Growing Wings (IC, mature)

High in the sky, there was a dragon flying. This dragon had scales as black as pitch, but with the sun glinting down on them, there was a certain blue sheen to some of them, giving the dragon a sparkling sheen. Sitting at the base of the dragon’s neck, legs tucked near its shoulders, was a blonde haired man dressed in flat, grey armor, heavily ornamented with depictions of dragons and crosses; the symbols of the Dragoons of the Seal. Strapped across his back was a huge sword, that must have been difficult to wield for the lithe youth. Its blade was wide, nearly four inches across and the blade itself almost four and a half feet long.

The dragon was quite odd for a dragon, with a thick ribcage, but a thin stomach and waist, but a jutting pelvic bone that it used to wrap its feet around.

The wind rushed through his hair, the blonde locks trimmed neatly, but still managing to almost touch his shoulders. Setting his open fingered gauntlet covered hands on the black scales of his partner, Eris. The dragon growled lightly and looked over her shoulder at her rider. “Something on your mind, Caleb?” asked the dragon.

“Just enjoying the feeling of the breeze on my face, Eris,” replied Caleb, a smile on his soft features, running his hand up and down the dragon’s back. Again, Eris growled, this one soft and rumbling, almost like a purring sound. “Come on, we need to get back to the castle.”

The dragon nodded and turned about in a roll in the air, and Caleb had to latch onto her tightly in order not to be thrown from the saddle. The dragon twirled through the air, spinning as the air currents rushed through her wings. Sweeping down low, they flew through several checkpoints so that they weren’t attacked by the other Dragoons. Lately, they’d been having trouble with Rebels, and, for the life of him, he couldn’t understand why anyone would want to rebel. They protected the world! What was there to rebel against?

Caleb sighed as he shook his head, simply letting Eris float him down to the castle. His eyes opened lightly as they landed, and he watched as several of the common soldiers, soldiers whose dragon eggs had never hatched, saluted Caleb. He smiled down at them and waved, while Eris landed, her feet coming off her pelvic bone, and began walking slowly to the gates.

“CALEB!” shouted a voice to the side, and the man turned his eyes to face General Gizmond, sitting atop his great red dragon, Inferno. Inferno let out a low growl and marched over to Caleb and Eris, its glowing yellow eyes staring at Eris, while the black dragon looked away. Caleb frowned and continued petting Eris’ back.

The red dragon had once attempted to force Eris into becoming his mate, but the dragon had fought back, along with Caleb. Gizmond had called off the fight, and forced the large red dragon under control.

“What are you doing back so late? You were supposed to return an hour ago,” demanded Gizmond.

Caleb smiled apologetically. “Sorry, I wanted to scan over the terrain a little farther than my route, General.”

“You will learn to follow orders, boy. Otherwise, you’ll be no better than those damn rebels,” sneered Gizmond, his eyebrows knit tightly and his eyes set firmly on Caleb with a look of anger not uncommon when the two dragoons met.

Caleb sighed and nodded mutely, digging his heels into the sides of Eris’ neck, and he and his dragon moved off quietly, while Gizmond continued to stare daggers at the back of his head. He didn’t have time to involve himself with the matters of this boy and his dragon, however. It was almost time for the ceremony to begin, time to recharge the Seals. How he wished he could use Caleb in the ceremony… but no. Such personal matters couldn’t be involved in the powering of their world’s defense.

Ashana watched as Caleb stalked away, her arms folded across her chest, blonde braid tumbling down over her shoulder. She took a few steps and approached him, walking beside him. "You know, you really shouldn't keep getting on his bad side. He'll end up dragging you off to that Ceremony and we all know how damn boring that is. And of course, it reflects badly on me, the ever beautiful, smart, wealthy, respected Ashana Benton-Smythe spending her time with Caleb Hemeth the trouble-maker who never listens to or follows orders."

Her blue dress flowed gently around her legs, of course she had to wear something girlish, it was what came with being one of those with money and power. You had to flaunt it and one way of doing so was to have elegant clothing. She grinned and grabbed his wrist. "I do have some good news for you though, while the Ceremony's in progress, there's something I want to show you that I found whileout on my own rounds today."

Ashana nodded. "Yup, I've also found how to get out and back into this place during the ceremony without being noticed. So how about it Caleb? Think you're big and brave enough to stand with me?"

Cole awoke in his quarters at the usual time of around one in the afternoon, granted, this was time the Dragoons could of used for some important missions that needed taking care of, but Cole worked on his own time, whenever he was needed. He quickly threw on the first pair of clothes he could find and started his daily regime. He first began with a little body care, starting with a nice, long shower. This gave him time to clear his head for anything the day would throw at him. After a good ten minute shower, he would turn to getting something to snack on, sometimes a sandwich, other times, a power bar. He was in luck today, as he walked the halls with a foreign meat object sandwich and a styrofoam cup filled with water. "Jeez, it's funny how much technology hasn't changed that much back from the old times." Cole snickered as he finished his light meal as he walked into the training area. After a good hour and a half worth of training, he would step out of the room and join some of the other Dragoons, either for briefing, or general conversation. He would generally run into everyone in the area, but his two frequent conversation buddies were Caleb and Ashana. They were normally the conversations where no matter what one was saying, everyone knew that the other was joking around. Cole grinned as he approached Caleb and Ashana.

"So, what are you two fuckwits up to? Getting into all types of trouble I bet..." Cole smiled as he gave both Ashana and Caleb a pat on the back, before looking at the dress Ashana was wearing.

"Ashana, nice taste in clothing, but if it was a little bit more revealing, I think I could make one myself using a small piece of string." Cole began snickering as he walked in front of the two, looking back at them. "But seriously, that dress would look good... In a crumpled pile next to someone's bed." Cole began laughing uncontrollably, before his face turned completely serious. "Alright, what's on the agenda today? Any scavenger missions? Seek and Destroy? Or are there any involving the destruction of a nearby Rebel base?" Cole grinned, hoping for sure that there was a Rebel base somewhere that he could almost destroy by himself.

Ashana made a face, a half pout half smirk. "Just because it's never your bed it's in a crumpled pile beside, no need to get all jealous Coley. After all, we rich girls could never fall for someone like you, narcissist." She slapped a hand down on his shoulder and pulled him closer. "You know, the Ceremony's going on. You wouldn't want to go to that thing now would you? We all now how terribly boring it can get, the others tell us all the time it's full of the old farts talking almost non-stop. Now if you think you're capable of it, we might just be able to take you along."

Letting go of his shoulder, Ashana spun on a single foot, her braid shifting around to settle at her back as she stood, hands behind her back playfully. "You see, some of us actually go do our rounds each day, some are a little more likely to stray than others," Her gaze shifted to Caleb for the moment before back to Cole. "And I may or may not have found something that could interest you both. Of course it's nothing like a seek and destroy or destruction derby like you'd want Coley, however it may be of interest." Her voice took on a singsong tone as she grinned.

"But of course it requires balls and we all know you're lacking in that department aren't you." She giggled and poked her tongue out.

He was falling. His arms were tucked in at his sides and his body angled like a dart headed towards the landscape below. The land was rushing up to meet him, but yet he did nothing to try and stop his descent. Only going faster, seeing exactly how fast he could get himself up to speed. Suddenly, though something shot past him at even a greater pace. Wings tucked in and the body spiraling Cyan got past Draven only to shift his wings to slow his pace to come up underneath of Draven.

Draven reached out and got his hand upon the saddle siding and he pulled himself down in against Cyan's back, strapping himself in, while his legs strained to hold onto Cyan's side, before the massive dragon swooped to finish the dive and spread his wings to send them back up into the air. The saddle was made just for Draven and after some adjustments, Draven had found ways to store his weapons upon the saddle as well without causing hinderance to his dragon's flying capabilities.

This was practice, however. The two of them were inseparable and when often together like they were now, if not in a battle, they were training, even past all their time together. They knew one another like they were brothers and that was truly how they saw one another and with that, their trust in one another was bar none. "We better return to camp to finish preparing for tonight's attack," Draven leaned in close and gave Cyan a pat on his black scaled neck and the dragon nodded his agreement and they raced away.

They came back upon the camp and Cyan came to a land. Once settled back down onto the ground, Draven slipped from the dragon's back and slide down the side of the dragon until he fell and hit the ground upon his feet, bending his knees to absorb the moment of impact. The two of them separated then, as Cyan went towards the other dragons, and Draven back into the human part of the camp. Draven wasn't one that many talked to outside of the military meetings, but people did respect him, at least a little bit due to his abilities with his own dragon and the way he fought. Tonight was the recharging of the seals and that was the Rebel's chance to attack. They knew the risks of breaking the seals, but what was the point of holding the monsters at bay if all they did were the same exact thing? Killing innocents. Draven would never, never agree to that.

It was trading one evil for another evil. Chill bumps hit Draven's arm and he rubbed it until it warmed up enough for them to disappear. Just the thought did that. With all luck, however, this very night, they would be able to send a message to the Dragoons. They were no longer brethen. They were enemies fighting for two different causes and that blood would be shed. Human and dragon's alike.

"Mmm... Surely you can go faster than that..." The gentle whisper echoed down the dragon's neck, carried on the wind like the softest of wind chimes. Long, pale fingers as slender as a rose stem ran down the dragon’s fearsome neck, and then back up, even as the wind threatened to de-saddle the rider. With a great, rumbling purr of affection, the dragon’s head reared back, a low, non threatening growl coming from deep within his gut. “You know I can, a chailín mo chroí. You know very well I can go as fast as the wind...” His deep, guttural reply was low, lower almost than a human voice, though it carried on the wind well enough that Shaunna heard it without doubt, and laughed. Her sound was light, free, happy; then again, it always sounded that way when she was in the air, on her dragon’s back. “Then why don’t you, muirnín?”

The dragon let out a billowing roar and swept downward, his great, black and purple wings canvassing at least twenty feet worth of air space as his body, his great, powerful, body, rippled and rigid with muscle, soared to the ground. So close… they were getting so very close to the dirt. “Rilyere!!!” She shouted as she watched the ground creep ever closer. Shaunna gripped tightly to his neck, her body trembling as she suddenly wished she’d not decided to ride bare back during their daily excursion. Her purple eyes widened in fear as they swept so close to the ground, she could have reached out and gripped a pebble, or a flower, right off of the ground’s surface.

With a triumphant cry, a battle sound the dragon saved for special, or rare occasions, Rilyere pulled the pair out of the dive, his purple eyes glistening as they soared skyward, deep bubbles of laughter echoing throughout the valley. “Come now, a chailin mo chro… You didn’t think I’d let you parish, did you?” His voice was so smooth, his electric tone almost lulling his rider, though she’d had plenty of experience with his voice, which had been known to calm even the most savage of beasts at times. At others it was the most fierce thing she’d ever known, but usually it was the deep, calm, rumbling purr of intelligence, and vast, never ending patience. With a glaring gaze, and a slightly pouted lip, the girl leaned down, lightly whacking the dragon in the side of his head, though this did more to harm her hand than anything else, considering the great spikes that protruded from the dragon’s skull. “I’ll have you know, áilteoir, that was NOT funny. You gave me a heart attack.”

Rilyere let out a great roar of a laugh as his body convulsed and rippled wildly. “A joker, eh?” He cackled, his deep purring voice becoming lit with a comical nature. “We’ll see about that, Nalla!” With another laughing cry, the dragon spun around, forcing Shaunna to go upside down, though because she didn’t have anything to grab on to except draconic scales, she slid right off her dragon, and began falling towards the sky. “RILYERE!!!” She screamed as the wind whipped her face, her long tendrils of straight black hair falling behind her wildly. “GET YOUR DRACONIC ASS DOWN HERE!!!” She curled herself into a ball, as small as possible, and waited for the softest grip in the world… And then it was there. She wasn’t scared; the girl was rarely scared when she was with her dragon, and the feel of his claws gently closing around her body only made her feel all the more safe. Grinning lightly, she uncurled from the ball and rolled herself in the loose grip his ”hands” had around her body so that she could snuggle into one of his claws.

“You think I could let you fall, deirfiúr?” He asked, his head looking down at her as they flew towards the rebel base. Shaunna smiled softly as she shook her head, her eyes lifting towards her dragon. “Never, astor. Never.” Rilyere grinned, his serrated teeth glistening in the light as they slowly sat down just beyond the forest. Shaunna frowned as she looked around, slowly lifting her head. Something wasn’t rig… “Rilyere! Fly, now!” She cried, immediately pulling her sword as she raced towards the forest. “Shaunna!” The dragon cried as he tried to race after her, but he was stopped on a dime as a loud war cry was heard coming from the forest. “NO! STOP! SHAUNNA MCCULLEN! STOP NOW!!” His great, rumbling voice bellowed over the forest and across the skies as he tried to race after her again, but she’d already drawn herself within the confines of the trees. “Damn it!” The dragon roared as he took to the skies, trying to see within the trees. Fear raced through his body as he silently berated himself for not properly checking the area before he landed. It was his job to make damn sure nothing happened to his rider! And now she could… A strangled gasp left his throat as he lost a bit of altitude. He could see her! But… Oh gods, it was those Dragoon bastards! “SHAUNNA!” He screamed, his voice taking on the edge of hysteria that came with madness. “Oh god. Be okay, a chailin mo chro… Please be okay…”

Shaunna rushed into the forest, her sword held tightly in her hand. There were three of them, all high level Dragoon bastards. “Hello boys.” She flashed her teeth in a maniacal grin as she rushed the first one, her aggressive nature taking the three men by surprise, which only worked for her benefit. Her sword sang through the air as she hacked and swung her way through the first, a dark growl on her lips. “You bastards! You kill innocents!” Her body was shaking in anger at the very thought of the Dragoon, and their quest for peace and safety from the seeds… at any cost, it seemed; even the life of innocents. She was so caught up in taking the first Dragoon, she lost sight of the other two, which proved a deadly mistake as she felt a pair of great, hulking arms crash around her. “Ha! Gotcha’ you little bitch.” The reply was dark, low, and a threat that sent chills through Shaunna’s spine. She flailed, her arms trying desperately to reach behind her and stab the son of a bitch through his knee caps, but he was holding her in such a way that she couldn’t move. In an instant, she saw her gravest mistake; in ensuring that her dragon was safe, she left herself vulnerable, broken, unsafe..

The dragon rider gasped as she felt the Dragoon’s grip around her tighten, and her entire body stilled as she felt his lips close to her neck, her ear, her hair line. “You’re going to be fun.” He whispered darkly. Everything was wrong, she only realized it at that moment. Dragoon didn’t waste their time in these kinds of games. Not when it came to the rebels. Yeah sure, there were creeps among their ranks, the same was true for all military factions, but the Dragoon bastards weren’t as intimate as…It hit her then, her grave mistake. There were no sounds of dragons fighting in the sky, no trumpet calls to signal the finding of a rebel. “No…” She whimpered as realization dawned on her, bright and true. “Bandits…” These… scum… had killed a trio of dragoon. And now? “RILYERE!!! NOT DRAGOON!!!” She managed to scream out before a hand clamped over her mouth, silencing her. “Quiet, rebel bitch.” Came the snarled reply as one of the two bandits still standing, the one not holding her, grinned at her wickedly, approaching from the front.

Shaunna’s legs kicked up, catching the armored bandit square in the chest, and though he had on armor, the force of the kick was enough to send him staggering. She struggled all the harder against her captor, forcing his hand from her mouth. The dragon rider immediately starts screaming again, much to the dismay of her captor, who simply stands stunned, rooted to his spot. Shaunna stares at him for a moment, thinking something went wrong with his brain, and then turns to look. There, standing in the clearance of the forest, about four hundred feet from the trio, stood her dragon, her best friend, her brother.

There was a mighty roar as Rilyere saw the name holding HIS A’STOR! The thought screamed through his head, and it screamed even louder as he saw the bandit’s hand pressed flush against his rider’s chest. A dark, low growl erupts from his draconic mouth as Rilyere crashes through the trees, ignoring minor scratches, cuts, bleeding, everything, to get to his girl. The bandits’ eyes go wide as they retreat, their bodies shaking as they start to run; but the dragon will have none of that. His body quivers as he reaches down, plucking Shaunna up in his claws gently. Looking down, he takes only a moment to nuzzle her softly before lifting his head, a great roar escaping from deep within his throat. And then he was off, chasing after the bandits with a fierce need to kill.

Mere moments later, the pair was standing in the woods, or rather, Rilyere was standing. He still refused to let Shaunna down. “Are you okay, A’Stor?” He whispered, his voice thick with emotions. In all his days with her, in all his time as her dragon, and she as his rider, few times had feared him as much as this day. The bandits were no more, definitely not coming back from being eaten alive, and he could finally breath as he looked down at her. She really was gorgeous, with deep violet eyes, and long flowing black hair. Creamy, ivory, skin that seemed as smooth as silk, and, of course, there was that marking on her shoulder. The same one he’d been born with on his hind quarters. “Come A’Stor… I’m getting you home…” His rumbling purr was one of reassurance as he held her gently in his claws and took to the sky, making his way towards the rebel base.

Cole chuckled at the naive come-back war between both himself and Ashana, starting out with how skimpy ones outfit may look, to resorting to matters literally below the belt. "So wait... First you decide to say that I will never get a chance to see that ridiculously skimpy outfit in a crumpled pile next to my bed, then you go straight towards my testicles? I gotta say Ash.... I'm kinda getting mixed signals here..." Cole began laughing it off as he rested his forearms on Ashana and Calebs shoulders as he let his very cheeky grin strike upon his face. "Besides, you honestly don't have to worry about how I get my job done in the little time I do have... Just be thankful I can do the same amount of work that everyone is assigned to do in less time than anyone of you." Cole chuckled fairly slightly as he walked in front of them. He had spent so long within the confides of these halls that he knew of every sector that was unguarded, which made his Friday nights with the little booze he could manage to salvage even greater, so sneaking away from the famous Ceremony would be a breeze.

"If you two losers need me, I think I'm gonna check on Talon... And if this mission is all it's really cracked up to be, I guess I'll see you all there." Cole fashioned his hand into the typical self made pistol that you normally see ten year old boys do when playing a schoolyard game involving firearms, and aimed it at both Caleb and Ashana, clicking his fingers to resemble a slight gunshot as he continued walking to Talon's quarters. "Well... You sure did take your time... Did Cole decide it would be nice again to sleep in while I have the thirst for the blood of the wicked coursing through my tastebuds? What were you doing? Trying and failing to flirt with that Ashana woman? She isn't worth your time Cole... She would eat guys like you for breakfast..." Talon grinned, his tail swaying to the left and to the right as he stared at Cole. "Yeah... I know, but she got me with a way how I wish that I had her clothes crumpled next to my bed or something... I can't remember." Cole exhaled and looked towards the horizon, taking out a half empty packet of cigarettes and placing one in his mouth.

"Oh my... Are you alright Cole? Are you sure that you are going to be fine? Do you need some ice?" Talon began snickering during his small amount of concern for his favorite plaything. "What the hell are you talking about? And why the hell do I need ice?" Cole began scratching his head while lighting up his cigarette. "Isn't it simple... You need some ice for that WICKED BURN!" Talon began laughing as hard as he could, leaving the slight smell of charred saliva to fill Cole's nostrils. "Ahh, shut up Talon." Cole turned away, but lightly chuckled at the fact that even his dragon could be as immature as himself.

A golden dragon floated in a smooth pattern with the winds her dark eyes burning with concentration. She was lovely with her rough yellow gold scales, dark around the edges of her stomach where there was a soft faded gold. Then she suddenly sped up her pace and changed her direction downwards. Her rider held on, in tune with her dragon. Her body pressed low against the dragon's neck while her long brunette hair was flying behind her. They spiraled downward. Odette's eyes were shut her face calm and soothing as she hummer a soft tune. "NOW RYUU!" She yelled her brown eyes opening and staring straight up. "UP!" The dragon, Ryuu, swerved upwards just feet away from the ground.

'Lady Odette you must consider that everytime we do this it is likely we will return harmed' said Ryuu.

The dragon slowed her flight as they spied Ashanna, Caleb, and Cole. With a small smile, Odette hugged Ryuu gently uncertain what to make of the three down below. But the humor drained from her face. She stared at Ashanna, her face expressing her great dislike for the woman. She was thought of Ashanna as spoiled princess. Her gaze strayed away from the 'princess' onto Caleb and Cole. Those two were so different, yet the most interesting pair she had met. Finally she felt Ryuu touch the ground.

'And...we have arrive Odette...' stated Ryuu. Odette smirked. "Thanks for stating the obvious Ryuu. "

The dragon chuckled her deep tone. 'You seemed out of it.'

"Well next time let me be out of it," replied Odette in a snappy tone. Ryuu chuckled again as Odette jumped off her back. Ryuu watched the other dragons as she settled down, silence becoming her comfort. While Odette, facial expression neutral walked towards her fellow members. Her attire was made of tight leather pants and her shirt was long sleeved, but cut short below revealing her stomach. Her shirt was made up of thick, yet shear fabric. She dressed like a woman, but her personality was not easy to handle.

"Good day dear fellows," she called addressing Cole and Caleb. Glancing at Ashanna she gave her a cool look. "And good day to you princess. Everything fairing well?"

“Carry on my wayward son, there’ll be p-. “ Jace’s hand slammed down on his alarm clock. He groaned and rolled over. “Though my eyes could see I still was a blind man, though my m-. “ Jace groaned and hit the snooze button once again. “Masquerading as a man with a reason, my ch-. “ Jace’s next move knocked his alarm clock clear off the bedside table sending it flying across the ground.

“Jesus,” Jace blinks the sleep out of his eyes, “What time is it..?” He propped himself up on an elbow and grabbed for his alarm clock. “Damn it!” He stood up and stumbled over to his alarm clock and picked it up. He turned it around so that the time was facing him. “Fuck balls!” Jace scrambled around his quarters jumping in the shower and jumping back out drying off as fast as he possibly could and throwing on whatever happened to be clean.

Jace was making his way down the corridor and found himself with Crevana. “Well hey dragon!”

“Don’t call me that! I have a name,” she said, her face inches away from Jace’s.

“Fine Crev don’t have a cow.” He thought for a second, “ Or maybe you should, it might make you less cranky.” With that he walked off waving a goodbye to his dragon, ignoring her argumentative statements.

Jace wound his way down to where Ashana, Caleb and Odette were talking. He could see Cole was leaving. Getting closer he caught the end of Odette’s statement "And good day to you princess. Everything fairing well?" He walked up and put his arm around Odette’s shoulder.

“You should try being nice. Oh hey Ash. Caleb.” Nodding in their direction.

Ash smiled sweetly, "At least you addressed me right for a change Odie." She watched as Jace approached.

"You should try being nice. Oh hey Ash. Caleb."

Ash flicked her hair back and folded her arms, looking to their newest arrival. "Oh don't worry, the feeling is mutual Jace, she's just jealous that I am... Well, me. And that Cole doesn't look in her direction." She shrugged nonchalantly. "Anyway, I am going to go make sure that Naisha's being looked after properly. I'll see you later Caleb." And without waiting for any other comments, she strode off toward the dragons, Naisha's head popping up from her usual haunt.

"I thought I felt you coming my dear."

Ashana simply curled up beside her, one hand on the silver scales, resting her cheek against them with a sigh. Naisha lifted a wing and did her best to wrap around Ashana who was visibly in need of comforting. "I'm sorry Isha, I just needed to be back near you. You help me feel better."

"You need not apologise, you are always welcome by my side. We are as good as one, this simply helps strengthen our bond."