On These Wings: The Remake

[En'K'Haral]

Gelltor kept looking for the escapee's following their tracks in the mud.

"Anything yet Malice?"

"Nothing thus far."

Gelltor quietly cursed to himself, at this rate the prisoners would escape and Hyro's wrath would be upon him and the others. Gelltor wanted to avoid this unfortunate event that was becoming more and more inevitable. Heis mind strayed to the one person that hadn't persued the NDK. Where in blazes was Anna?

 

((Hehehe now you have to update Annaku ;P))

Edited March 25, 2010 by En'K'Haral

[BlackScorpion7]

Hearing Mordred's question, she steered Sleet to hover near the two-headed dragon. Combining her mind in such a way with Sleet they both saw the same thing, she scanned the area around them. Thick forest with even thicker undergrowth. No possibility for dragons like theirs to run around in, only to fly over. Destroying the forest was no option, lest they would destroy the escapees. It almost seemed like a lost cause, were it not Hyro would not accept a lost cause all that easy. So there had to be a way. Katelyn was just staring at the canopy, the small of the wet fur of her clothing comforting her toughts, when suddenly Sleet poked her mind.

 

"They have to come out of the forest somewhere and flying we are faster than them. Can't we wait for them at the edge?" At first Katelyn wanted to reply it was impossible, as they had no idea where the kids were going and thus where they would leave the forest. But then she continued on that thought and told Mordred, not knowing if it would be a good idea but thinking that as they had no other idea's they might as well try it out. "They have to leave the forest some time. If we spread out around the edge of the forest with all dragons in the force, we might have a chance to see them emerge. With the eyesight of our dragons, we can spread out and cover a reasonably large part. Whoever sees one of them, calls the others. Even if they splitted up in the forest, it's still better to have one to bring back than none."

Edited March 30, 2010 by BlackScorpion7

[En'K'Haral]

Malice nodded his agreement to this idea.

"This seems reasonable enough. I will take the north edge."

He headed north but made sure to keep scanning the surface.

"Gelltor, we are all splitting up so that we can cut them off at the edges of the forest. Anything new on your end?

Gelltor shook his head and sighed. In his progress the tracks had gotten washed away a sure sign that the escapee's had created a decent gap between him and them.

"No, I have lost the trail."

"Hyro will not be happy if we lose them. Meet me at the north edge of the forest. You do have your bearings right?"

"Yes I still have my bearings don't worry, I am not about to get lost out here."

Gelltor turned and headed north at a walking pace but he readied his shield just in case.

[Red Dragonette]

Katelyn suggested that if the prisoners will escape out of the forest, then all they have to do is split up and fly faster to the edge. "You know, I like this plan. By the time they get out, they'll instantly be falling right into our hands! Okay, let's go to the west, Ghidorah!" Mordred said. The split dragon broke away from the group and started flying towards the western part of the woods. "Remember, Ghidorah. If the rats try to resist us, just break their bones to teach them a lesson, but try not to kill them," the rider said to his dragon. The two heads growled and nodded.

[BlackScorpion7]

((Okay I’m too damned lazy to go and check if anything has been said about the direction of the forest in regards to the city, so sorry if I’m heading in the wrong direction. I’m letting my chars take the eastern side of the forest, thinking the city lies south. Warn me if I’m wrong.))

 

Seeing Malice taking the north side of the forest for his account and Mordred steer his dragon to the west, Katelyn decided to head to the east side. Sleet flew low over the canopy, his head swiveling left and right to try and get some glances of the ground below. His breath occasionally blew over the leaves and branches, freezing them. “Keep calm, Sleet. My ass is almost freezing off here.” A mental chuckle sounded in Katelyn’s brain and she shook her head. When they were back, she was going to find an additional layer of padding to add to either the saddle or her outfit. Swiping over the canopy, Sleet thought he had seen some movement and swept slightly to the left, only to find out it was a buck trying to escape him. Snorting, the ice dragon angled back to the east rim of the forest.

 

Arriving there, he hovered above the field, just a little away from the trees. “Seems like a good spot. Better land here, Sleet. Lest you tire your wings before we have to give chase.” The dragon descended, his hind claws lightly touching the corn before flattening them. They were hidden just behind the first rows of corn, Sleet having lowered himself until only his eyes were peering above the yellow tufts and green stalks. Combined with the dark and rainy weather, they were very hard to spot, if not impossible to see at all. The dragon’s hind claws dug into the soft earth, his muscles slightly tense and ready to leap at any moment. Katelyn settled as comfortable as possible, ready for a long wait.

Edited April 5, 2010 by BlackScorpion7

[Dragon Song]

((Noooo! Sky-lark! =( Real life sucks, I hope to see you in another RP at one point. You're a good RPer.

 

In other news, I'm back with internet! Yay! Now, to catch up.))

 

Bramble half raised his head from the sodden floor as Malice began to screech at him, his lips drawn back in a nasty snarl that revealed a good proportion of his razor sharp teeth. A retort was forming in his mind when Gelltor interjected, yanking a bolt out of the black’s leg at the same time. Bramble was only aware of it because he saw the sudden movement out of the corner of his eye. As he thought about it, it may be a good idea to remove as many of the things as possible whilst he had no feeling in his limbs. As Mordred began at him as well, the dragon huffily ignored him, instead straining his long neck so that he could grasp the bolts he could reach, before yanking them out one by one. Honestly, had there been any need for the boy to shoot him THAT many times? It was tedious if nothing else to pull all the sharp bolts from various points of his body; nor did it help that the blasted relaxant was seeping slowly up his neck muscles, making it harder and harder to get at the offending ammunition.

At the suggestion of destroying the forest, he snorted in disapproval and rather forcefully spat out a bolt. Destroy the forest? Even he wasn’t ambitious (Well, he called it ambitious. Taja or Cirrus would’ve called it stupid) enough to attempt that. He was disturbed from his musings as the large split dragon took off, and Bramble caught the sound of Mordred yelling “Without somebody screwing it up again!” at him. The dragon sneered after them, muttering as he was left alone.

”Good riddance to bad rubbish. The lot of them, useless." He noticed them flying in the direction of Sleet, obviously the ice dragon had followed not long after he left, and silently hoped that some good could come of the situation. He respected Sleet, as well as his rider Katelyn and was aware that Taja was of similar views. They had a proud stance about them and weren’t the same as most of Hyro’s drivelling little minions who scurried about trying to please him. The pair seemed to have some dignity.

It was only a short while before Bramble decided to stop trying to keep his neck off the ground and let it drop to the ground. He lay there in the freezing mud, grateful he couldn’t feel it seeping into the gaps in his scales as he blinked the rain water from his eyes. It was at that moment that Cirrus obviously decided he needed checking up on.

”Enjoying the rain?” came her mocking tone in his head – she was clearly enjoying the fact that he was out getting wet whilst she got to stay in the dry.

”Enjoying the rain?” he mimicked. ”Yes actually, I’m desperately enjoying lying in the mud with the rain coming down on top of me.” he snapped sarcastically. The skywing instantly dropped her attitude and asked in a guarded tone,

”What are you doing in the mud?”

”Stormwind thought it would be funny to shoot me with a muscle relaxant. So I’m lying here, in the mud, having this great jolly old time!”

”You mean the boy got away?!” Her distress was evident, and Bramble could ‘feel’ the notes of fear in her tone. It began to dawn on him slightly what a predicament they could be in... He was about to reply when he realised Cirrus had cut the contact with him quite sharply. Boy was he going to be in trouble when he FINALLY got back.

 

 

((Right so like, I was gonna RP Taja and then got distracted. Errr... I'll do it later, I'm sleepy now. And want to get back to my book.))

Edited April 24, 2010 by Dragon Song

[Dragon Song]

((Kaaaa-bump!))

[Red Dragonette]

When Mordred and Ghidorah got to the edge of the western part of the forest, the rider and dragon landed on the ground and waited for the escapees to appear. Mordred hummed a malicious tune to to keep himself from going insane from boredom. Ghidorah's two heads stared bloodthistily through the trees, eager to snap their jaws at the escapees once they saw them. "Come on, kiddies. Don't keep us waiting. We'll die from boredom if you do and then we'll have to haunt you and give you all kinds of gruesome nightmares in your sleep," Mordred said as if he was talking to the kids himself.

[En'K'Haral]

Malice was gliding over the Northern edge when he saw Gelltor emerge from the forest. Malice landed and allowed Gelltor to mount him.

"Any luck?"

"What do you think? Let’s keep scanning the Northern edge. God I wish I had a horse right now."

Malice took off saying.

"What’s that supposed to mean? Am I not good enough?"

"That’s not it! It is just that it would be more efficient if I went one way and you flew another. We would put our collective eyes to better use, that’s all."

"Oh that's it? When do you enjoy yourself?"

"Huh? Not know obviously. We're working."

Malice chuckled as he and Gelltor continued to fly over the North edge.

[TokinoMukou]

(( Yes, but I have no idea what to do. Whoever wants to bunny Adua and Kei can do so. Just no suicide, please. ))

[BlackScorpion7]

((Okay, this is purely a try to get this RP going again, but I believe we urgently need to have some escapees posting again. With Sky-Lark / Madeira out of the picture, it’s indeed hard for Adua to continue, seen as how she was at his mercy. Anyhow, as TokinoMukou gave the okay to ‘bunny’ her character, I’ll give it a try. I’m leaving it open which edge of the forest they arrive at, so whoever wants: jump on it. Tokino: are you going to try and continue the RP yourself or do we have to ‘bunny’ Adua some longer? Anyhow, hope this’ll give a bit of a jump start to the RP again…))

 

+++++++

 

Despite the help of Madeira and Rosalia, Adua was not sitting all too securely on the horse. The sound of a sudden thunderclap mingled with the impact of a lightening bolt hitting almost right next to them made her loose her precarious grip. Feeling herself slide off the horse’s back, she let out a scream while Madeira tried to grasp her arm. It was to no avail though and the girl fell heavily on the ground. Kei immediately leaped of the horse as well, not wanting to leave her bonded alone. The horse kept running, despite Madeira doing his best to try and turn the animal around. Just as he succeeded in doing so however, the lightning struck heavily between them, leaving a wide open gash between the trees. Eyes going wide, Adua clung to Kei. And suddenly the world seemed to explode into chaos as suddenly the three dragons above them started to fall down. Using the chaos however, Adua was able to escape without being noticed, the three dragons and two humans far too entangled in their arguments to even notice the fact they had fallen of the horse and were running in the opposite direction.

 

After a time, they saw another shape fly over them, a fourth dragon. Gasping for breath, she allowed a smile to play on her lips for a moment. It appeared she was losing them and with a little luck the confusion between all the dragons would take enough time for her to reach a safe place. Just as she thought she saw the edge of the forest, she heard the roar of a dragon behind them. Dropping to her knees, she and Kei hid in some shrubs, watching the dark shape of a dragon fly over and head to the edge of the forest. Cursing, the girl looked around bewildered. Where to go to now? And what had happened to Madeira? Had he and Rosalia been able to escape in the tumble and chaos as well? “Adua, your leg…” Hearing the worry in Kei’s voice, she looked down and saw the large gash in her skirt, blood seeping through. But the moment she noticed it, she also felt a warmth coursing through her, focusing on the wound. Looking aside at the white hatchling, she saw a faint glow around her and as soon as she looked down at her leg again, there was nothing to be seen from the wound anymore besides a slightly torn skirt. Smiling, she hugged the hatchling. “What’d I do without you? Do you have any idea what to do next?” Kei shook her head sadly. Sneaking closer to the edge of the forest, they both peeked out.

 

+++++++

 

In the meanwhile Katelyn and Sleet were still hiding in the corn field, rain pouring off them. Both were still looking intently at the edge of the forest, their combined eyesight giving them an almost 180 degree view to examine together. At one moment Sleet couldn’t hide his boredom and yawned widely, his gleaming teeth shimmering in the light of the lightning bolts still hitting the earth at random places. Licking his chops, he turned his head slightly for a moment. “Can we finally get some action? First the stalking of the elusive elf and now this. This is NOT the way of a warrior.” Patting between his shoulder blades, Katelyn nodded. “I know, this is not the way I though I’d be spending now either, trust me. But do you know of a better way to get these brats back?” Giving no reply, the ice dragon just turned his head again and continued looking around.

[Kjakings]

(('Tis your turn to post Tokino: Drac just saved you from impending death borne on Dragonwings through lots of lightning and flame, and then jumped onto a horse and slipped into a coma. I would assume Adua would have something to say on the matter.))

[En'K'Haral]

((Gelltor pounces!!!))

 

Malice caught sight of some movement in the bushes below and stopped to land.

"What is it?"

Malice feigned looking confused and continued to look around as if he wasn't sure of what he saw. But said telepathically to Gelltor and verbally simultaneously.

"I saw movement straight ahead in the bushes. Didn't see what caused them to move though."

"I am not sure. I thought I saw something."

Gelltor sighed and responded in like manner.

"Straight ahead? Lets investigate it. Go to the left about ten feet. look like your sniffing about while I will feign looking intently. I will keep that spot in the corner of my sight though."

"Hey over there! I saw it too!"

Gelltor pointed ten feet to Adua's right ((his left)) and Malice charged in sniffing about as if looking for a scent trail, Gelltor faced straight ahead but looked out of the corner of his eyes to try and see movement from the spot that Malice had picked out.

[Kjakings]

Hyro growled as he heard of the disaster. He knew there were rumours going around about revolutions and escapes, but he had just thought it had been idle talk, easily discouraged by making a few of the more rebellious servants disappear.

Now his son and several other dragon-wielding youths had escaped, before he could properly bring them into his service. On top of that, in attempting to re-capture them his idiotic dragonriders had set the Anean forest alight, destroyed several out-buildings and managed to completely obliterate this year’s supply of kern, and even a dictator needs to feed his damned people.

On top of that the success by these escapees was causing much disruption in his people, and no amount of public executions or parades by his soldiery would assure people of his ultimate power. He needed to recapture these ‘revolutionaries’ and execute them publicly and loudly in order to rip the heart out of his son and finally hammer him into a proper successor to his hard-wrought Empire.

At least he’d got that damned instigator, the thorn in his side, Quickblade. The fool had ridden his horse straight into a Nightwyrm nest in the Northern Deserts. The fluid thrashing of the Nightwyrms was quick and deadly, they never left a scrap of evidence behind.

With Crimson sixteen feet underground in a ‘rehabilitation’ centre, it was good to finally put that line to an end. Aoi’s father fought like a lion until the last, and Hyro was glad to have finally been the one to drive that blade into his heart.

 

Hyro had ‘his’ Dragonriders assembled within his bed-chamber, simply because he could. He’d have to make this short; his dinner had just arrived and the steak was growing cold. It was a 16oz medium rare, and it was a 16oz medium rare. He made sure a long time ago that either his chefs got it right first time or didn’t get a second chance. At one point he’d had to place a bleached skull in the kitchen with a sign below it which had ‘Cook it correct or start running’ written on it in blood.

“You’re all horrible disappointments to my aerial force. You’re here for different reasons: blackmail, coin, cold steel, the love of the job or just a warm place to bed at night.” Hyro tried not to growl as he passed Kiara. He didn’t approve of the girl at all, but he couldn’t let the others know that. They needed to feel she was privileged.

His agents needed to be alert, and nothing made one more alert than expecting a stab in the back, whether it came from above or below. They seemed a little alarmed to have the ultimate power in the continent striding in front of them and berating them.

“They’re all equally strong reasons, so I can only assume you failed me today for one of two reasons. One, you don’t have the required skill or intelligence to complete tasks. I know this is not true because no expense has been spared in your training and education. That leaves two: you don’t want to attack those who were your friends. This means I must provide some extra encouragement.”

With that Hyro whirled around, grabbed the extra sharp steak knife and plunged it into the side of the first person he came into contact with, which happened to be Taja. There was still gravy and chunks of meat on the knife, and the wound would definitely get infected if left too long.

“Get out of my sight, all of you. Someone take her to the infirmary, but don’t have her treated for an hour or so. And Kiara, be sure to tell her the blood adds a lovely seasoning to the meat.” He added, licking the knife.

 

When they all left, Hyro sighed and threw down his cutlery. “Take it away, Geoffrey, I’ve lost my appetite.”

 

((Hyro strikes!))

[En'K'Haral]

((I am confused. Are we in the forest or Hyro's Chamber? While I am at it What the heck happened to the rest of the NDK. I mean they grappled for the spots and now they don't even post? Minimal offense but that's kinda lame in my opinion.))

[Kjakings]

((Minor time-skip. Sorry for the disruption of posting by Hyro's forces, but I needed to post something for Hyro.))

[En'K'Haral]

((Oh ok then....Next time a little more heads up on the time skip please. I suppose I should wait for Scorpion to bunny for Adua or the other person to play before I post on Gelltor's behalf.))

[Red Dragonette]

Mordred and Ghidorah waited and waited patiently for the escapees to come to them, but they never came to them or any of Hyro's forces. Then they heard their leader, Hyro, ordering them to return to the castle and Mordred cursed, "Drat, I guess I'm going to have to face punishments." As much as the sadistic rider loved to torture people, he hated to be punished by Hyro for failing. What will the leader do if he found out that the prisoners had escaped, he'll probably strip Mordred of his dragon rider rank or probably sentence him to death. The split dragon, Ghidorah, flew over the woods for a while until they were back at the castle. Mordred put the two-headed dragon in the stables before going to Hyro's bed chamber where the other dragon riders were. The dark-haired man faced his leader, who was eating his food, with self-disappointed as Hyro yelled at each one of them for failing to bring back the prisoners. Hyro even spoke of the two reasons why they didn't do their job correctly, 1) they didn't have enough skills yet, or 2) they didn't want to kill their former friends. Mordred thought denyingly, 'Yeah right, like I lack talent or would want to make friends with these people anyway. They were just lucky that they ran away, that's all.' He felt like rolling his eyes along with his thoughts, but being the disciplined follower that he was, Mordred didn't move his eyes at all. Then Hyro dismissed everyone and Mordred left the room. "Next time I see those rats and their hatchlings, they're not going to get away from me alive without a single or better yet, a lot of bruises!" Mordred said to himself angrily.

Edited April 20, 2010 by Red Dragonette

[BlackScorpion7]

((I'll just bunny Adua for this once still, so we can all get to the same time. But after that, it's back to Tokino...))

 

Adua had been pressed against the ground the moment the dragon and rider had claimed they thought to see something. Kei kept silent, her own eyes scouring the edge. The moment the dragon sped off away from them, Adua let out a faint sigh, but the little hatchling didn't seem to relax. "This isn't right. They are too well trained to see fake movements. Something isn't right, Adua." Just at that moment they heard the movement of wings again, but farther away. Were the others searching the forest again or were they retreating?

 

+++++++

 

Katelyn had just wanted to ask Sleet to head into the forest again, when they heard the call. Hyro. A shiver went through her spine and she placed a hand on Sleet's bare back for reassurance. If Hyro was calling them back, it could mean only two things. Either they had found all the escapees or Hyro was out of patience. Seen the fact the others hadn't given any sign of having caught anyone, she feared it was the latter. "Go, Sleet." Not even protesting as he knew she would not get off easily, the ice dragon spread his wings and pounded hard to get above the corn field. Pulling the animal skins and leather vest tightly around herself, Katelyn kept her bare hand on the scales between his shoulderblades despite the burning cold emanating from his body. Though being a hard trained warrior, Hyro's anger and wrath could leave Katelyn numb. Soaring over the forest, back to the grounds, she barely noticed the others making their way back as well. As Sleet descended to the stables, she walked with him inside and dragged the harness of him, hanging it to dry. She should immediatley rub it down with some grease and tend to the straps, but that would have to wait. Sleet gave her a supportive nudge against the back with his snout and she nodded.

 

Standing besides the others, her eyes were hard and she stood up as straight as a tree. Just undergoing the verbal assault, she could barely keep herself from cringing at hearing Hyro speak about lack of skill or intelligence. If there was one thing she prouded herself on, it was her skills as a warrior. The second though came closer to the truth. She had not wanted herself or Sleet hurting the escapees, afraid what Hyro might do if anything happened to this promised new force. She had been too cautious, she should have handled faster, harder, better. As they left the room and walked through the corridors, she heard Mordred mutter. The moment he was out of sight and hearing, Katelyn turned to Gelltor and Kiara. "How do we proceed next?" The urge to tend to the saddle before any irreparable damage could happen to it tugged at her. The others did not have to tend it as hard as she did, but the cold of Sleet's body did wear it down hard. And in battle, a broken strap meant a broken neck.

[En'K'Haral]

Gelltor heard Hyro's call and sighed.

"Whatever it is it will have to wait it seems our king is rather pissed. Scare it off."

Malice grinned.

"With pleasure."

They took off from their location but Malice had the storm toss a couple of Lightening bolts in front of the bush to let whatever was in there know they saw them. Malice and Gelltor didn't even look back as they sped off towards the Castle ascending above the storm. Malice dropped off Gelltor in the courtyard.

"Go back and investigate the forest more...and don't destroy it please."

"Fine."

Malice took off again to return to the forest while Gelltor went to receive the inevitable punishment.

 

Gelltor stood next to Katelyn as Hyro berated them. He was moderately ticked at Bramble for his interference but the fact remained that they had lost them in the undergrowth so he was still responsible for had happened. Hyro went on about intelligence and skill and that they didn't want to hurt former friends. The fact was that he really didn't make friends with them so that wasn't it. It could not have been a lack of intelligence something he prided himself in. Leaving skill, professional training or not it was possible that the NDK caught on to stealth and combat quicker then Gelltor. A thought that agitated him a great deal. He and Malice would need to train more. As the others began to leave Gelltor overheard Mordred's muttering and worried that the Man may accidentally overdue it, then again as things stood killing them was steadily becoming the better option. Katelyn turned to Gelltor and Kaira and asked what should be done next. Gelltor thought for a moment and replied.

 

"If Malice finds anything he will let me know...I am considering going into the city and searching out assistants. I doubt they can get very far without some kind of aid so I am willing to bet some kind of traveling merchant will be smuggling them out of the area. Since they decided to run I imagine that they do not like Hyro's way of doing things which suggests that either they are going to flee the country and keep running or start some kind of rebellion...unless I totally missed something. So for now I will gather information...Katelyn your good at tracking right?"

[BlackScorpion7]

At Gelltor's question, Katelyn closed her eyes for a moment and took a deep breath. Letting it out slowly, she wrinkled her nose. Replying, the first sentence came out bitter and almost mumbled. "I thought Sleet and me could track well, but that elvish brat got away from us." Swallowing the anger and focussing back on their task, she cleared her throat and nodded. "I would not call myself the best, far from even, but I can hold my own in following something through all kinds of circumstances. Over the past ours, it was the undergrowth obstructing me. It is too thick for our dragons, because of which I gave up on trackin the elf brat. It is obvious it is time to change tactics. What do you have in mind? Where do I try to track them?" Via a psychic link she was keeping Sleet up to date and she felt his annoyance and anger at her suggestion of doing something without him. A short push with her mind the moment she was done speaking, had him calmed down a bit again. Depending on what Gelltor had in mind, she had given her dragon a promise he could remain close by, whether it be on ground or in the air.

[encore]

((You guys don't want to know how much my heart swelled with joy of seeing this remade. I'm so sorry I've been dead, High School is certainly whipping me with work and whatnot. I'm afraid I won't be able to stick along for now, but I hope to run into you guys later.. And maybe roleplay again this summer. Sorry for being such a badwordbadwordbadword to you guys. D| It wasn't fair of me to keep popping in and out like I did. I really do hope we can talk again sometime, and sorry for posting in the thread.. I look forward to reading it.))

[Kjakings]

((KITT! *chains to wall* you're staying here.))

[encore]

((Okay, okay.. I'll stay for now, KJ. |D;; How have you been?))

[Kjakings]

((Good thanks. You?

 

Also, does Kitt still like adoptables sites? Kja has lots of unused invites for gryffs.))