Slayer x Pyre 1x1

[pyreshadow]

Livia Hayes, Tahra Casey, and Kaito Iwasa​

It wasn't even a few seconds that they had arrived in the kitchen before the problem was laid out in front of them. There was a high chance that Sophie's family had been captured and an even higher chance that the hunters knew of this place. It didn't seem like either Mai or Livia wanted to be around when the hunters came, and for good reason too. It wasn't just any group that would be sent to infiltrate this place, that was something that they needed to understand. As much as Livia felt some sort of remorse for having to tell Sophie this news, the girl was acting like the whole world was going to end. There were more important things that needed to be worried about and that was what was in front of their faces right now. Not the possibility of something else that they weren't even sure about. The former hunter crossed her arms over her chest and thought about her words carefully.

"We should be fully prepared for an attack." Livia finally spoke after a moment, eyeing Sophie only once before she focused more on Kaito since she figured the air dragon would be useless during this whole ordeal. "The ones that will be coming are not like the rest of them. They aren't stupid enough to send those with less experience. What they would do is send in the Black Brigade, an elite group of hunters that have had years of experience and many dragons under their belt. They're some of the strongest, toughest hunters in the organization and they aren't to be trifled with. Individually they're fierce but as a group, they take down dragons left and right as though they were just a teddy bear. They need to be avoided at all costs." Kaito didn't seem to like hearing the news at all as his brows furrowed and he glanced to the side, deep in thought. Maria needed to focus on the evacuation but...if what Mai and Livia were saying was really correct, they could really be in for a world of hurt. Sooner rather than later too.

"Livia." The former hunter stood a bit straighter hearing her name so suddenly. "You're willing to fight against your own?" Kaito brought his gaze back to her after a moment, a serious look on his face.

"They are no longer my own. I want answers and to do that, I need to make my way to the top of the ladder at some point. Some of them might have information about my father, so yes. I'll be fighting them." There was no hesitance in her voice and the determined expression showed how serious she was about that answer.

"Hmm. All right, come with me. Sophie, Mai." Kaito looked to each of them when he spoke their names before focusing more on Sophie. He reached out to rest his hand on her shoulder and bent slightly to look her in the eye, all to make sure she was paying attention. "I need you two to go somewhere safer. Stay with your mother for now. Livia and I will go man the area around the front of the cliffs to keep a look out. I'll let you know if and when anything happens so you can let your mother know." Which meant if anything did happen, it'd be up to him and Livia to stop it to give Maria and her dragons enough time to escape. "I need you to focus though, Sophie. Try not to think about what could happen and just focus on what you can do here and now. Please."

 

[StarryKnights]

Niko Medina and Sophie Stolts​

Mai watched the conversation unfold passively, she was all for not being present during the fighting. She would only get in the way, as she had before when Sahara had been hurt. It seemed Livia and Kaito were going to be handling it though, while she and Sophie stayed back. There was a good chance they'd wind up evacuating with the rest of the dragons, a option Mai preferred to being around when shit hit the fan. Sophie however...
The air dragon shook her head as Kaito looked her n the eyes. "I-I...I can't...I won't..." She couldn't just hide, and let Kaito, Niko and Tahra fight her battles. She couldn't even thin about leaving if there was a small chance that either her father or brother would be coming back alive. Sophie stared into Kaito's eyes, though there was fear there, there was also determination. "...I'm- I'm not going to hide from this...i-if the hunters come I...want to help..." her eyes fell to the floor, as her words were hollow.
What help was a dragon who couldn't fight? She was about as helpful as a newborn hatchling... Even so, Sophie wouldn't be able to sleep at night knowing sh left all of this to the others. This was her home, there had to be something she could do. More than run and hide...

Mai blinked. "...If you not combat orientated, your presence will only be detrimental" Sophie looked up at the teen, who stared back at her with her trademark distant eyes. "You'll feel even worse if someone is injured because they had to protect you" Mai said simply, thinking back on what had happened to Sahara. Sophie blinked, and shook her head. She couldn't just leave, even knowing what Mai said was true. Mai cocked her head to the side, she didn't understand why Sophie wasn't looking at this from a logical perspective. It seemed Livia and Kaito were, but not the air dragon. "...Non combatants are always the first to move out of a war zone...this is no different". Mai continued. "Our presence would be nothing more than a distraction, not to mention if the advance group were to find us, we'd be captured..or killed".
They'd probably capture Mai, just to have her undo the security locks she'd put in the system. Sophie on the other hand...it was a 50/50 chance whether or not they were after live samples. A dead dragon was almost as good as a live one, especially all the issues the organization was having with keeping live samples.

Sophie just shook her head. "...There has to be something I can do..." She said softly, looking from Mai, to Kaito and then back to Mai. It was plain to see part of her desire to stay was Kaito, though Sophie didn't want to admit that out loud. Mai blinked. "...If your desire is to protect your partner, then you should leave. You'd be a distraction if you were to stay". Mai looked to Livia, and then back to the dragon couple. "...There is no place for people like us in this battle Sophie". The air dragon felt tears brimming in the corners of her eyes, but she didn't want to cry. She didn't want to admit that this kid had upset her enough to cry... She certainly didn't want to admit she was right... Sophie took a step back, toward the door. "...I..." Mai cocked her head to the side and watched as the air dragon took another step back before turning and running out of the room.
"...Such a child" Mai said plainly before looking to Livia and Kaito.

 

[pyreshadow]

Livia Hayes, Tahra Casey, and Kaito Iwasa​

Everything that Mai was saying was completely true; if Sophie really stayed, she'd only get in the way and would prove to be a great distraction. Kaito would constantly worry about whether she was all right or not and he wouldn't be able to focus as much as he wanted to. He just knew it'd turn out that way. Yet despite this cold, hard truth that Mai was spitting out it didn't seem the air dragon wanted to hear any of it. She kept saying she wanted to help but there wasn't anything she could do but get in the way. Sophie didn't know how to fight or use her powers in a way that could heal them. So what good would she be? Kaito didn't normally care about that sort of thing but if there really was going to be a battle, Sophie needed to stay out of it. Right as he was going to put in his own two cents, a curse left his lips instead when Sophie just ran out because she couldn't take it.

"Jeez, it's sad to hear that coming from a kid." Livia pinched the bridge of her nose as Sophie's attitude was really starting to grate on her nerves. The air dragon was being selfish, childish, and stubborn; all of which were never good to be at the same time. Kaito had seemed like he wanted to run after her but for whatever reason, he didn't. "She needs time, you know. She isn't useless by any means but it seems like she hasn't figured out what she's good at. Attempting to be helpful is just going to put her in our way when it comes to the fight. Better hope that she grows up in the next few minutes and heeds your advice to fall back to her mother." Even as Livia added this, she pulled out her gun and checked the ammo cartridge. A loud roar that reverberated around them caused her to look around with a bit of worry but it was waved off by Kaito's hand.

"That was Tahra's roar. She was calling to us to let us know she found something. Come on." There was no way that Sophie didn't hear that so they'd all meet in the same place anyway. After Sophie was shown whatever it was that they found, maybe then she'd finally listen and head off with her mother. A similar roar sounded again, hinting that it was an urgent matter that needed to be discussed so Kaito moved to get the door. "Quickly now. It sounds urgent, so we'll just drop you off with Maria after this Mai. It'll be best if you stay with us for the time being until Sophie realizes that she needs to leave with her parents. Let's go."

 

[StarryKnights]

Niko Medina and Sophie Stolts​

Mai blinked, it seemed she had upset the air dragon, but it didn't seem anyone else particularly cared. Mai was right after all, and ideally, Sophie would come to see that. The roar that sounded made the scientist jump, though Kaito was quick to point out that it was only Tahra. She figured he could tell because they were both dragons, it just sounded like an angry roar to Mai. Mai followed Kaito and Livia, she wondered what was so important... Perhaps they had actually found Sophie's family alive. It was a long shot, but a possibility, the scientist supposed. That would be better for Sophie, who clearly was not handling any of this very well. Livia was right, she was being stubborn, childish and selfish. Least she was being two of those things... Mai wasn't sure how selfish it was to want to be of use, the issue was Sophie wasn't useful.

Sophie came to a stop in front of the room that she'd shared with Kaito the night before. Slipping inside, she slammed the door, locking it behind her. She wiped at the tears running down her cheeks, but that didn't stop them from flowing. She sank to the floor, silently sobbing. She didn't understand why... Clasping her hands together, Sophie took a shaky breath. Why did she have to be so useless...? Even her boyfriend thought so... Well...the man she liked thought so, things had been so crazy, it still didn't feel...real. Sophie was half expecting there to be a knock at the door, but no such knock came. Sophie was alone...no one had chased her down.

Nothing felt real right then, she felt like she was in a terrible nightmare, one that showed no signs of ending. Her family was in tatters, her home under threat, and her friends... Sophie hiccuped and pulled her knees up to her chest. Her friends didn't want her around, to distract them. That's all she was... a distraction. An accident waiting to happen.
Sophie sniffled. "...I just...want a chance to be more than...a distraction..." she sighed and ran a hand through her hair. There was no one around, so she was just talking to herself... She perked up when she heard the roar, that was Tahra. She and Niko were back... She felt the building shake as something landed on top of it. "Get it together Sophie..." she said with a sigh as she stood. She had to see what Niko and Tahra had found. After that... She supposed it didn't matter, after that she was expected to run, and leave whatever else may come to the others...

Sophie didn't have the energy to fight that anymore... It was easier to just do as she was told. That was something her father had instilled in her... he didn't know why she'd argued...Kaito and Livia and Mai were right... One would think she would be used to be old what was best for her by now. She wiped the tears off her face, stood and unlocked the door. "...Alright...here we go..." she said softly as she headed up to the roof.
Niko stretched out his wings and let out a roar, just to make sure the others knew they were there. Though the odds of them not knowing were slim to none, given how loud Tahra was. Then again.. He looked to his back, nestled between two of his spines was a young boy, around age twelve. His brown hair was a disheveled mess, and his clothes were ripped and stained. His formerly white shirt hung in tatters over his skinny frame, which was marred with varying injuries still healing. Most pounces was the dried stream of blood running down his chin, to his neck and chest. Niko shuddered, thinking of what he and Tahra had uncovered... This was Sophie's brother, somehow, he'd survived his capture by the hunters... The poor kid had lost a lot though...mainly...his tongue...

Niko shifted to his human form, never mind the fact he was naked now. He'd stashed a pair of clothes on the roof before leaving, laying out the unconscious child, he grabbed them. He winked at Tahra as he got dressed, he figured since he'd seen her practically naked, it was only fair she got an equally fun show. "That was a...surprising amount of work" Niko said with a sigh as he pulled on his pants. They had a lot to share with the others...however, the kid needed medical attention. Kaito could handle that or any of the air dragons really. Speaking of air dragons... "Sophie" Niko turned around, grinning, as the air dragon's scent hit his nose. Sophie had beat the others to the roof, and approached the pair. "...H-hello Niko" Sophie said with a meek wave. Niko blinked. "Hey...we uh, found you" "MICAH!" Sophie dashed around Niko and Tahra, and dropped to her knees beside the child. "Oh my god, Micah!" She paled at the sight her brother was in, but he was alive..somehow.

Niko sighed and scratched the back of his neck. "Yeah...he's in rough shape, nothing Kaito can't fix though...". As the air dragon checked her brother over, Niko realized that Sophie was by herself. . "Where's Kaito...and the others?" Sophie paled at the mention of the water dragon. "...their coming I'm sure..." she said quickly. Niko arched an eyebrow, looked to Tahra, and then back at Sophie. "...Did something happen...?" Sophie squirmed under Niko's gaze. "No...nothing happened...". Whelp, that was a lie, and Niko knew it. "...You look like you've been crying kid".

Sophie shook her head. "It's...its nothing Niko" Sophie replied with a sigh. The fire dragon narrowed his eyes. "What happened kid?". Sophie just shook her head, hooking her arms under Micah's back and legs, she stood, carefully carrying the young boy. "...Kaito and the others want me to evacuate...s-so...I'm going to take Micah to Mom...and go". She looked to the fire dragon. "...We can meet back up after...everything blows over". Niko scoffed. "Well that's a shitty idea...least the half about you leaving is...Micah going I get but...Sophie" Niko gestured to the area around them. "...This is your home, you can't tell me you don't want to fight for it...". Sophie chuckled softly. "...Its not as if I can..." she sighed. "...I'd just get in the way...given I'm a just another non combatant... There isn't one useful thing I can do in a fight...I'd just..." Sophie took a shaky breath and forced herself not to cry. "...Be distracting...so I'll go...you guys can handle it...your strong...and capable". She smiled. "Your not useless like me".

Niko growled. "And who told you that?". Sophie lowered her gaze. "...that doesn't matter...now if you'll excuse me..." the air dragon headed for the door, with Micah held safely in her arms.

 

[pyreshadow]

Livia Hayes, Tahra Casey, and Kaito Iwasa​

After letting out the roars to let the others know they were here, Tahra landed gracefully on the balcony and shook out her wings some. The morning had been long and rather exhausting but in the end it was worth it. They uncovered Sophie's brother at the very least but he was in bad shape. She knew that his wounds could be healed sure, but there was nothing that could be done for the emotional scars. He was nothing more than a kid. Slowly she returned to her human form and a heavy sigh left her lips. "You could say that again." They were both in agreement about what had happened but it wasn't completely bad. The boy was eyed again as she slipped on a cami and some jeans. She was about to suggest trying to find the others but it seemed Sophie had heard the call at the very least. The air dragon came running when she noticed her brother. "Your brother will be fine in no time, Sophie. At least...physically." There was some hesitance in Tahra's voice as she recalled her own short experience with the hunters. They were ruthless in and out, not even sparing a child. When Niko mentioned that Sophie looked like she had been crying, Tahra stepped closer with a questioning look.

"Sophie." The redhead wanted to ask what was wrong also but she wasn't exactly close to Sophie, so there wasn't much point in it. So she just let Niko handle it and stayed to the side for a bit. It wasn't until Sophie called herself stupid that Tahra rose a brow. Where did that come from? Niko asked the question she wanted to but Sophie didn't seem to want to answer it. "Hey, Sophie." Tahra called out after the air dragon. "Just because you can't fight like we can doesn't make you useless. Everyone has things they're good at, even you do. If you want to stay and fight, you should. You don't have to be physically strong to be useful and you don't have to know how to fight. You should just do whatever your heart tells you, not what other people think." Once Tahra said her piece, she glanced over to Niko for a moment. The whole 'non-combatant' bit was reason enough to know Kaito didn't say that. So was it Livia who did...or Mai? Either way, that wasn't cool that they did since the whole point was for them all to stick together. "If it's worth anything, I like having ya around." She added after a moment, right before noticing that Kaito, Livia, and Mai were all heading towards them now.

"Sophie." Kaito called out the air dragon's name with some concern in his voice, having not expected to see her up here already. He should have expected it but he didn't. As his mouth opened to say something else, another roar rung out in the air. One that was far more aggressive and angry than Tahra's had been. Kaito looked past Tahra and Kaito with his brows furrowed and noticed a rush of dark green shooting up with a strong push of wings. Another wyvern, almost as large as Niko but not quite, twisted in the air and spread its wings out as far as they could go. All of a sudden shots were being fired at them as the dragon went a bit higher; on the dragon's back as well as a makeshift carrier of sorts in the dragon's claws were at least a dozen hunters. They were decked out in a black and silver uniform, and their aim was spot on. Tahra was grazed easily by some bullets but just barely managed to get out of the way from getting hit hard. Kaito quickly went to push Mai back more towards the door and Livia pulled out her guns to start returning fire.

"Fucking hell, I knew this was going to happen. It's the Black Brigade, one of the elite groups of hunters. Be wary because they aren't like the rest of us." Livia shouted above the gunfire so that the others could hear them. The hunters were on the balcony now, positioning themselves in such a way to keep safe behind the large wyvern that looked far too familiar for Tahra's liking. The redhead felt frozen in place, she couldn't even move an inch from where she was. It couldn't be...her brother had died, he was killed in front of her before she had to run from the hunters. There was no way...but this dragon looked so much like Ezra did. How was that possible?

"Sophie!" Kaito quickly moved towards her and her brother, looking them both over. "Sophie, are you all right? Your brother...he needs tending to but....I can't here. You have to take him to your mother to get looked at right away. We can defend your home, I promise. Get somewhere safe for now."

 

[StarryKnights]

Niko Medina, Sophie Stolts and Sahara Cephres ​

Sophie paused as Tahra called out to her, the air dragon was confused as to why the earth dragon was being so nice to her... She shook her head. It didn't matter, she knew her place...and it wasn't here. She didn't want Kaito and the others to be angry with her...and Micah needed treatment... The boy was limp in her arms, a shadow of his usually spunky and energetic self. It broke the older dragon's heart... She sniffled and continued walking, but paused again as Kaito's voice hit her ears, it seemed he and the others had also heard Tahra and Niko's call. She paled at the sight of Mai and Livia behind him and directed her eyes downward. "I'm going..." she said softly, more to herself than anyone. There was no reason for her to be here...
Sophie's blood froze at the unfamiliar, and angry war. Gunshots filled the air, she felt a couple shots graze her arms, one got her leg, causing the air dragon to drop to her knees. Looking over her shoulder, Sophie's eyes went wide in horror.

A dragon...carrying hunters... They were... "No...no no no!" Sophie screamed and covered Micah's body with her own as more shots rang out. The majority of these were deflected by a wave of condensed air, Sophie's breaths started coming faster and faster, she saw Mai get shoved inside as Kaito made his way over to her. No, no no no, not here... Not now, not with all of them so close... Sophie grit her teeth and curled in on herself as she tried to hold back the turbulent energies swirling around inside her.
Niko wrapped Tahra in a protective grip, and cried out as some of the bullets hit him in the back. He glared at the larger, green dragon which was currently on the balcony above the building they were on top of. A dragon...? he could hardly believe what he was seeing...a dragon was helping the hunters. "The HELL are you doing man!" he screamed at the dragon. The fight was here, there was no escaping it. Niko shook Tahra. "Hey, Tahra, come on, we gotta fight..." he looked the red head in the eyes, but she seemed to be out of it. "Tahra...come on? Stay focused...".

Sophie peeked up as she heard Kaito's voice above her. "K-Kaito I-I..." The water dragon would notice that her eyes were glowing a golden color, and the air around Sophie was very dense. "I...I can't...I can't..." she lifted Micah up. "T-Take him...please...". Sophie was scared, she didn't know what would happen if she started channeling...but it tended to come out when she was in danger, and nothing could be more dangerous than this situation. Sophie bristled as another roar filled the air, this one was achingly familiar. "Mom!?" Sophie whipped around, and watched as a large, white serpent dragon with leathery wings shot up and past the building. Ling whiskers flared out like ribbons as the dragon opened its mouth and sent a concentrated blast of air flying at the hunters, and their pet dragon. "Mom..." Relief flooded her system...she hadn't left yet. She could take Micah... Sophie caught glimpses of a smaller dragon clinging to the spines on her mother's back. "Marnie...". Sophie shook her head. Her family was here and in danger, and there wasn't a thing she could do about it...

Sahara didn't like this...the air was filled with angry roars and the sounds of gunfire... She, and a small unit of hunters, snuck through the building, adjacent to the one where their marks had been seen. The Black Brigade had been dispatched, along with the pet dragon Sahara hadn't known about until she'd been assigned to this mission. Her job, was back up...she and this small unit were to act as back up...and down any dragons in the area. The lead gunman had a large, bazooka looking weapon, armed with a missile meant to...eat through a dragon's wing membrane. From her position by the window, Sahara could see her former comrades, as well as the Black Brigade. Her leader gave the order and the gunman took aim at a large white dragon she hadn't see before. She could just make out two figures that looked like Livia and Mai... Sahara grit her teeth... This was all fucking wrong...

Sophie staggered to her feet, and looked to Kaito. "T-there's no avoiding the fight now...Kaito... I" A loud blast filled the air, Sophie flinched, squeezing her eyes shut, she didn't open them again until she heard a loud, shrill of a roar. The air dragon went ghost white, turning around, she saw her mother, half falling, half gliding, one of her wings was on fire... Sophie's eyes went wide, whipping around she saw the flash of gunfire as a squad of hunters, positioned in the building beside them, opened fired. "MOM! MARNIE!" The air dragon screamed, her cries were deafening as they were amplified. "NO!"

 

[pyreshadow]

Livia Hayes, Tahra Casey, and Kaito Iwasa​

The larger wyvern all but ignored Niko's yelling, only focusing on keeping the hunters covered from any sort of attack that might come their way. Tahra stared past Niko, her eyes locked on to the dragon. Shocked couldn't even begin to say how she felt because she knew without any doubts in her mind that this was Ezra. The same scar along the right leg was on Ezra's human form as well, and the eyes...just about everything screamed her brother. But why was he with the hunters? Suddenly she heard Niko's voice sounding so loud compared to the gunfire that it caused her to jolt in his direction. Her eyes locked with his and it took everything in her power to focus on what he had just said. "No." Niko wanted to fight but there was no way she could fight her brother. "I can't, Niko...that dragon, it's...it's my brother." Tahra said quickly as she forced herself to her feet and out of Niko's warm hold. "Ezra!" Tahra shouted, almost immediately gaining the wyvern's attention as it snapped its head in her direction. So too did one hunter in particular, and it happened to be the very hunter that tortured her. Nicholas. "Ezra, how...I-I saw the hunters kill you, how are you-"

"The beast can't hear you, Aria." Nicholas aimed his gun at Tahra but stayed behind the other wyvern's protective wing. "He works for us and has for a long time now. Isn't that right, Ezra?" The wyvern roared angrily again as a response, thrusting his wings downward to throw up wind around them. Tahra blocked the dust with her eyes but otherwise didn't budge as she put her gaze back onto her brother.

"This isn't right. Ezra, what did they do to you?" Tahra waited for a moment to see if her brother would respond but there was nothing. "Why won't you answer me? Ezra!" Another roar, this time more sounding out of annoyance than anything before his tail whipped out and slammed hard into Tahra. Her human form flew hard into the rocky wall near by, the rocks cracking under the impact and a cry of pain escaping the redhead's lips. Before Tahra even had time to think about what to do next, vines and thorns shot up from the rocky terrain and wrapped around her body tightly. Her hands were bound as far as they could go away from her while her feet were bound together. On top of that, some vines snaked around her throat and began to tighten its grip. "E-Ezra...stop it." Tahra tried pleading with him again, feeling way too lightheaded for comfort. She knew she couldn't go though, not without trying to get her brother to answer her. The more the vines tightened, the more she was beginning to panic slightly. Her eyes began to glow, as did marks that began to appear along her body. The ground all around them shook violently but whether it was from this attack or something else she wasn't sure. Not that she was really paying much attention to begin with. Seeing as the redhead didn't listen, Nicholas and a few of the other hunters turned their attention to Niko and began to open fire against him since Tahra was being taken care of.

Kaito didn't understand why Sophie was making this so difficult; how hard was it to pick up the boy again and follow after Mai? It should have been easy but Sophie was being stubborn. "Yes you can. You need to get him to safety and-" His voice stopped when he heard another roar, turning in time to see what had to be Maria coming to try to get to the hunters. The large wyvern protecting them seemed to be preoccupied with Tahra and the hunters were focused on Niko now. Or at least it seemed that way until a sudden blast from another alcove shot through the air and hit Maria. Kaito was quick to jump to his feet, about ready to shift and run after those hunters himself. They just...they just killed Sophie's family. There was no way between that blast and the gunfire that either of them survived the fall. The sudden shaking of the earth around them and the heavy air kept him from just running off like he wanted. Instead, he moved over to wrap his arms around Sophie. "We need to leave, Sophie. Now." Kaito spoke in a calm but tender tone as he tried to get the air dragon's attention. There were far too many hunters even if they were to shift into their dragon form. Even fighting against that other dragon would be an issue.

"Sophie, please listen to me. We have to get out of here." Preferably before the whole place fell to the ground, as the shaking was starting to become worse. What Kaito didn't notice was that it was coming from Tahra; the way the marks continued to glow and the more she was losing consciousness, the more powerful her control over the earth was becoming. She had no idea what she was doing though. Livia though, was keeping a firm stance against the hunters as well. She had already downed three of them and a part of her wanted to see if she could rush forward to get those guns or not. She resisted since it'd probably be a suicide mission but it was still tempting. All she could do right now was back up the dragons and hope this wouldn't be their grave.

 

[StarryKnights]

Niko Medina, Sophie Stolts and Sahara Ceprhes​

'What!?" Niko gave Tahra bewildered look. Tahra had said her brother was dead, so how... He cast a hateful glare toward the hunters. "Bastards" he hissed lowly. He was itching to shift and attack the dragon, it was protecting the hunters and... Niko winced as a ear shattering roar filled the air, whipping around, he caught a glimpse of a white dragon, tumbling out of the sky with a flaming wing. "Oh god...Sophie...". His blood ran cold, but then there was the all too familiar scream. Sophie was on her knees by the edge, holding her unconscious brother. So that meant... "Oh god...". Maria, that other dragon had been Maria. Niko narrowed his eyes and whirled on the hunters shooting at him, his eyes went wide as the wyvern's tail came flying at the two of them. Instinct took over and Niko hit the dirt, rolling to the side he bounced back up on his feet. "TAHRA!" He cried out as the other dragon was thrown against the mountain and pinned there. The ground began to shake, and he could see strange marking appearing on Tahra. As he moved to go help her, he cried out, as a bullet hit his shoulder. A growl crossed his lips as he glared at the group of hunters shooting at him. Another bullet grazed his cheek as he spoke. "Your dead, all of you" he growled lowly as he dropped to all fours. The air became super heated as Niko shifted, rising up he let out an ear splitting roar before launching himself upward, once over the wyvern and the hunters, Niko opened his mouth, there was a split second as the dragon inhaled deeply before releasing a bright red column of super heated fire, Niko was so angry he didn't care about the pinging of bullets off his scales, or the ones that managed to hit some soft tissue. He was going to tear these bastards apart.

Sahara covered her ears as the dragon cried out in agony, it dropped past her window, Sahara caught a glimpse of what looked to be a smaller dragon clinging to its back as it fell. A shrill cry, much higher than the other hit her ears, and Sahara knew that they'd just killed a kid. She shook. A child...they'd killed... "RELOAD!". Sahara's blood ran cold as she heard her commander give the order. There was another dragon in the air, attacking the brigade...She grit her teeth. "Fuck this!" She screamed and turned on her fellow man, one got a bullet through the brain before he knew what was happening. "CEPRES!" Her commander roared angrily as Sahara took aim and shot at him, she narrowly missed the man before she dived behind a pillar for cover. Her team turned on her, and slowly began to surround her hiding place. Taking a chance, Sahara bolted, she felt the bullets graze her shoulder and legs as she darted for the stairs. She couldn't do this... This was...fucking slaughter.
Darting down the stairs, Sahara made it outside, and book it up the stirs leading to the temple the others were in. She thought she'd seen Livia up here, she was going to use some back up... For now, Sahara needed to focus on getting to them alive, as she heard the sounds of pursuers behind her.

Sophie barely heard Kaito talking to her, her mind felt like it was in a fog. She watched, wide eyed, as her mother fell, one of her wings was burning, her cries echoed through the younger dragon's ears. She caught a glimpse of the smaller, limp body she knew to be Marnie falling as well. T-they were gone...just like that. Sophie was shaking, she flinched as she felt an arm wrap around her shoulders, whipped around, she stared at Kaito. Her eyes were glowing gold, and golden, intricate markings were appearing on her face and arms. "T-ta-take Mi-Micah...r-run...please...". She pleaded softly, as she half handed, half shoved Micah into Kaito's arms. She knew what was happening, she was too far gone to stop it now. Sophie staggered to her feet, she was starting to feel light headed, and her body felt like a broken puppet on strings. "P-please...I don't want to hurt you". She said looking to Kaito as she started to back away. No, she didn't want to hurt Kaito...or Livia or Mai... Not Niko...or Tahra... Sophie grit her teeth and held her head in her hands. She wanted to hurt someone though. The people who had attacked her home, kidnapped her family..killed her father... Killed her mother...right in front of her eyes. She wanted revenge...she wanted blood. Sophie's vision was starting to get hazy, as she was loosing herself to the angry, sad, destructive energy that she held a connection to. Air dragons were emotional beings, and held grudges. Being connected to her ancestors, Sophie's channeling allowed her to tap into their strength...but this also meant she felt their rage, their pain, and combined with her own...

Sophie faltered as she reached the edge, she could feel herself teetering on the literal edge of the cliff, and the edge of a vast, angry energy pool. The wind picked u around her, kicking up a storm of dust and dirt. The markings covered her arms and legs, ran under her clothes, up her neck and over her face. She cast one last looked to Kaito and Micah. "...I'm sorry..." she mouthed the words, as her voice didn't want to come out. Then, she took step back, and fell over the edge. Sophie closed her eyes as she fell, her last fading thoughts were of her friends... She hoped she didn't harm any of them.

Sahara dashed up the stairs, dodging gun fire from the three men chasing her. Reaching the temple, she hid inside, and laid in wait. Her three pursuers stalked in behind her, wary of an attack. Though these men weren't apart of the black brigade, Sahara knew she had to be wary. They would have no troubles killing her, especially now that she'd turned. Man, she was glad she hadn't been put in Nicholas's squad, she'd be dead if she had been...
Taking a deep breath, Sahara prepared herself to confront her attackers... When a ear shattering roar made her drop to the ground, covering her ears.
A light blue dragon, covered in subtle scales with white fur running down the spine, shot into the air, with a loud and angry roar. Its large, feathered wings flared out as it hovered in front of the building Sahra's squad had been in. Mai watched, wide eyes, from her hiding spot.

Letting out an angry roar, the dragon lashed out with its tail, caving in a portion of the building and exposing the hunters who were scrambling for cover. They opened fire on the serpent, but it hardly seemed to notice as it hooked its front claws onto the side of the mountain. It hissed lowly before lasing out, biting at the hunters, it caught two in its teeth, screams of agony were silenced with a single bite before the bodies were spit out, and fell into the chasm. The dragon's body was lined with intricate gold rune like script, and its eyes were glowing bright gold. The winds lashed the area around it, stripping the surround buildings of rock and derbies. Even though she was inside, Mai could feel the vortex of winds pulling on her. Niko was forced to land, gripping the roof of the temple he roared, clearly annoyed. This dragon was getting in the way.. Only after a second did he realize. "Sophie!?
The fire dragon watched as the dragon tore into the hunters, literally, with its teeth, before flinging the flayed bodies to the depths.

After gathering her bearings, Sahara went on the offensive. She took aim and fired as she abandoned her hiding spot, shooting her pursuers, who were still recovering. She then bolted up the stairs and to the roof, she could see Mai, clinging to the doorway, and a large dragon laying waste to the men in the building across the gap. She also aw Livia, holding her own in a sea of bullets. There was no time for a happy reunion, Sahara dashed across the room, out the door and joined the fray. "Hey, mind if I cut in!? She called to Livia. Using the distraction of the blue dragon, she was able to get close to her former partner. Taking a shot, she downed a man who had regained focus and was aiming at them. Sahara sighed and rolled her left shoulder, which was feeling stiff. She was still getting used to the robotic implant they'd given her... She supposed it was going to get a through work out now though.

 

[pyreshadow]

Livia Hayes, Tahra Casey, and Kaito Iwasa​

Everything that was happening now, with Niko turning into a dragon and letting an attack out of his own, Sophie losing her family, the hunter's attack; nothing registered with Tahra any longer. The marks along her body grew more intense and darker in color, into a brown that varied shades, and far more intricate. Her eyes were a bright, almost neon green color but her vision was so blurred she couldn't see anything even if she wanted to focus. Not just because she could feel the vines around her neck tighten, more restricting that it made it harder to breath every passing second. The more that happened though, the more the earth shook beneath them. Part of the mountainside was so affected that cracks began to form deeply along the side. On top of that, her brother was losing control over the binds against her. How could this happen? She knew without any doubts she saw them kill her brother before she ran. So how was he alive and why was he helping the hunters? Why? It was the only thought in her conscious mind but her subconscious was already thinking of something else. "Ezra..." His name came out as barely a whisper before her eyes rolled closed and she succumbed to passing out. Only the moment that she did, a sharp, high-pitched scream left her lips moments before the vines and thorns exploded from around her. It stayed hovering in a circle, like a trance in a way before it whirled back close to Tahra's body like a protective cocoon.

"Sophie." Kaito was close to arguing with her, this time more firmly, about taking her brother and just leaving. It was really starting to become irritating how she was behaving honestly but in a way he could understand why. Maria's story played in his mind and he had a feeling about what was going to be happening next. The young dragon was just trying to look out for him and protect her brother from having a similar fate as her other brother. He watched her until she got to the cliff side and the moment she mouthed her apology, he turned away. The least he could do was get Micah out of there, for her sake. Picking the unconscious dragon up with ease, he bolted for the one person he knew would protect the boy right now far more than he could.

Livia stood her ground where they were on the roof, her goal of protecting Mai being the highest priority. She was using one of the pillars of the structure as a hiding spot and taking out one hunter after the other. Blood trickled down from her cheek, along with her arm as she hadn't been quick enough to dodge the first assault. Between the ground feeling like it might cave at any moment and the hunters, she was starting to doubt they'd be able to get out of here unscathed. Not that she was going to keep that in the forefront of her mind when she would rather feel more confident. More so when a blue dragon took to the sky and started destroying some of the troops on the other side. What a downer it must be for the hunter's morale. In an instant, Livia's attention drew to something behind her when she heard footsteps close by. She whirled around and took aim, only to find Sahara running over to her. As shocked as she was to see the other woman, she couldn't say it was a bad thing. "Not at all. The fun's just starting, you haven't missed much." Livia spoke in a playful manner as she focused on taking out another man. How so many of them had gotten here she wasn't sure but for some reason, things were looking better already.

"Livia." Kaito's voice reached her ear and as she turned her attention to him, she ended up eyeing the boy in his arms more than anything. "Protect him. I have to help Sophie and-"

"You don't have to say anything else. Go. We've got him." Livia interrupted, making a motion to Sahara and herself to show that the other woman was siding with them. Kaito didn't seem to question it any as he set down Micah carefully against the pillar to keep him more protected. Kaito and Livia then exchanged nods before the dragon rushed forward; in a flash of a blue haze, Kaito shifted to his dragon form and shot forward, taking out the remaining hunters in the process of taking flight. Livia couldn't help but to chuckle slightly before taking a more defensive position. Just because none remained didn't mean they could go anywhere else or that more wouldn't show up. She now had to look after Micah as well as Mai. "I knew you survived." Livia commented to Sahara, though her attention stayed focused on scanning the area for any movement. "We have a lot to catch up on but...it's good to see you, Sahara."

Shortly after Kaito's roar, another sounded in the air but it sounded far away and close at the same time. It reverberated throughout the mountain, echoing loudly and fully gaining the attention of the wyvern that had been protecting the hunter's from the fiery blast. Columns of earth, though now marred and nearly destroyed, had shot up in time to act as a shield from Niko's attack. Now though, Ezra's attention was on where Tahra was. The cocoon shifted slightly before bursting open, only nothing was inside. It didn't take Ezra long to realize what was happening. Quickly he shifted and scooped up the hunters, practically throwing them back onto his body before he shot his wings downwards. In their confusion, they lashed out angrily at the interruption but that anger soon faded away to shock. Right where they had been standing, the ground contorted and caved in, sharp stalagmites shooting up in all directions. The mountain trembled, causing parts of the buildings along it to begin to crack and break apart. The larger wyvern flew to where he felt was safe to place the hunters and not a second after they climbed down, the foliage of all kinds along with stalagmites began shooting out to try and grab at him; the hunters were all but ignored at this point. Another roar echoed close and far away right before the mountain seemed to open up in a way; Tahra, her dragon formed covered in those same marks as her human form had and her eyes piercing in their neon-like color, shot out of the mountain and straight for Ezra. The two began to clash fiercely, a mix of roars and claws slashing, head's snapping at each other. The more that Tahra engaged her brother, the more foliage began to sprout and spread like a wildfire along different parts of the mountain; the ground cracked beneath an unseen weight and the tremors only worsened.

Kaito couldn't do anything to try and figure out what was going on with that. His focus was solely on Sophie now as he neared the spot she was attacking the hunters. As much as he was happy she was able to fight the humans, he knew this wasn't right. It had to be that she channeled her ancestors powers, that he didn't doubt for a second. "Sophie." He called out the air dragon's name, whipping his tail out to slam into a couple of the hunters that were trying to fire at her. "Sophie listen to me, you have to get a hold of yourself. There aren't just hunters here that could get hurt if you continue this. Think about Mai and Livia, your brother, Niko too. I know you want revenge but this isn't the way, Sophie."

 

[StarryKnights]

Niko Medina, Sophie Stolts and Sahara Cephres​

Niko dug his claws into the earth, attempting to hold on as the winds roared around him. The fire dragon let out an angry roar, seeing his attack had been blocked by large, scorched pillars of earth. The wind in the valley was picking up, it was being whipped into a cyclone of sorts that battered the mountainside.
Sophie was bashing the mountain side with her tail and face, any hunter who got to close had the misfortune of being snapped up. But Niko didn't have time to worry about it, his concerns were with Tahra. The earth was shaking, and then, a scream pierced the air. The fire dragon's head whipped in the direction of its source, just in time to watch as the vines wrapping Tahra seemed to form a cocoon of sorts around her. Battling the winds, Niko took the air, in an attempt to help his girlfriend.
Sophie complicated this manner though, the winds were so strong he was having difficulties flying straight. Updrafts had him going up, and he had to fight to go back down. This had turned into quite the shit show. Not one, but two dragons were having meltdowns, and as the air grew denser and the earth shook, he knew that odds were, one of them would wind up hurting the wrong people.

Sahara whistled, watching as a massive red dragons struggled against the cyclone like winds. She held a hand up, shielding her eyes from the debris being kicked into the air. She chuckled as she came to a skittering stop beside Livia, a well placed shot downed a hunter who had been creeping up on her friend. "it has been a while huh, hope Mai hasn't bee to much trouble" she chuckled, looking back at the teen in question, she saw Mai was staring at her with wide eyes. "S-Sa-" she stammered. Sahara just chuckled. "Easy there Mai, we'll have time for the water works, later". She trailed off as Kaito approached them, cradling an unconscious child who looked like shit. Her gaze flickered to the blue dragon as it roared out loud, the sound reverberated in the air, forcing Sahara and Mai to cover their wars. It was damn near deafening, and the air was starting to feel rather heavy. As Kaito laid the child beside the pillar, Sahara knelt down and picked him up. "Okay, we got him, go deal with...that" Sahara motioned to the angry dragon before chuckling. She recognized the man as Kaito, he'd been one of the first to be identified. She'd been right, he was pretty cute..." As Kaito ran and shifted, off to help his friend, Sahara looked to Livia, chuckling. "As if something so trivial could off me, but my arm did need some uh...enhancements" she shook her head.

"We can worry about that later, for now, lets get in some cover" The ground beneath their feet was starting to tremble, they needed to put some distance between them and this place. "Lets get inside". She carried the boy into the crumbling temple, and Mai scampered to her feet and followed. She clung to Sahara's coattails unwilling to let the woman to go too far. She was alive, she was alive, even after everything that had happened. Mai felt a flurry of emotions, something the teen was not used to. Her brain was very compartmentalized, she was used to focus on one thing at a time, usually she was preoccupied with analytical things. She rarely felt emotions as strong as these. "Sahara...I-I" she struggled to find the words to convey how she felt. Sorry, oh so terribly sorry.
Sahara just shook her head. "No kid, don't apologize, there's nothing to be sorry for". They'd worry about all of this when they weren't in mortal danger.

Sophie let out an angry roar, bashing her tail against the mountainside, she exposed the faction of hunters who were attempting to hide within the faltering remains of the temple. As the earth shook, rocking the foundation the temple hung from. It wasn't going to last much longer. Her head snapped forward, and a man screamed in pain as he was caught in her teeth. She growled lowly, and turned to face Kaito as he spoke to her. Her brown eyes were glowing gold, blood dripped from her teeth and face, as she'd been hit with countless bullets. Her anger was easily seen in her expression, she silenced the scream man in her jaws with a sickening crunch, opening her jaws the body slipped between her teeth. She growled lowly at Kaito as he spoke to her. She didn't seem to recognize the water dragon, she hissed lowly at him.
"Go away water dragon". She spoke in an angry, low tone, as she did the winds that were whipped into a frenzy began to die down. Her attention was now on Kaito, and less on the hunters, who were scrambling to find cover.

The relaxed winds allowed Niko to bolt, taking off after the larger wyvern as he flew away. The earth was going nuts, and he knew it had something to do with Tahra. As he landed in the meadow, he found Tahra was in a break neck battle with her brother. The fire dragon let out an angry war, in an attempt to disrupt the fight. The male dragon was larger, but Tahra seemed to be under some strange trance of sorts, and was accessing power beyond his comprehension. Niko wasn't sure what he was going to do to stop them.
he was so angry and frustrated, sparks flew off the dragon, igniting the rapidly sprouting foliage. "Tahra! Snap out of it" he roared in an attempt to get the earth dragon's attention.

Sophie growled lowly at Kaito, and the air began to whip up again, lashing at the water dragon. "Be gone serpent, less you become the subject of my ire". She snapped, her glowing eyes bore into Kaito's. She didn't seem to be acting like herself. She was under the influence of her ancestors, centuries of pent up rage and anger were spilling out and over. Sophie's power was at the disposal of century old grudge, as it stood, she'd bring down half the mountain, assuming Tahra didn't first. the air was starting to grow heavy, and some of the remaining hunters were grabbing at their throats and going pale. Some collapsed, still holding tight to their weapons, others tried in vein to aim and fire.

 

[pyreshadow]

Livia Hayes, Tahra Casey, and Kaito Iwasa​

The fight between the two wyverns was an intense one and also one that Tahra normally would not have one. Not because she wasn't strong enough for such battles but because her brother was stronger. Yet she was holding her own against him and even overpowering him. Not that she knew what was going on, her only concern was getting to those hunters that he had dropped off. The two clashed for what felt like an eternity until finally Tahra feigned a move. When the larger wyvern went in to attack, Tahra closed herself off and let him drop past her a little before going for the real attack. She rushed forward, jaw snapping at one of her brother's wings. She ripped and clawed at it, ignoring the pained cries coming from the dragon. Once she knew he wouldn't be able to use that wing, she twirled her body so that her tail could whip hard against him. He went toppling down to the ground near to where Niko was. Whatever the fire dragon had said wasn't heard as Tahra let out a piercing, angry roar. The ground beneath Niko and Ezra's feet cracked instantly, starting to shatter and cave in on itself. Stalagmites shot out of the ground towards Niko while several different types of vines shot out of the ground to wrap around her brother. He was pinned to the ground and the more he struggled, the tighter he was pinned.

More cracks made their way into the mountain until large pieces of it began to crumble away. The ground wouldn't stop shaking and the marks along Tahra's body grew more dense. Her eyes turned to the direction of the hunters and all too quickly did she beat her wings to get her to head to the balcony. The moment that her feet touched the ground, the entire mountain shook like a massive earthquake was happening. Several of the hunters fell to the ground even as they tried taking aim at her. That was ignored though as she whipped her tail out to take some of them out. The closer she stepped, the stronger the vibrations were; more of the mountain began to come undone and caused a rock slide in several places at once. None of that mattered to her though. She focused only on getting rid of the hunters, keeping a fierce eye out for one in particular.

Though Sophie told him to go away, Kaito didn't budge from where he floated. He glanced in the direction of the remaining hunters that were scurrying to get away before he settled his gaze on her. It wasn't her talking but likely the ancestors that she was channeling. Likely from a time of war between the clans, which explained why she would hate the other elements. "I won't leave you, Sophie." Kaito spoke confidently despite the air making it slightly harder to breath. Lucky for him he wasn't in his human form, otherwise it might have affected him right away. He didn't have long of course but there was still time. "The whole mountain is going to come down at any moment. Your brother still needs his sister though. You can't just leave him alone like this. If the mountain comes down on you, who will be left to take care of him? He needs you, Sophie." There was a pause before Kaito shifted himself forward, starting to wrap himself closer to her without a care as to what might happen. "Niko needs you as well; you help to keep him in check, remember? Tahra likes you also and I...I certainly don't want anything to happen to my girlfriend. I'll do whatever it takes to help you through this. Right now though think about your brother, Micah. I know he'll want to see you." Although a part of him worried greatly for the former hunters and the boy; the mountain was coming down fast so he hoped they had found a safe spot to be in.

Livia was helping Sahara carry the boy into the temple, still keeping an eye out for any other hunters they might cross paths with. Lucky for them that crazed dragon seemed to be taking care of it just fine. Mai and Sahara seemed to be having a moment of sorts, one that Livia kept quiet about. She didn't want to say 'I told you so' to the kid. Once they were further inside, Livia led the way down a couple sets of stairs before she felt it. The entire mountain shook as though it were going to fall apart. Columns of the temple fell to the ground, cracks lined the walls. No matter where they stayed, it seemed there was no escape for them. "I think it'll be safer if we waited near one of the balconies. This whole place is going to be falling apart sooner than we think."

 

[StarryKnights]

Niko Medina, Sophie Stolts and Sahara Cephres​

Niko swore and took to the air as the earth erupted beneath him. Massive spiked columns raced toward him, Tahra's powers were out of a control. A dragon of her size should not have overpowered an adult male wyvern, whatever sort of spell she was under, it was amplifying her powers ten fold. As he hovered in the air, he had a birds eye view of the cracks and destruction. At this rate, the entire mountain range would come down. Right on top of Sophie and the others, who were still in the valley. Sophie was off the rocker as well, and Livia and the other humans were going to be buried alive if something wasn't done. As Tahra made a beeline for the remaining hunters, Niko followed after her. "TAHRA!"
As much as he wanted to lay waste to these bastards, there were bigger things to be worrying about. Unsure of how he was going to get her to stop, Niko slammed into the wyvern, hard enough he hoped, that she'd focus on him. "DAMMIT Tahra, snap out of it!" he roared angrily as he snapped at her legs. He didn't want to hurt her, but if he didn't do something, she was going to kill a more than the hunters. Their friend's lives were on the line here. "Look at what your doing! Your going to bring this entire place down! Sophie and the others will be buried alive, is that what you want!?" He roared angrily, and swiped at any hunters who got too close to the both of them.

Sophie growled lowly as Kaito got closer to her. She watched the air dragon with wary, golden eyes that seemed to glow brighter as clouds rolled in over head, pushed by the air currents swirling around them. The mountains were cast in shadow, Sophie let out an ear splitting roar. "BE GONE WATER SERPENT!" Her voice reverberated in the air, a deafening effect to the poor hunters who were still awake. A column of wind was starting to form, it stripped away loose rock and dirt, kicking it into the air. Sophie hovered effortlessly, despite the chaos, which was uprooting trees and large boulders before sending them hurling into the remaining buildings. The remaining hunters had nowhere to run, nowhere to hide. Some had passed out due to lack of oxygen, a small number were clinging to consciousness. One in particular had a death grip on his weapon, the launder which had knocked Sophie's mother from the sky.

Sahara frowned, looking outside she saw what looked to be a tornado forming, throwing more debris and trees into the air. "I don't know, it looks like your dragon friend is having issues with that other dragon...". The building was coming down around them, and outside didn't seem to be any safer. "We're stuck between a rock...and a tornado...being made by a pissed off dragon". She looked to Livia, chuckling.
The boy in her arms stirred, cracking his eyes open, Micah let out a soft groan. Where was he...? His brown eyes slowly looked around, he saw three unfamiliar faces. All woman, none his mother his sister.
He opened his mouth to speak, but found the words wouldn't form. Sahara set her down as gently as she could. "Easy there kid, its okay, we're here to help you". She gestured to herself, Mai and Livia.

Micah blinked, his head hurt, and the air felt... Heavy. His eyes went wide, scrambling to his feet, he looked out the window, as he stumbled, Sahara reached out to help him, but the teen pushed her away. Something was wrong, terribly terribly wrong... As he looked out the window, Sahara looked to Livia. "The hell is with this kid?"
Micah's eyes were wide, he watched as the dragon he knew to be his sister, lashed out, attacking the unfamiliar serpent dragon in the air. The winds were going crazy... Micah coughed. Sophie was out of control...
The building shook, violently, as the winds battered the building they were in. They had to get out of here...
Micah stumbled back toward the girls, reaching out he grabbed onto the first person he reached, which was Mai. The teen was sticking close to Sahara, who was talking to Livia about their options. She gasped as the boy grabbed onto her wrists the boy tugged on her, pointing to the balcony.

Come on! We have to go, we have to go! He stared into Mai's confused eyes. The girl looked back to Sahara, unsure of what to do.

Sophie snapped at Kaito, knowing full well there wasn't a lot he could do to stop her. His words didn't seem to have much of an outward effect, but as the minutes ticked by, the winds seemed to react some. The air felt less heavy, as Sophie seemed to come back to herself a bit. "I....I...." She didn't want to hurt people.
She wanted to see her mother, and her sister, and her brother. She wanted her friends to escape... She didn't want to hurt people, even as she though this, she tasted the foreign blood in her mouth.
"What have I done...?".
Sensing the change, one of the remaining hunters forced himself to take careful aim. He didn't car which one of these he hit, as long as someone went down.
Sahara's blood ran cold as the familiar shot rang out in the air, racing to the window, she screamed. 'WATCH OUT!" Micah and Mai followed the hunter to the window, Micah paled as he saw what looked like a rocket fly toward his sister. A scream rose in his throat, and came out a strangled, horrid cry, given he couldn't form words.

 

[pyreshadow]

Livia Hayes, Tahra Casey, and Kaito Iwasa​

Being engrossed in trying to snap at the hunters, Tahra hadn't notice Niko get close to her; not until she was slammed into, which forced her to fold her body a bit and roll back into a standing position. A deep growl emanated from the back of her throat as slit, neon eyes stared hard at the fire dragon. She heard what he was saying but it didn't really register with her. She wanted to bring the place down, to bury every last hunter there was within the mountains. They had done something terrible to her brother and she would never forgive them for it. A hiss left her lips before she crouched lower into an almost feral position. Words were spoken but in a language long lost to both dragon and human alike. Her voice echoed in three different voices, a high-pitched one, her normal voice, and one that sounded deeper than the average female. The claws on her wing slammed into the ground and it shattered upon impact. Her eyes darted to the hunters and more words were spoken in that same language, although it sounded more like an angry hiss this time around.

"It seems that way. This is the first time I've seen them like this...I haven't even heard about it when we were in training. I wonder if something happened...?" There was some actual concern in Livia's voice as she looked over what she could see of the dragons. Even though she knew Sophie didn't like her, it didn't mean she wanted something bad to happen to the dragon. Sahara had a point though, they were screwed no matter where they went. The mountain was falling apart and the winds were running amok outside. Maybe it would be better to figure out what death would be swifter...Livia cursed herself for having such a thought but before she could think too long, the unconscious boy was finally stirring. "Hey hey, calm down kid. Don't be stupid-" Livia was attempting to call out to the boy when he began to scramble to his feet to look out the window. As quickly as he had done that, he was already coming back to grab Mai and pull her along too. "Great. Just freaking great." A roll of her eyes later and Livia was following after them as well but keeping her complaints to herself. There wasn't a point and maybe, just maybe, he'd be able to get Sophie in check.

"I won't!" Kaito almost shouted, not even moving when Sophie snipped at him. It bit into his scales but the slight pain it brought was completely ignored as he knew he wouldn't leave her. It took longer than he would have liked but it seemed his words from earlier had finally began to sink in to her. She was returning to herself, that much he could tell based on he way the winds began to change. "It's okay, Sophie." Kaito spoke in a soothing tone, rubbing underneath her head in what was hopefully a reassuring manner. "We can talk about it later. Right now we need to get out of here with everyone else before the whole place falls down on us. Your brother is still safe but we'll need to get them out of the temple. Can you do that?" Even though Kaito asked that, there was no chance for a response. One of the hunter's had begun to make a move and he noticed it a little too late; only when he heard Sahara's voice call out to them did he see the missile like object coming at them. "Sophie!" Kaito swirled fast into a ball before thrusting himself outward to knock Sophie away; in turn he had been hit with it along his back and side, and a pained roar left his lips. He struggled to keep himself in the air and whimpers kept leaving his lips.

The roar brought about Tahra's attention though and all too quickly the words stopped. The slit pupils of her eyes expanded, consuming all of the color until her entire eye was black. One of the hunters nearby had the courage to step forward and try to shoot at her but it didn't last very long. An ear-piercing scream left her lips mixed in with the roar, one that was as long as it was loud. It was during her scream that the earth continued to shake and the mountain itself began to crumble and fall in on itself. The exact place that she knew the hunters to be were where more stalagmites came shooting out of every direction; screams were heard from near the fire and earth dragon, but the same thing was also happening to the hunters that had been near Sophie and Kaito. Her brother, however, was being well protected within the cocoon of a cage she had created to keep him still. They all needed to die. There was so much rage and hate, so much that she had never felt before in her life and it honestly felt like it was consuming her. The words she had been speaking were words that had been whispered in her mind. All she knew was that every single one of those hunters that were here needed to die; this scream she was doing was almost like targeting them, though she didn't realize if she was left to continue it really would bring down the entire mountain they were on.

 

[StarryKnights]

Niko Medina, Sophie Stolts and Sahara Cephres
​

Niko glared at the earth dragon, unflinching. Her words wounded like gibberish, he had no fucking clue what was going on. All he knew was he had to gather to stop, before she hurt someone, someone other than the hunters. But it didn't seem his words were getting through to her. Her wings hit the ground and it shattered under the impact, Niko reflexively clung to the ground as it shook. Tahra's haze flickered to the hunters.
This was about them, about revenge... "Tahra, this isn't going to fix your brother! Your just putting innocent people at risk!" he cried out. "Your putting your friends at risk! Is that what you want!?"
He hoped and prayed Kaito, Sophie and the others managed to get away unscathed. However, as the thought crossed his mind, a loud, roar filled the air. It sounded like Kaito...
Oh fuck, now what? Niko looked back to where the others were, but he couldn't see them.

Sahara grimaced as one of the dragons were hit, she felt Mich grab her hand and squeeze it, tight. Mai watched as well, wide eyed. "K-Kaito...". The teen spoke, softly. "Who?" Sahara looked down at the girl, who pointed to the injured water dragon. "That was Kaito...he...took the hit for Sophie..."
Sahara looked back. Kaito? That sounded familiar... She was pretty sure that was the first dragon they'd identified. Well, now, he was hurt. "Great, fucking great". Sahara bit her lip, all she could really do was watch.

Sophie had been about to reply to Kaito when the shot rang out, the air dragon flinched, and in that moment, Kaito pushed her away, taking the shot himself. Her blood ran cold as Kaito cried out in pain. "Kaito!" she dashed over and under the water dragon, holding him aloft so he wouldn't fall. If he fell it was game over... Just like her mother...and Marine. The thought of her fallen kin was quick to ignite Sophie's anger yet again, but she couldn't afford to give in to the temptation. The voices whispered for her to destroy everything in sight, ensuring that no hunter made it out alive. The winds picked up, died down, and picked up again, they responded to the air dragon's turbulent emotions. She was terrified, angry, and worried, and didn't know what to do.
However, Sophie's internal fight was brought to a halt as a different roar filled the air. A very familiar one. "T-Tahra...?" The air dragon had never heard such a sound before...so wrought with emotion. The very ground quaked, Sophie darted higher into the air to avoid the pillars of earth which erupted from the mountain side. Screams rang out, and Sophie knew that the remaining men were dead.

What was going on...? Sophie watched from above as her home seemed to cave in on itself. "Micah! Livia...Mai!" The air dragon called their names, and scanned the ground. The golden runes on her body had faded, and her eyes were slowly returning to their normal, brown color. It seemed Sophie had slipped from her trance like state.
But Tahra, was still trapped in hers. "Are you fucking kidding me!?" The fire dragon cried out as he looked to Tahra, the earth dragon's eyes had gone black, and the earth beneath her was going haywire. He had to snap her out of this. "Tahra!" He cried the earth dragon's name. "This won't...your just...FUCK!" Niko braced himself, before charging the earth dragon. Words were failing, Niko wasn't the best talker. He was excellent at using brute force...though he wondered if he could handle Tahra when she was like this. She'd taken out her brother, and Niko was only slightly larger than him. Niko let out a roar as he charged Tahra, and tackled her with full force. His claws gripped her wings and neck so she couldn't get away. "Snap out of it god dammit! Your bringing the mountain down!" He roared, right in her face. This was not the Tahra he knew and lo-...cared deeply for. She was something possessed. "Dammit Tahra! Do you even realize that Livia and the others are here!? They can't fly away from all this bullshit!" He continued. "You have to listen to me! Stop, before you do something you regret!" He wasn't sure if she could hear him. "You hear me Tahra, stop this now!"

Sahara covered her ears as another roar rang out, and staggered backwards as the ground shifted under her. She aught a glimpse of the two dragons shooting upwards, further into the sky. "Shit..." She swore, and looked to Livia. "...Death by falling...or being crushed...?" Their rides had bailed...
She chuckled, but there was a hint of fear in her voice. She didn't know what to do, there was nowhere to run...There has to be something Sahara...think! The older woman took a breath, in an attempt to calm herself. If only they could fly away... Wait... Sahara snapped her fingers. "Fly! Duh..." Mai looked at her, confused, but Sahara piad it no mind. She looked to Micah, the boy seemed to be in a state of shock. "Hey kid" Sahara placed her hands on his shoulders. "Think you can fly us out of here?"
This kid was a dragon, he could get them out of here...she hoped..."

 

[pyreshadow]

Livia Hayes, Tahra Casey, and Kaito Iwasa​

The scream mixed with the roar seemed to be getting louder with each passing second; the earth rocked beneath them and only the sound of it crumbling above the remaining cries of the hunters. Yet as loud as it had all been, the moment something hit Tahra full force everything stopped; the earth stilled, the stalagmites finished growing but no more came, and the scream died away to a shocked gasp. At first, her body instinctively struggled against the dragon trying to pin her. Whispers told her to escape, to fly back to the city and end the hunters permanently. This could have been the beginning. Above the whispers though, she heard Niko's voice calling out to her. She was bringing down a mountain? How? The thought was a confusing one and as she tried very hard to focus on those words, color began to return to her eyes again. The only problem she had now was that she felt so very tired. A curse was being spoken to her for not finishing the job before soon everything faded; all she could hear was Niko and the remnants of the mountain that wasn't pieced together any longer. Livia and the others, did they get hurt...because of her? She tried to look away but couldn't move because of the hold on her; not that it mattered too much because she could feel herself fading and fast too.

"Ni...ko." Tahra forced his name out as her body shook some. The green haze that showed she was shifting began to slowly cover her body but it wasn't so much by choice. "Please...my brother...I..." she wanted to ask what had happened; what happened to Livia and the others, what happened to Ezra, and what happened to Kaito and Sophie. To apologize if she had done something. None of the words could form though and a few seconds later she was in her human form, passing out against Niko's leg. She had used up far too much energy that she wasn't used to using and the exhaustion hit her tenfold.

Kaito heard the familiar roar of Tahra's even through his slightly dazed state; although it sounded different at the same time with that odd echo, unless he was just imagining things because of the pain. He knew without any doubts that hit just barely managed to miss his heartscale. If it was even an inch further down...no, he really didn't want to think about that. He hardly noticed when Sophie helped to bring him higher so that the earth pillars could be avoided. "The others...where are they?" Kaito's voice sounded weaker than normal and it was becoming harder for him to keep steady breaths. Let alone stay in his dragon form; in most cases, being in the human form would have eaten up the most energy but right now it felt like the opposite. It felt like if he stayed in his dragon form, he'd pass out and never wake up. Before they could figure out where the others were, all of a sudden everything stopped as quickly as it had started. It was eerily quiet, not even the sound of the hunters although they were all likely dead at this point. "Sophie, I'm...feeling really dizzy." Kaito admitted softly as he closed his eyes tightly. "We should find the others...and get the hell out of here quick."

"Neither of those sound very pleasant." Livia grumbled as she tried to wrack her brain for a better plan; she couldn't die here, not without at least accomplishing a part of her dream. When Sahara all of a sudden shouted 'fly', it clicked almost instantly. "Micah." Her eyes darted over to the younger dragon as Sahara was already asking him if he could do it. The good news? They likely didn't need his help to fly away since the entire mountain stopped moving all of a sudden. Whatever was causing the earthquakes seemed to have died down finally and for once it felt like they might be safe. "Hey, let's call to them and get the hell out of here." Livia said quickly before heading very carefully over to the balcony that was hanging on by a few threads so to speak. "Heeeeeeey! Kaito! Sophie!" Livia shouted at the top of her lungs even though a part of her felt like Sophie wouldn't care about whether she survived or not. "A little help? Please?"

 

[StarryKnights]

Niko Medina, Sophie Stolts and Sahara Cephres​

Niko held Tahra down, for fear that she may cause even more damage. He didn't know what had come over his girlfriend, but it seemed to be wearing off. "Tahra..." he breathed a sigh of relief as she spoke his name. Her eyes returned to normal, and the haze around her body signaled she was shifting. "Shhh Tahra, its alright, its alright" Niko spoke softly as he curled up around his exhausted lover. "Its okay, just rest now...I'll watch over you". She was out before he finished, he hoped she'd heard him. The mountain was barely holding together, the hunters were dead. And her brother... Erza... He was...alive as far as Niko knew. His main priority was to get Tahra, and the others to safety. With a surprising amount of caution, Niko took Tahra into his claws, and gently placed her on his back, nestled between two spines. The fire dragon took to the air, flying slowly back to the others. Surveying the ground below, the mountain had been torn open, and battered by high winds and massive tremors. Spotting Sophie, hovering, he flew over to her.
And found that she was panicking, and Kaito was injured.

"Holy hell, the fuck happened?" the fire dragon spoke as he hovered beside Sophie. Kaito was hurt, badly, and Sophie was understandably freaking out. The air dragon hovered, supporting the ailing serpent dragon. As Kaito spoke, she looked over her shoulder at him. "I'm sorry, I...I'm...I'm so sorry...Please...just stay awake Kaito..." she spoke, softly. They needed to find the others, but Sophie felt frozen... She was terrified that Kaito was breathing his last. She'd lost her mother and sister, she couldn't bear the idea of losing him too. Sensing the tension, Niko sighed. "Sophie, find somewhere safe...somewhere with water, and land". He was confidant that Kaito could recover with the help of some water. Sophie blinked and looked to the fire dragon. "Niko...where..." the air dragon's eyes went wide when she saw the unconscious Tahra on his back. "Tahra...".
Niko's ears swiveled as he heard a voice crying out. Livia. It seemed she was alive, that was good, it meant Mai was likely alive as well. That was some good news at least.

Sahara breathed a sigh of relief as the ground stopped shaking. So did Micah, because the teen knew he couldn't carry all three woman at once. Now that the ground was stabilized, he peeked out the window, up at his sister. She was hovering, and seemed distressed. More than likely she was worried for her friend. Mai was keeping close to Sahara, she clung to the older hunter's arm as Livia called out for a ride.
She was surprised to see Niko hovering high above them as well. She was glad he wasn't hurt.
Hearing Livia's cries, the fire dragon gave Sophie a reassuring smile. "I'll fetch the others, and then we can go, okay?" Jesus fuck everything had gone straight to shit, he thought as he flew down to the destroyed temple. Micah stared wide eyed at the massive fire dragon, he was even bigger than his dad had been...
Sahara frowned upon seeing the fire dragon, as the two had unfinished issues to settle. But now was not the time. "Can you carry all of us?"

Niko shook his head. "Maybe two, but I have Tahra to carry as well, and Sophie is helping Kaito...he took a bad hit". Sahara sighed and ran a hand through her hair. "Well, great..." She looked to Micah, and then to Mai. "Kid, do you think you could carry this one?" She pointed to the teen, who looked at her, shocked and confused. Micah cocked his head to the side, studied Mai for a moment, and nodded. She seemed small enough. "Okay, good". Sahara looked to the startled girl. "I need you to be brave kid, we don't have time to deal with a fear of heights" Sahara spoke calmly, but firmly. "We need to get going, so the others can get the help they need". She hated to put the girl on the spot, but they didn't have time for this. Mai kept a hold on Sahara as Micah slipped out the window, he dropped out of sight before shifting.
Unlike his mother and sister, he was a European dragon, like his father. He was a light, sea foam green color, with blue spines. He flew back up to the ledge with a pair of light, partially webbed, partially feathered wings. As he grew older, the feathers would fall out. Female air dragons tended to keep their feathers.

He hooked his talons onto the wall and clung there, like a large bat. He was a bit bigger than a horse, but Niko dwarfed him on all accounts. It took a few minutes of coaxing to get Mai onto the dragon's back, once there she held on for dear life. She hated heights. But she needed to be brave...like Sahara. She had to do this for the woman who'd laid her life down for her. Once Mai was secure, Sahara looked to Livia. "Hop on" she said, gesturing to Niko's back. Livia seemed to be hurt more than she was, and the sooner they got out of here, the better.

 

[pyreshadow]

Livia Hayes, Tahra Casey, and Kaito Iwasa​

Kaito shook his head slowly, trying to stave off the dizzy spell he had been having. He heard the sound of Niko's voice but he wasn't able to look at the other male dragon until he finally felt the spell had passed. Only then did he open his eyes and the first thing he noticed was Tahra not being there. At least not in her dragon form. It took a long moment before he realized that she was just in her human form on Niko's back. The suggestion of the type of place to find caused the water dragon to nod his head slowly. "Water will be best for me right now. I'll be fine, don't worry Sophie." Kaito attempted to sound as confident as he could even if he didn't quite believe it himself. Livia's voice rang out so he glanced in her direction only momentarily; his eyes had caught sight of something that looked as though it was a shifting down below so his attention was drawn to the ground. A well-built but pale redheaded man was laying in the vines that had been withering away from Tahra's lack of power connection now. He looked like Tahra in a lot of ways and it caused Kaito to heave a small sigh. Though the larger wyvern was working with the hunters, there had to be a reason. "Hang on, Sophie." Kaito wiggled himself out of Sophie's helpful hold after Niko had left to get the others and allowed himself to drop so that he could get a better look at the now human.

The first thing Sahara did was question Niko when he came to get them; it caused Livia to frown slightly but she didn't say anything about it. If push came to shove and Niko and Sahara duked it out for what happened in the past, what side was Livia going to take? She honestly wasn't so sure anymore that she'd take Sahara's side after spending some time with the dragons. Not that she was going to think about it now when they had to focus on escaping. Sahara went on to ask Micah to carry Mai, which ended up being very helpful. It meant that Niko wouldn't strain himself trying to carry them all. It didn't even take long for Micah to shift to his dragon form, which was surprising to see a European dragon. Livia shrugged though as she didn't want to think about it until much later. So as Sahara helped Mai get settled, Livia climbed on to Niko's back and settled behind Tahra. "All set to go. I'll keep an eye on Tahra as well." Livia announced to Niko before motioning to Sahara that she was free to get on whenever. The other woman telling her to 'hop on' was a bit odd since she was already on but she didn't say anything about that either. It had been a trying day for everyone.

Kaito came back up after a couple minutes, the redhead secured between his spines so that he wouldn't fall. He honestly felt even more exhausted now but that wasn't going to stop him from getting out of here. "I think there was a lake or something a few clicks to the south. Maybe we could start by heading there?" It was the closest place Kaito had seen with available water and he didn't think he'd be able to handle too much flying right now. Not until he was healed at least.

 

[StarryKnights]

Niko Medina, Sophie Stolts and Sahara Cephres​

"Kaito...?" Sophie followed the dragon downward, upon seeing the red haired man, she sighed. He looked a lot like Tahra...maybe they were related. It seemed everyone was having family issues today. The thought only served as a reminded the her own family was all but gone, aside from Micah. Speaking of Micah... Sophie scanned the area, and saw the boy dropping out a window, only to shoot back up a few moments later, shifted. Micah was European...he looked a lot like their father had. Sophie Followed Kaito back up, he now had the red haired guy on his back. "We're taking him...?" she asked softly, uncertain. He'd been helping the hunters, and regardless of the reason, he'd brought them here. He was part of the reason her sister and mother were gone now. Sophie wanted to be angry, but at the moment she just felt so numb. She was exhausted from channeling, worried because Kaito was injured, and Tahra was out of commission too... It seemed foolish to bring one of the enemies along...but she supposed they'd given Livia a chance...

"Yes, we're bringing him". Sophie looked to Niko as the fire dragon joined him aloft. Once Sahara was secured on his back, behind Livia, he climbed into the air with a few wing beats. Micah followed behind him, and moved to hover beside his sister. The two shared a moment, with Micah nuzzling Sophie. Words couldn't describe how happy the teen was to see her, he never thought he'd get to again. It was a bitter sweet moment, but one he was thankful for nonetheless. Micah hovered under Sophie's wing, and waited to see where the adults would decide to go. Sophie nuzzled the younger dragon affectionately before he moved away. She noticed that Mai was holding onto one of Micah's spines for dear life. "...Kaito's right...there's a lake...a branch of the river empties into it...we can rest there". Sophie said, looking to Kaito. She was pretty sure it'd be deep enough for the water dragon to swim in.

Niko looked to the red head on Kaito's back, he was wary of the man...Erza. Tahra had called him Erza. He'd been keeping a close eye on the man, he wasn't sure what all he'd gone through...but he could imagine. "Lets get going then" Sahara nodded and yawned, seeing as she was sitting being Livia, she reflexively wrapped her arm around the other hunter's waist to support herself. Then, realizing what she was doing, she pulled it away, chuckling. "Whoops...my bad" she yawned again and shrugged. It had been a long day, Sahara was ready for a nap. She scratched at her left shoulder, grumbling softly to herself about the spot where the connectors were always itched.
She supposed once things were settled she'd have to tell Mai and Livia about what had happened after they escaped. Thinking about it sent a shiver down Sahara's spine.

With Niko leading the way, the group followed the river, which leader south, deeper into the mountains, toward the lake Kaito had mentioned. Sophie flew slowly, alongside Kaito, just in case the water dragon needed assistance. She was also using the winds to keep him aloft. A fall from this height could prove fatal to a healthy dragon, let alone an injured one. Micah flew alongside the pair, easily keeping up despite his smaller size. He watched the two of them closely, confused as to why Sophie was fretting over the water dragon so much. Perhaps there was more than what met the eye here? Sophie...dating a water dragon? It was a strange thought, one Micah didn't care about, but he knew his father would've been pissed.
The group flew for a couple of hours, until a clearing, large enough for them to land on, came along. They were getting closer and closer to the edge of the range, and Sophie knew her dad used to hide supplies in the area, on the off chance they ever needed to escape the sanctuary. Hopefully, she could find some, she knew they usually had clothes in them.

Niko landed first, with Micah and Sophie touching down with Kaito. The fire dragon knelt down so his passengers could get off. He lifted a claw and carefully plucked Tahra off his back, Sahara climbed down first, and offered Livia help doing the same.
Once they were both down, the fire dragon curled up, protectively around Tahra, with the unconscious woman nestled between his front legs.
Sophie looked to the river, which ran pretty deep. "...Kaito...you should be able to swim in the lake" the air dragon said, tiredly. With the excitement over, her exhaustion was hitting her like a truck. But she didn't want to shift until she had some clothes to wear... "Micah...?" The smaller dragon perked up at his name, he'd been laying in the sun, as Mai climbed off his back. "See if you can find any of days emergency supply bags around here...". Micah nodded, and went off to look.
Sophie curled up on the beach, the warmth of the sun on her back was making her sleepy, but she wasn't getting any rest until she knew Kaito was going to be alright. She folded her wings so they were tucked along her skinny body, and sighed.

Sahara yawned and stretched, cracking her back in the process. She was a little sore, but not too bad off. As Mai joined them, she looked to Livia. "Well...least we weren't hurt severely..." Sahara chuckled humorlessly. Least, she wasn't this time. Mai's eyes flickered to her left arm as Sahara scratched at the shoulder again.

 

[pyreshadow]

Livia Hayes, Tahra Casey, and Kaito Iwasa​

Kaito was glad that Niko had agreed to take the dragon along with them, for whatever reasons the fire dragon might have had. Kaito himself wanted to question the male wyvern and demand why he was helping the hunters. Maybe even figure out if Tahra was related or it was just coincidence they looked alike. There were a lot of questions needing answered and so far the only one that Kaito could think of that might have them would be this male wyvern. Sophie conceded to the idea but he had a feeling it wasn't purely out of choice since she was outnumbered when it came to bringing him and leaving him. The trip to the lake area was a long and trying one, just as much as the day itself had been. Most of all to Kaito, for he knew without any doubts if Sophie wasn't helping to guide him along with the winds then he was sure he would have fallen. Livia had an interesting time herself, though it was mostly because of Sahara than anything. When the other woman had wrapped her arms around Livia, she couldn't help but to blush and glance over her shoulder in surprise. She did her best to try to hide the surprise though and muttered how it was all right.

By the time that they arrived, Kaito was breathing heavily and sagging just a bit in the air. He was trying very hard to keep himself upright but when he was close to the ground, he sort of collapsed onto it. Livia looked over Sahara a bit with some mild surprise again before taking the offered help down with an almost shy smile. "Thanks." Livia glanced to the side and caught sight of Kaito carefully removing the male redhead from his back with his tail. The older wyvern was set down but more with a loud thunk than the water dragon intended. He had just gotten a bit dizzy and let go sooner than he had hoped. Hearing Sophie's voice, Kaito turned to look her over before his attention was drawn to the lake. The water was practically screaming at him at this point so all he could do was nod his head. His body dropped low to the ground and he slid along the surface almost like a snake; the second the water touched him, he inhaled deeply and felt like he was relaxing already. Within just a matter of a few seconds, he disappeared beneath the water's surface with a trail of blood following him. The redhead was near the edge of the water by the time Kaito disappeared, more as a precaution than anything. Should something happen when the man woke, Kaito would easily be able to drag him down to the depths below if needed.

"Not all of us came out unscathed this time around." Livia spoke in response to Sahara's words as her eyes darted towards the waters. "That weapon does more damage than we originally thought when it was being built. Far more than even my father had expected I'm sure." A small sigh left her lips as she realized it was really a conundrum that they were in right now. The dragons weren't safe no matter where they went as hunters were located all over the world. The group was getting larger too, which meant hiding was going to become more difficult as well. To make it worse, the organization likely deemed both Livia and Mai traitors completely and it would be a kill on sight situation. So they weren't safe either, nor was Sahara any longer. Speaking of...Livia's gaze turned slowly to the other woman as she looked her over. "I knew you had survived." She spoke softly while her arms came up to cross over her chest. "I don't know why but my gut said you did. I...never thought I'd be able to see you again like this. I assume they had to give you some kind of cybernetics in order to tend the wounds you had?"

 

[StarryKnights]

Niko Medina, Sophie Stolts and Sahara Cephres​

Sahara frowned and looked to the lake, where there was a definite trail of blood leading to the water. "...Yeah...that serpent is lucky to be alive...". She sighed and watched as Sophie curled up at the shore of the lake, near the unconscious red haired guy. In response to Livia's inquiry about her arm, Sahara chuckled and pulled the sleeve up on her left arm, revealing the patches of machine over her skin. "yeah, this thing is more wires than anything now". She scratched at where the parts met her skin, the area looked inflamed, and Sahara's scratching didn't seem to be helping. Seeing it, Mai's lit up. She reached out and grabbed the woman's hand and straightened the arm out. "Whoa, hey Mai..." Sahara said, startled, but the teen didn't reply. She studied the arm for a moment before looking to Sahara and Livia. "...They put trackers in these...". Sahara blinked, and then sighed. "...Alright...but if we're gonna cut if off I'm going to need a drink", she chuckled and ran a hand through her hair. Mai didn't laugh. "...I could remove it, with the proper tools for now though..." she thought for a second. "We are more than likely out of range, and we will most likely be moving soon...". She'd open the arm up once she had proper tools. Of course, getting said tools was going to require another flight... A shiver ran down her spine as the prospect. Sahara continued scratching until Mai swatted her hand. "Stop that".

Niko watched as Kaito slunk over to the lake and disappeared. Erza was resting by the water..where Kaito had dropped him, and Sophie was near by. The fire dragon rested his head on the ground, so he could keep a close eye on Tahra. She exhibited the same weird power Sophie had...he wondered if it was some sort of trait dragons could share. Sophie seemed to be as tired as Tahra had to be, but the air dragon was stubbornly forcing herself to stay awake. She was such a little worry wort, Kaito would be fine now that he had the water to aid his healing... Though, he supposed he was just as anxious about Tahra, though she lacked any physical injuries. However, Niko wondered why Sophie didn't just go for a swim if so was so dang worried about it...
The answer was simple, Sophie couldn't swim n her dragon form. If her wings got wet, the waterlogged feathers would just drag her down. So, she waited, her head resting over her paws, for both Kaito to come up and Micah to return.

The latter happened first, Micah returned in his dragon form, dragging a large wooden crate. Upon opening it, it revealed a stash of clothes, as well as some survival rations and camping supplies. Their father liked to be prepared for any situation, so he'd hidden these boxes throughout the range, in areas only a dragon could find. Seeing the crate, Sophie slinked over. She shifted into her human form behind the box, and got dressed. She pulled on a pair of shorts and a tee shirt, as it was the first thing she saw that looked like it would fit her. She laid out some clothes for Niko and Tahra, though the fire dragon was content to stay in his true form. And Tahra could decide once she awoke, though Niko was keeping her covered, not that anyone was looking. Well, Sahara kinda did a double take, but after a stern look from Niko, she kept her eyes on Livia and the others.
Not that she minded, Livia was equally as pleasing to look at, but that was beside the point.

The hunter took a seat in the sand, yawning. She pondered Livia's earlier words. "...Man...did they try to, well, you know" she pulled her knees up, and didn't elaborate much further, given Mai was within ear shot. "They suspected me as a traitor, and it took some time before they trusted me enough to fix me...by then, my arm had...well...festered some". She chuckled. "...But, after they decided I was worth keepin alive, they hooked me up with this thing" she flicked her arm. "I figured they'd send me out when they tracked you all down...I was uh...told I should bring you in alive....specifically". She gave Livia a curious look. "Care to explain why?". Why had Livia's life meant more than that of one of the best scientists the organization had? Sahara had her ideas but, she figured she could just ask Livia and get the truth.

Now that she was dressed, Sophie found a soft spot to sit down in, near the water's edge. The waves washed over her bare feet. She felt exhausted, but the day's events pressed down on her mind, making sleep unlikely. As she closed her eyes, she could hear the cries of her mother and sister ringing out. The anger and regret of her ancestors... the residual negative energy left behind from channeling them was also grating on Sophie's mind. "Ngggh". She pulled her knees up and rested her forehead on them as she felt a headache settling in. She peeked as she felt someone sit beside her, and saw Micah, resting his head on her shoulder. he cast his sister a sad look, knowing full well that as of today, the both of them were orphans. Their parents were gone, and all they had were each other, and this small group of misfits.

...And even they would probably be better off without them... Sophie sighed as the thought crossed her mind. All she'd done today was complicate matters... Kaito had been hit...and he could've been killed. Sophie shook her head, Micah placed a comforting hand on her back. He wished he could've said something to make her feel better, he knew Sophie tended to be very, very hard on herself.

 

[pyreshadow]

Livia Hayes, Tahra Casey, and Kaito Iwasa​

As much as Livia was thinking about how bad Kaito had it, her thoughts stopped when Sahara showed off the arm that was now mostly -if not purely- machine. Livia's mouth opened to ask about it but closed promptly when Mai began to look it over. Of course it would be bugged, why wouldn't it? The hunters aren't that stupid. Maybe they thought that Sahara really was a traitor but she'd be able to lead the rest of them to the dragons. Those trackers really needed to be removed. "I'm glad you won't have to get rid of the whole thing. We'll make sure that the first stop we take will be getting those supplies so Mai can remove them." It wouldn't be too hard to convince the dragons, although a part of her was thinking Sophie in particular wouldn't agree. The air dragon couldn't care less what happened to the hunters so she'd likely think Sahara could just be left behind. Not that Livia would allow that to happen any. When the other hunter sat down, Livia shifted slightly so that she could sit next to Sahara and looked her over some. Of course they would have tried to kill her; it was likely the higher ups that chose to let her live, just to try to get closer to the dragons.

Or at least that was what she had originally thought until it was mentioned that Livia needed to be taken alive. That caused her brows to furrow some before a small sigh left her lips. "That bastard." She grumbled out as she turned her attention to the waters in front of them. "Antonio Michael Vaughn, the head of the hunters' organizations all around the world." Which every hunter knew that, Sahara would be no different. "That man is my father. I have my mother's last name specifically because he didn't want me to become the product of attempted kidnappings or anything of the sort. There were a few attempts on my mother's life before we were put into hiding. He kept me in a private home for the beginning of my life until I was old enough to start learning how to hunt and track. I never went to a regular school like most children, I was thrown into his world since I was a child. It's all I've ever known. I...don't even know what happened to my mother. But to think that he's giving orders to bring me in alive." Livia paused, her head shaking slightly. "That's ridiculous. There should be no exceptions when it comes to betrayals. I didn't even think he cared about me after all this time that he's been out of my life. I'd rather like to think he's dead than who he actually is."

 

[StarryKnights]

Niko Medina, Sophie Stolts and Sahara Cephres ​

Sahara cast a look of surprise at her partner. "Your the daughter of the..." Well, she supposed that explained her mission then. "...Mission was simple, if I brought you back alive, then I was getting a clean slate". She chuckled. "As if I was stupid enough to fall for that though, I planned on defecting, assuming we we able to find you guys again. Which we wouldn't have, if we hadn't found that kid and his dad...". She looked to Micah and shook his head. "I went through some shit...I'm sure Niko and the other girl did too but that one...". She scratched at her arm again as it itched. "...He's a tough little bastard...". She looked back to Livia. "...So, what should we do next...? Where can we go...?". Sahara couldn't think of a place on earth that the dragons could hide where the organization wouldn't find them, and it wasn't like they could go into space.
She had a few ideas where they could hide for a while, but eventually the hunters would find them. Especially since they had their precious pet dragon. Sahara looked to the red head in question, sighing. "Why'd we keep him again?" she asked, pointing to the unconscious man.

"Because...he's Tahra's brother". Niko growled in Sahara's direction, but all the hunter heard was well, growling. She rolled her eyes "Didn't understand a word of that you over grown salamander". Niko huffed and settled back down, with his head resting on the ground, and Tahra safe between his front legs. He hoped she woke soon, he had so many questions for her... The others would too. Sophie blinked as Niko spoke. "...Brother...?" she looked to the red haired man in question. She supposed that explained the likeness, he looked a lot like Tahra. Or, Tahra looked a lot like him... Either way, it explained why she'd been so upset when she saw him. But to think there was another dragon who could channel as well... It meant that somewhere out there, a water dragon and fire dragon possessed the talent as well. Sophie wondered who it might be.
Her thoughts were interrupted as Sahara called out to her. The air dragon looked up as someone called out to her. "Hey, care to give us a translation?"

Sophie blinked, she supposed this woman was one of Livia's friends. "...He said this guy" she pointed to Erza. "Is Tahra's brother...". Sahara blinked and frowned as Sophie went back to staring out over the lake. "...Uh, thanks, I guess..." she scratched the back of her neck. Everyone had a rough day...and given the fact that woman looked a lot like the dragon her team had shot down... Sahara sighed and looked to Livia. "...I'm guessing that on is related to the little one...so...her dad and...whoever that other dragon was...". Dead, they were both dead. Talk about a rough day.

 

[pyreshadow]

Livia Hayes, Tahra Casey, and Kaito Iwasa​

It was fairly annoying to hear her father offered compensation like that to bring her in alive; it made Livia wonder what other types of bribes were being told to the other hunters in order to do the same. When one team had a mission, most others knew about it and it was a game of who got to it first. It made her tsk slightly and gave her that much more reason to find out the truth. There had to be a reason why he wanted her back so badly, a real reason. She'd find out what it was too, even if she had to go through hell and back. "They're all tough little shits. The kid is no different than the rest of them when it came to how he was treated in captivity, or at least from what I've seen that's the case." They all suffered badly for no real reason other than getting information. It was like they were back in the medieval times or something with how barbaric the organization was becoming. The question of where to go only caused her to sigh and shrug her shoulders. "It'd be something we need to talk about with the rest of them. So until Tahra wakes up and Kaito is recovered, there isn't much we can do and no where to go."

Although when Niko growled towards them after the male redhead was mentioned, Livia's eyes went to look him over again. She still wasn't quite sure how they managed to get to him but she was sure of one thing: whatever he went through was severe enough to break his spirit as much as it had to have broken his body over time. There was absolutely no way a dragon would willingly help the hunters, Livia didn't believe it was true. Not without some kind of control over the creature. When Sophie finally gave an explanation of Niko's growls, Livia looked from her to the redhead male and back again with slight surprise. Well this just kept getting more messed up by the minute. "Sophie is always like that to me, so you might receive the same kind of treatment. The others are nice enough but she still detests me on even good days." Another shrug of her shoulders came before she thought back to the older air dragon. "The other dragon that was shot down, there were actually two. Marnie and Maria, her younger sister and mother respectively. The two were together when the first dragon was shot down." Which meant, based on what Sahara said, Micah was Sophie's only family left.

A quiet groan escaped Tahra's lips as she curled herself into a ball at first before stretching her body out as far as it could go. She was still more than just a bit tired but sleep wasn't coming easy to her right now. There was some noise nearby and...the second she really thought about it, thoughts of her brother came rushing to the forefront of her mind. Her eye shot open, back to its normal green color though it held the surprise she still felt. "Niko?" She could tell instantly that she was within Niko's legs based on the scales coloring. Despite how she wanted to say more to the dragon in front of her, she shifted upright so she could look around and see if maybe her wish had been granted. If Ezra really was here. The moment her eye landed on him, she practically jumped out of Niko's warm protective hold and went straight for the clothes first. As much as she wanted to see her brother, wandering around naked wasn't going to happen. Some shorts and a cami were thrown on as she made her way over to where Ezra was. Her body sort of collapsed next to him as her hand reached out carefully to touch his face. This was without any doubts now her brother. She could feel tears brimming at the edges of her eyes as she thought about what kinds of things he must have gone through.

"He isn't your brother right now, Tahra." The redhead snapped her gaze towards Livia, who had a solemn look on her face. "Whatever he went through, there's no way he'd willingly help the hunters. Just...be wary of getting too close to him until we can figure out what's wrong." As much as Tahra didn't want to listen, she knew it was a high chance that the former hunter was right. The hand still against his cheek slowly lifted and hovered down his body. As it did so, different types of vines sprouted up from the ground and tightened a hold around him. At least if anything, when he woke he'd have a hard time getting out of that. She didn't say anything though, just wiped at her eyes and sat watching Ezra. Livia kept her eyes on her for another moment before her attention went to Niko. "Are you going to shift too? We do need to talk about what we're doing now. Or really as soon as Kaito is available."

"We can discuss it now, I can hear you just fine." Kaito's voice seemed to echo around them, the water's surface rippling slightly as he spoke. He wanted nothing more than to go to sleep honestly but that wouldn't do them any good. So he was keeping himself awake for now so he could focus on healing himself faster.

 

[StarryKnights]

Niko Medina, Sophie Stolts and Sahara Cephres​

Sahara paled. "...I..thought I saw a smaller dragon on its back...I was just hoping I was imagining things..." Sahara sighed. "Jesus...a kid...we...killed a kid..." she shook her head. "And for what...?" She looked to Sophie and Micah and then back to Livia. "What is the fucking point of all of this...?" She imagined Livia didn't know, and was seeking the answers to those question. "...Whatever it is, it isn't worth this kind of heartache...". As she spoke, soft sniffles could be heard, coming from Sophie's direction.
When Tahra awoke, Niko perked up, and moved his legs so that she could move. "Easy Tahra" he spoke softly as she bolted upright. She seemed to be back to normal, though Niko felt she still needed to rest some. However, she was worried about her brother, as soon as she saw him, she bolted to get dressed, and then to Erza's side.
Niko stood and lumbered over, his weight left deep footprints in the sand as he laid back down, beside Tahra and Erza.

"Livia is right Tahra...he's...definitely not himself". Niko could only imagine what sort of torture the wyvern had gone through to break him so thoroughly. He hadn't seemed to recognize his own sister... Niko sighed and rested his head on his paws. What were they going to do now? Ideally, rest some, but they couldn't afford to remain in one place for ling. The hunters would be out looking for them as soon as they had a chance to regroup and analyze their losses. He imagined they had to be pissed that their pet dragon had been taken. The thought brought Niko back to the fight, mainly, the hunter who had ridden in with Erza. He'd called Tara something... "Aria...". The fire dragon looked to Tahra, curiosity shone in his eyes, behind the exhaustion. Niko was emotionally drained, not so much physically. "...That man called you Aria...". He figured when Tahra had changed her name at some point to hide her tacks, which was a common thing to do. Niko chuckled, a little puff of smoke billowed up from his nostrils as he stretched. "It's a cute name, but I think Tahra suits you better". he nuzzled the woman affectionately, as she wiped at her eyes. "it'll be alright Tahra...whatever they did...we'll do out best to undo" He wished he could. More than anything, he was just happy she was okay.

He looked to Livia as she spoke to him, and huffed. "But I'm coooomfy" he whined with a definite pout. "...Just shift Niko...its annoying to have to translate for you". Sophie looked to the fire dragon, her tone betrayed little emotion, she just sounded exhausted. Mentally, physically, spirituality, the air dragon was just exhausted. Niko cast the air dragon a look, but seeing how tired she was, he relented. "Alright, alright" he grumbled as he stood, he stretched, and then the red haze appeared over his body. When it cleared, Niko was standing there, naked, still stretching. "Alright, happy now" he asked, looking to Sophie. He'd been expecting some sort of reaction to him standing there naked, but Sophie just blinked. "...Thank you...". Sophie said softly, looking back over the lake. Niko frowned, grumbling about how Sophie was being no fun.
After getting dressed, he sat beside Tahra and looped an arm around her shoulders. "Alright, any ideas where we should be going...Kaito...?"
He looked to the lake, knowing full well he could hear them. "Any ideas?"

 

[pyreshadow]

Livia Hayes, Tahra Casey, and Kaito Iwasa​

Livia shifted slightly where she sat so she could be a bit more comfortable, moving to sit cross-legged and resting back a bit with her hands keeping her upright. Her gaze stayed between Tahra and Niko more so when the dragon mentioned Tahra having another name. It caused the redhead to look rather unnerved for a brief moment before her gaze moved to settle against the ground. Her mouth opened like she was going to say something about it but it closed after a couple of seconds of silence. Aria was the name she had been given by her parents; it was also the person that she used to be, someone that was killed the day she lost her brother. The thought of bringing up the past like that was not something she wanted to do, especially not in front of everyone present. It made sense now why that hunter knew her former name; they had Ezra the whole time and likely got a fair amount of information out of him. If he cracked. A part of her was hoping he wouldn't have given any information to them but with how he was now she couldn't be sure. A meek smile spread across her lips from Niko's words and nuzzling.

"Thank you, Niko." She doubted they'd be able to do much of anything while they were out in the middle of no where but it was still encouraging in some way to hear. Her gaze darted over towards Livia when the woman brought up what they might be doing next. A small sigh left her lips before she turned to face the others. As she did so, she brought a hand up to lightly smack herself against the cheek. Now wasn't the time to be having a pity party, they needed to focus so that they could get somewhere safe...well, safer. Sophie's grumpiness could be felt even with her tone and it caused Tahra to give a mock look of surprise. The girl had multiple personalities, that much was obvious at this point. Her family had just been taken but they all suffered loss here; there wasn't a need to get snooty with one another, not that Tahra would say that out loud. Or maybe she was just overthinking things right now. There was still a bit of anger in her heart that she couldn't quite place why it wouldn't go away.

Once Niko finally shifted and got dressed, there seemed to be a small hum reverberating throughout the water. "Perhaps we could just go east for the time being. Make our way to the ocean and see about getting off this continent." It was a suggestion he had been meaning to make for a little while now but it seemed more relevant after the events of the day.

"Oh that's bloody brilliant, make your way to a vast empty sea with no place to hide. The hunters' have many resources; the moment they know you've taken to the waters, they'll send out battleships after you." Livia spoke up, already thinking about how it would end up if they were to be caught on. She wasn't intentionally trying to down the idea, she was just thinking in the perspective of the hunter so they would all be aware of what was happening. Although...she glanced to the side for a moment as she recalled something she'd heard from one of her father's meetings before.

"It might be worth the risk though. An entire ocean means water, which means Kaito can control it at his whim. The hunters wouldn't really be able to do much if all of a sudden a sea wave comes to destroy the ships." Tahra added quietly, not quite sounding like herself as her voice held the stress and tiredness the day brought. It was also still very raspy, not that she knew what it was from.

"Well...have any of you heard about Corryn Island?" Livia asked suddenly, looking between the dragons before settling on the water. It was a fairly unheard of island in the middle of the ocean, not much was known about it except it was ironically in the shape of a spider. The land had been uninhabitable due to the dense foliage and wild creatures residing there. It was unmarked on the map but the hunters knew about it as they had first thought it was a hideout for some dragon kind. After several attempts to get there, they found it without dragons and far too dangerous to set up any sort of base there. So it was left alone, which meant it could be a good place to head to for the time being.