After Days Of Hopeless Wandering (Private/Rii and possibly Prasi)

Ashlyn could remember being thrown right out of the place she used to call home. Well..it was home no longer. A tear made its way down her cheek, followed by another, then another, as she remembered the events, which had occurred so quickly that her brain hadn't really had time to register the events until she found herself on the cold, hard ground, a few feet from the den. They had thrown her from the den. Her brain replayed the scenes with such clarity, though... She did not notice a tree root on the ground, and she tripped over it. She fell to the ground, barely feeling the impact of her body crashing. She was tired, so tired..

Ashlyn's eyelids flew open. Sunlight blinded her, and she groaned, letting her eyes shut again. But her stomach growled, and she knew she had to eat something. The little LightWing rose unsteadily to her feet, and she nearly crashed back to the ground. A few days without food had made her weak. She had to eat. Picking herself up again, she walked over to a random plant and started chewing it. It tasted horrible, but eh, better than nothing. It did not fill her stomach, though, and she went off to find another plant. Ashlyn did not know that she had just consumed poison ivy, but it was only a small quantity of it, so she would not suffer any aftereffects, thank goodness. She continued wandering around aimlessly, wondering whether she would find somewhere to sleep soon.

//Of course, all this is "intepretated" into Ashlyn's personal young language xD//

(OOC: I'M SO SORRY It took me forever to find this thread.  XD I was looking for it for like ever. Also not sure if eating poison ivy would effect reptiles or dragons like it does humans?? Also note that Rii is not aware of her actually not being on rogue territory but on firewing/nightwing turf)

IC: Rii was hunting but she was much farther out than she normally liked to go nowadays. Her forays often took her around seawing territory along the beaches but also around what was now rogue territory; or at least what she thought was still rogue territory. Rarely would Rii go near firewing, icewing, skywing, or lightwing land, and never did she dare go near the nightwing borders. Her hunting expeditions were generally lucky enough that she found food much closer to home and didn't have to venture far to find anything.

This time however, it seemed that everything that could go wrong did go wrong. Not only had she missed every single sturgeon and other large bodied fish in the rivers and at the beach, but she had not seen a single large animal while Rii flew high above the tree tops. Shortly after taking flight a storm forced her to the ground since she didn't want to be hit by lightning in mid air. So she was stuck traveling on the ground for some time in unfamiliar territory until the storm broke.

It had become sunny nearly as fast as the storm had appeared, and Rii was glad for the nice weather again. She was roaming through a very dense but beautiful jungle still tasting the air with her tongue looking for prey. Her eyes darted to every movement, and her ears listened past the raucous noises of birds, monkeys, and other jungle dwelling animals for anything that sounded stressed or injured. She was in hunting mode, but that didn't stop the woman from noticing the smell of dragon on the air. Surprised radiated from her tense position as Rii recognized a hatchlings scent. It was either a hatchling or a young dragon, but she could tell that it was neither and adult nor a subadult just by smell alone.  

Curious, and ever worried whenever the smell of a child alone came to her senses, Rii stalked forward looking for the youth. She was careful to scent for parents or any other dragons that might be in the area, but no other smells came to her. Rii wondered what the kid was doing out here alone, but she would soon find out as she slipped stealthily through the undergrowth towards the little lightwing.

//So Rii's on FireWing/NightWing turf?//

Ashlyn dragged her paws across the hard, cracked ground, her tongue feeling so parched that she was surprised that it hadn't fallen off. Her tail was a burden that she could not get rid of as it slowed her journey to nowhere. Depressing thoughts clouded her mind: How long more would she be wandering around like this? How many more days before she died of thirst and hunger? She was so distracted by her thoughts that she did not hear a slight rustle of the bushes as an EarthWing female stalked her. Nor did she hear the crack of twigs as they snapped into two, unable to bear the weight of furry paws pressing on them...

A black panther pounced from the side, its sleek, muscular body colliding with Ashlyn's painfully thin one. She was sent to the ground, yelping, and the black panther was immediately on top of her, its weight pinning her to the ground. She lay on her back, her heart beating wildly at the shock of what just happened. The black panther lowered its head, opening its maw wide, baring its curved, white fangs. The fangs glinted at the edge of Ashlyn's vision, and she stiffened, terrified. Instinctively knowing that pain would come soon, she lashed out with her claws and she managed to sink them into the nose of the black panther.

Blood coated her claws as the panther roared in fury. Then it clamped its powerful jaws around her left foreleg, and a scream of pain tore out of her as she felt curved fangs sinking into the tender skin of her wrist. Blood spurted. Desperate to free herself, she repeatedly rammed her right paw against the skull of the black panther. It did not let go; instead, it tightened its grip around her wrist, its claws digging into her underbelly. She thrashed, trying every possible method to make this thing let go. To stop the pain. The panther's merciless green eyes glinted maliciously, before the pain in her wrist reached its peak as the panther crushed her wrist bones. Piercing an artery had not been enough for the bloodthirsty panther; it wanted her to suffer... Another guttural scream tore from her throat.

//Bump.//

OOC: ;-; panther. but yeah what was once rogue territory is now NW and FW so... they are on that I'm assuming. Also I'm sorry for Rii holding you down! A part form this post you shall not see me pping anything else. If you have a problem with it please let me know and I will edit and change it. )

IC: Rii was hunting just as the panther was. Only she wasn't interested in other dragons. Her trail had wound around to the east some distance away from the hatchlings wanderings. However as the night continued Rii had found her way back west towards the sleeping child before she too fell asleep. Rii had no idea how close she was to the abandoned lightwing hatchling. When day arrived again she woke form her slumber and scented the air for prey.

As usual dragon scent came to her nose and tongue. Rogue scents and a hatchlings for some reason. Rii figured that the hatchling was the rogues child and did not decide to investigate. However she also found the scent of the panther, and since she was having bad luck catching deer Rii decided to try stalking a carnivore for a change. The panthers stomach would make for good acid resistant leather for her projects.

Rii hadn't gotten near the Panther yet and was only slipping along its scent trail when she heard the gods awful screaming. Her gut clenched as a hatchlings roars and painful yells triggered her protective mother instincts. With a huff Rii bounded through the trees weaving back and forth with her long body as the panther yowled a challenge.

When she saw the beast biting down upon the childs leg Rii struck out fast as lightning at the panther. It had no time to dodge, though it let go of the baby dragon and tried to when it saw her coming. A sickening crunch of bone and the cut off shriek of the big cat rent the air before all went silent. Rii snarled tossing the cat aside to look down at the girl.

Were it not for the blood and dirt on the child she would have been very pretty. Rii liked dragons with lightly colored scales. When she saw the blood pulsing from the girls wound though Rii hissed.

Out of all the wounds i see that is the one to deal with. Her wrist is crushed, but the artery is what's important. Rye can heal the crushed wrist with his mud I think, but she won't make it to the healing den unless I stop the blood. her thoughts ran about her mind like an overturned ants nest as Rii flared her nostrils. The fastest way to cauterize the wound and stop the bleeding was to set fire to it and burn the wound shut. Rii had no time to think about pain, but using her tail she scooped the child's head into her fur to blind and calm her, then she quickly held the girls body in place with her right arm.

Quiet child it will be alright soon. Rii cooed as her breath turned hot and smoke vented out of her nostrils. With a minor adjustment to aim making sure the girls arm and wrist were held tight and straight Rii loosed a jet of flame at the bleeding artery. She stopped when everything was done and made sure to put out any excess flames to keep from burning more than what was needed. Pausing then to see how the child reacted to her as she released her hold Rii gazed concerned down at Ashlyn.

Her vision was beginning to darken, and she was beginning to slip away into unconsciousness. But suddenly the black panther's jaws were no longer around her wrist; the pain gone, her vision clearned again, just in time to see a slim body with green-and-blue fur tackle the panther. Then she heard a sickening crunch which made her flinch a little, followed by a soft thudding of paws. The one that had killed the panther stood in front of her, towering over her, and a whimper escaped Ashlyn. She was so tall! Was she going to harm her too? She tried to drag herself away, but the stranger's tail came around and scooped her head up. Then all she could see was darkness. She panicked, flailing and thrashing, and heard a voice telling her that it would be alright soon. The voice was gentle, and soothed her, and soon she settled, but the pain that flared at her wrist made her wriggle again, crying out in pain.

Her wrist burned. It hurt, hurt-- The pain abruptly vanished, and confused, Ashlyn's body went still. What was going on? What was the green creature doing to her? She moved her head, trying to free herself from the furry, warm thing, wanting to see again.

Bump

Rii looked down at the youngster making sure that her other injuries were not life threatening. Then with the gentleness of a mother she stroked the child with a soft paw.

You need some food and water to liven you up little one. Are you hungry? Rii asked hoping to get some kind of answer form the child. By her looks Rii assumed that she might have some lightwing blood in her, but after a few sniffs the snake-like woman couldn't smell any other dragons scents on her. Rii wondered if they child was abandoned or lost, and while she desperately wanted to talk with her getting the little one healthy was her main concern.

A soft paw began stroking Ashlyn's head, soothing her, but not enough to stop her continuous flailing and thrashing. A voice broke into her panicked thoughts, and she stilled long enough to hear the EarthWing's question. The question stopped her from starting to thrash again (mostly because she hated leaving questions unanswered), and she replied to the EarthWing, "Yes, I am..." in a shaky yet polite voice. Afterwards she lay still, no longer trying to flee, waiting for the large, furred female's response.

Rii nodded to the little child and then turned to the big cat that had maimed her. How fitting it would be for us to eat the creature that had caused this little one so much harm. Rii thought quietly as she pulled some plants, saplings, and sticks to her with her enormous tail making a little pile of green and brown debris. Then when the pile was large enough Rii made sure to check to see if the child was far enough away not to get burnt by her flames. Sure of her safety, the snake-like woman breathed in deeply tapping into that second lung filled with gas. Then she blew out a blaze of fire stretching form her maw to the pile of sticks and vegetation. Since much of it was green and moist it took a bit for the fire to catch, but eventually it did, and Rii closed her maw to cease her fire.

Then she grabbed the big cat with her tail and hung it over the roaring bonfire to roast its meat. This would make the meat more tender and edible for a younger dragon to eat, plus the fire and smoke would add a nice smokey flavor to the meat. Rii normally went all out when she cooked adding lots of ingredients and spices, but right now her main objective was to get the child healthy as can be before asking her any other questions. No fancy meal was needed for this.

So where are your parents or family? Rii asked casually still staring at the fire while her tail held the cooking meat right over the fire. Her peripheral vision kept an eye on the childs movements just to make sure she wouldn't go near the flames. Meanwhile the fur had burnt up and the skin was crisping nicely on the large cat. It smelled delicious already.

At last, the furry thing that had been obscuring her vision for the past five minutes was removed, and lush green trees, along with the female she'd seen take down the black panther without breaking a sweat, came into view. Ashlyn craned her head to gaze at the towering female, who moved away to pick up dead leaves and other objects the LightWing did not care to identify, then crawled over to her, sonehow sensing that the latter would not hurt her. Ashlyn couldn't help but suck in a hissing breath of surprise when flame shot from the EarthWing's female, igniting the pile of green and brown. Then a cry of surprise escaped the startled hatchling as the pile burst into an impressive red-and-orange flame, scaring Ashlyn enough that she stumbled back a step or two.

Ashlyn watched the female (whose name was Rii, something she would learn later on) dangle the limp carcass of the black panther over the fire with a slim tail, and a delicious scent wafted over to the LightWing, who perked up and took a cautious step towards the merrily burning. Then, a second question was asked by the female, and the question, like the fire, took Ashlyn by surprise. It was a while before she responded. "T-they threw me out..." she whispered miserably, and started to curl up into a miserable ball of white, streaked with splotches of a sad light blue.