A Confession (Private w\Cariharn)

Atrex was currently studying. His scrolls were laid put all across the floor, with him in the middle. He was lying on his belly, head on one claw, looking like a curious studying how to use magic. His golden eyes were trained on a scroll, which described ancient rituals on how to attract a dragon of the opposite gender. It was written in a family language thankfully similar to his own, so Atrex could understand the gist of the words. He had a necklace under his other claw. With a black vine for the neckpiece, a bright blue gem hung in the middle, glowing and sparkling even in the dim light of Atrex's "den." Located out in the woods at the border of the lighting and Skywing territories, it was secluded and cozy.

Atrex sighed. "No use," he muttered moving that one aside and starting on the next. Since Cari was a scholar, he had a feeling she JUST might like the traditions he was trying to pull off.

His options were singing, dancing, mating flight and offering a fine gem.

Atrex growled to himself. Singing was out of the question, dancing shouldn't even BE a choice, mating flight? Hmm, maybe. A gem he had already workef out, except modernised by making it into a necklace. It was a healing gem, like the ones Nelty used. In case she got herself injured and wasn't able to get help.

Atrex sighed and buried his head in his wing. "I'm useless," he muttered.

Curious atchling•}

Cariharn usually strayed far from the IceWing territory, mainly because she had ventured quite far into her own tribe's territory before and had found out many things. Now, she was somewhere near the SkyWing-Lightwing borders. Quite far from the north-east side of Pyyria, but it was worth the traveling. Besides, she never really got the chance to explore the west of Pyyria and she was here with an open mind, ready to absorb any form of information of the tribes she might encounter here in the Lishon region.

With a satisfied smile, she entered the woods, deciding to start here first, to learn a little more on plants and herbs. She had read up on them before but where she came from, it was difficult to find plants.

There was also a reason that she continuously denied in her mind why she was here in the first place. It was to hopefully run into Atrex. The two had met on a blind date and she found herself quite charmed by the drake, with his manners, how easily he blushed, his perfect imperfections, everything. She let out a dreamy sigh as she stared at the sun rays shining through the trees and continued deeper into the woods.

Atrex, after another few tes of reading, sighed and gave up. Not wanting to take out his anger on the historic scrolls -he'd gone to enough trouble to get his claws on them- so he stood up, leaving the necklace on the ground with the piles and piles of scrolls, and ventured outside. He gazed up at the heavens and drank in the rich clear colour of the sky.

But Atrex was thinking. He LOVED her! Her intelligence, her sarcasm, her PERSONALITY! AND HE WAS SICK OF BEING THE GUY WHO SAT IN THE CORNER!

With a shriek of rage, Atrex shot his light beam at the overhanging tree that concealed the den with its long leafy ranches. He meant to hit the bottom of the trunk, but he missed and hit the branches that covered the den. Atrex's gold eyes widened as the den started to smoke.

"No no no!" Atrex dashed forward, flapping the flames with his wings but it didn't work. He needed something cold! Like ice! "No no no no no! NOT THE SCROLLS! I NEED THOSE!"

Cariharn was halfway through the forest when she smelled something...something...burning? She widened her eyes and quickly followed after the scent. Whatever it was that was on fire needed to be put out soon or the whole wood may possibly burn down! Okay, maybe not the whole wood, but a few trees would suffer some loss. She ran as fast she could until she paused, seeing Atrex panicking, trying to fan out the flames.

"Atrex! What happened?!" she asked, panting after the long run at her best speed, which wasn't much considering the limited space in the woods. From what she could see, Atrex's den, she assumed it was Atrex's den, had smoke coming out and there were a few branches on fire. Whatever happened here did not look good.

Cariharn! Atrex whipped around, fanning the flames with his back wings. "It was an accident I swear!" He exclaimed. The inside of the den was starting to catch re. The scrolls would burn up!

Atrex looked at Cariharn, eyes wide and reflecting the dark smoke. Then he remembered. Ice! "Can you put it out with your ice?" He asked her as the flames began to expand. She was his only hope! The nearest lake was ten minutes away!

Cariharn quickly assessed the situation and nodded firmly. "Then Atrex, I'd like you to move away from your den first. I'll be using some magic to put it out since my ice breath wouldn't be very effective and it would take a while. This way would be a lot faster," she said and began to draw a large rune circle around Atrex's den with her claws. She was going to create a spell to summon a temporary instance of icy winds around Atrex's den, without the snow.

Atrex nodded and very quickly scrambled back, his eyes wide. The Owner of these scrolls is going to kill me! He thought, desperate as he watched her make a wide circle. For a moment, he was confused, then he recognised it from a different genre of scrolls he'd read when he was tiny. A rune.

He watched her, eyes wide,admiring, and shocked, as she drew it. He tried to read it, but it was just a circle, he couldn't identify the spell, nor what it did.

After completing a nice connected circle around Atrex's den, she closed her eyes, mumbling a strange ancient language. When she opened her eyes, she blew on the runes and it lit up slowly. Clouds began to gather and slowly, a chilly wind began to swirl around the den, getting colder and colder, and stronger as it sped up. The flames were already long extinguished thanks to the strong winds, but for now, there was an invisible barrier of icy wind around the den, making it impossible for any dragon to enter without forcing their way in.

Cariharn looked away awkwardly, remembering the aftereffects of the spell she had used. She cleared her throat to explain to Atrex what the spell did, "Um...pardon me, Atrex. But for now, we'll have to wait for about...half an hour until the winds die down...I forgot that this spell lasts quite a while, as it's mainly used for trapping things," she explained, blushing slightly because of her little mess up. She usually didn't forget these sort of things! Maybe Atrex being in trouble played a part to influencing her decisions...

Atrex watched as she completed the circle and stepped back, four signs clasped protectively to his sides. He watched her as she closed those beautiful eyes of hers, those eyes he had always wanted to be for him. Then she opened her eyes and she opened her mouth, blowing on the rune. It lit up, and for a moment Atrex was blinded as the outer edges of the wind caught him full in the side of his face. He stumbled back as it froze his scales. When he opened them, the flames were gone.

Gaping, he looked at Cariharn and started to say something, but then she spoke. His mouth closed and he blinked, registering this information. On one claw, he'd have to wait to ask her the second biggest question, on the other claw, she didn't get to see what he HAD been studying.

Atrex grinned foolishly. "No problem! I rarely get out of that place anyways, so you've done me a favour!" he chuckled. He tilted his head at her blush. She looked so pretty.. Before he realised what on earth he was doing, his golden eyes were roaming over her face. He quickly stopped himself and looked away, feeling his face heat up. He plopped down onto the ground and patted the spot beside him with his back left wing, offering for her to sit beside him. "How's life?" he asked, then face palmed for a moment. "S-Sorry, let me rephrase that," he muttered, his NECK going red. "Uh.. how's.. you? as of late? wait!" he shot his head and looked at her, now as red as sin. "Y-You know what I mean," he chuckled.

BUMP

Cariharn laughed slightly at Atrex's flushed scales, a small smile on her face of pure amusement. She started feeling like she wanted to, maybe, tease him more? She shook those thoughts away as quickly as it came. No, no respectable dragon of class would think of testing a poor, sweet, gentlemanly, drake to their limits. Then she realised what she thought and felt a little sheepish herself.

Watching Atrex stumble over his words just somewhat made her feel like hugging the poor drake, but for now, she decided to resist. "I'm fine, Atrex. Well, I guess we could take a quick walk? It is quite a scenic area we are in after all," she suggested moving a little closer to Atrex subconciously.

When Cariharn smiled, the world was perfect. And now she smiled. Atrex beamed back, his eyes lighting up in joy at the thought he'd amused her. He tilted his head slightly, waiting for a further teasing, but it never came. Oh well. He didn't mind!

At the question she asked, Atrex stood up, nodding brightly. "Yes please!" He walked over to her and smiled. "Where to? There's a lake with a beach ten minutes away, or there's this gigantic river in the opposite direction, or do you just want to walk?" He asked, blushing as he realised how close he was to her. Lord, he just wanted to reach out with his wing and touch her cheek..

Atrex went bright red at this thought and looked away, grinning foolishly. The face of flirtious mischief was on his expression.

BUMP

Cariharn thought for a while, a lake or a river...either way they'll be near a water body, so she figured that she might as well choose a more exciting option. "How about we visit the river? I'd like to see how far it travels," she said, though in actuality, she just wanted to spend a nice long walk with Atrex. Get to know him a little more, pamper him a li- wait, Cariharn mentally whacked herself for thinking such things. She was trying to convince herself that Atrex is just a friend, though she couldn't deny his devilish looking charms.
"How long to the lake?" she asked, to distract herself from her thoughts.

Atrex beamed, his golden tail swishing from side to side as his eyes lit up impossibly further. "Okay!" He exclaimed, turning around and looking back at her. "Oh, only just a few minutes," he grinned. "But I've tried following the river. Never got to the end of it. I reckon it'd take a few days to find where it ends at the ocean." He started to walk at an easy pace. He had just eaten, so he had staying power, he wanted to make sure Cariharn didn't have to run though, he had long legs, which meant big strides.

He couldn't BELIEVE it! An evening alone with Cariharn! The thought made him giddy, and he couldn't stop himself from bouncing a few times. He hoped she'd take it as excitement and not madness. But then again, Atrex WAS a crazy drake, but the good kind of crazy.

Deciding to make a conversation instead of thinking random thoughts and making the silence awkward, Atrex spoke. "So.. Anything interesting happen while we didn't see each other? I mean, lots of weird stuff has been happening with me, so surely something at least a TINY bit weird must have been happening with you!" Deciding to explain a little more, he gestured behind him with a back wing. "I think my scrolls are either growing legs or some idiot is stealing them. Probably the former option, knowing my luck. Twenty are missing and counting."

BUMP

Cariharn thought for a while after Atrex asked her if anything weird that had been happening. Apart from her conflicting emotions, she just had her usual scholarly life, studying magic, its history and boundaries for mortals like herself and so on and so forth. "No, it's just been the usual routine with the new knowledge and understanding that comes from studying books every day," she replied.

Then Atrex gestured to his den where the winds still circled it. It seemed to be dying down, but just a little bit, the spell would take a while to dispel itself. When he made the remark about his scrolls seeming to disappear whenever he takes his eyes off of them and about the scrolls growing legs, she let out a small giggle at the thought. Then she turned serious, she was rather protective of knowledge and to find out that so many had gone missing, she instantly became a bit protective of Atrex.
"Your scrolls are missing you say?! We must look for them, Atrex," she said, the first sentence a bit too loud. She couldn't help it, she was so upset that valuable information had disappeared and it was in her instincts to look for lost information.

Atrex listened to her, his gold eyes widening at her response. "You read as well?!" He said, his voice going higher then usual. Then he proceeded to slap himself with a wing. "Oh, sorry, you're a scholar. Silly me. Sorry, I.. Haven't really met anyone else who likes to spend time reading and studying," he said, his face reddening. He would have been mortified to admit he liked to spend all nighters reading and deciphering anchient scrolls he'd gambled and practically stolen for. Best not mention that..


Then she giggled, and his world was perfect for a moment. Atrex chuckled with her, her giggle proving infectionous. He loved her laugh..

Then she spoke in a tone that made him shut up. Atrex blinked. "W-wha?" A bit slow to catch on, he looked stumped for a moment. Then he copped it. "Oh! Yeah, I've been meaning to get around to that.. Uhhh..." He rubbed the back of his neck with a wing, a thing a boy does when he's embarressed or nervois. "I've.. Tracked the thieves and.. Weeeell.." He bit his lip. "Damti mono," he muttered in his family language, looking away from her as he scolded himself. "Okay.. Don't laugh.. But.. I kinda got into a fight with this drake over a scroll and.. He's like.. Ya know, HUGE! Giant! And well.. He gave me a black eye last time we.. Confronted each other and.. Uhhhh... He guards that cave where the scrolls are.. And.. I kinda.. Am.. Intimidated," he buried his head in his wings. "Sorry, sorry! I've been meaning to get Athena to get them back, she can be REAAAAAALLY scary when she wants to be, and if they fought she'd easily beat them up, but.. Well, my ego kinda.. Ya know.. Didn't let me.." He shyly looked at her, hoping she wouldn't laugh at his brutal honesty.

Cariharn pressed her lips together in concern. She would volunteer herself, but she really wasn't much of a fighter and to go up against a drake who had experience in fighting, she doubted she would win. However, she didn't want to give up, after all, Atrex's a friend of hers and the right thing to do would be to help.

"Um, do you think the drake would listen to reason or wouldn't mind negotiation?" Cari asked, slowly formulating a plan in her head. Since neither of them were particularly skilled in battle, she hoped that perhaps they could win with words.

Atrex blinked at this thought and considered it. He then shook his head. "It's a great idea Cariharn, and probably not as suicidal as the plan I plan to propose, but I tried reasoning with this drake and he proceeded to beat me up. Again." Atrex looked away, feeling his face burning in shame. He could fight, yes, but he wasn't nearly as capable in cramped spaces as he was in the air. He was a sky drake. Heh sometimes he felt as if he was half Skywing. He loved to fly. His four wings have a slight twitch at this thought, and the golden drake immediately felt the urge to take to the skies again.

"Uh, I was thinking.." He blinked, and slowly looked at her. "Because I'm fairly good at sneaking, I think I can steal past him without him noticing if you.. distract him," he realised what that sounded like and he stammered as he tried to rectify his sentence. "I-I mean! By a distraction, you could.. do something.. to.. distract him.. yeah.." he started to stutter the moment he laid eyes on her gorgeous face.. "A-And I.. can.. steal.. th-the scrolls.. uh.. yeah. It's not a very good plan, but these scrolls are important, they contain important information about impressing a fem-" he started to say his secret, but he stopped himself with the WORST ending possible. "AAAAH! Wasp!" Thank ARKHOR himself if he exists, a wasp appeared from behind Cariharn, several feet behind her, but close enough to be seen rather clearly. Terrified and extremely relieved, Atrex LEAPT behind Cariharn and crouched, peering from between her legs at the thing with the big stinger.


Oh, boy, in the months to come, little did he know he be more scared then he'd every be in his life, more so then seeing a wasp approaching him... Because he'd lose the one ability he was proud of..

(I have a sad thing planned for Atrex XD Athena's going to murder my face when she finds out my evil plan XD)

//Oh dear 0_0

Cariharn would frown a bit when Atrex mentioned that he had tried to reason with the dragon but only ended in a failure. If that was the case, it was clear that the dragon would not listen to words which would prove quite troubling. Then Atrex suggested a plan that would involve her being a distraction while he sneaks in to steal the scrolls back. He seemed to be explaining what the scrolls were about when the LightWing leapt behind her, surprising her a little.

She turned her head to see a crouching Atrex, quivering at the sight of a wasp. Cari smiled a bit in pity and then proceeded to freeze the wasp with a quick puff of icy mist.
"Everything's alright now, Atrex. Tell me, what makes you so scared of wasps?" she asked out of pure curiosity.

Attex slowly raised his head over Cariharn's shoulder to look at the dead wasp, his chin grazing against her neck. "Yeah.. Wasps and me don't mix well together. One stung me where the sun doesn't shine at six years old, another stung me on the leg, another on the chin, and so on and so forth." He decided not to mention spiders he despised as well.

Atrex slowly backed away a step to give her some personal space and gave her a smile. "Anyyywaaaays," he said, trying to change the subject. "Yeah, those scrolls are worth tons, and the dragon who lended them to me has mercenaries willing to slit my throat if I don't give them back by next week."

Atrex loved having Cariharn for company. He could talk with her and she'd never judge him. He still stmamered and blushed, but it was slowly becoming easier to talk to her. She had no idea, the affect she had on him..

Athena? He still loved her. But not romantically. Not anymore. He loved her dearly and would protect her with his life as she had done for him, but he realised that they were meant to be the bestest of friends. A small part of him wished she had kissed him back, but that was at the back of his mind. Cariharn was what Xavier would call, "the one."

Atrex smiled at her again as he walked along, feeling the urge to put his wing around her like a couple would do. But that would just be.. Weird and.. A bit too strong of a come on for her tastes, probably. There was a chill in the air, yes, but she was in icewing! She was USED to the cold! Right?

Cariharn stiffened a little when she had realised the close proximity of Atrex and herself but when he pulled away, she wasn't sure whether to feel relieved that she could breath again or to feel a bit dejected. It would be strange for an IceWing to say, but she quite enjoyed the warmth of the drake next to her. She quickly shook those thoughts out of her head the moment it entered. She had to be serious.

Quickly, she turned her attention back to their main problem. Atrex's dilemma as to how they were going to retrieve the borrowed scrolls from the dragon. She thought that perhaps she could speak with the dragon who lent Atrex the scrolls, explaining the current situation. However, if negotiations don't go well, the dragon who lent the scrolls won't be too happy with the two of them.

"Well, you know, we could blindly rush into the dragon's cave and grab the scrolls and run. As long as we don't get killed," Cariharn joked with a sheepish smile on her face. Then she remembered Atrex mentioned hoping to get Athena to aid them and she turned to Atrex with a hopeful smile. "By the way, you did say you were hoping to get Athena's help, weren't you?"

Atrex grinned foolishly at the idea and chuckled. "To be honest, that was actually my original plan, shamefully enough." He rubbed his neck with a wing, grinning even more sheepishly when he looked at her. "Of course, I probably would have chickened out when I got to the cave. I've no shame in admitting that. But then again, I probably would have come up with a better plan by then," he chuckled.

He was just opening his mouth to ask Cariharn if there was a particular type of genre of scrolls she studied, but then she mentioned Athena. Oh yeah!

"Uh, yes!" He gave her a bright nod. "She's the toughest fighter I've ever met. If she was here, this would be a piece of cake, and I'd be much less terrified. She's very hard to kill. She was origonally trained as an assassin."

He'd slipped.

ATHENA WOULD KILL HIS FACE!

"Uh, uhhh," Atrex looked at Cariharn with terror on his expression. "D-don't tell anyone! Athena's very secretive and swore me to secrecy when we were younger!" Oh god, he felt so bad! Atrex looked down and bit his lip.

"I don't want her hurt again," he whispered, remembering back in their native land when word first got out she was being trained as an assassin. She was shunned and pushed away, and Atrex hated seeing her being treated like that. The dragons he'd thought were his friends called her a, "dirty nightwing," but with a lot of curse words thrown in there. His family had been skeptical, but at least they accepted her for what she was!