[Training] here i am

Taking wing over the oceans wasn’t something Noah expected to like so much. The salt air filling his lungs and the loud crash of the waves beneath him as he neared shore were a symphony to him, pleasant in every way and full of wonder. 

The air grew warmer as he lowered towards the water, eyes scanning across the wine-dark waves with their white caps. He let his glacier gaze head towards the shore where tall, dark rocks gave way to sharp drop offs. 

Not finding any prey, Noah let a rumble of a growl roll up his throat. So the griffin circled, listening to the crash of the waves against the rugged shore.

Maea

noah

you touched my heavy heart and made it light

Maea

Beware the darkness of dragons,
Beware the stalker of dreams,

A dragon's roar answered, carried from a distant peak by erratic winds. Before long a silhouette shadowed the horizon to the south, dark and sleek with the tail whipping in its wake; all black scales and dread temper made sour by the biting cold. Still, it didn't lead with a cone of fire, which was rather gentle for a Black; it approached lazily, almost playful in the way it let the wind carry it off course, to drift in a circle around the griffin. Nacreous eyes, void of a pupil and pearlescent in its subtly shifting hue, suggested this wasn't your typical dragon; and while it didn't spark with recognition, it held no end of mischief.

Beating its massive wings, with an added burst of speed the dragon fell into the circle the griffin had been drawing, and reached out a serpentine neck to snap playfully after the griffin's tail. Like an invite to a game of tag - or better yet, the provocation to fight, to test their mettle against one another and see who was the true ruler of this patch of sky.

-------

1/4

Beware the talons of power and fire,
Beware one who is not what she seems.

Despite the lack of prey, Noah’s eyes sharpened against the horizon, thinking of turning wing annd settling on the rocky shore—until movement broke the vast monotony. A shadow cut across the water, darker than storm clouds. The dragon rose from the depths of the sky like an omen, scales black as voidstone, wings blotting out the sun. Noah’s blood ran cold.

His chest tightened with a familiar, burning rage. His heart hammered within his breast as he released a loud, long, warming roar. The Sentinel loathed dragons. Their kind had taken too much, left behind too many graves. His stomach twisted as Cordelia’s face flared unbidden in his mind, her laughter swallowed the silence of the grave.

The dragon came in closer and Noah attempted to reach out towards tbe attuned bond. Finding no answer, he readied himself. The way the black came in was a mockery, a cruelty dressed in scales. He felt no wonder at its presence, only the steady thrum of disdain in his veins. The griffin’s feathers bristled, his talons flexing in the air. He wanted to dive, to tear, to erase it from the sky. So he did — as the black lazily, offensively, snapped its jaws toward him, Noah turned sharply in the air. His massive body turned and with a push of powerful wings, he slashed incredible talons towards the black’s wing in an attempt to rip flesh and bring it down from the sky.

To Noah, dragons were not marvels of creation. They were wounds that refused to heal.

1/4

noah

you touched my heavy heart and made it light

Maea

Beware the darkness of dragons,
Beware the stalker of dreams,

Magnificently out of synch emotionally, as per usual, the dragon shift did nothing to aid Maea's inability to read other's responses. She'd asked for a fight and a fight she was getting, in a delightfully quick response. Later she would question the enjoyment she was getting out of this, but in this moment all she knew was the pleasure gained out of this body. Despite its size it maneuvered so well in the air; it was not difficult at all to fold the wings towards her sides and drop downwards, avoiding the menacing claws and retaliating with a swift lash of the whip-like tail towards her foe.

For a moment she plummeted towards the water; then a rumble like thunder rolled over the waves as membraneous wings unfurled and she planed out, roaring with the sheer thrill of excitement. Clearly not taking this seriously, definitely treating the fight like a spar, a game - because why would it be anything else? She wasn't hungry, nor was she trying to kill this magnificent beast.

---

2/4

Beware the talons of power and fire,
Beware one who is not what she seems.

The dragon’s response was infuriating. 

It twisted in the air with casual ease, its movements fluid, unhurried—mocking. His talons met nothing but air, as if Noah’s fury was nothing. The dragon twisted and the Sentinel saw it’s whip-like tail coming for him and the memory of what should have been — what would have been, had be been another man — his death coming sharp behind his eyes. He twisted, too, wings tucking in as his body curled and angled out of reach of the assault.

The griffin’s heart thundered, each beat a drum of wrath. His talons, sharp as honed steel, flexed against the wind as his wings drove him back into the fray. Rage roared through him, momentarily drowning reason, as Cordelia’s memory clawed through his mind. To see this beast treat battle as play was unbearable. Every movement it made was a sneer carved into the sky. 

Noah would not be dismissed. Not again. With a guttural, savage cry that split the air, he dove and attacked once more for the webbing between wing fingers to bring the dragon down.

2/4

noah

you touched my heavy heart and made it light

Maea

Beware the darkness of dragons,
Beware the stalker of dreams,

Of course, the wings were a weak point to all avians, the first thing they learned to protect and the first thing to be targeted while airborn. It didn't mean the dragon was automatically immune to such assaults; just that she saw it coming.
Again she dove, twisting out of the way and just barely avoiding the sharp talons this time. Talons skimmed the surface of the waves, and now she was starting to feel cornered, pinned between icy water and a furious foe that showed no signs of enjoying itself.

Twisting its neck around, the dragon drew in a deep breath. A glow started up deep within its chest, a volcano come alive at a drop of a coin; and with a soundless roar like an earthquake displaced into the skies, fire erupted between them. It wasn't aimed directly at the griffin - she still had no intention of killing it - but rather intended to fill the air between them, to serve as a ward so that the dragon had time to gain altitude. Already her wings were beating the water into froth, shaping hurricanes as she rose higher, steadily upwards; quietly marveling at the raw strength of this blessing of a guise.

3/4

Beware the talons of power and fire,
Beware one who is not what she seems.

The fire burst into the sky, a wall of heat that nearly singed the tips of Noah’s feathers and seared the air from his lungs. He banked hard, wings straining against the sudden blast. Rage ripped through his chest and he roared again, a reverberating, distraught rage. Even though the dragon did not strike to kill in the half-hearted angle of her assault, Noah still wanted to wage war.

Unfurling, sharp and savage, Noah surged after her. Every beat of his wings was a promise, every turn of his body a vow: he would not be shaken off. With a sudden burst of speed, Noah climbed higher through the smoke and chased the black. He aimed for the softer joint where wing met shoulder, talons outstretched to tear tendon from bone. If the beast sought to rise above him, to look down from her false throne of fire, then Noah would drag her down into the sea.

And as his claws aimed for her, despite knowing it would not do the damage he hoped, he showed her she was not the only volcano--and he let his own fire first from parted jaws towards her face.


3/4

noah

you touched my heavy heart and made it light

Maea

Beware the darkness of dragons,
Beware the stalker of dreams,

She was beginning to realize that she was in over her head here. Despite their similar sizes, the griffin was proving both faster and stronger than her, turning what had seemed like skillful dodging into lucky exceptions. He caught up so fast, and this time she wasn't able to dodge. A sharp beak nipped painfully at the wing joint, gliding across hard scales without drawing blood but certainly bruising tendons and ligaments. Instinct kicked in, telling her to roll away from the claws that followed - but again she wasn't  fast enough, and this time the griffin struck true.

Blood steamed as it hit the cool air. Splattering into the sea, staining salt-coated rocks and dying talons a vibrant crimson, the dragon faltered in the air even as a roar of agony erupted from its throat. The fire did nothing as it washed over her - she was resistant to it, and would have enjoyed the heat at any other time - but it didn't have to. The wing wouldn't bear her properly; even as she drew taloned hind legs up against her belly to kick the griffin away from her, the dragon found herself falling, half tumbling and half flying downwards toward a wave-tossed skerry that wasn't quite large enough to hold her - but it would have to do. The shift was already slipping from her grasp; too much blood was leaving her veins and too much pain clouded her thoughts to maintain it - and if she fell into the sea, that would be it for Maea Valair.

4/4

Beware the talons of power and fire,
Beware one who is not what she seems.

Victory.

It sang through him and surged through every muscle like electricity. An eruption of his rage and frustration blooming into something that might have felt sinister to the Sentinel on any other day. But this, this felt like justice and revenge and holy vengeance. Noah basked in the feeling as it pushed him over the edge of glory. Blood like paint splattered across his white fur and feathers, mixing copper and iron into the sea-salt air.

He aimed for another assault, but faltered. The black’s hind foot struck out for him and knocked him to the side. He lost traction in the sky and found himself spinning downwards. He tried to right himself without the wind ripping his wings off, but even as he did he felt the strain of it. His glacier eyes darted around for the dragon, and when he pumped his wings to get back to it, it changed.

Not attuned.

But not wholly dragon.

Her body shrunk, black scales lightening to near-translucent skin.

No!

Panic, raw and cold and devastating, smacked against Noah’s heart like chunks of glacier falling into the sea. He pushed and pushed, trying to close the distance between them as she fell. He screamed her name across the attuned bond even though he knew she couldn’t hear it.

4/4

noah

you touched my heavy heart and made it light

The coldest blood runs through my veins

Her straining wings slowed the fall enough that the impact didn't kill her outright. Despite that, she was knocked senseless against the wet rocks, and like a spell that had broken the dragon was gone, leaving only a small, pale fragment of a woman where the monster should have been. Black skirts grew sodden and dragged at her when the waves lapped them, torn at a shoulder that bled profusely. Staining her moon-bright hair red. Trickling into the water. Summoning the beasts of the deep to the impending feast.

Ah, but she couldn't die here. Death was not an option. She needed to go home. Needed to return to the one who waited for her - who would always wait for her -

She scrabbled weakly for a purchase, not even feeling how her nails broke and tore against the stone. It wasn't important. All she could think of, all she knew, was that the sea wasn't allowed to claim her.

You know my name

Table by Skylark

I'll let it burn the way the sunlight burns my skin

Maea.

The Sentinel’s chest was stabbed by piercing grief that felt like it might split him in two. His talons curled uselessly against the air as he bellowed her name across the bond, desperation sharpening his cry. How could it be her? Noah’s breath caught in his chest as she plunged.

He dove without hesitation. The griffin tucked his wings and became a missile, feathers and fury slicing through wind. The ocean yawned wide beneath them, waves rising like dark jaws. Maea hit first, the crash of her body against the surface sending up a geyser of white. Then, Noah slammed into the water moments later, the shock of the cold closing over him like iron bands. His body shimmered as feathers folded into flesh, talons into hands, wings into shoulders. The Sentinel broke through into human form beneath the waves, lungs burning.

The ancient was sinking, her dress dragging her down into the dark. He was determined to reach her, to get to the fragile thread of his friend, tossed around in the waves. Kicking hard, arms straining against the drag of the sea, he reached for her. His hands scraped across darkened fabric, then clung fast.

With every ounce of strength he had left, Noah fought the current and the crushing weight of her form, dragging Maea back toward the light above. Until his other hand found his compass, and he thumbed it.

Then they were gone, frigid salt water empty of the prey whatever beasts Maea’s blood had lured up.

FIN

The way I feel inside, the way the day begins

infinite inspiration and endless thanks to odd and sky