"Hm." Alek thought for a bit. "I don't know. It's… Strange. We're the only species that doesn't have natural weapons. We're kinda… boring? And those of us with magic can have a difficult time mastering those abilities." He shrugged slightly.
The dragon seemed to laugh, though it was hard to tell. “Boring? You humans are rather clever, if I have to say anything about it. I have personal experiences, believe me.” Though he kept flying, Seig glanced behind them, craning his neck slightly to look. He wasn’t looking directly at Alek, more so behind him, although there was nothing there. He returned to looking forwards.
“Some of you are so clever you’re annoying. No offence, of course.”
He paused.
“I was aware humans had magic. Dragons are some of the original teachers of it, though that goes back thousands of years. Way before I was born.”
He chuckled. "No offense taken. And yeah, I guess we're clever, but like…so are crows." He shrugged. "To be honest…some human magicians need to chill the fuck out. Really. They take offense at everything."
“Heh. I’d agree with you, but I haven’t met that many magic bearing humans in a while now. Out of all of the riders I’ve had, only 2 of them actively used magic. The others preferred weaponry. I suppose it is a tricky ability to master.”
He blinked.
“Crows may be clever, but crows couldn’t develop some of the technology that I’ve seen in the past centuries of my life. When you live in a world with dragons, you defend yourself in whatever way you can..and believe me, some of those nets humans develop are quite hard to get out of. I dread to imagine what they’re like today.” Seig realized that Alek may not know what he’s referencing, so Seig added in, “I’ve been around lots, fought in some wars. Humans needed inventions to take down rival dragon riders, so they made it.”
The birds that had flown around them previously seemed to have left all of the sudden.
"Oh. Alright." He said, closing his eyes for a moment. He thought. "I guess you're right about that." He acceded, opening his eyes and looking at Thunder. He looked around curiously. "Oh hey, the birds are gone. That's weird."
“We all have our own strengths and weaknesses.” He added, before returning to the current events.
Seig huffed, though it was not of frustration. “I know. There’s someone near.”
As he said that, there was a large gust of wind when another rider appeared, doing a complete circle over the two that were already there. Finally, they settled down to reveal another dragon, and a rider on top. The rider wasted no time when he sat up and turned his neck to the two, and in a mocking voice shouted over at them, “What a silly looking dragon you got there, unlike Yvol!” The rider’s lower face was not visible, though he seemed to chuckle as his dragon, ‘Yvol’ chortled in return.
“Hypocritical words..” Seig muttered quietly.
"Yeah? Well that's a fucking retarded dragon you've got!" Alek shouted back. "His eyes look like they go two different directions!" Without thinking about what he was doing, he stood up on Thunder's back, looking over at the other rider. "Plus, you're pretty silly looking yourself, sitting there all high and mighty." He crossed his arms.
Seig growled, partially at the other two but also at Alek. “..Sit down!”
The other rider seemed taken aback, but his dragon answered for him. Yvol seemed to shout, but it was a feminine voice that came out. “HIM? I am no drake! I am a Drakaina, thank you very much! Of royal blood, too!” She seemed very insulted. The other rider also followed up on his own, “Yeah, and you’re speaking to another royal blood here! Tack, going to be king of this land eventually!”
“King? You can’t even say that with confidence, wyrm. What kind of name is Tack, anyways?” Seig almost spat out, defending himself.
Alek sat down with a sigh. "Oh? Royal? That explains why the both of you are so ugly!" He taunted. "And Tack? That's the stupidest name I've heard in my life! Tack is what you put on a horse before you ride it!" He shouted. "And miss dragon, if you don't want people to think you're a Drake, then stop looking like one!" Maybe, he acceded, it was stupid to pick a fight like this. But they started it!
Tack almost seemed to growl, but it was rather quiet compared to the one Seig had done moments before.
“Watch yourself!” Though it was hard to see in his expression, he seemed to be getting annoyed by Alek and Seig, more so the former. Tack unveiled some chains, with at the end were spikes, almost like hooks. Yvol simply focused on flying.
Seig growled again. “If you attack us, you’ll ruin all chances at becoming a king in the future. However, I think this encounter is over.” Seig decided not to egg on them any further. Tack was young, and the Drakaina, Yvol, was young as well. They’d get their lesson sooner or later. With that, before anyone could say anything, Seig turned away and began flying back in direction of the Aviary again. Not before flapping his wings though, sending a gust of wind at the other dragon and rider, which seemed to surprise them. They seemed to not follow, however.
“I would rather avoid any conflict right now. Especially in the air.”
Alek sighed. "Fiiiine." He stretched slightly. "I probably shouldn't have egged them on like that. Sorry." He said, looking at Thunder. "In my defense, they did start it." He knew he sounded like a whiny child, but oh well.
"Well, you aren't exactly lying." Seig spoke, focused on getting back now. "Though you do remind me of someone I used to know," Seig trailed off. The birds seemed to return, but they would soon leave as they neared the Aviary.
Alek nodded. "Oh. Who? If you're okay with telling me…" He trailed off, looking around as they flew back. The birds were back, for now. He gave a small smile, taking a deep breath. How long would he still be able to enjoy this for?
“..” There was a pause before Seig spoke. “My first rider. When he was a bit younger, at least.”
“He isn’t around anymore, but that was centuries ago; and he was a human. It would not make much sense for him to outlive a human lifespan, after all.”
Alek nodded. "Oh. I-I'm sorry. You must miss him." He said softly, looking at the big dragon for a moment. He bit his lower lip slightly, not sure what else to say. He didn't want to say the wrong thing, and risk offending Thunder, but…he wasn't sure what to do.
“It’s fine. He was one of the best riders I ever had. Probably the longest one who managed to stay with me at well.” Seig saw the Balcony within distance. “I do miss him every now and then. But I do so with all of my riders. Although the first rider gave me my name.”
Alek nodded, and glanced down at the dragon. "Oh. That's really cool." He said with a small smile. He wasn't going to ask what the name was, because Thunder had told him earlier that a dragons name was told only to their rider. Something like that.
((Apologies for late response, had family over all of today and I didn't have the time to make a response!))
Seig went down slightly, before landing on the Balcony. He walked for a few seconds until he stopped and his wings were folded again. "I'm surprised you didn't ask my name. But then again - you humans are a lot smarter than you take credit for; I said it myself." Out of view, the dragon seemed to close his eyes and smile; a very brief and hard-to-notice one. "But in case you are wondering.."
"It's Seig."
(it's totally fine!)
Alek tilted his head slightly. "Does that mean you…accept me as your rider?" He asked slowly, sliding off of Seig, and studying the dragon. If he does… He bit his lower lip for a moment, right hand rubbing the stumps where his missing fingers used to be; it was a nervous habit that he tended to do a lot.
"Well, what did I tell you before?" Seig finally turned towards Alek; though he only turned his head. "About dragons telling their true names?"
Alek sighed. "That they only tell their riders?" He said, looking up at Seig questioningly. His brown hair was messy, sticking up every which way.
“Yes. It does mean that.” Seig looked away for a moment. Then he looked for a response.
"So I'm your rider now?" Alek grinned, hands in his pockets again. He bounced on his heels slightly, looking up at the big dragon.
“Yup. But in order to make it official, we’ll need to find Sadon and alert him of that. Then you’ll also decide where I’ll be staying. I heard there was a wing in the Aviary for some riders to keep their dragons, but limited space. I’m also aware of the stables. There’s also some riders that just let their dragons stay by their houses.” He explained, adding on.
Alek nodded. "Then let's find Sadon." He hesitated. "Er…I don't exactly have a house. Not a permanent one, anyway. So. You'll probably have to stay here?" He looked up at the dragon. "If that's okay."