The Escape

Down to Pyrria like a shooting star, a small SpaceWing hatchling fell, her wings barely spread, ready to catch herself when it was time. It was night, so she blended into the night sky like nothing you'd ever seen, barely visible until she hit the ground, her wings flapping out like two big fans to catch herself before she got there, and landing lightly, her wings bunching up as she settled on the ground, closing the limbs in question to her sides. She shook her head, angry, and snorted, a small amount of smoke coming from her nostrils. Then she was off, walking through the land silently. She knew she was on what the Pyyria dragons called the "NightWing" territory. She just hoped they were more friendly than her own. She was tired of disagreements today. The little hatchling shivered, and bit back sudden tears, looking up at the starry sky.

Walking through the forest, Opal found it harder and harder to keep her cool. The insanity kept growling at her, telling her to succumb to the sweet touch of madness. To revel in the false sense of security away from all other living beings. It kept telling her to listen, to obey, as if she were nothing more then a slave. Opal wasn't aware that it was actually herself who was driving her insane. She didn't know she was in possession of an insanity wavelength, which strengthened every time she succumbed to the madness that slithered deep inside her. She didn't know that, whenever she was around a dragon for a prolonged period of time, it could slowly drive them insane. She wasn't aware that every dragon here - with the exception of a few dragons who had followed Nightflare - was suspicious of her, and some even wanted her dead. The only reason she hadn't been assassinated yet was because she was protected by Astral, little did she know. Why was Gemini keeping Opal alive when she could have finished the job? Well, maybe it was the fact Gemini had never know the love of her cousin, since the NightWing had grown up with insanity and the malice inside her. Nightflare had always emitted insanity, and just hadn't unlocked her powers until only about five to ten years ago. She lost her powers, though, and now she was in this situation. Lost under new memories, trying to retake her body and remind herself who she used to be, using the blessing of insanity.

As Opal walked, she heard something. Whimpering. Odd.... it sounded like a hatchling. Curious, she approached the sound. As she appeared from within the gnarled forest, she saw something that looked like a little bundle of stars, smashed into the package of a little dragon. Opal blinked, and felt bad for the little one, so she approached cautiously, "Hello, there." she said, trying to appear the least menacing she could, which didn't work very well considering her naturally intimidating build.

At the sound of an unfamiliar voice, Neru's eyes widened. She'd been found this quickly? The tears immediately stopped, and she turned her head warily to looked up at the NightWing. A full black dragon, so much larger than she was, and staring down at her almost menacingly, Neru found Opal to be strange, and slightly scary. Not enough to cause her to run, however. Even so, being a hatchling, Neru still had trouble controlling her powers, and within seconds felt the slight itchyness of her scales as they began to shimmer and blend in with her surroundings. She didn't fight it, not in the mood for a battle with herself as of right now, but she sat there, staring up at Opal warily, unsure what was to be done with her. How did NightWings take trespassers again? She'd forgotten. Something about different societies... The scales around Neru's throat, still invisible, glowed slightly as she readied to send a blast of explosive fire out, though from Opal's point of view it most likely looked as if the air itself were turning light blue.

Opal watched the little hatchling. He/she looked lost, and confused. Opal felt bad for them. Maybe she could help them, in some way? She had never seen a dragon with such a brilliant array of colors before in her life. For some reason Opal couldn't quite place, it annoyed her, yet she had no idea why. Something deep inside her made her want to kill this intruder. But they were so young! What kind of twisted creature deep inside her would want to kill an innocent hatchling? But Opal shook her head, trying to clear her mind of the disgusting thought. The more she thought about it, the more a strange aura emitted from her, sinking into Neru's mind, making him feel all warm and fuzzy inside. It was like a compelling meal, addictive, that you just didn't want to stop eating. A strange gluttony that he had never felt before. It made Neru feel like he could do anything, and this strange feeling seemed to come from Opal. It was faint, but perhaps if he got closer to her he would feel it more strongly. Neru wasn't aware that this happiness and relief was actually the beginning pull of insanity. Something that young hatchlings could feel strongly, radiating from Opal like a beacon.

((Her xD))

Neru tipped her head to the side when the NightWing didn't attack her. She looked at her sort of... menacingly, but didn't make any moves towards the little StarWing. Within seconds, Neru found herself calming down, her scales shimmering back to their original color, making her appear once more before Opal. She was... Calm. Neru didn't know why, but any worries she'd had before almost slipped from her mind until she could barely remember why she had been here in the first place. This feeling was only soft, but Neru could tell it was coming from Opal's direction. Her head tipped to the side, and her feet moved her forward a few tail lengths, almost without any will of Neru's. She smiled slightly, her yes brightening a bit. "I'm Neru," she said to Opal, now at her feet as she looked up at her. "I'm from up there." She moved her tail so the soft, glowing fibers on the end were pointing up at the stars. "What's your name?"

As Neru calmed down, Opal smiled, but at the same time, she felt..... dissatisfied. Why? She shook her head. She had been feeling these strange.... feelings, ever since that day at the chapel when she had heard the voice scream at her. She had no idea what any of this meant, but she didn't like it. As she stared at Neru, she smiled, and decided to talk, looking up where she had pointed. Up at the stars. Opal had heard of something called a "StarWing", but had never actually met one. Was this what they called a StarWing? She had heard that the race of StarWings had been hit by a giant ball of fiery radiation, which had caused all of them to practically go extinct. Was this the last remaining StarWing? Opal decided to ignore this and kept speaking, "So.... you're a StarWing? That's cool! Oh, I don't think I've properly introduced myself. I'm Opal, it's a pleasure to meet you! What's your name?" she asked, staring at Neru with curiosity.

When Opal looked up at the stars, Neru followed her gaze, looking at the stars for a few moments before looking back at Opal. She looked almost surprised now, but Neru didn't comment, tipping her head to the side at her as she spoke, curious. Even her voice was drawing, tugging at her mind almost like the stars did. She didn't comment until after Opal, looking excited that she knew about the StarWings. She nodded excitedly. "I am! My name is Neru. You have to say it like Naeroo. Not Nehroo. I don't like it when dragons say that." She smiled then, her glow becoming a bit brighter. "I'm happy to meet you too! I don't see many land dragons. You're one of those NightWings right? I learned about you, and all the other tribes."

(Short post because reasons )

Opal smiled at Neru's enthusiasm. She nodded when she asked her if Opal was a NightWing. So this dragon was from space. That was certainly interesting. Suddenly, she was struck with a question. And that question was: Where were her parents? They were no where to be found! Opal glanced at Neru, "Hey, where are your parents?" she asked curiously, wondering why any parent dragon would leave their hatchling to fend for themselves in the middle of the NightWing forest.

The little SpaceWing looked excited when Opal confirmed that she was a NightWing, happy she'd guessed right, even if the answer was obvious. When asked about her parents, however, Neru frowned, her glowing scales dimming down a bit. She hadn't come down here to be asked that, but somehow wasn't angry about it, she still felt adrift, like she was on an ocean. "I left," she said simply. "They're probably still at home." Then, realizing something, she let out a small giggle. "Or they're looking for me."

Opal blinked at Neru. She then crouched down so that the two were level to each other, "Oh. So your parents are looking for you? Well, I'm not about to leave you out here in the cold by yourself! Why don't you come with me to the NightWings, I'm sure Gemini would be happy to let you stay with us!" she said happily. She then picked Neru up by her name, setting the star dragon on her back. Here, Neru could feel the waves of insanity much more strongly then she could have before. IT felt.... weird. Strange and comfortable, yet terrifying at the same time. Why? She couldn't explain.

Opening her mouth to reply to Opal, Neru felt herself whisked into the air, and set upon the NightWing's back. She spread her wings slightly to keep her balance, looking at the older dragon curiously. "Who is Gemini?" she asked, shifting slightly. She felt both scared and happy at the same time, and she wasn't quite sure why. The name Gemini sounded familiar, but she wasn't sure why for that either. Crouching down, Neru wrapped her tail around one of Opal's back spines, the feathery soft end tickling at her scales.

"Gemini's our leader. She's very nice.... most of the time. She's also my cousin. Though, just because she's my cousin doesn't mean that I get any special treatment. My other cousin, Gemini's sister, gets much more noticed then I do. You'll love it at the NightWing nursery! And there's plenty of other hatchlings there, too. AuSurath is Gemini's adopted son. There are also eight hatchling-trainee demi gods, the children of Astral herself, who play around the forest every now and then. They are pretty fun to be around. I've met them once." Opal smiled, then her smile turned to a frown as she suddenly stopped, her eyes widening as a sudden fear over took her. Her whole body started shaking with the tension.

Neru listened to Gemini quietly, her face showing curiosity and interest, though Opal probably couldn't see it, walking forward as she was. At the mention of Astral, her eyes widened and she bounced a bit in excitement. "The Goddess of Stars!?" she squealed. "Really? She's my favorite! Does she have a starry body like StarWings? Or, if her hatchlings are in the NightWings, is she black colored like you? Do you think her hatchlings will play with me?" She let out a slight giggle, a mix between the insanity waves taking over, and her excitement.
Her excitement was quelled, however, when Opal stopped, and began to shake. "O-Opal?" She asked, looking worried. She put a paw on her Opal's wing and leaned out a bit, looking at her curiously. "Are you okay? What's wrong?"

(Can I join or is this a private rp?)

((Sure, if you have a reason for being on NightWing territory.))

(I'm a rouge, so it's not inconceivable that I would just randomly fly around from tribe to tribe to complete a certain mission I'm on or to prevent boredom or something.)

Grima was flying through Nightwing territory in a search for answers but she stopped in her tracks when she saw an ill-looking Nightwing with another dragon who didn't really seem to be in any of the tribes she knew about. Maybe they were a rouge or, even better, some sort of oddity in the system just like her. She decided it would be best to see if the Nightwing was okay. Plus the maybe-rouge may like her for being heroic, selfless, brave, and courageous and become her friend! With this thought, she sped to the ground super fast in excitement. In fact, it was too fast, so she couldn't slow down enough in time to make a proper landing. She crashed right next to them making the earth rumble and form a giant crater. She coughed as she picked herself up and hoped that the mushroom of dirt she flung in the air would prevented the other dragons from seeing at least a little bit of her crash. As the dirt began to settle back where it belonged, she could see the two dragons appear in front of her. She tried to play it cool and say some form of greeting, but instead she said, "Just pretend you didn't see that, okay?"

((Bumping so Opal will reply. Hopefully.))

Opal let out a cry of pain. She wasn't used to this kind of agony. She thrashed about wildly. Trina's arrival didn't help, either. As soon as the stranger appeared, Opal tried to escape. The darkness was taking over her light. She prayed to the goddess of the stars that this would be over soon. But a different God answered her prayers. And in a way she didn't like. The demon inside Opal took over, and she stopped thrashing. Slowly, she rose to her feet, shaking.

As Opal continued thrashing, Neru found herself thrown off of her back, and landed hard in the leaves. She gasped as the breath was pushed out of her, and for a moment, her previous self took over the madness, and she darted over to Grima, hiding behind her front leg and peeking out at Opal curiously. What was wrong with her? Was she dying? It looked like she was having a fit of some sort! Neru wasn't sure what to do, but before she could decide, Opal's episode was over, and she stood straight once more. Neru glanced up at Grima, then crawled slowly out of under her, unsure what to do.

Opal glanced over at the other dragons, her eyes narrowing to slits. Night stood up straight, and approached Grima and Neru with confidence. She seemed a totally different dragon from before the spasm. she glanced down at Neru, a slight tilt, making her appear magnificent and larger then she actually was. She then lowered her head to make eye contact with Neru. Her eyes were half closed, as if almost bored. She then let out a yawn, glancing at Grima, "Well well..... what do we have here.... it appears I have wandered in rogue territory....." Night glanced down at Neru, "Darling. Why don't you come with me? The roguelands is no place for a hatchlings...." her voice sounded more maleficent than before.... almost evil. But Neru was a hatchling, she wouldn't know the difference. Before Neru could protest, Night picked the dragoness up, and carried her off, patently ignoring Grima and her arrival. Nightflare didn't bother herself with filthy, guildless rogues....

Neru didn't back up when Night came towards her, instead sniffing at her curiously. What had happened to Opal? They were in NightWing territory... she already that, right? "I thought I was already going with you..." she said, looking confused.But she creepy completely out from underneath Grima, glancing up at the other rogue. She let out a small yelp when she was simply picked up, hanging limply from Night's mouth as all hatching knew how to. She looked back at Grima and waved her tail gently in good-bye, the feathery plume flipping back and forth. She then turned her head forward, curious as to where Opal was taking her. "Opal? Where are we going?" she asked, voicing her thoughts.

"To the nursery," replied Opal simply. There was something... different about her, from the time when they had first met, and a few moments ago. It was almost as if she had become more mature. Night wasn't one to hold back the insane side of her personality, since she possessed what most would call "Neutral insanity". Night didn't really have morals, and lived by her own rules. But, in this particular moment, Night tried to keep her insanity down.

Suddenly, black tentacles emerged from the darkness, coiling around Neru.

(These are a figment of her imagination. The tentacles will drag Neru into the black abyss in her mind, making her go insane. )

Grima ran over to the two mysterious dragons yelling, "Hey wait! Are you two okay? It looked like something terrible had happened!" As she neared them she began to feel something odd. She couldn't quite place her finger on it, but whatever it was it seemed to have some sort of connection to one of the two dragons. She couldn't tell if it was effecting them at all or if she was the only one who was felling this. It did make her slightly concerned, but she decided to brush it off for now.

Nursery? Oh, yeah, where Astral's hatchlings were! She looked back at Grima when she started to follow them, smiling, her mind beginning to stray again
"Something bad?" she asked, then giggled. "Not today!" Then the tentacles appeared, and her eyes widened, but she showed no fear. Leaning forward, she sniffed at them gently, jetting out another giggle when they wrapped around her. "Snakes!" she squeaked, thinking that merely because she'd never seen a snake before. She had no way of knowing that prehistoric snakes wetter much larger and more dangerous, physically, than these tendrils.

The tentacle-like black things swirled around Neru, engulfing her in a black substance. This was in her mind, though. Physically, Neru had just gone limp. Smirking, Opal dropped Neru's limp body as she let the insanity consume her. Opal then turned back to Grima and, quite viciously, shot a blast of purple-black energy at the rogue.