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| Topic Started: 11 Jun 2025, 14:06 (33348 Views) | |
| NightLightNadderWhip | 11 Jun 2025, 14:06 Post #81 |
Night Fury, Light Fury, Deadly Nadder, Razorwhip hybrid
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The boy glowered at him with cold eyes, his mouth forming a tight line. They weren't that threatening. Especially the white-haired weirdo. But he wasn't stupid. Making a run for it while trapped in this cave would almost certainly lead to injury and recapture. He supposed he could try to get to the other side where an even slimmer crevice led to another exit. He knew this cave. They didn't. He could make it even in the dark, and he had a suspicion they might not be able to squeeze in after him. However, they were stronger and faster than he was, and they'd probably snatch him the second he broke free. Best to wait for the opportune moment. He huffed. "Let go of me, and I'll show you." This time when he yanked away from Gojo, the man let him loose. "They're not gonna be happy, you know." He looked up at the two Smokebreaths clinging to the ceiling. If he told them to, they would attack the strangers and give him an opening to escape, but he didn't know what that would mean for them. Instead he raised his hands and signaled for them to come. Then dove down beside him, and that's when Gojo realized one of them was still holding his glasses in its mouth. "Hey, that's mine!" He began to reach out, but the Smokebreath jumped into a warning position, back arched, and snarled at him. The boy couldn't help smirking slightly. Then he knelt down and scratched the dragon under the chin while speaking to Gojo. "You don't want to get between him and his toy." The dragon was enjoying the scratches and his jaw slacked, so the boy picked up a piece of scrap metal off the ground, slipped the glasses out of his mouth, and replaced them with that. He stood and handed them back to Gojo then wiped the slobber off on his pant leg and turned around. He lead them further into the cave behind a fairly large stalagmite formation. A little lantern sat on the ground and illuminated the immediate area. The confiscated satchels and saddlebags had been dumped out and neat little piles of items had been arranged. There were also weapons lined up. They poked out of scabbards—or a cloth covering the actual metal in the case of the shiny mace—to make it less tempting for the Smokebreaths. The boy glanced at the two men behind him, trying to gauge their thoughts. The white haired man's face was twisted in a slight grin, as if he were amused. Then again, that's how he always seemed to look. His dark-haired companion seemed more like the type to get angry, so the boy turned his attention to him. |
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| Dragonrider's Fury | 13 Jun 2025, 02:33 Post #82 |
Skrill
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Javon took the scene in quickly and silently, marking especially how expertly-placed the lantern was to cast no light that could be seen from the first cavern. Whoever this boy was, he didn't want anyone to find him; that much was plain. That or he was being extremely considerate of the nonexistent Night Terrors that lived in the main cave, the snarky corner of the Dragon Rider's mind said. He silently told it to shut up, then glanced again over the arrayed items, jaw muscles working behind tightly closed lips. "So..." he began slowly, "the Smokebreaths didn't just steal the others' things. You had them take them, for yourself." They were statements, simple observations of evident fact, not questions. The viking's steel-blue gaze, not blazing with full, unbridled anger, but still smoldering, snapped to the young lad's face. "Why?" Then, in afterthought, taking on a more distant expression briefly, he added in a softer tone, "And how? I didn't think Smothering Smokebreaths could be trained*." He glanced at Gojo out of the corner of his eye, then, businesslike again, went on, "You can answer that while we work on packing this back up and returning it to its owners. This little mission has taken far longer than it was supposed to, and I'm sure Fishlegs is wondering by now. Plus I'm hungry. I hope we put enough fish to roasting." *I know the wiki says they're trainable, but we see no evidence of this in canon, so in my headcanon, the Berk Dragon Academy considers them untrainable. |
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| NightLightNadderWhip | 14 Jun 2025, 00:14 Post #83 |
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Night Fury, Light Fury, Deadly Nadder, Razorwhip hybrid
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“Ah,” Gojo waved a hand dismissively. “I’m sure Fishlegs will forget his concern once he meets some tame Smokebreaths.” He took a few steps forward and ruffled the boy’s hair. “You’ve got a good head on your shoulders, kid.” The boy swatted at him and ducked out of reach. “Stop doing that!” The Smokebreath that had confiscated Gojo’s glasses wrapped its tail around the boy’s ankle and growled at Gojo, but the lanky man ignored it, instead kneeling and grabbing a satchel. He looked up at Javon. “I say we just stuff ‘em full and let the owners sort it out later.” He turned his gaze to the kid. “You may as well help since you dumped it all out.” He scowled. He had been hoping to get them distracted with that while he slipped away. “Aw, what? Feeling lazy?” The boy didn’t respond and knelt down to help because clearly there was no way around it. Maybe he should’ve made a break for it earlier. . . . “Sooo, Javon asked you some questions,” Gojo prompted. He started grabbing things and stuffing them in the satchel. The boy said nothing for a few moments as he packed. He wanted to keep up the silent treatment, but that probably wasn’t a smart idea. If Javon didn’t threaten it out of him, Gojo would surely annoy it out. Besides, it didn’t matter if he told. He just felt like being petty. “Yeah, I trained them to steal stuff for me. I’m just trying to survive. Oh, by the way, the helmets could be anywhere. They’re useless to me, so I let the dragons have them.” “You don’t wanna wear one?” Gojo smirked. “I think it’d look great on you.” The boy replied with a deadpan glare. No. He did not want a hat. That message needed to sink in. Once he figured that nuisance understood, he continued. “As for how,” he shrugged slightly, “Gained their trust by helping them hunt—” “Hellooo?” the voice of a certain nut by the name of Ruff echoed throughout the cave, making the youngster jump. “Smokey, Smokey, Smokebreaths! It’s your ol’ buddy, Tuffnut!” The boy tried to peek at the source, but he couldn't see anything. “Who—?” “Oh. That’s just Dumb and Dumber.” Gojo buckled the first satchel shut and looked at Javon. “Should we just let them wander? Or, no, we can make them carry the bags out!” |
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| Dragonrider's Fury | 17 Jun 2025, 20:13 Post #84 |
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Skrill
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"I'm sure," the dark-haired viking replied. "But until he does, he'll be going crazy, so let's get a move on." He knelt and followed the taller man's example, and the spiky-haired lad soon joined them. Javon frowned thoughtfully as the boy spoke. At least the kid was honest when confronted, but training dragons to steal from others? That rubbed him in all the wrong ways. Sure, survival was a need, but what was a young lad doing out here where he had such a need to begin with? Surely, if he was shipwrecked, there were other people shipwrecked with him. The viking didn't believe the blue-eyed youngster could be older than thirteen summers, and no one that age had any business solo-piloting a craft this far out in the middle of nowhere. He was about to ask about it when the twin numskulls' voices penetrated the chamber. He scowled. Great. His satchel full, Javon buckled it before nodding at Gojo's suggestion. "Sounds good to me." His tone said he really wanted nothing to do with those two at the moment. Ah well, at least once the stolen helmets had been collected, he and his dragon could leave them, their two-headed disaster, and their collective maybe-quarter of a brain in the dust. Assuming Firelash was fit to fly. If looks could burn, he, Gojo, and Mystery Kid would have been shortly standing in the middle of an active lava flow. As things were, the young man got up from the cave floor, walked back to the main chamber, and unceremoniously tossed the satchel at the first Nut he saw, saying only, "Go." He then slipped through the exit tunnel, and, after pausing just long enough to caress the Fiery One's snout, cast about for a stick that would make a good torch handle. He found one before long, but promptly realized he had nothing to hold the Monstrous Nightmare gel he hoped he could convince his dragon to provide as fuel. Plain wood wouldn't keep burning long enough, and a Nightmare gel-covered stick could burn to ash within seconds. Growling under his breath, he walked back to find Gojo and the crow-haired boy. "Either of you got some spare fabric? Ideally heavy? We're going to need some light to find those helmets. And one lantern doesn't split three ways." An immensely irritating --at that moment-- part of his brain corrected that to "five ways". He ignored it. |
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| NightLightNadderWhip | 17 Jun 2025, 23:15 Post #85 |
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Night Fury, Light Fury, Deadly Nadder, Razorwhip hybrid
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Gojo had piled his and the kid's satchels into Tuffnut's arms and was spinning him around towards the exit. The Nut was calling out his protests, asking who the little ankle biter was, and immediately pinning him the new culprit. Since he wasn't getting a move on, Gojo took pleasure in kicking him in the butt. "Hey!" he yelped. "The audacity it takes to—" Gojo's laugh cut him off. "Just go!" He shoved the him in the back with his shoulder this time, and finally, with a scowl, Tuffnut got going. "I've got my eye on you!" he called his warning to the young boy. "My good eye! Don't think you can escape Thorston & Thorston, Sleuths Extraordinaire!" Then he turned up his nose and stalked off. "Freak," the boy muttered under his breath before looking at Javon. "I have a couple strips stored up. Let me get them." He turned around, about to head back, when a hand on his shoulder stopped him. "I'll come with you." Gojo. Why? Why did that pest have to tag along? He was probably just being extra cautious. After all, they still had no reason to trust each other. But it made him worry the man could somehow read his mind. Had his tone unconsciously changed? It would've been the perfect time to escape if Gojo didn't insist on coming. But it wasn't like there was anything he could really do about it. Denying his request would just cast suspicion. "Whatever," he huffed and headed on his way with Gojo at his heels. When the others were out of sight, Gojo spoke up. "So, what'd you say your name was?" "I didn't." "Hm, what is it?" "Why do you care?" "I'd like to know how to address you. Unless you want me to call you Spike." The boy sighed. Really, how could it hurt? Unless these people were bounty hunters. But they didn't really seem like the type. However, better safe than sorry. "Why did you come here, anyway?" "Just a pit stop on our way to check up on some friends." He nodded. He was pretty far from home. These people probably had no idea who he was. But the weird thing was Gojo. That name was too familiar. He didn't know why someone who bore it would be here. Unless . . . "If I tell you my name, will you tell me your first name?" Gojo raised his eyebrows. So the kid knew it was a surname. People around here weren't aware of that unless he told them. Things were starting to get interesting. "Satoru." The kid had heard that name many times in passing. It was a subject his masters found greatly amusing. Satoru, the exiled Gojo clan prodigy. Well, that was good to know, at least. The guy had nothing to do with his hometown. And now it was time to hold up his end of the deal. "Hm. I'm Fushiguro." That was met with a stretch of silence so long that the kid looked back to see if Gojo had turned to stone or something. He hadn't. He was still walking behind him. But the expression on his face was distant. "You're the one who wanted to know," he muttered and looked where he was going again. The comment must've snapped Gojo back to his senses. "What's your first name?" he asked. The kid scowled. "Megumi." "Megumi?" He could hear the grin in Gojo's voice. But that's—" "Call me Fushiguro," he snapped. "Okay, okay." Gojo put his hands up in surrender. But by the tone of his voice, the boy knew he was going to hear the name "Megumi" a lot more than he wanted to from now on. They got back to his little stockpile room, and Megumi grabbed his plundered strips of cloth. Then, they walked back to Javon in silence. However, the moment the other man was in sight, much to the kid's chagrin, Gojo yelled, "Megumi's got 'em!" "Fushiguro," the boy corrected through a sigh. Last edited by NightLightNadderWhip on 20 Jun 2025, 03:41, edited 1 time in total.
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| Dragonrider's Fury | 20 Jun 2025, 03:25 Post #86 |
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Skrill
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"Megumi?" Javon raised an eyebrow. Strange name. But then, he was a rather strange kid, so that tracked. The viking shook his head. "Whatever. Thanks, Megumi." He took the cloth and exited the cave once more. Upon emerging into the now-slightly-westering sunlight, he turned to where his dragon still guarded the entrance. "How are you feeling, Firelash? Think you can get me to some water?" From the dragon's stiff movements, his rider guessed the answer to the first question was "Sore", but the Nightmare crouched to let him mount. Before he assumed his accustomed position astride the great neck, the young man rested his hand across the dragon's nasal ridge and looked him earnestly in the eyes. "Please don't hurt yourself, Firelash. Take it easy, and if you feel you could use a break, take one." He quickly embraced the scaly snout, then took his seat. The fiery beast stretched and shook out sore muscles, then with a short running leap, took to the air. It wasn't a long flight to the nearest watercourse, but Javon could tell his dragon was glad when he could rest his wings again. The viking gave the Nightmare a few words of praise and encouragement, then dismounted and made his way to the water. He thoroughly soaked the stick and material, then wrapped the latter many times around one end of the former. That done, he dipped the assembly into the water once more, then returned to his dragon. "Okay, Firelash," the dragon rider began. "Would you mind sharing some of your gel? This torch isn't going to do anyone any good without some fuel, and" he hesitantly half-grinned, looking rather sheepish, "I was kinda counting on you to provide it. If you'd rather not, though, that's fine. I, uh, I guess I'll... find something else." Firelash rumbled softly and flicked one fork of his tongue across his rider's cheek. He was always happy to share anything with his human. He gently closed his jaws around the would-be torch end and rolled it around in his mouth until it was well-covered with his saliva, then gave it back to his rider. "Thanks, Firelash. I appreciate that," the young man smiled. "So, ready to head back to the others?" The Nightmare crouched again, and one more short flight landed the two of them next to the now-familiar opening into the cliff. Javon slipped off the dragon's neck, and giving him a farewell pat and jaw scratch, made to once again enter the cave. Before he could, though, his dragon quickly ignited the torch for him. With a soft smile and "Thank you", he rejoined Gojo and Mys- er, Megumi. "Alright, let's see about those helmets, guys." He raised his voice. "Ruff, Tuff, come on!" Time alone with just his dragon always improved the viking's mood. "If you two" he looked at Gojo and Megumi, "want to take the lantern and one of the twins, I'll use this and take the other. This shouldn't take too long, right?" |
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| NightLightNadderWhip | 20 Jun 2025, 13:44 Post #87 |
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Night Fury, Light Fury, Deadly Nadder, Razorwhip hybrid
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"Piece of cake," Gojo agreed and held up the smallest of the three missing helmets for Javon to see. "Tripped on this when I came in and decided to look for it while you were gone." He set it on top of Megumi's head and clapped his hands together. "All right! Ummm, Ruff, come with us." He decided to spare the poor boy from all Tuffnut's accusations. The twins looked at each other. "Whoever finds the least has to do the others' dirty laundry for a week," Ruffnut challenged. "Oh, you're on, sister!" They broke apart, running in opposite directions. Ruffnut snatched Gojo by the wrist and dragged him along with her. Megumi, sitting on the ground with his knees drawn up and his back against a stalagmite, watched with a blank expression for a moment before calling out: "I might know how to make it faster." The twins did complete 180s and came running back to Megumi. Once they stopped in front of him, Gojo ripped his arm out of Ruffnut's grip, and the twins leaned in close to the boy. "What is it, thief? Spit it out!" exclaimed Tuffnut. "Why would say anything, you muttonhead? We could've had the advantage!" Ruffnut complained. She shoved her brother and stepped in front of him, grabbing Megumi by the shoulders. "Let's get out of here, and then you can talk." Megumi took Fishlegs's helmet off his head, threw it at her, and tore himself away, running behind Gojo because, somehow, that felt like the safest option right now. "I don't care about your stupid bet!" he snapped. His Smokebreaths obviously didn't like the atmosphere. The darker one arched its back and snarled at Ruffnut while the lighter one snapped its jaws at her but quickly whimpered and backed against the stalagmite. "Why, you little—" Ruffnut began to approach Megumi, reaching out with her fingers arched as claws. "Oh, cut it out," Gojo interrupted. "As much as I love a good competition, we just need to find the helmets right now. Doesn't matter who finds them." "You're just saying that because you already found one, which automatically makes you a winner," Tuffnut huffed. Gojo flashed him a cocky grin. Perhaps he was right. "Let the kid talk." "Kuro and Shiro." Megumi pointed at the Smokebreaths. "We each take one with us. Let them smell the twins—" "Aw, don't abuse the poor things," Gojo cut in. Megumi ignored him. "—Then have them sniff out the helmets." |
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| Dragonrider's Fury | 26 Jun 2025, 21:20 Post #88 |
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Skrill
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Javon watched the whole exchange from where he stood a short distance away, a bemused expression on his face. He supposed he should be used to the twinsanity by now, but somehow never was. "They can do that?" he asked Megumi. "Interesting. I guess I've never given much thought to their sense of smell. Worth a shot, I guess; the sooner we can get back to Fishlegs, the happier we'll all be." His stomach growled in timely assent, and he grinned. "Go ahead and call them over." |
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| NightLightNadderWhip | 07 Jul 2025, 21:35 Post #89 |
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Night Fury, Light Fury, Deadly Nadder, Razorwhip hybrid
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Megumi let out a low whistle, and the Smokebreaths flapped over to him. He knelt down and fondled them for a couple moments before picking them up, one dangling from each arm, and setting one in front of each twin. The dark one, Kuro, he paired with Tuffnut, and Shiro was set in front of Ruffnut. "Track!" he commanded. Kuro glowered up at Tuffnut, then upon command, he leapt at the long-haired man's ankle and latched on with his jaws. Tuffnut howled and hopped on his good foot, trying to kick the little dragon loose, but his grip remained strong. Megumi looked away from the chaos and pulled his tunic up over his mouth to hide a slight smirk. That idiot would be fine. He turned his attention to Shiro, who was hovering above Ruffnut's head and delicately sniffing while she doubled over in laughter. Gojo too, he noticed, had broken into a fit of giggles. How mature. "Get it off! Get it off!" Tuffnut screamed. Megumi side-eyed Kuro. "Stop eating him. You're supposed to be sniffing." Kuro dropped to the ground, sniffed the air a couple times, wiggled his rear end, and jumped into the air, roaring in Tuffnut's face before flapping off. Meanwhile, Shiro was scurrying around with his nose to the ground. He seemed to pick up a scent because his tail began wagging from side to side, and he scuttled away in the opposite direction. Megumi glanced over at Gojo and Ruffnut. Those two boneheads were just now getting their last giggles out. He began following his dragon on his own. If they cared, they'd catch up. Gojo wiped tears out of the corners of his eyes, and that's when he realized Megumi was leaving them. "Hey!" he exclaimed and lightly slapped Ruffnut on the arm to get her attention. In a few long strides he had caught up to the boy, Ruffnut tagging along behind. Shiro led them into a new room. This cavern was notably more chaotic-looking than the other two they'd been in, and it was also much brighter—a large crack in the ceiling filtered light into the area. Metal items were strewn across the entire floor and stacked in piles. "These little guys are real hoarders," Gojo remarked. "This is where they like to drop stuff after a hunt if they're not bringing anything back for me," explained Megumi as he climbed over a pile to follow his dragon. "Actually, we might want to hurry. They've been gone quite a while, and they don't like me being in here." So, what the kid meant was that if they came back to find them in there, they'd get swarmed by a bunch of angry smoke clouds. Eh, shouldn't be that much trouble. Shiro continued sniffing around until he perked up and flew to the top of a pile that was tall enough to go over their heads. He wrapped his talons around the horns of Ruffnut's helmet and flew back to Megumi, dropping the prize into his hands and perching on his shoulder. "Good boy." Megumi scratched him under the chin with one hand and held out the helmet to Ruffnut. She snatched it and placed it back on her head. "Thank Thor! I don't feel bald anymore!" Gojo laughed. "I think we're all glad we never had to see you bald." "Oh, what? You don't think I'd be beautiful without my luscious hair?" she snapped. "I don't think you're all that—" The light was suddenly blotted out as a smoke cloud slithered through the crack in the ceiling and descended on them. "Now it's time to run." Megumi started wading through the sea of metal back towards the exit. Ruffnut was already ahead of him, making a huge racket as she ran, one hand on top of her helmet and screaming: "You're not stealing it again!" Which, of course, just attracted the attention of the little dragons, and the cloud started barreling towards them. Okay, so, maybe this wouldn't be quite as easy as Gojo had expected. Ruffnut would be fine, he decided. She was ahead of them anyway. But the kid couldn't push through this junk so easily. He thought about drawing his sword to protect them, but it'd probably just get ripped from his grasp and lost if he did. Besides, no need to give Megumi another reason to hate him. If only he'd adopted the wrapped blade technique like his former classmate Nanami. Oh well. Seemed liked they only had one real option. He snatched Megumi up under the arms and tossed him over his shoulder before taking off after Ruffnut. "Hey!" Megumi protested, but he didn't fight. However, the dragons had the drop on them. It was only seconds before they were engulfed in smoke. _______________________________________________________________________________ (Sorry that took forever. Life is hectic.  Also, if you need to take control of Kuro for your next part, go right ahead.)
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| Dragonrider's Fury | 29 Jul 2025, 02:25 Post #90 |
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Skrill
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Javon smirked as he watched Tuffnut dance about with the little dragon attached to his leg. It was a very Thorston sight. Finally, though, the dark dragon let go and began to fly off. "Come on, Tuffnut! Time to move. Unless you want to be stuck doing Ruff's laundry." That remark got the Thorston moving, and the two set off after the Smokebreath. It led them through a maze of tunnels and caverns at such a pace that by the time it came to rest in front of a depression in the floor, packed with all manner of metal objects --some loose, some welded together, some evidently re-welded so many times that their original form was indistinguishable-- and various chunks of the reddish stone that much of the cave was made of, the dark-haired viking had lost all sense of direction and where they were. He thought he maybe heard the others' voices, but even if he did, there was no telling where they came from; sound traveled far and unpredictably in caves. In the glow of the torch, Tuffnut's helmet gleamed temptingly beyond the little dragon, but Javon didn't know how to get it. He was sure trying to reach out and take it would net him only a painful set of tooth-marks in his hand, arm, or face; the Smokebreath didn't look to be in a sharing mood. He began to brainstorm other ideas, but never got much of anywhere. Tuffnut, seeing his helmet, charged forward, past the arm the other viking had extended to warn him against any such rash action (which, in hindsight, should have been expected), and pounced on it, loudly decrying the thieves which kidnapped his consummate epitome of functional fashion, or some such nonsense. Predictably, the dark dragon --Kirro, was it?-- leapt into the blond man's face with a hissing screech of fury, sinking teeth and talons into his nose and vest-clad shoulders, and amid the cries of "Oh, I am hurt! I am very much- OW! Why is it always the nose?!? Ow ow ow ow ow!! Thieving men- Youch!! Get it off get it off get it off!!! OW!!!", the helmet clattered back to the floor. The Zippleback rider shortly followed suit, and small, loose metal items from the shallow pit went everywhere. Javon pinched the bridge of his nose and shook his head. That... Nut could somehow find a way to create an althing-full of problems locked in a completely empty arena. They needed solutions, now; not new problems. Yet new problems they had. Another screech from the Smokebreath echoed through the cavern, and just as it had begun to die away entirely, was suddenly reechoed and reechoed again more loudly, in precisely the opposite way echoes faded. The viking froze momentarily, confused and wondering. Louder again the call came, and with it a noise that sounded first like a gentle wind, then like heavy rain, then like what it was: wingbeats. Many wingbeats of small, smoky wings. The flock had returned, either of its own accord, or called by the dark dragon still fastened to Tuffnut's face. The dark-haired viking's eyes began to itch, then smart, as the dragons' smoke-veil slowly spread and settled throughout the cave. They needed to get out, and quickly. But how? He had little confidence he could find the route back to the exit, and even if he could, Tuffnut surely would not leave without his helmet, and the Smokebreath wouldn't let them take it. Then, suddenly, the scene from... earlier (just how long ago, he didn't know) flashed into his head: Megumi saying "You don't want to get between him and his toy," scratching under the little dragon's chin, then replacing Gojo's goggles with another scrap of metal, and Kurri (or whatever its name was) accepting the trade and paying the glasses no more mind. Maybe a trade would work here, too? Javon considered what he could offer. He guessed the metal oddments scattered from the depression were out; they were already the Smokebreath's, and he didn't want a repeat of what had happened to Tuffnut (who was, by now, carefully backing away from the hollow and glaring daggers between the helmet and the dragon, who was beginning to regather the scattered steel while its baleful, glowing-yellow eyes tracked the Thorston). He looked around, shifting his arm to move the torch, and as he did, a Clink from his throwing-knife pouch gave him the answer. A jerk of his head gestured Tuffnut over, and he handed the blond man the torch. "Stay there, and don't move, okay? I've got an idea, and if it works, we'll get out of here with your helmet, and without the whole flock trying to eat us." The Thorston protested, but thankfully, complied. Javon then stepped within arm's-reach of the helmet, but didn't move to touch it. Instead, he withdrew one knife, and threw it so it clattered against the nearest wall. This, as the viking intended, got the Smokebreath's attention, and Kuro flapped over to investigate. The dark-haired man withdrew four more knives and held them out to the dark dragon, while at the same time crouching down to place a hand on the helmet. Kuro began to hiss, but as he made no further move to take it, soon settled down. So far so good. The Smokebreath drew nearer, and the viking slowly stretched his right arm toward it while at the same time drawing the helmet closer with his left. The dragon looked curious, perhaps slightly confused, but not angry. It came a few steps nearer, and, closing its teeth on the knives, tried to pull them free. The Nightmare rider did not at once relinquish his grip on them; the Smokebreath needed to understand that this was a trade. He clanked the helmet against the floor, then as the yellow gaze fastened on it again, began to slowly lift it while loosening his grasp on the weapons. Finally, as he fully held the helmet and no longer held the knives, the trade was done. The dark little Smokebreath scampered off to add the blades to its collection in the shallow pit, and he handed the helmet to its owner and took back the torch, ignoring the unhelpful stream of words pouring from Tuffnut's mouth. One problem solved; now how were they getting out of here? Megumi's "Track!" seemed to echo through Javon's mind. If they had anything the dragon could track, that might be helpful, but did they? No, the twins had taken the satchels, the only thing the kid had handled recently, out; his lantern was still with Gojo, Ruff, and he. As for himself and Tuffnut, all their equipment and clothes were their own; no good trying to have Kirri track from any of those. Wait a minute... Clothes! "Cloths!!" Tuffnut started at the abrupt outburst, then looked even more confused than usual. "Uh, yeah, cloths are... great, but I don't exactly have any on me right now. And even if I did, I don't see how they'd help us right here. And now. I mean, if-" Javon cut him off. "No, no, not you! Me!" "You? Uh, are you even trying to make sense right now? Because I'm an expert at making sense of the senseless, --like my sister, for instance-- or senselessness of the sensible --like Fishlegs,-- but even I can't follow your lead here... Which isn't actually surprising, seeing as you're not actually going anywhere, and aren't even turning into a cloth." He grinned, and rubbed his hands together. "But OH! What Lokiish mayhem that would be. I can just imagine..." He trailed off, eyes glazing over. Javon excitedly went on, regardless. "These cloths! On the torch! Megumi handed them to me, so his scent will be on them! So we can have Kirro track him from-" "Yeah, that would be great, have the little thief track the scent of soot-charred cloth," Tuffnut cut in, gesturing to the torch. "And how are you going to put that out? Wait, I know! You're going to eat the fire, like my great grand-uncle Vignar the thrice-removed could, right? As he would say..." Javon looked at the torch again, ignoring the rest of the Thorston's spiel, and his face fell. Sure enough, the outer layer of cloth was by now completely charred to a crisp, and even if it wasn't, he didn't have any way to extinguish the fire so the dragon could get the kid's scent from the unburned part. Great, just great. He sighed, beginning to feel a sense of despondency. Sure, the Smokebreath would have to leave to hunt at some point, and they could maybe follow it out when it did, but who knew when that would be? In the meantime, Fishlegs would be going frantic, as would the others, and they wouldn't get anything to eat. Thoughts of the neatly-skewered fish roasting by the fire seemed to fill his mind, not doing his mood any favors. The fish his dragon had so helpfully caught for them... His dragon. "Oh, Firelash..." he muttered under his breath, wishing he could just call the Monstrous Nightmare over to pluck them out of this nightmarish red-stone prison lit only by red-orange torchlight. Of course, that was impossible; even if the Nightmare could get into the cave, there wasn't enough room for him to spread his wings here, and from the young man's observations, dragons did not go where they couldn't, not willingly. A particularly loud exclamation from Tuffnut pulled the dark-haired viking out of his equally-dark reverie long enough to hear " 'And that, m'lad, is why different flames must be smelt with caution!' Hah! What a jokester that man was! And then, to top it off, he would say..." Did that Nut ever run out of nonsense to spout off? Then, suddenly, it was as if a spark roared to blazing life in Javon's mind. His dragon! Smelt flames! "That's it, Tuff! You've got it! Or, we've got it!" The blond man broke off his monologue, saying only "Er..." and looking confused again. Which the Nightmare rider could hardly fault, after the previous incident. "Just follow me on this, would ya? I have a crazy idea, but it's worth a shot!" "Well, crazy is good. I'm in!" Javon flashed him a perhaps slightly-deranged grin, and whistled to call the Smokebreath over. It placed the last tankard on its pile, then scampered up, curious. Javon, moving slowly, laid the torch so the end with the burning Nightmare gel-covered damp cloth layers was just in front of the dark little dragon. Then, doing his best to imitate Megumi's inflection, commanded, "Track!" Kuro cautiously took a few sniffs, then with a roar and that little butt-wiggle, took off. Javon snatched the torch up and followed. Would it really work? He almost didn't dare believe it, but desperately hoped so. Sure enough, after another high-speed chase, Javon saw a familiar irregular crack of daylight, and uttering a wordless exclamation of joy, dashed through it as quickly as he could, throwing the still-burning torch on the cave floor behind him without even thinking about it. Emerging into daylight --Oh, what relief!-- saw the Smokebreath --Kuro?-- looking immensely pleased, perching on Firelash's snout, just between his nasal horn and eyes. The Monstrous Nightmare looked mildly annoyed, but tolerated the little dragon's presence. How long had they been in that detestable stone hole, anyway? Javon looked around for signs of the other Riders, sure they'd all be desperately searching for himself and Tuffnut. He felt like it had been hours... but no, the sun was still only slightly westering, and Raiju was standing calmly nearby, looking no more concerned about his rider's absence than Firelash had when his rider had first emerged. Barch was out of site from where he stood, but he could hear Tuffnut arguing with them about... something. The brown-haired man sighed happily and buried his face into his dragon's neck. However long, or short, it had been, it was good to finally be out in open air again. Well, that was A LOT of text for not a lot of in-game time, but it is what it is. Sorry it took me FOREVER to get this down. I just haven't been able to find the time to write, it seems. Hopefully I can pick up the pace hereafter. And please don't feel like you have to match the length of this post. I'd actually prefer shorter posts, as they're easier to read (and write).  If you have any questions about anything in this post, don't hesitate to ask. There are a couple things I feel I might need to explain, but this is probably way too long already. Let me know how I did on Kuro; I hope I did him justice. 
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