A Dragon's Interest

[celestine]

Celestine was garbed for battle today. Her usually unbound, long black hair had been braided - a strip of leather with sharp spikes embedded into it had been included so as to keep anyone from trying to grasp her by the hair. It was, undoubtedly, not something she would like to happen, considering the number of times she'd had hair pulled in fights when she was a child. Her icy, blue eyes glittered as she looked over the weapons she was about to equip herself with. A few daggers were placed in convenient locations along the studded leather she'd armored herself with. A few more daggers were placed in even more convenient places within the studded leather armor. No one would notice those daggers.

A sap was at her waist, as was a short sword and an extendable staff. She'd made it by carving the wood out from the inside in order to make each of the pieces fit and come out to smash aside her opponents. Of course, due to its hollowed nature, it was also liable to break if it ever met anything it couldn't smash. Several other items found their way onto her person, but in the end, she took up a mace and a small buckler. They were the easiest to make use of against the raiders and today was just a simple patrol to make sure that no one tried to attack them just yet.

Looking vibrant in her battle-ready stance, it didn't take long to rally the few men that would be going with her. Only three, really. Their territory was not so large. Two would remain with her in the event of an attack, but the third would run back to their small village in order to warn everyone and set up the defenses. If there were not too many of the enemy, though, the village might send some people to fend off their attackers.

It was with such a stout heart and thoughts only of keeping her village safe - well, it wasn't really hers, considering she'd been dropped off by traveling merchants who couldn't be bothered to care for her, but it was still hers to protect all the same - that she led the trio of men out onto the fields towards the boundaries beyond their farmland.

 

[DomG]

As he soared above the tree line Geranenth's mouth drew back into what might be a grin on a human being. It was always a pleasure to fly, such a simple thing for him that the humans and other races confined to walk on the ground at all times would never understand, those pittiful things with only one form and never able to take flight with their own wings could never comprehend the power and magisty of one such as him, a dragon and one of great power at that. His body, the one he had been born with was more then thirty feet long from the tip of his nose to the end of his tail but at that moment he was in the shape that he used the most, a form that was much smaller, just shy of eight feet tall and a hybrid between the shape of a human and his natural body... though he also had a form that was entirely human that allowed him to walk among the lesser beings when he felt the passing urge.

At the moment though he was feeling a much less passing urge to mate, both for pleasure and to reproductive purposes. Dragons didn't need another dragon in order to create children, all they needed was a suitable female which was a good thing, it had been some time since Geranenth had run into another of hid kind let alone a female... and if he didn't do his part then they might come to an end. Because of this something would need to be done right away, with what might be called a chuckle escaping from between his teeth Geranenth began to sniff the air, searching for the scent of one that might help him toward his goal of carrying on his race and supplying him with a great deal of pleasure in the process.

It didn't take long though, the scent of a female away from the nearby village, only a few males nearby to help protect her. A few beats of his wings shifted the direction of his flight and sent him soaring in her direction at high speed, from high above he caught sight of her with three others, trailing them for a little as they moved away from the protection of their village before coming down hard and fast, landing before them with all the flourish and magi-sty that his kind was used too. “A warrior?” He asked, more then a little bit confused at the sight of the woman he had been tracking in armor, carrying weapons. “Surly this is some sort of gest, did your people send you out to appease me, or perhaps to make me fall to the floor paralyzed by laughter.”

 

[celestine]

(Link is broken. xD)

Celestine and the men had already warned off two suspicious parties, not bothering to send their third man back to warn the village just yet. There was nothing too major... Not yet. As it was, they continued on and down the road, greeting the rare traveler and pointing them in the right direction if they were lost. It wasn't too difficult. The rounds were fairly normal in progression and nothing seemed out of place. The men spoke casually, their hands on their weapons and their eyes roving the fields around them. For all intents and purposes, they probably looked like a merry little quartet of mercenaries... Which, in a sense, they were... Except the men fought for their homes and she fought for the people that had aided her so much as she'd grown. Things were casual and comfortable. She held her mace loosely, knowing that it would be ready at only a moment's notice and did not bother concerning herself with her shield. After all, it was strapped onto her arm - there was no point in paying any more attention to it than that.

"What's that?" one of the men asked suddenly, his gaze high up. The others followed his gaze and whilst one cursed, the other called for the gods. Celestine merely took a firm grip of her mace and fell into a ready position. "Be ready for an attack!" she ordered. "We don't know what it is or what it wa--"

She was cut off by one of the men: "It's a dragon!" Well aware that Bart had indeed seen a dragon before, she had to hold in a curse. Things had just gone sideways.

All too soon, it gracefully landed before them. She'd been impressed by his words, even as she felt the men nervously gripping their weapons. “Surely, this is some sort of jest; did your people send you out to appease me, or perhaps to make me fall to the floor paralyzed by laughter?"

Celestine scowled at him. "I know not who you are, sir, nor from whence you come, but we merely patrol the borders of our territory to keep our village safe. We knew not of any dragons nearby, nor did we expect any." They hadn't been seen in a long time. The only reason Bart had seen one was because he'd been a soldier before he'd decided to get settled down. It had been nearly a hundred years. "Is there something we can help you with?" she asked politely. Dragons were, as regarded by the tales, as dangerous as they were helpful. One never knew which side of the coin a dragon was going to fall on, so it never hurt to be polite. All the same, though, she kept a good grip on her mace.