was surprised to see another dragon. She stopped, not trusting this newcomer, and instinctively placing herself between him and Atarijor. She then looked the blue dragon, speak with a monotone voice, lacking emotion. "Hello there. Who are you, and what are you doing here?"

Atarijor was glad Snowblaze let him come along. Sometimes she said no. They had been walking for long when another Dragon appeared. While his language had improved, his lifelong, human-created reality had not. He still saw himself as inferior to Dragons because he was a Wyvern. The humans thought as much and showed it. Snowblaze placed herself between Atarijor and the newcomer, but Atar would have cowered anyway. Especially considering that the Dragon shouted. "Wyvern no make trouble. Wyvern just walking. Atarijor will do whatever Dragon wants for masters."

Tharasis came to a stop when he heard her voice. Judging by the tone and well lack of emotion, it was not a welcoming one. He went closer till he could clearly see both of them. And sat down.

His eyes inspected both of them. A few things caught his attention. The dragoness was standing using her wings instead of her front legs. Odd he thought for someone, it almost seemed as if she was a wyvern. Then he eyed the male behind her.

Now this one is a true wyvern. In an attempt to calm the defensive looking dragoness he spoke in a soft and friendly voice.

“ I am Tharasis. I just came to greet you both, seeing as it’s not common to meet other dragons nowadays. I suppose I would not let this chance of meeting two other dragons slip away. “

Snowblaze stared Tharasis down as he spoke, trying to see if he was lying. He managed to stay calm, so the dragoness finally figure that he wasn't lying. She back to reveal Atarijor, though she still stayed between him and the Rogue. She had noticed before that the wyvern was more comfortable around her than others, though she couldn't figure out why. Maybe it was the same reason she was more comfortable around him. Who knew? Well... Atar probably knew. Either way, she looked at Tharasis, and spoke with a cold, emotionless tone. "Well. I guess that makes sense. I am Snowblaze, and this is my friend, Atarijor."

” Beutiful isn’t it? “ He said, it truly is beautiful. How the snow covered the surface, the trees that dotted the landscape. And the mountains far in the distance, all blending into one.

The cold air and the warm ray of the sun. It felt so serene that you could just sleep out there and forget about all your problems.

To anyone it seemed as though the invasion never happened. That this land was left untouched by the horrors and destruction of the monsters.

” A sight to behold “ Tharasis said his voice sounded so peaceful and with a sense of awe. At this short moment he felt so... calm. How he wished that this feeling could last a bit longer.

Then after gazing for a few seconds he turned is head to face the two dragons and asked ” Do you happen to live here? “

Snowblaze finally realized what Atar has said, and quickly turned to him. Her mind switched back to being more emotional, as she gave the wyvern a bit of a sad look. ”We’ve been over this Atarijor. No dragon is in charge of you unless you let them be.” The dragoness had been trying for months to get her friend to understand that he wasn’t under anyone’s heel anymore. She didn’t quite understand what the humans had done to him, but it had to be bad to give him such a mindset.

She then turned to Tharasis, hearing him comment on the beauty of the area. Snowblaze gave a nod before replying, ”It is. Most monsters don’t seem to like the cold up here.” He then turned and asked if they lived their. The dragoness nodded. ”Not too far from here, in a hidden cave.”

The Wyvern tilted his head a bit. He only half heard what the dragon had said. He wasn't talking directly to Atar, so there was no need to for the moment. "Atarijor have to listen to Dragon. Dragon better than Wyvern. Wyvern get worse work. Wyvern get less food. Atarijor almost killed because Dragon is better than Atarijor. Wyvern have to listen or masters will whip Wyvern." It was a wonder Atajior knew that his name was actually his name, considering how frequently he switched between referring to himself as Atarijor and Wyvern. Atar glanced at Tharasis. He had said some words that were still lost to Atarijor, words like beautiful and live. Live had a different meaning to Atar. 'Survive' was probably a better term for what he considered live to mean. But beautiful... he had no idea what this meant. When Snowblaze mentioned the cave, Atar looked up. "Atarijor must work now? Rest over?"

Tharasis noticed how the wyvern spoke. its words were not so much clear. but he did managed to understand most of it. Some words like " Wyvern have to listen or masters will whip Wyvern. " and " Atarijor have to listen to Dragon. Dragon better than Wyvern. " stuck on his mind and made him wonder.

Why does he think dragons are better than him? and why does he have a hard time speaking dragon? are the questions that he thought of the most.

Then it came to him. He... was once a slave. Tharasis felt remorse for him, how his kind would do such a thing to someone like him, though he was unsure if dragons did do this to him or the humans. But he felt that his kind was to blame, the way the wyvern told how he nearly died because a Dragon was better than him. reinforced his hypothesis.

As Snowblaze mentioned their cave. Atarijor asked as though he was still under the mindset of a slave. he was saddened by that, to think that he had to live his life being denied freedom. He could only wish him luck in his mind that he would recover from his past.

" Um... was.. was he a slave? he asked in a voice he thinks only Snowblaze could hear. He was reluctant to ask such a question. stuttering a bit in his question. But he had to know.

The white and orange dragon sighed, placing her forepaw on Atarijor's wing trying to calm him down. I always either worried or confused the Guardian, depending on where her mind was, that the wyvern hadn't broken this yet. Then again, that was his life before this. Before she answer Tharasis, the dragoness looked at Atarijor with a worried look. "No Atar. You don't have to work." She then eyed Tharasis, and simply nodded.

The Wyvern tilted his head at Snowblaze. Apparently, dragons sometimes had nicknames. But Atarijor had never had a shortened version of his name--either of them. In captivity, he had only two names: his birth name and his human-given one; Atarijor XVI and Wyvern. When asked for one's name, a captive was required to give either their birth name or the human given one. The captive names were simple for the sake of both the captive and their human masters: Those built like a traditional dragon were called Dragon, and wyverns, Wyvern. Eventually, a captive might end up with a dialect like Atarijor's, referring to themselves in the third person using either name. It didn't always happen, however. Some retained a normal speech pattern.

While the nickname confused Atar, the rest of what Snowblaze said scared him. If he wasn't to work, was he meant to return to the Arena, to be a gladiator until he was killed? Or had he finally pleased his masters with his work and was being allowed an extremely rare rest day? He had never had one of those before. And so this was unlikely to Atar. "No Atar. Atarijor XVI. Atarijor must kill again?"

Snowblaze gave Atarijor a confused look at first. She didn’t really get what he was saying. She got annoyed with herself, causing her mind shift to its intellectual side. It then became clear to her what was going on. The wyvern had mentioned his past on occasion m, and had said he was forced to fight as a gladiator. Her heart sank a bit, even with her logical mind, to think that he thought he’d go back to that. She sighed, rubbing his wing a bit before speaking. ”No, Atarijor. You’ll never have to kill again unless you choose to do so. Right now, we simply are not rushing back to the cave.”

Three Great Wolves moved through the frozen forest. They were the beginnings of a new pack and looking for a territory to call their own. But something caught their attention: a trio of dragons. The male looked at the two females and gave them a wolfish smile. It had been a while since their last meal... The three Wolves turned in the direction of the dragons and ran, not at all concerned with their prey hearing them coming. They knew dragons were no match for them. The many dragon bones they had chewed on after a meal was proof enough of that. Once the Wolves could see the three dragons, they spread out and each chose a dragon. Both sides were even. Why not give the dragons a fair fight? Too bad it wasn't actually fair.

Something did not feel right. The serene atmosphere Tharasis once felt was now tinted with the sense of hostility. Not from his new found friends... but from something else. Something big,  picking up not only the scents of 3 wolves, but 3 great wolves.

Tharasis had not faced such beast before. Only had he encountered them far above the skies when he flew, but not this time. quickly examining his surroundings he catches the 3 large blurs of in the distance, they moved in quickly and the once blurry wolves were somewhat getting closer and closer with each passing moment. " Atarijor! Snowblaze! " Tharasis yelled as to catch their attention. " I think we have company. Not so good ones at that " Tharasis pointed at the incoming attackers and got into battle stance. His eyes tracking the wolves every movement.

Tharasis gave an earth shaking roar, one that would be heard miles away. As to either scare them off or make them think twice, for if they wanted to fight, he would give them a feeling of what was to come of it.

Snowblaze turned to see the wolves coming. She heard Tharasis's roar, and let out one of her own. This call had an almost resonating sound to it. She slid her barb across the ground, soon feeling something different. She looked down to see her body was covered in ice. She could feel it running all the way down her body. Head to tail.

The dragon then turned to the wolf that faced her, letting out a hiss before sending a blast of Exploding Ice its way. If that didn't hit, she was ready for a fight!

((You guys can RP the Wolf you're fight yourselves. Just remember that it's a 1:1 and the Wolves are high threat level.))

Atarijor might not have the best sense of smell, but his hearing was still good. He heard the Wolves even before Tharasis yelled. He remembered the last time he has encountered the giant wolves and wanted no part of whatever was coming. He wanted to run, but he didn't have time. Three Great Wolves walked out of the treeline and stalked toward the three dragons. Since Tharasis arrived, the Wyvern had taken on a submissive stance, hiding behind Snowblaze--as well as one who was 112ft could hide behind one only 73ft. Now he had no shield--not that he had one to begin with--since Snowblaze had moved to attack the wolf approaching her. Atarijor backed away until he found himself bumping into a tree. The wolf that had singled him out seemed to smile menacingly as it approached. Its skin turned to stone before it leapt at the Wyvern. The moment it did, however, something clicked in Atar's mind. A switch was flipped. He found himself back in the Arena; not a wolf but another dragon faced him. He had to win this fight, to see another day, to eat. If he lost, he'd died... although, considering the life he lived, maybe that wouldn't be so bad... Atarijor swiped at the wolf with his left "arm", sending it into a tree. The wolf was surprised but hardly phazed. It got up and came at the Wyvern again.

Tharasis now saw the great wolf charging on him. Quickly he charged himself but he had a plan. When they were close the wolf lept at Tharasis, Just as he had hoped it would. Tharasis chose to slide down on the ground and thrusted his tail above hopefully hitting the Wolf.

He felt something graze his tail blade then after a few seconds he stopped skidding. Quickly turning back to look at the damage he had done he saw the wolf had a laceration on its right thigh, the red line was apparent. He did damage as it also showed on his tail. It had blood on its tip that dripped down a bit. Tharasis grinned at his move, but it soon faded as to what happened next.

The wolf began to turn its fur into stone. The wound that Tharasis left on it had disappeared as rocks began to encase the Wolf. Tharasis was shocked and baffled as to how it could do something like that. Still he stood his ground. Casting himself a shield while at it. At this point he was ready, the adrenaline rising with each passing second, As his eyes focused only on his opponent. He had hoped that Atarijor and Snowblaze were doing as well in their own fights.

Stats:

The wolf dodged the hybrid dragoness's blast of ice before it leaped onto Snowblaze. Unlike its pack mates, this wolf avoided turning its fur to stone quite yet. Instead, it tried to tear into the guardian's new armor, using its own speed to get around her.

Snowblaze had kept her eyes on the monster, slashing her ice-like barb at the wolf, which quickly dodged before getting a blast of ice to the side. This didn't seem to do much to the wolf until the ice exploded, sending it flying. The wolf hit the ground hard, glare at the Icewing before turning it's coat to stone. If this wolf was going to fight an armored dragon, maybe armor was actually the best play.

Atarijor opened his maw and breathed ice at the Wolf. But it was ready for such an attack. The front of its body became stone as it ran toward Atarijor. Like a snow plow, it sheared through the ice. The ice clung to the the fur on the sides of its body, but powdered, it wasn't enough to slow it down. The Wolf was also ready for the Wyvern attempting to swipe at it again. It stayed just outside of the reach of Atarijor's forelimbs and tail. It leapt onto Atar's back and bit at his shoulders. Atarijor's shoulders were protected somewhat, but the Wolves had a strong bite, and, particularly at his arms, Atar had a lean build. The Wyvern roared as the Wolf got hold of his right forearm, close to the shouder, and bit down as hard as it was capable.

The Wyvern's right forearm went limp. He wouldn't be able to fight or fly with it. The latter didn't matter much; Atarijor had gone his whole life up until his escape without ever flying. But the former... Atar used his tail to knock the Wolf off of his back. The Wolf, who'd forgotten about the tail, was caught off guard. He went flying, landing in the snow 20ft away. Growling, the Wolf got up and ran at Atar. Atarijor didn't want the Wolf getting onto his back again and damaging his other forearm. His only option was trying to keep it away. So, the Wyvern shot ice at it once more.

Just pretend I switched accounts. Bump

They charged again, this time Tharasis was unsure how he was going to defeat such a heavily armored opponent. They initial contact was fast and brief, the wolf pounced and Tharasis charged. The wolf jaws was open wide and clamped down hard. only to be stopped by Tharasis's shield. He retaliated by swiping his claws at the creature, the blow sent pieces of rock and some fur flying into the air. But the wolf seemed unfazed by his attack.

They circled one another, this time both were unsure who was on the offensive and who was on the defensive. Both traded growls, snarls, and taunts at one another but neither stepped up by actually attacking. Then after a few seconds the wolf charged again. catching Tharasis off guard, the wolf pounced but Tharasis managed to evade its attack. He responded by thrusting his spear like tail blade and it hit its mark.

His blade penetrated the rock surface and embedded itself deep in the wolfs side. The wolf let out a howl of pain but quickly attacked Tharasis again, pounce and this time Tharasis had no chance to move since he was still busy attempting to get his blade unstuck. The force from the wolf sent both of them crashing to the ground, with Tharasis's enemy on top. Both tried everything from clawing, biting, anything to get the upper hand. The wolf fought savagely as it clawed hard at Tharasis's shield and now it was getting apparent that it wont last for long.

After what felt like hours of endless fighting, Tharasis managed to get his legs under the wolf and with a powerful kick sent it flying to the the ground. He got up and examined his wounds, he was bloodied. Scratches and bruises covered his chest and sides, and a bite mark stung on his shoulder, but his opponent didn't look any better. A good couple holes that came from his tail blade were seen at the wolfs sides accompanied by many scratches and bite marks that decorated its body.

Both were tired at this point, Tharasis had lost his shield and the wolfs armor was damaged. But neither side showed weakness. Tharasis had to think, at this point their battle was not looking good for anyone. And it was only a matter of time till one of them would fall, but he wasn't planning on failing. After a couple of seconds he had an idea, and after they both eyed eachother. Tharasis knew what the score was.

They neared eachother again, then charged once more. But Tharasis had his plan, and he was counting on this to happen. When they were almost going to hit eachother Tharasis ducked and skidded on the ground while the wolf pounced above him. Then Tharasis quickly turned around and let out his frost breath, creating a white mist that covered their surroundings. When the wolf and Tharasis eyed eachother again, the mist had now covered them both. Like fog it prevented both from seeing eachother, Tharasis now had to hope that luck was on his side. and it was.

He came closer when he saw the wolf, from behind he saw it was smelling for his scent and Tharasis quickly rushed in from behind. Then he'd leap forward and onto its back, his claws got a good grip. And before the wolf could respond, Tharasis took to the skies carrying the wolf with one powerful beat of his wings.

The wolf snarled and thrashed violently to escape his grip, but Tharasis held firm and once he was at a high enough point he dived down quickly. And he felt the wind as the wolf fought to escape him, and when it seemed that they were going to crash onto the ground Tharasis would let go and pull hard to escape the ground.

Though Tharasis was now safe the wolf wasn't. It slammed hard onto the surface producing smoke and sent ruble and soil flying into the air, its armor barely protected it from such an impact. It attempted to get up but it could only move slightly.

Tharasis saw it squirm below and landed just a few distances away. When the wolf finally got up it turned to face Tharasis again, only this time the wolf was in much much worst shape. When it looked as if the wolf was going to attack again, it quickly took of running. one of its leg was limping slightly as it retreated into the woods.

Tharasis apon seeing it flee finally gave in, and slowly sat down on the ground to breath as he processed what had happened. A good few seconds had passed then he began to slowly heal his wounds, The scratches and bruises were mostly healed up but the deep bite mark on his shoulder remained making him grunt in pain as he moved his claw to feel the wound. His body was stained with the blood of his and of enemy, covering his blue scales in red crimson.

He could only remain in his current position and observe from a distance how his friends are fairing. As he slowly mended his wounds and rested.

(Bump)

(Another bump)