Sage grunted and shrugged. "It's alright. She's fine now." It felt weird talking to another human, using the human language - he had only spent time with dragons since he was like 10 years old. Should I tell her my name? I suppose I can - she doesn't seem to know exactly what I am, so she can't tell anyone. And I have my mask on so she can't see my face. He cocked his head slightly and finally turned his eyes away from the dragon towards the girl. "Sage. But...most people know me as the dragon freer." Fire Storm yelped. "Why did you tell her that? That could get you into trouble, you know!" She flapped her wings in surprise as she spoke. Sage rolled his eyes. "Oh, come on, Fire Storm, stop worrying so much. I've been doing this my entire life - I don't plan on screwing myself over now. Besides, do you really think she could beat me in a fight?" He raised an eyebrow at his dragon as he spoke, although she couldn't tell because of his mask. Fire Storm gasped. "Well I don't know, she could. I don't know how well she can fight!" Sage sighed. "I do, and I can tell you right now she would rather not fight - she's better at running and hiding than fighting." Fire Storm sighed. "Well, if you want to get yourself killed, fine. I'm going to make sure the deer is cooked." Sage waved her off and looked back at the girl - Amber? "Do you want deer meat? I have more than Fire Storm and I will eat as of right now. So if you want any, it's back where we're staying the night." He wasn't sure why he asked her that - all of his instincts hold him not to - but he felt he could trust the girl, at least a little bit. This is either gonna be interesting or be interesting and go down in flames. Guess we'll see. He turned and followed Fire Storm, giving Amber the choice to follow of leave.

Riv and Gang || 17 & ¾ || Dragon Freer || M: Dragon Rustlers, Freed Dragons

“The camp shouldn’t be too far from here.” A large, snow-white paw is placed down in a pile of fallen leaves, another following behind it. It soon moves on - along with its owner - as it travels to be placed once more

“You said that hours ago! Do you even know where we’re going?” A dull tan and black stinger takes the paw’s place. He was no bigger than a small dog - or a velociraptor. His blood-red crest flares and his feathers puff up in his anger.

“Are you questioning Riv’s navigation, Scorpion?” The paw’s owner - a broad snow-white polar dragon - turns to face the snappy stinger with a snarl. On her back, a black hair girl resides, staring at the two with confused peacock green orbs.

“Now, now, you two. No need to start another argument.” A beautiful golden-brown stinger with black spots hops out of a bush behind the two feuding dragons. Her posture and looks scream elegance, but still holds a kind of motherly aura. Her feathers sway in a soft breeze that flows between the group members. “Besides we all know how good Riv is with navigation,” she grins gently up to the mentioned human.

The kind Rivulet grins back. ‘The rustler’s camp is just ahead. If we get there soon, we should be able to free them without difficulty,’ the girl signs.

The polar dragon huffs, releasing on last growl at the much smaller dragon before continuing her previous pace. She makes sure to swat the male with her fluffy tail as she moves again.

However, she is quickly stopped when a sound fills all of the dragon’s ears. They look up, seeing a mass of dragons flying in the opposite direction of the camp. Rivulet follows their gaze, and - upon seeing the dragons - claps her hands in glee.

“Looks like someone beat us to it.” Scorpion notes. “So what now, O Fearless Leader?”

The polar dragon growls under her breath before fully turning to the two stingers. “We’ll head South. These rustlers are bound to be looking for anyone they can blame for this release. Rather that it isn’t us.” All the while, the golden-brown female signs this back to the girl sitting on the larger dragon’s back.

‘Great idea, Permafrost.’ The fair skinned girl signs. ‘Serval, why don’t you sit up here with me? It’ll be easier for you to spot a good camping area.’

Serval wags her tail in thanks, hopping into Riv’s lap. “Do you mind if I sit up here, Perma? I didn’t think to ask before…”

“It’s quite alright, Serval. You may stay.” The furry, snow-what dragon answers, turning South. She begins to pad away from the camp, not giving Scorpion a chance to respond.

“Hey! What about me?” The light colored dragon complains, scuttling after the group in order to keep up.

Cobra || 19 || Dragon || M: Dragon Rustlers

Woosh. The wind shifted sharply as a large orange and black mass seemingly glided over the sandy slopes of the beach she resided on. While not the most accustomed to the beach, Cobra had no problem traversing the area with it being similar to her normal biome of residence.

The she-dragon’s tongue flicks out, tasting the air in search of her target. A band of dragon rustlers had passed through her turf a few hours ago while she was sunbathing. Normally, the frill dragon would never leave her area - even when hunting, but considering that it had been dragon rustlers…

However, their tracks were taking her farther and farther from her home, and she did not want to risk losing her prime area of residence.

Coming across a hill of sand, the frill dragon slides to a halt. Her wings grip the loose earth in front of her, lifting her high as she pears down on the beach beneath her. Nothing. No tracks, no rustlers. Just sand, sand, and water.

The orange snake-like dragon hisses in annoyance, turning to head back to her area. They’re lucky that I wasn’t there to witness their travels. Otherwise…

One of her wings grips a deer skull as it pulls her forward, shattering it instantly. She releases hiss-like chuckles as she continues her trek back to her territory.

Draein wiped the last bit of his sword clean and decided to look around. The sun shone down on the dragon rustlers' camp as they worked on setting up the tents, indeed a few had already been completed. Due to the large amount of dragons they had caught sight of near the area, the group had traveled there, making their camp in a fairly wide, open space. They very rarely ever camped in the heart of the woods, simply because if a dragon happened to approach, they would be able to see it in time. A skirmish with two dragons had interrupted their work, but after a few minutes of fierce fighting, the dragon rustlers had managed to capture the two. There were injuries on both sides, but neither the dragons nor any of the dragon rustlers suffered any casualties. Thinking back on that battle, the dark haired dragon rustler remembered how desperately the dragons had fought. They had such a fierceness about them that had stunned his group, and the dragons had nearly escaped because of it. However, one of the dragon rustlers had managed to throw a specialized net over the two, successfully trapping and securing them.

Shaking away of the memories, Draein picked up his sword, which glittered in the sunlight, and sheathed it back into its scabbard. He stood up from the stump he had rested on, and began to walk towards the main area of the camp, where there were still tents being put up. "I'm done cleaning up. Do you need any help here?" He asked, standing a few feet away from one of the men who was working on the tents. "Of course! More help is always appreciated." The man replied in an absentminded way, his focus still on the tent he was helping set up. Draein nodded quickly, and rushed over to one of the crumpled piles of the thick fabric and picked one up. After examining the campsite, he spotted an empty spot close to the edge of the woods, and walked quickly over, the tent and poles carried securely in his arm.

"Wait!...Sage" Amber runs after him, "..is that serpent tongue you're speaking?" Amber looks at him wide eyed almost with fright in her eyes. She places a hand on Hadafang's hilt (her sword). Amber realises she looks like she's want to kill Sage within minutes of meeting him. She takes her hand off the sword "Sorry...I don't know why I did that but I would like to take you up on your offer..please? If I may.." Amber whistles to Nymeria and signals to Smaug and Kayda to follow her.

"So you're a dragon freer...How are you not dead?"

He shrugged. "Yeah, I'm a dragon freer. Yeah, I can speak Sepent Tongue. And for how I'm not dead....by all rights I should be, I've gotten myself into more shit than you realize. Guess I just try to do what I can and get back to the woods. Never really thought about it. I mean, i survive i can free the dragons. If i die, I'm free of the shit that i go through. I figure it's a win win." He led Amber and her dragons back to the fire. Fire Storm looked up and glanced at them. "You're just in time! It just finished cooking!" She bounced up and down, eager to eat. Sage motioned with his hand for her to calm down. "I know we dont get much food, but damn girl, chill" he chuckled and began to cut the deer up so all the dragons and humans had something to eat. He glanced up at Amber. "You tell no one anything about me, alright? It's just gonna cause more deaths - whether its mine, yours, or other people's." He handed out the meat and sat down against a tree next to Fire Storm, facing Amber and her dragons.

~

"Oh." Sarah shoved the herbs, a bowl, and the cooking pot over to Rome when she leaned against the counter. "Sure. Wash these, chop 'em up if you can with one hand, and put them in the cooking pot." She took off her hoodie, revealing a pale blue T-shirt. She paused from cooking and threw her hoodie onto her bed. Grabbing the bowl filled with non-edible parts, she set it down outside. Finishing skinning, she began to cut up the meat.

~

Sarah glanced at what Rome was doing. "You're doing pretty good so far." She finished cutting the vension and dumped it in the cooking pot. "So... Got any family? I have an older brother. Haven't seen him in awhile." She washed the apples and diced them, pushing them into the cooking pot. She filled the cooking pot with about a cup of water.

Ryu, with Ryoko still perched on his head, moved to the dragon shed. He layed down and rested his chin on his paws. He watched Rome and Sarah cooking through the windows. Ryoko still just perched on top of him, spreading her wings briefly for balance.

Kaito warily watched Rome help Sarah with the vension. He still wasn't so sure about the woman, and wished she wasn't there.

♧

Rome had finished cutting more then half the bowl of Greens. "It's a knife thing." She said chuckling. "Family, uh.." She looked up. "yeah, I have a little bro.. haven't seen him in.. 5 years? Not sure what he looks like now though." She said, returning to the chopping, he was 15-16 when I learnt Serpent-Tongue and had to go into hiding. She finished the last bit of chopping and put it back in the bowl. "What now?" She asked, stretching her arms out and leaning on the table, she realized the pain was like a hum, instead of a whistle.