The Alpha Beckons [Gifted Crystals]

The air was crisp, but not overly cool. The air was humid, but not overly hot. It was a special spot, where the ocean and the IceWing mountains met. Upon the pebbles on the beach sat a regal IceWing male, sitting upright with his dull white scales slightly glimmering in the sun's light and his faded webs flowing in the light breeze. Ra'Shei stared out at the ocean and let the wind whip at his face.

Years had passed since the sudden strike of the Monsterlypse. The Gifted Crystals had been shattered, the SeaWings very nearly going extinct and the IceWings scattered and nowhere to be found. It had been a rough time. But Ra'Shei was ready. He was ready to take the mantle of the Crystals' leader and guide the way to peace.

It was time.

The male stood to his talons, stretching his long limbs and spreading his transparent wings. He opened his maw and rose it to the sky, and from it a loud, throaty roar erupted. The call spread far for miles, hopefully reaching the ears of any IceWings or SkyWings who might respond to the call. Ra'Shei made the roar as long as he could before drawing back air, heaving.

"I am ready."

It has been a while since he's been through these waters. His search for other SeaWings had been fruitless as of late with his wanderings, his searching would include the IceWings if only he could stand the cold like they could. So on this pass and time the ex-guardian of the Seawings popped his head above the waves he heard the distant roar. He recognized it to be that of a dragons and from the general direction...he would have to guess IceWing since the mountains aren't that far away, and they normally make such places home to them. With renewed hope and curiosity he dove back down under the waves, making a straight path towards where the roar came from.

After sometime he surfaced again and could now clearly make out a beach ahead of him along with the familiar shape of a now clear IceWing standing there. Slowly he drifted on over, his sea foam/lime green scales becoming easier to pick out, and faded fins helping him steer easily till he beached not too far from the regal, yet weathered, looking dragon. Up this close it became obvious they were twice his size and looked older then him, yet appearances can always be so deceiving.

"A lovely spot I must admit. Of all the places I've been to, this certainly has a peaceful charm to it." He spoke first, initially taking a wide look around of the spot in detail. Then came back towards the IceWing with a lazy look, "My name is Aquantei, a SeaWing Guardian-well, before the tribe scattered, now it's Aquantei the Hermit Guardian. Now though, to whom do I owe the pleasure of speaking to on a fine day such as this?"

The pleasant weather had the guardian Soulcry's spirits up, he was on duty. He always hunted dolphins every other week or so, (heh, lizards). However, today he managed to make one of his most prime of catches, besides the orca some time ago. He was busy eating his dolphin, minding his business when suddenly he heard the call. It wasn’t very hard for him to make out what it said, with his acute senses; however, he mistakenly believed it was an instigating battle cry, like someone wanted to pick a fight

Therefore, Soulcry had to finish his meal early, and quickly dash towards where the thunderous roar came from. Much to his surprise, there was another dragon there, but they seem to be apart of the Crystals alliance, clearly a Seawing and an Icewing. Soulcry approached bravely, and spake.

"Are there any problems here?" Soul said, not recognizong either of them.

The IceWing stood in place, waiting for a mere few moments before a dragon-- a male SeaWing --finally appeared. Pleased that his call did not take long to lure a fellow dragon, Ra'Shei dipped his head in deep respect whilst ducking his wings tight to his sides as well to appear friendly. He then drew his head back up gracefully and introduced himself.

"Thank you, Aquantei. The pleasure is all mine." With a flick of his tail, he continued, "My name is Ra'Shei. I was a scholar in the IceWings before the tragedy we know as the Monsterlypse struck."

At Aquantei's remark of the beauty of the area, he glanced around only to discover the polite SeaWing had been correct. This soft, pebbly beach was indeed quite lovely. Ra'Shei did not consider this when he picked this spot to call forth the Gifted Crystals; he simply believed it would be a pleasant medium for IceWings and SeaWings alike, as the air was not quite cold but not quite hot either. But yes, the beach was rather beautiful as well, and Ra'Shei had a feeling he would visit the area again in the future on his own will if not for Tribe business.

As the dragon heard footsteps approach, Ra'Shei turned his eyes to the fellow drawing near. He gave the IceWing the same regards as he did Aquantei, bowing his head and tucking his wings before folding them back neatly at his sides. "Everything is well. Thank you. Tell me, dear fellow, are you part of the Gifted Crystals?"

Snowblaze had heard the roar, but she was admittedly hesitant. She was never comfortable around others from her tribe, mostly do to her mind and her Firewing part of her heritage. After some thinking to herself though, the odd dragoness finally decided to fly to the sound. Well, at least she could have a nice flight.

Soon, Snow had made it to the coastal area that the call had come from. She pretty quickly too to keeping to herself, merely sitting slightly outside the group of dragons, and clearly not comfortable. Her mind kept shooting back and forth between being logical an emotional, and that was just making things worse fore her. Hopefully this guy would have something to say.

Ra'Shei...interesting name. While he contemplated the IceWing's response, and his thoughts turning a bit sour at the mention of the Monsterlypse, another dragon showed up with a brave face on. A lazy eye noticing this new arrival and the confirmation of him asking if there were any problems here. IceWing, he would have to guess, as this new arrival looked very interesting in appearance. And the latest one, again twice his size, though she seemed to keep her distance from them. Understandable, he'd probably feel the same in her situation as well if not similar.

He turned to new arrival who had spoke their question. "No problems." Then turned a different way and with a paw near his snout began to blow lazily. A medium sized bubble came out and floated along with the wind away from them as he listened to the conversation.

No problems indeed, but Soul was bewildered to hear there wasnt anything to worry about.  
"Well, this is quite a surprise," he said, curiously peering his head at the three dragons, including the other new arrival.  "why yes, I am in fact of the alliance, I work on the shores here and around as a guardian but rarely see much action.  A dragon here or there, but I usually try to keep hidden from the beasts you speak of.  A part of me was concerned there would be a fight of some sort, or another dragon might be in danger, the roar seemed a bit loud,"

"However," he said, "if there are no problems, may I ask, what was the loud roar for?  Should I continue to my duty?"

Vann was swimming in the waters off the beach the IceWings had gathered on. He suddenly heard a roar, one that was loud enough to be heard through the water. Vann surfaced and peered toward the beach. And then he saw them: another SeaWing. Vann hadn't seen another SeaWing in ages! Well, there was that Scholar, but they disappeared. As fast as he could, the Guardian swam to the beach. Once he reached sand, Vann then dragged himself as fast as he could over to the SeaWing. "Hey! Another SeaWing! I don't think we've met before. Who are you? What's your rank?? Where have you been all this time? I'm Vann, by the way. I'm a Guardian! IceWings are great and all, but it's really awesome to see another SeaWing after all these years!" Vann couldn't have been happier... In fact, there probably wasn't anyone that could be happier at that particular moment.

Atarijor was by himself. Usually, he was with Snowblaze, but she wanted to be by herself. The Wyvern whimpered and shrank down when he heard the roar in the distance. It wasn't something he wanted to go anywhere near, so Atar started back to the mountain that hid the IceWings' secret lair. As he made his way there, he heard flapping wings, and looked up. Snowblaze flew overhead. Atarijor wanted to ask her what that roar had been. He followed, having to walk because his arm still hadn't healed yet. It took him a while to get to the beach. Atarijor, as usual, was the biggest one there, at 112ft. But still, he tried to make himself look as small as possible, taking a submissive stance when he saw everyone on the beach. The Wyvern went over to Snowblaze and attempted to hide behind her. He didn't want to anger the dragons by drawing attention to himself...

The male twisted his long neck to take in the sight of the three new dragons appearing. One, a female with translucent scales and vibrant orange markings, the second a male serpentine SeaWing, and the third an IceWing who appeared he didn't want any attention on himself. Ra'Shei then turned his blank eyes to the dragon who spoke to him. Satisfied with his audience, he simply rumbled, "Allow me to show you." in a deep, ominous voice.

In the center of the pebbly beach was a large, tall spiraling rock which Ra'Shei chose as his podium. He coiled himself around it gracefully, perching his claws upon the very tip itself and holding himself up. His neck stretched out elegantly in an arch and his translucent wings flared open. All in all, the sight of the male upon the spire was regal.

Finally he spoke in a deep, commanding voice.

"SeaWings-" He gestured a wing to Vann and Aquantei. "IceWings-" He gestured with his wing yet again to Atarijor, Soulcry, and Snowblaze. "I believe for too long the Gifted Crystals have been disbanded, scattered, and homeless. We have not had the protection of our kin or our leaders, especially since the solemn disappearance of Draken and Virgo." Ra'Shei allowed a moment of silence to remember the past King and Queen with a solemn expression before continuing. "This is why I propose we unite once again as a Tribe, the Gifted Crystals of old. Too long have we been forgotten by the Imperium and the Starlights. Too long have we been assumed deceased. I want us to rise yet again!"

The Alpha's wings stretched regally, the sun glinting through the membranes of his wings. "I propose we unite once more, with I as your King-- no. Your Alpha. This is my proposal- to show the dragons of this world that we will not easily be vanquished. That is, if you would agree to stand at my side."

Aquantei had been content to let the IceWings talk among themselves, he only came to shore curious to why Ra'Shei wanted such dragons to gather. Then in the middle of blowing a particularly large bubble he didn't notice the swimming shape beached and fast dragged toward him.

"Hey! Another SeaWing! I don't think we've met before. Who are you? What's your rank?? Where have you been all this time? I'm Vann, by the way. I'm a Guardian! IceWings are great and all, but it's really awesome to see another SeaWing after all these years!"

Pop

The bubble burst and covered the middle-aged dragon's head completely in slick coating. Honestly, he didn't know how to react to Vann's sudden appearance. "....hi?" With his sudden arrival he barely noted on Ra'Sheis announcement, another shock as well that left him....just speechless.

The ecstatic seawing was exuberant, but Soul still didn't recognize any of the dragons here. Soul listened to the Alpha carefully, though. He was very much aware of the beasts they spake of. He was very interested in what they had to say, in fact, he thought it would be a great idea to tag along, if not for making friends, at least for survival.

Then Soulcry interjected once more;

“Count me in,” he said, eagerly.

Vann was about to say more when the IceWing started speaking. He "sat" by the other SeaWing and listened intently.

The fifteenth son of Atarijor I, however, was very much afraid and confused. There were more dragons about than Atar was comfortable with. What was worse, he only knew two, and of them, only trusted one. The IceWing speaking used words that Atarijor was unfamiliar with: disabanned, scattered, homeless--to name a few. Atarijor just wanted to leave, to work. But there was nothing to do and he Snowblaze didn't seem to be ready to leave yet. Finally, Atarijor spoke, but he did so in human tongue. "Atarijor doesn't understand what that means."

Snowblaze was honestly kind of surprised by what this Ra'Shei had to say. He wanted to bring the Seawings and Icewings back from the brink. To be their... Alpha. This was definitely interesting. Her mind began to swap back and forth between emotional and intellectual. Agh! This was painful. Her mind finally settled on emotional aw Atarijor asked what was being said. Snow smiled as she tried her best to explain.

"He means that the Icewings, what we are, and the Seawings have been... without a true home, or a true leader, for a long time. This dragon wants to help us."