Unfamilar Territory

[fia]

Sapphire eyes scanned the landscape from above, searching for any potential threats. Nothing, just some little Chats stalking something. Silly little things, the dragon thought idly, watching as the creatures disappeared into some bushes. She flared her wings and landed on a rocky outcrop; she folded them to her back but kept them ready, in case she had to take off in a hurry. This was Dark Dragon territory, and she'd have to be mad not to take the situation seriously.

Of course, she'd have to be mad to be here in the first place. Her reason for this incredibly stupid and totally foolhardy expedition was this: curiosity. Which was an extremely stupid reason for risking your neck, but the young dragon simply didn't care. No one entered the Dark Light Mountains alone, ever. Anyone who tried never came back. Heh. She'd prove everyone wrong. She was going to explore for another hour, then go back. There was no way she would be caught. All she had to do was be caref-

She moved rapidly, as far back away from the edge as possible, hissing softly in agitation. Almost seen, and by a hatchling, of all people! How ridiculous.

A few minutes later, she grew impatient and peered over the edge. The younger dragon was gone. She sighed with relief. The little one had probably just been playing around and happened to come through. Good.

"Or maybe he saw me and flew off to tell," she muttered, looking around uneasily.

A cry from behind her made her spin around, eyes flashing scarlet, tensed for combat, but it was just some stupid hawk. She snorted and spat fire at the creature; it flew away screeching in terror, it's feathers singed. Heh.

Making sure that there was absolutely no one around, she dropped from the ledge and, about halfway into the deep gorge, snapped her wings open. She leveled out and flew swiftly through the narrow ravine. Looking for what, she didn't know, but she was definately having fun.

[Amethyst]

A dragon whose pebbly scales were black walked slowly along the edge of a mountain, looking down and wishing hard that she was somewhere else. She stopped to stare up at the sky, as she did so some light caught on her scales and a dark red glow could be seen from deep within them, like a dying fire. She sighed, a puff of icy air escaping her nostrils as she did so, freezing a leaf on a tree that hung over her black horned head as her eyelids clicked together and then opened again, revealing her dark red eyes. She looked over the edge of the cliff that she was standing on.

How easy it would be to just end it now. Just jump off of the cliff and not even try to fly. Her dark eyes seemed to ponder the idea and finally she acted on the idea. She jumped off of the cliff and shut her eyes. A giddy feeling took hold of her as her muscles tensed, telling her that she was falling and should be using her wings. She fought the impulse for only a moment before she unfurled her wings and stopped her descent with a jolt. No good. I’m too much of a coward. But even as she thought it she knew that it wasn’t true, she was brave whatever the other dragons might say.

With a snort she started to rise, again. Her quick eyes caught a movement below, she blinked and turned, angling down towards it. As she approached it she saw that it wasn’t an Ice Dragon in the least, but a Sun Dragon. A growl ripped from her throat as she locked her wings and dove for its back. When she was near enough she let out an icy blast escape from her maw. She could feel inside her that she didn't want to chase the newcomer, but she wanted badly to prove herself worthy.

[fia]

The sound of wings behind her should have alerted the brown-gold dragon, but she was too deep in thought. A bad habit, it seemed, and only when the wingbeats grew closer did she hear. The cold reached her before the ice and, with that warning, she veered to the right and upwards. The ice caught her left wing, though, and she half roared, half howled as it hit. A frozen wing was no good, and she plummeted towards the ground. A thought occured to her and she blew flames onto the icy wing. It worked, and though the wing remained rather stiff and the hide was singed slightly, she could move it. And just in time, for she was less than fifty feet from the ground!

She flared both wings and beat them, darting up behind the black dragon. With a laugh, she called "What sort of dragon are you, attacking from behind?". Then she sent a shower of sparks towards the Ice breather. Not deadly- waiting for a reaction. Foolish, oh yes, but much more fun. The red glow from the other dragon unnerved her, but only made her more curious to see what this Dark dragon was made of.

[Amethyst]

Coal yelped and tried to avoid the stream of flames, for Ice Dragons are deathly afraid of fire. She opened her mouth and shot a stream of ice at it, which stopped most of it but she still felt some hit her scales. She hissed as she felt it scorch her black scales and it would have blackened the scales that it hit if they could have been any blacker.

She growled and looked at the Sun Dragon, putting her head to the side curiously. She didn’t seem hostile, more playful than anything. That longing awoke in Coal, a longing for a friend, but how could she? This wasn’t one of her group. But none of my group want to be friends. She reminded herself. She hung for a moment, wings thudding in the air as she stayed in her place, undecided on what to do. She knew what she was supposed to do, drive the intruder away giving it as many wounds as possible and killing it if the chance came, that was the Ice dragon way. But she wanted to have a friend desperately. Finally she opened her mouth, but no ice came out as she called, ‘What are you doing on Ice Dragon land?’ Her voice demanded an answer but showed no signs of her attacking again.

[fia]

Heheh. Any trace of violence vanished from Fia's eyes, replaced by amusement. Quick save, she thought, struggling not to grin. Just like mine, she realized, peering with increased interest at the Ice dragon.

The expected retaliation didn't come, and the young dragon was now more curious than ever. The other seemed puzzled, definately undecided. She tilted her head to one side as she hovered, considering the question.

"Exploring," she called back, her flicking tail-tip the only indication that she wasn't perfectly at ease. "I hear all sorts of things about Ice dragons and they're land, but I wanted to see for myself. Don't want to be prejudiced against people I've never met, after all," she added, tilting her head to the other side. Which would be incredibly stupid, she thought bluntly to herself, watching the black and red dragon intently.

[Amethyst]

Coal flared her nostrils as she continued to keep herself suspended in the air. She noted without exactly caring that her wings had not yet grown tired, as they would have before her training. For though her body was small it was compact and put considerable strain on her wings. Her dark eyes stared out at the other dragon. ‘Are you sure you’re not a spy?’ She asked cautiously, for she had heard from her father that many dragons would say that they weren’t doing anything important if they were caught spying on their land. Coal already knew the answer in her heart, but she wasn’t too sure if she wanted to trust this dragon yet. She allowed herself to drift a little lower, and a little closer to Fia. She showed no signs of trickery, only curiosity.

‘How long have you been exploring? And what have you heard about us?’ She asked, not hiding her curiosity. She was wondering if she had been in their territory for long and wondering why a patrol hadn’t found her. Coal tilted her head to glance toward the ground, a little nervous that she might see one of her group watching her chat with a Sun Dragon.

[fia]

Fia's tail twitched a fraction more than before when Coal drew nearer, but otherwise, all signs of wariness had disappeared. "Me? A spy?" she laughed. "If I were a spy, I'd have to tell people the everything I saw! I'm too young anyway, my father would have a fit if he knew I was here." She seemed very amused at the idea. She flipped over backwards in the air, then resumed her former position. She grinned draconically. "Which is the other reason I'm here."

The young dragon snorted a few sparks at the questions, but they died before moving even two feet from her. "Huh. Not that long. Less than an hour, probably half. Stuff I've heard? Well..." She thought about it. "The older dragons say Ice dragons are violent and sneaky and untrustworthy, and the younger adults just warn us not to trust one, and among the hatchlings there are all the typical rumors about the big-bad-Dark-dragons."

Her tail flicked more violently in irritation, and her sapphire eyes flashed once, disapproval evident in her manner. "I don't believe half of them. I don't know anything about Ice dragons and like I said, I wanted to find out for myself. What they say are their opinions, not the facts. Goodness only knows what you all say about Sun dragons," she laughed, teasing playfully. She was more than willing to befriend another dragon, regardless of type. It had never mattered to her, possibly because she was still little more than a hatchling.

[Amethyst]

Coal nodded. ‘Well the stories aren’t too far from the truth, but there are some Ice dragons that are trustworthy and all that. Not all of them are the same, just as all of the Sun dragons are probably not the same. Our stories of the Sun dragons are that they are weak and let others come onto their land because they are afraid to drive ‘em off.’ Coal smiled a little. ‘But at least some of them aren’t weak cowards like our stories say.’ She chuckled a little, feeling a little more comfortable. ‘They say that you were granted the gift of fire because you have no other protection.’

Coal sighed. ‘It seems as though all of the groups are prejudiced against each other.’ She growled a little and flexed her toes and claws. ‘But the Ice dragons deserve theirs I guess.’ Coal shook her head in irritation, plainly wishing that she wasn’t an Ice dragon.

[fia]

Fia grinned. "There are exceptions to everything," she said thoughtfully. "I knew there must be Ice dragons that were different," she murmured, almost to herself. Then she raised her voice to normal level, tilting her head as she thought.

"I don't know why we've got fire abilities," the dragon decided. "But I DO know I can manage without it," she laughed, flipping over once more and arching her neck rather proudly. She didn't show off, that was stupid, but she wasn't above being a little proud of her draconic abilities. She was a good flier, she knew that! Even if raw power wasn't her strong suit... "Even if I haven't got scales!" she added. She wondered once again about that oddity. Fleetingly.

Then the young dragon looked curiously at Coal. "You don't like being one of the Ice dragons?" she asked, eyes glowing sapphire with curiosity.

[Amethyst]

Coal snorted, frosty air slipping from her nostrils as she spoke, ‘Either not be an Ice dragon or just have someone like me for who I am. I don’t like having no one to play with and having to be ‘stern and serious’ all the time.’ Her eyes darkened in irritation. ‘Others underestimate me because of my small size and so they push me harder. If they’d just give me a chance I’d show ‘em I can be as fierce as any of them.’ She pulled her head back and let out a ferocious growl before pushing herself forward with her wings, performing a somersault neatly in the air and then letting a stream of ice shoot from her mouth into the open air.

She hung her head a little bashfully, she usually didn’t do things like that just to show that she could be fierce, fierceness just wasn’t one of the things she especially wanted to be. She looked over at Fia, having lowered herself to her level by this time, for she had found it rather uncomfortable to have to look down on a friend to speak to her. She looked quizzically at her scaleless hide, having not noticed it until she was closer. ‘Do all Sun Dragons look like you?’ She asked cautiously.

[fia]

Fia listened intently as Coal spoke, eyes going wide in surprise before narrowing in anger. The other dragon had been acting, all her life? Pretending to be someone she wasn't? Fia's eyes glowed scarlet for a few moments before settling back to sapphire. She watched the Ice dragon intently. "No one accepting you for who you are. Wanting you to be someone you're not. That's just..." The young dragon shook her head angrily, struggling to think of a word for it. "That's just...wrong! Terrible!" She growled, tail lashing violently in her anger.

The growl startled her, as did the aerial maneuver, and had she been more suspicious, the ice would have brought a retaliation from her. But she was already quite convinced that the Ice dragon wasn't an enemy, so she just blinked rapidly a few times in surprise. Then she let out an admiring whistle through her fangs, eyes bright with approval. "You've impressed this dragon!"

Then she tilted her head, rather amused at the question. "Not all. My father's got thick gold scales and my mother has some too, but not as thick or bright. I suppose I'm something of a mistake," she snorted, careful to restrain any sparks.

[Amethyst]

Coal nodded. 'Okay, I was curious, I didn't think that they all looked like you but I had to ask.' She smiled at Fia's complement. 'Thanks, I have to be good at something so that's what I've tried to perfect myself at. Your flip was nice too.' Her wings thudded as she hovered, glad to have at last find a friend. Anyways, the air is everyone's right? So I can't get into trouble to letting her stay for a little, especially since she ain't a spy or something. She was glad to have that excuse, though she knew that the Ice dragons would accept it if she was found out. She growled slightly to herself. No patrols are due over here for a while. She rebuked her worrisomeness.

'So how close are our stories to what Sun dragons are really like? I can see that you don't need your flames to protect yourself.' She looked at Fia in admiration and a smile. 'You don't look like a mistake to me.' She snorted. 'And if anyone ever tells you that you are they're wrong.' With a shake of her head she waited for her answer quietly. It was nice to just converse with another dragon without having to worry about being serious. It was relieving.

[fia]

Fia's eyes sparkled at the reply. "Curiosity seems to be something we have in common." Her smile widened. "Thanks. I try."

The young dragon was vaguely aware of an unease, in the back of her mind somewhere. Some instinct telling her that she was still in Ice Dragon territory and to remain alert. She brushed it aside without much thought.

"And thank you again," she said with a grin. "It rather baffled people for a while, before I kicked their tails and showed them I wasn't." This was said quite innocently, no trace of bitterness or offended pride. She had showed them.


The question surprised her a bit. No one had asked her that befo- oh, wait, that was 'cause everyone she knew was a Sun dragon. And why would a Sun dragon ask about their species, for goodness sake?

"Well," she replied thoughtfully. "I never thought about it before. Some are weak, some are strong. Some are more aggressive, and some prefer to be left alone. It depends on the individual," she explained. "Sun dragons are, admittedly, rather less uptight about security than some. But I doubt it's because they're to cowardly to drive people out. There are some -a few- that are about three times stronger than me." The last bit was spoken rather reluctantly, the dragon rather unwilling to admit it. "I think it's cause of how they were all brought up. I don't think all Ice dragons are born -excuse me- vicious. And I think if Sun dragons were raised differently, they'd act differently."

She smiled. "When I was really little, I used to think the older dragons shouldn't let anyone into our territory. They should just tear them up right away." She shook her head. "That was before any thought of fairness or right and wrong entered my mind. You have to give people a chance." This was emphasized by her tail flipping more noticeably in her enthusiasm.

[Amethyst]

Coal grinned dragonishly. 'You're pretty lucky that I'm the Ice dragon that found you. If it had been a different one they'd tear you up right away alright. Attack first, ask questions later, that is the Ice dragon motto.' She shook her head. 'That'd what I was doing at first. I agree that it has a lot to do with how you are brought up. But even then there are some things that can't be changed.' She nodded her head in agreement. 'I agree that you have to give others a chance, not just assume the worst about them right away.' She sighed.

'So what is your territory like, is it all mountains? Most of ours is, mountains and a north wind that always seems to be blowing. I've heard that others think that that wind chilled our hearts.' She looked around again before looking back at her friend. Better safe than sorry. She told herself. 'We have a few clearings but not many. There always seems to be a shadow over our mountains too for some reason.'

She glanced over at the nesting areas. 'Are your lands really bathed in sunlight at all times? Is there really a warm wind that always blows? That's what the other Ice dragons say. They say that all dragons used to be Ice dragons but some moved over to the warmer area over there.' She motioned with her nose towards the Sun dragon lands.

'They say the warm winds melted their inner bravery and power, they say it softened their hearts and then they lost the power to breath ice and instead they were granted the power to breath fire so that they have a better chance to survive since their power melted away.' Coal smiled a little. 'That's just our story though, I'm sure ya'll have some stories about us, and I'm not saying I really believe it either.'

[fia]

Fia tilted her head, listening intently to the other dragon's words. Ice dragon motto, eh? Huh. At the comment on the chilling wind, she snorted softly. "Yes, I am lucky. And I'm lucky that your heart hasn't been chilled," she said, eyes gentle and glowing softly blue.

The young dragon listened with uncharacteristic patience to the Ice dragon's -could this really be an Ice?- words, curious rather than insulted, anyway. While she had her personal pride, she cared little for the pride of her entire species. Though if someone were to come right out and insult Sun dragons, she'd rise to their defense. Still...

"Our mountains? Well... they're like these... but polar opposites. They're as warm and light as these are cold and dark. The days seem longer than nights... Sometimes I think we need some cold or stormy weather," Fia grumbled, blinking both wistfully and approvingly up at the dark sky.

"Well," she said carefully. "I was told one time, that some dragons, firebreathers, turned away from the Sun dragons. Their hearts were so cold, the story goes, that they lost their firebreathing abilities and began breathing Ice instead. The one who told me... he also said that fire was the stronger element, because it can melt ice. I was a hatchling, and I believed him. I was proud to be a Sun dragon, who could melt the ice of the Dark dragons. I don't care anymore. The stories may or may not be true. Still... whether or not they are... fire melts ice... does that make Sun dragons stronger than Ice dragons? But melted ice is water... which puts out fire. Is Ice stronger, then? If fire melts ice, the ice becomes water, and the water puts out the fire. Destroying one destroys the other. They're... equal?"

A soft, sad rumble escaped the young dragon as she lifted her head to the skies. "Perhaps the coldness around the Ice dragons' hearts could be melted, just a little. Just enough for them to have real hearts, instead of blocks of ice. Maybe someone like you could do it." Fia gave her new friend a sad, wistful smile.