Silver Dragon Rising (Whitebrand and Redfield)

[Whitebrand]

By the time Brand was able to move again, the sun was getting lower to the far horizon. They were alone with Velvet, without shelter, in the woods with night approaching...and Brand was hungry again. Fortunately a quick hunt for an old buck was likely to satisfy that particular problem.

[Redfield]

Sylph's head bobbed up and down and it looked like she might be about to fall asleep when she noticed Brand was up and about, the elven woman flashed the dragon a smile. She pushed away stretching with a groan, she looked about at the berry bushes for a moment before she moved over to the dragon, her hand reaching out to gently pat the dragon's side. "Ah I see your up and about, sadly though we lost a whole day in our journey so were going to have to stay the night here" she thought for a moment looking about "I'll see about getting a fire going."

[Whitebrand]

Brand looked upset. He was furious at himself for his mistake.

"I can get it alight," he said, a hint of grumpy sullenness in his voice. He began searching for dead branches to use for the fire, gathering them in his teeth as he went.

At one point he was gone a bit longer than he should have been. Sylph found him fighting with...of all things...a dead tree. One of the larger branches that he had felt ideal for the fire was still stubbornly clinging to the withered trunk of the tree. Brand himself had the end of the branch in his teeth and was furiously wrenching it back and forth to free it. He was snarling and cursing the dead wood as though it had insulted him, and he clawed at the ground to try to pry the stupid branch from the trunk. There were tears of frustration on his face as he battled the foliage.

It wasn't hard to guess that the little dragon was much angrier at something other than the branch.

[Redfield]

As Brand began gathering sticks, the elven woman made a circle of solid earth with a bit of magic to serve as a fire pit for them to use. Sylph smiled and for a couple of moments and she rolled her rug out alongside the hole so that she'd have somewhere to sleep. Starting to wander where the hatchling was she made her way around until she found him fighting the dead tree. Sylph smiled as she approached the branch, the young elf putting her hand on his body she shook her head.

Leaning down she'd speak gently to the young dragon "ok, take it easy Brand, these things happen as long as you learn from it you'll grow to be better." She ran her hand in circles across the hatchling's scales her pink lips curved into a gentle smile "Making mistakes is just part of growing."

[Whitebrand]

Brand stopped fighting with the stupid branch and began bawling helplessly.

"They've been without me for days now," he babbled in distress. "Humans don't do well in the cold! There was a fire and...and the house was burning and...and people were running everywhere and...and they caught me! None of my family were in any of the other cages! Just me! They're alone out there somewhere and I ate a bunch of stupid berries when I should have been getting back to them! Now we're a day later and I'm just so stupid!"

Of course he would be worried about his human caretakers. For a dragon, ten years was still much too young to be on his own.

With comical timing, the branch he had been wrestling with suddenly fell off its tree with a thud. Brand immediately turned and tried to blast it with his cold breath...and only managed to frost the bark a little.

[Redfield]

"Humans are resourceful, if there fine then I'm sure they would have found shelter." Sylph says gently rubbing her hands on he young dragon, she didn't want to sugar coat the possibility they might not be fine, but wasn't going to say it outright. Her ears twitched slightly and she had to suppress a laugh at his slight tantrum with the branch, her eyes softened and she moved in to hug the dragon. "Your young and the young make mistakes but that doesn't mean you should just give up, there's always the chance that things will work out ok with your caretakers."

[Whitebrand]

It took a couple of minutes of comforting before the hatchling began to calm down.

"I can't [i]afford[/] to make mistakes," he sobbed miserably. "They might need me..."

Of course he had no plan how he could possibly help them if they were indeed in trouble, and his rather sad breath weapon didn't look particularly helpful either.

[Redfield]

'They might already be gone, either to the other side, to the safety of a village or taken by slave trader's' Sylph thought to herself, understanding that a harsh reality might be waiting for the dragon when they got to his home. Her elven ears twitched and she heard footsteps approaching, turning her head she saw the rabbit girl Velvet joining the dragon's side, placing her hand against his scales and giving as gentle a rubbing as the rabbit could manage.

Sylph stepped back picking up the branch and dragging it towards the firepit she'd created, the elven woman looked over towards the hatchling thinking for a moment and gesturing for him to join her as she began breaking up the branch into smaller pieces to fit into the pit.

Velvet smiled softly, her head bobbing up and down as she moved to tug the young dragon forward towards the elven woman.

[Whitebrand]

"No," Brand moaned as he was guided back to the fire. "No, they're still out there. They have to be..."

His protests devolved into sniffles as he settled down next to Sylph. The moment Velvet sat down on his other side he immediately snuggled into both girls for comfort.

[Redfield]

Sylph didn't say anything in that regards, instead choosing to prop the broken bits of branch into the fire pit, the elven woman poked her fingers forward pressing them together. A puff of smoke emerged from the fire pit before flames spouted, beginning to take hold on the branch bits, the elven woman smiled softly leaning against the dragon. The elf sighed she wanted to say something but found she couldn't quite find the words.

Velvet stretched her slender legs out to her side as she settled against the hatchling, her cheek pressed against his scales, her eyes watching the fire closely.

[Whitebrand]

Shortly after the dragon fell asleep, the antlered owl returned, choosing a parch almost directly opposite to the elf in a low tree. The strange owl did not fix her with the same unrelenting stare it had used before. Once in a while it would look away at some noise or movement, and it blinked occasionally. Once or twice, it would ruffle its own feathers and clean itself, but it did not leave its perch. It remained where it was, calmy watching the sexy elf, the cute bunny, and the hatchling dragon.

[Redfield]

Sylph fixed her gaze upon the owl 'back again huh? Are you following us?' she thought to herself a look of curiosity flashing across her face as she observed the strange creature. Her ears twitched and she gave the owl a small smile, the creature seemed to be on the lookout and despite the strange dream she'd had before it definitely didn't seem hostile. Slowly she got to her feet and made her way calmly to stand before the owl, watching it with a smile on her face.

"Ah hello again" she says cheerfully, "It's a bit of a surprise seeing you once more, I'm surprised you found us, we have travelled some distance from our first meeting place" she kept her voice low not wanting to disturb the other two behind her, though she wasn't exactly expecting a reply.

Besides the dragon, the slender rabbit velvet shifted about, she curled her toes in her sleep and rolled off the dragon not that either of them noticed. Then as Velvet often did she transformed while asleep her body shifting from the large humanoid she had been to a small white rabbit. Small enough to be held in arms, the white rabbit was asleep it's nose twitching, curled into a small ball on the grass.

[Whitebrand]

The owl stared down at Sylph and clicked its beak at her. Instantly the elf was reminded of the owl scooping her up in that beak and swallowing her whole.

At the moment, however, the owl was showing no signs of suddenly enlarging and making a meal out of everyone. It just stared down at her, its gaze intensifying the closer she got to its tree. It shifted its claws as it adjusted its grip on its branch. Several seconds ticked by before it spread its wings and started digging its beak into its feathers, presumably grooming itself again.

Behind her, Brand's nose seemed to sniff out the small, fluffy bunny. With his eye still closed, his head moved until his nose was right up against the warm little rabbit.

[Redfield]

Sylph took pause at the memory, she couldn't tell if it had been real or a dream and the uncertainty made the elven woman more cautious. The young woman smiled up at the owl "not much of a conversationalist are you?" she stated her tone light and as jovial as she could manage. She shifted about from foot to foot, seeming to become calmer as she watched the owl, falling silent she chose to simply observe the horned creature for now.

Velvet's rabbit ears twitched, the sleeping bunny almost seemed to pick up the movement and she definitely felt it when the dragon's nose pressed against her. Though the small rabbit didn't seem to move having already known she was sleeping by a dragon the white rabbit felt calm as she slept.

[Whitebrand]

The owl finally finished with its wings and instead started to rub its strange antlers against the trees trunk.

Without warning the owl suddenly stopped moving, its eyes locked in to the elf. A vaguely threatening sensation began to creep over her, not unlike the moments before the owl had suddenly enlarged and devoured her before. Nevertheless she remained rooted to the spot, those stating yellow eyes beginning to fill more and more of her awareness as she felt something very old staring back at her...the sexy, tasty elf...

Suddenly Brand's head snapped up and he sneezed from the fur tickling his nose.

The world snapped back into focus, leaving only an "ordinary" antlered owl industriously cleaning its pronged horns against the trees trunk. Sylph could move again and then sense of impending devouring was gone.

[Redfield]

Sylph felt the hairs on her arms stand on end, her gaze fixed on the yellow eyes, a shiver ran down her spine. She wanted to ready herself for battle but found that her body would not cooperate with her. 'Whatever this thing was, good or evil it was quite dangerous' she thought to herself and she found herself beginning to wander if it was even an owl at all.

Then the sensation was gone, just like that thanks to the sneeze seeming to break her out of whatever was going on. Sylph's elven ears twitched and she watched the owl for a moment, before turning back to the dragon. She wandered how much of her previous 'dream' had been just a dream. Did this owl have powers she was unaware of? regardless she resolved to be cautious around the creature.

At the dragon's sneeze, Velvet's eyes shot open the sound surprising the small rabbit, she perked up on all fours looking about and back to the silver hatchling. Brand's head was so close to her, but she didn't seem to have noticed that she had transformed back into her rabbit form.

[Whitebrand]

Brand was starting curiously at the little rabbit, wondering where it had come from. He looked around.

"Where's the bunny girl," he asked. "You okay?"

The owl hooted once. When Sylph looked again, the owl was gone.

[Redfield]

Sylph narrowed her eyes at the empty branch, shaking her head she made her way back over to the dragon, seeing that he was talking to someone now. She moved around to see the white rabbit and she looked around to see if she could spot where the bunny girl had gone. The elf shrugged and figured that she had simply left, "aw what a sweet little rabbit" she says a playful grin on her face.

Velvet's ears twitched as she looked up at the dragon and elf, wandering why they were so much bigger than her now. The white rabbit looked about seeing she had transformed back but didn't actually find herself wanting to turn back into her humanoid form right then. After all everything seemed quite safe at the moment and so showed no sign of alarm at her current cirumstance.

The elven woman Sylph looked the rabbit over then back to her fire pit and pursed her lips in thought "ah, it's an adorable little thing, a little plump too though." She mused aloud "our dear bunny girl's probably gone home by now, it's a shame she left and that were out here....In the right place we might have been able to enjoy some rabbit stew." Sylph states a playful grin on her face as she moved to sit down on the rug, they'd have to go double speed tomorrow to make up for lost time.

[Whitebrand]

"It's too cute too eat," Brand objected. "And barely a mouthful."

He reached out with his clawed paw and stroked the rabbit with practiced ease.

"My family bred horses," Brand suddenly said. "For work and for mounts. They always introduced me to the foals as early as they could. To get them used to me so they wouldn't spook when I came around."

[Redfield]

Sylph nodded, giving a small shrug "that sounds like it was a good idea" the elven woman says smiling as she watched the dragon stoke the rabbit, she laid down on the rug. Using one hand she propped her head up "but your right at that size it would hardly be a snack for you" the elven woman says, it was quite a peaceful sight "but out here, you might regret letting a potential meal go."

The elven woman stretched her legs and looked up, through the branches above the stars had come out to play in the night sky and the area was lit well by the fire. Sylph wet her lips a little "it is quite peaceful tonight, so hopefully our sleep won't be interrupted." She says calmly, her eyes turning back to the hatchling, she hoped their journey back would have a happy ending but at this point she wasn't holding put hope.