Frozen Lands (Private with Apolis)

Tempest made her way through the IceWings north-west border. It was freezing, the cold wind nipped at her scales and threatened to freeze her tail off. Her teeth were almost chattering. Cold puffs of air blew from her nostrils as her breathe came and went, slightly heating the freezing terrain around her. Her paws melted into the ice a little, but with her tail sweeping over her tracks and the howling blizzard, she was positive nothing could track her. Tempest was tired, her wings ached and her paws burnt whenever she took a step.

She had taken a long route to get there, starting from the far west of the Sea of Embers, taking a path which lead her to the edges of the sandy Oasis, then she flew north, passing The Mother Tree and she then continued north over Valorans Sea. She had taken such a long and tedious route so that nothing could have seen her, and she made sure to fly close to human territory to again reduce the fact of anyone seeing. She then took a south-easterly position to end up a fair distance into the IceWings land.

If she had known it was going to be so bitterly cold, maybe she wouldn't have done this, but it was completely necessary. She dragged her form through the snow, her head tilted against the howling blizzard as she tried to keep herself a little warm. She couldn't heat her scales too much, or there would be a track which was easy to follow behind her. A structure was visible in the distance, and she slowly pulled her form through the ice. When she had gotten there, Tempest could barely make out the shadows of a few guards stationed there. She knew she had most likely surprised the guards with the appearance of a large FireWing at their doors, and she called out to them, "I am Tempest, Queen of the FireWings. As you can see, I have no guards with me, I am alone. Please, let me past, I am here to see your King, Apolis!" Tempest hoped that they were able to hear her against the howling winds.

Today would be eventful. Just recently, the IceWings had held their first festival ever since the council's formation. It was quite sightly, the people's faces smiling and wide. But this was present, and rather exciting for the skeptical IceWing. Alone at his stone desk, he peered out of the window, staring into the blank, tasteless tundra. Only large figures in the near distance could be seen as the guards of the gates to the castle. He sighed to himself with relaxed eyes, cryptic optics reluctantly fixed on the nothingness. But that all changed when a large figure had appeared to the scene, two guards cautiously glared and huffed to the foreigner. Ah... right. He was expecting someone today, but only told a few others. But, he had already sent someone down to the gates to escort this visitor.

"I'm sorry ma'am, we cannot allow you to go through without direct consent from our liege or one of his assistants..." Spoke the stoic, softly-speaking IceWing Gate Guard. The second one, right of him, speaking with a husky, cold voice.

"Yea-."

"That is where I pop in, you two." Vincent, Councilman Apolis's first assistant, interrupted with a matter-of-fact tone. The softer guard chuckled, as he husky one clicked his tongue and huffed. Vincent snickered and dipped his head to the FireWing, "Hello there, Queen of the FireWings, Tempest! I'm Vincent, Councilman Apolis's assistant and will be your escort. Please follow me!" A wide grin danced across his lips, as the guards reluctantly opened the gargantuan gates of ice and metal and stone.

Tempest became a little uneasy as they had taken a while to respond, and then, rather understandably, rejected her entrance. Tempest sighed lightly, shaking her head and lowering it slightly in disappointment. She could have sworn that she was allowed to come here, and if not, well... It was going to be the longest trip home that she could ever have imagined. She raised her head against the blistering cold, opening her rather large maw angrily, about to say something back to the guards who had dared to denied her entrance.

But then there was.. Another voice? A voice which bet her to the guards. Then she heard his introduction, a sigh of relief escaping her as she grinned up at them. She returned the bow, wincing as it exposed fresh skin to the cold. "The honour is mine, Vincent." She smiled brightly, before the giant gates opened before her. She had to admit, flying over the top of them was starting to look promising as she had been waiting a fair while, but she was rather grateful when the magnificent doors slowly swung open against the blizzard.

Tempest, giving the guards a final glance to make sure they wouldn't do anything, decided to cool her scales down slightly to make Vincent less frustrated at the fact that she was melting a fair bit of snow and ice. She followed him inside, taking note of the grand castle around her. She waited until the guards were out of earshot before she spoke quietly, "Vincent, may I ask if the IceWing kingdom is always so strict? And I have to ask... is it warmer in the buildings themselves?" Tempest was in the extreme opposite of the environment she had grown up in, and she was certain that if she had to stay up against the cold for much longer she would freeze. "It's just rather cold in comparison to what I have experienced, that's why I ask." She explained, feeling rather guilty that she found the cold so nippy against her scales.

As Vincent began to escort the dragonness to Apolis's Meeting Hall, a faint chatter could be heard in the distance between the two guards.

"What is Apolis thinking? Letting a FireWing enter the castle? - That's as dangerous as it can get! Wasn't that last leader, Kenina or whatever, kind of tyrannical?" Said the husky one.

"I'unno about that. I mean, I heard that the last FireWing Queen was getting cozy with Oculus. You know, the Oculus." The softer once replied.

"That Oculus?"

"Yeah. I heard that Queen Tempest is following in her footsteps. 'Course, I wouldn't blame her majesty, that NightWings are slowly covering the continent..." The softer one said the last few ones with a sigh.

The husky guard clicked his tongue. "Skeptical bastards. We ought to go slay'em Night serpents!"

The softer one chuckled and rolled his eyes, "Stupid. Like we could fight'em off by ourselves! I mean, they're practically right next to us. And with that new promotion Queen Tempest got? - Oooo-wee! All the tribes are in for a surprise when two powerful tribes join forces!"

The husky one simply snorted and looked back towards the icy tundra for more visitors, "Well, whatever. After all, it's just a rumor."

Vincent sighed and turned back to face the Queen with a forced smile, "Please ignore them... we IceWings do not get out often, for we've been pressed to... well, I'll let Councilman Apolis explain it but we often take rumors to heart, for it's the only news we really ever get. A-Anyway..." He spoke, with a melancholy, almost somber tone, "...let's continue down this corridor, take the stairs to the top floor, take a left, and we'll be here." He chuckled, and fell silent. And just like he said, the two went down the corridor, and on the walls were pictures and artwork, flags and symbols, but though it was a warm area, it was lonely and cold. They continued until they reached the spiraling staircase, shiny and bejeweled, made it to the top, walked down another corridor, took a left, and there stood two large, stone doors. Vincent sighed, "Oh, sorry, I skipped your other question. The IceWing Castle is very warm on the inside. Or rather, not cold. Heh. It gets warms as we get closer, which is why we use stone and metal instead of ice. But, 'ere we are." Vincent knocked onto the doors, requesting entry. "Councilman Apolis, sir? I'm here with Queen Tempest, for the meeting."

Apolis perked his ears, and smiled. "Come in."

Vincent chuckled and smiled back to the Queen, dipping his head. "I'll be on my way now. An honor to meet you!" He spoke chipperly before going back down the stairs.

Tempest tried her hardest to refrain from snarling at the guards, but a slight growl burned in her chest, her eyes glazed with embarrassment, anger and confusion. Even though that all may be true, that she had met Oculus, that she had met him and talked about taking the EarthWing territory and splitting it between them, she had done all these things, but she felt as if they were judging her before they even got to know how she truly felt with this. She did trust the NightWing, and she would almost say she felt at home with him, but she felt... Off. Something wasn't quite right.

She kept her thoughts to herself, silently fuming with what the IceWings had said. She was so deep in her hatred that for a split second, she saw her paw slightly change in appearance. She quickly shook it, and they turned back to normal in time for her to notice that Vincent was speaking to her again. She quietly listened, but when she heard that it wasn't freezing cold inside, she released a sigh, relieved. And indeed it was, it was cozy inside, but still she held her warm scales in check so that she didn't damage anything. She admired the paintings lining the wall and before she knew it, they had arrived at the door to Apolis.

She turned to Vincent, a smile on her face as she lowered her head in respect, "Thank you for guiding me here, I would have been transfixed by those paintings and lost if I hadn't had someone to guide me through them." Tempest joked gently, before she turned to the door. Her heart was pounding in her chest, and when her paw touched the door to open it, she noticed that they were slightly shaking. Come on, you made it this far... it's now or never. She thought to herself, and pushed the door open, stepping inside gracefully-despite her larger appearance. She closed the door carefully with her tail, then turned to the ice dragon in front of her. She noted the glorious feathery wings, the hair which came from his scales-it really would help him to keep warm in these icy conditions.

Then she remembered her manners, and stepped forward into a deep bow, "Greetings King Apolis, I hope that I am not too late-it took much longer than I anticipated to arrive here." She apologized, then straightened slightly, nervously speaking again, "May I ask why you requested a meeting? I do not mind coming all this way and evading the humans and spies, please do not take it the wrong way."

Apolis turned to face his visitor, Tempest, Queen of the FireWings and blessed with the powers of ember. Two opposites face to face. He sat down to his stone desk again, an assortment of scrolls scattered amongst the lukewarm surface. So much information, but, of little importance to this meeting. His talons gently taped against the surface, smiling warmly to the dragonness. "Salutations, Queen Tempest. And congratulations on your new title. Quite the excitement, eh? Heh. Anyway, straight to business. I called you here because I want to discuss a growing problem for the IceWing tribe, and will be critical that you aid us. Well, the NightWings have been slowly covering the continent and we've fallen victim to their actions and we plan to take some of their territory for our benefit. But, fret not, Queen Tempest, you will have our debt. Because of their mass-expansion of territory, our territory has been shunned to the corners of Pyyria, near the ocean, where resources are low and food is scarce and must be dealt with carefully. We, even us, cannot live under these conditions forever. My plan is to seize the edges of their territory near their borders toward our territory, and build a city which regulates trade, hunting, and expansion of our resources. Climates will be warmer and we will be more open to the visitations of tribes. Surely... you must be aware that your tribe is also effected. As the NightWing Empire grows, so does their power and tribes will soon be forced to take action against them if they want something as simple as expansion of territory. Which, more than likely, will be taken as an action declaring war, and that is more trouble for all of Pyyria. So I am asking for your help, more details can and will be provided if need be."

Tempest, although shocked by the sudden and almost overwhelming amount of information, slowly processed the information. It was true that it was a rather drastic change, from Guardian to Queen, but one that she was slowly growing accustomed to. She had to admit, Apolis was correct with the alliance with the NightWings, to claim the EarthWings former territory. As they had, although sadly, become extinct, it was now crawling with humans and she and Oculus had decided to get rid of the pesky apes. Hopefully, she would have been able to claim a small portion of land stretching around the Sea of Embers. However, she never realized that the IceWings were in such a dire need, they seemed to be fine according to her last reports. But now that she had a chance to think about it, Apolis was right. There was not much in the ways of food to go around because animals wouldn't be able to survive the harsh terrain that they lived in. In hindsight, it was much like her home. Animals barely lived in the volcanoes, and instead lived on the small patches of forest near the sea, and on the plains stretching south of her land.

Tempest groaned unwillingly, but the weight of a dire situation was suddenly tripled to her. "If you were to try and take a small portion of territory, surely you know that the NightWings are large in numbers and they will be able to fight right back against you. They may even be able to force you further into these mountains and cut your land back further... You would have to strike when they are weak, my men would be in a bit of trouble as well because they would be fighting near the cold environment, trust me, it is very crippling." Tempest explained, then fell silent for a few moments. The IceWings needed to have a slight amount of growth, or they would begin to starve, just like the ancient EarthWings who she held in such high regard had, although they were driven to extinction due to the humans, but the same sort of thing would happen. They would begin to die out, and she had to admit, it was rather daunting for the NightWings to have around half the continent, but something she was somewhat okay with because she was their ally. However, if they decided to, they could take all the land they wanted of the IceWings, and slowly, they too would adapt to living in cold environments.

"What would you do though Apolis if they decided to attack you once again after you have claimed the land. I do not want to cause offense, however, your men... Don't seem to be fighters from what I have seen, although I could be very wrong in this assumption. How will you hold back against them if they decided to just take back what you took? You need more men..." Tempest trailed off, an idea forming in her mind, but she didn't want to push it. How could she know that the IceWings would be okay with it? They were FireWings, she decided to keep the idea quiet for a few moments, if a chance arose, she would put it forward. She did quite like the IceWings, as she liked every tribe and would offer anything which was acceptable in order to help them.

(Just realized that the question I asked about OccyBear would be meta. So I'll redirect the question)

Apolis listened attentively to her words, mused by her expressions of wonder. True, the IceWings were in a soon-to-be dire situation. Lack of food and material, cramped and pushed towards the ocean, forced to invade the NightWings, a glorious empire who were bound to hone their defeat. Apolis didn't have much time, so he needed as much information so he could plan the invasion perfectly. Apolis sighed, and shook his head pitifully. "I plan to see to it that your units have the most comfortable transfer near the IceWing regions, as for warmth... well, I suppose we'll figure that out as we go. But awareness and knowledge of the NightWing Empire's power is both mutual and well known. Which is why I called for you. Our men our more defensive rather than offensive, and are focused on protecting themselves and others. They are not well suited for offensive takes in action. Which is why I need you to answer a few questions for me. How are you associated with the NightWings, currently? If you are in a direct relationship with them, what are their plans? This is critical for the IceWings."

Would this mistress be a foe or friend? Apolis would need to make that decision right now upon her answer.

(We'll start with this, just answer the given questions and we'll go from there with planning and whatnot.)

(( will do, sorry for the late reply.))

Tempest listened to Apolis' wise words. She was youngish in terms of how well she knew what to do as a leader, but what was right for her tribe still burned deeply in her. She wanted the best for them, but she wouldn't stand by while another tribe suffered. However, what he said was true and she had noticed it with the guards outside. She had felt more than capable of taking them both down if they had dared to deny her access to the place. After a few moments of silence, she inclined her head respectfully. "You are able to read my mind rather easily Apolis, but yes, I was worried for my troops warmth if I were to send them here. And as answers to your questions, we have formed an... Agreement of sorts, and we are doing a joint operation to try and claim the EarthWings former territory in six days. Our plans are just to try and get rid of the pesky humans in order to try and have the EarthWings former territory not wasted."
Tempest was aware of the slight regret in her voice, she had never met the EarthWings and she would have done almost anything to have been able to meet with them face to face. But she wouldn't allow their land to be put to disuse and misused by the humans, she wouldn't stand for that any longer.