Dragon-slavers aint got long life expectancies (pm to join )

[Smaugthesilver]

The dragon threw its weight agains the iron chain that bound it to the ground. Cries of dismay and alarm rang out as dragonflame sprung from it's nostrils, scorching the ground in front of it. The moon shone brightly above them, illumimating clearly the other dozen caged dragons.

Laeli slipped past the dozing guards, her knife in hand. She was debating whether to slit their throats while they were sleeping.

In the end, though, twenty-four dragon's lives were more important than the deaths of a few dragon-slavers.

As the bolt on the first cage slid open, it created a loud clattering noise, that carried on the cool breeze. Cursing her bad luck, Laeli stopped still enough to be qble to catch the soft, whispered words carried on the breeze.
"Is the prisoner quiet?" "Good" "I know it was a risk..." "But we have the boy to show for it..."

Laeli paused in confusion. Who was this mysterious prisoner,  and why was he being held?

[DragonSong]

Gwaine came awake groggily and found himself bound, gagged, and tossed into the corner of what appeared to be some sort of cage.

What the hell?

He panicked instinctively, shouting into his gag, wriggling around in an effort to loosen the ropes around his wrists and ankles. He didn't seem to be making any headway, and no one seemed to notice his predicament.

That or they didn't care, which when he'd calmed down a bit seemed more likely. He forced himself to take deep breaths through his nose. Who had he gotten here?

With a thrill of fear, he realized he didn't remember. He didn't even know where here was.

[Smaugthesilver]

Laeli paused at the sound of muffled frantic rattling to her left. Who, or what was it? As she crept closer to the noise, she realised where it was coming from. A covered cage, chained to the ground and shaking as whatever was inside tried, unsuccessfully, to free itself.

Gripping her knife as hard as she could, Laeli ripped the covering off the cage.

A struggling, gagged, filthy boy, (well, man really) eyes wide with fear, laid, tied up, before her

[DragonSong]

Gwaine blinked at the sudden withdraw of the covering, squinting against even the faint light that offered. Expecting to finally see his captor, he looked up to find-

A girl.

A very whispy looking girl. Even if he'd been able to speak, he didn't think he could have found the words. He cringed back against the corner of the cage instinctively, feeling bulky and ridiculous.

[Smaugthesilver]

Laeli frowned. Why was this big, bulky, giant shying away from her?

"It's okay " she spoke softly, emiting rays of calm and tranquil emotion. "I'm not with them"

[DragonSong]

His shoulders slumped. Oh thank gods. Shifting a little closer, his eyes flicked toward the catch on his cage, pleading silently.

[Smaugthesilver]

Laeli smiled fully. The catch slid open smoothly and she took her knife to the ropes. They were tough, and heavy, but after a few minutes they broke apart cleanly. Laeli stepped back, waiting for the boybto stand up.

[DragonSong]

Gwaine scrambled to his feet, yanking the gag away from his mouth and rubbing at his sore wrists. "What's going on?" he whispered, eyes wide and flicking around, trying to orient himself to the situation. "Who are you? Where are we?"

[Smaugthesilver]

"We're near the thunderblacks... The range of mountains bordering the sera plain? And you've been captured by dragon slavers. I'm Laeli, by the way. And we really need to get out of here. Wait here for a sec.."

Laeli approaches the nearest dragon cage and begins to pick the lock.

[DragonSong]

"Gwaine," he muttered on reflex. Not quite sure what else he was supposed to do, he trailed after her.

The Thunderblacks? How had he ended up here? And why couldn't he remember? His head hurt, so that might be why- had someone knocked him out? Why?

Too many questions and absolutely no answers. He eyed the dragon in the cage warily; it's not like he wasn't used to the creatures, but these dragons seemed to be just as confused and panicked as he was, and he didn't want to be standing too close.

[Smaugthesilver]

Seeing that Gwaine was uneasy, Laeli explained what she was doing.
"This is the entire reason I came here... To free these enslaved dragons" she grabs his hand and drags him near another cage.
"Help me, will you? Or else it'll take all night."

[DragonSong]

He nodded, still casting wary glances at the anxious dragons. "Here, these cages aren't well made. If you get enough leverage..."

He put his shoulder into the bars of the cage door and lifted, in and up. With a creak and a groan, the metal gave way at the base. He grabbed the section of bars before they could clatter to the ground and lowered them down quietly, grunting a bit with the strain.

[Smaugthesilver]

Laeli smiles brightly.
"Great! Can you open the other cages as well? Oh, wait, first I'll show you how to calm the dragons." she steps into the cage, and gestures for Gwaine to follow.
"Come on.They won't hurt you"

[DragonSong]

Gwaine followed cautiously, murmuring, "If the other cages are built the same way, then yeah, probably."

[Smaugthesilver]

"You need to be calm. But be honest- and respectful. Don't treat them like rabid dogs. They're sentient creatures,  just like me and you." Laeli takes hs hand and places it on the surprisingly docile dragon's neck. "Place your hand here and look into his or her's eyes... You mustn't look away, or he or she will think you're untrustable. When they raise their chin, you'll know that they trust you."

[DragonSong]

"I know how to act around dragons," he muttered. "We work with them a lot. I'm just not wild about the idea of approaching anything that's some twenty times bigger than I am and panicked. And can breathe fire."

This particular dragon seemed relatively calm though. He patted her neck and started backing out of the cage, hoping the strange girl and the dragon would follow.

[Smaugthesilver]

"Well, great then! You do the left dozen, I'll do the right dozen. It should only take half an hour!" Laeli beamed, before quietly slipping out of the cage and onto outside a nearby one.

[DragonSong]

Gwaine nodded. "Got it." Who the hell needed to cage two dozen dragons anyway? "Wait- where should I meet you when we've got them out?"

Maybe it was strange that he was deferring to her, but it's not like he had a lot of pride to protect at the moment, and she at least seemed to have some sort of plan.

[Smaugthesilver]

"Meet me here. If you're not back in half an hour, I'm coming to look for you. After that we'll only have a few minutes to grab runt and get the hell out of here."

[DragonSong]

Gwaine nodded, deciding asking more clarifying questions would just waste time, and took off. He tried to keep as quiet as he could, but he was a big guy. Stealth wasn't exactly his forte.