[Warrick] I'm Bringing Home a Baby Bumblebee...

[Quio]

39th of Vhalar, Arc 716
early afternoon

For anyone other than a Biqaj, the four-trial --nearing five-trial-- journey on the ship from Andaris to Warrick would have been exactly that: a trial. For Quio and Hart, the trip, though difficult due to the weather, was also rejuvenating in a way. It was such that neither one could stop smiling for long.

They were heading to Endor to pick up a small shipment of stone to sell in Andaris due to the shortages in the war. On the way they'd taken the Venora route, and had ended up haggling a ride with a single passenger, a Skyrider lad by the name of Aeon, whom they were soon to drop off in Warrick. It was Warrick's waters they currently sailed.

The first few days of the journey had been rough; it had stormed something fierce, and Hart had laughed like a madman at the helm of the Blackheart, one arm clamped to the ship's wheel so the boat wouldn't turn aside, shaking his other fist at the sky. Though the schooner could be manned by one, it had taken both of the sailors a continuous effort to keep it on track while the wind pushed and pushed and pushed them out towards the sea. The two seaborn had had little sleep for those first three days, only catching a couple breaks here and there when the wind decided to give them mercy.

Now the sea had stopped its swelling and the sky had --at least for now-- given up its tantrum, though the weather remained grey. The patter of the rain was an inconsistent but welcome break from the thunder and winds before.

For the first trial in perhaps the whole journey, Quio had time to lay back. He was on the ship's deck, feet crossed at the ankles before him, playing with their spyglass, watching the clouds. Jack, his little dog, was by his side with her head across his lap. Hart was at the wheel, steering them lightly along the shore and whistling a jaunty tune.

Perhaps the only one of the ship's inhabitants not in a good mood was Yanaqi. Due to their passenger, the living quarters below ship's deck were rather more cramped than usual, and despite that Yanaqi had insisted on coming along... so as a compromise, she had come as a monstrously large dog, able to sleep comfortably on the floor. Aeon, their passenger, had no clue --at least as far as Quio could tell-- that the irritable, wild-looking mutt was in reality a person, shifted forms. Jack on the other hand tended to give the other dog as big a berth as possible on the little ship. Yanaqi was currently sat up on Quio's other side, her head hanging over the side of the ship, peering out towards the sea. Jack, from Quio's lap, watched her nervously.

---

It was all a typical journey until suddenly it wasn't. A few lazy breaks had passed, gracing them with the week's first dry skies. The sun had even come out, golden light peeking between overcast clouds. Quio was in the middle of wiping off the spyglass' lens when Hart spoke up from behind the wheel. "Hey," he said, pointing and squinting, "What's that?"

Quio was on his feet. Yanaqi had pointed her face in the direction that Hart had indicated, and Quio joined her with the telescope. Scanning the water. Scanning... there. He frowned and took the glass from his eye.

"It looks like a rock," he said. "But it's floating. Some kind of creature?"

"A Mer trap?" Hart asked, but Quio shook his head, giving the thing another glance-over with the spyglass.

"I don't think so. I don't know. I think it's an animal. Should probably steer clear of it, I suppose."

But Hart had that funny look on his face that he sometimes got. "Something feels wrong," he said. "It looks like a body. I want to see what it is."

---

A quarter-break's time had passed and the thing was just in front of them. Everyone on the ship, save for Jack, was paying attention. Cautiously they pulled closer, closer, then Hart spun the wheel and set the sails and they drifted sideways towards it, peering down.

"I don't fucking believe my eyes," Quio said, half his body stretched out over the side of the ship as he leaned to get a better look. "It's one of those dragons! I think-- I think it's drowned."

The little thing, nowhere near as large in size as the ones that he had seen in the sky during the war, was floating limply in the waves.

"Haul it in," Hart said definitively from the ship's stern. When Quio looked over, the seaborn shrugged. "They're special, aren't they? And--" He looked pointedly over at Aeon. The Skyrider. The thing in the water was something that the boy would find sacred. They had to try and save it.

"I don't think it's alive," Quio said doubtfully, right as the creature gave a pitiful little splash of one wing.

The Yludih needn't be further convinced.

He scampered below deck. Quickly, quickly. Quio unhooked the fishing net from the walls and gathered it in his arms, lugging it back above, tying it to the starboard side and then tossing the mesh into the sea. Over the creature. Tangling it up. Fishing it out.

"Help," he said, voice straining, and then they were laboriously trying to pull the creature aboard the ship.

Problem was, the thing that he'd thought would weigh only thirty pounds turned out to be a lot bigger when they were hauling it out of the water. Perhaps over a hundred. A hundred fifty.

"U'frek save us," the Yludih panted. Hart had already begun steering the ship towards the nearest shore.

Off Topic

extra hammock for Aeon's use = -3gn (waiting for price confirmation from pricelist suggestions)
= TOTAL -3.0.0gn

"Speaking in Rakahi"
"Speaking in Common"
"Speaking in Ulehi"

[Aeon]

It was on the thirty fourth that the new sergeant had left his home city of Andaris, along with the two Biqaj that were friendly enough to accept him on their ship. He got quite familiar with the small place during the travel to Warrick, to his roots. The boat was crowded when they were all at the deck, so Aeon tried to remain in the living quarters whenever he could. The young sergeant still enjoyed the sent of the mass body of water, and the wind that flew through his hair. He would often be playing with his silver wings, though never actually having them on the chest area of his cloak. There, where the wings should be standing, was the beautifully embroidered blue dragon.

The storms were rough for the first couple of days, and as incompetent as Aeon was, he still gave his best to be helpful with the boat. The sword that remained next to his bed wasn't going to see any use, hopefully not, the young one thought. He still brought it, however, if the need ever presented itself, to protect himself, or someone else. No matter if taking a break or not, Aeon was a skyrider, he was the Iron Hand, always and forever, and he would not stop protecting the people. More specifically, he wouldn't allow the eyepatch and missing hand to stop him from fighting for those who could not.

It was strange to the scarred sergeant, how the biqaj men brought two dogs along, two dogs that were so different from one another. The first one was a sweet-looking friendly dog, of average size, while the other one could have been called huge, for a dog at least. The bigger dog also didn't seem too friendly, nor engaged in anything that went on around the boat. And it was like that for the fifth day of travel as well, once the storms had finally stopped raging. Every individual was on the deck, and while Quio rested, his friend Hart was directing the boat, and Aeon was looking towards the shores of his homeland with a happy smile across his face. The redness of the left side of it would never stop the face from looking cheerful and warm, at least not to those who cared about the inside, not only the outside.

Then the men on the deck spoke, and the big dog quickly went to look at what they were pointing at. With the little conversation Aeon heard, he looked in the direction they were speaking of, and saw a small rock-type thing in the distance. Without a spyglass, there was little hope that the one-eyed man could see what the thing was. He leaned towards the edge of the boat and looked at the water underneath. They were moving straight towards the thing, in hopes of discovering what it was, and so the waves beneath the boat quickly changed direction, and the water went white as the wooden thing moved across it. Aeon could no longer see the larger fish moving away from the boat wherever it went, nor the colorful plants and rocks underneath the light blue surface. And he didn't need to, since his curiosity was sparked by the thing in front of the boat.

They reached the thing, which was not a thing after all, and Aeon could recognize it without issues. It was a little Jacadon, drowning on the surface of the water. His jaw dropped quickly at the site of it. How come a Jacadon was this far off their Sunset Isle? And in the water?

"It's a Jacadon, and yes they are very special. We can't let it die there." He said while running across to help out with the net. Even if it was dead, which the blond scarred man did not want to believe, they needed to pull it in. Then the creature made a movement, and the entire crew went on to help with extracting the little one from the seas. Aeon held the ropes as good as he could, with only one hand at his disposal, as he pulled alongside the Biqaj, while the hound watched them carefully.

As the juvenile Jacadon appeared near the deck of their boat, the young sergeant of the skyriders quickly came to the realization that they weren't going to have enough room for it on the wooden thing. A good thing was that Hart the companion had already started to pull the boat towards the nearest shore. There wasn't any settlements nor houses that Aeon could see, but any land was good land when you have a Jacadon in a fishing net. The net rested on the side of the boat, tied to one of the wooden creations on the deck, and never letting go of the magnificent creature inside it.

Just as they reached the sandy shore, Aeon got a hold of a ladder that went down from the boat, and jumped from several meters of height. The terrain was easy, so the fall didn't hurt a lot, and it needed to be done because the net with the Jacadon was now getting lowered. "If you have fish, we could use it, just so it doesn't eat us." He shouted towards whomever might have remained on the deck, as he struggled to release the creature from the net using only one hand. Once it was done, the dragon-like creature was lying on the ground, without many movements, as Aeon checked whatever he knew how to, and started walking in circles as he held the silver wings of the sergeant rank within his fist. It was alive, it had to be, otherwise the blond man would've been lost. How was he supposed to save the people he cared about, if he couldn't save one Jacadon from drowning?

[Quio]

It was difficult, quite difficult in fact, to bring the ship close enough to the shore to let them off but not so close as to ground it. They were lucky that the ship was so small, otherwise they wouldn't have been able to do it; lucky too that the rain had swelled the sea and left the land with little beach, causing waters that should have been quite shallow to be momentarily much deeper. In that way, it was like U'frek was on their side. And perhaps he was-- the jacadon, as Aeon had called it, appeared to be as much a creature of the water as it was of the air.

Aeon was already tossing over the rope ladder and leaping from the ship, and Quio hastily followed, not trusting that the Skyrider would be safe by himself as he tugged the fishing net off the half-drowned creature.

Meanwhile, Hart was busy dropping the anchor. He motioned quickly for Quio to go, indicating that he would follow when he was done. After the anchor, he set to busily untying the fishing net from the side of the ship.

By the time Quio reached him, Aeon had gotten the net mostly off the jacadon, despite having use of only one hand. Quio helped with the last few tangles and then they were heaving the animal out of the water and onto the beach.

But-- "Awk!"

The Yludih yelped, bringing back his hands. The creature's flesh had felt odd: its scales rough like a rock, with its underbelly and wings soft with water-slick feathers. But the main thing was how hot it had been. Nearly too hot to touch. He looked over at Aeon for direction --what should they do?-- but the other was pacing around, obviously upset. Quio didn't know how much help the boy would be.

"If you have fish, we could use it, just so it doesn't eat us," was the advice the Skyrider offered. As he spoke Hart came up, finished with the ship, and joined them. Immediately Quio looked to his companion and the other nodded.

"I'll set up the net," the seaborn said and jogged off, further into land.

They had stopped at an area of the shore that was in-between, neither exactly a part of the distinct southern nor western coasts; off in the distance to the northwest they saw where the sandy beach turned into sheer cliffside, and further yet, out in the water, just barely visible along the curve of the land, lay the island that must be Sunset Isle. Nearby up the beach was the edge of a forest, so close as to nearly grow out of the sand. That was where Hart was heading: he would be searching for sticks there. The sticks he would need to poke into the shallows to set up their net. Then they could catch the fish that the little (big) dragon would need to survive.

If it survived its drowning first, that was.

Quio didn't exactly want to get near the thing; he really didn't want to touch it again. But it seemed he had little choice. The jacadon was not moving. It needed help if it was to live.

Cautiously he knelt down by the creature's side. He had an idea about resuscitation, all Biqaj knew at least the basics. But that was for humanoids not... this. Regardless, he did what he could.

First they would need to clear the animal's lungs of water.

"Aeon, help, please," the Yludih said in his broken Common, and then they set to it.

Touching the jacadon was an absolute pain, literally. At first Quio tried to reposition it using his bare hands but he soon had to stop, a scaly pattern quickly being reddened into his palms. Eventually he shrugged off his coat --grunting at the motion it put his shoulder through, the one that had been injured in Saun-- and used that as a mitt to touch the creature and hold off the burning.

With the coat --and hopefully with Aeon's help-- he rolled the jacadon from its belly to its side. Then, gingerly, obviously worried about his fingers, he put his hands to the thing's mouth and began prying it open.

Teeth. Lots of teeth. Razor-sharp and deadly. Wincing, he reached his hand into its maw --don't bite me, don't bite me-- and tried to see if there was anything blocking its airway. Assuming he could find its airway. But there was nothing he could feel. A slow stream of water leaked out.

"Aeon," he said, keeping the jaws pried apart and trying to get his legs underneath the creature's body to elevate the chest and hopefully drain out any other water-- but it was so gods-damned hot! "Aeon, help, push." He paused, frustrated with his Common. Then said in Rakahi, just in case the other might better understand, "I need you to do chest compressions."

Not that he knew where Aeon should put his hands. The lad's guess was as good as any that Quio might have. Above the heart made sense. But where exactly was the heart? And would they need to turn the beast on its back to do it correctly? He didn't know. He didn't know, and the animal's life was on the line.

"Speaking in Rakahi"
"Speaking in Common"
"Speaking in Ulehi"

[Aeon]

The Biqaj man clearly had no previous contact with the Jacadon, seeing how he got rather surprised by the skin of this juvenile. The young sergeant had already gotten used to the hotness that were the scales of it, mostly because of the hot water it stored in its waterskin. Now that he was thinking about it, Aeon didn't know why he would even think Quio had contact with the magnificent beasts, seeing how he called them dragons. Of course, the scarred sergeant wasn't going to get mad at the man for not knowing about the fauna, he was just a tad annoyed, mostly because the Jacadon represented everything in his life.

As he got carried away while thinking about the forests they were close to, the young one forgot to look at the creature and the man besides it. The trees didn't seem familiar to Aeon, so they certainly hadn't landed anywhere close to the sergeant's previous home. Now he was wishing that he payed more attention while on the boat, as he had little to no clue where they were on the map of Warrick he pictured in his head. Could have they been near Sunset Isle? That would explain the young Jacadon, seeing how Aeon was told they left their home island to learn to swim at a young age, before even flying. This Jacadon appeared to be of young enough age.

Then his gaze shifted through the sandy shore to the man with his arm in the Jacadon's mouth, calling the skyrider for help. In that very trill, Aeon felt so many different things. He felt like laughing, considering the biqaj was calling for him to perform a medical procedure..on a Jacadon. Then he felt sorry that the man had not known of the biology of the Jacadon. The skyrider took his time through the piles of books both in the Lodge and the Andaris Library to learn about the creatures as good as he could, and he began to realize that not all people did the same. Then came the feeling of fear, all of a sudden, considering Quio had his hand in the bloody mouth of the beast. What in the names of the Seven was that man thinking?

"No, what, get your hand out of its mouth if you don't want it bitten off!" He quickly and loudly said as he ran a few steps towards the man and the Jacadon. He was apparently trying to extract water from its lungs, huh? Aeon was constantly in the company of Gaspard and Poppy while in Andaris, and he got so used to them knowing to do everything better than himself, the skyrider forgot what it was like to actually be better than someone in something.

"For the Seven's sake, it's a Jacadon, not a person. You can't do those medical thingies to it." The young one said, holding back a chuckle. He didn't know the appropriate phrase for the thing Quio was doing with the Jacadon, but he didn't need to know what it was called, to know it was pointless and ridiculous. "See, if it's going to die, it's going to die, and we can't do anything about it. The Jacadon drink the sea water, and what doesn't go into their stomach, goes to the waterskin. When they spit whitefire, they draw the heated water from the waterskin. So, any water that you manage to release form its body is just the water from the waterskin. If some water did get to its lungs, there is truly nothing we can do." Aeon said, while resting his legs by sitting down onto the wet sand. The skyrider cared little about his pants, and more about his energy.

"Unless you are an expert in Jacadon anatomy and surgery?" The boy smiled at the biqaj, as he knew that was not the case. Looking upon the horizon, Aeon hoped with all his heart that the mighty flying beast would awaken, only so it could reach the point where it can fly, and it becomes mighty. It was a Jacadon, not a person, according to the skyrider's words, and yet he cared equally about both of those things.

[Quio]

He was so focused on trying to save the creature that he hadn't noticed that the Skyrider wasn't really helping him. Then, "No, what, get your hand out of its mouth if you don't want it bitten off!"

Quio automatically flinched back, drawing his hands away from the jacadon, and he looked with a mix of guilt and confusion up at the one-handed man, knowing that the boy was right, he probably shouldn't have put his hand into the beast's mouth. But he also knew that that was what he had needed to do.

Until, that was, Aeon continued to speak. At his words the Yludih became only more and more confused.

"For the Seven's sake, it's a jacadon, not a person," the Skyrider said. "You can't do those medical thingies to it. See, if it's going to die, it's going to die, and we can't do anything about it..." He went on to explain about some sort of waterskin the jacadon had inside them, and how it stored seawater for them to 'spit whitefire'-- though Quio, having never heard of this and not knowing really anything of jacadon, did not know what whitefire even was.

"If some water did get to its lungs, there is truly nothing we can do," the boy concluded, sitting down in the sand as if to wait.

By this time Quio was staring at the Skyrider in full-blown disbelief, very confused, now even more uncertain what he was supposed to be doing. Wait? They were just supposed to sit back and wait? 'If it's going to die, it's going to die'? That didn't make any sense to him. Certainly they should try to save it? What was the point of dragging it out of the water only to watch it drown on land? But it was also true that he knew nothing of the creature's anatomy. He hadn't even known about the waterskin or whitefire...

At a loss, the Yludih wiped the back of his arm against his forehead --being so close to the dragon was just so hot!-- and withdrew his legs from under the creature, leaving it to lie there alone and unconscious on the beach. Then, like Aeon, he sat back on his heels and stared. Waiting.

"What the hell do you think you're doing? Did it-- Is it dead?"

That was Hart as he came running back from the forest, a few suitable sticks tucked into his arms. He spilled them to the sand and sank to his knees beside Quio, reaching out a hand towards the jacadon.

"I don't know," Quio said. "But don't touch it, it's--"

"Hot!" Hart exclaimed, shaking his hand and, not letting that deter him, laid Quio's coat over the beast's chest and pressed his ear against it.

"Hart--" Quio said uneasily. He didn't like Hart's head so close to the thing...

"Shush!"

They sat in silence as Hart listened.

After a moment: "It must still be alive. I heard something-- some sort of rumbling. That must be a heartbeat or breathing, something! Why aren't you helping it!"

Quio glanced over at Aeon. "He said-- well, I don't know exactly, but I thought-- well, it's an animal," he finished lamely. At Hart's incredulous look, the Yludih started half-heartedly mumbling about jacadon and waterskins, the things Aeon had said...

"Animal? Animal?" Hart looked like he wanted to grab Quio by the shoulders and shake him. "You can give medical attention to animals," he said, stressing every word. "If Jack was to drown we wouldn't just sit and let her! Now get up you f'ing waterbrain and help me or it will die!"

And Quio, knowing when he was being a fool, got back up to help.

The next few trills the two Biqaj spent repositioning the animal onto its back. Hart took the coat and laid it over the jacadon's chest and belly, and then put his ear back down, listening again. "I think the rumbling is the sound of it trying to breathe," he said after a moment. "It's coming from here." He put Quio's hand where he had laid his ear, and then Hart went over to the creature's head, cradling it in his lap, digging his fingers into its snout and once more prying open the mouth.

"Hart--" Quio said then. It was one thing to stick his own hand down the creature's gullet... but something totally else to see Hart's artist fingers so close to those huge, sharp teeth. But Hart just shot him a look and the Yludih knew he had to shut up. Likewise, if Aeon said or did anything to contradict him, Hart would give the boy the same sort of look, telling him without speaking to shut your mouth.

"Now!" Hart said, and Quio began pressing down, his hands crossed over the place they had estimated the creature's lungs to be. "Harder!" Hart ordered, and Quio leaned into it, relying on his full body weight.

On Hart's lap, the animal's head gurgled, spittle and stomach contents and water oozing slowly out.

"Again." Quio pressed. Hart was angling the head down, hoping to encourage drainage. "Again."

Bits passed. Time dragged by. Quio began panting. His hands burned. His arms, especially his bad shoulder, ached from doing the compressions. "Hart," he said, barely getting the words out. "Hart, I don't think-- Hart, I think it's gone--"

"Shut up!" the seaborn snarled, and just then the jacadon's mouth twitched and a rush of foul-smelling liquid --half-eaten fish chunks, seawater, saliva-- came rushing out.

Hart immediately dropped the jacadon's head and pulled himself away from the beast, giving it room, motioning for the others to do the same.

Gak, gak! The dragon lay on its back, wings folded under it, coughing listlessly. For a long few moments they watched as it struggled to draw in a fresh breath of air, and when Hart made as if to creep back towards it Quio grabbed him by the arm and wouldn't let him get closer. "It could still need help!" Hart objected, trying to pull away.

"No," Quio said. "If it's awake it's dangerous."

And Hart couldn't really argue with that.

They waited.

After a while the dragon seemed to begin to recover. It groggily lifted its head and shifted in the sand to spit out more water. Its breaths came loud and laborious, but at least it was breathing. But it seemed tired. Very tired.

Then its eyes opened, a brilliant emerald green, and Hart said in awe, "She's a beauty."

"She?" Quio asked.

From its place in the sand, the creature seemed to hear them.

It --she?-- turned her head and noticed the three humanoids standing around her. She let out a weak but angry sound. And snapped her jaws at them once, despite her obvious exhaustion.

"Guys," Quio said, already backing further away and dragging Hart with him. The jacadon was heaving herself unsteadily to her feet. She looked like she was planning to attack. "Guys, I think we should get away from her now!"

OOC: Sorry for taking so long, I have a ton of solos to write this season, plus the global event so... yeah, I was a bit busy the past few days trying to get stuff all figured out! I'll try to be faster from now on if I can. ^_^'

"Speaking in Rakahi"
"Speaking in Common"
"Speaking in Ulehi"

[Aeon]

The other man, Quio's companion arrived at the beach with an odd expression across his pretty face. The look he gave Quio was so awfully familiar to the young sergeant, and yet he could not remember why. It was like he saw Hart before, with just that awkward and questioning look on his face, but it was impossible. Aeon only met Hart during this trip, and his memories of that face were going way further than just five trials.

"Rynmere's shit, you're going to kill the poor thing." The scarred sergeant yelled at them, without making any special gestures or attempts to stop their actions. He just gazed towards the distant waters. There were two things that could result from all of their actions.. The animal could live, and they'd praise each other for stuffing their hands in its mouth and pushing its belly, or it could die, and they'd feel guilty for not doing more. In any case, those two truly wanted to help the creature, when the best help was to leave it be. It was the truth, considering, if it swallowed too much of the sea water before they dragged her out, she'd die, and if not, she'd live. It was as simple as that, but Hart and Quio would not accept it.

Aeon could understand why they were doing it. Just a couple of weeks ago, he would have done exactly the same thing as they were doing right there, but he tried, and truly tried, to act smart, instead of heroic. To be safe, rather than reckless. Recklessness caused all of that death and destruction, it caused the blank space in which both his hand and eye should have been. If he was only safe and smart back then, perhaps all of his back, and half of his face wouldn't be so red and scarred at this moment.

At the sound of the quiet and sad voices of the biqaj, suggesting the animal died, the young sergeant's eyes filled with water. Not the good kind, that would ease your thirst and rest your sore throat, but the salty kind, much like the water of the seas. Aeon could hold the tears from falling down his ruined face, and yet he couldn't hold them from gathering around his one and only eye.

The young one stumbled across the sand to see the animal's final resting place just as it was announced to be alive. His eye once more got filled with the salty and bitter water, but now it was the water that represented happiness. "No. She needs help, and she's not gonna let us come near her if we don't prove worthy." Aeon said, remembering a line he read from that book about the Jacadon. The Jacadon are highly aggressive to all that are not of their species, and until a mortal proves his worth to a Jacadon, it will not accept his presence. The young sergeant gave his best to memorize every line that looked important, and perhaps even some that didn't. He never knew when a situation just like this one would emerge, and now he was wishing he hadn't left his blade in the boat.

The young man knew he couldn't hold the hundred pound creature with his one hand, even if he had two of them, it still would have been near impossible. Fish, he needed fish to use as bait. The creature must have been hungry, and so it would go crazy over the fish, and give Aeon an opportunity to best it.

"I'll distract it, you find me that fish already!" That tone of voice was probably not the most suitable for the situation, and Aeon knew it, but there was no time to act polite, as the beast was charging at the young sergeant with the intention to kill. Luckily for him, it was still badly tired and without much food in its stomach, plus, it was still young, so whitefire wasn't exactly an option.

Barely touching the Jacadon's side, Aeon managed to roll straight into the sand and away from the attacking creature, covering his pretty cloak with half-wet dirt from the ground. She gave straight into the next attack, by attempting to bite the young man's head off where he stood. It didn't have much force in its attack, and so Aeon was able to redirect the animal's jawline away from himself, and it stumbled, stepping over its own feet. It still had to learn to fly, perhaps it was only 2, to 3 arcs old, by the things the sergeant read about the Jacadon.

[Quio]

OOC: Once more sorry for taking so long! I'm caught up with responses now so hopefully I'll be a lot faster this time round!

"I'll distract it, you find me that fish already!" Aeon called, and once more Quio looked over in disbelief and thought that the man must be insane. Distract it? The beast was going to kill him if he got near!

And what had that been about proving themselves worthy?

Rynmerans are crazy, he thought, and then there was little time to think much else for the jacadon was attacking.

"Hart!" Quio called out instead, and like before the seaborn nodded without needing any other instruction, and he took the sticks he had gathered from before and the net and went to hastily catch some fish.

Until then...

Well, it looked like they had a dragon to entertain.

In the time he and Hart had taken to speak, the animal had already gone for Aeon, and the Skyrider had spun out of the way and nearly gotten bitten again before pushing the thing's head aside.

"Uh, over here!" Quio yelled, waving his arms at the creature, trying to distract her... but that wasn't going to work, she was really going for Aeon. He had to do something else...

"Oh feck me," he said, and then ran forward and pushed the jacadon from behind, hard.

She didn't seem to like that.

The dragon let out a snarl as she staggered and turned towards him. Steam roiling from her mouth. Whitefire, he had a moment to think, and then she was spitting it out at him--

But perhaps because she was so young, or perhaps because she had nearly just drowned, the creature didn't seem to have much in the tank. There was a burst of scalding liquid and then nothing. Quio, meanwhile, was backing up fast again, out of reach.

And so the animal, knowing now she had multiple enemies to defend against, began swinging herself back towards Aeon.

Near the ship there was the sound of a yip and splashing water. And then the great dog Yanaqi, who, though smaller than the jacadon probably weighed more, and Jack right behind her like a brave little shadow, came paddling up to the beach. Yanaqi shook herself and then bolted towards the jacadon, snatching at one wing with her teeth. The beast screamed in anger and turned towards the dog, swiping out with one sharp clawed forelimb, but the dog was already gone, racing along to her other side...

And then there was Jack, jumping in place in excitement and yapping out of reach, and the two humanoids were still right there, still threatening... and the jacadon suddenly seemed confused surrounded by so many enemies. She flapped her wings, stirring up a bit of sand into the air, but she didn't seem able to fly-- though again, Quio didn't know if that was because of inability or mere exhaustion. Either way, with her wings flapping like that it was hard to get near for fear of one of those nasty claws slicing down... and at full extension, her wings made her look much bigger than she had before. They were huge. He couldn't imagine what the wings must be like on a full grown one.

"How are we supposed to prove ourselves to it?" Quio shouted out towards the Skyrider, covering his eyes so sand didn't get flung into them. Though over the sounds of the jacadon's thunderous flapping and snarling he didn't know if the other would hear him, let alone understand.

"Speaking in Rakahi"
"Speaking in Common"
"Speaking in Ulehi"

[Aeon]

Quio tried distracting the mighty creature with words, but they just weren't enough, and Aeon knew it. It was his job to distract the creature so it wouldn't go after the two biqaj, and he knew... he knew what. The biqaj man was already running straight at the Jacadon, pushing it away from the young sergeant. He was brave, props to him for that, but without skill, bravery wouldn't get him much. Perhaps a burn or a cut, since the Jacadon spat out the little whitefire it could, barely missing, or even not affecting the man.

Not long afterwards, the winged creature turned its attention back towards the skyrider, and it attempted at taking a chunk from his head once more. She was faster now than just a trill earlier, and even though Aeon threw himself away from her jaws, the great hound was the one that stopped his untimely demise. Would he have survived if the thing bit him? The young one wondered, getting back up on his feet as the Jacadon quickly went for the dog.

The wings raised a crazy amount of little pieces of ground into the air, and it covered most of Aeon's sight. The other parts where he could see were covered with his only hand, attempting to block the sand from getting into his eyes. It would have been nasty if that happened again. "You want me to be honest or be hopeful?" The skyrider answered the barely audible question the biqaj posed, and without waiting for a reply, he continued. "If I'm being honest, I have no clue, but hopefully all it takes is to subdue her." Not kill her. Most definitely not kill her, Aeon wasn't going to do it even if it was the thing that would save the world.

As one of the wings started slowing down, the young blond man with scars across his body made a run for it, going straight towards the right wing of the Jacadon. She did not seem to notice at first, but as he got close, the creature started flapping that very wing magnificently, and in the last second before he reached her, she attempted at pushing, or even cutting, him away with the wing. Aeon wasn't going to let her go that easy, and so he grabbed the top edge of the wing with his hand while he tried to withstand the mighty force with which it pushed him left and right. Pulling with all of his strength, Aeon held onto the Jacadon's wing and attempted at bringing it down. It objected, of course, but the skyrider's stubbornness was way beyond the creature's, and so he remained on top.

For most observers, it would have been a wrestling match between human and beast, where the beast appeared to be winning, but the human kept clinging on, and not letting himself lose. For Aeon, and most likely the beast too, it was a dance of strength and prowess, to see which would hold on longer, the creature of land or the creature of sky. Also saying that, because the creature was still young and had nearly drowned it had a disadvantage, would be entirely false. After all, Aeon was the one with one hand and one eye, and zero wings.

It could have been several dozen lifetimes, according to the skyrider's brain, and yet not even a bit had passed, and the creature grew more and more tired, as did the young man. There were many times where the Jacadon attempted at clawing, even biting Aeon, and yet failing. It even tried to bring him down by leaning backwards, and yet he didn't. He held on with the one hand he had, without letting her beat him. It could've, of course, fell completely backwards and crushed the man into the ground, but it didn't, for the reasons only the Seven knew. Perhaps it was afraid of the other opponents scattered across the beach, or it had started to enjoy the dance with the human, who could ever tell what a creature like that one was thinking.

Off Topic

Uhh, I didn't make this post longer to give you a chance to reply, because you deserve it, so I'm just gonna let you control Aeon for this post if you need him to do something you think would suit the situation. Also leaving the outcome of this brawl to you.

[Quio]

OOC: Totally cool. Long posts aren't always necessary. ^_^

"You want me to be honest or be hopeful?" the Skyrider answered, and Quio felt his stomach drop. "If I'm being honest, I have no clue, but hopefully all it takes is to subdue her."

"Okay," the Yludih said, probably not loud enough to be heard. His face was sort of white and he swallowed, obviously nervous, obviously not wanting to have any part of this... and then he seemed to settle, letting determination set in. He shoved his sleeves up to his elbows and rubbed his hands together as if ready to do battle. Whatever the battle with the beast might entail.

Before anything else, first he glanced back over his shoulder to see what progress Hart had made. Already the seaborn had gotten the net set up in the shallows and now stood back at the edge of the water, tossing some sort of bait in --tiny bits of stale bread or dried meats he must have had in his pocket-- to lure the fish.

Good. With luck they'd have food to distract the creature soon. They'd just have to hold out until then.

With a deep breath, Quio turned back towards the jacadon.

Just in time to watch Aeon take a running leap at the creature. "No!" Quio said, heartstone racing, certain the boy would be killed--

But he managed to get past the teeth and claws and with the strength of one hand and his willpower alone, latched onto the little dragon. And then held on, wrestling with her, for dear life.

Quio immediately tried to leap in to help, maybe to grab hold of the other wing, anything, but with the Skyrider on her wing and back the jacadon was in an uproar, lashing her head and free wing about. Dangerous. Too dangerous. Yanaqi ran in from the other side, nipping the front of her neck when she reared her head back, and the jacadon swiped out at her, almost catching the dog deep in the shoulder. Luckily it was a glancing blow; Yanaqi went rolling across the sand and came up steady on all fours, teeth bared and hackles up, and Quio was relieved to see no evidence of blood. She was okay.

Jack was smarter --or less brave-- and stood well back, always yapping and barking and snarling at the creature, proving to be a good enough distraction.

Quio...

Quio was waiting, breath bated. Every once and a while he'd try to dance in, get his own hold, but the jacadon always made it impossible, wing flapping, head rolling and snapping.

Until finally she seemed to start to tire. At the first sign of weakness Quio made another bold rush in.

And this time he had her.

Aeon must have been nearly as tired as the dragon after all of the bucking and kicking --and once, rolling-- that she had done to try to get him off. Quio jumped and landed on her other wing, pinning it to the ground, and the jacadon let out a warbling roar of pain or despair. She tried lashing out at him with her tail and managed to slap him on the back-- but luckily the creature didn't seem to have a club or spikes there, and so while she probably bruised him she didn't cut or maim.

And then, all of a sudden, the beast seemed to give up, and she laid her head, panting, on the sandy ground.

"Is it-- is it over?" Quio asked. Not knowing. Was this some ruse? Or maybe she was so tired she could not bear to fight them any longer. Either way, he said, breathing hard, "What now?"

Because suddenly he had realized what they were doing.

They had just wrangled a dragon. A wild dragon. A little dragon, but still.

Only now that they had her, what were they supposed to do with her?

"You didn't hurt her, did you?" That was Hart's voice, drifting over from the waterside, and Quio quickly checked the creature over --at least, as well as he could-- and said uncertainly, "I don't think so."

"I guess now we fish, and feed her?" Hart asked, looking to Aeon for direction. They both were. The Skyrider had to know more than they did. He had to know what to do. "And then... figure something out. Maybe we could get her back to her home?" But the thought of trying to transport the thing to wherever it lived, where there were sure to be other jacadon, larger and even more angry, was sort of terrifying. Hart immediately aborted that idea. "Or, um, somewhere else?" he asked.

"Speaking in Rakahi"
"Speaking in Common"
"Speaking in Ulehi"

[Aeon]

Every time the biqaj man had begun closing distance between himself and the Jacadon, the young sergeant would begin his prayers to the Seven, hoping, irrationally, that they would be the ones to protect Quio. Aeon wasn't usually religious, nor did he care much about piety, and yet in a time like this, all he could think about was the man he was supposed to protect getting hurt. Too many people had already gotten hurt because of the skyrider's lack of capability to protect them. Never again would he allow for that to happen, that was why he was going on this trip with the biqaj, right? To become someone that would not allow his own people to get hurt.

Finally, as Aeon reached the last pieces of strength, Quio fell onto the Jacadon as the skyrider did before him, and the beast was wrestled down onto the sand. Falling over, the young one rolled across its wing and onto the ground, barely managing to hear the words said in the man's disbelief. He was certainly hoping it was over, since if it wasn't, Aeon doubted his chances of success. Just a couple of trills..a couple.. a couple of.. And as the darkness of his closing eye encircled the boy, he resisted. He could feel the pain of his long-gone injuries returning, as the beast had probably smacked him several times, and there were little traces of blood all across the scarred, red side of his face, as well as endless bruises reappearing on his shoulder and hip. Those were the areas that weren't even supposed to heal, or so the Ithecal doctor told him, and yet miraculously they did.

"We need to..to make sure it's all right, and feed it, yes, and hopefully, once it's up and alive, we'll be able to take her to Andaris." Yes, of course, the Lodge, where else would they take a young Jacadon that was stranded away from its family. Even if they physically could take it to Sunset Isle right then, and they most likely couldn't, they'd all be killed before even stepping foot on that holy place. The Jacadon protect their territory, and especially the Sunset Isle, the one and only breeding ground of theirs.

"I work in this place, it treats Volareon and Jacadon for the skyriders, and sometimes even injured and abandoned untamed ones, if we could get her there in one piece, I'm sure we could heal her properly until she's fit to return to her home alone." The words came from the sergeant's mouth sounding sure, and confident, and yet he wasn't so very confident on the inside. His one eye was barely managing to stay open, and his muscles wouldn't allow him to get up from the sand, not without tremendous pain and annoyance, so, if the Jacadon was going to strike again after awakening, who knew what would happen. Surely the fish they'd catch would serve as a good enough reminder that they meant no harm.

And even besides that, even if the Jacadon turned out to have accepted them, and Aeon got up without major issues, how were they supposed to bring it back to Andaris city? Would the boat be able to do it? Would they even have enough food, both for themselves and the mighty beast of the skies, for their trip? There were so many questions awaiting, and yet all the young sergeant could think about was closing his eye to rest. His injuries weren't grave enough for a sleep to lead him to death's embrace, but his energy was so depleted who knew if he'd wake up in time, in case anything happened.

The darkness wasn't a darkness, however, and it brought a strange sparkle with it. That was why the boy was so eager to jump into it, unlike last time he was called to that pit. That strange sparkle, it was something that would draw a man to kill, if only it was found within a woman's eye. That eye, it was awfully familiar to the sergeant, and as the perfect skin appeared around it, and the rest of the body as well, Aeon could, without question, tell who it was about. The magnificent posture of the woman, just the smallest gap between her lips to show the possibility of pleasure that her tongue held, the shining hair dropping down her back, as if it was slowly inviting the boy, and the flawless skin. Oh, the flawless skin drew him the most, and as he was about to focus on her body, his mind began clouding, as if the woman did not want him gazing at her intimate parts before he accepted the darkness.

No, he wasn't going to accept the darkness, not now, not ever, not until every danger of this world had perished. Quickly getting up, Aeon had already forgotten all about his repeating dream. "So, we better get to fishing, I presume." He said, with a new found smile and hope flowing across his face. The sergeant was like that, one moment carrying the weight of the world on his shoulders, and the other finding hope that his shoulders would not break. Yet.