Searching (Open to Dragons/Lessers)

Ptelea raised her head out of the entrance to her underground den. A 70ft tall tree-like creature had been wandering around outside for a few days. She dared not go outside. However, the food she'd had stored away for just such an occasion was now gone. With the slew of monsters that had come through the area lately, Ptelea had wanted to move, anyway. This particular creature--which was actually a threat to her--was just the final straw. When night fell, Ptelea emerged from her den and quickly took to the sky. She flew south, toward the southern sea. She hoped these creatures might be fewer toward the coast. Being part NightWing, she could see well in the dark, so she flew for a few hours, stopping frequently to avoid the nocturnal creatures.

Ptelea came upon a cliff overlooking the ocean. She hadn't intended to go quite this far, but she didn't feel like backtracking right now. Ptelea knew that ocean-side cliffs could house grottos, so she looked for one. As she flew alongside the cliff, she spotted one. Flying into the cave, Ptelea found a spot to land. It smelled like another dragon lived here, but because of the ocean, she couldn't quite tell how fresh the scent was. Perhaps that hadn't been here for some time. The Mute laid down, deciding to make the most of whatever time she had if indeed someone did call this cave home, and get a little sleep.

Wake quickly leapt out of the water, holding fish in both his jaws and his talons. In the wyvern’s maw was a hammerhead shark he has just captured, and in his was a pair of tuna. He was already full, but it never hurt to have extra food. He looked around for a moment. Not a single human ship in sight. With a smile, Wake darted back towards the coast.

Thankfully, the coast was mostly untouched by the monsters so far. The only reason Wake could figure for the lack of activity was not enough food to make it worthwhile. Not enough food, no reason to bother. Right?

The wyvern soon got to his den, a cave in one of the sea cliffs. The grey colored dragon slowed as he landed inside, dropping his catch as he did, but he was surprised by what he found in there. It was a familiar looking dragoness sleeping in his den. Wake approached warily, not wanting to disturb the ness’s slumber. Wake then somewhat spoke up. ”Um... hi.”

Ptelea hadn't been sleeping long--at all, actually--when the den's owner arrived. She smelled the dragon before he entered; he smelled of fish, of the ocean. Ptelea didn't move. She decided if she pretended to be sound asleep, maybe the dragon would take pity and let her stay. The familiar voice made her look up, however. The dragon was one Ptelea had encountered before. Her lilac eyes shone with friendliness. Ptelea stood and, with a jagged claw, wrote into the ground: Hi. I remember you. How is your wing?

Wake stayed wary until he realized he had indeed met this dragoness before. The wyvern smiled once he learned this, happy to see a now rare friendly face. He looked down at the ground, confused at first but quickly remembering her mute nature. She asked how his wing was, which prompted the grey scaled dragon to extend his bluish-grey right wing. This action revealed a grey scar in his wing leather.

"It's pretty much all healed up. A little scarring, but nothing major." Wake then thought of something. Why was Ptelea here? It was kinda odd to him. Had something attacked her? Wake looked at the dragoness and spoke again.

"Not that seeing a friendly face is a bad thing, but what are you doing here?"

Ptelea looked at the scar. She was glad the wing had healed nicely. Wake was concerned about why she was here. It was understandable, after all, she was in his den unannounced and uninvited. She began writing again, 'I was just looking for a place to sleep for the night. I had to leave my home, it was too dangerous to stay. I didn't mean to intrude.. I can go somewhere else if it's too much trouble.'

Wake gave Ptelea a concerned look as he read her message. He could understand the dangers she wrote of. There was a reason he kept to the coasts for the most part. The monsters tended to stay inland, at least the dangerous ones, so coastal dragons were relatively safe.

What surprised Wake even more was that the dragoness was willing to leave if her staying was to much for him. Yes, it was a bit... small with two dragons in the cave, but the wyvern couldn't just force the mute out with all the new dangers around. Wake just shook his head before speaking. "It won't be any trouble. Stay as long as ya need to."

Ptelea could see that Wake was contemplating a bit. She wondered for a moment if she would have to leave... But fortunately, the wyvern said yes. Ptelea gave what passed as a smile for dragons. 'Thank you.' The mute female settled back down where she'd been laying. 'I won't stay long. I don't want to be a burden.' She unfurled her left wing and gingerly grasped the flower tucked beneath it with her teeth. It was a flower for which she was named. She set it on the end of her tail and laid her head close to it. Ptelea liked to sleep with the scent of the lilac filling her nose.

Wake mimicked smile, and read Ptelea’s words carefully. He soon responded with his normal, kind tone. ”No problem. And I’m sure ya won’t be a burden no matter how long ya stay.” The wyvern then walked over to his catch and moved it near a pile of sea salt the wyvern had collected. He may have hated humans, but they admittedly had some good food storage tricks. It seemed to help keep meat good for longer, even if it didn’t taste the best.

Once he put some salt in the tuna, not wanting to mess up the hammerhead’s taste, he decided to lay down. Wake curiously eyed the flower that his friend kept with her. He knew why she kept it, but it was still interesting.

The next morning, Ptelea wandered in search of food; she didn't want to eat Wake's. She stayed close to the coast. Realizing that the only thing she'd find around here would be fish, Ptelea turned her attention to the sea. She wasn't the best swimmer--that is to say she'd never tried--so she used her breath. Ptelea froze a section of water big enough for her to stand on. And then she waited for a school to swim by. It took several tries, but finally, Ptelea caught a fish.

For the better part of the morning, she tried catching enough to fill up. She managed to catch two more before returning to Wake's den.

Wake had slept later than usual. He was a bit exhausted from his hunt the day before. The wyvern finally opened his eyes and stretched his wings. He decided to just walk over to the cave's entrance, and sniffed the air. He had noticed Ptelea wasn't there either, which made him a bit curious. Before had time to think about though, the dragoness had flown back. "Hey."

Ptelea gave Wake what passed as a smile for dragons then went to the area of the cave where she had slept. After thinking for a moment, she wrote, 'Hi Wake. I want to go look for a new home today. Do you know of any safe places I could go?'

Wake thought a moment about Ptelea’s request, remembering the various safe places to stay in the area. The grey scaled dragon then looked out of his den, and back at his guest. ”I should know a few places nearby.”