Tyler glanced at Gaia. "You should go get some sleep." He muttered before disappearing onto the other side of Fury, his five dragons now in a huddle. Tyler murmured, "group meeting, dragons. We have an important topic. The question: Whether or not we should help these guys back. If we get found out, my nation will reject us. Fury, as my top dragon, please give your answer." Fury looked at him, astonished. "Of course we shouldn't!" She snarled. "We were sent on a mission! Those two need to stay here, and that's final. If getting the, back were to compromise your position in the force, of course you shouldn't. You are their top dragon rider and have more dragons than anyone else on the Force!" Fury's voice raised just enough for Gaia and Caeso to hear on the last sentence. Tyler winced. "Your vote, Revenge?"

Revenge snorted. "From a war status, you know we can't take them back. That would be very bad, and you might possibly have us taken away, especially if they kick you out!" Her voice lowered. "Though from my point of view, who cares if you do what you want. You are their strongest rider, and you can keep us by force. Even if they wanted to stop you'll they couldn't. So my last vote is to go for it." Revenge ended, her black eyes like pools of black flame. "Okay, thank you Revenge. Titan?" Tyler asked.

"Of course we shouldn't bring her back, and that's final." Titan muttered, then added lowly, "Idiot." Tyler flinched. "Icicle?"

Icicle smiled. "Tyler, I agree with Revenge. You should let them go. You might even earn a friend that way, even after you kidnapped her." Tyler frowned slightly. "Winter?" Winter cleared his throat. "I agree with Icicle" he murmured. Everyone stared at him. "That's it." He finished. "Okay then" Tyler smiled. "The vote is taken, three against two. We will bring her, and her dragon, back to their home, even though there is a high risk that my Nation kicks me out."

Tyler yawned, checking on Gaia and seeing her asleep. He walked over to the dragons, laying down somewhere near them. Revenge curled around him, then Fury, then Icicle right next to him, then Titan and Winter. It made a giant ring around him. Icicle worked his body up so he was laying in the crook between her neck and he stomach, then fell asleep. All dragons scales radiated warmth so Tyler fell asleep rather quickly, too.

-

It was soon morning, and Tyler woke with a yawn. He saw that Revenge and Fury were sitting up, watching Caeso and Gaia. Icicle was still sleeping, and Titan was laying down a little ways away, dozing. Winter was laying near Icicle, also sleeping. Tyler got off, stretching. He then woke up Icicle and got on her, wanting a small dragon to help him search the room for the latch that opened My from the inside. He heard someone say something about pressing a loose stone or something... Icicle brightened. "That stone Ives there is lighter than the others, because it isn't covered with dust! That must be the one!" Tyler looked at it, seeing ABSOLUTELY NO different, but he pressed it and the hatch opened. "Gaia, Caeso, wake up." He said, flying Icicle back down and hopping off. "I'm going to escort you to a different place, let's go." Tyler said curtly, jumping on Fury and hovering above them.

For being in an unfamiliar place, Gaia slept surprisingly well. She dreamed of home; the smell of fresh biscuits wafting through the kitchen, the sweet scent of the magnolia blooms, and finally of the day she first met Caeso. Her dreams usually brought her comfort in difficult times and she was glad to find that this one was no different.

Gaia woke slowly at Tyler’s request, rubbing the sleep from her eyes before stretching. Caeso released a large yawn before moving his head so that his rider could get up. Gaia gave Tyler a curious look but did as told. Best not to question it, she thought as she slowly began to tack up Caeso, tightening the cinch before climbing aboard.

“Where are we going?”

LOL I love how you called it a 'cinch'. Me, being a Dressage person, barely knows what is XD. I use the word girth)

Tyler glanced at her while he was flying upward. "I can't tell you." He muttered. His voice had a weird... difference to it. Like he was... lying. He flew Fury up and out, his crowd of dragons surrounding Caeso to make sure he didn't try anything. They gave him enough room to fly easily, but not enough to slip away. Tyler had Fury feet to the right, then they started flying towards Gaia's nation. Suddenly another dragon rider approached... fast. They flew up beside Fury. Tyler signaled to stop, then looked at the new rider. It was obviously from his nation. "Hello sir! Where are you taking this prisoner?" The new rider asked, sending a glare at Gaia and Caeso. Tyler tried to hide his uncomfortable he was. "To a top secret base. Don't let anyone follow us." He instructed the other rider. "Yes sir!" The rider said, flying back and looking as if he was SCOUTING the area. Tyler had a grim look on his face as he flew faster. He landed in a forest and started walking Fury. Gaia realized that they were in her nation now. Tyler motioned to his dragons, and they came to him, no longer encircling Caeso. Tyler took a deep breath. "I know it was wrong to take you, and I'm sorry. I hope you can forgive me someday, but here we are, back at your old home." He muttered. Gaia knew this meant if someone found him from his tribe or hers, they might kill him. Suddenly there was a branch snap, and a circle of riders landed around them. Maybe fifteen of them. All their dragons were about 40 feet long. "Tyler! What is she doing loose? Help us capture her!" The leader said, circling tighter around Caeso. The riders were from Tyler's nation. "No." Tyler growled. "She deserves to be free. Let her go." The others looked astonished. "Tyler, you have committed the highest treason. You are now banned from our nation. Do not return, or we will kill you." The oldest person said. "And you will have all your dragons taken away. Fury, Revenge, Winter, Icicle, and Titan! Come here with us please." Fury looked... furious. Revenge looked... happy? Titan looked... murderous. Icicle looked... scared. Winter looked... angry. The other dragons went forward and surrounded Caeso. Tyler's dragons were waiting for something... suddenly Tyler roared, "Fight!" All his dragons flew in and attacked the others. Fury took on two at once, a ball of flames. Titan grappled with one, Icicle and Winter took on one togetherness, and Revenge took out five with one swipe of her giant claws. Tyler made eye contact with Gaia. "Run." He mouthed, gripping on and Fury reared up to slash again.

Gaia was happy to be back outside, back in the air, and she could tell Caeso was too. While it had only been a day, neither of them were used to being cooped up. Though Caeso was still quite sore from the day before he didn’t let it affect him as they climbed higher and higher into the sky. She had her eyes shut, feeling the wind blowing its way through her hair when she felt Caeso begin to slow. Upon opening her dark orbs she noticed the scout ahead of them. They didn’t look too happy to see her, shooting her a glare from where they sat. She returned the favor before returning her attention to her mount.

“How’s the wing feeling? Holding up alright?”

I’m fine, Gaia. I’ll make it to wherever he is taking us no problem, as long as we don’t have to go back to that cavern.

Gaia smiled at that, and they set out once again. She noticed Tyler seemed off in some capacity but she’d only known the man for a day. Who was she to say she could read him? She was a bit surprised when she realized in what direction they were flying. Why was he heading towards her homeland? What was the plan here?

Is he letting us go?

“I’m not sure…” Gaia murmured as she ran a hand up and down Caeso’s neck. “Let’s just see how this plays out. Our chance for escape just increased quite a bit.” When Tyler stopped, Gaia beckoned her mount to do the same. She listened to what the man said and couldn’t help the confusion that took over her features. She was about to ask him why he had brought her back and tell how bad of a kidnapper he was, but any snarkiness that she had within her disappeared when the other riders showed up. She wondered if he would “recapture” her in order to save his own hide but when he didn’t, her gaze shot over to him. Maybe he wasn’t as bad as she thought but that still didn’t mean she trusted him fully.

Everything happened so fast after that. One minute everyone is standing around and the next it's dragon on dragon. “Caeso, go!” she ordered as she gripped tight to the strap in front of her. The grey male nodded before shooting up skyward, making it a little ways away before Gaia dared to glance backwards. She could still hear the battle waging below, and though everything inside of her screamed to just keep flying and go home, she knew she couldn’t in good conscious. Tyler hadn’t treated her badly and had actually been somewhat kind. He didn’t deserve to be left alone to fight. “We have to go back.”

And risk being recaptured? Or worse? Caeso scowled at her. He knew what she said to be honorable, but he didn’t want to risk her in a battle like this.

“Caeso, we must. We owe it to him for getting us out of there!”

Fine, but hold on. It was a growl, and one that she knew meant he wasn’t happy about what they were about to do. Without making a sound, the large male inverted himself before diving back towards the ground, wings tucked tight to build up speed. He aimed his blow for a scarlet scaled dragon, blue fire erupting from his throat and engulfing the creature. Fire wouldn't hurt the beast but it would do a fair bit of damage on its rider. Spotting a dark blue dragon out of the corner of his eye, Caeso flew up before somersaulting back another blast of fire made its way towards his opponent. However this time he didn’t fly away. Hang on! He ordered at Gaia before ramming himself into the dragon’s side. The opposing rider was thrown clear but their dragon was not about to give up that easily. Caeso was about to swipe out at them when he felt another grab hold of his tail. With a hiss of pain and a frustrated growl, he ripped his tail free before using the spikes at the end to batter the dragon behind him.

“Caeso!” Gaia cried out as she noticed the blood beginning to spring forth from the wound. The large male simply shook his head, focusing back on the dragon in front of him. It stood a few feet away obviously still trying to gain its breath back from when he had run into it. He burst forward grabbing a hold of one of the dragon’s wings before spinning and doing his best to toss the smaller dragon a few feet away. While he hadn’t had to use it in years, he was glad to have had formal training. Made this fight a lot easier.

Tyler suddenly started gesturing wildly at Gaia. It looked like he wanted her to back up. Then all his dragons scrambled backward like a lightning bolt was about to hit the ground. The only dragons left in the middle were the fighting ones, and Revenge. Suddenly Revenge reared up, smashing at least three of them underneath her, biting two of them in half, and the other two that were left fled so fast she couldn't catch them. She snorted. "Cowards!" Revenge roared after the fleeing riders. She looked at Tyler. "How did I do, nine or ten?" She grinned, his fangs dripping with blood. "Just... stop." Tyler turned away, disgusted. He looked at Gaia, then lain struck his gaze. He followed the pain downward... and saw a dagger sticking out of his stomach. Tyler yelped with surprise, widening his eyes. Never in his whole life had he gotten hurt while battling... Fury craned her head around and stifled a growl a small she saw the knife. She gently took Tyler off, setting him on the ground. He stood back up right, stumbling backwards. "What... how..." he mumbled, pain starting to overtake him. His gaze went dark before he fell backwards, landing with a thump in the grass. Revenge screamed ... putting it nicely, bloody murder. She flew up into the air like a giant cloud of demons, catching the two dragons that darted away and smashing their heads together, killing Both riders and dragons instantly. Titan looked surprised, his gaze filling with anger. Icicle cried out, "No! Tyler!" And her eyes filled with tears. Winter looked grief stricken, wrapping his tail around Icicle's sobbing frame. And Fury... she looked star stricken. "How could I let this happen..." she murmured. "In al, my years at batt,e I never let him get hurt... until now.."

Once their opponents had fled, Gaia looked over at where Tyler had been only to now see him on the ground. She watched him fall, a look of confusion overtaking her features before noticing the dagger. She ordered Caeso to move towards the fallen man and upon reaching his side she began doing what she does best: healing. She pulled numerous supplies out of her bags including bandages, a few different jars filled with various poultices and herbs, and a small rod of metal with a rag.

“Heat this quickly,” she ordered, placing the rod in front of Caeso. The dragon nodded before letting loose a small flame. While Caeso heated up the metal, Gaia placed her hand upon the handle of the knife and quickly pulled upward, unsheathing the blade and immediately smothering the wound with bandages.

Good to go. She looked over towards her mount and noticed the metal glowing a bright orange. She glanced up and met Icicle’s gaze. “I need you to hold him down while I cauterize the wound. You’re the smallest and the least likely to inflict any more damage,” she grabbed the rod on the cold end and moved her bandages, exposing the wound. “This is gonna hurt him so even though he’s out, he’s gonna move. Do your best to hold him steady.”

With that said, the young medic placed the hot piece of metal against the open wound. It was only for a few seconds but she made sure all of the bleeding had stopped before removing the rod. Once she was sure it had worked, she gave a curt nod. “Good. Now I should be able to stitch and bandage him up. We’ll have to keep an eye out for infection but he has a better chance now than he did.”

Fury started dorward to shove Gaia and Caeso back, but Fevnge held her back. Tyler's face contorted with pain as Gaia pulled the dagger out. Icicle looked at her, her gaze brimming with tears and wide with fear. "I can't...-" she started to say, but knew she had to. She held Tyler down as Gaia placed the metal against the wound. Tyler jerked and screamed in agony, falling limp as Gaia took the metal off. His breath came in jerky gasps, he was obviously in an enormous emoting of pain. He had woken up when she put the metal against him, as known by the scream. He shuddered, trying to hold his tongue but the pain was so terrible. He frowned slightly, looking up at Icicle who was murmuring, "it's going to be all right... we got you..." Tyler tried to lay still as Gaia stitched up his wound, gritting his teeth as the needle pierced the smoldering flesh. "I'm so sorry I ever tried to capture you..." he murmured to Gaia in a hoarse voice before the pain grew too great, his vision went dark, and his head fell back against the earth. Icicle frantically checked to make sure he was still breathing.