Sam waited until the Vanquishers were almost in the water that lapped gently at the bank before she struck. She'd swam back a few paces for a better angle. Her eyes were just barely above the waters surface. She ducked down, then snorted hard twice. Two pairs of ice spears launched from her nostrils and out of the water, piercing anything close enough that coup he penetrated. Although the ice would melt fast, it would still cause some damage. Then she herself exploded from the waters edge, her sea-green-translucent-fish-scales gleaming in the dawn sun. She shrieked once in anger before closing her wings and falling on her first victim with needle teeth and claws. Blood spurted as her jaws clamped on the soft neck of a human.

Sam killed at least three others before they retreated. She watched them disappear into the forest almost warily. They knew their way around in these parts. Herself and Fletcher did not. That right there was a weakness. She sighed and nodded to the gryphon, already turning to slide back into the water. Her bloody muzzle and paws were washed clean in the river as she swam on. I agree. she said tiredly. Her wings were sluggish in the water. The warm temperature of the river was affecting her. She released a long breath and simply hoped that they would reach the glacier before she went into her coma.

Sam swam at a leisure pace down the river beneath Fletcher. At his image and words she poked her head out of the water briefly before surging up and back down like an otter. Let's hurry then! she replied eagerly, thrusting her wings to send her shooting forward like she'd been released anew from a slingshot.

Sam ginned at Fletcher. She herself was looking up at the buildings when she heard the low twang of a bow and of the faint swish that meant an arrow had been released. The cry that came from the gryphon was chilling in a way. She stood frozen for a moment as the flood of arrows came into view and also with those that had sent them. She blinked, puzzled, when they all stopped. At the shout of anger from one of the cloaked humans, her eyes hardened. She stared at Fletcher in astonishment when he told her to run. If the moment hadn't been so tense at the time she might have snorted at him. But the crimson blood that bathed his hide was not in the least amusing. I did not help free you from Agatha just for you to die on me now! she retorted sharply to him. But not only that, if she ran now she would be alone again. He was her only friend. She wouldn't, couldn't, abandon him. She snarled once, then sprang forward toward him. She bunched her muscles then leapt right over him, shielding him with her body and out spread wings. Get down on your belly so I can cover you. she ordered crisply, barely glancing back to see if he obeyed. Her iridescent-pearl-blue eyes glittered and danced like writhing flames with her anger. If you want him you go through me. she snarled at the humans, baring her tiny teeth. Behind her but in plain sight of Fletcher, the water of the stream was becoming rough and frothy, responding to her intense emotions. She'd never been this angry before.

Sam barely looked up when the huge ball of lightning came crashing down amongst the Vanquishers. The Water/Ice Dragon reared back onto her hindpaws and roared, her sea-green-translucent-fish-scales bristling madly. The water in the stream behind her roared up with her, creating a small but still formidable looking wave. As she sprang forward with teeth bared, the wave came crashing down on the bank, soaking any humans that got in it's way and knocking them to the ground. A few moments later the water froze solid, turning anything it touched to burning cold ice. Only now did she look at the being that had come to help them. It was another dragon, violet in color. Violeta. It had to be. Being around the beaches and ports of Surda, she'd heard some rumors. One was that lightning dragon, pure lightning dragons, might have the ability to heal. She'd rarely listened to such codswallop, but right now, she would go for anything that might save Fletcher. His breathing was shallow and fast, but the gurgle of liquid suggested that one of his lungs was punctured and filling with blood. The dragoness shrieked in rage and beat her wings to force the Vanquishers away from the gryphon. Still keeping them back with snaps of her teeth and slashes of her claws, she touched the mind of the lightning dragon. Nevermind them for now, I can keep them off. Help Fletcher! she cried desperately to Violeta. Another wave of water mingled with a bit of left over lightning, electricuting two humans.

Sam didn't reply to the lightning dragoness, only gazed anxiously after the gryphon. A pain in her side made her shriek. She looked down and found at arrow embedded in her scar where it seethed over her right shoulder. She snarled and sprang forward with renewed anger.

OOC:
Short, sorry. >.<

Sam glanced up at the sound of wingbeats. Violeta was back. The Water/Ice Dragoness sidestepped to give the lightning dragoness room. She nodded as Violeta said Fletcher was being taken care of. Her attention was brought back when another jolt of pain shook her. A knife was buried to the hilt in her side in the scar. She panted for a moment to steel herself, then snarled and sprang forward. Her claws ripped into a Vanquishers chest. The human struggled beneath her for a moment, she thought to get away, but he was really reaching for a weapon. A barbed arrow was thrust into her soft underbelly, making her back arch up in pain. She gasped briefly then shook her head, opening her jaws to tear out his throat. She leapt away to help Violeta, blocking out the pain that came with her three wounds.

Sam stood panting as Violeta dealt with the remaining Vanquishers. She glanced up at the lightning dragon, her expression exhausted. She nodded in agreement at going to the monastery, though shook it just as quickly at her offer of healing the wounds in her scar and underbelly. Later. Fletcher. I want to see him. Please. she gasped, drawing herself up stiffly. Her scar was screaming at her but she pushed it away as she lifted her wings from her back. You can heal me at the monastery. she said in compromise.

Violeta listened to Samantha's story and said with a sigh My kind are not native to Alagaesia either. This land is my ancestral homeland. I never knew my parents. They were murdered by poachers before I hatched. The Riders found my egg and took me in. To this day I remain the first and only full blooded lightning dragon bonded to a rider.

She sat down on her hanches and continued During the Fall I was separated from Natagath and during my time alone I traveled t many parts of the world, from the far north to the south seas. This land was just one of the places I visited. I helped liberate Danthuania from the rule of a cruel sorceress called Lethira who sought to drive my kind to extinction. Unfortunately, though the people are now free, some of Lethira's sinister followers still remain. That is who the Vanquishers are. Since Natagaht and I returned here, we have been fighting them almost constantly.

After Violeta finished explaining her story, she added If you wish to know more about your kind, while have never been there myself, there are said to be islands off the north coast of Alagaesia where ice and water dragons may still live. If you ever decide to travel that way again, you might wish to investigate that area.

OCC: Voenth has a thread called "Isle of Eternity" about water and ice dragons. If he ever comes back on again maybe you could join in and we could get it going again.
viewtopic.php?f=18&t=9845

Sam was floating in the pool on her back, eyes closed. Her right ear pricked, and she lifted her head up. Her eyes widened in delight when she saw her friend. Fletcher! she cried, swimmin to the bank where she put her forepaws up on the ground. Feeling better I hope? she asked anxiously, her ears twitching back and forth. She noted how he stumbled a bit and wondered if it was from fatigue or stiffness. Natagath said you were lucky. she commented.

Sam nodded once, her ears twitching eagerly. I'm glad to hear it. she said simply, watching his movement to see if he truly meant what he said. She chuckled at his comment. From the group that attacked us, all are dead. Violeta did most of the killing, I just fought to keep them away from you and myself. I was mostly on the defensive the whole time. she said with a wry smile.

Sam nodded in gratitude for his concern, watching him carefully. He did seem healthy enough. She sighed and slid her body into the water, closing her eyes at the heavenly feel it had against her scales. Like swimming through silk or velvet. The sea at her cave never felt this soft. Bubbles drifted from her nostrils as she exhaled. The water in front of her snout became icy cold and even had a few slushes of soft ice through it. The sea-green-translucent-fish-scales dragoness let a light sleep take her, so relaxed was she in the reflecting pool. In her dream she was swimming, or flying, she couldn't tell, toward a collection of islands. The air was bitterly cold, making her feel vibrantly alive as she never had before. A voice drifted off the wind to her. To find yourself you must first find your kin. it whispered. Her speed increased, and in what seemed no time at all, she was standing on one of the islands. At first she was alone. Then, almost from no where, a figure appeared. It was a dragon, built similarly to herself but with pure white translucent scales. It seemed to be made of ice itself. Then she woke up with a jolt. She was still underwater in the pool, but there was th scent of blood. Damn, she thought to herself, this scar has reopened more times in the last few days than it has in the months after I received it. She grumbled discontentedly, her mood abruptly bitter and cold, and climbed from the water. The opening wasn't that bad. She padded to the dragon keep and curled up in a corner to clean the scar with her tongue, ignoring the other three completely.

Sam turned her head slightly to look at the others with one eye. With one last lick of her tongue over the scar, she raised her head up and looked questioningly at Natagath. Could you rub a soaked rag over my scar? The water will help it heal without forcing me to actually get back into the pond. she asked quietly. In her surly mood it was a rare thing for her to ask for help. Her head was on her paws, eyes closed, when she spoke again. I had a dream about the islands, Violeta. It showed me swimming there. A voice spoke to me 'To find yourself you must first find your kin' it said, and then it showed a dragon with scales exactly like mine, different only in it's base color. she murmured, and opened her eyes.

Sam nodded, sighing in relief when the soothing water passed over the scar. Though in the faint light of the dragon keep, along the opening in her scar, their was a soft white glow, barely visible, but definitely there. She closed her eyes as her unique ability to heal worked it's magic. Unlike submerging uersel in water to heal, which exhausted her, something like this, which targeted only the wound, was much easier for her to handle. She opened her eyes to look at Violeta. Do you have any wounds from the Vanquishers? Even if Natagath has already healed them, I can soothe them so they don't hurt as much. she offered. It was the very least she could do.

Sam chuckled and grinned at Violeta, her iridescent-pearl-blue eyes glittering. Her grin only widened when Fletcher returned, his feathers set in place. She giggled quietly, following after the lightning dragoness a bit behind the gryphon. She was at first wary of the twoleg monks when she saw them, but gradually she just ignored them or stared at them curiously. She listened to Violeta intently, tilting her head to the side. She was a bit confused if truth were told. She hesitated before speaking, knowing she had little to no right in an opinion in a foreign country that was not her own. I must ask...And I'm sorry if I seem straight forward with this...If the Vanquishers are such a threat, albeit a somewhat minor one, why not track them down and eliminate them? she asked in a quiet voice, her ears pinned flat against her skull in apprehension, giving her the appearance similar to a scorned horse.

Sam nodded but didn't respond. Who was she to say anything in the first place? She knew nothing about Danthuania or it's inhabitants. She sighed and followed behind Fletcher. Her ears pricked when they entered the garden. She sniffed delicately at one plant before moving on. She didn't understand why twolegs insisted on eating the stuff. She smiled at the gryphon when he spoke. It is, even more than my cave back at Surda. she said. She had a brief pang of longing to return to that cave. At least it was a home, if not her home. She shook the feeling away with an irritated flick of her ear. I could grow to love it here, make it my home, even. It would be cool enough, there are bound to be waters coming from the glaciers, so I would have water to swim in. she mused, half to herself and half to the others.

OCC: The problem is that nobody has a female gryphon character. At least not anybody who is active.

"I guess you're right." Fletcher said as he gazed at the beautiful sunset.

"I just feel so alone sometimes."

When Samantha spoke, Fletcher replied with a smile, "Well, even if you are the last of your kind, there are still other dragons out there. The world is a big place. Maybe there are even others like you out there. I certainly hope there are."

Samantha had done so much for him and the gryphon could not thank her enough for it. Honestly she was the best friend he ever had. he was sure the others he had met would have helped him escape Agatha's clutches had they been able to. However, Samantha had actually succeeded.

OOC:
I sort of do. One of Iaras's servants he brought from Tenya is female. I could make her her own character. Or Iaras's mother, even.lol

IC:
Sam nodded and didn't speak. She understood that too, feeling alone. She almost sighed when he spoke, but she too couldn't keep the smile from her face. Thank you, Fletcher. I'm glad I met you. Your my only friend. she said quietly. The scales on her face turned slightly rosy in color and she busied her self with smoothing down the translucent-fish-scales on her front with a paw.

OOC:
Writer's block. >.< Bleh.

OCC: I think the first one would work.

IC: It touched something in his heart when Sam said that he was her only friend. Fletcher had never thought about that. As lonely as his life had been, Fletcher still at least had met other people he could call friends. Nobody deserved to be alone in the world.

"I'm sure you will meet other friends here. Natagath and Violeta seem nice. They saved us from the Vanquishers."

The sun had sunk behind the mountains and left only a pale orange glow to the west just above the horizon. Fletcher smiled happily. There was nothing like watching a beautiful sunset with his best friend.

OOC:
I shall get busy then. XD

IC:
Sam's throat constricted. She cleared it once, then bent her head to smooth down some translucent-fish-scales on her shoulder before lifting it again to watch the sunset. Thank you. she said, and smiled. And yes. Natagath and Violeta do seem nice. They did more than saved us from the Vanquishers, they saved our lives, I think. she mused. I don't know how to thank them. she sat up and unfurled her wings slightly as the sky turned pale orange. The gentle hue washed over her. She closed her eyes and sighed. She usually wasn't one for heat, but the last rays of warmth from the sun felt very comforting to her at the moment. She opened her eyes and sighed. I wonder if I will ever have a mate. she said, more to herself than Fletcher.

Even even being only able to fly short distances can be useful. If can help you escape from danger and quickly scout the area ahead. Violeta added.

Of course Violeta had never had to worry about the inability to fly. She was a creature built for the sky, not for the water. Electricity and water did not mix too well.

"Well," Fletcher explained. "It would still be a good idea to practice. I can show you some basic maneuvers if you want. We can do it right now if you'd like."




OCC: Short post.