forum Cities of Sand // One on One // Closed

Started July 29, 2020 by @Mojack group

tune

Kasim stayed still for a small amount of time, almost confused. Hiding? He’d walked out, hadn’t he? All they had to do was turn around…

And his mind drifted to that second part. Maj had a strongest sense. Hers..hearing, most likely. Adjusting the container so that he could safely hold onto it for the time being with one arm, he fanned his other outwards and responded to her. “And I can smell both of you,” he calls out.

Onvu doesn’t leave her spot. She knows now is not the time - she has to wait for a better chance, a signal to jump out. She doesn’t like it - the tension in the air is rising with each passing second. Still, she has to wait for the signal.

“So you can talk,” Ceria observed, without turning towards the voice. “And here I was, thinking that you were mute. It’s a good thing that I was wrong. I hate being wrong.” She turned around and saw him, and gave a small smile that people usually give when they would rather not be around others, a smile of forced politeness. “Do we smell good, then?”

Zyl snorted. ”That could sound wrong in so many different ways,” he remarked, and she swatted him.

“Oh, be quiet, you.” She eyed the Maj. He wasn’t bad looking… from what she could see. He had covered most of his face, and he was looking at them warily, as if expecting them to attack him at any minute.

“You don’t have a specific smell,” Kasim responded, eyeing the nearby watchtower. He didn’t look up at it for too long, just for a few moments.

“A lot of people, though. That I can smell from your..” he briefly wrinkles his nose, “scent. You come from one of those cities..those wheeled ones?” He tilts his head. His tone remains mostly neutral, except for when he said ‘scent’.

Onvu prepares herself, readying her wings.

”He’s probably gonna make a run for it,” Zyl warned.

“I know. I’d be surprised if he didn’t. But it’s not like there’s a reason to stop him or anything.” Ceria smiled, and then called out, “Yes, I am. It’s a nasty place, though. Never go there, or they might try to chain you down the way they tried me.”

She didn’t know why she was telling this to the guy, but it didn’t really matter. She meant it, and that was that.

“Oh, don’t worry,” Kasim nearly slipped into some unidentifiable accent. “I’ve never been to one of those active cities before, nor do I have plans to.” He drawled.
He drew his attention to the watchtower, raising his free hand, then closing it into a fist.

Onvu flew from the large, open window of the watchtower with a roar, swirling around the area for a moment. Her movement disturbed the dust and sand on the buildings and ground, but it would eventually subside quickly. Kasim was thankful for his face protection.
She moved down to Kasim, landing behind him, her body drawn up in a defensive stance. Kasim, however, had not moved a bit, not even to look at his dragon.

”He changed his voice, too.”

“It’s as if the poor guy forgot that my sense is hearing.” Ceria snorted in amusement, watching the guy. He made a strange gesture with his hand, and she turned to see a long, serpentine dragon flying toward them.

It landed near its Maj, and the dust stirred around for a moment before settling. Ceria coughed as some dust got in her lungs, covering her face with a cloth. “Well, that wasn’t very nice, was it?”

“Nice? I could care less about manners in situations like-” Her voice was low, but she went silent after Kasim held his hand out. Although it was a temporary arrangement for expeditions like these, Onvu had bags fitted on her back. There wasn’t much in them, but with something like this in his hands, he didn’t want to risk staying too long. The longer he was out here, the higher the risk of his catches being stolen or broken became.

Silently, Kasim places the container in one of the empty bags, before turning back to the other Maj and her dragon. He wasn’t sure what more business he had left, and they didn’t seem to be stopping him from moving anywhere, so Kasim took a step back and prepared to get onto Onvu. Again, not saying anything.

The dragon seemed angry, although Ceria couldn’t tell why. Probably something she had said. She was good at unintentionally pissing people off. It was her most special talent, that seemed to come out a lot.

The Maj seemed to be getting ready to leave. And while most people would have approached a strange Maj and talked to them, thrilled to see another Maj that wasn’t a stranger, Ceria didn’t care. She was pretty sure that this guy would be as arrogant and stuck up as all the other Maj she had met, and she didn’t want to test and see if it was true or not.

She waved. “Well, it was nice seeing strangers again,” she called in a singsong voice, the surest way to get rid of something. “I hope that you don’t fall off your dragon and die.”

Removing the visor from his eyes, Kasim looks back for a few more seconds. “Lahko pohitimo?” He says to Onvu, again in that rough, unidentifiable accent.

“I’m ready when you’re ready,” Onvu nods, keeping her eyes on the Maj and her dragon.
Kasim turns around and gets onto Onvu. Not a good first impression, he decided, as Onvu opened her wings to full size - both pairs.
“Upam, da se spet vidimo, mami in očka.” He whispers, not shying away from speaking his native language it seems. The chance of anyone out here recognizing what he said or even the language itself was pretty low, given it was a language not from around here.

Loudly calling back, he says, “Oh, I won’t. I’m sure I’ve been flying a lot longer than you have, so it’ll be quite an easy thing to do. You, on the other hand…” he drifts off.

“Boasting?” Onvu whispered.
“Let’s go.” He quietly says to Onvu. Onvu takes off, into the air. Their next destination was to another city - another ancient, ancient city, but this one was a bit different. Namely due to its status, of partially sinking into the ground. It wasn’t actively sinking, but it did provide a bit of camouflage to itself - preventing its discovery from others, except for Kasim and Onvu. Unfortunately, they’d need to fly by that wheeled city, presumably the one that Maj had come from. Usually, the cities never fired at him, but there’d be only one way to find out.

"Ha." Ceria rolled her eyes. "I was right. He really was just another stuck-up Maj." She leaned against Zyl's warm side, tapping her finger to her chin. "But it would have been interesting to talk to someone who didn't live in Kalamai. Plus, did you hear his weird speech? I think he might have been showing off, honestly. Wait, I know he was. Never mind." She scowled.

"I don't think he lives in any other cities," Zyl commented, wrapping his tail around his back legs and watching as the two strangers flew away. "His accent was weird, and he smelled wild."

"What are you saying about my scent?" She asked, raising an eyebrow.

"That you smell bad."

"Fair enough." Ceria shielded her eyes and watched at the Maj and his dragon banished into the distance. "Think we'll see them again?"

"Probably not."

"Good."

Onvu flew quite fast.

Kasim was thankful for that. He wasn’t a fan of how the Maj here acted, in general. Then again, there seemed to be a lack of them…fewer in quantity, it seemed.

“Not a fan of that,” Onvu said, tossing her head to the side, though keeping her eyes ahead of her. “I prefer to avoid interaction with outsiders, especially the other Maj. You never know what they may do, what they may be capable of..”
“I’m not a fan of interacting with others in general, outsiders or not.” Kasim added.
“True,” she laughed. “You were never the type to seek out that interaction willingly.”

There was a shattering crack in the air, Kasim barely getting enough time to duck. Something whooshed by his head, but his focus was not on where it was going, but rather what had sent it. To their right, in the direction of the wheeled city were two dragons, accompanied by their respective Maj. From the city. Why were they attacking them?

“Onvu, evade them!” I don’t have enough patience to deal with this!
Immediately, she listened. Thankfully, she was fast enough to keep distance between them as they pursued, not giving them a chance to catch up.
Although she was struck with two arrows, she didn’t let the pain disturb her. She’d deal with it when they landed, which probably wouldn’t be too long from now, as the two dragons turned off, slowing down. Stopping their pursuit.

“Kasim, did you get hit at all?” Unable to turn her head to view him, her only choice was to ask.
“Can’t tell.” Kasim said through gritted teeth, looking behind to make sure they’d stopped their pursuit. “I’ll check when we land.”
“Okay,” she responded, unsure.

The city, half buried in sand, slightly tilted over was an older design. It was also the closest thing Kasim had to a home in this place. Not many knew about it, and the wind - and frequent storms surrounding this area did well to shield it and scatter scents. Even if a city was in the area, due to its status, it almost looked like a massive rock sticking out of the ground.
Onvu opened her wings, preparing to land.

After wandering around the place for a while, Ceria and Zyl decided that it was time to pack up and go home. It was boring, and very hot.

Climbing onto Zyl's back, Ceria groaned, resting her forehead on his neck. "I am never going to a ruined city again," she said. "It's just sand and boring stuff." She sighed, tying the cloth around her mouth tighter. "Let's never do this again."

Zyl agreed. "The only interesting thing that happened was the Maj and his dragon, and even that wasn't that cool."

"Let's just run away," Ceria suggested, as they took to the air. "So that we don't have to do something like that again."

As they neared the city, though, two dragons circled the sky, as if waiting for them. Ceria felt unease growing in the pit of her stomach as she and Zyl approached.

One of the Maj flew over. "Ceridwen Dahnmia, you are under arrest."

"Wait, what? Why?"

Onvu landed, claws hooking into the ground. Fresh blood leaked onto the ground and she hissed as she tilted her head back to inspect the damage that was done. Two arrows, which had struck her long torso. They hadn’t gone too far in, so she decided to get them out now in hopes that healing would start up faster. But her attention turned to Kasim instead, who jumped to the ground.

“Kasim, you are..” Worry in her voice, she began to speak, but stopped as he put a single hand up.

“I have more important business right now. You can go off and tend your wounds, you know?”
“..Right.” She said, after a moment. Although her voice held an air of weariness, she decided not to object to him for now. Even if he hadn’t gone unscathed - Two arrows, just like her, had struck his back. “I’ll be back after I remove the arrows.” Kasim nodded.
He felt the wind hit him as Onvu took off once more, presumably towards their ‘home’ in the sunken city. Kasim looked out towards the endless desert, seeing that wheeled city in the distance. He sniffed the air, briefly wrinkling his noise as he realized that his blood and Onvu’s blood were thick in the air.

That meant, until some major wind storm, any sort of creature would be able to follow the trail, right to here. Kasim would be sure that they’d be fine - he could defend himself. Onvu could as well. Still, with a lasting glance to the city, he felt unsure.
But he turned around and began heading into the worn down city instead.

"That's none of your business," the other Maj said coldly.

Ceria prompted Zyl to fly back as the two approached. "Um… I think it is. You're about to arrest me. I have the right to know why."

"Just come with us."

"No."

As the two Maj increased their speed, flying towards Zyl and Ceria, she bent low over his back. Instead of turning around and flying away, he flew towards them, and then under, as they hovered startled in the air. She guessed that few people would charge towards danger instead of away.

"Where do we go?"

"I think there's an old city nearby. We can go there."

The buildings of the city were of a much different design than the ones seen at the ancient city or even a present day wheeled city. Almost like they were of a different land. Grey, stone buildings, worn, coloured by sand and wind. But it wasn’t as ancient as the non-wheeled city, for this city looked to have wheels as well. Albeit sunken under the ground.

Kasim didn’t have to go far. Only enter into a large building of some sorts, a building of importance. The inside of it seemed to have what was once a chandelier and fountain, with the water no longer being there. He only had to venture in behind a desk, where he set the vial away for now.

Kasim left the building and went back into the open streets. The whole place was pretty open, not composed of thin alleyways like many of the other ‘sand cities’ were. Not much place to hide, unless you wanted to go inside a building.

Onvu removed the arrows fairly quickly, and the bleeding stopped within a few minutes. But her worries were not towards herself, but to her Maj. She’d better return back to him.

"We have to get them off our tails, though," Ceria said.

"You mean my tail?"

"Shut up, you," she said, laughing despite herself. "Yes, off your tail. There are some clouds up there. Why don't you try and fly up there. They're the same color as your scales, or at least pretty close. You can try losing them up there."

"Then don't pass out from the altitude," Zyl said snappishly, although there was a slight hint of concern in his voice.

Kasim walked back to the edge of the island, just as Onvu arrived behind him. A familiar scent. No - two distantly familiar scents. As Onvu was about to interrupt his thoughts Kasim seemed to speak up. “Fly over towards the clouds.” He ran over, getting onto Onvu. There wasn’t much wind right now, and though he could smell blood still, there were several other, distant scents.

Onvu did not question him and immediately took to the air. Off to ‘the clouds.’

Kasim wasn’t sure what they were doing closer to the city - his city - He hoped to intercept them before they arrived. But he’d need to find them, first. Which could prove difficult in the clouds. Why would they fly up to the clouds? Were they trying to get away from something..or someone?

"I won't, you mother hen," Ceria said, her nerves pulled taught with worry. "Just go quickly." She bent even farther over his warm back, and he increased his speed. The wind whipped her face, stinging her eyes, and she slitted them shut.

Zyl flew into the clouds, where his scales blended in pretty well with the clouds.

"All we need to do now is hope that they go away quickly," she muttered. "And that none of those dragons are wind dragons."

It was getting hard to breath, and her vision was getting blurry. Her head was feeling light. She took deep breaths, attempting to get more air in her lungs.

Kasim flicked the visor back onto his face. While it could prevent the harsh winds lashing against his face, it would not prevent the lack of oxygen he was suffering from. All he could do was persevere. Don’t give up. Don’t give up.

Nothing could prepare him and Onvu for crashing into one of the two dragons chasing the target, though. A moment of surprise, of fear of falling - but they recovered from it faster than the opposing rider and Maj. You’re a bit too close to my turf.
Lightning crackled in the air in brief sparks, not enough to harm Kasim - he could easily repel it either way as long as he remained full strength. There was a flash of lightning in the clouds and a screech, a roar. Moments later, the first dragon and rider dropped out of the chase, out of the clouds. Whether they survived or not was none of his concern.

But the other rider and dragon were yet to be seen. Still chasing the other Maj and her dragon - if he was correct on who it was - probably? With a breath as deep as he could manage, Kasim turned and instructed a Onvu to continue the pursuit. Now they were behind both of them.

Black spots flashed in front of her vision as Ceria took in great, gasping breaths. She felt a wave of panic rise through her - there wasn't enough air. Usually, she could train her breathing so that this would be okay, at least for a bit, but there she was tired, and scared about the two Maj behind her.

"Hey, what's wrong?" Zyl asked, panicked, as she slumped over his back and was still. He lashed his tail and glanced behind him, where he could see that the two Maj were still chasing them. They seemed to be wearing something in front of their faces… likely one of those air tanks that helped with flying to great heights.

They had to get away.

Now that Ceria had passed out, he had to fly slower, so that she wouldn't fall from his back. Although she had tied herself in, staying on a dragon's back also required leg grip.

Kasim realized that he’d flown much higher than originally he intended to, spotting his next target below them. Indeed, it seemed they were pursuing the Maj and dragon he and Onvu had met earlier.

But he did not direct Onvu to fly at level altitude. Instead, Onvu simply lowered her flight just enough - just enough for Kasim to stand, and measure where he needed to..fall.
Kasim stood up. Though Onvu knew exactly how to fly on her own, it still didn’t prevent her worry from rising.
At the correct level, Kasim jumped, landing on the back of one of the dragons chasing the Maj and dragon he had met earlier. Even if it was a bit unsteady, he would recover. And he needed to do this quickly, lest he himself run out of oxygen. Readying his dagger, he prepared a killing blow for the neck of the Maj - ironically, it all came back full circle, as this was the Maj who struck him with the arrows, both of which were still in his back.

Onvu stayed at the same speed, hovering around in case something were to go wrong.

There was the sound of a scream and the wet thud of flesh, and Zyl whipped around, his eyes scanning the view. Someone was there. Friend of foe, he wasn't sure, but in either case, he needed to get his Maj somewhere where there was more air for her to breath. But that meant being chased again. So… did he want to keep getting chased, or did he want his Maj to live?

The answer was simple.

He folded his wings flat to his side and dove from the clouds, hoping that the other two wouldn't give chase. He fell like a stone, Ceria limp and lifeless on his back. He saw a person falling from the sky only a few yards away and panicked, before realizing that it was one of the Maj that had been chasing them.

So… were they fighting against each other, then? Or was there someone else?

Most riderless dragons would usually retreat back to their cities or at least off of the fight, and with the death of their Maj..well, the reactions would vary. Luckily, this dragon didn’t seem too interested in giving fight - aside from snapping around at Kasim, especially when he jumped off. But Onvu arrived, tail whipping past the face of the dragon as Kasim safely took control again.

“There could be one more,” Onvu began, “I don’t know where they are though.”
“Let’s take this out of the clouds.”
“You don’t have to tell me twice.”

Folding all her wings against her body, she flew from the clouds a few seconds later. Kasim didn’t exactly give the order because he thought there would be another Maj outside of the clouds - it was because his vision was weakening, breathing harsh.
Suddenly opening her wings, she slowed their descent to a hover, and for a few seconds they were still. “Are you okay?”

“I’ll be fine,” Kasim cleared his throat. “Keep flying high, but don’t go back towards the clouds again. I’m hoping to stay above anyone down here. I’m also..let’s turn back towards home.”
“Okay.”
With a tilt of her wings, Onvu turned, only to spot the distant dot of someone in the air. She couldn’t see from here, but there was someone - another Maj and dragon?

Ceria gave a start and a cough, coming out of her stupor. She coughed a few more times and shook her head, trying to clear her mind of the fog that covered it.

Her head hurt. A lot.

It felt a little bit like there was a hammer banging around her skull and her brain, with someone screaming as well.

"W-what happened?" She asked Zyl, who was flying as fast as he could away from Kalamai.

"You passed out from the altitude," he responded. His voice was sharp, mocking, but with an underlying tone of relief.

"Great. I'm so talented that I pass out with a lack of air." She rolled her eyes. "Wonderful." She felt a small stab of shame. She had thought she was better than that. Apparently not.

"There were two Maj chasing us. Do you know why?"

"Other than the fact that I was under arrest? No, not really." She considered. "I wonder if they found the body of that one drug smuggler. They might have thought that I killed him. Because you know, Maj aren't supposed to kill anyone unless it's for the greater good. That must not count, then."

Onvu continued flying towards them, though not directly up to them. And some of her attention was divided, since she was still trying to sense if there were any attackers around the area. Kasim was the one keeping most of his attention on the skies.

“I think it’s them. From before.” He mumbled, brushing a hand against his face. Onvu rumbled something in agreement.
“Shall we head further?”

“No. We’ve done a lot more than we usually do, all of this fighting. Try to move past them unnoticed, if possible.”
“Okay.” Though she doubted that would be possible with how close they were, Onvu dove a bit lower and began heading in direction of the seemingly large mountain of rocks in the desert - also known as ‘home.’ Their city. It was easier to see as you got closer, the buildings, moss and vines that overgrew them.