RP:Nature of the Beast

Part of the An Ascending Dryad Arc

Secret Cove

Krice was crouched by the water with a cluster of smooth, eroded pebbles surrounding his feet, as if he had cleared them away before he settled down; his boots now down on solid, hard soil and compacted sand. With his katana strapped to his back and the same attire donning his muscled frame, it seemed as though the warrior had no intentions of changing the methods of his existence at present. His gold-freckled gaze was caught by something far to the south and below by the base of the rocky cliff; the frolicking mermaids holding his attention. He was drawn to them in some way, though not in the expected manner; he did not find them alluring as some unfortunate sailors may have in times past, but they definitely wore the blanket of his attention as he watched them slither back and forth in the frothy waves of the surf, seemingly oblivious to his presence.

Madigan had taken the daring challenge of standing crouched upon the saddle of Ajani's back. It'd been some hours ago that they'd left the clearing of the Spring of Vitality and had been practicing maneuvers and command-calls to initiate such maneuvers. His wings were spread wide, trembling from the wind as he soared high above the sparkling salt waters. They were crossing the ocean that separated the mainland from Rynvale. His hind legs were tucked closely against his body as he tilted slightly all of a sudden before straightening himself out; a gust of sharp wind had thrown him off his balance, it seemed, and Madigan had absolutely noticed. She squealed as she dropped to her knees in the saddle to cling the saddle with white knuckles. Thankfully no one had been around to hear her squeal. That sort of outburst was not allowed among her people. It could be the end of the entire scout group if one dryad let her fear escape in the form of a sound. She let her legs slip back down the sides of Ajani to straddle him and slump shamefully into her saddle, fingers clenched tightly onto the saddle's strap, though not with the force of fear as before. Madigan felt ashamed and Ajani seemed to sense it. He tilted his head slightly to look back at her through one lavender eye. He blinked and clicked a question from his throat as his pupils dilated wide and then shrunk back to their usually small form. Madigan looked up at him with sad eyes, shoulders still slumped and she nodded. Without another word or sound, Ajani dove suddenly and Madigan tightened her grip as her stomach roiled from the quick descent. They were heading straight for a cliff's face. Madigan's senses were suddenly alarmed with fear but she simply stared wide-eyed at the cliff with worried brows, squeezing the rope in anticipation, but they didn't slam into the cliff's surface. Her eyes were shut when they were swallowed by darkness and the wet, cool humidity of shade surrounded them. The roar of crashing waves within a hallowed cave filled her ears and she abruptly opened her eyes to inspect where they were. Was this another vision? She turned back toward the direction they'd come and she saw the cove's opening that led out to the sunny sea. She smiled as Ajani landed unceremoniously with a lot of stumbling, sending sand and pebbles flying out like a splash.

Krice eventually lifted his head to glance up at Ajani, his attention pulled reluctantly from the mermaids below to the creature as it soared across the skies en route to the cove. Krice's eyes settled upon Ajani's rider right as she squealed her surprise at her mount's unbalanced maneuvering, followed by him pushing into a casual stand as his gold-freckled eyes observed the scene from the relative safety of the ground. Only once Ajani had landed with his rider intact did the silver-haired warrior give a subtle tilt of his head, arching his brow in vague questioning. Was Madigan alright? Did she need help dismounting? He waited a few paces away, the ankles of his slacks disturbed by the winds that swept forward from the flap and fold of Ajani's wings; silver hair dancing at the flanks of his face.

Madigan wrapped her arms around Ajani's neck as he closed his eyes and called his pleasure. She hadn't seen Krice until she released Ajani. His eyes shot open to blink and dilate as they adjusted focus onto Krice. He made another call, perhaps in greeting, as he lifted himself high on his wings to stand taller than his relaxed 5 feet. His scales, multi-colored and strange, rippled out across his entire body, the scales remaining on ends around his head. He wasn't being threatening but he knew Krice was a male and Ajani was convinced he had to assert his own masculinity. Madigan slid off Ajani with ease, her skirt's hem getting caught in the scales. For a short time, Madigan stood beside Ajani with her skirt caught in a few of his scales, a thing that was leaving a fantastic amount of legs exposed which were strapped up to mid-thigh in leather straps, much like the Romans who had similar straps wrapping to their calves. She cooed something in her native tongue to Ajani while tugging on her skirt. Without taking his eyes off of Krice, Ajani rippled his scales again which released Madigan's skirt unexpectedly and sent her falling onto her bum with an ump. She stood without hesitation and without the haste of a seriously embarrassed individual and dusted herself, staring at Ajani's behavior. Finally, she looked over to Krice with curious eyes to look him up and down before she returned her attention to Ajani and studied his demeanor. She muttered something to herself, shaking her head, again in that odd, foreign language of hers. "I can't imagine what goes through animals' heads when they flash like this without females being present. Who is he trying to impress?" she asked Krice with a disapproving shake of the head.

Krice didn't seem perturbed by Ajani's assertion of male dominance; or perhaps he simply wasn't aware of it? Whatever the case, he gave the winged creature a brief glance before Madigan's dismount drew his attention. Naturally, his gaze dropped to her skirt as it caught in some of Ajani's scales, but he did not stare. In fact, he seemed to find it easy to avoid admiring the woman's exposed legs; almost with the same level of calm or indifference that she showed whilst flashing those fleshy limbs; without concern or embarrassment. When the woman was knocked onto her rear by Ajani's pomp and ceremony, the warrior took a calm, single step forward as if he was inspired to offer assistance. He did not move further, watching the woman from afar to see if she even needed assistance - which she ultimately did not. Her perusal of the warrior would show her that he seemed in relative good health, something reflected in the calm manner in which he voiced his reply to her musings. " Maybe he's jealous." Judging by the warrior's tone, he didn't seem too convinced of that himself. Instead, the warrior looked over at Ajani again and asked, " Is this the same creature I saw on your table at the tavern?"

Madigan gleamed up at Ajani with dancing eyes and a grin that would rival the grinniest of grins. "Yes," she said proudly, fists on hips with chest out. As if this felt like an unusual pose for Madigan, she quickly moved her hands and reached out toward Ajani's head as she called him down to her in that foreign language again. He lowered his head with his eyes still trained on Krice and his mane of scales still sticking out wildly. He resembled one of those dinosaurs who flashed webbed manes of reptilian skin and hissed to scare off threats, though Ajani's scales did not tremble nor did he hiss or seem malicious in the slightest. He was ineffectively peacocking to prove to Krice his dominance and handsome. Madigan made it a point to stroke down his scales firmly, but his scales stood right on end without any effect from Madigan's attempts. Without much force, she bopped Ajani on the forehead, between the eyes, with her fingers. Ajani's eyes went cross-eyed with shock as he jerked up and shook his head. What the hell was that? his face seemed to say, but he just grumbled as he reoriented himself and retracted his scales. A splash came from the waters behind them that sounded very different from the rhythmic crashing of waves against rocky cove grounds. The sound attracted Ajani's attention and Madigan simply ignored his walking away from them. He had a habit of wandering off whenever something caught his interest, so Madigan paid him no mind and instead approached Krice. "What has brought you here? You seem to be in all sorts of unusual places. Most people will stick to a single place, I've found, but not you. You are in Kelay and in the forests and in coves... why do you wander so much? Do you have restless feet? Perhaps you don't have a home," she teased with a playful smile. By now, she stood rather close to him, likely in what most would call their 'intimate space' that was reserved for close friends and lovers, but Madigan didn't have notions of such circles, having come from an egalitarian society where physical contact was an important part of everyday interaction. She wrapped her fingers around his wrist and started tugging him further away from the waters without shame. "I have some honey and milk if you're looking for a snack," she called over her shoulder. If he chose to oblige her leading, he would not see Ajani approaching one of the mermaids who was looking to lure him to his unfortunate death. He, like Madigan, would not see that the mermaid was convinced she had Ajani under her malicious spell, and neither of them would see Ajani open his jaws, lined with viciously sharp teeth, and clamp down on the mermaid's head. And they certainly wouldn't notice him dragging her onto the land where she helplessly flopped in silence like a fish with her head still grasped tightly in Ajani's maw that was drawing blood from the mermaid. The second mermaid, in a fright, dove beneath the water and swam away, likely to never return. The poor victim of Ajani's hunt clawed ineffectively at Ajani's face, not having nails like a terrestrial animal would have - what animal needed claws for defense under water? He thrashed his head left and right until her neck snapped and her body went limp in his grasp. He then dropped her and began to feast. Poor mermaid. She had no chance...