Leona Lake Laundry?! |open|

[|Nora|]

" Laundry?!" her mouth gaped in disbelief had been her reaction when Nasuada had told her to clean apart of the Varden's clothes and bandages. Nora had protested that she would be much better lopping off a soldiers head, but Nasuada only shook her head and claimed that Nora would be better to avoid as much fighting as possible until her skills had been properly honed. Nora had nothing to argue and now sat on the edge of Leona Lake, staring as she contemplated the scene over in her head. She huffed and slammed a woven basket of many, filled with soiled fabrics. Along the line of the bank of Leona Lake many more women incompetent for battle, were doing much the same, but with buckets. Nora sighed, she guessed it was for the best after all she wasn't too skilled with her blade, which lay sheathed on her cot in her tent. " Might as well make use of myself in some way." She groaned taking a tunic from her basket.

Hours passed without too much trouble, and the sun had slunk to the horizon where it hovered, it seemed to debate on whether to drop or to just hang. The lake's water had been cool when Nora's hands plunged the first piece of clothing into the depths; however, soon after did she learn, from a passing girl not much older than she, that the bucket given to her was supposed to be filled with water then the clothes be washed. Nora had thanked the girl and now sat next to a fire with a foaming bucket of water. She had labored the fabrics for three quarters of the day when an older woman tapped her on the shoulder. Nora's baskets had been nearly done, but it was her time to switch and find some food before the cook fires were doused.

Nora had thanked the woman with over zealous relief before departing the hung clothes, all to eager for a meal. A groan pressed her lips when her hands laid onto the sore muscles of her neck and lower back. Being hunched over all day was spine tormenting for her and she had to admit, if she had been there any longer she might have lost her wits. A smile touched her lips, her auburn hair swept and draped over her right shoulder. Her left hand cupping the exposed contour of her neck. The smell of mead and roast wafted through out the camp and warriors of the Varden strode past her often in pairs or groups, some just spurred by the grumbling in their stomach to the point where company no longer mattered. Nora was exceptionally slow on her way to dinner. She wasn't clad in leather and armor like the rest of the people. Nora was attired in a simple white tunic, trimmed with gold, floral designs around the neck and collar. A pattern often used with the elves. Her sleeves ended above her elbows and with excess material hanging stylishly. Her leggings were brown leather as were her knee high boots. She wore no gloves and her hair only shoulder length, but lush.

Her green eyes studied the men with care, trying not to let a thought of interest cross into their easily influenced minds. She grabbed her meal and found a place to sit, away from the gloating and boisterous men. Quite a few lifted or revealed bandaged wounds, fervidly boasting that it would be a fine scar that the ladies would surely not be able to deny. Nora scoffed and ate her meal quickly, before a gentleman had the chance to narrow in. The side glances and the arrogant glimmer characterizing the glances turned her stomach. Haste energized her stride, quickly leaving the festival-like feast behind along with the warm glow of the cook fires. The firmament had grown purple with inky tendrils of shadowed clouds, thin and wispy, scuttling above the nearly absent glow of sunlight.

Nora allowed darkness, save for few glows of torch light perched between tents, to fall around her along side the comfort of silence. Her foot steps were the only noise she noticed and she veered toward the lake, leaving the surrounding tents of the Varden. She continued along the lake, and slipped passed the patrolling guards, two men with hazy looks in their eyes. The weary world of dreams obviously calling to their drowsy minds. Nora had guessed they had been stationed there all day.

An excited smile curled the corners of her mouth, being able to slip past and into the nocturnal bearings. She walked for quite a few minutes, until she looked over the slender slope of her shoulder to see that the lights from the tents were nothing more than fireflies. The tents were weird, jagged shapes no bigger than her thumb. She kicked a pebble and stood, over looking apart of the lake, where stars shimmered on it's peaceful surface. A broken, capering image of the moon slithered toward the center. Nora sighed remaining still. She was tired, yet grateful for the unawares of the guards in a grim way. In all, she loved being away from the stress of war for a little while.

[Ember]

So many fowl words Shur'tugal, Teirar hummed and then nosed her rider gently, her bright diamond like scales were reflecting the sunset and Issie was half admiring her, half thinking of the pain a broken bone caused.



They had been making their way from one half of the Empire to the other which was dangerous enough for any rider and dragon who weren't pledged to the King. They had landed a few miles away from Helgrind for the night after Teirar had been to tired to keep flapping her wings. The tall black towers of which had kept both of them on their toes but Issie was sure her spells would keep them invisible for the night. Teirar was the first to fall asleep but Issie was awake half the night. She felt uncomfortable being so close to those black spears which jutted into the sky and seemed to actually suck in the light, creating a sense of darkness around it. Issie swore that a constant cloud hung over that city. She had never seen sunlight touch that cathedral spire in all her years, even living so close to it when she was little she had always thought it to be a cold dark place. Staying awake had been easy. Her brothers stories of the priests with missing limbs still made her want to throw up. Instead she spent the night relaxing her body to a near sleep-like state where her body refuelled while her mind wondered. She spread her conciousness out over the lands and pressed against the Earth. There was so little life around this area of Alagaesia. A snake slithered a meter of so from her left and she listened to his strong heartbeat for a second, marvelling at his stubbornness to move from his nest despite the constant horse patrols which endangered him every day. A wise owl tooted above her and she smiled. The wise owl was as stubborn as the snake. Taking comfort she was not alone and there were some creatures brave enough to be around she too fell into her waking dreams.

Wake up! Isellmarie! I hear something a low growl woke her with a start and Tierars mental message made her fumble for her blade. She'd been so stupid. She shouldn't have fallen asleep. To his credit, the owl still sat in his perch, staring at her with eyes which screamed to her 'Stupid Elf'. She grunted and tore her eyes away from the old creature and rolled to the balls of her feet in one nimble movement. She was highly aware of the horrible dirty feeling over her skin and the itch against her ribcage caused by a scar Galbatrix had gifted her with when she was last under his power. She was not going back there. Not for a long time. Not until she had the power to ram a blade through his throat and end his life. Issie thingyed her head to the side and listened quietly. Sure enough the sounds of horse hooves could be heard to her left. She checked the invisibility cloak around them and then began to saddle up Tierar. She didn't dare speak aloud or through their mental link. The patrol could have a spell caster among their midst and she didn't want to alert them to their position. She moved to the front of her dragon and pointed up to the sky with a frown before pressing a finger to her lip. She meant take off silently. Tie tested the amount of room she had and then blinked one deep blue eye to let her know that she had understood. Issie smiled and kissed her dragons snout quietly. Only once she was sure they were set did she clamber into the saddle of her dragon and then clutch at the spike in front of her. The horses were closer now. Without having to speak the dragon crouched and launched herself into the air causing the trees to bend in the rush of wind she created. It had been so close Issie felt her heart hammering in her chest. God she was never sleeping again if she could help it. Tier grunted as the wind around them seemed to disappear entirely. There was no currant to help them along, just pure muscle strength. They couldn't keep this up for much longer, there must have been a spell caster close for there had been plenty of wind a moment ago. Tierar changed course and headed for the distant Lake Leona. There would be a strong Western wind closer to the lake.

And they would have made it if Issie hadn't seen through the trickery. A large spike of electricity shot upwards cms from Teirar. Of course it was an illusion, they had no want to hurt them, only trap them. But out of worry for her dragon she had shouted out mentally - SNOWY!. One word and there was no point in keeping up the invisibility cloak. A sound like a million little wings met her ears and she glanced down to see a series of arrows shooting towards them. "Letta orya thorna!" The arrows stopped in their tracks, tittered and then fell back towards the ground. Issie cursed and then gathered on another spell to bring the winds back they needed to flee quickly. "Vindr reisa!" A warm gust of wing hit the undersides of Teirars wings and thankfully the dragon managed to gain a few meters before they hit a wall of compressed air. With a sickening hollow sound Tierar crashed into the odd air-wall and began her downward slid.
"Are you okay?!" Issie cried and put her palm on her dragons neck, sending healing energy towards her. Tie pushed back against the healing magic, showing she was fine before swerving up and landing some what heavier than usual.
I think you're going to need that energy The wise dragon remarked and growled low as a group of men appeared. At their lead was a tall man with narrowed eyes and a slim frame. Issie pulled the blade from her belt.
"You know, we don't want to fight," he smiled icily. Issie controlled the tremors which ran down her spine and kept her face blank. She would not trust a word that was not spoken in the ancient language. His eyes moved to the dragon then. "Oh my, last thing I heard you were simply an egg! Aren't you precious?" Issie could feel her dragons masked irritation and she silently sent a wave of admiration towards her companion. "Will you come quietly or not?" Issies reply was hurling a large wave of fire towards the men. The non-spellcasters fled instantly and the horses didn't take kindly to it either. But a few remained and out broke the fight which had led to her broken forearm. She had been doing so well. The non magicians were easily killed thanks to Tierar and two of the weaker magicians followed soon after with a spell from Issie and a swipe of Tierars claws for they could not keep up with the mental battle going on between her, their leader and a short stocky man whom to Issie looked almost like a Dwarf. When it had come to both physical and mental fighting Tier couldn't help as much though she did lend her strength to her rider. The short man went first and then it was one on one. When he hood came down Issie had to reluctantly give into the knowledge a fellow elf was on the Empires side. Of course some had to be corrupted. His agility was to high to be that of a human. She had nearly knocked the blade from his hand when he had twisted and in her clumsy, tired mistake, not moved quick enough, he twisted her forearm and snapped it as if it were a twig. That's when Tier finally found a way to get to him without hurting her. As Issie was flung to the ground, further injuring her arm. Tier swiped at the man with her tail and broke his ribs inwards. The ground was soaked with blood and littered with bodies.
Issie! Can you move? Concern, pain, flashes of sounds. Issie nodded grimly and pushed herself up with one hand before rolling to her feet. She swayed and leaned against her dragon, exhausted from such a mental and physical dual.
"We need to go..." she was to tired to hone in her thoughts. Tie blinked once and then lowered herself to the ground as best she could. Issie painfully clambered onto her back and, with the wind restored, fled north towards the lake which had become their silent destination.



And thus she had ended up a few miles from the Varden camp seeing splodges of colour in her vision as she tried to heal her own arm. Another silent cuss word had Tie trying to tease her out of her pain.
So many cuss words for such a tiny being, Issie fixed her with her cool crystal gaze but her lips twitched up into a half smile. She knew her dragon was telling her to move now. She slowly pushed herself to her feet and began the walk, refusing to ride on Tie who was just as tired but not as injured - Issie had made sure to heal her before attempting it on herself. She moved around a large hill very slowly to come face to face with the expanse of a large lake and on the other side - a girl kicking pebbles. Issie wasn't sure what to do and she paused, glancing to the lake and the water her throat craved for while moving her fingers towards her boot. She couldn't use her blade but she could still throw her knives. Tie was already growling low, the night sky reflecting in her scales; a slither of the moon on her flank, stars dotted on her forelegs and patches of dark blue cloud over the rest of her.

[|Nora|]

The lunar sphere continued to near it's splendorous peak, while Nora stood with her arms crossed against her chest in a small attempt for warmth. The way the holes in the heaven's floor dazzled and seemed to flourish when the moon passed their endless ranks, reminded her of a crowd cheering for their long, due, king returning home from being lost. The likeness that nature displayed, provoked an amused portray upon her soft countenance. Auburn hair, swished with almost a deft sound as the lush cluster traversed across her shoulders and swept toward the center of her back. Her face turned from the pallid light cast off the moon and toward the shifting shadows. Something quivered in her vision, causing a snapping reflex in her eyes. Her undivided attention fixed on the spot. Suddenly a muffled thunder inquired the air and a subtle vibration could be felt beneath her feet and slightly through her limbs, until it bounced around in her rib cage. Her heart seemed to flutter in her chest, soft as a butterfly. The stars reflected in the shadows was mistook for night sky, until they moved in an uncanny, liquid way.

Breath did not pass the seams of her lips, which had grown to a rosy color in the slight chill, while she gazed at the large outline of something. A dragon?! HERE?! her mind sifted the thought with a lengthy process, before her gumption allowed the pent up breath to jet out her nostrils. A light, spoken word finally cut the silence with her chime like voice. "Hello? Who's there? I-I'm not armed if that is why you're hiding?" Nora patted her sides and even lifted her shirt a bit in an attempt to convince whoever was there. All the while her green eyes never left the spot. A look of caution and surprise temporarily withheld her facade. Brown hair cascaded over the slope of her shoulder and curtained the left side of her breast. She blinked, calculating the odds of it being a rider, yet the thought of a dragon delighted her beyond anything, any guy could do. She couldn't help concealing a smile as the shock and caution gave way. Her heart began to pound like a pair of eagle wings now. Her jugular vein jumping in her slightly craned neck. "I'm Nora... by the way..." She took a step, but decided against it, not moving her weight onto the forth placed foot. Who could it be? Why were they here? A twinkle glistened in her eyes. She wished she were a rider.

[Ember]

Isellmarie watched the girl rather curiously as she spotted her dragon but not her. She must be human, Isellmarie thought to her dragon quietly. Tierar blew a plume of smoke over her rider and then nosed her gently. Issie cast her eyes back over the girl who had half stepped forward and then rechecked herself and stood rather still. Still half bemused at her remarks about being scared about weapons she stepped forward into the light of the moon, hiding her arm under her cloak so as not to alert her she was injured and rather badly at that. The moon fell on her pure white cloak and she raised one hand to pull it back, revealing her long brown hair which tumbled in half curls and waves to just above her hips. Two pieces either side of her head were pulled back and clipped back to keep her bangs off of her face. The white streaks in her hair seemed luminous in the moonlight and she smiled at the girl, her elven ears visible.

“We mean you no harm Nora of the Varden, we seek refuge and a place to rest. My name is Isellmarie and this is Tierar, you can call me Issie and Tierar is often called Tie,” she smiled and then stepped forward slowly. She didn’t want to scare the girl away though she looked rather sure of herself. Actually she seemed to be watching Tie more. The diamond dragon who held no real colour but instead reflected the colours and sights of the things around her. Tie hummed lightly in greetings to the small girl and then moved closer to the lake to drink. Her diamond tail flicked and rested in the waves. The rhythmic brush of the waters was soothing against her scales. She appeared a mix of white and black at the moment, reflecting the stars and moon in her scales she slowly lapped up the water.

“You can come closer,” Isellmarie smiled. “She doesn’t bite,” Tierar snorted at the remark.

Only when I feel like it, Tie rumbled into her riders mind but still kept her thoughts away from the human.

[Darren]

Seeing the silvery/diamond-scaled form of a female dragon, Raziel soared towards the shores of Lake Leona with Levonla sleeping on his back, moonlight making his golden scales sparkle.

Landing on the shore, he shook Levonla off, chucking to himself as his elven rider tumbled unceremoniously to the ground.

“What on earth!” Levonla complained, bolting upright and dusting his clothes off. He was about to scold Raziel when he saw a rider and her dragon, talking with what was possible the figure of a servant girl washing laundry by the lake.

Running over, Levonla inquired, “Who are you?!”
Expecting Raziel to say something to the silver dragon, his mouth dropped open as he saw Raziel standing there, motionless and head cocked to the side, staring at the diamond colored female dragon.

“W-w-w-what are you doing?!” stuttered Levonla, annoyed.
‘Oh!’ Raziel snapped out of it, shaking his golden scaled head, ‘Sorry, Levonla.’
If dragons could blush, Raziel certainly did something along the lines of that.

[|Nora|]

Nora gracefully smiled in the direction of Issie. Nora walked forward when the impending danger feeling completely ebbed away into nothing. Her tunic crinkling and flowing around the curves of her figure as Nora strode forth. The moon traced her skin, mingling with the hue of her skin, until it resembled a silvery lavender. Wisps of her hair, slithered against the breezes, birthed the moment she moved. The silken threads cavorted frivolously around her face. Strands framed the round, yet sharp slope of her cheek and the narrowing decline to her rounded point of a chin. Her almond eyes dilated with sheer excitement. Her black lashes curling up ward in the likeness of an ocean wave, slamming upon the shore and rebounding onto itself. Nora's only warning were the gusts of propelled wind and the pounding flap of large wings. She squeaked and pivoted on her heel to look upon the other dragon. A sense of fear gripped her and shackled her to the ground. She stiffened, seeing the male dragon and the rider descend to the ground, only for the rider to retaliate with a burst of awareness. The grassed crunched and hissed, similar to disturbed tensile on a Christmas tree as he charged forward. She quickly withdrew with a quickened pace as the man neared, obviously taller than she.

Nora stopped a few paces away from Issie and watched, dumbfound as the man yelled at Issie with a hint of agitation laced into his syllables. Nora huffed and overcame her state. She clenched her hands into tiny fists. She stormed forward, placing herself between Issie and the Man. "Hey! Pipe down! Who are you to come stumbling down from the sky like some drunk idiot and to yell at Issie?" Nora offered a chiding expression along with her scolding lyrics. Frustration clung to her as an annoying burr would from a bush, prickling you with the slightest movement. The man reminded her of a burr. Nora's arms swung up and crossed over her chest, with a rhythmic tap of her index finger upon her elbow. The metronome for her simmering irritation. " Apologize please." She said in a much nicer tone. The appearance of two dragons, both sparkling in their scaly splendor, hindered the full wrath of her sudden mood swing; however, she was sure once the man apologized she would be bustling with life about the magnificent beasts. The majestic fabric of her very dreams and the sole influence onto her good nature. She probably would have been nice anyway, but the dragons drew a certain elegant kindness from her being.

A smile twitched on her lip, and her eyes adverted to the golden lizard that belonged to the word of majestic, and significant being. The gold, glittering compared the to crystallization of Tie... she couldn't decide who was more dashing. Nora blinked twice. The two dragons reminded her of an eclipse. The sun and the moon meeting with dazzling beauty, able to strike awe into the most potent of minds. Nora snapped her eyes back to the man and her face degraded to the narrowed eyes, and obvious frown to his behavior. A brow quirked in wonder, as if prompting him to figure out his negligence for proper manners. Until then, she would remain planted to protect Issie.

[Ember]

Issie was relieved to see that the girl was relaxed enough around her to come forward and she watched curiously as she was a few meters away from Tie, who was now watching the two-legged-round-ear approach her. The diamond dragon slowly lowered her head so her large blue pupil was level with the girls head. The outside of the eye was pale and almost silver in shade but as the iris got closer to the black depth of the pupil it took on different shades of blue which was somewhat like the shades in a whirlpool, light flecs of blue on the outside with darker shades in the middle. Flashes of green were also visible when she blinked or moved towards the light of the moon. As the golden dragon approached however the pupil shrunk until it constricted to that of a tiny long tooth pick and the whole image of Tie disappeared. She wasn't to young to know that dragons were not all good. Some fought for the wrong man, the one whom had been responsible for the death of so many of her kinds. The calm, curious facade which had been there only seconds before dissolved into that of a protective and very strong beast who was unable to be controlled by anyone. Tie's wings opened slightly to shield both two-leggers; her rider Issie who had gripped the golden hilt of her diamond blade, purple gem flashing, and Nora the simplistic but comforting human whom Tie had decided was going to become a close friend and companion. She didn't need to ask Issie for conformation for she knew her rider well enough to know that she would not have drawn her blade to protect just anyone. The lake reflected and seemed to record the dramatic landing of the large golden beast. Tierar was smaller than the golden lizard but the little dragon was not about to be put off by such a fact. No. Instead she shuffled her scales and pulled her lips away from the rows of razor sharp teeth which hid inside her mouth. Her pink tongue flicked out, tasting the air while she hissed, hackled raising in a similar fashion to that of any wild animal who had met a stronger and possible threat. She did stop however when the elf tumbled from the Golden-one's back and her hissing stopped and her stooped protective stature straightened into one of elegance and pride. She would have never done that to her rider. Still, that odd feeling of seeing one of her race made her attention solely focus on the golden dragon and so she hadn't stopped the other two-legger-pointed-ears-bonded-with-golden-one from snapping at her rider. Though she did some what snarl at the being when he did.

Issie was equally dumbfounded at the man's sudden sharp demands and like her dragon became rather defensive. Her odd nearly colourless crystal blue eyes narrowed, her dark brown eyebrows knitting together to form an expression which looked stormy. Clouds seemed to gather in her usually clear eyes and she tightened her grip on her blade, glad Nora was behind her. About to retort back that he was not doing his race favours by not meeting one of his own with the proper customs, Nora stormed in front of her and let loose a whirlwind of abuse towards the other rider. Issie was torn by various emotions; pride, respect, worry and protectiveness. This girl had become defensive over her rather quickly and now Issie worried the rider would try and smite her down. If he did he would have a very angry dragon and rider on his hands.
"Maybe I was gone a long time but I thought the elves valued respect?" she folded her arms over her chest in a similar fashion to how Nora had entwined her own arms. "My name is Isellmarie, I worked with Arya to retrieve Saphira's egg and also went in search of her when she did not return," she replied coldly in answer to his questions. If he had been in Du Weldenvarden in the past 50 years he would know of Arya. Any elf with two years under their belt of life would know who Arya was. "This," she rested her hand on her dragon. "Is Tierar and this is Nora," she nodded to her new friend in the making but did not move her injured arm. The broken bones were causing her pain and she did not wish to further it unnecessarily.

Teirar was staring at the Golden-Scaled one as if he had two heads for the simple reason he was staring at her in a similar fashion. On one level she wished he would stop, he was making her feel as if she were a odd site and she mentally used Issie's vision to see if her scales were dirty or if she indeed looked odd. But no, her scales were clean and beautiful and she was of a perfect weight, size and strength for one of her age. Having removed that negative as the reason for his stare she realized he was some what drooling. Instead of giving him a hostile look she flicked her tail smugly. As it had been resting in the lake, the result of her flick was to splash the Golden-Scaled-One. She hummed in amusement.

[Darren]

After hearing Nora's angy tirade, Levonla bowed his head respectfully.

"My apologies, madam Nora. I did not mean to offend you or the Shuturgal."

"I also apologize to you, Isselmarie Svit-Kona. You are a legend in Ellesmera." spoke Levonla, "I am Levonla Elessar Tinuviel, mage of Du Vrangr Gata. I thought the Empire's riders had found the Varden, hence the rudeness. Once again I apologize."

'Oh!' came Raziel's cry as the dragon Tierar flicked water at him. He snorted, shaking his golden scaled head, droplets of water flying everywhere. He looked at her with amusement and flicked one of his claws across the shimmering, mirror-like surface of Lake Leona, splashing the beautiful Diamond-Scaled-One.

'Stop flirting with her!' exclaimed Levonla frustratedly, 'Can't you see I am having a very important conversation here?!'

'I cannot help it, Levonla. She's gorgeous.' replied Raziel.

Levonla glared at Raziel and turned around, for the first time noticing Isellmarie's broken arm.

"You are injured!" Levonla exclaimed, "Would you like me to heal it?"

[|Nora|]

Tendrils of disjoined bangs, slithered t her visage, blotting out specific areas of her sight. She swept the disobedient hair back behind her ear. Her emerald chasms softened when the virile elf re-checked himself. She moved out of the way then and drifted away from the Elves, running her feeble hand down the rows of scales on Tie's hide. " You are very beautiful..." She looked up at the enormity of just the mere female. Her eyes were cast toward the golden hellion. She departed from Tie, courageously confronting the more massive beast. He shimmered like a sun and she found herself struck by awe. An expected reaction when it came to her and dragons. She stopped within reach of the behemoth and raised a suddenly, very obviously small hand toward the rising build of muscle and scale. He could easily defeat her with out so much an effort as it took a human to squash an ant. She stood, awaiting a response from the dragon. Her expression consisting of a smile and wondrous eyes, staring up at the dragon with mental worship. Her hair fell around her face again, disturbed by her movements. Words from the duet, she left for their own privacy, drifted-with out meaning-to her audits. She cared not for their words unless it affected her personally.

Clothes rustled around her bodice when a prolonged zephyr brushed around her and stirred the lake into hundreds of ripples, some grew to waves which sloshed on their banks with a hunger. Sprays were slight when they sloshed at the bellies of foot high cliffs where the water pulled away the dirt. The erosion created a disheveled wall. Nora closed her eyes, keeping her hand extended whilst she admired the calming ambiance nature provided. The licking from the waves upon the shore. The invisible hands in the wind that caressed her cheek. Her hair billowing about, dancing with the unseen element with a beautiful display of twirling, braiding and flagging. Her delight soon met her eyes and long lashes pulled back half way so her malachite orbs could look, once more, onto the dragon she for which she patiently waited for a response.

[Ember]

Issie glanced to Nora as she moved away and towards her dragon who had just been soaked with water. An odd little smile tugged at the corners of her lips before her eyes cast back to the man in front of her who had said she was a legend in their home land. THAT she highly doubted. Her father, Jod, had made it very clear that if she left it would destroy her name and everything good she had done in her mothers’ memory. Her father wasn’t a cruel man but he lacked the skills which were needed to socialize and to empathize with a daughter distraught by the loss of her friend. It had been exactly the same when she was younger and had come home crying about something meal the others said. His reply had been a harsh sentence about how she should stick up for herself while his eyes were still on the book in front of him. A workaholic. That was her father. Issie found it highly unlikely he would let her be remembered because she had been – and quote – ‘Stupid enough to return to the place her mother couldn’t even escape from.’ That had been like a punch to the stomach. He might as well said she would never be as good as her mother. All these thoughts passed through her mind in a matter of seconds which had left the wind time to snatch up a thick white strand of hair and slash it across her high cheek bone. Lifting her slim pianist fingers she tucked the strand back behind her ear and fixed the man with her stare. He was a lot taller than her but she didn’t let that stop the tilt of her chin in a diffident manner and the way her hands slid to her ample hips.
“Well I’m glad I’ve passed your test Levonla because I believe your dragon will not be leaving mine alone that often,” her slim brown eyebrow raised as her oddly crystal-like blue eyes turned to her broken arm.
“A spellcaster snapped it in to many places for me to heal it... Unless you are very experienced in the art of healing I doubt you could do anything for it,” she sighed and then raised her eyes back to the dragons who were playing. Dragons were of course her weak spot. She found it hard to believe any rider could be evil when they had such a majestic beast as their companion, especially as they seemed to wise and so old as soon as they were born. She knew Ties knowledge could have come from the King talking to her in her egg though and that worried her. Tie on the other hand refused to believe anything of the sort. She had been young and had already hated the man from the start and she thought Thorn and the other dragon egg did as well.

Tie on the other hand was still shocked the Golden-Scaled-One had splashed her back. The dragon she had met before him had not been one of play, he had just sat and stared at her as if she were the weirdest thing he had ever seen. The water droplets clung to her scales and reflected in them her diamond scales. If she breathed on them they probably would turn into small diamond tear drops, such jewels humans craved to put in holes in their round-ears or in a metal band around their finger. Odd but she guessed they would like to feel pretty too. Tie crouched slightly and then shook herself from the tip of her snout to the tip of her tail, shaking the water droplets in all manner of directions though noticing the human approaching she moved her wing to shelter her from the smaller shower.
Inwardly the dragon was pleased she had come to her first and she hummed as the human ran her hand along her flank. Her diamond scales were surprisingly smooth and sleek, not bumpy or sharp like one could suspect. Of course if she shuffled her scales in a way which meant they pointed outwards, then yes they were razor sharp. But Tie had an odd feeling towards this girl. She had obvious respect for the dragon race and something deep within her called to Tie on some level. She wondered if the girl was destined to have a dragon of her own. She hoped so. Humans who understood the value of dragons and respected and loved them such as this one deserved to be soul-bound to one. Tie lowered her neck slightly and blinked once with her large vortex blue eyes in a way she hoped would show she would be the girl’s friend. Then the girl moved to the golden one and Tie’s whole form tensed. She still wasn’t sure about this dragon. She was slow to trust anyone, let alone another dragon and one bigger than her. She mentally held her breath when the girl waited for a response from the Golden-Scales one. A soft rumble started in the back of her throat, rather like a warning growl to show this human was under her protection. She was making it rather clear that if he made a bad move towards her she would attack.

[Darren]

'Greetings, Nora’ boomed Raziel, golden eyes sparkling in the moonlight as he tilted his head down to focus on Nora, 'My name is Raziel and my rider is Levonla, mage of the Varden. It is a pleasure to meet you.'

After saying those words to Nora, Raziel started to walk towards Tierar, his chest puffed up to make him look even bigger and stronger. Turning at an angle so that the beautiful golden light from his scales reflected, creating a beautiful nimbus of colours on the ground below Tierar's talons.

‘There is nothing to be afraid of, Diamond-Scaled-One.’

Levonla laughed quietly to himself but did not comment as he said to Isellmarie.

“A spellcaster?! Were you attacked on your journey to the Varden? I can take you to the many healers in the Varden, they could probably mend it.”

Driving the Brightsteel tip of Thieren into the sand, he spoke to Nora.

“Madam Nora, is it possible for you to go fetch some healers? Isellmarie is injured and needs medical attention immediately.”

Running quickly, Levonla grabbed the shaft of Thieren, flipping through the air and landing on Raziel’s back.

‘Was that necessary?’ questioned Raziel, loud enough so that Tierar could hear his thoughts, ‘I’m currently in the process of trying to impress the Diamond-Scaled-One.’

[|Nora|]

Nora stepped back and let the large, male dragon pass through in his petty attempts to impress the diamond like dragoness. Nora looked up at Tierar and winked one of her green eyes. Quickly with elegance, she pivoted on her right foot, whirling to meet the requesting lyrics of Levonla. Nora, surprised and silently, invisibly upset with herself for missing that Issie was hurt. With out another word, she turned again and ran for the tents. She spotted the watch, which she had snuck around just earlier, still standing in their vigil. "Hey! Get the spellcasters! A woman needs help, she's hurt." Nora skid to a halt in front of the guards, dust clinging to her brown leggings and her white tunic flowing. " and be quiet about it, the rest of the Varden does not need to know, but be sure to send a message to Nasuada, and be sure they keep it hush-hush as well." With the surprised look of the guards, she frowned and grabbed each a shoulder from both men and spun them around before shoving them toward the tents. "Get a move on!" at that the guards knew she wasn't joking (her frustrated look being a deal breaker). "Tell Nasuada this is very important and worth the audience." She called after them. Quickly as she had arrived, she turned back to sprint back to Issie, to make sure that the other dragon rider wasn't trying anything funny. When she got back everything seemed well.

Nora, stopped by Issie, not a breath lost in her hurried little quest for help. Nora put an arm around Issie's waist, suggesting that she use her for support. Her green eyes flickered to the man disapprovingly. " Oh sure, offer help but then don't help." She said sarcastically. "How are they training the men these days." she whispered to Issie with a light laugh in her joke. She smiled at Issie and Tierar. " I'll take good care of you two, just watch, I promise and I never break my word. Ever." She sighed. "Alright Missy, lets move."

[Ember]

Tierar found the Golden Scaled Dragon highly amusing especially when he kicked up a fuss when his rider flipped onto his back in a fancy little move Tie had a feeling was overly done. Instead she pretended not to know what the Golden-Scaled being meant and turned her attention to her rider who was staring after Nora in some amount of shock. The young girl had bolted off the moment the other elven rider had mentioned Issie's wound. Issie glanced down at her arm which had gone numb with the pain and blissfully allowed her to ignore the fact it was twisted at an odd angle. She had been about to tell the young girl not to bother but she had left before she could say a word. Instead she turned her gaze back to the rider of the Golden dragon, smiling slightly at the dragons words. She inclined her head politely.
"Thank you Levonla, Raziel," she smiled to the golden dragon Tierar was now looking over with some curiosity. "Yes I was attacked on my journey here but they are all dead now thankfully... They didn't have a dragon with them or I'm afraid we might not be so unscathed," she frowned and looked back on hearing Nora approaching, the corners of her lips twitching up into a smile on seeing the girl that both her and her dragon felt a strong connection too. It was like she was going to be related soon. She was going to be apart of their life.
Maybe she will be blessed with an egg. Tiera remarked at her riders thoughts and shuffled her wings. Issie paused on the thought and then tilted her head slightly to the side.
Yes, that would make sense, Issie mused and then turned her attention back to the girl who took her arm in her smaller one then began to lead her towards the camp. Her bow lips twisted up in amusement at her words.
"Not very well I must admit Nora. We must have words with whoever has been training these men," she shook her head as her dark brown and white hair fluttered around her shoulders. "We'll look after you too Nora," Issie's voice softened after the young child's promise. She had every belief Nora would watch out for her and Tierar.
"Eka yawe varda ono pömnuria Ren, Vel eïnradhin iet ai Shur'tugal," she murmured very softly. The ancient language oath seemed to make the air heat around them. She had promised simply to protect and watch over her. On her word and honour as a rider. Tierar blew a cloud of smoke around the young girl as she repeated the words her rider had murmured changing the word from rider to dragon.

Issie followed Nora towards the camp then glanced back at Tie as the diamond dragon unfolded her wings and beat them twice leaping into the air after a glance towards the golden dragon.
I'll race you, she hummed and then glided over the lake, diamond scales reflecting the water and the sky.