forum I literally just want a wholesome t4t relationship with dragon riders and magic and all that (OxO)

Started Feb 13 by @NikolaNiks

tune

Hawks had crash-landed through the conifer trees, directly into the heart of the enchanted forest. He'd been traveling and thought he could make it across with just his humanoid form. He was wrong. He tumbled through the leaves, trees stretching high as mountains (maybe not quite that tall, but certainly taller than even the rainforests of his home) and directly into the ground below. Fortunately he'd landed on a very mossy patch, so between that and the many cobwebs he'd fallen through Hawks only got a few scratches and bruises. But the cobwebs were a little concerning, considering this place was known for its giant spiders and generally giant animals, foliage, you name it. Especially the father in you got. Hawks was basically at the center. Hawks had been flying for a few hours now, and so he made his way to a small crevice, two huge pieces of flat rock leaned up against each other, and began to doze off…

What he woke up to was being dragged by the ankle across the forest floor, webbing wrapped around his leg. He didn't have his dagger on him, he'd dropped his knapsack somewhere along the fall. So he took the sticky fibers into his hands and began to claw at them desperately. He got about halfway through the first tether when his other leg was immediately webbed up as well by another spider. Hawks began to scan the forest floor for anything he could use to cut faster. He spotted a rusty dagger in the hand of a very, very dead skeleton. Well, fate had saved the day again, or at the very least luck. Hawks didn't really believe in either unless it was convenient, which it certainly was now.

He sawed quickly through the rest of the webbing, it fell apart around his legs the second he freed himself. He began to run, run as fast as he could until he reached a sunny patch with less giant spiders… and a giant snake curled up fast asleep in a slinky pile smack dab in the middle of the sun.

Dragon shifters had something unique to them compared to most shapeshifters. They could transform any time and keep all of their consciousness, unlike werewolves who could only transform under the full moon and lost all understanding of what was going on, only intense primal bloodlust remaining. However, in order to shift, they needed a scale of a magical creature to take a new form. Usually, the dragons of old would give the half-human dragon shifters their scales, but there were no longer around. They'd gone extinct after the dragon shifters' population boomed, when scales were a scarce commodity and real dragons even scarcer. Hawks rarely transformed into a true dragon anymore, he didn't have enough scales to manage the transformation. But if he could kill a snake, especially one this huge… maybe he'd even be welcomed back from exile for it.

Dragon shifters were not picky about where their scales came from except for royalty, who hoarded them like a real dragon's treasure. There were many magical scaled creatures in Hawks' home country, so finding scales cheaply was easy if you were willing to fight something or pay someone for that purpose. He could probably become very rich from a high quality source like this though, different scales allowed dragon shifters different amounts of time of shifting. His tail thumped involuntary at the prospect. Which woke the snake.

Hawks ran again. He wouldn't be able to get far up a tree with an arboreal snake this big, on foot was the only way he could do so. So he ran through the forest, dead branches crashing down around him as the snake pursued.

He eventually got far enough to land in a wheezing mess on the ground by a small body of water. A puddle the size of a pond, this place was insane. Hawks just wanted to get out of here at this point, scales be damned.

He looked across the pond-puddle, and saw out of the corner of his eye something very small wearing a very fine cloak run past like a rabbit. Was that, perhaps, another lost traveler? Surely not as far into the forest as this. So someone here intentionally, then. Who would be that crazy?

Ella strolled through the forest, trying to enjoy herself despite the gravity of her situation. The sunlight streamed through the conifers in golden rays, the flowers beneath her feet like a living carpet. The birds and crickets sang their songs as the leaves of the trees and ferns swayed in the breeze. It really was a lovely day.
She carried a sack over her shoulder, her skirt tied at the waist and revealing her already dirtied drawers. The cloak she covered herself with protected her from thorny bushes and splintered branches. Despite this, she tended to be too curious for her own good, resulting in a few cuts on her calloused hands. She smiled as she watched the three small mice at her feet scurry along with her.
She had never been this deep in the forest before, but had enough experience with the wilderness to feel somewhat comfortable with making this journey. In any case, it was her duty. She had to make this journey, no matter what. So many people were depending on her.
Noticing some disturbance in the grass, she bent down to find giant spider tracks and webbing. “See that, Gus?” She looked over at the larger grey mouse. “We’ll have to tread carefully.” The mouse looked at her and twitched his nose, then scurried after the other mice.
Ella smiled and continued walking, keeping her eyes peeled. The trees seemed to sway more in the wind, and a flock of birds flew above the tree line. The mice seemed to freeze and panic a little, scurrying over and climbing up Ella’s cloak.
“Oh— hello there.” She pet one of the smaller mice, the black one she called Soot. “I’ll keep you safe.” She continued more slowly, watching her steps and staying quiet. She moved away from the spider tracks and the area she saw the birds fly from as the surrounding forest became more dense.
Then there came the sound of hissing. Not good. Ella picked up the pace a bit, skipping over a shallow pool of water. She covered her mouth to keep as quiet as possible. Her experience taught her that this was not the time to be curious.

The snake crashed through the trees behind Hawks, his eyes widening as he mouthed curses and foul words. He jumped up, building enough momentum for his wings to begin to carry him across the pond. He flapped through the air with little stability and much panic. Hawks eventually crashed once more on the other side of the pond, snake still in hot pursuit and swimming through the water. Hawks knew he was basically dead now, still, he ran… straight into the cloaked figure and knocking them both over. He pushed himself up, ran, then looked back and saw the figure was directly in the path of the snake. “Hell, I’m dead anyways.” he grumbled, making a hard turn back in the direction of the person he’d knocked over. “C’mon, we’re gonna die if we dally!” he said, extending his hand to the figure and looking not at them, but at the snake. Hawks stared the monster head-on, glaring at it. Like he’d let another innocent person die because he didn’t care enough.

The ground beneath her shook, the hissing growing louder. Before Ella had much time to process this, she felt something ram into her, knocking her down. She managed to hold onto her bag. The mice squealed and fell to the ground before quickly making themselves scarce.
For a moment, she was too surprised to do anything, but the sound of aggressive hissing and hot air on her neck sprung her into action. Seeing an outstretched hand, she quickly took it and pulled herself up. Ella could see that the owner of the hand was rather short, and so impulsively took the other hapless person around the waist and over her shoulder. She ran through the trees, making long strides to cover more ground.