Sage cursed and ran after her before grabbing her arm. "Ok, look...the dragon is a friend and I am trying to help you. So can you please chill?" He really wasn't in the mood to be overly nice right now - his whole body was sore from where the ropes had rubbed his skin raw and he was tired and hungry. "Kayda do something like a dog would do. Seem overly friendly." He let go of Amber, letting her know he wasn't keeping her here by force.

She stood there looking at the boy who claimed to be helping her and a dragon that was acting like a dog. "Uhhh why is the dragon acting like that? Not much of a ferocious beast is it?"

Rivulet & Gang || Female || 17 & ¾ || M: Elijah & Gang

Scorpion watched the group closely after calming down. He didn’t trust them. Not one bit. Now, Rivulet was laying against Permafrost’s chest as the larger dragon continued to study them. The girl kept fidgeting her hands with a nervous look on her face. Serval could be found talking to the wounded dragon - offering to build a nest and provide it with some food.

The male stinger, however, was not as calm. He hissed at every movement they made and kept his tail constantly lashing. He wanted them to remember just where they were and their position in that area.

Eventually, the black haired girl gathered up some courage and signed, ‘What happened to the ice-cutter? Are they okay? How did they break their wing?’

The light glowing through the leaves of the trees made little spots that played across the area, twinkling brighter and darker in subtle flickers. The dragon rustler looked up, and watched the sun shine through the leaves above. It's times like these when I actually get to enjoy these things. He thought calmly, letting his gaze be drawn back to his acquaintance. As she turned towards him, he noticed how the light reflected off of her eyes. For some reason unknown to him, his very breathing was altered as he looked her in the eyes. What's going on? This has never happened to me before. He tried to explain this reaction to himself, but simply failed. Of course, the beauty of the forest itself could take one's breath away, if they attempted to look for it. Not knowing what else to point to as the cause, Draein simply concluded that the light, combined with his current condition was the culprit.

His mind was brought back to attention when Vern spoke, and he struggled to keep his head clear as he answered, "I can go back to my camp. There is a clean water source close by it, and I have some medical supplies as well." He didn't mention her coming with him to the camp, and had a faint hope that maybe he could walk back to the location of the camp without needing help. This, despite his futile attempt to inwardly persuade himself otherwise, was not the case. Although the dizziness and light-headedness were diminished, they were still there, and he would have a hard time to fight off any attacks in his condition, not to mention constantly turning his head to look for surrounding dangers. Speaking of his stitches, he listened as Vern replied humorously to his joke, and as he heard her, he saw a smile form as she spoke. This is the first time I've seen her smile. It can't be my humor, is it? He almost laughed at the thought. He had always been bad at telling jokes, and even his own brother said he would die from embarrassment if he tried to be humorous in front of people. Still, it was nice to see someone smile, even if it was someone he was barely acquainted with. This made him realize that he did not know the stranger's name, and he was about to ask when she began to put everything back in her bag.

As he was rising, he caught sight of the startled expression on Vern's face, and was surprised when she speedily took his arm and helped him up. He couldn't comprehend it, but the fact that she was willing to help him like this moved him. He had looked after his brother and himself for so long that he almost forgot what it felt like to have someone help him when he was struggling. He managed to hide his surprise as he stood almost up to his full height. Suddenly, he noticed her hand shake a little as it gripped his wrist. Looking her shaking hand, his eyes gazed in a gentle concern. A few seconds afterward, she let go, stepping back a bit and asking him if he was okay. "I'm alright. Thank you." He gave her a faint smile of gratitude, still surprised why she helped him so readily.

He looked back at kayda and snickered. "No, she really isn't. Not to friends." His smile faded when he heard a sound behind him and he half turned, instantly on gaurd and fingering the hilt of his dagger. He scanned the forest with keen eyes and ears before he determined the source of the noise was only a deer. In one fluid motion, he unsheathed his dagger and threw it at the deer, killing it instantly. "Dinner. It took something long enough," he muttered as he walked over to the fallen deer. He threw it over his shoulder and put it down by the campfire before beginning to gut and clean it.

Amber stood there awkwardly not wanting to move any closer to either the boy or the dragon.

Her eyes darted around her looking for any dangers while her ears listened closely to all the sounds near her.

She eventually let a bit of her guard down by sitting on the floor where she was just standing. She kept an eye on both the dragon and the boy

♧

Vern had started packing up some of the items she didnt need in an attempt to be somewhat organized, rather then whatever she had been before-- when she noticed a distant look in Draein's eyes, he'd been looking at the forest's floor for a bit now.

"I'm not sure that you should be taking care of yourself. Not in this state at least. Plus the wound isn't somewhere you can get to easily and take care of right." Vern spoke in a manner that was highly suggesting that she come with him, and that she really should come with him, but also giving a reason for it. She looked over him and decided that she was finished now. Since she'd put the bandage around his neck and sewn it there, she started packing up. She'd been packing for a few minutes when she felt like she was being watched. She was. She paused her packing and looked around at the floor, deciding whether of not to catch his gaze. She instantly started getting awkward and she pretended like she was searching for something. She fake found something and quickly finished packing her first aid bag. She stood quite fast and managed to swing the bag over her shoulder at the same time. She took a moment to stare at him for a second before he tried to stand.

Vern could see the look in his eyes. Surprise. She pinned her lips in a flat line while she waited for him to steady. She noticed her hand started to shake slightly from the static feeling she got when touching his arm. "Apologies for asking if you're alright so many times." Said Vern softly. "I'll come to your came, if you don't mind, I'd rather make sure you get what you need and don't fall and not be able to get up." She smiled cheekily and chuckled. She took in the small smile he gave. Thankfully her cheeks hadn't flushed red.

He finished cleaning the deer and put it over the fire. "Kayda, can you watch this? I'm going to take a look around - I don't trust the men who kidnapped me. Us." He groaned and pinched the bridge of his nose. "I need to stop screwing myself over with these things," he muttered to himself. He moved from the fire and circled the camp, surveying it as he watched for any signs of people besides him and Amber, and signs of dragons. He saw a track that was about Fire Storm's size and from the breed of dragon Nymeria was. "Kayda, is this Ny's track?"

Amber watched as the dragon understood what he was saying.

"Can it understand me?" she asked half whispering it.

Kayda looked up at sage's question hey! yeah it is her's! she began following them they're close...Wherever they are.

Sage glanced over at Amber. "Yea, she can understand you. Usually I would talk to her in serpent tongue but you deserve to know what were talking about so I'm using english." He looked closer at the print in front of him and then scanned the forest. He looked down again and touched the print lightly before standing up again. "They passed through here about 3 hours ago...right before we got here. I found a trail and I'm going to follow it. Be careful and be ready - whoever took the dragons are dangerous." Then he looked at Amber and frowned, thinking. "Amber, you dont have a weapon, so kayda is going to stay with you and help protect you, alright?" He heard a noise behind him and he spun around searching. After a moment something caught his eye and he sprinted off, running lightly and silently through the forest, the color of his clothes making it hard to see him. Suddenly, remembering Amber and Kayda, he hissed back at them. "Stay safe. If I'm not back by tonight then I'm either dead or dying. And if they manage to kill me, then they'll kill you. So get out if I don't come back." With that cheery note, he took off into the woods once again.