Open Plains

[Lady Alianna]

Beautiful flat plains, perfect for hiking, walking and riding as they offer spectacular scenery from the surrounding areas as well as peace and solitude. If you are lucky, you can see Faydell's wild horses galloping playfully across the gently sloping terrain.

[Scarlet Aldsilver]

Scarlet wandered through the plains with Meral. She had taken Alianna's advice from their previous training sessions and taken time to talk with Meral.

The plains seemed perfect for this. She was new to communicating through her thoughts, so the peace and quiet of the plains allowed her to concentrate better. Meral was also able to speak easier, so conversation was easy. Ever now and again he would ask what a word meant. He had grown a lot as well since their first training session- now the size of a large dog. They walked along leisurely, discussing anything and everything and Scarlet had never felt closer to another being in her life.

[Jakien]

It felt too Jakien that he had wandered through that forest for years, and in that time, lost all essense of himself. He was scared, more then scared. He was horrofied. He was lost in a strange and different place. And he had no idea of how to get back. Or how he got here in the first place. Perhaps some mysteries wouldn't ever be solved.

Jakien had stumbled out of the forest by pure luck. Now the plains spread out as far as the eye could see. Vast and lush, and seeming to go on for miles. His eyes were practically bulging out of his eyesockets. What is this place?

He suddenly hear footsteps. He grabbed his spear, and held it tightly. As Brandion reared up behind him. He stood his ground, while he waited for the person to come in sight. Not wanting his enemy to take him by surprise.

[Scarlet Aldsilver]

Scarlet! came a loud cry from Meral.

Scarlet stopped in her tracks. A large dragon, easily the size of a building towered infront of her. Her hand instictively flew to her sword and clasped the hilt, not that she thought she would stand a chance.

She suddenly noticed a man crouched beside the dragon, clutching a spear. She didn't need a scholor to tell her that this wasn't a rider in Arinesse's army. His hair was a tangled mess and as for his clothes (well, lack of clothes), he looked like he'd been dragged through a hedge backwards. All the same, Scarlet didn't want to stay and find out who he was. Instinct told her to run, but common sense told her she wouldn't get very far in a chase. She unsheathed her sword and lay it on the ground infront of her, deciding that surrender was probably her best shot.

"I don't mean you any harm." she said slowly, unsure whether he could understand her. She didn't see any recognition in his features.

Meral... she asked, What should I... her eyes widened as she watched Meral fearlessly approaching the larger Dragon.
Meral! What on earth are you doing, come back! he didn't reply, although she knew he had heard her. She could sense nothing but excitement from him.

[Jakien]

(O.C. So you don't get confused reading this, Jakien was raised by dragons, he has no idea he's human)


Jakien stood there, eyeing the woman suspiciously. However, upon seeing the dragon approach, he felt his unease dissapear. Smiling he approached the dragon, "Hello, Brother, I am Jakien, the Claw of the Ancestors." He eyed the woman behind the dragon, like the corspe he found before, she looked a lot like him, but with obvious differences, like the ears "Who is that, who stands behind you?" He kept eyeing her suspiciously, he had a feeling she was a human. But what on earth was a dragon and a human doing together?

[Scarlet Aldsilver]

(OOC: Sure, I read your introductory post.

Meral?....Meral!? Scarlet asked, silently panicking as she stood unmoving infront of the dragon and the strange man. Finally Meral replied:

He says he is called Jakien

Scarlet couldn't get another word out of him, so she gave up. Meral obviously knew what he was doing. Meanwhile, Meral was confused, as soon as Jakien had greeted him as 'brother' he realised that this was no ordinary man. (Even though Meral was young, he had naturally been born with the wisdom of the dragons.) He wasted no time in answering Jakien's question.

"The girl is called Scarlet Aldsilver. She is an elf, my rider, and my lifelong companion. I must ask, do you or your dragon mean us any harm?"

[Jakien]

"No, Brandion and I will not harm you unless you directly attack us. That is the way of the dragons as you know. What is your name Brother? And who is this "elf" that you accompany?" He still didn't know why they were traveling together, and he had no idea why he called the woman his rider. This was a strange place indeed. But that thought reminded him, that he still had no idea where he was, so as an afterthought added, "While your at it, can you tell us where we are?" He stared at the plains, as they spread out before them. He had never seen so much land before in his life.

[Scarlet Aldsilver]

My name is Meral he replied And my companion? She is a female of her race. The elves are a different... he paused, trying to find the right word. In the end he settled for one he knew the man would understand, ...a different breed of human. As for where we are, we are in Faydell, a small village not far from Arinesse, the capital of Erivale. Human, what brings you and your dragon to these parts?

Scarlet waited patiently whilst Meral spoke to the man, and after a few agonizing minutes, he finally spoke to her:

"They are not from here, and there is something strange about the man...I don't think he realises he's human...it's like he's some sort of..." Meral didn't know the word in this language, so turned to Scarlet.
You mean a feral child? Scarlet replied, glancing at the man, Well, not so uch a child anymore...
Yes, and they say they will not harm us unless we attack them first.

Scarlet relaxed slightly, all her muscles had tensed since she first saw the dragon. Now, she began to look at the man more carefully. The more she saw, the more he puzzled her.

[Jakien]

Jakien had trouble understanding most of what Meral had said, particually the Faydell and Arinesse part. But when the dragon said Erivale, he forgot the rest instantly, "Erivale!!! We're in the land of humans?" He stared wide eyed at the plains, but not with fear or that dazed lost feeling anymore. But rather with a angry, suspicious look, as if he suspected any human to pop up any moment to come and attack them.

"How did I get here?" He mumbled to himself, "How did I get to the land of the humans..." He stared at Meral, and for the first time felt uncomfortable in his presense, "Brother if your here, in the land of humans, that must mean..." He had heard tales from his Elders, the oldest dragons and the most powerful on Stoneburn. They had told him of a time when a group of humans came to Stoneburn and took a small nest of dragon eggs, taking them back to their home. This dragon but be the offspring of one of those stolen dragons.

"We need to leave...now." He said while walking over to Brandion, he didn't look at Meral directly in the face, feeling uneasy to ask the dragon anything now, but he had to do it, "Um...could you...uh...tell me how to get back to Stoneburn?"

[Scarlet Aldsilver]

Stoneburn Island is in Erivale waters Meral replied, Jakien's worry had made him anxious. He was more likely to attack them in this state, way of the dragons or not. Meral didn't know which direction Stoneburn island was in, so asked Scarlet.

They're from Stoneburn island he told her, They're lost and want to get back...which direction is it in?

Stoneburn island? she repeated The home of the wild dragons. She looked up to see the Valburn mountains to the left of her. Directly southShe said.

She waited whilst Meral relayed this news.
Meral, I think you should tell him...
Tell him what?
That Stoneburn Island isn't his home, he's a human after all.
Erivale is our home, and neither of us are humans.
I know but...
If he asks, I will tell him. If he just wants to go home, we will get out of this alive. I'm not going to anger him or his dragon unncessarily.

Scarlet didn't agree. She already knew what she was going to do. She walked up to Jakien, leaving her sword behind on the ground where she had dropped it. When she was close enough, she reached out her hand, palm upwards, then motioned for him to do the same. Surley he couldn't ignore the similarity when it was right infront of him?

[Jakien]

He says that Stoneburn is in Eraivale's waters, he said to Brandion through his thoughts. I do not care what the humans had decided is or is not theirs, Stoneburn is still my home. One that we must return to. They say its south we must go there

South? Brandion replied. I heard him. But you must know, there is a delima, I can not fly that far. We will need to get a boat.

Jakien growled, hating the idea that he would need to rely on the humans for anything. But he agreed with Brandion anyways, Brother, maybe this Faydell place or Arinesse will have the boat we need but...wait. We'll finish this later. He said when he saw the elf approach him.

He thought for a moment that she had came to attack him, but the look on her face said otherwise. She stood before him, and rose up one hand. What is she doing? He wondered. He then saw the look on her face, as if beckoning to do the same. He complied, pressing his hand against hers.

He then caught the message.

There hands were similiar. Far more similiar then his and Brandions were. They even had the same shade of color, and the same smooth texture. Unlike the scales that the dragons had. Maybe...

Upon that thought, Jakien ripped back his hand as if it were stung. And glared at the girl. Backing up a couple of feet, he started snarling, itching to grab his spear to defend himself. He didn't know who she was, but she was a kind of human, and that's all he needed to know. He had asked enough questions, it was best if they left now.

He picked up his fallen spear, and clutched it tightly with one hand. He jumped on Brandions back, and they went darting up into the air. He asked Brandion to stop, turning to Meral, and ignoring the elf. "Thank you for your help, Brother." He said, but not without a furious undertone laying under it. "I shall remember the kindness you showed us." Then they were out of sight.

Once in the air, Jakien did his best to think of anything besides his encounter with the elf. He had already decided of the two places, that he would go to Arinesse instead. With that decide, his mind couldn't help but wander back to his last thought...could it be possible that he was human?

[Scarlet Aldsilver]

Scarlet watched Jakien leave, unable to pinpoint exactly what she was feeling. An odd mixture of loss, anger, fear and confusion. Her legs were shaking so much that she had to sit down cross legged on the ground.

I shouldn't have done that... she thought quietly
You did what you thought best. Meral replied, somewhat coldy.
Scarlet bit her lip and for the next few minutes they sat in silence.
Why does he hate me? she asked. Meral didn't reply, so Scarlet answered her own question. It's because I'm a human, well, have a human form isn't it. He just assumed that I would harm them.
And what did you think when you first saw them?
...that they were going to kill me...
Everyone jumps to conclusions. stated Meral.

Scarlet lay down flat in the grass, hardly aware that a large prickly plant was scratching her legs. She plucked a long blade of grass and twiddled it between her thumb and index finger thoughtfully.

Will he come back? she asked. Maybe. Meral replied, settling down in the grass beside her. There was a pause as Scarlet looked southwards, the direction of Stoneburn Island.
Do you wish you were a wild dragon?she asked, rolling onto her side to face Meral.
No. There was another pause.
If they've gone to Arinesse, won't they be captured? The Sovereign's hardly going to let a wild dragon rampage around.
True.
What if they hurt him? Scarlet's eyes widened, Meral, we should tell the Sovereign not to hurt them.
Scarlet, it's not our place, you know they wouldn't do the same for us.

Scarlet stood up abruptly. She knew Meral was right, he usually was, but she still felt like she should do something.
Lets head back then she said, picking up her sword and sheathing it with a sigh.

[Elizabeth Sparkle]

Elizabeth rode Patches through the plains, just working on strengthening her horses skills. She turn left and then right. Then Patches lifted up onto her back feet and whinnied. Elizabeth held the reigns tight, so that she didn't fall off. She pushed her feet hard into the stirrups and Galloped down the plains with Patches.

After riding, Liz found a stream near the edge of Faydell forest. She let Patches drink as she pulled the small lunch she'd brought. She sat, staring out at the open plains, while she ate alongside Patches, who grazed nearby in the grass.

Liz sat there, thinking of Matt and how much she'd put him through. Our relationship will never be the same, even if I apologize. Then she decided she would live in Swyncrest and go to the city for her training. Then she grabbed Patches reigns and climbed onto her back, and then headed down the rode to wards Swyncrest.