Maji slowly walked towards a crowd of people, nervous and excited at the same time. Her eyes were so big and almost looked anime as she watched dragons fly around and land near a lake. She watched the sky for a while before smiling, then looking back towards the crowd she was inching closer and closer to, that wiped her face of happiness, replacing it with a shy, nervous look. She inched closer and then noticed two people joking with each other, and shied away from them. She inched closer to the lake and saw a dragon emerge from the silver water holding a fish in his strong jaws before practically knawing on it, destroying it and turning it into mush. She then turned her gaze towards a dragon, who was obviously a storm dragon. She tried to change her face to a normal expression, but still couldn't stop the nervousness from spreading back across her face.

Maji liked friends, but not huge crowds of people shouting. It just made her feel awkward being near so many other people she didn't know. Suddenly, a golden flash caught her attention, making her look towards the direction of a large gold dragon.

It looked a lot like a utahraptor, and chirped like one too.

She watched the dragon for a bit before looking at a bat dragon, who was currently being pet by the same human she saw joking with someone before. She decided to be a bit brave, and inch closer the where the dragons were, but tripped, and fell straight on her head. It hurt.

She stood up slowly, rubbing the spot she hit her head, confused what made her trip. She looked down at the ground, noticing she tripped over herself, and got a bit embarrassed at the situation.

~

Tatsuya I.-F. Montcrioux

Dragon Rider | Male | Mentions: Maeleth & Ainarika [ind.] , Kyros [ind.]

The young man was quite excited about being paired with this female dragon. She was very interesting, and he hoped that their bond would grow strong and that they would eventually become friends in the years to come. He also found it exhilarating that he also would be free from his parents, oh he couldn’t wait to see the look on their faces when he told them that he had been paired with a dragon. The anger of not being able to control them surely would make his mother have a heart attack. The young male was then distracted by the sound of a horrendous scream, and he looked to see that it was coming from the companion of his dragon. The male seemed to have an adverse reaction to finding his rider. He really couldn’t see the rider as his view was obstructed by his dragon. So, he cautiously made a move to get a view of the other person, and he could see he was male. And very tall compared to his smaller frame, his skin was darker in complexion, and he had strikingly blonde hair. All in all, he wasn’t that bad looking. He wondered what got the dragon in a twist about him, was he too tall for the dragon? Maybe too muscular? He then had to repress a giggle at the dragon not liking his rider based on looks.

But what shocked him most was the compliment that he got from his dragon. He gave a soft smile saying, I am very pleased you like my gift. I hope to gift many more items to you in the future. And then he saw something amazing, it was an illusion of some sort, and it was full of keepsakes and very beautiful trinkets – he was particularly fond of the tree within the room. Just as he saw it, the illusion fleeted away from his mind. And that’s when it clicked, she was an Illusion Dragon, one of the rarer species of them. And he widened his eyes, in awe as he realized his luck and then he listened to her speak about her companion with such fondness and he sort of felt sort of envious about it.

Of course. I wouldn’t expect anything less, you’ve known him for possibly decades, possibly centuries, while you’ve only known me for a few minutes. If I’m being honest, I envy your connection with him. He spoke through link, and then his voice grew softer a bit, but his pale violet eyes remained a bit dull, I never really had any friends like that, more like they only liked me for my family’s status and possible connections they could get, and I always ended up getting burned. So, I say keep your friend close, I’d never dream of breaking up something that precious.

He then noted her reaction to her companion, and he had to admit what was going on was amusing to him. And he smiled at her mention of his name, and he nodded, Yes ma’am, I understand. And then he paused a bit saying, do I call you ma’am? Or how would you like for me to refer to you as? He was genuinely confused in this matter and was hoping to find a solution. He tilted his head a bit, his strawberry blond curls, shifting as he did so. The more peachy hue of his hair becoming more evident in the light. He now awaited her answer.

Juniper | Demi-boy (he/they) | 17 | Rider

M: Desmodus + Ostoria (Dir), Rhyhor, Dragons, + Riders (Ind)

As Juniper began to pet the dragon, the beautiful creature melted like butter into Juniper’s hands. A melody-like giggle escaped his lips, as he had to place a foot behind him in order to support the weight of the dragon as he peacefully leaned into him. The large, bat-like dragon lost all ferocity upon his favorite spot being pet and Juniper was just glad he had a chance to meet a dragon let alone pet one. Juniper was so enamored with the creature before him that Juniper entirely forgot their surroundings as the dragon became his only focused.

The fantastical creature slowly laid down in the grass and Juniper followed, sitting down on the ground with his legs crossed as his smile only grew. Carefully dragging the head of the yawning dragon into his lap, Juniper could feel the rumbling of the purring fluff ball in his arms as he continued his actions.

As the dragon yawned a second time, Juniper gasped with awe as they could see the dragon’s teeth and tongue which rolled out like a spool of thick yarn. “You have incredibly well-kept teeth…,” Juniper muttered softly, only stopping scratching the dragon with one hand to lift up the lips of the dragon’s maw to see the teeth yet again. “You must like a lot of fruit and cattle, huh?” Juniper thought for a moment before returning to using both of their hands for massaging the creature's ears. “Well, maybe if you don’t find your rider today, you can come visit my home and I can give you some real good things to snack on. Plus, I think you would love to meet Juje and Rhydor. Juje is very nice but she does not like to be touched unless it is on her ears and Rhydor can be a bit mean at first but he is super sweet and hates the small chick heater lamps and— Gosh, I am really rambling on at this point, aren’t I?” Juniper giggled softly to himself as he shook his head, his rambling instantly being stopped as he continued to play happily with the dragon’s ears. “Based on the size of your ears… you are a male right? Well, you have been such an amazing gentleman today! Whoever gets to have you is lucky to be your—”

Juniper was interrupted by a girl, around his age, perhaps sixteen or maybe eighteen at most, who approached with shriveled up meat presented in her hands. It looked like jerky, but it was much less red than Juniper had normally seen jerky be so maybe it was not jerky? Well, whatever it was, it had a strong smell too that caused Juniper’s stomach to rumble as their mouth watered

“Oh uh- Hello! My name is Juniper and hello!” Juniper replied, waving their hand enthusiastically as they smiled widely up at the woman. Pushing up their circular, gold-rimmed glasses, Juniper only smiled more as the woman presented the jerky to him. Juniper tilted his head with a giggle as the woman said that she ‘wouldn’t hurt him.’ “That’s a very strange introduction but thank you I suppose! Though, you look very thin— no offense of course— so if we were to wrestle, I don’t think you could hurt me very much. Thank you very much for the jerky though!” Juniper gladly took the jerky from the woman, breaking it in half and holding up one half to the dragon in his lap and eating the other half without realizing that the woman before them had meant to give the whole thing to the dragon. Juniper struggled to chew the jerky for a moment and smiled up at the woman when he laboriously swallowed it down. “This… has very little spicy! I have never had jerky without spice before… it tasted very good though so thank you very much!”

Henry was wrong about people outside of the Valley even though Juniper was unaware of the fact that the woman before them had no intent of talking to them.

Henry | Male | 24 | Rider

M: Rhydor, Ryuu, + Ian (Dir) Juniper, Riders, + Dragons (Ind)

The day was bright and warm and it felt good to be back in the same valley that Henry’s journey began in. Even after leaving Juniper to go find Rhydor and, of course, Ian, Henry could not help but glance back and reminisce of his first meeting with his dragon and his admission to the Academy. The emotions of excitement and awe reawakened in him and bounced around inside him like excited puppies let loose into a room full of toys. These emotions took hold of him and hugged him close with a fuzzy feeling that brought a wide grin to his dopey and happy expression. Now that his little sibling was getting the chance to get the same feelings he felt, he just hoped Juniper could get a dragon unlike Falla whose heart was absolutely broken upon realizing that none of the dragons would bond with her. Thankfully, Rhydor was as amazing as always and helped Henry cheer Falla up, albeit in his usual stubborn and emotionally cut off way. As he scanned the crowd, he was sure Juniper was there, somewhere in the crowd of people, making friends and potentially meeting the dragon who could change Juniper’s life forever.

Though Henry was optimistic, Henry was well aware of the fact that the fresh breeze could be filled with the scent of blood within an instant and any kid who had entered the valley had an understanding of the danger they placed themselves in. But Juniper was different. Juniper not only understood the danger but he had experienced what happens when one messes with the wrong dragon on the wrong day. Even still, Henry could not help but worry about his sibling. If Juniper does get a dragon, they are stuck with that dragon until one of them dies. All Henry knew about the dragon was that, whoever this dragon may be, they better treat Juniper well or they would be sorry.

“Hey Rhydor?” Henry communicated through the bond that the two of them shared through their minds. “I am coming up to you now but keep an eye on Juniper for me until I get there.”

The hike up to the platform was, sadly, not an easy one as Henry found himself a little out of breath after stepping over bushes, brush, and animals’ businesses. While walking through the forest up to the ledge where Rhydor, Ryuu, and Ian were, Henry struggled to believe Ian could have walked through the forest up such a slope like this. Maybe there was a path or something that Henry had just managed to miss, but Henry did not find one so he just assumed there was not one. As he walked up the slope, Henry stopped himself from panting softly and instantly smiled as he saw the stormy scales of his beloved dragon.

“Rhydor!!” Henry called out excitedly before sprinting up the rest of the hill to meet up with his dragon before pausing briefly by his dragon as he caught his breath. “There you are! Man, I wish you could have seen Juniper. They were so happy to—” Henry paused as he looked up and saw Ryuu, smiling and waving at the dragon as Henry quickly feigned that he was not absolutely exhausted from his hike. “Oh, hey! Long time no see! Glad to see that the R an’ R gang is back together again!” Henry laughed softly at his own joke before sighing. Rubbing the back of his neck awkwardly, Henry smiled shyly. “Anyways, I hope you’re doing pretty well Ryuu but have you happened to see your rider anywhere because I would really like to see—” As Henry finally decided to look a little past Ryuu, something that should have occurred to any sensible person, Henry’s eyes glimmered with childish excitement as he cut himself off with a loud gasp.

“Ian!!!” With a smile that only grew at he stared motionlessly at a friend whom he had not seen in ages now, in a blur of motion, Henry charged forward at Ian like a stampeding bull and, in a swift, effortless motion, scooped Ian off his feet and he hugged him tightly and spun around with Ian in his arms like Ian was a weightless doll. “Oh my goodness fuc— freaking gracious! I have not seen you in so long!! I missed you so, so much!!” Henry placed Ian down on the ground as he placed his hands on Ian’s shoulders as he looked down at the man who reeked of coffee and looked like death cooled over. “I have not heard from you in so long! How have you been?? You look like you’ve shrunk, my friend! It’s— Ah!!” Henry no longer had the words to speak anymore as he just pulled his friend closely into his chest, unaware how he was squishing his friend in his pecs. “Man, it is so good to see you!”