It appeared Ellis was just as joyful to see Viscus as she was to see Ellis, since the girl bolted towards her when she knew it was her. A smile appeared on her rider's face, which changed to worry as swiftly as it appeared when she saw Viscus' cracked shoulder. "I am... okay.." She replied, before the flames bursted the two, singing Ellis in the process. Viscus could see small teardrops well up in the corners of her rider's eyes. "I'm.. sorry Ellis.. Are you.. alright?" She twisted her head to examine her rider the best she could, seeing some small dots on her skin where the flames had hit.

Before they got time to speak any more, the two mentors landed, with Nalukraja quickly directing his attention to Viscus, leaving Ellis space to speak to Iris. "I'm fine.. but.. I've always.. been.. incapable of.. true flight.." She started, before pausing to collect the right words to use. "I can only glide.. if I.. manage.. to find.. something.. tall.. to leap off of.." Then with a sigh, she ended her reply off with one last sentence. "I'll follow.. by foot.."

Viscus didn't think her injured shoulder was that big of a deal. She's had much worse pain before, and walked while having it. Her armor-like exoskeleton protected her from most of the impact.

Viscus overheard Ellis and Iris' conversation. Her poor rider. Losing family must be rough, though Viscus would never know exactly how painful it is since she's never really had family before. She'd definitely feel devastated if she lost Guāng. "We'll.. find them.." She chimed in, trying to comfort her distressed rider. "I promise.."

Then, Nalukraja let out a roar, Viscus snapped her head to examine. Guāng's tail and body could faintly be seen in the distance, making her look like a large snake of some kind since her legs weren't visible through the thick layer of smoke. "Guāng!" Viscus called out, waving her wings to get the light dragon's attention.

Then, she turned back to Raj. "Get Guāng.. and then leave?"

Laika Herriman || Mentor || Bond: Xuejiao || M: Squad Leaders, Mentors

As they reached the island, Laika felt as though she were now watching herself from outside her body. Her motions were like those of a puppet: refined, but lifeless. Brown eyes shifted to Renzana and Draiochtach as the order to make camp rang out, but both mentor pairs were called to follow the squad leaders first. Laika patted Xue's neck and slid off, boots landing on the ground with a soft thwump. She pushed her chest out and clasped her hands behind her back, pulling her arms taut and stretching her upper back and shoulders. A grimace flashed over her features at the stiffness she felt.

Renzana's voice continued, and Laika had to force herself to stay alert and pay attention until that name leaked off the other woman's tongue: Nex Drishti. Laika's response was to curl her lip slightly in aversion, and it seemed she was not the only one. Draiochtach reacted strongly, voicing Laika's own concerns. The seer dragon was well-known for her, ah, volatility. Your friend one moment, your butcher the next. Her own rider had died, or been killed. Nobody really knew, but everyone was convinced it had been Nex's own doing. She was a raving lunatic, unpredictable and arguably malevolent. Draio was right; if they had nothing to offer her, why would she help them?

Thumbing her lower lip, Laika added, "I'm a bit worried about her bloodlust around so many injured and inexperienced pairs. I haven't assessed the damage in its entirety yet, but as far as I can tell, hardly anyone got out totally unscathed. Nex Drishti is kind of... famous for taking bites out of things."

The image of some unlucky dragon or youth getting a chunk ripped off of them, because Nex's intrusive thoughts won, was not a pleasant one. It was hard enough to keep brand new bonds from killing each other. Despite vastly outnumbering the riderless dragon, Laika was wary to take her on in a fight -- especially if they were going to depend on the crazy female for their survival.

"There would also be the matter of finding her in the first place. The outpost would be easier to find than she, if she doesn't want to be found, " Laika mused, thinking out loud rather than addressing anyone else in particular.

Nalukraja || Mentor Dragon || Psyche || Bond: Iris || M: Viscus, Ellis, Gūang, Iris, Squad Leaders, Mentors

"If your boyfriend is still alive, he will be with the first group," Raj said, speaking first to Ellis. He then directed his words to Viscus again and finished, "Go ahead on land. Iris and I will pick up Gūang and then fly above you. We're going to the island where the first flights took place; we'll rendezvous there."

He nosed Iris to make sure she was secure and then took to the sky once more, flying off in the direction he had seen the light dragon disappear. It didn't take too long to find her again, and he breathed a sigh of relief as he noted the presence of her rider as well. This landing was much more poised, and his remaining shell bracelets clacked together as his feet hit the ground. "You're ready. Good. Head to the first flight island; we'll take the rear."

Raj waited for them to leave before pausing and looking back at Iris. His low voice rumbled in a rare moment of guilty self-reflection, "I'm being too bossy tonight, aren't I? Half of the students are shell-shocked; I should be nicer."

Should didn't quite equate with would, but he'd make a semblance of an effort anyway. As he moved to fly over Viscus's barely visible frame running through the trees, he asked through the bond, "We've been preoccupied with all the new pairs. But how are you holding up, my friend?"

He felt foolish for having waited so long to see if the stoic woman on his back was handling everything alright. The island was coming up in his sights now, and he could see the first group beginning to drop down from the cloud cover onto the land once again. He kept an eye on the insect-like dragon beneath them, particularly once they reached the waters to cross over to the island. Once they were all there safely, he followed his mate after the squad leaders. He still hadn't gotten a proper chance to check on her, and it was killing him slifhtly.

Nalukraja remained relatively indifferent as Renzana began to speak, only releasing a soft humm at the name Nex Drishti. As the venom dragon vehemently disagreed with her rider, and as Laika spoke up about finding their quarry in the first place, the psyche dragon swished his tail and said, "If -- and that is a fairly large if -- we have no choice but to ask her, then we could send out scouting patrols -- likely one of us and perhaps a rookie pair... I believe we would all rather avoid her entirely, but does anyone have any other ideas?"

He looked to Xue hopefully, and once more pleaded with Iris, "You're nice and convincing and smart. Please tell me you can think of a way out of this. Nex Drishti has bad news written all over her."

‘Make sure to measure my height sometime, Cygnus.’ Toward her dragon’s initial comment she’d bat at the air in defiance of his sarcasm. Had she really wanted to she would have patted Mort’luath’s shoulder playfully but opted for the air this time around.

‘Don’t fall, it'll be a couple hundred foot drop when we’re flying.’ Upon the sound of his barking laugh soon silenced by his own accord she’d merely roll her eyes in response. Cheeky dragon. She enjoyed their banter with one another and was fond of seeing his emotions, something he often refused to reveal to many, which she understood and respected.

Following a huff of irritation escape Mort’luath and a failed attempt to relieve an itch from one of his many deeply embedded spears a small frown would etch itself across her calm defiant mask. Upon their bonding she had attempted to remove the spears from his scales with several mules but was quite unsuccessful, their failure resulting in a minor fulfilled appetite for her dragon. She was additionally unsuccessful in recruiting any other dragon willing enough to assist in pulling the remaining spears out as they’d rather keep their own scales intact than have to deal with the wrath of Mort’luath. Perhaps she would make some sort of back scratcher for her mount to offer some form of relief.

‘I'm going to have to catch some food along the way. Even if it's just a short patrol. My stomach pains again.’ It had yet to be determined whether or not Mort’luaths endless hunger was the result of an increased form of metabolism or if perhaps his powers demanded an immeasurable and boundless amount of food. It never bothered her much but was more than certain his eternal hunger pained him.

‘That is quite alright with me, my mighty Cepheus.’ She would chime back running her right hand along his broad and mighty neck before returning to his spine.

The once distant rumbling and crack of thunder would now quickly approach, and the once calm waters beneath them would begin to roughen violently crashing and colliding swaying in their aggressive dance below. She enjoyed thunderstorms. The lightning flashing against the dark rain clouds fascinating her mind, granting all of her attention. The rain whether it be gentle or rough would offer a soothing solace for her thoughts to drift and wander. She greatly enjoyed the rain especially when sleeping the patter of it tapping against the glass panes, rocks, and surroundings lulling her to sleep. The triplets had grown up being told they each represented a part of a storm: Sylphiel the quiet before a storm on occasion beginning with a sharp crack sometimes found brewing and fast approaching in the distance; Ciliren the slashing rain, clamoring thunder, wild winds, and lashing lightning; Sorisansa the soothing end of a storm.

She could sense Mort’luath’s calming fulfillment with the approaching storm and further eased into her seat. Her wavy alabaster bob would dance wildly in the wind whipping around her face. She had wondered if her birth alongside her sisters had perhaps signified their destiny for at least two of them to be bonded to storm dragons. She found it a bit ironic but was proud nonetheless.

The sudden dip took Iris by surprise, even though she should've expected it since she was the one to point out the pair. She gripped onto his scales, her hands turning pale with how tight she gripped onto them. A flurry of pebbles rained towards them, but Nalukraja, with swift reflexes, managed to smoothly turn just in time to block her from getting hit by them. She could even see some small marks left on his scales from them.

Then, Raj approached the ground, stumbling towards the insect dragon and quickly observing her. She looked injured, with a large crack over her shoulder, but she was still standing. The rider appeared slightly grazed by the flames, but otherwise fine. While Raj went to speak to the insect dragon, Iris turned her attention towards Ellis, about to speak, but before she could reply, Raj took the chance. While that wasn't exactly the most comforting thing he could've said to her, Iris decided not to correct him, especially now that he redirected his attention back to the insect dragon.

The tip of his nose gently nudged Iris, before he took flight, beelining towards the last spot they'd seen Guāng and Ardian. She began to search for the light dragon, but it seems that Raj had found her faster, and landed once again, but this time beside Guāng and Ardian instead of Viscus and Ellis. With a voice hinting a tone of authority, he informed the pair of the island, before following them as they took flight.

Before they followed, her turned to Iris with a face of worry, his voice rumbling as he spoke of his concern about being too bossy. "I don't think you are." She replied, reaching her hand forward the pat him on the nose. With that, they turned and began to follow the two pairs they found.

Then after a few minutes of silence, as he caught up to the others, he once again began to speak, but this time spoken through their bond. 'I'm shocked. And ashamed to admit, kind of scared. But everyone else probably feels similar, or-' Then, she abruptly cut off, not knowing what else to say.

Then the ground beneath changed to water, as they made their way across the ocean. The insect and her rider swam below, while the others flew above.

Reaching the island, Nalukraja quickly flew towards Renzana, Draiochlach, Laika, and Xuejiao. She thought she heard someone say 'Nex Drishti.' And it appears she was right, since Raj heard it as well, and began to slightly protest against the idea. 'I'm not sure how to argue against the idea. I hate to say it, but it might be our best option.'

Aegon

Outpost Dragon | Male | Rider: Sorisansa | Mentions: Sorisansa, Ciliren, Mort'luath, Talvi

Aegon leveled out in the sky above Mort'luath and Ciliren, the cool night air pleasant on his pearlescent scales. The farther he flew the more he started to wake, still feeling tired but more refreshed.

He seen Ciliren sign something to Sorisansa. He had never wrapped his head around the idea of signing, mainly because he couldn't do it. Human customs never failed to confuse him. His eyes scanned the area on either side of them, not needing to pivot his head to see. He trusted Sansa to keep her eyes ahead and alert him if she noticed anything out of the ordinary. After he deemed the skies safe, he turned his attention toward Sansa, who was speaking down the bond.

He nodded his head slightly as she spoke down the bond. "I will suggest the idea to Talvi."

He made a noise of approval as she explained what Ciliren had signed, making a mental note to remind her to grab more valerian and honey before they flew back to the Outpost. "I'll make sure to remind you."

He continued to fly just slightly behind Mort'luath, letting him and Ciliren lead the way. He preferred following, allowing him to have his mind on other things and not have to worry about where they were going.

He wished now more than even that Ciliren would have chose sleep over a patrol, but for whatever reason, humans seemed to be both nocturnal and diurnal, which was quite unfortunate for his sleeping schedule.

The beating of the dragon's wings and the waves below were the only noises as they continued to fly.

A snort came from him at Max's questioning. Was it that hard to notice? Perhaps he had to be a bit more romantic towards his beloved Esen then. He hoped she hasn't been feeling neglected this whole time.. Des answered his rider's questions with a simple "Yes," trying to use his tone to indicate that he wanted to end the conversation. It seemed that his rider took note of that, and quieted down. Desmodus focused on catching up to the group ahead, flying swiftly with loud beats of his wings in an attempt to catch up to them. He could see the outline of a distant island appearing, and dragons dipping into the forest cover. He couldn't see Esen though, which made his heart begin to sink in his chest.

Where is she?

Then he caught sight of Esen's elegant frame landing into the forest of the island, instantly relieving him of the anxiety. It was a miracle they both survived that attack, especially since so many died during it. He turned to head straight towards her, speeding up his pace to get to her as quickly as possible.

Landing close to Esen, Desmodus immediately darted to her, a soft rumbling purr coming from both of them. Soon, Esen began to analyze him, searching for wounds as she spoke quickly. Desmodus nuzzled into her as she spoke, placing his head on her shoulder and spreading his wings to embrace her. "I'm fine. Are you okay?" He purred, his voice unusually soft. When he noticed the rider on her back, he narrowed his eyes at the creature, and brought his wings back to himself. He would flick the thing off like it was nothing, but if he did that, he'd probably get a scolding from somebody, if not Esen. He snorted in amusement when she called Maximillan a scalding mouse. "You are brilliant, Esen. We're calling him a mouse from now on."

Max jumped to argue, but instead ended up coughing from smoke earlier. So instead of speaking out loud, he decided to pout through their bond, complaining about the idea of being called a mouse. He felt his wing patagiums slightly dip as the human slid down them. While he was thinking of how to reply, Max once again talked. 'Eat lemons. I am not speaking for you. Gargle with some salt water. It should help.' He sibilated, with a tone of irritation. He wasn't about to leave Esen by herself again just to help a human speak. As Max walked away, he felt something slip on his leg- the mask that Max had wrapped around it. 'And by the way. You forgot your mask.'

Then Desmodus turned back to Esen with a purr. "The mouse said he's too big to be called a mouse. Should we call him a weasel instead?" Then he turned to her human- whatever his name might be. "We can call your human a stoat then." Looking the human up and down, Des nodded to himself. "I think stoat fits him perfectly."