Regrets of traveling alone

[ThatJaredGuy]

Jared moved back inside the cave in order to give the other fur the opportunity to decide for itself what it would do. When he noticed the dozing tigress, he stepped quietly so as not to disturb her. He took his seat near the fire across from the male cat. "Sorry for that. My name's Jared and I'm traveling to start again in a new place. I wasn't exactly exiled from my original home, but I could tell the furs there sort of, well, wanted me to leave..." The wolf hoped no one had noticed the hesitation. He eyed his left arm's odd coloring, his problems weren't his to unload on others. "But anyway, obviously the circumstances didn't allow me a companion to travel with and you furs I've met today are the first I've encountered since I started."

[BethanieStealsCheese]

Name: Vira
Fursona: Black Dragoness
Coloring: Onyx hued scales on the majority of her body, save for her under belly and the membrane on her wings, which is a dark ashen color. Black long locks, falling to her mid back.
Clothing: http://img213.imageshack.us/img213/4070/virafw0.jpg
Markings: None, a row of three small horns run down the middle of her head along the part in her hair, while two larger horns protrude from the very top of her head, on either side.
What you're traveling with: Nothing but a small Elven pendant that hangs at her neck, greatly contrasting with the ashen gray of her neck and chest color with it's brilliant white looking metal.

 From her perch atop a cliff that overlooked the now oh-so-popular cave, a dark mass appears from thin air, the eyes materializing first. Their brilliant silver hue glints in the moonlight, along with what appears next, her teeth. Soon the full feral shape of a large black dragoness can be seen as a dark outline against the face of the moon. Shifting her weight to her left foot, she slowly reaches over the ledge of the cliff with her right, bracing massive form against a jut of rock a few feet down. She silently snakes her serpentine like neck down to get a better idea of what the furs were conversing about.

"So it is as I expected. A dragoness takes up residence here," she thought to herself.

"At least she seems to be hospitable, that's a change."

 Arching her neck, and shifting her weight to her back legs, the dragoness stood on her haunches, sniffing vaguely at the air. She could catch the faint scent of a few furs in the distance, but nothing too close to be worried about. Taking one last gaze about her settings, she starts her descent to the mouth of the cave, and halfway from the cliff to the cave entrance, her form seems to blow away with the wind, black vapor briefly filling her immediate locale. Then, like smoke shortlived, it too disperses. The last few feet were meticulously planned out, so as to minimize any noise that would alert them to her presence. Arriving at the opening, yet staying in her feral form, she placed herself a few yard from the cave, facing it's inhabitants. Then, as if two silver flames were ignited in the distance, two optics become visible, reflecting the light from the fire within the den. As if smoke were being drawn to their area, the embers and black offspring of the fire inside the cave drifted over to the area of the two occulars. Soon, a mass of black vapor condensed, and took the form of a haunched black dragon, solidifying before their eyes.

"Greetings," Vira said with a calculating look in her eye.

"I have come to seek solace from the storm," and then adding "I will shift into my anthro form, as to take up the least space."

 Until she got an answer; however, she stayed in her full sized feral form, so if need be she could take flight, or defend herself. You never knew with some furs, and she had many a scar to attest to her experience with inhospitable ones she had happened across. She stayed haunched, awaiting the resident dragoness to answer. She kept her focus on the one she spoke to, maintaining eye contact in a non-challenging way, in more of the way dragons kept eye contact, to show their respect for the what the other dragon has to say. She reclined back from the cave just a bit to show she was not going to approach without approval first.

[Goblin Cat 😸]

"It's fine." Nyx said nodding to the other dragoness that had seemingly appered from nowhere. "Seems many need to take refuge for the night." Her tail curled around her ankle lazily, "I can't exactly blame you. The weather is rather awful tonight."

[Takuya Hakumei]

 Russet Turned away from the Dragoness', after all, there uneasiness wasn't directed towards him. He walked quietly toward the tigress, who's name he didn't know, and quickly built a fire in front of her. Taking the gem out of his pack, he held it over the logs and, Mumering a few words, they burst into flame.
Turning to the wolf, Jared he said, "I'm Russet, and I'm traveling east ,to Sylvinest. I actually was exiled from my village up north, because of a curse with rather, ah, unusual ramifications." He walked back to the fire by the tigress and curled up, triing to catch up on lost sleep...

[BethanieStealsCheese]

"Thankyou," Vira said with a brief dip of her snout of thanks.

 The dark vapor again condensed around her, and enveloped the entirety of her shape, and when it faded, a woman with jet black hair and the scales of a dragon remained. She was wearing a black leather dress with a cloak built into the back that brushed the floor. She walked over to the edge of the fire's light, and sat in semi darkness on the ground. Tucking her wings in tight against her back, she reclined against the wall for a rest. Yawning slightly, and shifting to a good spot, Vira observed the other furs, taking account of any baggage they had brought. She was always one to travel with nearly nothing, as dragons are resourceful creatures and can often find and utilize whatever they need. By the same tolken, though, since she was able to change to a feral form, she needed next to nothing.

  Leaning forward just a bit, she pulled her ebony locks over her shoulder and wrung them out onto the ground. Using her clawed fingers, she delicately combed them through her hair, and turned her attention to the one dubbed Russet, for she had caught a glimpse of the black stone he carried. She focused more intently apon seeing him use it to make a fire.

 "Well, well, well. What a rag tag group we are, but I see there are interesting characters here," Vira thought to herself with a barely audible half chuckle.

 "Quite the trinket you have there.. Russet, is it?" she spoke from the side of the cave, shrouded by the dark where the flames light had not yet chased it away.  

[Takuya Hakumei]

Russet jumped at the sound of his name, and turned around. The newcomer, the dragoness, had reverted into her furry form and had asked him a question,

" Yes it it Russet, Russet Fleetfoot actually, and this 'Trinket' is a very old and very rare metal, called Chromedinite, used for enhancing the abilities of those with magic. Lets just say I 'acquired it' from a temple to the north, near my village." He told the dragoness with hesitance.

He turned around, and stared into the flames in front of him, mulling over the event that took place in his mind.

He had gone to the Azrith Temple, to rid his village of the nuisance there,but found the gem instead.
He used it on the lizard mage hiding there and won, but with great consequence. The temple had been destroyed, and a witch-woman by the name of Shota had cursed him.

Upon returning to his village, he met not a welcoming people, but a mob, that had heard the explosion and thought it was him, so the held a council, and the village elders found him guilty, where he had been exiled, and left for a better life...

[Goblin Cat 😸]

Nyx decided to stay in the entrance with the others, though she'd rathered retire to her chamber. This group of furs that she had literally found on her doorstep seemed interesting enough. Leaning back, she let out a long sigh. The night was early, and the rain poured from the sky in buckets, almost eliminating the sight of the full moon. Even though it was draped in water, it still managed to shine through.

Her interest turned to the other dragoness. It had been a while since she had seen another of her kind, most dragons had been wiped out by now. In fact, she had almost been wiped out herself. But she had appealed to the humans' more charitable side, and instead they had performed horrible experiments on her, "enhanced" her with a cybernetic arm, and kept her as a captive until she had escaped. She hadn't been residing in the cave for long... And now she hoped none of these furs worked for the humans.

"So, what brings you to these parts?" She asked Vira.

[BethanieStealsCheese]

Vira nodded to Russet, and thought over what he had said. She hoped for his sake that he knew better than to flash that stone as carelessly as he had done this night. She'd known gems of much lesser value that people had murdered for.


 Turning to Nyx, she spoke with a heaviness as if the subject was not an easy one to speak of.

 "Searching," she said simply, and then added, "for a long lost sibling. Many years ago, when there were enough of our kind to have our own clans, I had a family. A mother, a father, and two sisters." Getting a far away look in her eye, she continued, "Then the humans came. They stole some 'specimens' for research, but killed many more. My mother, father, and older sister all died protecting our home. My younger sister and I fled, but not soon enough. The humans saw our retreat, and tracked us. They ambushed us one night, and stole my sister. I was severely injured defending her, to the brink of even death, so they left me to die."

Vira reached a hand up and touched the pendant on her neck, "That's when a friend happened apon me. A woman who was well versed in healing, and potions. She nursed me to health. This pendant is hers, and on her death bed she gave it to me. Once she passed away, I had nothing left to stay for, so I started searching for my sister. I got information on where the dragons had been taken, but by the time I arrived, their facility had been long abandoned. They travel frequently, and leave almost no traces of anything. Now, I think they are onto me, because they have become even harder to find."

Her gaze drifted back into focus, almost as if drawing from the past to the present.

"I have.. acquired," she said the last word with hesitance, "information on where they were last seen. It was a facility up in the mountains, but I got there too late. They had moved on. I started my decent down the mountain, and happened to see you all congregating here, so I thought I would wait out the storm in the company of others."

[ThatJaredGuy]

Jared listened attentively to the fur's stories before leaning up against the wall not too far away from the white tigress. He closed his eyes and leaned his head against the wall of the cave with a smile. "It's good to have the company of others without being an outcast for once," he said this to no one in particular and was only thinking aloud, "I wonder....where will I end up living? Where will my journey end?" He nervously opened his eyes slowly, hoping no one had heard his murmuring. When he saw most had their eyes were on him, he looked to the floor and gave a nervous chuckle. "Heh, sorry about that..."

[Kaz]

Kaz jumped at the sudden warmth and looked up startled, she saw the group again with a new addition as well. She shifted slightly and sat with her legs crossed, and looked out over the group. She leaned against the wall behind her and kept quiet, she had been sleeping after all she really had no idea what they had been conversing about. Taking her stone back in her hands she held it gently, as though it were very fragile. She was uneasy she wasn't used to so many people in such a small area, not to metioned she always seemed to get attacked by others at every turn. Gazing out into the dark, wet night she heaved a soft sigh and then shifted her gaze to the flames before her.

[Goblin Cat 😸]

"I understand how you feel as far as used to having a family. As did I. I was also one of the 'lucky' specimens you speak of." Nyx said holding up her left arm and wiggling the metallic fingers. "Lucky me."

[ThatJaredGuy]

Jared had heard enough. He had no hurry to get somewhere when he didn't know where he was going. Turning to Vira, he said: "If it would be all right with you, young dragoness, I would like to assist you in any way that I can on this search for your lost loved one. I don't expect you to accept my offer, but I can assure you that I'll do everything in my power to make finding your sister an easier task."

[Goblin Cat 😸]

"As will I. I'm willing to help in any way I can with some of the knowledge I've collected by being around those wretched humans." Nyx assured, lowering her head.

[Takuya Hakumei]

          An endless twisting hallway,
             Dimly lit, no sound, except water dripping in the darkness and Russet's beating heart. Running blindly,  Darkness closing in from behind, urging him to run, faster and faster... It is an advisary he cannot see,only sense.
He colapses, and the darkness closes in...

         Russet awoke in a cold sweat, panting heavily. He knew there was no sleeping again that morning. With a sigh he slowly got up, shivering. He had had no blanket, it was on the quivering form of the tigress, she must have been having nightmares too...

         He walked slowly outside, and, with a mighty yawn, started warming up for his morning practise. He was aware of someone watching behind him, but he ignored them. Turning to the nearest unocupied tree, he began to punch and kick.

       "Left.Right, left, hook kick!" he called out to himself. He proceeded this for two and a half hours, at witch point he stopped for a short break. Fifteen minutes later, he was back up, and running without pause, for one hour.

   "Do you always start each morning as such?" a voice called out to him...

[ThatJaredGuy]

Jared chuckled. "I don't mean any offense, I'm just not used to seeing someone start their day so intensely," he said. He yawned and scratched his ribs. "It's good to sleep in the company of friendly furs, isn't it?" Without waiting for a response, Jared stepped outside of the cave and went off where it would be quiet and he could be alone for the moment. He sat down under the shade of an ancient oak tree and removed his shirt. He closed his eyes and reflected on the events that had transpired since he left his home town.