Serikornis Ventus
New Dragon - Air Class | Male | 220 | Mentions: Noelle, Aziza, Ryker, Nava, Ra'd (all dir I think ;-;)
Serikornis’ next exhalation of amusement couldn’t have possibly been understood by any acquaintance human, nor non-air dragon – but to those who knew him exceptionally well it would be obvious he was laughing. A gentle waft of air rose up from his nose, scattering a few loose leaves around him, as he watched the small female rider’s abrupt series of realisations. And then, with the clumsy attempt to apologise for her interruption, the male’s soft puffs increased in pace as he could only manage to chuckle. Letting himself calm quickly down again to a serene exterior, he soon decided that he appreciated the gesture - the young rider’s respect and apology wrapped up in a poorly managed half-bow under the weight of Noelle’s hand on her shoulder.
Seriko watched with his amusement fading as the large storm dragon appeared only to tug his young female rider slightly away from the group, though Seriko was of course unsurprised with the dragon’s decisive action. His own body remained still aside from the soft flapping, and the slightest tilt of his head as a thunder-like rumble was sent unmistakably towards him; it was gentle in nature, more polite than friendly but also holding a clear warning. Only a calm match of a warning to what his own had been to the storm dragon’s young rider, he noted, but Seriko still suspected a possibile tint of dislike. He could sense that this Storm Dragon was one of those territorial types – the most commonly found ‘type’ of dragon by far - or at least one highly cautious around other dragons such as Serikornis. Understandable both ways, he supposed, especially with the newly established riders thrown into the equation.
Although, the Air Dragon could never really imagine something like that – one spending all their time attached to the earth in one bound area such as over a single territory mountain range, or to a small group of creatures one might shepherd around, or glittery treasure trove cave that they might guard endlessly upon. All of it protected from only other dragons; in truth the part he actually did understand was the frictional dragon-dragon relationships... Or perhaps he simply hadn’t been able to fully understand that possessiveness of a physical thing, something to be properly territorial about, until Noelle. It wasn’t strange that the only thing that had even made him even consider touching his feet to the ground in the past century was this youngster and the idea of allowing him onto the smooth scales upon his back. Though he wasn’t ready to return to land quite yet - and they’d have to wait for the first flight for that event to actually occur - that idea was more exciting than the fear he could feel tingling in his feet. It outweighed it almost entirely.
Watching his rider, he felt as if an anchor was tethering him to the earth, or at least to where his rider stood. He felt a territorial-esqe feeling too, his agitation growing in every moment his time with Neolle was interrupted then ebbing away to nothing as they continued to converse. He could watch happily as his rider gave short admirable look at his feathery ridges and then the spontaneous offer of some maintenance through the bond. It seemed that every time he began to feel pessimistic about the whole rider situation - interruptions, other dragons, anything - said rider would interrupt with some sweet notion. I can manage my feathering well enough, but it would be a nice way for us to bond if you were to assist with preening them. He grinned, shaking his head again with an appreciative tone. Is there anything I can do for you in return?
Their discussion was interrupted again by the other male rider – the one belonging to the crystal dragoness who seemed to get closer every time he glanced in her direction – as he wrapped an arm tightly around Noelle’s shoulders and seemed to make an almost defiant look up at Seriko. Now this was human he was a little unsure on. The dragon felt an urge to make a slightly more intimidating gesture than he had made towards the girl. Something a little more aggressive... But naturally that would only offend the rider’s dragon rather than the human himself – he wouldn’t do anything to harm the boy, if not for his own self-preservation than for Noellë’s sake.
But thankfully any plans he had made towards messing with the young man were interrupted by Noelle’s thought again in the bond. Hey...you never told me your name. Seriko nodded slightly, realising that was in fact true – he would have introduced himself if not for the ‘Ryker’ man showing up. He huffed softly, slightly irritated but relaxing as a plan came to mind.
Well, I suppose not. You got a little distracted.
Of course, the air dragon held no malice against his rider for getting caught up in the slight romanticism of that interaction with the other young rider. And besides that Seriko absolutely didn’t want his rider to loose the value and excitement he appeared to find a solstice in with his freindships. Those people were some of whom Noellë highly valued, so Serikoris would of course allow him to continue to bond and converse of his own free will... But his focus on their bond was of the most importance right now, especially when it would come to the situation of the first flight soon. If he decided to test his rider within that event, then Noelle would have to be prepared if he wanted to remain his partner. For them to survive as a team, he would not be able to go soft on his rider, as much as the empathetic strains of his heart begged him to. Nor could he allow childish interactions to take precedence over their bonding time... now that last thought was more borne out of jealousy than concern.
In honesty, Serikornis’ patience was beginning to tire with all these humans interrupting the flow of his conversing. So - allowing his airy voice to take on a mock serious and dramatic tone - he raised his wings to block out a small portion of the sunlight and spoke out loud to his rider for the first time: “Noelle. I have a challenge for you. Climb up this tree to meet me.”
It probably sounded easy enough, to any human even moderately acquainted to climbing trees. This rough-barked one in particular was not miniature, but even despite its size had enough ridges and branches for a human to climb if they were strategic. A tall and sturdy enough thing, it might be one to cause some bone-related issues if a delicate human were to fall from it’s full height, but that wasn’t part of Serikornis’ plan. He would catch Noelle if it became necessary, though that was not what he wanted from the challenge. It was more a test of courage and resilience that a judgement of skill.
And, despite the tree’s own set of difficulty - he wasn't sure how Noellë would cope with tree climbing, Serikornis was not going to make this little challenge easy. With a slightly mischievous glint in his eyes, he shifted himself onto his hind legs and stretched out his neck so that he could watch the young man scale the full length of the tree. Depending on how difficult Noellë found the ascent, the air dragon would add his own level of trickiness. His wings beat a little heavier, only slightly increasing the strength breeze as he gazed down at his rider.
“I think I ought to warn you, I don’t feel like making this little challenge easy. So, do you accept?"
Winter 
Day 
Blizzard
