@Dances_with_Shadows-is-stress
It was a pretty odd sight. Cold night, cold as all hell and then some, and it wasn't getting warmer anytime soon. The road that winded and weaved its way through the dense forest, lit up occasionally by a streetlights that glowed dim, bored-looking yellows that illuminated an area of 6 feet around the pole and nothing else. It was isolated, it was dark, and it was sketchy, yet Runner walked casually on the right shoulder of the asphalt, following the solid white line that set the firm boundaries on the road. He wore a thick sweatshirt with the word "Clemson" printed across the chest in bolded orange letters. A pair of jeans and sneakers capped off the unassuming outfit, but that wasn't the odd part of him. He held a thick, cast iron skillet loosely in his left hand, his upper body leaned slightly because of the weight. It didn't seem to be too uncomfortable, nor did it hinder his gait at all. But it was still weird, especially in the middle of nowhere.
(yes yes yes, I'm working on it. Just had to figure out how I'm even going to do this. Introducing a newish character totally didn't get distracted by my Pinterest board of this dude while trying to find this picture Here's him dragon)
The dragon soared through the night sky, his membranous wings shimmering like stars as he banked and swooped above the trees. He savored the chill of the night, silver eyes slipping closed as a dragon's smile crept over his teeth-filled mouth. A scent caught his attention, causing him to turn his head and swerve, turning in a circle to check it out. He was bored and had nothing to do, besides fly around, so why not see what was moseying about at this time of night? His wings folded in some as he dipped beneath the treetops, and he landed with a soft huff of air, wings flaring and flapping backwards to soften his landing. The dragon shook his head with a snort—dirt had clouded up around his face—and turned his attention towards the unfamiliar scent. After a moment's hesitation, he stalked towards it. His great onyx claws sunk into the earth as he walked, looking like a regal lion or mighty tiger, shoulderblades sharp and protruding each time he took a step. His long and snake-like tail trailed behind him like a rope tied to a moving object, dust and rubble scrambling out of the way of the great beast’s moonlit skin.
The dragon inside Runner snarled in anger at the scent of another beast, but Runner quelled it's rage with barely a snort. He had sensed it over a mile ago and it hadn't made a peep, so why get upset now? He continued walking on like nothing was happening, but his shoulders clenched up and his hand gripped the pan even tighter.
When it landed, he decided that now would be a good time to turn around and stare directly at it, a calm expression on his face despite how terrifying it looked. Moments like this made him wonder why he was given such a small dragon. he would have liked to just transform and scare the fucker away, but now he would have to run if shit got serious.
"Why are you following me?" he asked.
The dragon came to a stop a respectable distance away, recognizing now the scent that had drawn him in in the first place. Dragon. There was another like him. He tucked his wings neatly at his sides, as they were too big to lay flat across his back, and cocked his head to the side in a curious manner. "Wasn't following, but glad to know you think so highly of yourself," he said, the dragon's grumble making his voice a tad more mature than normal. His back legs shifted slightly, grabbing the dirt as they lifted then burrowing into the softened ground as they touched down. "But I was bored and curious. That's all."
"Well, please go be bored and curious somewhere else," he said, widening his feet slightly. It would improve his take-off ability if he did need to run away. "I haven't had a very good time with strangers as of late and finding you creeping up on me in a hunting position really doesn't give me a good first impression."
The sound of a rustle in the woods diverted Runner's attention from the dragon to the trees on the left. Without hesitation, he pulled the cast iron skillet back and chucked it as hard as he could. The sound of a doonnngg! and a loud grunt came from the bushes as he took several steps back, grinding his teeth together in frustration.
"Here is one of the strangers I am speaking of," he growled, as this came stumbling out of the woods:
The dragon turned his head when the creature stumbled out of the woods, and his hackles raised in slight alarm. He barely blinked, however, when he bore his teeth, flared his enormous wings, and hissed at the creature in a form of dominance and warning. This was no ordinary dragon—this was a night dragon. His power was the strongest during the night, his flames would see no end so long as the moon provided her light. And with this particular dragon's background, he wouldn't back down without a fight.
Runner's eyes flashed as the beast roared, the air around him seeming to ripple like waves in a pond. Out of these waves came a roaring Chinese dragon, it's long white main flowing behind it as it twirled through the air. Well…long in comparison to its own body. It was barely 25 feet long, almost minuscule compared to the other dragon. What he lacked in size, however, he made up for in speed. (That's what she said.) He moved so quick he was just a white blur in the sky, zooming around and around the beast that appeared from the woods.
"This is a wendigo," Runner growled, stopping for a moment beside the other dragon's head. "More dangerous than it looks, trust me."
"As am I." The dragon sucked in a breath, then disconnected his jaw like a snake to create a large torrent of starfire at the wendigo. The silver and bluish-black flames shot from his mouth, enveloping the area around the horrendous beast. His body hunched low to the ground while his neck snaked up slightly and his wings spread wide, putting him in a position where he could easily swing his head to attack with his teeth or horns, fly away, or leap away from the assailant.
The wendigo let out a horrific shriek, holding it's hands out to shield itself from the fire. Despite how much pain it was in, its skin appeared to be untouched. It even began to push forward through the blast, inching forward like a small child fighting against the wind.
Runner looked up as clouds began to form in the sky, letting out a small growl. The wendigo had the ability to cause huge storms when it was angry, often resulting in tornadoes and blizzards that can rip trees from the ground and kill a man in seconds.
"As long as we fly higher than it can reach," Runner said, "We should be fine. Making it more angry will result in us getting killed by the storm it'll rile up."
The dragon lunged at the wendigo in a warning snap of his jaws, cutting the fire off, then pivoted away with a bounding step and jumped into the sky, large wings spread and lifting him off the ground. His spiked tail smacked the wendigo as he did so, accidental on his part but earning a small huff of self-approval from his snout as he looked back. He wasn't exactly in the mood for a wendigo or a pissy dragon, so he simply spun through the sky to fly over the forming clouds, wings spiraling through the misty fog and disrupting its form. He dipped his head as he came to a hover, back legs flying forward from the momentum and wings twisting to keep him in place. While he might not care about the other dragon, he wanted to make sure he at least got out safely.
Runner took off at a blinding speed as the clouds began to converge into a steady overcast, slipping through the last little gap before it was too late. It was fascinating to see something that big (relative to a human) fly with such speed and grace. He brought his small, somewhat deformed arms as close to his body as they could go to reduce drag, making him even faster.
"It had been trailing me for over 2 days now. It won't be giving up anytime soon," he said to the other moon dragon, giving him a small nod. "Thank you for the help."
"Don't mention it," he said, still looking down as if he could see the wendigo through the clouds. "I'd suggest hiding a little bit better, boy." Those shining silver eyes slid up to narrow in on the twirling dragon beside him, his head not moving from its position. "Your scent is clear and curious. Even a street rat can sniff you out." With that said, he turned his head to the stars, gazing up at them with a clear gleam of fascination and awe in those eyes.
"You can't hide from a wendigo," he responded, blinking at the sound of the angry roar from below. "It is an apex predator. A demon made to hunt and kill human flesh. Or a human consumed by their cannibalistic urges, but both are just as dangerous. Luckily, that one isn't the kind that can fly. Or turn invisible."
His black eyes shifted over to the newcomer, squinting slightly. "Why were you out here, anyways?"
The dragon looked back down at the other one, a dragon-like look that was close to the human equivalent of a raised brow. "Even the largest city can't cage me. I needed a vacation." He paused for a bit, contemplating telling this stranger more. "New York City isn't exactly the most welcoming place, either." The way he spoke wasn't like what one would expect from a dragon. His lips and mouth moved to form the words, forked tongue manipulating itself to create the correct sounds. He didn't speak with his mind, nor did his voice float in the air.
In contrast, Runner's mouth didn't move an inch as he said, "New York? What is going on there?"
It was one of the only places he hadn't been to in his travels, but was always on his list of places to go. The way the dragon spoke of it, however, made it seem like it was a place to be avoided.
"It's the magical hub of America, but the people there don't exactly like magic. We gotta hide from them." The dragon let out a huff of annoyance, some smoke escaping his nostrils as he did so. "It's pretty easy for some of us, like me, but others can only come out at night. Even then, they have to be careful."
"Hm. I never heard of anything like that." He began idly twirling in place, spinning around so much he looked like a Twisler while his hair wrapped itself around his body "And what would happen if you get caught using magic?"
"Locked up. Experimented on. Abused. The list goes on." He spoke plainly, but his voice took on a harder edge to it, as if speaking from experience. "Don't exactly recommend it, unless you'd like to get drugged and beaten on a daily. If so, then, by all means, go ahead and get caught."
"I'm somewhat intrigued," Runner admitted, stopping his spinning to glance over at the bigger dragon. His silver eyes flashed for a moment, actual rays of light being produced from his irises. "A night dragon, same as me. Well, obviously not physically, but in terms of the restrictions we have. And I'm more of a moon dragon, but-" He realized he was rambling and stopped that train of thought. "Anyways, I don't believe I caught your name."
"I never offered it," the dragon huffed, "And I am a moon dragon, but we are all different. Darkness and illusions are what I reign over, the stars I admire." He flared his nostrils some in thought, debating if he should offer his name or not. This stranger didn't seem to be very welcoming to him at first, but he supposed it was justified. He was never really good at coming across as friendly, especially as a dragon. "Nikolas," he finally said at length.
He formed a circle with his body by touching his tail to his nose and began spinning around in the air like a wheel. It seemed his ADHD affected him even in dragon form.
"I'm Runner," he responded, his voice portraying no emotion. "It's been a while since the last time I met a friendly dragon. The last one was convinced I was a part of some group it was fighting an attacked me. Started with a V, I believe. Vagabond? Something to that affect. It's nice to see you didn't go straight for my throat."
(I feel like a forehead, but I have no clue what that means)
