『 FRIEND OR FOE 』pafp

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    (It's no problem)


    The duo soared through the barren landscape with ease since they did it daily. Aallotar could have gotten her and Elek there in a few seconds but, she had to keep a consistent speed so the Wyvern could follow. The Longwing grunted in discomfort as the sun beat down on her back relentlessly. It wasn't unbearable but, it was annoying to be sure. Elek too was feeling a bit woozy from the heat and laid flat against the dragoness' cool neck to get some kind of relief. Just when the sands seemed to never change a tiny green speck came into view. It was distant still, but was different at least.


    Flying on wards the dot grew into a blur and then became a fully realized oasis with large palm trees marking the entrance to the tiny area of greenery for miles. Not able to resist it any longer she opened her wings and drastically increased her speed disappearing from view. The nimble dragoness landed in a large opening that was graced with palm trees circling it and a small pool of water sitting in the middle. Excitedly walking over she piratically stuck her whole face into the pool of refreshing water before her rider teetered and fell into the water with a loud splash. He grunted not really wanting to go for a swim. Popping back up he looked around for the crimson dragon now soaked his wet hair clinging to his forehead.

    When Nilanth's eyes fell upon the Oasis, a surprised expression found its way upon his scaly muzzle. How could a place like this exist in this desert? Shaking his head slowly, the Wyvern suddenly stuck his hands into the ground and stopped, but the human upon his back want so lucky. With a surprised yelp, Vophi was flung from his back, but he didn't notice until he heard a sudden splash. Freezing up, Nilanth scrambled to the edge of the water, staring down into it. Various curses left his lips as he searched around, but they faded into a long sigh when the human resurfaced a few moments after, and he lowered his ears.

    ---


    "N-N-Nilanth!" Vophi sputtered, splashing the crimson Wyvern on the muzzle, causing him to hiss with surprise and recoil immediately, rubbing his muzzle with his wing claws. An annoyed huff escaped her lips as she swam over to the closest bank, which she clambered onto. "Look what you did! Now my armor is all wet..." she grumbled, shot the wyvern a glare, then proceeded to take off her armor piece by piece. The way she did so was careful and precise, since almost each and every piece needed to be removed at the right time. For instance, she couldn't remove her chestplate without removing her gauntlets and such first.


    When Vophi finally removed her last armor piece, then laid it next to the others in the neat pile they were in, a quiet sigh escaped her lips. She looked even smaller now: the armor added some bulk to her body, which made her appear a little bit bigger. She was also much lighter now, too. With another quiet sigh she slowly approached the edge of the lake and sat down onto the sand, then dipped her finger into the water and drew small circles.

    Elek blinked as Vophi went flying in the water after him. Sometimes he thought dragons just forgot how small humans were. Elek chuckled slightly was he swam to the bank and crawled up on the wet sand. He was only wearing a breast plate made of boiled leather. His go to armor had been completely torched yesterday by Wyvern fire.


    "It won't take long to dry he tried to reassure her as she climbed out of the water. It would only take an hour or so for the whole thing to be completely dry. He slowly unbuckled his chest plate and looked at the soaking bandages underneath. Gruning slight he unwound the bloody bandages that covered his whole chest front and back. As he loosened the bsnadages the claw marks and charred flesh became more visible since he had to pull his shirt off to take it off.


    Letting out a pained growl he slowly set himself down on the sand next to Vophi throwing his breastplate off to the side. Aallotar sighed softly and sniffed at his exposed wounds shaking her head. She didn't want him getting anymore hurt then he already was. Elek looked over at Vophi realizing she was even tinier without armor to bulk her up. She was adorable in a way with how small she was without her armor.

    Vophi watched Elek's every move with a curious stare, then focused her attention back to the water once he had sat down next to her, and started to draw different, more complex shapes. A familiar feeling settled into her mind: vulnerability. She could easily recognize this feeling, since almost every creature she has met could crush her effortlessly. Dragons, wild animals, even inanimate objects could cause major harm to her person. Now, she'd have to add humans to that list, even though she highly doubted Elek would try and harm her. They were on good terms now, right?


    Vophi shook her head, ridding her mind of those doubtful thoughts. Of course he wouldn't harm her! Not without reason, at least. She stopped drawing shapes in the water when her finger started to get cold, and with a quiet hiss she shook her hand in an attempt to regain feeling, then placed it down onto her lap. She remained silent, her mind swimming with thoughts and curiosities. What was Western culture like? Did they care about appearance? Did they care about politics? Freedom? Were they free? Vophi started to look a little dizzy: keeping up with her racing mind was difficult.


    "Elek," Vophi suddenly stated, looking over at him. "Would you mind if I asked you about the West?" Her blank expression turned curious as she asked him the question, and she slowly shuffled around so she was facing him properly. Being polite to strangers was a big part of Eastern culture, but those outside of the East would never know, since talking to Western dragons was looked down upon. Now that she was on better terms with Elek, she saw no need to act differently towards him.


    Huffing quietly, Vophi brushed some sand off of her thighs with a grumble as she folded her legs underneath her, then placed her hands back on her lap. Since her leg armor was so long, she didn't feel the need to wear long pants, so she usually wore shorts. Besides, she usually didn't sit on the ground. Even Dragons didn't sit on the ground: large, circular cushions were placed in meeting rooms for them to rest upon.


    (Mobile, sorry!)

    (I'll also give you some creative liberty, since your character would've grown up in the West)

    The post was edited 2 times, last by CHIMAERA ().

    Elek could feel her watching his every move as if in one moment he was going to go from talking to her to pulling his axes out on her which he couldn't do with all these injuries anyway. Trying to attack would have been foolish even if they were complete strangers. Now that they reached some kind of understanding attacking her was the furthest thing from his mind at the moment. All he was really thinking about was how uncomfortable the burn on his back made laying in the sand. Glancing over at her unsure he tried to offer a smile not sure what she wanted him to do. In all honesty this was a first for both of them. Their first real social interaction with another human. He had spent his whole life among dragons who simply brushed him aside most of the time since he was smaller then most.


    Since he was unsure of what he was supposed to really do or say he just sat on the sand in silence tracing a simple line in the sand with his finger nothing like the complex shapes she was doodling beside him. Drawing had never much been his strong suit and it showed in how crooked his little line was. The spell of silence was only broken when Vophi asked him outright if he would mind her asking questions about the West. It was a strange question since he wasn't exactly sure how to respond at first. Opening his mouth to form a reply he seemed to pause thinking before giving up and giving a simple nod. Where to start was the question.


    "There is no formalities except when addressing the Empress herself but, even that is mostly limited to being quick when she summons you. We do not really care how we look and I didn't even know what I looked like until I was five and looked in a pool. I scared myself half to death. We do not care what our neighbors business is as long as it does not affect ours. We wait until night to hunt since it is much cooler. Nothing is ever wasted since supplies are hard to come by. We scavenge what we can and raid for what we can't. Water is the only sure thing and even it is only certain in the oasis Dynni found when she was first exiled." Rattling off details he would glance over every once and a while to see her reactions to these sorts of things. The West and East were extremely different to be sure.

    Vophi's expression would change depending on what he said: usually she kept a straight face, but she did show a twinge of amusement after Elek said his appearance scared him when he was younger. Humming under her breath, she nodded, offering him a small smile. "Thank you: I've never had the chance to learn about how the West works, and I'm sure you know why," she ended her statement with a brief chuckle, then sighed, staring off at Nilanth, who was cautiously poking at the water every few moments. He'd recoil when it hit his scales, like it was too hot or too cold. Her amused expression returned for a brief moment, but it disappeared once she turned to face Elek again. "Since you told me about the West, I guess it's only fair I tell you about the East?" Vophi mused, then brought a hand to her chin, tapping it with her index finger.


    "Eastern culture is practically based on being polite, but, surprisingly, it's only displayed towards allies. Unlike the West, we care about our appearance a lot: some dragons will take hours out of their day just to make sure they look their very best. A few dragons help me meet the 'appearance standard', which is what I call it, every morning," she paused for a brief moment to gesture to herself, just to paint a picture. Her nails were trimmed, her body was blemish free, etc. "If you don't meet that standard, don't expect it to slip by unnoticed: we associate disheveled appearances with savage beasts or other, less developed dragons, so I believe we care so much because we have to prove we're superior? It confuses me. A-anyway...the appearance standard also floods into the way our cities look: the largest, which was built around Ynnit's spire, is where I am from. There are paved roads, large buildings, decorations...and such. There are multiple cities—some that I haven't even seen—but they're no where near as pretty as the central one..." her voice then trailed off, and glancing away for a brief moment, she offered him another smile. "I could try to sneak you in one," she mused, then cleared her throat, continuing.


    "It's not just good, though: infighting has become more and more popular as the war continues, since some of the other major cities are getting their own ideas. Ynnit, surprisingly, won't do anything about it. He's so preoccupied with Dynni's aggression that he practically forgot about the dragons not under his spire..." she sounded a little upset, but, her emotions moved on after she started to speak again. "We could hunt at any time of the day if we wanted to, but in order to preserve the population of the wildlife, we have limits set up on hunting. Since our community is so tight-knit, the dragons eat together in groups in various locations: the mountains, the city square, on top of buildings...anywhere, really. Communication is important since we have so many cities..."


    Vophi had paused again: she was unsure whether or not she should explain the negative aspects of the East, but she guessed it was only fair, so clearing her throat, she continued. "Along the lines of infighting comes the issue with traitors: everyone is now paranoid, since their neighbor could have dark intents. Predators are moving into the cities too, and they break into our nurseries to get to out hatchlings..." her voice trailed off, "Nilanth's mother was killed by a pack of those predators while protecting the nursery..."

    Elek listened with quiet respect surprised at how almost conceded the Eastern dragons sounded spending hours on their appearance. Of course looking at Vophi he could see how blemish free it was. Looking down subconsciously at the old burns that covered his chest he wondered how they could live with so many restrictions and having to worry how everyone felt about their outward appearances. Glancing back at Aallotar she was the only dragon he knew who spent even an ounce of time on her appearance and all she did was jump in water for a minute before laying out to dry and calling that good.


    "No offense that all just seems a bit unnecessary to focus so much on looks. But, hey what do I know I am not exactly an expert in that department." His long black braid had not been cut ever which made it wild unless he braided it a secured it with leather cords. Really he had no room to judge her or their customs. He blinked in clear surprise at her musings of offering to show him one of the outer cities. He looked at her as if the sun had fried her brain or something. He would love to actually see a city but, it was ridiculously dangerous. "It would be nice to see something besides sand." He conceded with a nervously laugh.


    Nodding slowly he listened to the more negative aspects of Eastern culture. It was strange to think dragons wirh Ynnit as their leader would squabble and fight one another while their leader was merciful to a fault. Mentioning the raids from predators he glanced at the Longwing beside him who seemed a bit uncomfortable hearing about nursery raids since she knew them all too well. "I'm can't imagine how terrible that must have been like." He glanced back at Wyvern for a moment not wanting to make him feel as if he was being pitied since most he knew wanted no one's pity.


    Sensing the heavy mood he cleared his throat shifting slightly in the sand. Trying to come up with something to say he looked at her for a few moments. "So why did you sneak out to see that sandstorm?" He asked suddenly tipping his head to the side.

    "Why did I sneak out?" Vophi echoed, the chuckled softly, rubbing the back of her neck in an embarrassed manner. "Nilanth and I were patrolling the border with small party of dragons early that morning when he sensed something...off about the environment. So we excused ourselves from the party to investigate the source of the disturbance, and after a brief "visit" to Western territory we discovered it: the storm. Since our leader is "God of Storms" as many call him, we decided to report the storm to him first, since it may have been an attack sent towards the West. According to Ynnit, he didn't make this storm and would leave to quell it before it could cause any damage to the territory, but I didn't believe it was safe. He wouldn't let me and Nilanth investigate it further, so instead of heeding his words, we decided to sneak out," She chuckled softly after she finished speaking, placing both hands in her lap. Then, tilting her head, she smiled.


    "Not all of the cities are dragon-infested," Vophi mused, another airy chuckle escaping her lips. "If I took you to an outer city, I'd probably take you to Krialin, which was recently cleared out to prevent casualties in the event of an attack: it is the closest to Western territory, after all. Our soldiers would never be able to get there in time..." her voice trailed off, her mind being plagued with thoughts of a mass casualty in the event an outer city was attacked. Soldiers, who were one of the many ranks, took care of all the fighting. A large percent of Eastern Dragons were soldiers, since almost every battle resulted in at last one casualty. To purge her thoughts of a situation like this she decided to describe the city to him. "It's pretty large for an outer city, and one of the cleaner ones too. The buildings should still be intact, to-..." she rambled on about various details, including the colors and shapes of the buildings. Apparently, the Eastern Dragons loved the color of Jade and really liked windows.


    Then, with an evil grin, she decided to mess with Nilanth a little bit. "Ylin is another city we could take you too," she hummed, causing the wyvern to sputter in surprise. "We are not going to Ylin! Are you crazy? Has the sun gone to your brain?-" Vophi chuckled softly as Nilanth rambled on about Ylin, and deciding to tell Elek about the city, she cleared her throat. "Ylin is one of the dangerous cities: I'd probably be killed if I went there," she explained, then sighed, shaking her head. "The infighting is really bad in places like that..."

    Elek tipped his head towards her wondering what would have possessed her to sneak out to investigate a giant sandstorm. "You have a lot of guts to try something like that behind Ynnit's back. Of course I'm doing this behind Dynni's back." Heaving a shrug he decided they both were doing something they definitely shouldn't be but, they were here anyway.


    Listening about the outer city of Krialin that was deserted now because of the threat of attack from the West. It was a valid concern since several bands of Western dragons relentlessly attack the bordering Eastern cities to raid for supplies and steal eggs every once and a while. There was also the threat of an impending battle that was almost certain. Once Dynni had finished recovering she would be out for blood, anyone's. Leaning forward when she started describe the Eastern city he nodded along trying to imagine it as she described it. Apparently they liked jade and lots of windows, which he thought was quite strange.


    His eyes sparked thinking about the idea seriously now which made the Longwing nudge him trying to get him out that mindset. When she started grinning evilly they both looked at each other unsure. When she finally explained how dangerous the other city was. Even the Wyvern was spooked by the propsition. Elek nodded raising a brow slightly. "Never imagined the East to have cities that were so dangerous. The west doesn't really have cities. It's mostly moving groups. The only permanent cities are all within range of Dynni. It is hard to build anything when Dynni moves she caused tremors for miles." He explained stretching slightly.

    "The East isn't as dangerous as the West, of course, but it isn't completely safe, either. If we annex the North and South, it would create even more problems..." Vophi sighed, staring down at the sand before her, then started to draw something in the sand. At first they started out as simple shapes, but when she started to combine those shapes, they formed symbols. Combining the symbols, she formed a word. Eastern Dragons had three languages: a spoken language, a written language, and a standard language. The standard language, which was spoken by all Dragons, was the original. The eastern language was developed after the East split from the West, and stemming from the Eastern language came the spoken and written languages. Standard language was used more than the Eastern language, but it was slowly becoming less and less popular as time went on. Pretty soon, Vophi predicted the standard language would go extinct amongst Eastern dragons. The word she wrote down was a simple one: her own name.


    She started to wonder if the West had its own languages, but only for a few brief moments.


    "Elek," Vophi spoke up again, pausing her writing to look up at him. "If you ever want to see the Eastern territories, don't be afraid to ask. Living in a desert for the entirety of your life sounds dreadful..." She hummed, offering him another small smile, then went back to writing. Under her name she wrote three other words: Nilanth, Krialin, and another name: Disakai, the name of Nilanth's mother. If someone were to examine Vophi's living space, they'd see her name in quite a few places, one of the most interesting being a scale, which had the word engraved on it. One of her scales. It was an 'eastern thing' as she liked to call it.