Walking Down a Winding Road [Open to All]

Today was rather interesting. Having grown tired of her usual form, as a reptilian, Rayla had decided to give herself a break, and take on her usual appearance, as a dragon. After all, now that Arkhor knew about the fact that she was alive, it was highly unlikely that he wouldn't tell anybody. Plus, she had ran into quite a few dragons while traveling, and if any of them had recognized her as the previous queen.... well, then, her cover would be blown. In which case it would be completely and utterly pointless to continue wasting time in her reptilian form. Besides, today was a rather rare occurrence.

Why? Because the temperature was quite chilly. Well, to the average dragon, it would feel chilly. To Rayla, it just felt like a beautiful day to relax and enjoy herself. So, after carefully setting her collection of stuff down, and making sure her back pack was in a safe place, she would transform, her regular, humanoid body disappearing into a sudden explosion of bright light. A few trees would suddenly explode into ice shards. And soon, standing in a small clearing, would be Rayla, her beautiful, glittering sea water blue scales shining magnificently in the sunlight.

Letting out a howl of laughter, the great dragoness would push off the ground, launching into the sky. Almost immediately, the wind would tug at her wings, and she was hit with such a force, it felt as if two dragons had just tackled her. But she quickly regained control, and soon, she was doing flips and spins through the sky, up through the troposphere. She would do nose dives and such, diving down, and right before she hit the ground, she would open her wings back up, and launch into the sky, continuing to laugh.

"I haven't felt this good in ages!" Rayla would say, chuckling. This nice exposure was relaxing, especially since it made her forget about the whole fiasco with her father, which had happened about a week or so ago, maybe not even that long. She would continue to do flips and twirls, happily gliding through the sky. There were mountains on all sides of her, but where she was she was pretty high up. Maybe she'd go perch on one of those ledges, and dive off. Now wouldn't that be fun!

With her wings folded, Artemise launched herself off the highest ledge on a particularly tall mountain and plummeted to the ground at a speed that stole her breath away; at the last moment, when her body was barely a hair's breath from the ground, she snapped her wings open and let the chilly wind bring her upwards, her wings starting to flap. Higher and higher she went, planning to do another dive, when a flash of sea-blue scales at the corner of her eyes caught her attention; the dragoness turned her head slightly, and her gaze landed on another IceWing. Pausing in mid-air to hover, a crease appeared between her eye ridges as she studied the female. She hadn't seen her before.. Then again, she couldn't have possibly seen every single IceWing in the tribe, right? She watched the female repeatedly doing flips and twirls which she was sure she could easily manage, and wondered if the other dragoness had the same interest in flying. Maybe she did. Well..she might be a fun dragon to talk to.

With that thought, Artemise propelled her body forward with a single flap of her wings, and started mirroring the female's flips and twirls, and grinned a huge grin at her. "Nice day for flying, isn't it?" she shouted over the wind that howled in her ears. Now that she was closer to the female, she could see that there was a horrible scar that started at her shoulder and ended at her right leg. She could see the scar well, for she just happened to be at the female's right side.

But if she ignored the scar, she could see that the female was a very pretty dragoness. She had some whites around her eyes and at her paws which matched the light blue that coloured most of her body; there were some swirly lines too. The thing was, she had gills. And a shark-like tail. Did that mean that she was part SeaWing? Cool. She'd never met a SeaWing before, not even a part SeaWing. But it was impressive the female could do such aerial maneuvers; not everyone could manage that. Especially one that spent a lot of time in water.

Little did she know that the female was the former IceWing Queen, and that she was a reptilian.

The thing she was painfully aware of was the size difference between her and the other dragon.

(Legasp, you actually read her app. What is this madness )

Catching herself on a stable air current, Rayla would glide, humming quietly to herself, happily, as the wind carried her, only casually flapping her wings in order to remain in the wind flow. It was quite relaxing. Of course, Rayla knew she would have to continue on her path, if she were to leave Pyyria before anyone decided to come looking for her. But at least she could enjoy herself while on this path, for the time being. However, even if she was going to relax, that wouldn't keep her from being alert.

And this alertness served her well. As she glided through the air, she noticed something leap from one of the rocky ledges of the mountains, and fly towards her. This, obviously, made Rayla a bit curious, and caused her to pause in the air, and glance over at the stranger. It was hard to hide your presence when in a place like this, and while Rayla had noticed the dragoness, it appeared that the dragoness had noticed Rayla, as well. So Rayla was cautious. The last time she had seen an ice dragoness, they had tried to have her killed. So it was reasonable for her to be at least a tiny bit suspicious.

The white dragoness would swoop forward, allowing Rayla to get a better look at her. She was quite large, even for an Ice Dragon, with a very long body, and a beautiful, crystal like body like most ice dragons had. Her claws were a metallic color, almost, and her body appeared to be very slender. Rayla would raise an eyebrow at the approach of the stranger, and prepare herself for any kind of attacks done by them. Her eyes would narrow as they flew towards her.

At the sound of the dragon's rather friendly, almost innocent tone of voice, Rayla would huff, raising her head high. It would have looked kind of cute, this small dragon acting intimidating in front of a dragon almost four times her size, had it not been for the fact Rayla did look rather intimidating with her scars.

"Sure, I suppose..." she would huff, Nice to get away from those gosh darn trees for once." she would say, her voice cocky, as usual. She looked at the dragon curiously. "Hmph. Who're you? I guess you're an Ice dragon, I know that much." as much as it pained Rayla not to mention that she was once queen of the IceWings, Rayla knew that she was suppose to be in hiding, and if she said this, she'd give away her former position. After all, everyone except her father and Shine thought that the former Ice Queen, Rayla, was dead.

Zaroc laid atop one of the outcrops near the top of one of the mountains, fully aware he was visible to any dragon who cared, but he couldn't be bothered to be more careful at the moment. The male was bored and eager to do something interesting. His mass made it impossible to be as elegant and swift as that female icewing probably was, (Athena was her name, wasn't it?) but a leisurely flight would do him some good. His mother always said to fly every once in a while, or your wings become weak and won't become as strong as your body.
So Zaroc rose, resembling a gigantic bull as he stood at the very edge, and stretched his massive wings. For a moment, he stood there, before beginning to flap his wings. Up, down, up down. A slow movement that sped into a leisurely rhythm filled the air with the whooshes of his strong wings. Zaroc tensed his legs, and leapt into the air, and then he was flying.
He flew through the maze of mountains at an easy pace. He had stamina from his long rests and recent meals, so he could fly for an entire day at a fast pace if he really wanted to.

As he twisted his body and flew around a corner, the huge dragon noticed two females a good new metres ahead of him. Rising to meet their height, he approached, sheathing his claws and retracting the single claw on each of his wings to make himself less threatening. After all, his size shocked and usually terrified most dragons who laid eyes on him. Thank god he was almost at full size. The last time he'd approached a hatchling it fainted when it laid eyes on him. Poor little thing.

Chuckling softly, Zaroc stopped a few feet away from the females, smiling at them. "Good day, ladies," his deep voice entered the air, his powerful jaws opening and closing with the movements of his tongue to create the syllables of the words. "What brings you so far from the Icewing palace?" He asked. He himself had taken a break from worrying about proving his worth to the higher ups. Besides, what wiuld they want with an adult dragon like him? They probably wanted younger dragons, young and fit dragons they could shape into any type of soldier they wanted. Zaroc was a political dragon, not a fighter, but he could pack a punch if needed.

Little did he know he was hovering directly in front of the former Icewing queen. Oh, little did he KNOW...

(Eyyyy, you know~ *Slides elbow onto random table* Rayla's 39 or something... and she could use a mate *Sexy eyebrow wiggle*)

As Rayla flapped her wings, focused on the much larger dragoness in front of her, her ears would suddenly perk, as another, smaller than the big dragoness, but bigger than herself, dragon would approach them. Oh great, go ahead and make it a party, why don't you. Hey, Kelarth, while you're at it making my life miserable, why don't you go ahead and make Adra and Delphin show up too, just to add some salt to that wound? Maybe make Gaea show up too, just to make her last living moments a living hell. That would sound just great, now wouldn't it.

Clearly, Rayla was sunk down from her good mood, as she watched all these IceWings suddenly appear from seemingly nowhere. It made her happy smile turn instantly back into a frown, as she watched the male approach them. She even growled a little bit as he rode on the wind like he owned the place. Quite hypocritical of Rayla to think of things like that, especially considering the fact that, if in a better mood, she probably would have done the same thing.

Nonetheless, Rayla decided to stay, rather than just fly off, like any other person would have done. Or maybe they wouldn't. Regardless, Rayla was a unique dragoness. So she would bear this challenge. She grudgingly waited, flapping her wings effortlessly in the air, as he arrived up the face her.

However, as soon as he started talking, Rayla regretted not leaving as soon as she saw his big body flying towards him. She indignantly raised her head, glaring daggers at this new male. Her scar made her look all the more threatening, along side her shark tail. She looked like the kind of dragon you wouldn't want to encounter in a dark forest.

"Um, I'll have you know," Rayla started, still keeping her sassy and arrogant tone, even after all these years, "That I'm a rogue, thank you very much. What else do you think I'd be doing, hanging out her in the middle of nowhere, somewhere between the FireWings, SeaWings, and EarthWings, hmm?" she asked, her voice with a sharp, aggressive edge to it. Her ear flicked impatiently. This was the exact reason why she wanted to leave Pyyria.

Zaroc was surprised to see the sea coloured dragoness glare at him as if he'd commited a crime. Slowly, the smike faded as she started talking. Immediately, Zaroc's snout became a light pink as he fidgeted under her gaze. Still though, he didn't show submissive behavior or anything.

With a raised brow at her sassy tone that was used with him, Zaroc spoke in his deep voice. "I apologise for assuming you were an Icewing tribe member. The last icewing rogue I met attacked me head on and I had to nearly knock her out to prevent her from killing me. Since you both seemed civilised enough, I thought you were Tribe members. I apologise, ma'am, that was an immature mistake of mine," he apologised and backed off a small bit to try and make them more comfortable.

"Uh, my name is Zaroc, its nice to meet you both," he introduced himself, taking his eyes off the sparkling dragoness and placing them on the other female. Hadn't he seen her before?

"Nice weather isn't it? Good weather for flying and, well, I guess you could say.. Chilling?" He chuckled at the joke. "My apologies, I make puns up on the spot a lot." Glancing at the sassy female, he realised he must look strange, a tribe member all the way out here. "Oh, in case you were wondering, I was out here to.. Take a break. Something unusual for those who know me, but.. The tribes a bit dull at the moment, lets just put it that way."

(Well, if you think my Zaroc's fit for the job, go ahead and steal his heart! XD he needs a mate too, I suppose xD
Don't worry, Arty, we won't forget about you xD)

Artemise buried her annoyance that flared inside her at the female's cocky tone. No, now wasn't the time to lose her temper. Who knows, the other dragoness probably spoke like that all the time, and it might be normal to her. "Yes, I am an Ice Dragon," she answered the female, but then turned her head around as she heard wingbeats, to see a male who was much smaller than her flying towards them. Great. There went her thoughts of having a nice, private conversation. She frowned slightly when he spoke. "Why I am here is none of your business," she replied to him, unable to keep a slight snap out of her voice. Hearing the female tell the male that she was not a tribe member, she raised an eye ridge. So she was a rogue.

She opened her mouth to speak, but the first syllable was barely out before the other male started talking. She shut her mouth and watched the male, her annoyance increasing slightly. She knew that she couldn't blame him, but still..

The Semi-Goddess was being unusually grumpy that day. And unreasonable, too.

Pushing her guilty emotions aside, she listened to what the male had to say, and nodded her agreement when he mentioned that the IceWings were starting to get rather dull. It was true. The only reason why she spent almost all of her time exploring was because she had nothing better to do. The tribe leader rarely held any events any more.

Zaroc flinched when the other female spoke to him with a snap in her tone. "I.. Wasn't asking you why you were out here, I was just.." He trailed off, before shutting his eyes and sighing. He was hopeless. When he opened them, he spoke again. "I.. I'll leave you two to have a chat. It was nice meeting you," he said, before spinning around and pushing himself into a forward flight pattern, going back around the corner with a flap of his wings.

Soon,he found a suitable platform capable of supporting his weight. Flying up to it. He touched down heavily and folded his wings, before lying down on the outcrop, gazing down at the long drop into the valley below. It didn't bother him. Long drops was what he needed to survive crashes, most of the time. He wasn't a very fast turner and twister. Zaroc sighed. Sometimes he wished he was normal sizes, other times he thanked his father was giving him his size. Right now, he wished he was normal sized.

His thoughts went to the females. Had he been too rude? He hoped not. Then again, both of them snapped at him, so he assumed he'd done something wrong.

Resting his great head on his large front claws, Zaroc watched the valley with his keen, ghostly white eyes.

Artemise was rather startled when the male..rather, Zaroc, as he'd mentioned earlier, flinched and spun around before flying away. Oh dear. Look at what you've done, a voice in her head said crossly. Go after him! She obeyed willingly, and flew after him with a silent flap of her wings, then watched as he round a corner and settle on a ledge. He looked so sad as he rested his head on his paws.. She guiltily made her way towards him and then descended, landing on the ledge right next to him, but she was standing instead of lying down, and facing the opposite direction. "Sorry," she said gruffly. It pained her to say that particular word, but it was necessary. She'd been the one who had hurt Zaroc in the first place anyway, and she owed him an apology. She looked away pointedly, wondering what his response would be.

Curling her tail around a haunch, she watched as snowflakes started to fall from the sky. "My name's Artemise. You've probably heard of me. I'm the Semi-Goddess of the tribe." The words were curt and emotionless, if not showing a hint of pride, but it was better than nothing. It was not good enough for her, though. Be more nice! she instructed herself, but she could not bring herself to look at Zaroc, as she still felt rather guilty. "Err..would you like to go for a flight?" she offered, her voice sounding much more friendly now, and very slightly apologetic, in an effort to sound more like a friendly dragoness.

She pursed her lips and waited for him to refuse.

Zaroc heard the beating of powerful wings, and raised his head and turned it to see the same dragoness approaching. He made room for her, sweeping his massive tail to the side to give her an extra few feet of space, dangling it over the ledge closest to him.

He watched her touch down, and blinked as she uttered a single word. Sorry. For a moment, his brow furrowed in confusion, and for a moment his head spun. What?

"Um.. Its.. Its okay," he said, catching on to what she was referring to. "I thought I'd done something wrong," he chuckled, letting her know he wasn't mad and there was no hard feelings. "Don't apologise, you were right to be wary. I was a stranger. I commend you for being careful," he said, glad she wasn't a stupid dragoness who thought every male was perfectly good. There were some real weirdos out there.. Anyways, not going down THAT dark train of thought.

Noticing the way she avoided his gaze, Zaroc felt guilt seeping into his chest as he slowly sat up, making the outcrop give a quiet groan. "Artemise?" He blinked, then his eyes widened. "Oh! The semi goddess! I apologise for being so informal, my lady," he said, bowing his head to try and apologise for treating her with so little respect! Zaroc was a political figure, so in his head, he had to respect those above him.

Then she offered to go for a flight with him! Zaroc blinked, confuse and excited at the same time. He hadn't flown WITH somebody before, so he was grateful to her all the same for even bothering to offer. He was glad she was more friendly with him.

"I'd love to. I haven't really made any friends yet. I guess its the fact I'm an old sod, and I've lost my good features," he chuckled, giving a huff as he stood up. Peering at her with respecting eyes, he smiled at her with a friendly gaze.

[Rayla, I challenge you for the matter of having Zaroc as a mate! Arty needs a mate too ;-; Should we do a battle for this? Oh, and Zaroc, can you reply to Subzero Festivities? Thanks!!!]

Artemise was starting to get the taste of how it was like for other dragons to immediately treat her with respect the moment they knew of her position. Rather than pleasing her, it made her slightly..bothered. She had never been respected this way before. But maybe she could get used to it.

However, she had to keep a low profile. Remember, you can't go around bragging about your position. Remember that you promised you would try not to attract too much attention, for some of it might be unwanted. Those words swirled around in her head, and she grimaced. Was this how assassins felt like? Having to keep a low profile all the time?

Now was not the time for thinking that, though. Artemise pushed the thought aside and finally managed to turn her limbs around to face Zaroc. And found him bowing to her. ......what? she thought blankly, and then it hit her. Oh. Oh.. She opened her maw to say, You don't need to treat me as if I'm some kind of full goddess! Just treat me as a normal being! but he went on and accepted her offer to fly with him, and then smiled at her. She returned his smile and said, "Well..you're still handsome, don't worry." Seeing the respect in his eyes, she hastily added, "No need to be so respectful..just treat me as you would treat a normal individual."

She spread her wings and saw Zaroc do the same, and was about to take into the air when something occurred to her. "Wait, shouldn't we ask the other female to come along?"

(wuuut?! HOW AM I SUPPOSED TO PICK BETWEEN A SEMI GODDESS AND THE SECOND LEADER OF THE ICEWINGS?! *faints* its an honour that such fantastic roleplayers such as yourselves would even CONSIDER my character as a candidate for a mate! Thank you!)

Zaroc was happy to find she didn't seem to mind an old sod like him too much. At least he had a friend now. It got lonely, sometimes, just sitting around reading scrolls and hoping to get a rank. It.. Well, it sucked, as most teens would put it. So now he had something to do, and that was be friends with this nice dragoness that gave him the time of day to chat with him.

He chuckled nervously at her complement. "Why, thank you, Artemise, you're not so bad yourself," he said, trying not to make it seem like he was hitting on her, judg complementing her back. After all, he barely knew her! And besides, she was half GOD, you don't GET to flirt with a semi god! You just don't! Besides, Zaroc didn't really think of her in that light. At least, not yet.

He nodded, showing he understood her request, and stretched his wings, eyeballing hers with wide eyes. Her wings were GIGANTIC and AWESOME!

As he tensed his legs to leap off, Artemise pointed out they could ask the other female to fly with them. He admitted, he liked the other female, despite the tone she used with him. He sensed something within her. It was something.. Unusual. She was a good soul, he could see that. Maybe she was just wary.

"Yes, we should. I'd never forgive myself if we left her on her own," he responded, looking around to hopefully spot her.

(Meh, Rayla won't fight you for a man. She'll fight you in general, but she won't fight you for a man. Plus, you're young, beautiful, and powerful. Rayla's nearing 40! You have tons of males to chose from. Lol. Idk how old Zaroc is, but his app said 32 o2o)

At first, Rayla would glare angrily at all the new dragons, her wingbeats becoming monotonous. She didn't like sitting on one place for a long period of time. She would roll her eyes at their snappy conversation, and was about to open her mouth to say something, when the older of the IceWings suddenly looked away. Rayla would blink cautiously, and he would apologize, flying off. That was certainly unexpected. Most dragons didn't just back off when you told them too. Or maybe this one just had more sense than to mess with the demi goddess, and former IceWing queen.

It was quite a miracle, really, that no one recognized her, considering her unique appearance. Even among SeaWings, most didn't have a shark's tail. It was surprising, really, when the other female, disgruntled by her actions, went over to follow the male, leaving Rayla to hover in mid air. She watched them for a moment, then smirked. Wasn't this just a turn of events? They had all left her before she had even been given the chance to ditch them.

Shaking her head at this peculiar encounter, Rayla decided to head back to where she had left her backpack. Clearly, this had been enough excitement for today. It would suffice. She would spread out her great, beautiful wings, and dip down below the current of wind, riding it down to the tree level, and soon, her small body would disappear into the ocean of trees.

However, as she landed in the undergrowth, looking around the forest, she would pause, and look back at the direction the other dragons had taken. Perhaps.... it wouldn't be so bad if she had a little conversation. Rayla may not be in the mood now, but she thrived in a social environment. And lately, the most social interaction she had been given was a not so pleasant one. Of course, Shine had been there, but that still didn't make it any less agitating. Like pouring salt water all over an open scar.

Growling, Rayla would decide to go up after them. Reluctantly, mind you. But she did feel it was rather odd for both of them to run off like that. Plus.... she thought she heard them talking about a flight, or maybe it was fight? Rayla would be quite the happy camper if they were fighting! She could use a good fight. No one worth fighting had shown up recently, so she mostly just killed anything that attacked her.

Sweeping over the trees, she'd make a great flap of her wings, and launch up into the sky, following the two dragons to where they had landed. The sound of wingbeats could be heard, as her small figure - compared to them, anyway - was seen, gliding over the tree tops. If she happened to touch any, the very tops of the leaves would freeze.

And speak of the devil! Tiny snowflakes were beginning to fall from the sky, as dark clouds would fill the air. The sound of wind and snow wooshing around would alert the larger dragons of Rayla's presence, as she landed on the edge of the cliffside where they perched, ready to launch off. Her ears would perk in their direction, the frills on either side of her head vibrating some.

"Hey, so uh... I never did catch your name. And it's dreadfully boring on this hike.... so yeah. I did over hear flying, though!" Rayla smirked, puffing out her chest. She supposed she'd just call herself by the name she'd been calling herself, Iizusa. "My name's Iizusa. Whether you said flight or fight, I'm up for both. I was actually one of the fastest in my litter." said Rayla with a proud smirk. Of course she was.

She seemed a lot happier, now that she was talking about herself. Well, I suppose that's how Rayla operates. No matter how old she gets, she'll always be narcissistic and talkative.

(Okay, thats a relief xD Well, eight years isn't THAT large of a gap. At least for dragons, in my opinion xD just me, I guess. Thing is, who do I choose to go for? XD)

Zaroc smiled again at her, and noticed the snowflakes that began to fall from the sky. Turning his head forward and up, Zaroc stuck out his blue tongue and caught quite a few on it. Childish, yes, but this old sod still had some hatchling habits left in him. Who didn't? Tempest and Oculus must have at least ONE.

The sound of beating wings caused Zaroc to look over, and his eyes widened when he saw the same dragoness touching down on the ledge they were on. "Speak of the she wolf, and she shall appear," he mumbled, reciting an old poem told by his mother when he was young. He offered the female a small small, and listened to her as she spoke.

"Uh, Zaroc," he said, in case she was talking to him. He raised a brow slightly as she puffed out her chest. Okay, CLEARLY she had a REASON to be so.. Well, arrogant he didn't like to describe her as. 'Overly confident' would be far more polite then the blunt option known as arrogant. Was she born into a high class family?

And if he was honest, her tone seemed a bit.. Formal. No one said 'dreadfully' in a normal sentence, really. Still though, no hard feelings. He beamed at her and replied to her with a flick of his tail. "Its nice to meet you Issu- Iizua," he stammered, having trouble pronouncing her name due to his accent and way of speaking. Those types of syllables didn't 'flow' for him.

She seemed to perk up a bit. So Zaroc decided, to keep her happy, to inquire about her skills. "The fastest? I was never a terrific racer. Whats your top speed?" He asked, raising a brow as if to challenge her. But gently and playfully, of course, he didn't want her assuming he didn't believe her. He grinned to himself and stretched his wings again. "Well, I guess we'll find out if you're lying or not," he said after her answer was given. It was a gentle tease, but again, playful. No seriousness.

[Zaroc, just pick a dragon whose personality you think Zaroc will be fine with <3 I won't hold a grudge xD it's just that Arty has been looking for a mate for quite a long time but she can't find any ;-;]

Artemise was startled when the female suddenly appeared out of nowhere and landed on the edge of the cliffside they were perched on. Half-folding her wings and listening to the female, both her eye ridges rose pretty high up when she mentioned her name. "Iizusa? What an unusual name.." she murmured to herself and then raised her voice so that both Ilzusa and Zaroc could hear her (not that Zaroc needed her name): "My name's Artemise," she stated; right after she said it, Iizusa talked about going for a flight..or a fight. "One of the fastest in your litter? Let's see."

She grinned at Iizusa, a challenge clear in her eyes, and unfurled her wings once again. Launching herself into the wintry air, her body ripped through the day sky, and she let out a soft whoop of delight. It was such a long time since she'd last raced anyone... Even if she lost, at least she'd had a race. Her long tail trailed behind her, and she wondered if it was okay to whack someone with it while flying. Was it counted as cheating?

Who cared? She flapped her wings again and her body was propelled forward, and soon she could hear two different wingbeats behind her. Iizusa and Zaroc were catching up. Her grin, which had disappeared while she was concentrated on flying, appeared on her face again. This was fun. She had never felt this exhilarated in a while... Go faster! the fierce words suddenly rang in her mind, and she flapped her wings hard. She could feel the breath of someone on her tail. Probably Iizusa.

(Pfft, Zaroc judging my grammar. But now that you mention it, dreadfully is more along the lines of something Nightflare would say, not Rayla... pfft, Zaroc why you gotta ask these awkward questions, Idk what is considered fast for a dragon XD I'll just go with what would be considered fast for real animals o3o Oooo, Rayla goes faster in her reptilian form. I could totally see her accidentally shifting in order to win. XD that sounds like something she'd do. lol)

She smirked when the dragons seemed to show interest in her. Surely it wouldn't be so bad if she were to tell them she also happened to be a demi god, would it? They couldn't guess who she really was just from her position, right? Gee, all those years of studying and Rayla still was so ignorant sometimes. Of course, she'd never admit this flat out, and probably would continue acting like this, until she was an old lady.

With a flick of her tail, Rayla would blink a moment, pausing. Top speed? Rayla had never measured her top speed before. It wasn't usually something she thought of when racing through the waters of the SeaWing territory with her siblings. And Rayla hadn't really tested out her full flying potential. Dang, if only Rayla were half SkyWing! That would make her super fast! Why hadn't her mom married a SkyWing instead of a SeaWing? Of course, Rayla's mind was beginning to drift again, so she attempted to think of an answer.

"Hmmm, top speed? I dunno... let's go with 100 miles per hour, or faster! I'd like to see you try to beat me," she'd say with a chuckle, puffing her chest out once again. If this kept up, she'd probably end up giving out her identity. But the thrill of a challenge always caught Rayla's attention. It also didn't seem to phase her that Zaroc couldn't really pronounce her fake name. It was just a name, after all. It's not like she cared enough to correct him.

Before Rayla had a chance to say much more, a cocky expression on her face, Artemise would start the race. This instantly kicked Rayla back into action, as she laughed. "Catch up to me if you can!" she'd laugh at Zaroc, jumping off the rock, her wings tucked tightly against her body, as she would dive head first towards the ground down below.

She was focused now, her mind snapped back into alertness. The wind brushed past her quickly, as if it were nothing more than gentle waves. Then, all at once, Rayla would twirl, opening her wings up, and shooting up after Artemise. A freezing chill would run down her spine, but she didn't much care. The thrill was too exciting to stop. So she barely even noticed it.

Of course, Rayla quickly caught up to Artemise. However, try as she might, no matter how hard she flapped her wings, she couldn't pass the great dragoness. However, she was right on her tail. Take that, Zaroc! Of course, Rayla had no idea where the race finish line was. So, shouting up to Artemise, she'd call.

"HEY! See those trees that look like they're hugging? The ones on that cliffside? First one to make it there wins!" she hoped her loud voice was enough for both the dragons to hear, even through the pounding wind screaming in their ears.

[Pfft. My posts aren't as good and long as yours, guys. Anyway, Arty backs down, letting Ray take Zaroc for a mate! I have another male in mind <3]

"Alright! See you there!" came Artemise's bellow, which could be heard over the howling winds. She then started to beat her wings in flapping motions, urging her body forward. Rayla had a small size, which meant small wings, but she was surprisingly fast. She thanked her rather big wings for existing as she continued flapping, nearing the end line. However, she was slightly startled when she suddenly saw Rayla right next to her, and a crease formed between her eye ridges. As fast as she was going, Rayla was catching up, and if she wasn't fast enough, then.. She couldn't bear the thought of losing, but no matter how hard she flapped her wings, she could not go any faster. Well, then..

It would be a tie. Better than losing, though.

Both of them were neck-to-neck as they neared the finishing line, and yet none of them was gaining more speed, even as they started to dive. The speed at which both of them were flying at stole her breath away. The last few moments were crucial. If she could speed up, even only by a little, she would win..but no, her body never went faster. Her eyes darted to the side, and saw Rayla frowning in concentration. Apparently she was trying to go faster, too.

Finally, they swept past the finishing line, and almost immediately, Artemise landed. She skidded to a halt, her paws burning as they experienced the friction. The moment she was safely on the ground, she claimed, "I won!" She was also trying to convince herself that she had passed the finishing line by a nanosecond.

(Good thing that could be settled without any bloodshed xD and Rayla, dont feel forced! If you dont want Zaroc, I wont bite. Too hard xD)
(Hopefully Arty and him can be friends xD he needs friends!)

Zaroc nearly slipped as Artemise leapt into the air, the disturbance of the air nearly pulling him after her. She was a powerful flyer! Glancing over his shoulder, he grinned at Izzy, as he decided to call her. It was far easier to say then whatever gabble of syllables she was named as.

He laughed when she laughed, and stretched his wings and flew after her, kicking off the ground into the air. He knew he wouldn't win, he wasn't a fast dragon. In a long distance race? They wouldn't have a stood a CHANCE, he could keep up a fast speed for long periods of time, but he wasn't fast ENOUGH for short races.

Zaroc lifted the tips of his wings a small bit to lend him a little extra speed, while he tilted his wings to match the currents of the wind. The turbulence the two females left behind forced him to move to the side of them, over to their right, but he didn't mind. He was actually curious to see who'd win, rather then winning himself. He wasn't a very competitive dragon, anyways.

He watched as the two started diving, and he felt his big heart leap into his throat when he saw just how fast they were going. He himself started diving, being careful to keep his wings stretched out a good bit, so he kind of spiraled. He couldn't dive, because he was too large to pull out of them fast enough. And he admitted, his wings weren't as strong as his body, not quite. But thats an explanation for another day.

"Pull up! PULL UP!" Panic flooded Zaroc's eyes as they approached the ground, clasping his wings to his sides in prayer. They both made it safely to the ground, and Zaroc gave a heaved sigh of relief.

Uh oh..

Zaroc looked down, and realised he was dropping like a stone. Stretching his wings, Zaroc zoomed past the finish line, and past his friends, tilting his body upwards and to the side while flapping his wings like mad as he tried to avoid the mountainside up ahead. It sneered at him as Zaroc missed the side by a whisker, but his back leg skidded along a sharp rock, and he hissed in pain.


Circling back around, he landed heavily a few metres away from the females. He heard the word 'tie' just before he realised he was dropping way too fast. "Nah," he panted, trying to get over the fright he'd gotten. "I'd say it was a tie," he teased, lying down. Or rather, half collapsing to the ground, his leg throbbing.

Artemise heard a whooshing sound and she whirled around, only to see Zaroc dropping down like a stone. What the hell was he attempting!? She watched him spread his wings and zip past the finishing line, and she released a breath, but held it again as she watched him desperately tried to stop flying as he was hurtling straight towards the mountainside.

Her eyes widened. "Zaroc!" she yelled, just as he managed to avoid the mountainside, but hurt his leg in the process. Her immediate response was to rush towards him and access his wound. It was a rather deep scratch. "It looks horrible," she sighed. "But I can't really do much about it.. I'm not a healer."

She grimaced, hating how she was so useless in this situation. But she did know the basic herbs for healing. It might help. So she told him to wait there, and rushed off. She wandered around in the forest, looking for a particular plant...and finally saw it. She tore some leaves from its stem and stomped on it, crushing it into a rather thick paste. She smeared it on a paw and ran back, tripping almost the whole time as she was rather unused to running with three legs.

Artemise, when she was once again crouched next to Zaroc, spread some of the thick green paste on his wound, apologising again and again when he flinched slightly. When she saw done, she rose, inspecting her work. It was messy, but it would do...Maybe Rayla could help? She turned her head to look at Rayla.

Zaroc listened to Artemise as she assessed his wound. "I'll be fine, Arty, really.." He panted, slowly getting his breath back. He glanced at his back leg and grimaced when he saw the state it was in. Ah well, it was cut a cut. Albeit a sore one. It was the fall that had nearly killed him.

He watched as she dashed off, and he laid eyes on Izzy. He offered her a smile. "So uh.." He tried to start a conversation, and hissed when his leg flared up. When he hissed, a puff of icy mist fled his powerful jaws and clung to the ground, forming a small circle with icy patterns forming on it's surface.

Blinking, Zaroc sighed and, to amuse himself, breathed more of his misty breath onto the ground around him, making swirls and shapes across the ground around him. He did it when he was bored or curious.

He jumped slightly when Arty appeared beside him in the blink of an eye. He flinched a few times, but bit hid tongue to prevent himself from growling. "Don't apologise for helping me," he chuckled at the semi goddess' frequent apologies.

He looked at her work once she was done and he smiled in gratitude. "Thank you," he said softly, meeting her eyes for a moment. Now she was definitely a friend. Same went for Izzy.

Looking at the mysterious dragoness, he spoke. "So, where to now?" He asked.

So caught up in the race, was Rayla, and so focused on winning, she barely even noticed Zaroc as he zipped down below the cliffs, heading at an alarming speed in a nose dive. Just barely, was he able to pull out of it, and head flying over the finish line, much to Rayla's surprise. In fact, as they flew, their bodies neck and neck, Rayla's body started glowing a bit unconsciously. Luckily, the finish line was close enough so that she didn't actually have to transform. But she had come dangerously close to it. She let out a holler of laughter, smirking triumphantly.

Swirling around, with a quick beat of her wings, she would look back at Artemise. It hadn't been quite clear to Rayla who had crossed the finish line, so of course, even when Artemise shouted who had one, she still thought that she had crossed it just a little before the ice goddess. Slowly, the white aura that had formed around Rayla while they were racing would disappear, dissipating into the air. If they were lucky, the heavy fall of snowflakes would obscure the white glow from them.

"Woohoo! That was fun! Though I would say that I won." she'd say indignantly, smirking. However, she barely had time to finish this thought, as speeding fast her was Zaroc, who appeared to have lost control. She let out a gasp, which faded into a wince, as the great dragon just narrowly avoided being cut up to shreds by a mountain, escaping with just a long scratch down his side. Instantly, she knew she had to do something, so she rushed to make sure he was okay.

Flapping to his side, she'd land on the mountains, walking over, and examining the wound. "Huh, that's a pretty nasty fall you had. That'll make a wicked scar, though. So it isn't all that bad." she'd say with a sly smile, attempting to make some light out of the situation. Artemise flew to come look at it as well, then quickly dashed off. Huh. Wonder why.

However, as soon as Artemise took off, her form disappearing into the snow, an idea dawned on Rayla. Her frills vibrated again, and she smirked. The book! She had thought she read somewhere that any female could perform healing spells on someone. However.... Rayla didn't know any of these spells off the top of her head, and the only one who had inherited it genetically had been Aari. Maybe Sterlynn. Who knows. Rayla made a quiet growl. Stupid SeaWing genetics.

Glancing over at Zaroc, snapping her mind away from her thoughts, she would say quickly, her claws digging eagerly into the rock. "Uh, wait here. I think I know something that could help you." she said with a smile, before diving back off into the forest. It didn't take her very long to find the book, and head back up to where Zaroc was. However, by the time she returned, Artemise was back, and addressing the wounds.

Rayla would pause. She had gotten way too comfortable. At no cost could she reveal this book to anyone. Not that anyone besides Arkhor, and maybe a few close friends of Trinyah, knew what an Aurora Ice Dragon was. But still. So, carefully, while they weren't looking, Rayla would hide the book somewhere, and dash back up to them, joking and saying she couldn't find what she had been looking for.

"And hey! That weird stuff Artemise is using seems to be working! What is that stuff, anyway?" she'd ask with a tilt of her head. Zaroc seemed to be happy, in the company of these dragons, and asked what they should do now. Rayla was quite tempted to say they should follow her. But again, she held her tongue. Ugh, this was so frustrating. Constantly having to hold her tongue like this.

Instead, she'd look up at the sky. It was beginning to get even snowier. That was so weird, considering how far they were from the IceWings. Maybe it was just winter time. It was hard to tell what was winter in the IceWings, considering it was always snowing. They only time it ever stopped snowing was in the summer, and even then, that didn't mean there wasn't snow on the ground.

With a shrug at Zaroc's question, Rayla would perk up, "Those clouds are getting pretty dark. Maybe we could go hunt for something, before this snow becomes too heavy to see anything in." she'd laugh, her laugh full of fun and tease. She doubted she'd be effected by the snow much, since Auroras were immune to even the most intense temperatures, but she didn't know about the others. Just because you could resist cold didn't mean you could see through it.

Izzy was nice enough to examine it herself. Zaroc chuckled as she commented about his 'wicked scar.' "Yeah, you're right. Scars are awesome," he agreed. He admitted, he liked having her around. She was fun. He returned her sly smile and had to wonder what was so mysterious about her. She seemed normal and nice enough. There was something about her.. Okay, he thought she was cool. Don't judge!

He raised a brow as her shimmering frills twitched and a smirk appeared on her face. What was she thinking? "Uh, okay then," He chuckled, returned her smile, and watched as she dashed off into the trees. He chuckled, shook his head, and awaited for them to return.

By the time Izzy returned, Artemise had attended to his wounds. He saw her appear and looked over, blinking. She made a joke, saying she couldn't find what she was looking for, and he shrugged and grinned in response. "Ah, no problem. I'm being taken care of very well," he chuckled.

He shrugged at her question and slowly sat up, the pain was still there, but had a faded a small bit. Following Izzy's gaze to the sky, he blinked when a snowflake landed on his bright, ghostly white eyes. He grinned and blinked out the solid snowflake, looking back at the females as Izzy spoke again.

"Sure. I may not have good wings, but I have a good appetite," he said, rising to his claws. He couldn't help but smile at her laugh. It was a nice laugh. Reminded him of a hatchling's laugh. Full of happy emotions.

"Sure if you left your wing in front of me for long enough I'd eat it," he joked, smirking lightly.

Glancing around, he realised this place was devoid of all life excluding them three, minus the occasional mountain goat or heck, even a snow leopard. Hunting wouldn't be easy this time.

(Hey Zaroc, did you know that the IW leader is open. Also short post <3)

The snow was beginning to fall a lot thicker, down below the great care of the sky above, and to the trees and mountainsides which lived under her reign. Rayla blinked a few times, shaking her head as snowflakes would fall all over her scales. That same glowing would occur again, though this time, it would be much lighter than it had been before. Snowflakes would stick to her body.

"Alright then! Now that that's settled, I'm off to go find something tasty! Follow me if you want, but that'll probably attract more attention to ourselves. Plus.... you all are kind of big," she would say with a tilt of her head in the direction of Artemise and Zaroc. Then she'd let out a little chuckle, turn around, and dive off the cliff, heading towards the forest.

Artemise lifted her shoulders and let it fall in a shrug. "I'm fine with anything..but I think it's better to stay here with Zaroc. He's injured; what if something came and attacked him?" she said, before Rayla tilted her head at Zaroc and her, and ran off, into the woods. "Anything you want me to do?" the dragoness asked Zaroc, quirking an eye ridge. She stood up and started walking in circles, bored, and after a while, she stopped and closed her eyes. Concentrating for 10 seconds, she opened her eyes again and saw snow falling from the sky. A faint smile curved her lips, and she turned to face Zaroc again, waiting for his response.

She could feel snow settling on her body, and every now and then, she shook her body so that snow wouldn't gather and weight her down. She'd probably become a snow blanket by then.

[Short post too xD And Rayla, shaddup about the IW Leader position o3o let Zaroc find it himself!]

If Acer was to be honest with himself, travelling through the mountains was a terrible, terrible idea. He'd had just the luck to find himself on the chilly slopes in time for a swift and heavy blanket of snow that covered his scales and threatened to give him hypothermia. Handling a bit of cold weather? No problem. But being a desert dweller, the decreasing temperatures were affecting him a lot more than an Icewing. At least he'd made it under the cover of some trees, as opposed to being out in the open.

Hmf. Speaking of Icewings, he was certain he could see the lightly glowing figure of a light-blue dragon flying close to the cliffs. Should he investigate, or simply stay out of sight, and try get as far away from the Icewing borders as possible?

The dragon didn't appear to be too large. At most he'd be forced to move on and continue with plan B. He shook the snow off of his scales and blew a gentle fire over his wings to heat them up. He kept an eye on the dragon as they descended into the forest, and approached her warily.

While her colour scheme matched with the scales he'd expect from an Icewing, the fish-like features sugegsted she was closely related to a Seawing. He walked closer, so that he could see her more clearly.

"Excuse me, ma'm, where are you headed, if I may ask?" he asked, trying to keep himself from shivering as he talked.