Meeting the Twin Storms ((Private topic with Sting and Cyclone and Typhoon))

Sting was feeling rather adventurous today. That was something uncommon about her, as she would usually stay cozy in the NightWings without getting her paws dirty, as she preferred. Since Sting didn't have anyone to talk to in the first place, she felt like she didn't have to come home worrying about explaining herself to her peers. Nobody knew her, so why would anyone care if she went missing?

Sting didn't know what part of Pyrria she was at right now, but she kept note of where she was going by making marks where she passed. She kept in mind that if she ever needed to go home, she can just follow the marks. Maybe she didn't have to worry about that now, though. If Sting wanted to stay in the Rogue Lands a while, she can simply find a place to rest until dawn breaks. Then she can keep moving.

Simple.

However, it was then when Sting paused in her tracks to examine something she never saw before. It was a small shrub with budding pink flowers on its baby branches. The NightWing never saw such before. She took a seat on her bum to analyze it. "What the devil are you?"

The twins walked through the Rogue Lands, hoping they could find some food, somewhere to stay, or even someone willing to take them in. The pair soon spotted a lone stag, something that could be easily be caught. The pair snuck up slowly, but Cyclone felt a slight tickle in her nose, soon letting out a loud sneeze and scaring the deer off. Typhoon just glared at his sister, who let out a nervous laugh. "Sorry." Typhoon couldn't help but smile at Cyclone's simply apology. "It's ok, sis. We'll get the next one."

The conjoined siblings continued to search until they noticed another dragon. The pair tried to hide behind a tree and get a look at the dragon.
"Looks like a Nightwing."
"Thank you Captain Obvious. Should we introduce ourselves to her?"
"I don't see why not. She doesn't look like your typical Rogue." Cyclone just stared at her brother, and gave him a sarcastic response.
"There are typical Rogues?" Typhoon just gave her an annoyed look.
"You know what I mean. Do you want to talk to her or not?" Cyclone gave him a nod, and the pair slowly approached the dragoness. The two heads looked at her before Cyclone spoke up. "Hello.

Sting was smart enough to know that a plant won't answer her. Standing up, she circled the spectacle and gave its blooming flowers a curious sniff. The NightWing wrinkled up her nose, taking a step back. It smelled like your typical flower, except its scent was one of those that was so strong that it can make a dragon gag. Sting didn't like it at all.

About to go on, a new scent reached her nostrils, and Sting looked in the direction of. . .

She blinked, shocked. She never saw a dragon like that. Was it a hydra? It was a conjoined dragon with two heads, one with blue eyes and one with red. Sting, although in shock, didn't run. Like the shrub, this was something she never saw before. If the dragon was bigger than she was she would've ran, but they were smaller and seemed younger than Sting was. They were also approaching in a calm and unthreatening manner.

"Hello," a head said, the voice of a female. Sting wondered if they were both females, or if the other was a male.

"Oh, hey there," Sting spoke. She was about to open her mouth to say something, but there was one problem. What do you say to a dragon with two heads? Do you just treat it like a normal creature? Most likely, but what if Sting happens to trigger them? What then?

She took a risk. "It's a, uh.. pretty day, huh?" She sounded nervous, but in her defense that is how she sounded like around everybody.

The twins looked at the dragoness, both noticing how uncomfortable she seemed. It wasn't anything that hadn't happened to the pair before, they knew they were really different, but it always irked them a bit when it happened. Either way, they like finding another dragon who wouldn't run off at the sight of them, or mock the pair. They soon looked at each other before looking at the Nightwing with smiles on their faces.
"Hello. It is a nice pretty day, isn't it?" Typhoon then spoke up, having an odd question on his mind.
"Um.... Why did you sniff a whole bush of those flowers? One's more than enough for any dragon ."

For an odd bunch the two sure were friendly! (Or. . . So they seemed.) She wasn't sure if they saw the shock in her eyes from before. Either they noticed or didn't care or they didn't spot it at all. The first possibility made Sting's ears burn in shame. Sure, they looked a little different than the norm. . . But don't they have the same red blood as you and me, dear reader?

Thus, Sting attempted to shake off her surprise and paid attention to the two dragons. The female head agreed with the NightWing, and finally Sting's inquiry of the blue-eyed head was answered when it-- he --spoke up. It was a good question with a reply that Sting didn't have to hesitate to consider.

"It is a shrub I've never seen before," answered the dragoness. "I was curious." Suddenly anxious about whether her response was dumb and sounded rabbit-brained, she said quickly, "I'm Sting. . ."

Cyclone chuckled slightly. "Yeah, Mama called them Saber Scents, and our Otōsan called them Azamuku Flowers. He always said that meant Deceiver Flowers." Then, a hint of sadness crossed both hatchlings' faces. That is until they hear the dragon's name. Sting.

The pair looked at each other, their tail seeming to twitch a bit. Typhoon then gave his sister a nod as they looked at Sting. "My name's Cyclone."
"I'm Typhoon."

Mama and Otosan? Sting only assumed that Otosan was what they called their father. She looked at the bush once again, this time with sharp interest. Then it sunk in, and the NightWing became nervous. If their hatchling(s?) were here, then the parents must be close by. . . The NW Tribe were known to be mysterious and shady, and Sting wasn't sure if their mother would be too happy with her offspring communing with a dark-scaled dragoness. However, when she looked back up, she saw the ghost of a sad expression on their faces.

Suddenly it dawned on her. The grammar the female head used. Said. Called. . . .Their parents were dead, weren't they. . . ?

"Cyclone and Typhoon," Sting echoed. Their names rolled off her tongue, and the female realized that she liked it. She smiled. "Very cool names."

The pair smiled at the compliment. It wasn't something they were use to, but it felt pretty good.
"Thanks! Your name's cool too."
"Yeah!"

Typhoon then thought a moment, seeming to have a question on his mind. It was obvious that Sting, at the very least, wasn't from the area. With this in mind, he looked over to the black dragoness. "So? Where are you from?"

Sting appreciated the compliments from the two. She curled her tail tighter around her paws and tilted her head at the spectacle. She had done much studying already. They were quite interesting, but she was a little tired of soaking in every detail. She forced herself to relax. No more staring. . .

"I am from the Twilight Imperium," she replied. "The NightWing Tribe. What about you?" She really was curious. Cyclone and Typhoon sounded like SkyWing names, but she could be wrong. After all, you would think Sting would be an EarthWing name.

Cyclone didn't ever give her brother a look before answering. She was never good at reading people, ironically a trait that one might assume a dragoness would have, so she tended to rely on Typhoon to know if there was anything shady. But both twins felt calm around the Nightwing. "We were hatched and raised as Rogues near the center of Pyyrai."

"Rogues?" the NightWing repeated, surprise laden in her voice. Suddenly afraid that it may be taken as rude or degrading, she quickly said, "S- Sorry. . . I just kind of expected you to live in a Tribe. There isn't anything wrong with dragons who live on their own, but. . ." She paused to study them. How old were they? Were their parents gone? Did they have no guardian to look after them? Suddenly Sting had so many questions. She would ask them all, but was afraid of being too straight forward and being mistaken as unsafe.

"Do you handle yourself well out here?" the dark-scaled dragoness asked instead. It was a good question, she thought. It was a genuine one, too."

Sting's reaction did seem to upset Cyclone a bit, as the hatchling gave a slightly angry look, though he brother's expression didn't really change. She looked happy again when the dragoness apologized. The pair then heard Sting's question. The pair didn't really want to answer the question, but they also didn't want to lie or avoided the question. Plus, they still felt comfortable around the older dragon. Typhoon then looked at Sting, seeming a little uneasy. "We manage. It's not easy when you're some of the smallest Rogues around, but we can get food an all." Something then popped into Cyclone's head. "It also gets lonely. And I know how stupid that sounds, but it does."

When Sting saw the look of fury on Cyclone's expression, she felt a dagger of guilt impale her heart. She was relieved when the dragoness seemed to recover, but Sting couldn't forgive herself. She felt sympathetic, and offending the pair of conjoined twins was the last thing on her agenda. Sting made sure to choose her next words with caution to prevent provoking Cyclone anymore. She didn't want to scare them away. She felt even more guilty when Typhoon looked uncomfortable.

I said something wrong, didn't I?

"Oh." Sting blinked slowly, nodding. She didn't have much to say and was afraid of talking in fear of saying the wrong thing again and losing their company. Dang, anxiety was awful. "I, uh. . . I gotcha." Although she was lonely herself, Sting couldn't imagine a life without dragons all around her. How was she supposed to reply to someone saying they got lonely? "Maybe you can come to the NightWings sometime.. to visit me."

Cyclone looked a bit guilty when she noticed how Sting took her look, and how she was responding to Typhoon's question. She liked Sting, and could tell her brother did too. He had a hint of guilt on his face, not as much as she did, but it was there.

Neither of the twins could tell how Sting took Cyclone's comment. Typhoon thought she seemed to understand, and conveyed that to his twin. Then they heard her mention visiting. She really wanted to let them visit?

The pair then smiled at the idea. It would almost be like having a home again. "I like that idea!"

"Um...would you mind showing us where to go?"

Sting was happy to see the two smile at her suggestion. Things didn't seem so bad now. The past was in the past. The NightWing was jovial to nod at Typhoon, letting a purr out of her throat. "I'll be happy to." She stood to her paws and turned to where she came from. Her tailtip flicked. "I marked places I passed on the way so I could find my way back. It shouldn't take long."

The NightWing began to trot, but paused to look back. "Or would you rather fly?"

The pair smiled happily at Sting, especially Cyclone who would have probably been jumping had it not been for Typhoon. They began to follow the Nightwing until she stopped, asking if they'd rather fly. The pair's tail twitched and swayed as the looked at each other. Both then turned to the black dragoness. "If you can see the marks, then flying sounds great!"

The twins' enthusiasm was contagious, and it spread to Sting. The corners of her lips were tugged to make a grin. If she were to guess, she assumed that the two enjoyed flying. . . But at the same time, who didn't? Most (if not all) dragons possessed limbs for flying, be it wings or something completely different. Flying was a part of a dragon's nature and instincts, and a drake hating to take to the sky was foreign to Sting.

"Perfect," the dark-colored dragoness said in a cheerful tone, spreading her wings and batting them softly to raise herself off the ground. "It'll be much faster this way." The NightWing smiled, and went higher with a much larger beat of her wings. She paused before going on, making sure the twins would follow. She wasn't sure how fast they could fly, and she didn't want to lose them.

The twins both smiled as they spread their two pairs of wings. No one really knew if Cyclone and Typhoon would ever have be able to fly, mostly do to each controlling their respective side, and they loved it all the more because of this. The two sets of wings began to move, with the main set flapping just before the secondary ones, and lifted the pair off the ground.

The pair quickly flew up to Sting, but they gave each other a look, and a fingered, oak leaf-like fin expanded from under their feathers, from the base of the tail to the tip. The two then flew close to Sting at near top speed, yet turned on a dime and looped around the dragoness. After doing the loop, Cyclone and Typhoon's tail fins closed, once again becoming hidden by the feathers of their tail. Both looked at Sting with big, satisfyed smiles on their faces. "So, which way?"

All of Sting's anxieties of them having low speed vanquished when she was utterly amazed at how they began their flight with two sets of wings-- something the NightWing has never laid eyes upon before. By the look on their faces, she could tell that Cyclone and Typhoon were thrilled to take to the sky.

Hey, you thought Sting was done being impressed? Nope!

The dragoness was surprised when the two approached her with a high speed, and she noticed a fin on their tail that she never saw on them before. She had to rotate in the sky to keep watching them, and even then she was a little slow. When Sting looked back at the twins, the fin was gone. The moment went by quickly.

"Wow. . . Hey, that was cool!" she marvelled, her eyes lighting up. She suddenly wondered how they controlled their body. Was one half Cyclone and the other Typhoon? Or was one of the twins dominant? Sting pondered if it'd be a good question to ask, but didn't come up with a final decision. With a friendly grin, she said, "Maybe I'll have a hard time keeping up with you!" She meant it in a friendly way, kind of as a joke. After all, Sting was the one leading them to her home. How funny would it be if she couldn't catch up because they were so swift?

"Okay, NightWing Territory is this way. Follow me." With that, Sting veered around towards the east, beating her wings at a moderate pace as she neared her home.

Cyclone and Typhoon smiled at Sting's compliment, both enjoying being able to show off just a little. And both responded with "Thank you." They really liked Sting. She was nice, and treated them more like normal dragons than a side show act. Then the dragoness joked about their speed, getting some chuckles out of both twins.

The two then followed Sting towards Nightwing territory. Typhoon looked down at the land below. He saw a swamp below, reminding him of he and his sister's old home. He began to think about their parents and brother, loosing focus on flying for a moment. For most, this wouldn't be a problem, but when you had to coordinate with someone else for everything it could become one. And soon enough, Cyclone went to flap without her brother following suit, nearly sending both falling to the ground. This snapped Typhoon out of it, but all his sister could do was give him an annoyed look. "Hey! Try flapping next time!" He let out a nervous apology. "Sorry sis. I was just thinking."

Though her brother didn't say what he was thinking of, Cyclone had a good idea what it was, and nuzzled him slightly before them both went back to flying, following Sting from behind and below. Cyclone looked up at the dragoness, asking her how much farther till they reached her home.

Puzzled, Sting shifted her gaze to her wings, which were trembling in the midst of a disturbance of wind. However, the day was humid, and the NightWing could feel no wind buffeting her back side or face. Rather, the gusts came in rythimic(or however it's spelled) beats, and the dragoness made a swift motion in the sky, twisting herself around to look back at her company. In a panic, she was just about to swoop down, but then the two got upright once again, much to her relief. Sting exhaled a shaky sigh of relief that she didn't know she was holding. She really was terrified there.

If things didn't turn out well. . . Would I still have made it to them in time?

Sting shuddered guiltily at the thought. Deciding not to dwell on what if's, she opened her mouth to speak, but saw the two twins exchange a few words and a meaningful look. Finally, the NightWing came to the conclusion that maybe it wasn't the right time to ask right now.

"Well. . ." Sting twisted back around to fly, this time slowing down her speed so that she could soar side-by-side with Cyclone and Typhoon. Seeing her home, she said, "Here it is." She descended towards a small patch of land that was surrounded by a semi-circle of a strange rock formation. It seemed cool, but not a home. However, Sting had surprises.

"Do you need a rest?"

The twins happily landed next to Sting and began to look around. It was almost like the arenas their human friends and father told them about. Even though it didn't look like a home neither wanted to judge, or at least not aloud in Cyclone's case. They didn't want to hurt Sting's felling, and were still curious.

Then the dragoness asked if they wanted to rest. Both had to admit, they were tired. It would be hard to explain, but they tended to get tired at the same time. Typhoon gave a nod while Cyclone spoke. "Yeah. That sounds good."

Sting smiled, her paws suddenly itching and excitement churning in her guts. She always wanted to surprise others with her home, since it was so well hidden. In fact, it was easy for a dragon strolling by to tumble through, even though it didn't happen so often. The formation of stones was an intriguing sight, but most dragons travelled by sky, so they could study it from afar and not from the earth. Sting was thankful for that.

"Watch your step," the NightWing spoke, taking a move forth. There was a sudden dip in the ground that she often concealed with tree branches and undergrowth, but it was just enough for a dragon her size could crawl through. It developed into a tunnel, the sides sprawling out with twisting and intertwining branches with a few green leaves poking out here and there. The tunnel went on for mere seconds before reaching into a large cavern. The cave had a spiky thingy coming from the top in one corner, where water dripped into a small bowl Sting had set out. The home was rather bland, but luckily there was a nest for Sting and a nest for any visitors she may have. Suddenly the dragoness was grateful that Cyclone and Typhoon were one whole dragon-- Sting wouldn't have enough nests!

"I hope this is okay." She looked back, grinning sheepishly before prodding one of the nests. They were both made with plush grass, lined with feathers and cotton. It was comfy for Sting, but she wasn't sure about the opinion of the twins on the matter. She was willing to make a completely new nest if they weren't content with the one she had.

Both Cyclone and Typhoon were surprised to the opening. It was hidden pretty well, so well that neither expected it. As the pair followed Sting, they were in awe, both uttering "Wow!" as they walked through the tunnel.

Then they came into the cavern. The pair were so amazed that they lost focus on walking, causing the the two to trip on their own paws. Unlike the flight there, neither got mad about it. They were both mystified by the cave.

Then Sting showed them the nests. It had been a long time since they had a comfortable place to lay their heads. The pair quickly jumped into the nest she pointed out. It reminded them of the moss and lichen nests they had slept in before they lost their family. Cyclone smiled as she and Typhoon curled up, the tail fin showing itself once again.

Typhoon then looked at Sting. "This is great. Thank you."

Sting was proud of herself, but happy she was even more so. She was overjoyed to make the twins happy. She couldn't imagine what it was like to be a rogue. . . But at least they weren't totally alone. They had each other, and the NightWing dragoness could tell they were closer than scales on a pelt-- both literally and figuratively!

"I am so happy to hear that," the female purred. "May I get you anything to drink or eat?"