Caelestis - New Dragon - Air - 230 Years - Mentions: Open


With his head turned into the buffeting winds and with the roughened texture of rock cold beneath scaled feet, the dragon clung to the mountain spire, claws hooked into the cracks to better maintain balance. Wings folded tightly to sleek flanks and nostrils flaring, he leaned ever so slightly into the currents, decoding the traces of scents carried on the chilled stream of wind. There were little that he could distinguish, thinned from the heights, as the lingering scents of creatures tore past in a swirling gust.

The inexplicable tugging in his chest, unyielding in its persistence, drew his attention from the wonderfully chilled currents, seeming to twist his neck until the narrow snout was aligned to the origin of the silent call. With wind roaring in his ears and the nipping breezes sweeping through his mane, he soundlessly regarded the direction to which he was drawn to, as the creature had for the past days. He did not scent nor sense any disturbances hailing from that direction, yet drawing closer to the region sent a tingling anticipation through his veins.

The dragon was not a hatchling, nor was he ignorant. He knew exactly what lured him ever closer, why the pulling force had nestled inside his chest.

After all, the bonding of dragons to humans was no secret.

The gift that he had taken for the one who was to be his rider, for destiny had decreed he was to be bound the moment the summoning call formed, remained carefully cradled within his mouth. Smoothened by unknown hands and shaped into a sphere, he had little idea of the purpose of the object, whether it was mere decoration or meant to be used in work. It probably depends on what it looks like, humans do value appearances. I think.

A particularly strong gust swept across the sky, bringing a fresh chill to the heights-thinned air. It slid over his scales and through the cracks within the armor, the cold slipping into his being as familiar as the winds that often carry it. Lowering his head as he readjusted his grip on the orb, the dragon testingly arched the primary set of wings, feeling the supporting muscles stretch with the action.

The shroud of black slowly straightened until they were raised to their fullest height, the leathery membrane angled to reduce the drag against the softening currents, the stretch of the wing tendons tight but not overly so. The brief review of his physical state finished, the limbs lowered and half-folded to his sides.

I've wasted enough time resting. It's time to leave, he thought as the sense of urgency began trickling into his veins again. The need to continue traveling towards the insistent tugging, to find the famed Valley where dragons and humans gathered to find their bondmates, was returning in full force to draw him to the place nestled between mountains. Taking a bead on the direction that the tugging was drawing him to, the dragon slackened his grip on the warmed rock and slipped off the spire, the air catching beneath the primary set of wings as they spread to their full extent.

The sounds of the airy heights filled his ears, the sensations of wind curling and streaming through the heavens with nothing to impede the currents shivering through the winds, and he became nothing more than a swift flying spot upon the dawning blueness. For a time he soared within the higher parts of the sky, where the air thinned gloriously and the wind chill became biting, until the guiding sense of the latent connection became stronger. The dragon slowed his flight accordingly, dropping to the lower part of the sky as he did so, understanding that he was close. The temperature was milder where he was, the breezes gentler and the scents different.

The echoes of a barrier began to ripple through the currents, the wind curling back and flowing unimpeded higher in the sky. It took far too long for him to realize that the solid structures that felt like they were looming high above, reaching up into the heights, were mountains. I really am distracted, he thought with a touch of lighthearted irritation, veering away from the threat of colliding with unrelenting stone to a safer distance before beginning to beat his wings harder, climbing higher into the sky to pass over the mountains without fear of slamming into the rocky surface.

For a creature that was meant for flight, the change in course did not take long to correct. Soon, he was gliding above the mountain points, letting the echoes of the environment bounce back to him for a moment. Then the dragon tipped into a gentle drop, growing closer to the fresh scent of greenery and forests, before adjusting the angle of his wings and leveling out a decent height above the variety of smells. The scents of humans and nature, of dragons and eagerness, filled his nose. A stark difference from the watered down traces that were often carried on the higher echelons of the sky, or from the resting perch of the lonely mountain spire.

In the morning sky the dragon wheeled for a few long minutes, gathering information on the crowd of humans below, and whether there was dragons actively present in the fresh-smelling Valley. He did not want to accidentally crush an unfortunate human when he landed, nor did he desire to gain the ire of another of his kind. Neither would be a good impression. And so he learned where the majority of humans were, where he could land safely, and as he did, a flicker of a mischievous notion came into his head.

It had been a while since he had indulged those impulsive ideas, they were fun but had sometimes led him straight into trouble in his hatchling years. The situation was different, though, there was an excuse for doing something different. That part of him wanted to impress his future rider, if they were indeed present within the crowd. Why not? It is a special occasion after all.

The brief indecision settled, the dragon circled the clearing once more before choosing a non-populated place, folding his wings and allowing himself to plummet. Air rushed past his ears, and the wind seemed to part around his streamlined form. He grasped control of a current and a sharp breeze was propelled toward the ground, unfurling against the grasses and earth and rippling up to his diving form, the information processing in his mind within a second.

He held the plunge for a few moments longer, the span of a excitement-pounding of a heart. His form zipped past a tree that had felt farther away than it actually was, more than a little too close for comfort, before he shifted the position of his body and leaned back, wings snapping away from his sides and forming a rigid arch before being forced down again in a mighty flap. Breaking the momentum of the dive was necessary to land without breaking anything, it was a riskier manuever to preform, but he had done it many times in the past without consequence.

The sense of falling continued for a brief moment, then his hind limbs were slamming into the softer ground, the shock of contacting a solid surface shivering through his scales to the delicate bones of the foot. His front half was quick to follow, and he resisted the urge to allow a stumbling step forward to compensate for the force of the landing. For quiet moment, Caelestis stood where he had landed, exhilration still quickening his pulse and that excited anticipation curling tight around his bones. Then he mentally shook off the surging torrent of feelings, and moved away from the open.

Then the dragon slipped into the coolness of the shadows, content to simply observe for the time being, listen to the voices and gain better bearings on the environment and those who temporarily imhabited the Valley.

Kayne D'Angelo

New Rider/ Male/ 18/ Mentions: Caelestis (indirectly)

Kayne loosened the girth on the saddle of his horse, fingers working the strap deftly. He slid the strap all the way through and slung the girth and girth strap over the top of the saddle before he pulled it off the sweaty mare. He grabbed the blanket too, and hung the saddle over the stall fence with the blanket inside out so that it could dry. Next, he brought the sooty dun a bucket of grain, pouring the small portion into a trough, watching as his mare nickered in appreciation and began to eat. While she ate, he gave her a good rub down, gently brushing over her entire body. He repeated this routine with his uncle’s horse and proceeded to meander out of the barn after making sure they were secure. It was one of the first things a ranger learned- good horsemanship and care, for a ranger without a good healthy horse was a dead one. Besides, he loved caring for Nyx, his mare. She was a smart thing, and it was said, the better one cared for their horse, the deeper their bond would be. Oftentimes, it was only the bond between horse and rider that kept rangers alive in intense moments.

Speaking of bonding… Thought Kayne, as a dragon whizzed past overhead, no doubt to the clearing a good way outside the city, where everyone in town was gathered to watch the Bonding ceremony in hopes of being chosen by one of those fierce beasts, native to this land only. Well, almost everyone. His uncle was dead asleep, crashed in one of the rooms in the tavern after a long month’s scouting the border. Kayne had gone along too, but he didn’t appreciate his uncle’s coming back to the city routine of reporting back to the city leaders about his findings and skirmishes and whatnot, find the nearest tavern, get drunk, and sleep for several days before heading back out on the next mission. While Kayne appreciated the taste of liquor, he had no intentions of getting drunk, for one, he wanted to be in control of himself at all times, second, someone had to watch out for danger with his uncle passed out like a baby, and lastly, hangovers were the worst. And today… Well, today Kayne wanted to see the dragons.

Of course, getting bonded to one was laughable. It would never happen to him. Dragons weren’t especially fond of rangers, they found them irritating whenever they would wander into lands the dragons saw as their own territory, and try to solve problems that often brought drama into the dragon’s territory as well, with all the scouting and pursuit of insurgents and all. Still, Kayne found his feet walking towards the clearing not too far away where the crowds gathered when normally he would be wanting to get as far away as possible. They were truly mesmerizing creatures, and he never seemed to catch more than just a quick glance of them in the wilds. He would be satisfied by just seeing one out in the open and then going back to his ranger duties. Kayne began to feel more and more claustrophobic as the number of people grew, and by the time he reached the general area where the dragons gathered, he could barely breathe. He backed up, away, and found a nice large oak under where he could melt back into the shadows just enough to get away from all the people, but still have a great view of the massive powerful beasts. As he leaned back against the trunk, a large squirrel emerged from the bough above and chattered at him.

“Did I take your spot, mate?” Kayne chuckled at the squirrel's annoyed expression. “Sorry, but I’m trying to hide from people too. Not leaving yet.” He turned back from the squirrel and glanced back towards the dragons. They probably wouldn’t even see him from there.