An Icy Gale (Private: Artemise, Imperia, Dionysus)

Snow had always been a fascination of Ardent’s. From that first short encounter, years ago, it had always held a special place in her heart. So pure, and free, riding the wind, unlike herself. That was then. This is now, she firmly reprimanded herself, shaking away the dark thoughts and barely repressed memories that often clawed at her mind while she was alone. Shivering slightly, a cold wind blowing from the North, Ardent shook herself and tucked her wings tighter at her side before raising her head to glance towards the snow capped peaks in the distance. Soon. She told herself, soon she would be… there (wherever ‘there’ was). Sneezing loudly in the crisp air, she once again began to walk forwards, her shivering wings the only sign of how cold the small Firewing truly was in the rapidly cooling environment. Very few sane non-Icewings would happily make the journey towards the frozen peaks that the Icewings called their own, even less Firewings, and it was doubtful many, if any firewing hatchlings had done it. But here she was. Traipsing across a land that was in every way new to her, towards the only landmark that seemed of any interest. Snowcapped mountains. Whistling a little tune she had picked up over the years, which echoed far into the distance, she managed to largely ignore the cold, shoving her physical problems far to the back of her mind.

After several hours of wandering, the trees and other plant life began to thin out, as Ardent approached and entered the foothills of the Frozen Highlands. Pausing after several more minutes, shivering heavily, she tilted her head upwards and watched the cloudy sky with wonder as it began to snow. It wasn’t anything heavy, but rather very light, more of a dusting. But it was still amazing. Sitting back on her haunches, Ardent lifted a paw and offered it as a resting place, smiling as a snowflake settled there. “Why hello...” she cooed softly to the small ice crystal, gazing at the minute intricate pattern seemingly etched into the surface of it. It was there she sat for a time, in the open, easily visible to any dragon that was in flight in the area, and just as easily spotted by any on the ground, staring at the tiny flake.

Imperia flapped her wings hard. She barely needed them to fly as wind magic supported her body, but this time she was using them as much as possible without exhausting herself. She needed to stay warm somehow, because she wouldn't last more than an hour in this temperature once she slowed down.
Imperia would never normally have dared go into Icewing territory, it was perhaps the most unsafe place she could ever go. Even below the sea she might have been in less danger, at least there she could breathe underwater if she focused. The cold was something she couldn't overcome with focus.
She seriously hoped she'd encounter Ardent soon, or some way to get warm. The young fire dragon had been planning to travel here. Imperia had wanted to come along, but she was beginning to regret that choice.

Imperia was about to turn back, before the cold took her ability to move, when she spotted a dragon up ahead. She sighed in relief, recognising Ardent in the distance, and began to flap towards her quickly.

Artemise was nearing the border of the IceWings' territory, Dionysus by her side. "Today, I'll be teaching you how to hunt," she informed her daughter cheerfully. "That's why I'm bringing you out so far. Besides being my favourite place to roam around, mainly because it has many interesting...places" --she pointed at a frozen waterfall, falling from a high mountain whose peaks pierced through the clouds in the sky-- "there's also no one here to bother us. There are plenty of hunting animals here, too." As if on cue, a herd of deer trotted up the small hill they were currently on; Artemise saw them before the latter did, and her tail lashed out at incredible speed, scattering the herd of deer before they could react. Then, while the herd was staggering to its feet, she prowled forward with feline grace, her eyes glinting, and swiped at three deer, collecting them in a paw.

Without bothering to watch the remaining deer flee desperately in an attempt to get away from her, Artemise strolled back to Dionysus, giving her struggling prey a tight squeeze; there were a few cracking sounds as bones splintered and souls floated out of bodies. Then she dropped the limp bodies on the snowy ground in front of her child. "Lunch," she said plainly, as if she hadn't been hunting prey a moment ago. "Have some, before I teach you how to hunt. I don't want you killing prey on an empty stomach." Then, with a sly wink, she added, "Better not let me down later on, or you'll be the laughingstock of the family! Northera, Olwen and Aeolus did really well. Let's see if you can beat them all."

~Later on, after Dionysus has finished her meal~

Artemise, with Dionysus trotting by her side, glided in the sky, looking for prey for Dionysus to hunt. A speck of black, stark against the snowy white ground, caught her eye, and she dived down to inspect it. As she came closer, the figures came into sight, and she sucked in a breath. Strangers! One looked like a SkyWing, with her large wings, and the other, with veins with colouring similar to magma running through her pitch black body, looked like a mix between a NightWing and a FireWing. Both were female. Though the FireWing was small, almost hatchling size, she was larger than the SkyWing. However, hatchling or not, Artemise would not give them mercy if they were here to bring harm upon the IceWings. Artemise landed on the ground beside them with a soft snarl, and her tail curled around Dionysus protectively as she demanded, "What are your names and businesses here?" Then, glaring around at the strangers suspiciously, she added, "If you have no business here, I ask you to leave; we don't welcome strangers, especially non-IceWings, into our territory unless they have important business with the Queen."

Ardent turned her head her head from the single flake, even as it floated off into the distance. The sound of wings had startled her, and she scanned the sky, only able to see her after several minutes of searching. Imperia. The name seemed to rise from the depths of her mind. The small Skywing she had met earlier in her… travels. Smiling as she landed, Ardent lifted her right wing, shuddering as the warm air trapped between it and her scales escaped, offering the small warm space against her side for Imperia, who was visible shaking, to snuggle into. Captivated by the same sound of flapping wings, only on a much larger scale, she turned, and froze, more than she currently was. Descending in front of her, like some arbiter of ice, was a massive blue dragon, oddly enough appearing scaleless. As Artemise snarled, Ardent cowered, covering her head with her left wing. “I… I’m… please don’t hurt me!” was Ardent’s first response after Artemise had finished speaking, a cry filled with genuine terror. Taking that position for several long minutes, she kept the wing between herself and Icewing, terrified of looking at her. “M… my name is Ardent, and I… I wanted t-to see the snow.” She said unsteadily, but loudly enough for Artemise to hear quite easily, hoping her answer was good enough for the leviathan dragon that was glaring at her.

Dionysus was excited for her mother to take her hunting. With the other three hatchlings, it was great to even have one-on-one mother/daughter time. Not that Dion had an issue with her siblings-- despite her rather, er, fight-sy nature, Dionysus really enjoyed being with her parents alone. It was a treat.

Which was why she was frustrated that two trespassers just HAD to ruin it. A.. A... Um... Two.. ur... Dragons? Although they were, indeed, FireWing and SkyWing, but Dionysus didn't really know her dragon-species very well yet. Which is why she mimicked Artemise's stern stare and turned her head to the other hatchling. Man. Dionysus really wished she had a good one-liner right now. Um. Maybe something like 'Leave or you will get a fresh meal of justice'? Hey. That's a possibility.

"Uh," Dion piped up in a tiny voice. Then as she realized the seriousness of the situation, she decided it was best not to talk. Still, though! This is IceWing territory! No punks allowed!

Imperia hurriedly took Ardent's offer for warmth, pressing herself against the other dragoness' side. However when a much larger ice dragoness showed up with a hatchling following her Imperia decided that she'd better do what she was so good at: talking.
She reluctantly exposed herself to the cold again, stepping between the frightened Ardent and the other two dragons; giving everyone a bright and friendly smile.
"Umm, hello.My name is Imperia, and this is my friend Ardent. I apologise for our intruding on your territory, we don't mean any harm."
She tried not to visibly shiver. She was confident, but the cold was weakening her again now she wasn't flapping her wings so she wanted to get back to Ardent's wing as soon as possible.

Artemise, upon hearing Dionysus pipe up, turned her head slightly to shoot Dionysus a look that warned her child not to speak any further. Then she returned her attention to the two strangers, her tail tightening around Dionysus slightly as she slid her gaze up and down the dragons, assessing them carefully. Their possible weaknesses (most likely the cold, since they were both shivering badly), whether they would be a threat to the IceWings-- Her thoughts were cut off by the FireWing hatchling, who stuttered out a plea for the larger dragoness not to hurt her, followed by her name (Ardent) and her intention: To see the snow. Artemise, upon hearing it, stared at Ardent in surprise for a few seconds; then she blinked and guilt swelled in her chest. She shouldn't have been so hostile to them...

The SkyWing began speaking, drawing Artemise's attention to the slim-bodied female; like Ardent, the SkyWing introduced herself, then went on to apologise and assure Artemise that they didn't mean any harm. Artemise pursed her lips and, for a few minutes, mentally debated whether or not she should believe them. At last, she released a sigh, and told the two dragons: "If Ardent wants to see the snow...so be it. Wander around for a while, but don't try anything funny; I will be watching you." Then, after a while, she added in a less stern voice, "Are you sure you can bear the cold...?"

Imperia smiled warmly at Artemise in gratitude, she curtsied gracefully.
"Thankyou so much, milady! You haven't mentioned your name, but may I hazard a guess that you are the queen, or one of her guards? What is your name? Oh, and naturally you can keep watch on us, in fact we'd be honoured if you'd suggest nice safe places where we could travel and sightsee, places where we can't cause any problems."
She broke off for a moment, wrapping her wings around her slim form and looking back at Ardent's warm wings as if to reassure herself she could run back there if she had to.
"As for the cold..." She giggled. "It's certainly not my preferred environment, but I'll manage."
Imperia had spotted the hatchling before now, but she hadn't considered it wise to mention seeing her in case it made the large female feel threatened. Now that she'd seen a softer side it looked like a good moment to mention the young one and see if it softened up the mood of the dragoness even more. She also took note of the blood on Artemise's claws.
"Oh look at you, beautiful little one! Are you two out here hunting?"

Ardent shivered violently, slowly lowering her wing as Artemise spoke, to look properly at the Icewing. She definitely held herself regally enough to be a queen… Lowering her wing further, she titled her head slightly and stared, careful to look away if the Icewing looked at her. The deep midnight eyes, and patterns on her face that drew attention to those eyes, the small ruffs set below a pair of silvery horns. She looked beautiful… And yet in the same moment terrified the small Firewing. She would have happily ran, but the cold and loneliness that awaited her filled her with terror. Placing her wing back at her side as Imperia now began to talk, thankful that the dragoness had stepped in for both of them, Ardent looked towards the ground, still anxious about meeting Artemise’s gaze.

Shivering again, she shuffled idly, almost falling to the ground as she felt her front left leg give way under her. Quickly righting herself, hoping that the two dragoness had been two engaged in their conversation, she held her paw off the ground for a second and shook it, mildly surprised that she couldn’t feel anything below the elbow. Placing the paw, carefully, back on the ground, she was startled when Imperia mentioned a ‘little one’. Lifting her gaze slightly, she extended her neck and looked to the side of Artemise, seeing what appeared to be a small blue and white dragonet. Feeling a small smile come to her maw, Ardent foolishly moved to raise her right paw to give a little wave, which caused her numbed left to give way under her, sending her crashing heavily to the ground. “Sor-sorry,” she mumbled out, freezing, preferring to lie there instead of rise.

Dionysus' jaws clenched shut tighter as Artemise gave her "momma-tell-you-to-shut-up" glare. She turned her attention to the two strangers. She tuned out the conversation to study them. "Umm, hello. My name is Impflflglabr...." (<-- pretty much what she hears after tuning stuff out) The one that was the last to speak before Dionysus began to ignore them was a pretty silver dragon with brilliant eyes, that Dion could see glowing through the whirl of snowflakes. And then... There was another hatchling. She was coal-dark. Dionysus blinked at her scales. What an odd color for a pelt! Of course, around the world of Pyrria, a black-scaled dragon was common, but Dionysus didn't know that. She'd never seen a dragon with dark scales before...

As Dionysus was wondering about dragons of other scale colors, she subconsciously began to allow the voices to stream back into her ears. She just stared into space, thinking... Did dragons have yellow scales, too? What about green? Or--

Dion jumped in her mother's grip as she heard herself being addressed. She lifted her gaze to meet the silver dragon's. Dionysus did that silly (yet natural) crooked smile of hers. "Uh, hey there." Then she beamed. "Oh, yeah! Memma caught a deer. It was pretty sweet!" She heard the fellow hatchling speak, and turned her head to look at her. Was she looking at her...? The cool, black-scaled dragon, looking at Dionysus? Awesome!! "Hey! You 'kay?"

At Imperia's question, Artemise shook her head. "Both guesses are wrong," she told Imperia sweetly, then pointed out, "If I had been the Queen, I would have had guards surrounding and protecting me. On the other paw, if I had been a Royal Guard...well now," she mused, "a Royal Guard's duty is to protect Her Majesty and stay by her side the whole day long, is it not? So unless I were a lazy, good-for-nothing Royal Guard...I wouldn't be here." Then, after a moment's hesitation, she said, "My name is Artemise." She did not reveal the power she wielder, not yet, not until they proved themselves as harmless. If they recognised her name anyway, too bad for her. Then, out of the corner of her eyes, she suddenly noticed Ardent's attention directed towards her. Artemise wondered what the FireWing was thinking as those beautiful silver eyes slid up and down her body, and she too shifted a little, placing her weight on her left legs, slightly uncomfortable at the attention. She did a good job of hiding it, though, and her face remained impassive.

Artemise then narrowed her midnight blue eyes at Imperia's obvious attempt to soften her up. She did not take kindly to attempts to soften someone up with flattery, and opened her maw to snap something at the smaller dragoness, but Dionysus spoke, drawing her mother's attention towards her. A soft sigh escaped from her maw in a white wisp, and Artemise listened alertly, ready to nudge Dionysus if she was going to let excessive information leak out. At a crashing sound, though, Artemise whipped her head towards Ardent, who had crashed to the ground for the second time. Artemise had not noticed it the first time, but now she did; startled and worried at thr same time, she made to move towards Ardent, who mumbled out an apology. "Are you okay?" Artemise asked, a tinge of worry colouring her tone. Her gaze travelled down Ardent's limb, which looked normal. Or was it frozen? "What's wrong...?"

Imperia noticed that Artemise hadn't been impressed by her attempt at casual conversation, but when Ardent fell she decided she had more important things to worry about then chatting, as the fire dragon youngling was both her friend and her source of warmth. Imperia hurried to her side and checked Ardent, making sure she was breathing and checked her pulse was close to normal. She then tested her scale temperature and glanced over her legs and belly for any injury.
She spoke distractedly to the other two while she examined Ardent, not really paying attention to what she said.
"Oh ok, you have natural grace and authority, I just assumed you might have high status to match it. As an icewing I suppose you have some cold related abilites? Could you do anything to help Ardent?"
She eyed Dionysus. "She's too cold. She'll be ok if we help her, okay little one?"

“It’s f-fine…” Ardent shivered out, as she tried to force herself to her feet, collapsing halfway as her numb leg failed her again. Her scales were cold to the touch, almost as cold as Imperia’s, which meant it was many times worse for the small Firewing, who shivered even during most nights. Her heart rate had also fallen slightly, the cold clutching at her heart. “It’s r-really f-fine.” She managed to get out, the constant shivering that interrupted her sentences pointing out that she obviously wasn't. “My-my leg hurt for a while… Bu-but I ca-can’t even feel it n-now!” She exclaimed. That had to be a good thing. Afterall, it didn’t hurt any more! She thought to herself, wondering why the two dragonesses seemed so worried. Even the other hatchling seemed to be asking if she was okay. “I’ll just… have a quick nap… and get some rest. So you two can stop… worrying.” she added, a large yawning escaping her maw, suddenly feeling very tired. “It’s just… the cold. What’s t-the worst that could h-happen?”

Hearing Imperia's words, Artemise couldn't help but laugh. "I do have a high status. It's just that you completely missed the mark when you were trying to guess." Then, turning her attention back to Ardent, she frowned. "No, I don't think I can help," she answered Imperia. "I do have cold abilities, but really, I don't think any of them will help this--" She broke off suddenly, cutting her stream of words short. Poor dear. That was what she was about to say. No, no, no... She would not show her already softening heart. "Ardent," she said, pretending to correct herself. Then Ardent tried to stand, ending up collapsing again; Artemise instinctively rushed forward, and managed to catch Ardent. She cradled the shivering FireWing as she straightened, wincing when she felt the coldness of Ardent's scales. "Too cold," she murmured to herself, wishing that she could do something to help the shivering hatchling. Then, hearing Ardent's attempt to soothe them, she snapped, "What do you mean, stop worrying? Do you know how dangerous the cold can be?" She heard her own voice: cold, angry. So she tried to soften it as she added, "Don't ever ask that question. I've seen many others voice out that question themselves, and trust me, they ended up in a bad condition, much worse than they had been in before."

Artemise, still cradling the shivering Ardent, used her tail to place Dionysus on her back; she gestured for Imperia to follow them, then spread her wings and took into the air, beating her wings and propelling herself (and her passengers) towards a tall, snow-capped mountain. A steep cliff was connected to the mountain, and on the cliff rested a hole: Artemise's cave entrance. The hole would lead to a room deeper into the mountain, and one would find many staircases inside, leading to other floors. Altogether Artemise had managed to make five levels, and two of them were warm and comfy. It had taken her a year to carve all this (with help of course), and afterwards her talons had been rubbed into pathetic stubs, despite the help she had had. They were fully grown again, something Artemise was grateful for - she had had trouble hunting with blunt, barely-there claws. Artemise couldn't help a slight grimace at the thought, which she quickly dismissed as she strode through the cave entrance, which led to a big, brightly lit room. Its sides had holes randomly scattered here and there: passages that led to other rooms. Other than that, the room had no decoration at all, if one didn't count the two sets of staircases set into the wall at the end of the room. Artemise headed towards the staircase that led to a lower floor, and began walking down, eventually arriving at a warm room. A fire was merrily burning inside, on several logs of wood. She and Zaroc had found a small piece flint while hunting in other territory, and a spark would ignite the logs when they rubbed the flint against their claws. Risky, for they could set their claws on fire, but worth it..

She set down the FireWing on a pile of icy blue blankets, and told Ardent to wrap herself in them, but not before grabbing some of them and handing them to Imperia. Then she lifted Dionysus off her back and sat down, stroking Dionysus's head gently with a paw. "I'll let you go back when you two are warmed enough to move properly," she told her guests with a small smile, curling her tail around a haunch. Then she tilted her head back to look at the familiar room of brown; it was bright thanks to the aurozite set in the middle of the ceiling.

[Let's just assume that Auzorite glow xD]

Imperia had been worried when she'd followed Artemise, thinking that the ice dragoness might be taking Ardent somewhere to dump her. That would mean the end for the fire dragon, and perhaps for Imperia as well. But she was sure that she'd seen hints of kindness in Artemise's behaviour and she had little choice but to trust her. She doubted she could escape the Icewing territories anymore, the cold had taken all of her strength now and she had to use wind to keep herself standing. She walked through Artemise's home in a daze, wishing she was able to compliment the other dragoness for her lovely place, but she wasn't able to do anything more than follow dumbly until she saw the fire.
"Oh thank the gods..."
She hurried to the fire and spoke to it.
"Hello my new friend, let's see if we can brighten you up."
She used her tail to poke the wood in the fire into a slightly different position, her scales were tough enough to survive the heat but it still hurt more than she would have liked to admit. She fanned it with wind and after a few moments a wave of heat surged into the room, making her groan with relief.
"Wind magic is good for maintaining fires if you don't blow them too much." She told Dionysus with a smile, even as she spread her wings and basked in the warmth. When Artemise gave her blankets she again groaned in relief.
"You might have just saved our lives... I don't know how I can pay you back, but if you need anything at all then please do ask..."

Letting out  a small whimper at the tone of Artemise’s voice as she snapped, Ardent tried, and failed, to hide her head under her wing in shame and fear. Opening her maw to apologize, she was silenced as she felt the large Icewing pick her up. While Artemise was cold, she was still warmer than the snow bearing winds. Leaning her head against the dragoness, she listened to her heartbeat, being soothed by the regular rhythm, much faster paced than her own. Oddly enough, she realised she wasn’t that scared of the Icewing anymore, probably the cold removing her ability to think straight. Brought back to the present, she looked around in wonder as her carrier lifted off the ground, and took to the skies. Having never flown (properly) herself, it was breathtaking, the snow capped mountains, the snow covered vistas, a distant evergreen forest, a patchwork of white and green… It was amazing, and serene. Feeling a small bump, she turned her head slowly, having been transfixed on the evergreens. They were at the opening of a large cave. Shuddering, but only very slightly, she didn’t want to enter, but it wasn’t up to her anymore. Instantly, it was warmer. The wind couldn’t blow so strongly here, and the cave trapped at least a little warmth, which was lost in the open expanses. Sighing in relief, Ardent continued looking around, her mind slowly waking up. Staircases, and connecting tunnels everywhere. From her examination, it seemed as if the main room had many different offshoots, bored out of the mountain.

Having just descended a flight of stairs, seemingly carved out of the face wall, Ardent began squirming slightly as she felt the air temperature rise several degrees, sighing as she was placed on something warm and soft. Slowly regaining feeling in her numbed front leg, she whimpered, a small tear coming to her eye, her limb feeling as if it was being stabbed continuously, as the blood vessels reopened. Half listening to Artemise, and then Imperia, she picked up a fur and placed it overself, followed by several more. Still somewhat cold, she was thankful for the wave of heat that radiated from the fireplace, assisted by something Imperia had done. Shuffling around, her body wrapped in furs, Ardent faced the fire. Streching her head out, she lay it down incredibly close to the fire, the flames occasionally licking the top of her head, nothing more than a warm caress to her. “Thank you…” She said quietly and solemnly to no-one in particular. “I… I don’t know what else I can do… Other than offer to answer any questions you have..." She trailed off, enjoying the warmth, before remembering what she had been trying to do when she collapsed. Turning her head, she looked at the small blue and white hatchling, and raised a paw, this time the fully working right, and waved to her, accompanied by a warm, “Hello.”

((aaaaa sorry! I was sleeping D: I think we all have different time zones, but that's oke 030)

Dionysus felt her throat emit a loud purr as her mother gingerly stroked her head, rubbing it on her paw to express her affection. She knew it wasn't a good time to talk, so she didn't say a word. The young hatchling just sat down on her rump with a plop, and watched the commotion unfold before her. This time Dionysus didn't block things out and listened intently to the conversations. Since she didn't pay attention earlier, she grasped this chance to catch up on all she missed. Ardent was the black hatchling's name, she learned, but not the pretty silver dragoness. Dionysus smiled at the sight of fire and shuffled up to it beside the older dragon. She slid her eyes closed in contentment. She buckled her knees underneath her as a cat would (you know that pose when they look like a loaf of bread lol). She looked up at her with wide, curious eyes when she mentioned magic. Magic is so neat, Dionysus thought.

"Are you.. a wizard?" she said hopefully. Maybe she has a spell that can turn me invincible so I can beat Aeolus and Northera! Then the IceWing hatchling turned her head to gaze at Ardent. She did her odd, crooked smile again. "Hey, dude. I'm Dionysus."

At Ardent and Imperia's thanks, the Semi dipped her head slightly as if to say no problem. Her gaze was no less wary than it had been when she'd met the pair of strangers, though, but surprise shone in her midnight blue eyes when she turned her attention to the grey metal cuffs around Ardent's delicately arched neck and fragile-looking wrists. She hadn't seen them when they'd first met; probably because Artemise was too busy being on guard and carefully watching Ardent, and not actually noting the latter's appearance. Sure, she'd noticed that Ardent had beautiful, ebony-black scales, streaked with magma orange - but she hadn't bothered to look closely.

Curiosity piqued, the IceWing opened her maw to ask about the metal cuffs, but quickly closed it again. What if the metal cuffs reminded Ardent of something bad? After all, only slaves had those cuffs - maybe Ardent had been one before. If so, it would be best not to ask, but Artemise was still tempted to mention the cuffs. After a moment of mental debate, the Semi finally opened her maw again, and asked, "Ardent, if you don't mind me asking... Why do you have those cuffs around your neck and wrists? Have you been--" She abruptly cut herself off. No, she would not ask about that. Not until Artemise determined that it was okay to ask.

Imperia giggled at Dionysus' question.
"I suppose I am a sort of wizard. A wind wizard."
She glanced back at Artemise, noticing that the ice dragoness still looked unfriendly. She decided to avoid bothering Artemise for now and just see what happened. She avoided Artemise's gaze and checked to make sure Ardent was ok and warming up properly.

Stiffening, Ardent turned back to face the fire, the unease and pain radiating from her almost palpable. Opening her maw, her voice almost emotionless, tinged with the smallest hint of pain, she began to answer Artemise’s question. “They’re symbols of ownership, placed on me by a human.” She said simply, glancing down at the cuffs, before sighing and explaining fully, knowing that leaving it there would simply trigger more questions. “I was born into captivity, human captivity. Ever since my birth, I’ve been an object. A creature. Nothing more than a symbol of stature and wealth for whatever human could afford to keep me. It was only a few short weeks ago that I escaped.” Pausing, she mentally debated whether to reveal how she had done so, deciding that it wasn’t important. “I still have them because I can’t remove them. I doubt I could have removed them if they were working, but they are damaged, the locking mechanism a solid mass, that I can’t move.” She finished, looking down at the solid metal. “But that’s in the past. I’m free now. Or… as free as I can be.”

Shuffling slightly closer to Imperia as she moved towards her, she rested against the smaller dragoness, craving more warmth. Looking towards Artemise’s hatchling, Dionysus, Ardent forced the saddened look from her maw, and the small smile back. “Dionysus. What an interesting name. It’s a pleasure to meet you. My name is Ardent.” She almost faltered at the last part, realising the small dragoness had probably already picked that up. Trying to cover up the possible blunder, she quickly complimented, “I haven’t seen a dragon with your colour scales before… They compliment each other very nicely.”

Dionysus listened to Ardent's story. Humans? What were those? What did.. captivity mean? In the mind of this five-year-old, she thought Ardent and her mother was talking about grown-up stuff. There were plenty of words that she didn't understand, but she could tell it was a sad story by the tone of the other hatchling's voice. Dion nodded slowly, as if she could understand...

Then she realized the silver dragon had spoken to her!

"Huh," Dionysus said in a thoughtful tone. "That's pretty wicked! How long did it take you to learn?" The little IceWing was built to be a Guardian, but she had much time to think about what she wanted to be and train for in her apprentice years. So she was eager to learn about scholars as well! This dragoness standing before Dionysus must be a pro!

Hearing Ardent's words, Dionysus blushed. "W- Well, I.." She grinned. "Your scales are neat too!! Those orange marks look kind of like paint. Which is totally awesome, by the way."

Imperia had not heard all of Ardent's story before, she put a comforting wing on the young dragoness as she listened. Ardent's warmth felt nice, Imperia hoped that her body contact provided some comfort in return.
She smiled again at Dionysus. "You never stop learning how to do magic. But for me to become good took me more then fifty years. Still it was totally worth it."

At Ardent's mention of humans, Artemise stiffened fractionally. Humans. Savage, two-legged creatures with wicked minds - wicked enough to come up with ideas for monstrous weapons that were strong enough to kill EarthWings. Her Tribe had nothing to do with the EarthWings, but she had been greatly affected by their fall. Now that she thought of it, she had been devastated. In fact, she had --

A voice - Ardent's - broke into her thoughts, and Artemise had to clear her thoughts away in order to focus on what Ardent was saying.

When Ardent was finished, Artemise was silent for a few seconds, her brain processing what was just said. Ardent had been a captive. Not only that - she had been born into captivity. Had the accursed humans stolen the egg containing Ardent? Artemise's voice held suppressed fury as she ground out, "They chained you. A hatchling. Chained, and bound."

Whether or not Ardent was an IceWing... Artemise would go after the humans, and give them what they deserved. She didn't suspect that Ardent had killed them all while she'd attempted to escape; nor would she ever consider the possibility, as she thought of Ardent as harmless, with powers not yet fully developed. For now, Artemise sat there, brooding quietly as Ardent, Imperia and Dionysus spoke to - or rather, exchanged compliments with - each other.

Minutes passed. Then Artemise finally asked, "The cuffs - is it possible for me to freeze them, then break them off?" She realised that the idea was a bad one the moment she voiced it out. There were two problems: One, her frostbreath. Already it was colder than the average IceWing's - not to mention that the average IceWing's frostbreath could already do much damage, especially against a FireWing. Two, there was the matter if breaking the chains off. What if she damaged Ardent's paws in the process?

Still, she wanted to know Ardent's opinion, and she waited for it.

Embarrassed by the other hatchlings comment, Ardent blushed, which, for her, was to say the magma streaks that were webbed across her body glowed several shades brighter. “Thank you...“ She replied softly, a small smile on her maw. Cuddling against Imperia, she shifted herself and managed to free one of her wings from the pile of furs, wrapping it over the small Skywing, to keep her warm.

Watching Artemise, the one who held the majority of her attention, Ardent instinctively fell in on herself, trying to make herself smaller, dropping her head down to her chest. “Y-yes…” She replied quietly, that tone of barely suppressed anger one she had more than enough experience with. Shrinking back, she barely stopped herself from placing a wing between them, not scared of the large dragoness, per say, but rather the tone she was using, and what usually accompanied such a tone. Pain.

Listening to Artemise ask a simple question, Ardent shook her head, no. “I… They were fine outside… I don’t think they’ll freeze that easily…” She murmured quietly, almost to herself, just loud enough for Artemise to hear. She desperately wanted to be asked another question, to be off the topic of her past… but it was all her past, wasn’t it? Her likes, her dislikes, her loves, her hates… they all linked back, at least in some way, to her captivity. Looking around the cave, as if look for a way out of some sort of trap, her gaze was caught by glowing crystals set into the ceiling, which seemed to be glowing. “Those are interesting..." She piped up, tilting her head. “I’ve never seen glowing crystals before… what are they?” She asked, trying to pull the conversation topic away from herself.

Dionysus slumped her shoulders at the number 50. "Fifty?" she whined. "But that's so long!" She pursed her 'lips' and glanced back for a second. Then she perked up. "Well, maybe I can be a Guardian instead..." That grin appeared on her snout once more. "Hey! You're not an IceWing, are you?"

((Sorry for short post, haven't been in a posting/writing mood D: )