RP:Silver meets Gold
Cliff
This cliff doesn't seem very treacherous compared to some that you've seen around here. There isn't anything in particular about this one despite the wholesome glow coming from the bottom. You wonder what could be down there, but you don't see any way to reach it. If you only had someone to belay you down, you might be able to make it its only about 45 feet tall. To the south there is rather rough territory, while to the west is a path leading to a small village.
Hildegarde had been patched up and even lectured by Madigan, an experience she wouldn't ask for twice. She felt much like a child when Madigan lectured her, perhaps because she understood that her actions were incredibly childish and self-centred. The silver felt that some time out of Frostmaw would be wise, not only to keep the feral silver off her scent but to continue in her exploration of the lands. Glimmering armour clinked and clanked with every step, butt of her halberd touching the earth with each step, but not quite as powerfully as before. The silver had been hurt in her tussle with the feral, a mistake she wouldn't forget any time soon. Hilde stumbled across the little cliff without having intended to, now standing at the precipice and peering downwards at the wholesome glow. The natural curiosity of a silver was nagging at her at this very moment.
The wholesome glow grows steadily closer as Hildegarde watches, its color changing from a distant pale yellow to the glare of burnished gold seconds before a there comes the beat of heavy wings and mass of golden scales and horns rockets up from the below the cliff. The young dragon shoots higher into the air, a cloud of small black forms trailing behind her like a flock of sparrows mobbing an eagle. Some of these little creatures break off to flutter toward Hildegarde with tiny mouths open in sharp, toothy grins, the high pitched squealing of bats coming from deep in their throats as they dart this way and that around the woman's head. The creatures are hideous to look upon, an unnatural combination of tarantula and bat, bodies covered in short black bristles, multiple of eyes beady and red, wings leathery and overlarge upon their tiny bodies. Their series of spider-like legs swipe out at the Silver's hair, similar harrying methods being used on the Gold up above. While the little claws can do nothing against Iscattiva's thick scales, her eyes are less protected from harm which forces her to keep them closed. Flailing blindly around herself, the Gold struggles to fly without sight while trying to outmaneuver the spider-bat swarm.
Hildegarde watched as the glow changed in colour, seemingly mesmerised by it. At least, she was until the heavy beating of wings reached her ears and she identified it. She jerked back from the edge, just in the nick of time, as the young dragon burst upwards into the air. The silver attempted to keep her sights on the gold, but she was quickly distracted by those bat-tarantula things! She yelped in surprise, hand gripping her halberd more tightly as if it were a rock in a tumultuous sea. Hilde's hair was tangled in the leg of one creature, causing her to roar furiously. I mean, what girl doesn't roar furiously when their hair is pulled? In such fury, her halberd jerks forward and impales the tip of the axe-head in the belly of a creature. It squealed and lashed out, scraping against her face and the spiked shoulder plating of her armour.
Iscattiva's wing joints are beginning to ache with her wild flight pattern. And still the spider bat things persist on assaulting her with constant squealing, giving her a headache on top of things. One of the creatures swoops in suddenly to take a swipe at Iscattiva's eye, just barely missing cutting into the thick lid, and instead skittering off the spiked ridge above it. The sound of claws on scale causes the Gold to open her eyes and spot the creature, and instinct results in her turning her head, snapping out with her jaws, and ending its existence with a single bite. But Iscattiva nearly retches at the taste, feeling as if she's taken a bite out of a corpse that's been putrefying in sewage. Shaking her head in protest, the dragon banks right and begins to spiral downward in a hurry with the cloud of beasts following directly behind her, just a bit too slow to keep up with a dragon's dive. When she's only a matter of yards from the ground, Iscattiva twists her body around so that she's falling upside down, head angled up and jaws snapping open to belch out a torrent of golden flames directly into the flock tailing her. Most disintegrate immediately while a few others have caught the lesser edges of gold-tinged fires and rapidly burn to death as they fall from the sky to rain down around Hildegarde in a hail of foul-smelling fireballs. Iscattiva isn't far behind, having just jerked herself back around in time to see the earth too close, only having enough for a single powerful back stroke of wings before she collides with the ground. The wingbeat is enough to have buffered the worst of her momentum but it doesn't fully halt the impact of a full grown dragon hitting solid land.
Hildegarde force the halberd to 'swish' backwards in the effort to throw the beast off the axe-head. In comparison to Iscattiva, she had gotten the better deal. Less creatures to deal with. Perhaps she was viewed as a smaller chunk of meat; just the entreé when Iscattiva was the main course. She inhaled sharply, a small 'click' sound in the back of her throat, before expelling a conical blast of concentrated frost in a small circle around her. The creatures didn't quite freeze solid, given that the blast was dispersed between other creatures, but they froze enough to the point of dropping to the ground completely still. Now to find that flying dragon! She looked upwards, only to see a mass of golden scales falling directly over her position. She would have screamed if it were useful, instead she ducked to the side and rolled to cushion her momentum. It still disturbed her shoulder wound, though. Whenever the ground settled, Hilde would venture forward to investigate.
Iscattiva lies still for a long time. Perhaps long enough for Hildegarde to think the fall has killed the dragon, but 'lo, she stirs! A deep groan (or deep by human standards, positively feminine by draconic) comes from the Gold as a shudder runs down the considerable length of her spine, causing her spikes to rattle against one another. Claws shift beneath her bulk to find purchase on the ground before muscles bunch with the effort of lifting herself up. Halfway to standing, legs tremble and give out, dropping Iscattiva back into a heap where she lays while huffing indignantly, retracting her limbs to be rearranged comfortably around herself. There's something very cat-like about the way she does this, an attempt to look like she doesn't want to stand at all, instead preferring to rest on the ground in a regal arrangement. Now settled, the Gold lowers her immense down to sniff quizzically at one of the little burnt corpses, the stink making her snort and draw her head back again. "Such little horrors." She hasn't noticed Hildegarde behind her yet.
Hildegarde had never actually met a Gold before. The only dragons she had actually met were either from her brood or that feral one up in Frostmaw. After watching the Gold in silence for a few moments, she decided it was about time to speak or introduce herself. "Hail, m'lady," she offered with a small raise of her halberd, as was her custom. But she followed suit with a small throaty rumble and dip of her head, as if it were some kind of saurian like greeting. "Are you well, m'lady?"
Iscattiva's head whips around on her neck in the direction of the voice, startled. Finding a woman standing there, she nods in greeting but catches herself at the rumbling sound. A similar sound is produced by Iscattiva then, hers ranging closer to a purr than a growl, and then she adjusts herself around so as to be able to look at Hildegarde without twisting her neck so. "Greetings in return, kin. Thank you, yes, I am well. I need only a moment to recover from my... ah. Mishap." If dragons could blush in embarrassment, Iscattiva's jowls would be scarlet. Instead, her gives a sheepish waggle of the whisker-like tendrils framing her jaws and scratches a talon under her chin self-consciously. Such emotions are fleeting in one so young and curious however, meaning in a moment Iscattiva is peering at Hildegarde with bright and eager eyes, the tip of her tail twitching. "I am Iscattiva, daughter of Rhavid of the Fire Fanged. I apologize if I interrupted or startled you. I had thought myself alone and was only trying to rid myself of those wretched creatures."
Hildegarde had moved to kick the frozen and burnt corpses over the edge of the cliff, before putting herself in a more visible spot for Iscattiva. She offered a smile, "You need not worry, m'lady. You flew well, considering the position you were in." Hilde cannot easily hide the curious nature of her gaze as they examined the Gold before her. "I am Hildegarde the Silver. There's no need to apologise, I am glad to see you are relatively unharmed after your attack there. Do you know what those things were?"
Iscattiva is staring at Hildegarde with similar degrees of curiosity. Of course she's seen dragons in humanoid form but those had all been family members, other Golds. Never a Silver. Naturally, she's curious to see how other dragons disguise themselves. Iscattiva can't help but admire how solid Hildegarde's form appears, the Silver seeming to have full control of her shapeshifting, unlike the Gold. The question distracts her from these thoughts. "I do not. I had flown down to examine that unusual glow. My presence must have startled them for they attacked me shortly after. They seem highly unpleasant and wholly evil, whatever they might be. I have never scented anything that felt 'wrong' like they did."
Hildegarde 's form is marred with a few scales here and there, but is otherwise fairly humanoid in appearance. Unlike the Gold, she couldn't quite sense evil or good within a person so naturally. "Whatever they were, they were nasty creatures. It is fortunate that they have been eliminated." Her gloves creaked as fingers flexed around the halberd, "What brings one such as you out here?"
Iscattiva brings her snout down to nudge one of the bodies a moment before she answers Hildegarde's question. "Knowledge and freedom. I've reached my first century and felt I should learn more about the people we share these lands with, lest I become one of our cousins that retreats into a cave far from the world. My family are followers of Cyris, the giver of freedom, and I desire to spread his word so that others might bask in the glory of their natural born right to be free. I- Oh." The dragon blinks her cat-like eyes suddenly. "Did you mean what brings me to this location specifically? Exploration, I suppose. These mountains are ancient, proud structures. There is much to discover among them." Including caves, for this young dragon is in such of a comfortable lair.
Hildegarde listened with a deep interest, scales rippling at the mention of being followers of a deity. Hilde and her brood weren't much for faith, so it was an unusual concept for her. "Are you a priestess of sorts then, m'lady?" She wondered if this one had a humanoid shape, not all dragons were partial to it. "Ahh, an adventurer then. Exploring is terribly fun at the best of times, wouldn't you agree?"
Iscattiva nods with a clatter of horns and spikes. "I am a shieldmaiden of Cyris, I defend and fight in his name. When that is not required, I fly, for flight is the purest of freedoms. My wings have taken me through many miles of these mountains yet I feel I have not begun to scratch the surface. It -is- terribly fun." Wings begin to unfurl as she speaks, the Gold is all aquiver with excitement at the very idea of further exploring. Such a thing is a plain mark for how young and naive Iscattiva is, however well-meaning she may be, or how maturely she can speak. Suddenly realizing her youth has gotten the best of her again, Iscattiva tucks her wings tight against her sides once more before saying, "If you like, I would not object to company while exploring. There is much we can share between one another as kin." Although she doesn't say it, Iscattiva wouldn't mind a companion too because of the strength in numbers should she stumble on something worse than the spider-bats. Again her wings are creeping open, not seeming to care about Iscattiva's earlier chiding of them for betraying her thoughts. Nothing seems to keep this dragon grounded for long.
Hildegarde grinned as those wings began to unfurl, her own shoulders shaking a little bit at the idea of adventure. She paused at the mention of company, however, wondering how such would really work out. "Well... I have no place to put my armour or equipment at the moment, so unless you intend for me to ride upon your back, m'lady, I would need to join you another time." Although, Hilde is hoping that this was the dragon's intention, to be used as a means of transportation so the two could adventure. It excited her deeply, reminded her of the times her father would take her and the other children out to fly. That kind of giddy nature and childish excitement was rushing through her.
Iscattiva's wings pop open with a snap and she stands quickly, no sign of her legs' prior reluctance to work. Adventure heals all wounds, it'd seem. One foreleg is bent down so as to lower her spine and angle it in obvious invitation to Hildegarde. "I would be honored to carry you, friend Silver. My wings are yours."
Hildegarde smiled, dipping her head most graciously while offering a low rumble in her throat to follow it. "I would be honoured to have you carry me, Golden kin." Hilde made her way over, very careful to mount the dragon. "I trust you will tell me if I am causing discomfort, m'lady. I shall be your shield while you fly, m'lady." Knightly habits were hard to stifle.
Iscattiva bites back a snort of laughter. Armored people on her back -tickle-! Wriggling to adjust herself to the sensation, Iscattiva hunkers down, extends her wings, and launches herself into the air with a single powerful lunge and downstroke. In quick order the Gold is well into the sky and gliding toward the Xalious mountains and waiting adventure for a pair of Metallic Dragons.