The Spoils Of Light (Private Aurelian)

As the day was coming to a close the sun had began its descent heading towards the horizon, colours of orange and yellow danced on the clouds above the palace. After a hard day of meetings and looking after Orion his new adopted hatchling, Devi was walking along the outer wall of the palace. Admiring the view which he had seen many times looking outwards towards the Jungle with the lush orange against the canopy. Letting out a sigh as he enjoyed being alone for a bit, luckily Aakesh was looking after Orion. Pleased that he was taking to his new son well, after he had feared they wouldn't get on. Sitting against the battlements as he gazed around watching the tribe head back into their dens preparing for the night coming.

Faintly clicking across the stone battlements, Aurelian's long claws clicked gently across the stone. She wasn't trying to hide her presence, as the dragons around here knew who she was and also that she had meant no harm to them. Well, that was normally the case, but some dragons had the unfortunate experience that she was more than just a pretty dragon. Aurelian had the skill level of an assassin with her reflexes and speed, able to duck in and our of a bad situations in just a few moments.

But it was due to this reputation that she barely got close to anyone.

A small sigh came from her maw as she cast her gaze to the stone around her. The night was drawing in, but Aurelian had no other place to be aside from the towers to keep an eye on the palace. However, just before she was going to open her wings to ascend into the darker sky, Aurelian spotted something which she never thought that she would see. Their king, casually walking across the walls surrounding the palace.

Aurelian slightly opened her wings, tilting her head as she approached him casually before she tucked them in against her side again. "King Devi, what brings you out here on such a cool night?" Aurelian asked, attempting this thing called 'small talk' that she was incredibly rusty-if not bad, with.

Upon hearing a flutter of wings coming closer towards him he raised a brow towards who it was, slightly surprised it was Aurelian. "Hey Aurelian, well I just watching the sunset. How about you?" smiling as he turned his attention towards the blade master. Even if he had come out to get some alone time he was pleased to see Aurelian, as he enjoyed speaking with her.

At first, Aurelian was rather surprised at how relaxed the king seemed to be. For a few moments, Aurelian felt slightly awkward, giving Devi a slightly nervous grin. Internally, she would hate herself for that action, but she offered the King a slight bow. "I always come over to the palace every day to keep an eye on the guards while the sun is setting. It's the only time of day I enjoy." She stated, her voice naturally sounding commanding as she spoke. Much to her annoyance.

Nodding slightly as he replied "Well.. its certainly one of the best times of the day, I was thinking.. how would you like to join me on a small hunt? I could use something to eat along with relaxing" chuckling slightly as he smiled understanding that Aurelian was nervous.

At the offer to go for a hunt, Aurelian's mouth twitched into a small smile. It was something which she hadn't really done too much recently and she would lose her touch if she didn't revise her skills with it. With a small grin, Aurelian spoke to the king again with very little confidence, "You are right, sunset is gorgeous. However, it would be my pleasure, Devi, to accompany you on a hunt." She commented before her form automatically turning towards the hunting grounds somewhat near the palace. "Is there something in particular you wish to try and hunt?"

Raising his brow at the question as he thought to himself for a moment, "I'm not too sure on what to hunt, lets just see what we find" playfully smiling as he prepared himself to take off. With a swish of his tail he opened his wings and took to the air gesturing towards Aurelian to follow. The sunlight colourfully lighting up his golden scales.

Aurelian gave a soft chuckle at his answer, however, she wasn't so keen on hunting with just the two of them. The last time they had left alone to go and hunt something, it hadn't ended very well. Aurelian, however, gave a small nod to him. If that was what he wanted to do, then they should. She opened up her silver wings, jumping off the ground powerfully as she followed him. She then would lead him to the hunting grounds, and land, then look and search for any traces of wild game. "Have you found anything, Devi?"

As they glided over the tree tops, Devi scanned the floor below hoping to find something to zero in on. Shaking his head towards Aurelian as he replied "Not yet... I'm sure we will see something soon" changing his direction it wasn't long before he spotted three wild deer, it was pretty clear that they where trying to hide. Gesturing towards Aurelian at them he slowly descended trying to make as little noise as possible, within moments he was in striking distance onto the stag of the group, quickly ending its life with his jaw. Knowing that he wasn't quick enough to get the other two he left them to Aurelian.

Seeming Aurelian had landed, she trusted Devi's eyes and turned and went the direction which he had shown. Her sleek and slender form weaved in and out of the trees as she kept her eyes on the gold dragon above her. Soon though, she had seen the three deer which Devi had lead her to. Nodding to herself, she watched as Devi took down the first deer, with Aurelian hot on his heels as one of her paws slashed the neck of the closest deer. Her long tail flicked out, grabbing the last standing animal by the leg. With a quick pull, she felt it hit the ground and she, rather mercifully and almost elegantly, killed it by sinking her teeth through its soft neck. She held this deer down for a few moments, as the other she had taken down laid still, and flashed a grin at Devi, "Good spotting, my King. How did you manage to see them from up there, if I can inquire that?"

Smiling happily at the catch he nodded and replied "Well.. I noticed the stag first as they where moving around the tree which caused the brush below to move" Chuckling slightly as he got a little closer to Aurelian, "I'm used to hunting in the dense jungle, I look for movement more than the prey themselves. You handled the other two very well, I'm not as fast as you" smiling as he gazed around the area for anything else, even though what they just caught was enough for them both.

Aurelian slowly nodded, a faint smile on her face as she contemplated what he said. It was something which they would have been able to see from above, but, while Aurelian was looking for tracks below them, it did seem to be more of a tedious task. "It was a good thing you spotted it then. You have done well." Aurelian praised lightly, but the dying lights made her somewhat nervous as she still had a great fear of the dark.

"Well, my speed it not something which I boast about, but thank you for your kind words." Aurelian replied, somewhat distant as her gaze kept faltering to look at the sky around them. She dragged the two deer to Devi, "What shall we do with them?"

Smiling as he listened to her, shaking his head briefly as he realised it wasn't responding. "Ermm.. well are you hungry? If not we can take them back" feeling a little embarrassed as he evaded her look for a few moments. Pulling his own deer next to hers as he waited for her answer, "Remind me not to get into a fight with you" he joked playfully

Aurelian gave Devi a rather awkward shrug, not sure how to tell him that she had eaten earlier that night and didn't need to eat until tomorrow. "Maybe we could take them back to the castle for now, I might be hungry once we get back." She said nervously, a claw scratching at her forearm due to her nerves, which was broken by her laughter originating from Devi's next comment. "Trust me-I wouldn't want to get into a fight with me either, it's not exactly something which would be... healthy... for anyone around me. I don't want to accidentally blind people."

In the distance, the sound of a branch snapping rang faintly, a hybrid of fire and light stalking through the forest towards the voices.

Chuckling as she replied to his joking comment, "Yeah I'm glad your on our side. You provide more to the tribe than you think with just your presence" smiling as he didn't hear the sounds that where coming towards them due to his concentration towards Aurelian. "Yeah we can head back, if you want we can relax a little wouldn't mind some company" blushing slightly as he asked her.

Aurelian gave a small shrug, before her eyes flicked across to the still dying light. "If I were to be perfectly honest, I would rather get back due to my... phobia." She grumbled quietly, rather embarrassed by her giant fear of the dark. Her heart slowly raced in her chest as she wanted to just leave and get back to the palace where it was almost always light.

The other creature drew closer, it's smaller form pushing through the bushes as it watched the two dragons, one gold, the other silver... So far, they hadn't noticed its presence and it waited for a precise moment to strike.

Making a shocked expression as she realised what she meant, smiling slightly he replied "Oh... I know what you mean.. your not alone.. I get that too but more when its pitch black..luckily I can create light" gesturing towards her to pick up one of the deers, as he picked up the other two. "Lets get back then, don't worry if it gets dark or if you want me to I can create some light"

At the mention of them going back, Aurelian gave a bit of a restrained smile as he somewhat understood where she was coming from. She gave him a grin, "I can create a little light as well, but sadly, it doesn't last forever. What's worse is that I can actually absorb surrounding lights to blind people in both darkness and then a blindingly bright light. It sometimes messes with my eyesight as well." She spoke, then almost facepawed as she realised she was rambling. Again.

This was when the creature decided to strike, when their backs were towards them, it slowly approached and used the darkness to hide its white and red blotched hide. Then it lunged, going for the females throat.

Chuckling slightly at her rambling and her facepawing, "Its alright Aurelian.. I'm scared of the dark too.. bu..." At this moment Devi heard a noise behind them, turning his gaze he suddenly realised that they where under attack. Gasping as he saw the creature aiming for Aurelian quickly blocking the way so they struck each other. At this point Devi was more concerned at protecting her than himself, Slamming his side and tail against the foe trying to give distance between them.

The dragon hissed as the smaller LightWing hit into its side, using his tail and side to throw it back. It growled, being thrown back several feet and it landed awkwardly on its side. There, it would quickly roll back to its feet again as its razor fangs glinted dimly in the dying light. From there, it would use its flame breath to try and burn either of the dragons, before it would leap forward to slash at Devi's right shoulder with its claws while its fangs would aim for his neck.

Aurelian yelped in surprise as Devi moved swiftly and slammed his form into the rogue dragon which was suddenly upon them. As it was sent back, Aurelian would pull Devi out of the road of the flames before she lept forward with a cat-like speed to meet the creatures attack instead of allowing Devi to take a second one. She grunted from the force that she took instead of Devi, the beast claws slightly scratching her hide and her paws clamped the beasts mouth shut to prevent it from biting her.

It's spiked tail, however, would aim for Devi's neck, trying to cut into him or at least distract the female enough for it to get another attack in. Or, better yet, get her paws off his muzzle.

Deciding to quickly dispatch the foe which Aurelian was bravely holding off, he aimed to tackle him yet failing to notice the tail which was swiping towards him. Within moments the spines cut into his scales along his neck and chest, causing some bleeding. Hissing from the pain he continued his charge bashing into him, forcing him onto the ground which in turn released Aurelian's grasp of his snout. Gasping from the pain which was caused he turned towards Aurelian to see if she was alright. Keeping the attacker pinned Devi's weight and size proved useful to keep him at bay.

Aurelian felt the creature be torn from her paws, which had dug in and gouged the side of his face away due to their grip. She watched as a glow of gold rushed by her, then a slight red caught her eye. Her eyes, straight away, located the wound on his neck. A rush of anger came through her and before the beast could try and rise again, Aurelian's claws tore out its throat. "Devi! Are you alright?!" Aurelian asked, quite firmly before she turned back to him. However, she could still see the crimson line on his hide. She would then try and pull Devi away from it, her paws going to touch his neck as she investigated the wound.

As his breathing slowed from the quick finish, allowing Aurelian to move him he spoke softly groaning in pain "Y..yeah... I'm... okay" hissing slightly as she touched his scales. "Geezzz.. careful.." as the bleeding got a little worse, sitting down as he felt a little faint from the pain. "A..Aurelian.. I..If.. I pass out.. just get yourself back.. I'm sorry.. I can't create light like this.."

At his scolding and hissing, Aurelian would take her paw away from the crimson gash near his neck. She had barely brushed her claws against them, but it still had caused him a great deal of pain. With a small and annoyed sigh, she gave him a tiny growl of annoyance. "Calm down would you, I am not leaving without you. I can create my own light." Aurelian said rather dismissively, raising herself onto her hind legs as she looked for something to tie the wound together. Growling to herself as she realised she didn't have anything on her, she dashed across the clearing to a vine and slowly pulled it away. She then looped it around her paw a few times as she gathered a few non toxic plants. Ignoring any single hiss and growl that Devi would give, she would use the vine and leaf to half block the blood lose. And if he were to tell her off, she would simply say to shut up and stop thinking that he was in trouble.

She would deal with the darkness later.

Sighing slightly as he was told off, all he could do was sit there using his other paw covering another wound on his chest trying to stop the bleeding. Soon enough Aurelian returned with some leaves and vine as she tried to seal the wound, partly doing so as she finished with much to Devi's discomfort. "ISSSSS... jeeezz.. that stung" raising his brow towards her slightly as another jab of pain hit him, no doubt from the tight leaves against his open wound. Feeling lightheaded from the pain he tried to talk as best as he could "A..Aure..lian.. I feel rather... lightheaded.. sorry... some leader.. eh? Can't take a few cuts and wounds... without passing out" His breathing started to fasten slightly as his legs went limp crashing down onto his front groaning from the pain as he tried to up right himself.