Casting Shadows (NightWings)

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((Theoretically this doesn't really have a dense firm plot line, it’ll mainly here for some casual NightWing interaction as our Roleplay is quite faltering at the moment, so this will be set actually outside the NightWing Palace on its grounds))

The Midday sun hung high ahead, as activity was starting to burst into life throughout Pyyria, light almost in its divine essence fetching creatures and critters alike to go about their daily lives scurrying to forage and hunt, a stark contrast in this heavily Light was that of the NightWing realm, even in the Sun’s glory, shadows seemed to linger, its lands some how adapting and thriving to embrace the darkness which appeared to lurk within the dark woods and swamps of the territories of the NightWings, but like all creatures elsewhere, here activity flourished, basking in what little glow they had of the Sun.

Tenebris was stood ever elegantly, almost majestic in his form as his shrewd calculating eyes were locked upon the Palaces magnificent structure, almost ignorant to the happening around him, idealistic thoughts flooded his mind. Mesmerized in admiration his gaze trailed from its entrance to the highest of spires. After a moment he released a small scoff of disdain, perhaps to himself to return him to reality, before turning to leave the Palaces splendour, although he stopped again as he had turned to take his leave as his eyes caught to adore the Silverwork of the architecture of a large statue which embodied the entrance rail which would  parallel the other side of the path leading to the Palace, raising a clawed paw, he gentle runs his hand over the décor, taking utmost care not to use any force to dig his claw into the work of art.

Sekainoowari flew down from the sky in fron of the nightwings. "Hello, nice to see all of you. Now what are you discussing? I am quiet curious." He snikered imtinidatingly then trotted around hapily with his wide curly smile on his face. His bloot shot eyes glared at the other dragons. He then sat down and waited for a response.

Oculus tilted his head at Gemini's sudden enthusiasm, taking the youngster with her to the forest.  He then cocked his head at Tenebris, slightly confused.  "Barbaric?  What do you mean?  It is a chance for them to show that they are worth it!  The strong make it through, toughening our ranks so only strong soldiers are here, unlike the fluff LightWing warriors," he spoke, chuckling a the end.  Oculus blinked at Tenebris, forcing himself to keep a smile as he spoke of Gemini in a questioning way.  "Queen Gemini is always majestic and elegant, it is in her nature to be so.  Why would she be distraught?" he asked, curious before he heard another dragon come land near them.  The whole attitude of this new dragon rubbed Oculus the wrong way.  He let out a deep breath, turning to look at Seka as he spoke, clenching his paw in annoyance.  At the attempt to intimidate him him and Tenebris, Oculus lost it.  Forget the PR, this one is learning a lesson!  Getting to his feet, Oculus roared at the newcomer, pissed.  "I am the ranking dragon here, boy!  Show your respect!  I've had enough of the garbage I deal with who flaunt themselves so arrogantly!  You will show your respect if you know what is good for you! he roared at Seka, glaring into the dragon's eyes, challenging, no, daring Seka to give him a reason to fight as Oculus flexed his paws, snarling at him.

((Not a good way to introduce yourself to the Lieutenant XD)

Snarls slightly at the new comer, before scoffing in disdain out of scorn. Rolling his aura eyes he then turns his attention back to Oculus, cracking his tail against the stone path for emphasis to get Oculus's attention once more.

Releasing a sigh under his breath he continues his conversation, "As I was saying, its barbaric due to the fact, I have seen many fall prey within that forsaken wood, many who could of had potential, yes it proves ones resourcefulness and what have you but Citizens can't be expected to withstand such, even the most useless of fighters can be considerably more useful elsewhere", paused for a moment contemplating past memories "If it wasn't for cunning alone, long ago I might of fallen as well, none the less though. In regards to our Sovereign, you're right, she's always elegant and dignified, as she should be, but surely you've heard recent -rumors-?", his voice was ever calm, running off his tongue effortlessly.

Still glaring at the rood drake as Tenebris thumped his tail, Oculus let out a huff of annoyance, before turning to face Tenebris, a scowl adorning his face. Being a militaristic thinker, and a natural born fighter, it seemed like a weird concept to him for the weak to move forward. "Still, if the initiates are too weak to pass, then they are hardly able to do anything if we were attacked, almost useless baggage. Even a scholar like you needs to be able to know the basics to survive. Oculus now turned his side to the new comer, so that he faced Tenebris completely, sitting down. He licked his fore paw, then brushed it against his scales that got riled in his battle excitement. "Rumors are rumors, barely hold any truth most of the time, Oculus said quite simply, continuing groom his scales back into a sharper look, "I've heard that the huntress on the edge of our territory eats humans and uses their bones for medicine, but we all know that those bipedals are just a parasite to the world and hold hardly any use....and what else? Oh, that the EarthWings sometimes eat their own young, mistaking them as a rock, but that sounds unreasonable... he droned on, almost as if it was a pointless topic as he finished straightening his scales, looking back up at Tenebris.

Narrowed his eyes at Oculus, not admiring his tone, but after some contemplation he gave a sadistic Cheshire cat like grin. He spread out his wings for a moment to both stretch them and put emphasis on his following statement "Those are rather intriguing, but as you know, as a Scholar it is my life's dedication and passion to the pursuit of truth, and rumours often have roots somewhere". Tenebris took another long pause as his facial expression began far softer yet his following words were sharp and howse compared to his previous words "This rumour is of great importance, during the recent crisis with the abduction of fellow Dragons by Human filth... Gemini's young adopted Son was with them, he was freed, to which I thought he would of been brought back to the Kingdom, but my information suggests otherwise, hence why my recent activity here as the Palace, I've been checking for evidence of his presence, however there is none, he isn't here".

Oculus listened to Tenebris, taking his time and thinking. "so you are saying that her hachling has been kidnapped? Was it that small blackish lump that rested on her back at some meetings? he asked, trying to think back on what Gemini had done. "hmmm, now that you mention it, she hs Ben a little stressed ou as of late.....maybe that is the cause...we should ask her." he said, standing up and looking off in the direction that she had taken off. "Who freed him? Not a nightwing?"

Tenebris raises his right talons, again exposing his dark tainted claws stained from ink as he took a sitting position, his glare never faltering away from Oculus, "The Queen is being silent about it, and within good reason, she doesn't want to to create mass panic. If others knew that the Queens hatchling wasn't here, unsavoury characters would take advantage of the situation and there would be unrest both domestically and even internationally". He shook his head at his own words, before turning once more to look back up at Oculus "The truth is, my information states he was last in the clutches of an IceWing by the name of Wisp. During the uproar of the escape the IceWing must of took advantage of the chaos and stole the child. As you can imagine this matter is fragile beyond comprehension and we need to retrieve the Hatchling before this becomes a crisis leading to a war".

Oculus listened deep in thought, staring up at the sky as he ran his tongue over his teeth on the top. He let out a heavy sigh, trying to think of a solution. "So let me get this straight...you are suggesting that the Queen's child was kidnapped by an IceWing....and that you want to retrieve it before more become aware of this, am I correct?" he asked, now looking back at Tenebris, studying his features to try and see how genuine he actually was. "If that is the case...then all we should do is go to the IceWing territory, and take him back. I'm sure their leader would be fine knowing that one of ours was kidnapped, and would most likely deal with the criminal justly and swiftly to avoid....future incidents..."

Celestia a 2 year old hatchling of the NightWing tribe. Despite being an official NightWing none other than her family has ever seen her. There are a couple reasons for this. Firstly she lives on the edge of the NightWing borders with her mother who is a semi official NightWing. She is also the tribes semi god though none know this but her parents, Phantom, and Gemini. After all she is far too young. At this stage in life it was best to have fun as a little hatchling with her parents. Unfortunately young beings that contain soo much power tend to have a harder childhood no matter how hard you try to keep things normal.

Celestia was just outside the den near the lake playing hide and seek tag with Monsoon. Celestia had the greatest idea or at least she thought it was. She found a tree with a hole going stright through it. She could hide in it and if Monsoon got close she could bolt out the opposite direction. Monsoon though ended up spotting her and snuck around the the side of the hole she wasn't standing watch over. Creeping from behind Monsoon gave a victory cry and pounced. Startled out of her mind Celestia somehow ended up using one of her powers by accident and teleported very very very very far from home.

Appearing 5 feet in the air right inbetween Oculus and Tenebris Celestia fell to the ground and landed with an oomph. Even for a NightWing hatchling Celestia was particularly small. She also never had met any strangers before. So combine all that with the recent scare and the additional scare of suddenly changing locations as well as the strangers, Its easy to see why Celestia immediately fainted.

(Ignore my previous post. I'm just gonna use evil Nightflare in this.)

Almost as if by magic, Nightflare appeared from within the darkness, her eyes glowing like a leaping panther, about to attack its prey. Night had already corrupted Luna, one of Astral's children. She was slowly getting her revenge on Astral for what that wrench had done to her. Night had lured Luna into the false case of security with a stone compromised of pure insanity. Once it had been touched, the victim slowly became insane. Chuckling, Nightflare assumed the role of someone who had been watching over Celestia, walking forward to greet the young hatchling who had fallen unconscious. In all honesty, it would make Night's job as a mortal much easier then if Celesia had been awake. True, it wasn't hard to convince children to like you. Just put on a fake smile and act sincere, and you've already got the hatchling in the palm of your paws. Stepping forward, she looked at Tenebris, then at Oculus, her eyes narrowing at them, as if accusing them that they had hurt the hatchling in some way, even though, with the help of Shi, had seen the whole thing. As for Shi, well, he was still disguised in his NightWing trainee form. He wasn't around here anywhere, but Shi was always watching. He was always watching, and he didn't even need to try. To any mortal, this may have been frightening to comprehend, but Night was no average mortal. Far from it. Being a demon, having given up the last of her draganity (Humanity but for dragons ) when she had made the deal with Shi, she didn't feel emotion. Shi never bothered her, even if his reasoning could get a bit.... annoying. Shi was far from ignorant, but Night disliked the fact that he was the only creature she couldn't persuade.

"What are you two doing here with this little hatchling, hmm?" she asked authoritatively, narrowing her eyes at the two conversing boys. She sat down, curling her tail around Celestia, welcoming her into the embrace of insanity. Since no one had seen the hatchling before, the dragons would have to assume that Night was her caretaker. Night was certainly a confusing fellow to be around. One second she was ruthless, and the next she was caring for hatchlings. The reason being Night could change her personality at any time, and if this pissed a few dragons off, she wouldn't care. It's not like their lives had any meaning anyway. Night held Celstia close to her body, so that the insanity would effect her more. To Celestia, the insanity felt like a guilty-pleasure, something you didn't want to like, but you did. The insanity would also help to keep Celestia asleep while Night conversed with the dragons around her.

Inside the world of insanity, Celestia sat in a strange meadow, engulfed in flowers. Everything seemed peaceful, except for the black hole in the center of the meadow. The hole seemed oddly.... comforting. Several baby dragons ran past Celestia in synchronization, yipping happily.

Not even NightFlare knew Celestia was a semi god. On top of that she was the daughter of Astral the opposite and counter to Paradox and at one time in life NightFlare. Her insanity aura had absolutely no effect on her. Something Nightflare would soon discover as Celestia woke quickly only having been out for about 20 seconds. She found herself curled up in her mothers loving tail. She was releived it had only been an oddly realistic bad dream. Although after a few moments Celestia began to realize this tail was a lot bigger than it should be. There was also no fins at the end. Celestia looked up to the dragon who the tail belonged to and screamed when she realized it was a stranger. Scrambling out of the tail and running away while keep her eyes on the stranger Celestia ended up stumbling head first right into Tenebris. Examining what she had run into her heart could handle no more and once again she fainted.

You idiot. Don't you remember that Astral put an enchantment on her children? Boomed Shi's voice in her head, and sure enough, the small black dragon walked forward, acting like a normal trainee on every day business. Shi had assumed the life of the trainee, to stay close to Nightflare. As for the enchantment, Night had been banished before she could look into it, but she knew that Astral was doing an extra well job at trying to protect her children. Especially Celestia, who had inherited a lot more power from Astral. However, no one was immune to insanity, not even the gods themselves. It was an essence that lived inside everyone. It was most vulnerable at a young age, especially hatchlings. However, with Celestia being the semi god of Astral, her insanity would be tucked away, deep within herself. Despite being young, it would be difficult to corrupt her. However, it was possible, but that would mean Celest would need to be around Night a lot.

Night decided to stop producing the insanity to its top proximity, for it was tiring, and just let the insanity casually flow into her veins. Night wasn't surprised that Celestia woke quickly, she was a semi goddess, after all. As for how Night knew this in the first place, well, one, she had Shi, and two, she still had a bit of her goddess-like ability in check. Narrowing her eyes, only the slightest, she smiled warmly at Celestia as the dragoness suddenly leaped from her grasp. Crouching down, Night whispered, "Come here, doll, I won't bite." she whispered to the dragoness. Shi watched the confrontation from afar, but only showed as much interest as any trainee would in a bunch of nobles, so as not to blow his cover.

Almost as soon as Oculus had finished talking, another dragon came to interrupt the two.  Grinding his teeth together with clenched paws, Oculus took a very deep breath, staring straight at Tenebris, shaking his head slightly.  He did not notice the small hatchling until after the dragoness came and spoke.  Turning his attention away from Tenebris again, he glared at Nightflare, about to explode on her too before he noticed the hatchling.  With his love for hatchlings, he did not want to startle her, and went with a much quieter rebuke.  "Listen, miss.  I did not even know your hatchling was here, and you watch your tone.  Know who you speak to!" he spoke, a faint growl attached to the end of his statement.  Before he could continue his little tirade, he heard the small hatchling scream, then go running head first into Tenebris, promptly fainting.  Now ignoring Nightflare, he leaned down and sniffed, lightly nudging Celestial with his snout, before picking her up by her scruff with his maw, and setting her in his right paw, tucked against his chest.  Now leaning slightly to the left since he was only on three legs, he returned his attention to Nightflare briefly, looking back at Tenebris with eyeridges raised.  "So tell me, stranger, Oculus spoke in a much quieter voice, "who are you and state your position.

(:cries historically, feeling incredibly depressed: be happy I replied to this at all.)

Night watches Oculus, sitting down with a concerned look on her face as she stares at Celestia. Shi also watches from a distance. Night laughed on the inside when Ocu doesn't remember who she was. Not only was she the queen's cousin, but she was also the adviser of the "chaotic night wings". Bowing humbly, Night replies, "Hello, Oculus. It's a pleasure meeting you again. I'm slightly offended you don't remember me. After all, you are my cousin's top adviser, and you often played with me when I was younger. My name is Nightflare.... Leader of the "chaotic nightwings", and cousin to Gemini, at your service. As for the child, I saw her wandering about by herself and though I should help her."

Gemini ignored Tenebris and Oculus as they talked with each other. She stared blankly into the Rotten Forest, her mind in turmoil. They were right. AuSurath had been kidnapped, and when Gemini found out, she had almost gone crazy. When she finally heard the rumors of an IceWing called Wisp had helped him, she had calmed down a bit. IceWings weren't exactly her enemy, so she was sort of ok with it, but she still wanted to get him back as soon as possible. She was going to set out soon, but Nightflare had come back and ruined all hopes of her being able to reach her adopted son.

She was taken out of her thoughts when she spotted the exact dragon. "Nightflare," she stared coldly at her cousin. "Stay away from Celestia," she demanded in a quiet yet calculating voice. "You have no right to touch her." And I don't trust you enough to go near her.


~Derp~

Celestia woke once again this time in the paws of a different dragon. Something was different about this one though. She was getting nurturing and generally more calming vibe from this one. Because of this she didn't bolt from his grasp but she still tensed up. Strangers were truly strange and new to the eyes of this hatchling.

Celestia's ears twitched when she heard someone use her name. She tried to look about to see who it came from. Not that knowing who it came from made any of this easier.

Oculus watched the dragoness in front of him speak with very unamused eyes.  When she spoke of her profession, and mention him by name, he started to mentally swear at himself for obviously forgetting another lord....especially in front of one he had just done the same thing to.  He was about to open his mouth to respond her her, still cradling Celestial, when he heard Gemini speak with her quiet demands.  Not realizing that she was speaking to night flare and not himself, he panicked, not wanting to set an unconscious hatchling on the ground.  "Oh, s-so sorr-rry m-my q-queen, I d-did not r-realize that she w-was yours-s".  Seeing ears twitching on the small hatchling in his arms, Oculus craned his head, looking down at Celestial.  Part of him wanted to listen to Gemini and set her down, but he couldn't find the strength to do so. Not wanting to enrage his queen, he partially set Celestial down, sitting down himself and putting her on his tail, which lightly encircled her as he looked up from the hatchling to those around.

Gemini shook her head in amusement. "I wasn't speaking to you. She's not mine, either," she corrected. "She's my.... cousins's youngest hatchling. Keep her from harm, Oculus. Don't let Nightflare near her." Turning back to Nightflare, her eyes narrowed into glowing slits. "What are you doing, Nightflare? State your business." Knowing Nightflare, she was probably up to something bad, but like usual, Gemini couldn't find out what it was. Partially due to not being able to enter Nightflare's mind, partially due to ancient laws of the NightWings.

~Short post is short~

Serena was flying over head, but when she heard the sound of her brother's voice, she had to land. "Hey big bro. You ok?" Her purple eyes looked at each dragon one by one, but she mainly focused on Oculus. She quickly realized he was holding a hatchling. "Did you get some girlfriend or something? Because I don't think I've seen her before.."

Oculus smiled sheepishly as he realized his mistake with who Gemini was actually talking to.  Looking back down at the hatchling, he curled his tail around her, lifting her gently so that she was brought closer to him before brining his tail back down, but remaining lightly curled around Celestial.  Just to make sure she was comfortable, he leaned down and licked the hatchling's head, before looking at the sound of his sisters voice.  At her quesiton, Oculus tilted his head, slightly confused.  "Am I alright?  Why would I not be? he asked curiously, before blinking doubly confused to her next statement.  "Girlfriend?  What do you me-oh...he said, realizing why she thought that as he followed her gaze to Celestial, before realizing what she had insinuated.  His cheeks turning slightly red, he looked back at Serena, stuttering, "What?!  N-no!  I-it was, I d-did not!  I don't!  I erm, just I uh...well, she found me..., and he quickly corrected himself before Serena could interpret it incorrectly, or in a way for her further amusement as Oculus forgot that there were others around.  "Not a girlfriend, i mean, the hatchling found me, or rather ran into me..." he spoke, before lowering his glare at Serena.

//Remember Serena's two feet taller then you.//
Hmm... Well..... Serena soon realized NightFlare was there. She looked at her, and her tone changed. She went up to the chaotic dragon and whispered: "Hey.. Do you think you could affect my brother? He should really join us.. Plus, we'll have more power."
//NOTE TO EXERYONE!! SERENA IS NOT TALKING LOUD ENOUGH FOR ANYONE ELSE TO HERE BUT NIGHT. THanks, ttyl.//

Night watched the whole seen with a slightly bored expression. Gemini was being.... Exhausting as usual. Night sat down and casually stretched her body. She didn't really appear all that sinister right now. She watched Celestia, but quickly lost interest with the young goddess. When Serena arrived, she paid a little attention to her. When she spoke, Night raised an eye ridge at her.

One does not simply infect. One must succumb. Night said, speaking with her mind to Serena.

"Hmm. Well hurry up. We could use his magical eye power thingy against some dragons I believe." She whispered back, not knowing if Night can read minds. She looked back at her brother. "So... Umm.. What where you guys talking about?" she suddenly asked, shifting her armor.

Nightflare said nothing in response to Serena. She honestly didn't care. Oculus would be difficult to convert. Night glanced at Celestial instead, smiling a fake sweet smile at her. Night was playing the role of an advise who wanted what was best for her tribe. She would act caring and nice for now. But once she achieved her goal she would move on to phase two, which involved the upcoming war. Smiling at Celestia, Night waved her paw in a circular motion, a soft light sparking off her fingertips and forming a thorn-less rose, scented with fish and meat a sweetness. She then handed the rose to Celestia, smirking.

There was nothing evil about the rose in any way, shape, or form. It was just a regular old rose. Both dark or corrupt radiated from it. No insanity secretly leaked from it, waiting to corrupt Celestia's young mind. It was just a regular old rose. Beautiful and sweet. Night then sat down, watching for the others reaction. If they knocked the rose away, thinking it was corrupt, it would likely subset the young goddess. If they allowed her to hold it, the might grow unwary. Either way, many things could be achieved by a simple, normal rose, that had no magical effects or spells on it whatsoever.

Night then turned viciously back to Serena, but her gaze was level, not harsh. She spoke intelligently, and with falter. Eloquently and fluently. "Dear Serena. Do not speak to your highers in such a manner. Your queen is present. Show respect."

Oculus looked at Serena, trying to judge her actions as she spoke quietly to Nightflare.  He didn't dare interrupt or try to pry what she was saying to the Advisor, already embarrassed from Serena's earlier hinting, and that he had once again forgotten the name of someone important.  He was really off to a great start.  Because of this, when NightFlare approached Celestial, he did not stop her, trying to avoid any more confrontations on his lack of political knowledge.  However, his tail did slightly curl around Celestial more as he gently pulled her closer to his body. His eyes followed the flower from NightFlares paws to Celestial's, before looking back up, stifling a smirk as Night reprimanded Serena.  "Guardian Serena," Oculus spoke, choosing to be very formal instead of calling her 'sis' as they were in front of Queen Gemini.  "Lord Tenebris and I were merely talking to each other as we have not formally met, before others joined our conversation."  Oculus purposefully left out Tenebris's position besides being of high importance, having forgotten what he was lord of.  Smiling, he leaned down and nuzzled his snout on Celestials head, before lifting her and setting her on the square of his shoulders, smiling before he turned to the group.  "Anyway, I must find this hatchlings mother and return her as soon as possible. Her mother must be worried.  Lord Tenebris, would you like to accompany me?  That is, if the Queen permits?" he asked, bowing slightly towards Gemini "Oh, and also, does anyone know who this hatchling belongs to?"