listen navy made me name it this

Dread swept down, eyes searching the rock below. Cave deer--there. Wings half-folded and he dropped; thirty yards above the ground they snapped back out, beating once as he inhaled, and as he coursed over the deer he exhaled. Flame burst forth, roiling out in a torrent over the fleeing herd, embers pouring up into the air behind him.

Usually, the deer scattered, and he'd get one or two--but this time they did not know he was coming, and a moment later all six lay still and smoking along the rock. Dread banked around, flapping once, and then landed heavily with a thud and a puff of dust before them, craning back his head to blink up toward his den. The children--two were wounded, and one too young to hunt for itself. He wasn't sure if Asimona had come--he'd bellowed her way, at least, calling her, on the way back here.

Now, he roared again, calling up toward his family.

"FOOOOOD!"

An appealing call for any dragon to hear, really.

@Svartis @Asimona (and myself bone/blight)

Asimona had, in fact, heard the call and had responded back with an ear-shattering roar of her own before taking off from her nest in Pisces. She hadn't seen her children in a while and even if it meant having to cope with the heat in Monoceros, she would be happy to see the whole family again. And Dread, as well - their opposing habitats didn't make meetings a very frequent occasion.

She soared over the winds, letting them hold her high on the air before folding her wings in a bit, dropping down as Dread's den came into sight - not that she needed sight, his roaring was loud enough to be heard from the entrance to the caves. A few feet off the ground she folded her wings in and reached forward, catching herself in her fall with a booming thud. She lifted her head. "It's good to see you, Dread," she rumbled.

By the caves, this room was sweltering. In the air was bad enough but now that the winds weren't cooling off her skin, she was beginning to overheat. She immediately began cooling the air around her body until she was at least not dying, eyeing the food in front of Dread. "For me as well?"

"Can you hear their voice?"
"Find the one who'll guide you."
To the limits of your choice.

tags:

Svartis hobbled towards the opening of their ever-shrinking den, belatedly forcing his gait to something resembling his usual one before he got too used to limping around like his foot was still bruised. Everything else had healed over relatively well - Blight was certain he'd made sure of that. Even the savage-looking wound on the one calf and his throat was scarred over, hide gnarled white overtop and preparing to settle down as he finished growing.

Icy eyes peered over the edge, fins pricking up almost eagerly at the promise of food. Who could pass that up? He twisted, and as if the other two hadn't already heard, called, "food's here."

The black dragon dropped into rather heavy flight, wings still yet too sore and having to compensate for the holes blowing air through. Difficulties caused by those holes were minor, but enough to make him a little less confident in his flight. At least, all he had to do here was glide down and land without much trouble.

He fell onto all fours rather easily, a few bounding steps taken to dispel the last of his momentum and move to a slow enough pace that he could approach his mother (what a surprise!) A pleased hum escaped him as he wing-walked towards her, snuggling into her cold aura immediately. "I didn't know you were coming, Mom!"

Svartis damn near purred as he went to push his snout against her chin, though he looked like he was deliberately keeping his head down and from being too much in view.

@Dread

Bone, curled barely-fitting on the ledge beside her brother, turned at the call. She'd known her father had gone to hunt, but she'd not expected his call so soon.

She winced as she pulled herself out after Svartis. He'd been wounded, but she (and BOY did she feel foolish for it) had burned herself almost worse than he'd taken, in a poorly-executed display of draconic power at his foe. Now, as she hobbled from the den and took flight, Bone felt the pain that was now solidifying into scar-lines across her white hide: streaks of pale on pale, places where her armored hide looked oddly matte or shiny.

Her heavy body came down slowly, her wings beating with loud bass thuds. She wasn't as agile as her family, and she didn't enjoy flying as much as they often seemed to. But she made do, and now she practically crashed down near them, turning to blink as Asimona arrived.

"Mother," she greeted, pleased; "It's good to see you! How are you?" She felt the chill already emanating from Asimona--she and her brother were ever creatures of cold and ice, where Bone and Dread were pure, dry heat.

She looked over the deer, then, pulling one of the carcasses close and starting on it before it could begin to decay. She was hungry, all else aside, and the food would do her recovery good. "Svartis had a fight," she informed Asimona, glancing to her mother with bright eyes.

Tattle-tale.

And then, to Dread: "Thanks, Dad."

Blight came along last: a tiny hatchling, tumbling along cheerfully in the hot air. He had a strange air to him: attentive, proud. This was because he still firmly believed that he was protecting, and looking out for, Bone and Svartis, and Dread hadn't bothered, or hadn't remembered, to relieve him of this duty.

So far, he figured, neither of them had gotten hurt anymore--so he must be doing a pretty good job!

...But who was this?

Blight squeaked, flying quickly to plonk his tiny body between the siblings and Asimona, peering up at her with a mixture of a child's stern knowledge and awe, and just a little bit of fear.

"You can't hurt them, I'm protecting them!" he squeaked at her, puffing up his tiny ragged fins in subconscious emphasis. And then, presumeably grasping that Asimona was not in fact a threat to them: "Who are you? You're pretty!"

Dread looked up, his neck arching to pull his head up and back, his neck spines half-rising and ember eyes squinting faintly: a pleased expression. His head even tilted to the side, a little, to see his old friend.

"ASIMONA," he bellowed, and though it was a greeting it seemed almost as though he was informing her of her own name. A gentle swat pushed Blight to one side by a few inches. "SHE IS A FRIEND. AND THE FOOD IS FOR ALL."

He pulled back, taking one of the deer for himself and making room at the questionable banquet. "SVARTIS FOUGHT," he confirmed. He did not, and perhaps if he were a smarter or meaner Dad he would have, point out that Bone had scorched herself silly. "THE BIG THINGS IN THE BONE ROOM WILL BE A PROBLEM."

Dread glanced to Asimona. "I WOULD NOT GO THERE," he warned her; "I THINK THEY WANT OUR STONES."

@Asimona @Svartis

Asimona rumbled with happiness when she saw her two children, arching her head down and over Svartis muzzle as he touched her chin, as if to embrace him with the arch of her neck. "Hi, Svartis. I had to come and see my family - it's been a little while since I've seen you in Pisces." It wasn't with an accusatory tone - she understood that her children were grown now and they could make their own life, but inside she yearned only to continue to be their mother, however protective she could be. She looked to bone and gave the same delighted rumble. "Hello, Bone, it's good to see you too! I have been good - these cycles have been uneventful."

The little squeaking sound had her looking down at the hatchling that had landed in front of her. She pulled away from Svartis for a moment to arch her neck down and look at the little thing, a puff of vapor escaping her nostrils. "Don't worry, I will not hurt my own children." She leaned back up as Dread pushed him away, eyes narrowed with amusement.

She did as Bone did - pulled a carcass towards herself and began to dig in when she paused at her daughter's tattling. She whipped her head over to look at Svartis, ready to begin questioning him as a worried mother would, when Dread cut in. She stopped and looked at him, a small growl in her chest. "Big things in the bone room? What happened? Who were you fighting?" She turned back to Svartis, not in a disapproving manor, but glancing over his body and noticing the scars had her worried - and angry, of course, at all those her hurt her son - and she wanted to know who it was that was threatening them.

She looked up at Bone, eyes raking over her as well and noticing odd place on her plates that didn't look quite right. "Did you fight too? Are you both injured? Who were these creatures?"

"Can you hear their voice?"
"Find the one who'll guide you."
To the limits of your choice.

tags: @Svartis

Svartis broke away from the neck-hug, shuffling back to haul a deer for himself. He gave a pleased rumble - he was surrounded by his family and good food, even if it was scorching hot and susceptible to starting to rot away into inky black. His snout cracked open slightly, chest swelling with a breath to be blown on the Lesser - much like one blew on a spoonful of soup before eating. Vapor headed towards its flank, nearly crystallizing on charred fur.

He'd managed to get one bite in before Bone tattled on him. Better yet, he literally had to choke it down and bark out a "hey!" Svartis lashed his tail with the intent of smacking it lightly into his sister's. His gaze was full of brotherly hatred for just a second, before he set to hiding his face in his deer's ribs, taking small nibbles.

After a beat, he chuffed in Blight's direction, clearly avoiding attention, "that's mine and Aunt Bone's mom - your... Dad-Mom?" That seemed good enough. Svartis downed another deer leg.

Finally, he just bit the bullet: "I was practicing magic in Orion and some... thing with six legs and four green eyes came up to me, demanding a spar. Except - it started getting angry? Because it was winning. Everyone came to save me before it could rip my throat out." His hide twitched at the memory. "Dad went after it."

Dread could explain the rest of that story.

@Bone

Bone looked up, tossing her head back to gulp down a large hunk of deer and, after swallowing, she picked up the thread of the story herself.

"We heard him yelling so we went to him," she explained, and there was solemnity in her tone, now. She'd been afraid for Svartis, for the first time--really afraid.

"It had him by the neck. Dad blew fire, and I tried to, but-..." She glanced at her father, and then back to Mom. "I've got to practice more," she explained. "I burned myself. But we were roaring, and there was fire, so-... I guess I scared it away. Dad made sure we were okay, and then she went after it."

Bone, too, tore a small piece of meat away, tossing it toward Blight, and there let Dread tell Mom the rest of it.

Blight, after snapping up his own bit of meat and eating it, looked up and interrupted. The story, it seemed, was now his to tell. He slipped into coalescing shadows even as he drew himself up, looking very proud of himself indeed--and no longer at all concerned about Asimona's presence. His speech came out rapid, punctuated by intakes of breath and little else, like any young child telling an "enthralling" story.

"Dad-Dad said, I should come and protect them, so we all went to the tower, and I turned into shadow, and I watched them, 'cause they were both hurt, but I can hide in shadow, so I watched the ground."

He blinked bright green eyes at Asimona, his tiny ragged fins on end as the shadows faded, the very picture of tiny pride.