A Royal Visit (Open, NightWings)

( Take note, this is before the whole human invasion topic)

Tempest lightly chuckled to herself, her lengthy body dominating the rugged pathway that she walked. Above her, a canopy of spindly branches crisscrossed over her, sheltering her from the small drizzle which came down in annoying sheets of water. A few guards followed her, loyal to her as they knew her since she was a young guard.

Thankfully, her flames and naturally higher body temperature vaporised the liquid before it could even touch her scales. Musing at the fact that there was at least a foot of water free air around her, Tempest shook her head to clear away her thoughts. A few and faint stabs of doubt remained in her mind about visiting them, but she was rather confident that she would be able to take down some of the NightWings if they wished to cause her harm.

But she doubted they would.

The gateways to the palace were much grander than she had expected. However, in the miserable day and light, there wouldn't be too much splendour from the palace without the light to illuminate them. A few guards stationed outside the walls quickly retreated inside at the sight of the massive FireWing and her few guards. She allowed the guards to follow her, it wasn't as if her presence would have caused a giant drama for these NightWings, especially when they were in their own palace... Would it?

Trackers had spotted the FireWings coming, and hesitated at halting them. A notice had gone out that Oculus had visited the FireWing Queen, so she may have been coming to visit him. The two,trackers looked back and forth between one another, debating what to,do. Halting them and causing an incident when Oculus expected them would have been a bad idea. This left an option that they only rarely did. Using body language and tail with claw signals, one tracker slipped away and flew under the cover of trees to wake another one. They would then go fly to the palace to alert the imperial guards. The dragon, or dragoness in this case, was woke, and belonged to one of Oculus's personal soldiers. The assassin was told of the situation, then groaned before taking flit before waiting in trees to follow the FireWing party, remaining quiet and stealthy the entire way. Once the imperial guard were alerted, the tracker returned to guard duty back in the border. The assassin followed the FireWings till they came to the palace, then waited for them to enter before climbing into a trap,door and becoming one of the many 'gargoyles' along the inner palace decorations. The imperial guard, in their purple marked armor, bowed as Temoest and her guards entered to meet Oculus, who was waiting inside. "Ahhh. Welcome lady of,fire. I barely had time to,prepare for your arrival. Please, take a seat, let your guards relax while we get some refreshments?" He asked soothingly with a smile, "and was your journey here safe?"

Oreo had been by Oculus's side, alert and watching for anything too out of place. Because they weren't going anywhere, at least that he knew of, the Royal Guard was just wearing his golden armor. Actually, seeing the imperial guard followed by the FireWing was the most interesting thing that happened today, and probably for the next week.

But wait, a FireWing? Was this the queen that Oculus had told everyone about? By the way his liege addressed her it would seem so. One of the things that Oreo wouldn't want to do was have to attack her and start a war with the two tribes, but if she tried to attack the king or if Oculus told him to, he would do so in a heartbeat. Mentally glancing at his shoulders he was glad he wore his fancier armor rather than his plain one, for this was going to be an interesting meeting.

Tempest followed the guards inside, her own few following her closely as they seemed to be nervous about the NightWings around them. Slowly, she flicked her tail, gently using the tip to hit either of their sides. Noticing this, they tried to relax as Tempest herself wasn't phased about the dragons around her. She had mad an alliance with them, so why would they betray her? Nervously, the guards did as they requested, going over to sit down-but never straying more than a few hundred feet from Tempest.

"Greetings Oculus," Tempest smiled, lowering her head in a simply gesture of respect. "My apologies for the late arrival and sudden appearance, but I thought that this may be... Similar to a surprise visit. That and I wished to talk with you further and somewhat get to know your kin." She explained, before shrugging at his question.

"My trip was... uneventful, but getting caught in the sheets of rain was not exactly the best way to walk. Is there somewhere that my dragons can rest slightly? One of them hurt their leg on the way over..." She gestured to the one with the limp, giving him a sad look. "And greetings...?" Tempest said, noticing the NightWing in golden armour behind him. "Lady Tempest, and you are...?" She half introduced and asked awkwardly, not expecting him to really be there.

Oculus watched and tried to put on his best smile, focusing on his breathing as just before, he had been training.  It was very amusing for him to see the look of unease in her own guards eyes.  One thing that was taught to the NightWings was to not look nervous like prey, but be more intimidating than anything to maintain the predator appearance.  Right now, the FireWing guards did not look so intimidating.  Sure, the imperial guards were tough guards, and they kept steady eyes on Tempest and her guards.  Oculus watched them move off to a more relaxing place in the hall, and gave a half smile as he breathed through his nose to calm his heart rate.

"Oh, it is no issue at all, Lady of Fire.  We are creatures of the night.  The dark skies are our own advantage here." he spoke, then looked over at the injured guard.  Well, he did pity the guard, but a little rain caused this?  He would make sure to refrain from any 'cooled down' jokes.  "Well, I'm sure the healer will come in shortly,", and waved his paw lightly in the air, before giving a half bow to Tempest, and any that were observant would notice a 'gargoyle' disappeared, before reappearing as an actual gargoyle took its place. "Well, welcome to my humble abode...Shinier and more space than I would ever need, but it fits the title I guess."  As Tempest turned her attention to his royal guard, he gave a light chuckle, and patted Oreo's shoulder.  "This here, is the not so happy with me Oreo, whom has been stalking me ever since I met you alone." he beamed at Oreo, knowing his royal guard's peeve that he would poof without Oreo's knowledge of where.
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Slipping the gargoyle onto the post she had taken, she slipped out into the night sky, before stalking up to where sLy was, purposefully remaining in the shadows as she approached him.  "Plebeian, the Emperor has summoned you.  Don't try to mess it up trainee," she spoke, before leaving without waiting for sLy's response, coming back into the palace through the top, and moving another gargoyle off a pedestal and assumed its place and mimicked its position.

Oreo watched the guards lumber around, the fiery leader trying to silently calm them. So good, she wasn't here to try and stop Oculus for some reason. Even as his eyes flicked from the female to her guards he kept most of his attention on her. When she mentioned the hurt guard he examined him while still watching the female in case she tried to do anything.

The guards didn't seem that threatening even if they were bigger. Not only was one already hurt from their trip over but they were all nervous. He could tell by the way they wouldn't relax until their leader told them to, and never letting her get further than they felt comfortable. Oreo was just by Oculus's side because he was his Royal Guard and to insure that he didn't sneak off again.

The thing that surprised the Royal Guard was when she spoke to him. He only slightly tilted his head, doing the best to keep rather emotionless as he took slow breaths to calm his initial surprise. Instead of having to reply himself Oculus took that to his own paws- in a way that made him move his head slightly to look at him more clearly. But still having to watch Lady Tempest, as she introduced herself as, he looked back at her. "Yes well I wouldn't call it stalking as I am your Royal Guard, King Oculus," Oreo commented, giving him a sideways glance. "And it's a pleasure to meet you, Lady Tempest. My name is Oreo as King Oculus said." He gave a bow to her to show his respect. It was better to be cautious then rude.

Today was one of the few days he had a break from clinical work. However his free time was mostly spent on reading the books from the libraries of the Empire. They seem to major in magic, but aside from that, he very much preferred that the books here were more recent. Some knowledge he gained regarding on medical health was either outdated or proven false. So much so that he would rather petition for more books during trades with the Shadows Refuge.

The library however was far from being as old as their tomes. It was a grand library, a huge place that seemed to stretch up endlessly, with walls filled with many books. Illuminating the place were floating orbs of light that dangled in the centre of the atrium, shifting across many floors so as to keep away the darkness. Even so, the library was not completely brightened. Sly nestled in one of the study rooms on the fourth floor. Aside from the one orb floating above him, the hallway outside was rather dark. It was deathly quiet. Perfect for his research.

Next to him was a pile of books he planned on reading. Though perhaps he could not go through all of them today as planned. A red and black dragoness named Mythryl decided to tag along with him and wanted some company. Sly was rather neutral, but he somewhat regretted it. Every now and then, she would continue to flip the cover of the book he was reading close. When she did so, Sly slammed his talon onto the page he was reading before lifting the cover back up. It was still distracting for him.

Then it seemed he was not going to get through all of it anyways...

With his keen awareness, he noticed a slight shift of a shadow at the hallway just outside his door. No one should really be up here and there was no wind. Huffing a sigh, Sly was going to ask the assassin there what they want, until they said it for him. He smirked and snorted when the assassin called him a 'plebeian'. After delivering the message, the assassin disappeared from her spot. Ph how valuable such skill would be if it could help him get to places more quickly. But Delillah really needed to take her time with him if he were to fully become an assassin.

So it seems our emperor wants our company, Sly said to Mythryl, packing the books. Let us give him our condolences.

---

Sly made no effort in trying to blend with the shadows at this point. Why would he need to if he knew where the assassins could hide? They could very well be spying on them now, but he gave no fear. Only the determination to move towards the palace. Bssides, he was with Mythryl. It would only seem awkward if he tried to dance with the shadows at this time.

The assassin earlier told him not to screw up. What did she mean by that? Do not get seen? But even that was not much of a problem for Sly. Instead of choosing to go through the front gates, Sly beckoned Mythryl to follow him around to the side of the palace, covered in the shade as the sun was on the other side. He climbed up the ledges and grooves of the building before slithering into one of the small arch windows that was not made to be passed under by any dragon. The floor here was rarely used, a common route for assassins it seemed.

Sly did not join with the other assassins above him. Instead, he carefully slipped into the shadows of a corridor leading to a balcony that overwatched Oculus. With how carefully and quietly he moved, he should not be seen by anyone. At this point, Oculus should expect Sly to be already here by now, and was just on standby until further orders. As he waited, he studied the guests. Firewings. One of them stood out from the rest. If he had to guess, it was the Firewing queen.

Sly smirked from the shadows as he leaned agaibst the doorway. This should be interesting...

Mythryl, for reasons she couldn't fathom, was actually somewhat playful when she decided to see if she could accompany Sly to his quest to the library. Surprisingly, he had actually accepted her rather random request. As the day moved along and Sly became increasingly engrossed in his books, Mythryl became rather bored when he just sat there and read. Little did anyone know, Mythryl couldn't actually read too well. However, she was too embarrassed to ask anyone to help her do this but teaching herself how to was high on her list of priorities.

Oh, the joys of growing up alone.

So silently, she watched Sly, using her tail to shut his book. Each and every time, he would slam his talon down onto the page and slowly reopen it. She was just getting into the fun of it, but a rather sudden dragon decided to demand Sly's presence. She didn't know who they were, but she kept her mouth shut. Trying not to look puzzled, Mythryl aided Sly to try and pack up his books. "They did ask for you, not me." She pointed out while they worked, "But it would be interesting to see why he has called you."

Mythryl followed him unknowingly lagging behind him as she didn't like being out in the open. Her red circles stood out an extreme amount around her surroundings and her midnight scales. She felt a few other dragons gazes on her, and she followed closely behind Sly but still kept a respectable distance as to not creep him out. Much.

She followed him around the side of the palace, and easily climbed the ledges and groves. Mythryl followed him, until she fell in line next to Sly, her black wings hanging slightly to cover the vivid circles on her hide. Curiously, she looked down on the red FireWing guards below taking note of where they were sitting. But the one talking to Oculus... she picked up the same sense that Sly had, but she returned her gaze to the guards. There were 3 in total, two larger and bulkier dragons and a smaller one, but still quite large in comparison to the NightWings. As she watched them while they waited, Mythryl could see something she took a bet that Sly hadn't. One was favouring a leg as they moved, not putting much weight on it as they moved.

Mythryl would have nudged Sly, but... She felt that was wrong and refrained.

The guards were rather nervous, much more so than the Queen of their kin and the trio did their best to hide it. Tempest inclined her head to the larger dragon, who's leg he had been limping on rather badly. "Just be sure not to approach them somewhat suddenly, especially the healer." Tempest said quietly, ensuring that only Oculus could hear. "They haven't been here before and the last thing I want or need is for something to tip them off." Tempest gave a slight apologetic shrug.

In amusement, she watched the exchange between Oreo, who did then suddenly bow. Tempest hid her annoyance, this was a visit for crying out loud, not a formal occasion! There was no need for bowing... Respectfully, she inclined her head in his direction. "A pleasure to meet you, Oreo." Tempest then somewhat burst into laughter, a great smile on her face as she then gestured to her guards, "Why do you think they decided to come with me! They didn't like me taking off without them. Mind you, I think that they are beginning to regret that decision... I don't understand their distrust of you. I could understand it if you were all SeaWings and able to put out flames out in an instant, but... You have all done almost nothing to aggravate out kin." Tempest shook her head, before quelling her laughter. The only reason she said almost nothing was due to the fact she was overly worried that one of their ancestors had angered one another... But then again, if they had, why weren't either race trying to kill each other? Realising her partial insult, she shook her head, "Meaning the ancestors, I don't exactly know if they had decided to attempt to murder one another."

"But, Oreo, it is a pleasure to meet you." Tempest repeated, smiling slightly at them. She looked around at the gargoyles around her for a few moments, her keen eyes taking in some of the incredibly realistic details that they held. There were some spaces where some were yet to be added, and Tempest assumed that they took an incredible amount of time to make. However, as she was looking at their surroundings, she noticed a slight tinge of red against the darkness. Even though his palace was incredibly large, she could still pick up her own familiar colours against the darkness. A small growl came from her, quiet but still present.

"I dislike surprises and dragons who dare to watch upon me from a distance akin to the ones who are cowards." Her angered voice carried easily across the hall to any listeners as her eyes locked with the two figures hiding in the distance. It was honestly pure luck that she managed to see them, as she had passed over them once, but on a second glance, she had managed to pick up a slight colour difference. Dull shades of red made her eyes able to recognise a colour that just didn't seem right in his palace.

Her anger was a mock anger, designed to scare the ones unable to pick out firm details from afar, but Oculus and Oreo would easily be able to see that she wasn't meaning any harm. Tempest did need them to know though that she wouldn't really appreciate any surprise guests like this. She greatly, greatly disliked surprises.

She turned her somewhat calmed gaze back to Oculus, asking in a rather inquisitive tone; "Your healer?" Tempest then used her tail to flick one of the guards over the head, who was about to get up and come over to her. She then pushed them back down, and with a rather annoyed huff, they obliged. Tempest curled it back around herself, it's incredibly long and flame tipped appearance rather obviously held against her side.

Oculus raised an eye ridge as Tempest spoke of not approaching her guards too quickly as they were spooked. What, were they wild animals or something? Maybe his initial thought of the FireWings being disciplined was false. What was icing on the cake was that the FireWing needed to apologize in body language. Definitely not the most discipline soldiers. Maybe it would be a test. He wouldn't tell his healer how to do his job, so this would be interesting. He just watched her and didn't verbally respond to this part.

As Oreo spoke, he couldn't help but smile at his royal guard. He did very much enjoy this sort of relationship with his rg, as he was able to poke fun at the strict soldier and loved how Oreo showed no fear to lecture. "We'll compromise and call it legal stalking, eh Oreo?" As he looked back at Tempest, he chuckled, "Yeah yeah...seems like I'll never live down making that FireWing attack that rock from both my and your guards it seems..."

Oculus raised an eye ridge at Tempest and gave a smirk, "Oh dear Lady of Fire, I wouldn't worry about them. If I wanted you hurt or dead, it would have happened already," he chuckled, giving a wink at Tempest. He did raise a paw for sLy to come over, and would tell him to go help the injured dragon. Oculus just assumed sLy would have been there by now, but he wouldn't know for certain. What Oculus did not know was that Mythryl was there, and was actually the one who was spotted. However, his inner security had spotted her, and had already converged on her. One of his top security 'gargoyles' stalked quietly and invisibly in the dark above her, and waited for an opportune time before lunging at her as quietly as an owl. The impact with Mythryl and the assassin would be quick and precise. The hit would knock Mythryl over the ledge, and the assassin would go down with her, using the balcony to push harder into the dragoness's back so she could not spin around in the short fall. The assassin would get her paws on the dragoness's shoulders and haunches mid fall, and brace for the impact. All this happened in the brief span of the fall. Luckily for Mythryl, a wooden table would break the fall onto the hard tile. Just as Mythryl would hit the ground/table, the assassin would push forward, forcing the shoulders down and her haunches to spread out, her tail would swing wide around to pin the other dragoness's tail, and finish it with bringing her own maw around the back of Mythryl's neck, right below her skull and push that down or threaten to pierce the vertebra with the assassins teeth.

Hearing the crashing, Oculus turned his head over his shoulder, seeing the assassin pinning the other red and black nightwing. With a sigh, he looked at tempest with his own apologetic look. "Oreo, can you handle the...unintended visitor with the guard? I'm a little busy with the Queen you see..." Oculus wanted Oreo to handle Mythryl, knowing his Royal Guard knew Oculus enough to not punish the NightWing, so long as the NightWing's intentions were innocent. If they were not, he figured Oreo would imprison her and he would deal with her later. Looking at tempest, he gave a small smile, "Sorry about that... "

Perking his ears he listened as the Lady addressed her guards. He slightly relaxed as it wasn't anything he should be concerned about. Even though it was a bit hard to hear he picked up on a few words. Then Oculus spoke again. "Fine," he lightly huffed, "I'll call it that if you'll at least let me do my job." What good was he as a Royal Guard if he couldn't even perform his job?

Oreo nodded as she said it was a pleasure to meet him. It was a pleasure to meet her too-and he would have said that if she hadn't started to laugh about her guards. It surprised him at first, the random outbreak of laughter. At least it showed that she was relaxed in their company. It made him feel a bit better, either she was less likely to attack or she was just trying to lower their guard. He disliked that he had to always think the worst of everyone, but it was his job if he was to defend the Emperor.

He smirked as she talked, glancing at Oculus with a tilt of his head. It was his job to protect him, so why not let him do it properly? He was giving him the 'see what I mean' look, because she was saying what he had been trying to say through all of his lectures. Even if their guards... weren't the best... they at least had intelligence going for them.

Then the queen started to go off on the 'gargoyles' around. He watched her, and ear turned towards Oculus and tense. She could be angered enough to attack with this-he could never be sure. Oculus didn't seem to mind. He actually responded with his own hidden threat. While it was evening the playing field throwing threats could end up badly. Just another reason to be ready for anything.

Although speaking of things ending up badly, his head turned towards the injured guard. Where was that medic? Oreo let off a small huff. There wasn't too many medics that Oculus requested to see, the top usually being Sly. He had a bit of a reputation with that medic, and not to much of a good one either.

Hearing a crash caused them both to turn their heads, Oreo's ear still pointed at the FireWing Queen. With Oculus's request he hesitated for a split second-one that was barely noticeable. He could be vulnerable without him there, the FireWings taking a chance to eliminate him as a competitor. Getting up to deal with it he glanced at the 'gargoyles.' As Oculus had said, they could easily take the few FireWings on. There wasn't much to worry about with him being gone.

With a nod to the two leaders he briskly walked over there, giving the pinned NightWing a slight glare as he looked her over. He'd have to ask what she was doing up there uninvited-but not in this room. Glancing at the dragon that pinned her he gave a nod, one that should be recognized as a sign that she was okay to get off of her and that he could handle it. If the assassin wanted to follow along he wouldn't care-it was always good to have a bit of backup. The Royal Guard motioned for her to walk in front of him so he could lead her to a more private setting. Hopefully she knew not to try anything with him.

Once they were out of the room he kept his eyes on her, making sure she didn't try to run away or attack him. Even if he shouldn't be worried about the two leaders he still was, one of his ears always flicking back to listen to them. Soon enough they got for enough to where he couldn't even hear mummers from the room. He took a breath to calm himself. They would be fine. This uninvited guest was his duty right now, not Oculus or the FireWings.

Soon enough The Royal Guard came upon a room, that of which he lead her into. It was nicely lit and made his armor shine, almost as a reminder that it was still there. There was a table with some cushions around it almost like the room was for a meeting. Well now it was just a meeting for two. Closing the door he eyed the NightWing. Midnight black with red circles. It was an interesting design and he couldn't call it useless considering he had white stripes. But he wasn't here to examine her, he was here to question her.

"So..." he started, debating if he should sit down or not. Sitting would probably make her more comfortable and make him more friendly, hopefully making her more likely to talk and tell the truth. Taking a seat on one of the cushions he hoped it would be true. "What were you doing up there uninvited?"

It was difficult to follow what the dragons below were talking about until after a while. Something about the guards falling for Oculus' old tricks. One of the guards were badly hurt. It could be why he was sent here. The larger firewing was called 'Lady of Fire' by Oculus, and this confirmed that what stood before Oculus and Oreo was indeed the Firewing queen. Her escorts were a little underwhelming that anyone could predict that it would only take Oculus and Oreo to eliminate them. But who knows what the Firewing leader could pull?

The queen made an obvious remark that she was being spied on. Whether it be from the gargoyles above or Sly and Mythryl, it did not really matter. He just remained where he was and watched the exchange. At least until Oculus raised a paw. That is my cue, wait for me here, Sly quickly said to Mythryl before using his speed to jump off the balcony from the side, sticking yo the shadows and appearing in the light when he was behind Oculus. All of this without a single click of his claw against the hard tiles. But still far from perfect. His timing was a bit off, he guessed.

I am the healer, yes, Sly said, wearing a smirk behind his half-mask as he walked up next to Oculus and Oreo. Sly then bowed to the Firewing queen, bringing his snout down to the floor to show his high respect for her. A pleasure it is to meet the fire queen. I hear one of your guards is injured? Just as he finished the sentence, a loud crash startled him and he was one of the first to whip his head towards the broken table. There were two masses. One a familiar assassin. The other was Mythryl.

Sly stiffened, his eyes widening as they slowly shifted to yellow. Mythryl was caught at the moment he left her side. Oculus then ordered Oreo to take her away. Sly would have opposed but it was not in his position to do so. He gave a worried look towards Mythryl, watching her until Oreo took her away from the room.

Sly then huffed a sigh before looking up at the 'gargoyles', wondering if any of those assassins were snickering at him right now. Then he returned his gaze to the queen, and then the injured guard. I should be honoured to be the chosen medic to treat one of the personal escorts of the queen. Show me your claw.

(( Doing Tempest's AND Mythryls post in this one... Or else it's going to be really confusing. ))

Mythryl didn't exactly want Sly to abandon her, especially after the Queen seemed to just glare at the two of them. What did she think they were? Spies? Whatever her problem was, Mythryl didn't know. She did hear the Queen scold them, her voice cutting through the air like a hot knife against butter. The tracker partially flinched, not expecting a Queen to be able to manipulate their voice in such a way. And in front of a fair few NightWings and not be afraid. She really didn't know how to react to the Queens scold, nor to Sly telling her to stay put. Neither did she know of the creature coming up behind her. Mythryl watched as Sly walked casually over to them. Curiously, she watched the adora-Erm, sure footed NightWing approach the group with seemingly no cares in the world. If she were him, she would have been terrified.

The next thing Mythryl did was have a slight feeling of being watched, but as she slowly began to turn, she felt the impact of another dragon. Their claws and weight threw her from the balcony, but the tracker kept her mouth shut. Using her tail, she would try unsuccessfully to throw them off. Feeling their claws dig into her back, Mythryl realised they were going to use her as padding against the rapidly approaching ground. Twisting awkwardly, she tried to use her front paws to absorb some of the impact as her form cracked against the table. It blew apart into splinters, her arm snapping from the awkward impact and the extra weight. Unable to even make a sound that she was hurt, stunned by fear and the sudden movements, the next thing she knew was that an incredibly sharp set of teeth dug into the back of her neck, drawing blood from the force. Too stunned to try and whimper, Mythryl stood stock still, her snapped front leg screaming in pain as her vision swam, borderline nauseous.

As she watched him approach, Tempests critical gaze bore into him, not afraid of showing her displeasure in front of them. She was extremely annoyed at the fact that he just hid in the shadows, not showing his face. A dark look crossed her eyes, before she lowered her head to him as he bowed. She really was getting sick of all the bowing. It was NOT a formal occasion. Tempest was just about to raise her voice and tell him the answer to his question when the sudden crashing against the tables. Instantly, her guards acted, springing to their feet and began to make their way over to Tempest.

However, before they could stop her, the Queen was already acting.

Starting With a simple snarl at the dragons sudden and loud appearance, Tempest slammed her tail into the ground, a being of pure flames manifesting itself and screeching it's dreadfully silent song of fury. It seemed to hiss at Mythryl, coming to the Queens aid as she felt extremely threatened by the sudden noise. She growled viciously, the noise crying out its own horrifying song as it chilled her guards badly, but they refused to back down. One placed a paw on her shoulder, trying to calm the Queen before she flipped... And changed for the worst.

Tempest snapped her gaze away from the scene, turning away from it and her eyes to the tiny healer. Her anger at the sudden scene barely was kept in control as the fireling watched the two grounded figures, screeching silently as it somewhat hovered in the air above the pair, waiting for its order.

However, she didn't command it to strike as the figure she vaguely remembered as Oreo went over to her. Within a few moments, the guard was taking the badly limping dragoness out of the room. Snarling quietly, she turned her attention back to her guards, who's gaze had gone from their nervous one to a rather firm and determined expression.

Using her tail, she poked the guard that was injured, standing on his injured paw without a second of hesitation. Shamefully, blood now stained where he stood. As Sly requested, after huffing a rather weirdly placed sigh, the injured guard took a confident step forward and raised his paw, showing Sly the battered mess it was. Blood and mud made a firm outershell around the wound, the injury was deep, but it wasn't incredibly crippling. The guard had decided to make his injury look severe, in case they tried to take down his Queen and thought that he was a rather weak target that they could pick off to ensure that Tempest was caught.

As Oculus spoke to her, Tempest returned her fiery gaze to him. Her fireling somewhat gave up the search of trying to follow Oreo, and moved to hover above Tempest, almost perching on her shoulder. The Queen gave a soft growl, showing her displeasure of the events that took place, but she inclined her head to accept his forgiveness. She needed to keep the NightWings as her ally, the last thing she needed was to kill their King. She tried to calm herself down before she answered, a rather annoyed tone to her voice. "Alas, it is fine. This was not something you could have had a chance to foresee. As I had tried to warn you, I greatly dislike and hate surprises. The louder they are, the worse it is." She explained, gesturing to the creature near her.

Looking up to her small fireling, a small smirk appeared on her face. "Don't be alarmed at this fire creature, it's completely under my control." Tempest's voice calmly said, giving Oculus a smile. As she nodded slightly to it, it's silent hiss stopped and it wove around Tempest's paw as she held it out, before she forced it to impode in on itself. "It's... A rather unique gift that very few dragons have seen, so I'd prefer if you didn't spread tales of their existence." She smiled easily at Oculus, but there was still a slight tension in her voice as she was a bit on edge due to the sudden noise. But, being a FireWing, they were always on edge and looking to start a fight. Normally.

Silently, Mythryl whined to herself as the dragon let go of her neck, then she silently and quickly followed the NightWing. She limped heavily, refusing to use her misshaped leg. She followed the strange white striped black dragon. He led her to a room, and eventually decided to sit down. Mythryl frowned to herself, this wasn't exactly what she was expecting. But as he sat, Mythryl followed suit and did so as well, but on the hard floor as she didn't exactly desire to use a pillow. As he asked why she was here, her memories were driven back to Sly.

She had trusted him completely, unquestionably, something she hadn't don't for a long time with another dragon. And look where that took her.

Mythryl signed quietly, looking back to the dragon who sat opposing her in the room. Slowly, she shook her head, well aware of the blood that dripped from her black scales. "I was told... Sly told me to follow him up onto the balcony instead of through the main doors. I was with him when the strange NightWing was sent for him, I didn't know that I wasn't allowed there." Mythryl said simply, as she couldn't say or try and convince him of anything else for what she said was the truth. She turned her gaze back to the ground, feeling tears of pain and regret sting her eyes.

This would be the last time she trusted anyone.

(shorter post as Tempest asked for a short one and Aero hasslin meh)

Oculus watched as Tempest seemed to have gone a little crazy, and at the summoning of the fire creature, Oculus's eyes changed as he stared directly into Tempest's eyes. The assassins up in the roof section had gotten antsy, leaning forward and ready to dart and kill. They however waited, not going till Tempest attacked or Oculus gave a signal. Oculus himself was just staring at Tempest, waiting for her move. As the situation calmed down, Oculus gave a small huff, hardly audible. "Probably some curious trainee wanting to see who the FireWing visitors were, not realizing a front door is there for a reason. Alas, I trust my security detail... looking around after Oreo had left with Mythryl, "And even Oreo. But don't tell him I said that, otherwise he'll never stop lecturing me. Watching the creature on her arm implode, he raised an eye as she talked about it. "Do tell, what are those...and do not worry. No word spreads from my guards without my permission." He was geniunly interested by the creature that had seemed to be made of pure fire, and then imploded, disappearing from existence. He didn't see any trace of it, meaning it was summoned, and not around them at this very moment in a cloaked state.

Oreo felt a little bad as he noticed her limping, seeing as her leg was a bit misshapen from the fall. There was also a bit of blood, whether it was from her hard fall or the assassin's rough handling. Luckily she'd be taken care of after their talk.

Oreo slightly narrowed his eyes when she mentioned Sly. Of course it was him to disobey orders. It should just be known that you shouldn't take someone else along when you were the one called for. "It's not surprising that it was Sly who decided to bring you along. You may not know this but he's had a bit of a bad record with me, including disrespecting me. But enough about that, we should get you fixed up." The Royal Guard stood up, glancing at the dragoness as he did so. Oreo hesitated for a second before asking, "Do you need any help getting there? Even if he seemed scary and all she was probably still in a bit of shock, especially from breaking her leg. She just needed a bit of comfort right now, especially because she didn't do anything wrong. He glanced at the sharp golden armor he was wearing. If she accepted, he'd take a shoulder off so she could lean on him if she needed.

It would be of no surprise to him if Oreo were to find out that it was Sly that brought Mythryl here. But what stood above the rest was how the firewing queen reacted to the incident. A loud snarl followed by the crack of her tail like a whip, and smaller projections of flames appeared. He took a step back, his wings folded in close but without the shining light of his orbs being charged. His eyes turned yellow as he eyed at the queen and her guards carefully.

They stood down.

Sly relaxed with a sigh, knowing they would not cause any harm. He snorted quietly when Oculus scoffed at both Sly and Mythryl for not using the front door. Not the first impression of an assassin he wanted to make. He would have to wait for Delillah to graduate him. If only he knew how long this training would go for.

But enough about that. The injured guard stepped forward and raised his injured paw. It was bloodier than before and needed urgent attention if he were not to get an infection. It would be a problem for the queen if one of her few guards could not see battle when they wandered into a spider's nest. As Sly dropped his medical sachet and fished for the cleaning agents he needed, he paid careful attention to how the queen talked about her fire creature. Another secret he had to hold in the back of his mind among the rest.

Sighing, he got to work in washing the claw with disinfecting alcohol. It would sting a little but beyond that, it would feel chilly to his scales. Sly then went for a jar full of green substance. Crushed herbs prepared for general purposes. After clearing the wound, it had a few cuts but they were mild. He dipped his claws into it and brushed it over the wounds, applying this salve. Afterwards, he fumbled for bandages and wrapped them around the claw. And then he was done.

Within a clinical setting, it was a very long while since he had so many dragons watching his work. Especially if they held high ranks with some expectations from this healer. It did make him a little nervous, but he held his breath and pushed through with relative ease.

As for the purpose of this meeting, it was already clear that there would be some interrelational agreement between two tribes. Sly did not know a lot of the Firewings, but if this were to be a treaty, he would not mind if Oculus permitted Sly access to their libraries. Through all of this, he hardly spoke another word. Partly because he felt a pit in his heart after bringing Mythryl here. They could go through the front door but that would be boring. Especially for himself.

Sly stepped away from the guard and stood beside Oculus. It would seem he had to take Oreo's place in protecting Oculus while he was elsewhere fixing his mistakes.

Silently the black matt scaled dragoness moved past the real gargoyles and her assassins, her eyes on the dragons beneath them. The shadows were snickering as she arrived but stilled when she walked past them, the twins then informed her of everything that had happened and surprisingly the drama was caused by Sly, her new trainee. She thought he knew better than to bring so much attention to himself as the fresh meat of the assassins, they were not going to let this pass for just another while and neither would she. This meant extra hours.

The lead assassin was heading towards the other side of the hall through the shadows over the arches when the Firewing Queen exploded and fire erupted around her, quickly it stilled and a little fire creature hung beside her. Delillah watched with distrust and dislike, there was nothing else she felt for them especially for the one who called herself their queen. It seemed she was the one most unstable from the little group for she had just lost control in front of her king in a place he has most power.

As Sly attended to her guards Delillah moved over to the other side and checked on the assassins there, she slithered in-between the shadows with ease whilst watching sly who finished his work on  the guard and then moved to Oculus's side in place of Oreo who was attending to Sly's mate. She would be joining Oreo in a few minutes, however now she gave a signal to one of the guards who moved his tail to the other side, a notice to the king that she was present.

Mythryl felt he gaze waver as she returned it to the ground, an mixed expression on her face. She wasn't sure how to react when the Royal Guard offered her a hand. She sighed, shaking her head slowly as she forced herself back onto her leg. She looked down to it, the misshaped leg mainly was caused by the sharp wood that grated against her scales from the fall. If she were lucky, maybe it would have just been a fracture that was causing her a whole lot of pain. Mythryl looked back to him, her eyes giving away only one expression.

Hurt. A deep hurt from betrayal. How could someone she trusted so easily stab her in the back without so much as a second thought?

"I-I'll be fine..." Mythryl mumbled quietly, reducing the pressure from her leg as she took her weight off from it. Inwardly, her heart ached, her mind was in turmoil. She hadn't meant to cause such a scene... All she had done was what she was asked. "I didn't know that he had a record with disrespecting you... My apologies for causing this giant issue." Mythryl said, tears forming in her eyes. But she refused to let them fall, heading to follow Oero. She was on guard, but horribly betrayed and felt as if she would, without a second thought, just blast the entire palace with her forgetting mists and take back to the forest. However, she would never do that. How could she? They would kill her the second she took a step back into that room...

That room with the betrayer.

Tempest could easily sense the tension arising from the NightWings, and she sighed. Some of the 'statues' from the halls seemed to move, and Tempest's flames flared, a snarl drawing from her. Her guards, after Sly has done his duty and the one which he had tended to thanked him, stood near Tempest, slightly behind as they weren't impressed with their Queens anger. The younger and smaller dragon sighed, looking towards the statues. Tempest looked at the rather edgy NightWings, giving a tiny sigh as she muttered to herself, "So much for this being a social visit."

"If you wish for me to actually explain, I wish for no more lurkers. Please, stand your guards down as I am perfectly in control of my creatures reactions. No one will harm anyone without my say so." Tempest almost demanded, glancing up at the nervous figures. She hated this, and an explosive sigh came from her. Sure, she wasn't acting like royalty right now, but she was extremely annoyed with them. "Unless your trainees wish to see that their spontaneous actions, ones which I greatly dislike, riled the Queen of Fire... Hmm, if you wished, maybe my Firelings can give them a visit." Tempest half offered in a somewhat joking manner. However, in annoyance she slashed her tail like a whip through the air, before hitting it into the ground. However, it didn't break the ground, making sure to only make noise and startle. She was trying to make sure that all dragons in this room knew that she was not a force to be messed with.

None of it was meant towards Oculus, as he was a fellow leader and on an equal, if not higher, status. Hopefully, he would have picked up the tone in her voice which had a bit of joking manner towards him. She may be volatile as to her nature, but she was calm when she needed to be. She wasn't the silver tongue like her former leader... But Tempest could make do.

Sometimes.

"As for my Firelings... Well, I suppose that I should give you a bit more information about them as, we are, allies after all. Let me show you what they are." Tempest partially growled, three coming to her aid this time. She moved her tail to form a perch in front of her for the Firelings. "These are a power of mine which was awoken in me during my state as a guard. I can create these creatures with my anger, and I am able to have up to five out at once... However, my blue one is stronger than these orange ones." Tempest explained, the dragons snarling their vicious and silent song.

"I control them with mental orders. If I say to attack, they attack. If I say... For them to explode, they do so. However, their explosion is similar to my... Unique move. Only one dragon has seen it and lived to tell the tale." Tempest caused two of them to implode, then the third one jumped onto the ground, harmlessly approaching Oculus as it stopped snarling. This would allow him to have a better look at the creature as it occasionally scattered into embers, before reforming in its familiar shape.

"I wouldn't reccomend touching them, they are made from my fire, and my flames alone." Tempest gave Oculus a partial smile, but her eyes constantly flicked to the guards and other dragons who were easily in edge. In a second, if she so desired, she might be able to get those dragons on their knees. But she wouldn't do that, she needed their help after all.

Watching the FireWing Queen with a very much amused look plastered on his face. sLy had come and taken the spot next to him, obviously not looking too pleased as he had either let himself be tailed, or his friend had just been removed by force. The details would come in eventually he knew. For now, he would focus on the not too pleased guest in front of him. "Oh, they are not really 'lurking' per say," Oculus began as he responded to Tempest, having noticed the signal that Delillah had shown up, either for a routine visit or having gotten word of the NightWing who tried to sneak in. "...I would say they are on guard duty. They won't attack without my call, or unless someone gets the bright idea to cause mischief or trouble. Pay them no mind." The assassins would not attack Tempest nor her guards unless they felt she or the guards would try and attack. For now, they remained in their places.

"However, since you seem upset, the 'guards' are there," he said, pointing to a perching 'gargoyle', "one there, one over there, and two next to each other over there." Pointing at each spot with his tail as if it was nothing more than pointing out neat features in the architecture of the palace. "And if it makes you feel more comfortable, this here is Delillah, but I'll let her introduce herself," he said, expecting Delillah to understand he expected her to come and speak. While this was happening, he smiled and looked at the firelings as Tempest continued to explain all the advantages of her firelings. Oculus listened with interest, always loving to dissect an opponents abilities and counter them, even if Tempest was not an opponent.

Looking at the smallish creature of fire as it trotted up to him, he cocked his head to the right, lowering it as he stared and observed it. "So they are created by your fire and controlled mentally? Do tell, are you able to conjure them up anywhere, or must the come from your body's flame?" Knowing the risk of playing with fire, Oculus brought a talon forward and lightly brushed the flame as if he were petting a hatchling. Feeling the heat, he only did one light stroke once in order to do nothing more than singe his talon. Standing back up, Oculus smiled and looked at her, "Anyway, would you like something to eat or drink before we continue?" he asked, knowing that they had gotten slightly distracted from the topic at hand.

It was hard to keep a solid composure when the dragoness seemed so hurt. She had rejected his help, which he was fine with considering he didn't know her well, but it was hard not to just help her anyways. Taking a breath he tried to remove the urge to help her.

If she was quiet before she was almost silent now. Barely talking and any words that were said could almost not be heard if you weren't paying attention.

"It's okay, I doubt he would have told anyone." Oreo tried to look for another way to comfort her but not make her angry. "You didn't know that coming would have caused an issue, and you probably would have never known if he didn't invite you." He started to walk, walking next to her and at any speed she was comfortable with. Noticing her eyes begin to water he looked in front of him, not wanting to make her feel uncomfortable or weak.

He felt bad for her, bad that she had to go through all of this because of his mistakes. Closing his eyes he let out a light growl and finishing it as a sigh as he opened his eyes. "We'll head to the clinic to get you fixed. After that I'll have to head back to the room to make sure that nothing happens there. And after the meeting is over I'll tell Oculus what happened."

Oreo glanced at her again, almost as if he was confirming that she was okay with that. Noticing her slight limp again he put out his offer again, "If you ever do need help on this walk, just make sure to ask." The Royal Guard still wanted to make her as comfortable as possible until they got to the clinic where she'd be able to rest her leg.

A social visit. He was pulled from his studies, pulled from his time with Mythryl, and unintentionally hurt her in more ways than one... for the sake of patching up a guard in a social visit. He was a buay dragon. Surely the Emperor should know this, especially when he had to split his time with training. What if he was training with Delillah? Why could he not summon another healer to fix something as simple as an infected claw? No matter. What had happened had happened and there was little he could do to change that.

He did not come here to learn about the abilities of the firewing queen. After all, he already fulfilled his purpose here. He contemplated about leaving, at least to check and see if Mythryl was alright. One of the Nightwing guards shifted his tail, rather unexpectedly. To anyone not familiar with the order of assassins, they would discard this as nothing. But Sly had seen a lot of this flying aeound from guard to guard. Oculus had looked in that direction for a split second before speaking with the queen. Sly just stepped back and, as Oculus pointed the gargoyles, he looked up as well. Sure enough, one of the gargoyles changed slightly and he was met with the faintest glow of the eyes of his mentor.

So Delillah was here. Sly figured it before Oculus addressed her presence. Surely she would have known what Sly had done, either by seeing it or by hearing from her assassins. Perhaps he would at least wait until she descended and introduce herself before leaving to check on Mythryl. He hoped this would be soon, as Oculus started to ask questions on the queen's firelings. A social visit indeed. Not a treaty or forging of alliance. Not even a trade agreement. What a disappointment.

Sly's attention began to wander around the hall, humming very quietly to himself. Although he had his assassins, Oculus may still needed a dragon beside him.

Delillah was just about to leave for Mythryl and Oreo when her name was mentioned. She was to introduce herself, very well. With a simple thought her scales would turn inward and flip, revealing silky black scales than now covered her body instead of her matt ones. She stepped forwards and glance beneath her at the king then at Tempest and swiftly she would fly from the shadows and land smoothly and soundlessly behind Sly and Oculus. She stood tall and folded her wings behind her as she focused on Tempest who was significantly taller than her, however there was no worrying for Delillah who wore a callous mask as she began striding towards the Firewing Queen who still seemed very uneasy of her Assassins. If she were to show emotion to Tempests' feelings then they would have caused a smirk to appear on her muzzle.

Delillah halted next to sly, whom she glanced at once before moving her gaze to Oculus and lightly dipping her head which then, however, rose back to its full height as her white gaze rested on Tempest "Firewing Queen Tempest, allow me to introduce myself. My name is Delillah" She then glanced at the firelings, she disliked fire. It was an uncontrollable thing, even if it seemed to be harmless and under control it was temporary. If one played with fire it would always loose control, this also seemed to be the same concept with Firewings. She would know, she had met enough.

At the mention of telling the leader what had happened, Mythryl felt a giant sense of guilt, perhaps she should have declined to go with Sly... Then certainly this mess would never have happened. Oreo was right with what he had been saying to her, and it certainly made her feel a tiny bit better, but not much. But, then again, the sly NightWing didn't know that she wasn't allowed to follow, but surely using the front door would have been better...

Right?

Mythryl would then reach out with her damaged paw, ignoring the pain as she would place it against Oreo. "Don't let him get in much trouble, he didn't know that I wasn't allowed to follow him and clearly didn't know what was going to happen. I... It wasn't entirely his fault... It was mine as well." Mythryl said quietly, before taking her paw back down.

"I'd rather Sly were to look at this injury anyway, if that's alright? As I don't trust other dragons, and... Well, I partially trust him. Sorta." Mythryl partially growled at herself, wanting to rip the NightWing apart, but at the same time, she wanted to forgive him. Internally, it was a battle of wills and Mythryl sighed, casting her miserable gaze down, "Nevermind... I'll just go to the clinic, she mumbled, before following Oreo to the clinic.

Tempest eventually was able to calm herself completely, after Oculus decided to finally point out where there were guards stationed. She lowered her head in a form of thanks to him, returning a small grin to him. As Delilah approached-Tempest couldn't help a cheeky smirk appear on her face. In response to the light dipping of her head, Tempest returned the dip, appreciating that she didn't bow down to her.

"Greetings, Delilah." Tempest said with a rather toothy grin. She could sense a bit of unease from the NightWing next to Oculus, the one who attended to her guards. With a wave of her tail, she tapped the guards again as they backed away from her, sensing that the matters had settled again.

Tempest concentrated a little with her firelings, making sure that at his touch it wouldn't explode. They were sturdy little creatures, but they were still extremely volatile. "Be careful not to burn yourself with them," She had warned before he touched them, and gave a light chuckle as he withdrew his paw. "They are a variation of my strongest flames, and are able to do every ability I can do-aside from my flame breath." Tempest said, before imploding the fireling. "And yes, they are controlled mentally and via connections which are maintained by my thoughts."

At the mention of food, Tempest inclined her head, "That would be greatly appreciated. I am sure that my kin are more peckish than I am currently..." She teased, receiving a mock glare from one of her guards. Tempest laughed lightly, before inclining her head to Delilah and Sly, "Will you be joining us, or do you have other matters to which you must attend?" Tempest inquired, genuinely curious.