Storm sat by her tiny campfire, deep in the Draconi forest, lost in thought. She gazed unseeingly into the flames, thinking about her family. Or, rather, lack thereof. She thought about her father, wondering who he was, if he was still alive, if he knew she existed. She wondered if he had any other children. Her mind drifted to her mother, telling her stories about her father in the evening light, but she quickly stopped that train of thought. She didn't want to think of her mother right now.
She let her mind continue to wander on its own, drifting over the world, lulled into distraction by the quiet of the forest around her. She didn't even realize how unaware of her surroundings she had become, which was very unusual for her, but she was weary.
Icyck had been wandering for gods knows how long, just trying to find somewhere to lie. Someone's camp fire had caught his attention. He wanted to approach, but was afraid. Finally, he willed up the courage, and silently approached, his feet like snowflakes on the grass. Just silent.
Of course, his human form was still cold, and he was a bit annoyed that he had to stay in human form around humans. They had some big prejudice against dragons.
"Hello? Are you ok?"
Storm, startled, jumped nearly a foot in surprise as he spoke. She was on her feet in a blink, whirling around to face him, her hand on the short-sword at her hip, her muscles tensed to defend herself.
"Who are you?" she growled, her green eyes narrowed, "And why are you spying on me?"
"I'm Icyck, I'm just looking for somewhere moderately warm to stay. I saw your camp fire and thought I would ask..." His white/grey irises with they black outline would be startling, and his snow white skin and hair. He might have been mistaken for a ghost if he wasn't warbling and waving in figure.
Storm's eyes narrowed, taking in his appearance. Human form, for sure, but definitely not human. Being half dragon she had an extremely strong sense of smell, and she could detect a faint trace of something...it reminded her of...she paused, then realized that it reminded her of melting snow. Dragons generally have a faint odor in their human form, so subtle that most people can never tell. She didn't have one, since she was as much human as she was dragon, but she could smell his. It was much different, though. Most dragons smelled like char and ash, but...she glanced at his white hair and strange grey eyes...not if he was a frost dragon.
She pulled her sleeves down further on her arms and jerked her head toward the fire. "You may sit, dragon." Her voice was low, wary, but not hostile. She relaxed her stance, lowering herself back onto the soft forest floor, but her bright, watchful green eyes never left him.
Icyck stood, stunned. He should have smelled of frost and snow, not char and ash like most dragons.
"Nice trick mage. Yeah, I smell the magic witch. Don't think I won't hurt you if you try anything." Icyck was hostile suddenly, afraid this witch would hurt him in his sleep. He was already a eunich for angsar's sake.
"The...promise...is mutual" she assured him, her voice so low it was almost a growl. "And don't think I can't defend myself against someone like," she gave him a once-over, "you."
She of course didn't mention that it was less due to her magical "skills" than due to the fact that she was as much dragon as she was human.
Icyck wasn't prepared to lose any more body parts, and seemingly exploding into mist and steam, before revealing an icy dragon, snarling at the girl.
"I'd love to see you try sweet heart..." He snarled down, blowing a cold mist from his mouth at her.
Refusing to react in the expected way, she climbed to her feet with almost a lazy air. She stood straight and stared evenly at him, her muscles ready but not tensed. She was not afraid of him, but she didn't want to fight him if she didn't have to.
"Why so hostile?" she inquired, her voice level and calm, neither hostile nor friendly. "You came in search of warmth and I offered you a place by my fire. Now you seem to be threatening me. Why?"
"I've had issues with mages and witches in the past... They cut things off that I had rather been hoping to keep, so excuse me for not trusting..." He would leave in a minute. He would leave when he was sure she would not follow him.
"Oh, I see. So all human magic-users must be evil, of course." she remarked sarcastically, pointedly sitting back down. "I have no vendetta against you, Icyck. You are welcome to share my fire if you wish. I have no desire to fight you. But not" she met his eyes calmly "because I'm afraid of you. Nor do you have any reason to fear me."
"Just the ones that aren't straight up with me. What are you? Something about you seems off... You don't seem human. Humans would be afraid of a wild dragon... Yet you are not... Why?" He sat down in dragon form, refusing to sleep in a form where she could attack him.
Storm actually let out a quick laugh. "Wild dragons? You mean as opposed to the giant population of tame ones?" She chuckled again to show she was teasing.
Even as she joked with him though, her mind was moving a mile a minute. Should she reveal herself? Keeping her 2 forms, 2 identities, separate had always worked for her. Why should she change that now?
"Give me a reason I should explain myself to you. I have no more reason to trust you than you have to trust me." she pointed out, her voice not hostile, simply matter-of-fact. Although if you'd seen me in dragon form first you wouldn't be nearly so quick to distrust. she added in her head, mentally snorting in disgust at how often different species seemed to have difficulty relating to each other.
Being literally both human and dragon was more of a curse than the blessing it might initially appear to be. If different species tended to distrust each other, they would probably harbor even more hostility and distrust toward someone who was both, and therefore neither, such as herself.
"You couldn't understand human, you've not lived in a cage for 100 years of your life..." He grumbled and sat down. He had literally lived in a cage for 100 damned years. Beaten, cut, tortured. He had suffered.
"If you truly understood what I meant, then you would not be making jokes." Out of everything in the world, this subject was his most heated.
Storm shrugged. "Perhaps not," she said neutrally. "But I know enough to know that that's no reason to take your trauma out on random strangers who share their fire with you on a cold night."
She fished around in her bag before pulling out two rather pathetic looking slabs of dried venison. "It's not much, but it's all I've got. Want a piece?" She held up one of the pieces, offering it to him.
"No thanks, it's not mine to take, and I'm a vegetarian anyway..." He admitted, taking her words, and shifting form before sitting a distance from the fireplace which was just right.
"I get so hostile and defensive around your kind, because I've only ever been treated badly, and then one of you expects me to be normal... Can never satisfy you humans, can we?"
She chuckled at his comment as she wrapped one of the pieces of venison back up and slid it inside her small knapsack, handling it like it was one of her most precious possessions. In truth, she had been relieved he didn't want it. It really was her last piece, and she didn't want to go hunting until she got out of the forest, if she could help it.
She slowly nibbled the piece she'd kept out, watching him contemplatively. "I don't blame you for being hostile, if you speak the truth." She remarked after a moment. "Have you really never met a single decent human?" Her voice had a note of incredulity in it. She had traveled all over the world, and there were plenty of places where dragons were revered and respected, sometimes even worshiped, by humans.
"Everywhere I go, I'm treated with hostility and fear. They think I've come to murder, rape and pillage gold, when I just want a hay bale. It's stupid." Icyck sighed, picking up a plant and eating it.
"You can't have been that many places..." she mused. "I mean, there are so many places where people respect and revere dragons of all kinds..." She paused, then added "In Adela dragons are considered to hold the very world itself in balance! To kill a dragon, sometimes even to harm one, is punishable by death. You should see more of the world before you judge a whole species to be evil."
"I've been to Adela. They tried to kill me. And Connlaoth, and La'marri, and Serendipity, Thanatos, Hyoite. Everywhere I go, I'm met with guard forces or my former captors. And sometimes even people who want to capture me to do their own mutilations and experiments." Icyck sighed throwing his arms up.
"You humans are a violent, greedy, bloodthirsty species in my opinion. You're the first to show me any kindness. And that makes me wonder if you are truly human."
"And you're the first dragon I've ever met who didn't have a grand time in Adela. Makes me wonder if you are truly a dragon." She retorted, raising an eyebrow at him. She finished her food and licked her fingers. She tossed another stick on the small fire, watching the sparks leap into the air, then glanced back at Icyck. "Although I'm fairly certain you're the moodiest dragon I ever met," she added, shooting a half-grin in his direction.
"Well I take pride in that then." He didn't even try and force a smile as he stared at the ground.
"You know, around every other being, I am calm, chilled, but round you humans, I just get so aggravated. If you were a dragon... I'd be more than capable of staying chilled and friendly. I really would. But you're not. Not to my knowledge."
Storm swallowed a snort of laughter. Screw it, she thought wryly, I've always wanted an excuse to try just being...me.
Without a word, quicker than the blink of an eye, she had changed into her dragon form. She stood before him, firelight dancing on her shimmery black scales, making their pale blue tips spark. Gone was the pretty-but-human girl with her blonde highlights and green eyes, and in her stead stood a shining creature of strength, beauty, and grace. She looked outright elegant. And for almost a whole tenth of a second, she felt it.
"And who's to say I'm not?" she asked him, laughter sparkling in her now deep purple eyes.
"My gods..." Icyck shifted back to dragon form, and bowed to her.
"I'm sorry for the way I acted... I assumed... Wow... You're beautiful..." His chilled attitude started showing through, feeling he could speak his mind again. Finally he felt alright being here.
"Seriously, you are." He said calmly, as if it was just a casual comment, made in passion.
She quirked a smile at him, feeling her cheeks warm beneath her scales. "Well thank you," she replied modestly. She settled back down by the fire, still watching him with amusement. "Funny how your whole view of a person can change, huh?"
"Yeah, it is, isn't it... Explains why you were so willing to let me stay..." He relaxed, lying on his side.
"I'm much more confident about sleeping round you fire tonight. Unless you're one of those dragons who cut parts off of other dragons?" Icyck winced as a harsh phantom pain flared in his groin. He looked down expecting to be complete again, but as usual, he was wrong.
Tanith almost laughed, but stopped when she saw his wince. He obviously wasn't kidding, and she decided not to push it. In a lighthearted tone she replied, "Of course not, don't be absurd."
Then she added, "Forgive me, I don't believe I've actually introduced myself. My name is Tanith Stormflight, although when I'm in my human body I simply go by Storm." She nodded her head in a more formal greeting.
"Nice to meet you Tanith. I'm Icyck. Call me Icy. Watch." He picked his head up, and let out a frosty breath, freezing a small patch of grass solid.
"I'm technically a hybrid. Part Frost Dragon, part Crystal-Back."
"It's nice to meet you too, Icy! Frost and Crystal-back, huh? Interesting combination, that. I myself am..." she paused. 'Hybrid' didn't seem to quite cover it. "...somewhat complicated." She finished with a wry shrug. "Although my dragon form is obviously Crystal-back."
"I would have said Nightspinner myself if not for the fact only one is alive. Veraxitoc came to visit my colony once." Icyck froze a flower, picked it up, and gave it to her.
"Ice, the form of water when cooled. Amazing."
She smiled at his enthusiasm and accepted the frozen flower, gazing at it for a moment. Then, as though just remembering his former comment, replied, "No, not just one. There's another, now." She remembered her strange meeting with the teenage Nightspinner Methusela. "A young one."
"Oh right? So there's two. I heard of a rumour of a female albino Nightspinner, but dismissed it as a blood dragon resurgence." Icyck lifted himself up, freezing the ground underneath him and lying on it.
"By morning this will be unmeltable."
"Really?" Tanith said, startled. There were 3 Nightspinners now?! "Well if that rumor is true, then there are three. The one I met was a young male." She contemplated for a moment what that might mean. A return of the Nightspinners? It made her a little nervous. They were reputed to be the voluntary guardians of all, but they were also easily the largest species of dragon in known existence. She shook the thought off. Such things, if they should ever happen, were very, very far in the future.
"I saw the female I believe. She looked like a very large Blood Dragon. But she was at distance, so I could not tell. Blood red scales though. Frightening." The lie was practiced. She was a Nightspinner, and that meant they were available for breeding. A Nightspinner who mothers a hatchling of non-Nightspinner father always gives birth to an empowered Nightspinner. Or so the story went anyway.
Tanith shrugged, making the pale blue tips of her scales sparkle. "Sounds beautiful to me," she commented. Then, bringing herself back to the moment, she looked at Icyck inquisitively. "So what were you doing wandering around in the cold night air in human form, anyway?"
"Avoiding hostility. Or fear. And trying to find the sweet spot temperature where my scales don't start frosting, but I can still be cold. And only fires are helping." Icyck didn't move from where he was, feeling sleepy. When he felt sleepy, and realised it, he got up and paced over to Tanith.
"I see," Tanith said. She looked up as he walked toward her, slightly tensed, wondering what he was doing.
"Can I not come and sit next to you?" Icyck said, noticing the change in temperature from he muscles as she tensed.
Her purple eyes narrowed, watching him suspiciously, but she shifted over to make more room. What exactly did he want from her, anyway?
"If you don't want company, I'll go. Simple. And don't get worried about me, haha, even if I did that, no hatchlings. I got cut up by humans. Lost more than one organ to them." Icyck's voice was unnaturally calm over it. He was harbouring that bloodlust. Waiting to release it one day.
It was almost like he had read her thoughts. She gave a soft "humph" and turned away from him, resting her head on her front feet and closing her eyes, giving every impression of going to sleep, although she tracked his every move with her ears.
"Fine. You know that you want it really. I'll bet you're just dying for it inside. You want it cause you know there's no danger. Cause you know that there's no risk of commitment. Scott free." He bragged off the good points, and curled up, finding that he was at just the right temperature to sleep, although he kept his senses open for movement in her heat signature.
Disgusted, Tanith stood up, shook herself, and moved to the other side of the fire before laying back down.
"You just keep telling yourself that, frosty boy." she growled.
"You'll learn to love the cold. I'm an acquired taste." He smiled at her annoyance.
"Good night. Don't even need to say sweet dreams, because my presence in them guarantees it."
Her stomach heaved at the very thought. Thoroughly disgusted, she stood and stalked off into the trees. She was tired, yes, but she was also hungry, and it seemed like a damn good time to be somewhere else. Let him lull himself to sleep with his own arrogance.
She hunted for several hours, eating well before returning to her campsite. For some sleep. Icyck didn't appear to be awake, so she curled up next to the fire, as far away from him as she could get, and closed her eyes. She firmly told her ears and nose to remain aware of her surroundings, then let her mind slip into a light sleep.
A scent of death caught Icyck's nose, and he started, growling deeply in a certain direction, before turning, and seemingly diving at Tanith, tackling a fire drake in mid-air. The two beings sprawled over the floor, the fire drake ripping into Icyck's flesh effectively, scoring lots of wounds before Icyck killed it.
Then another dived for Tanith.
((Err, what the hell is a fire drake? :P))
Tanith was awake faster than a heartbeat, instinctively rolling out of the way as the fire drake crashed into the ground where she had been half a second previously. By the time the fire drake realized it was on the ground she was on top of it, her teeth around its neck. It fought her for a moment, scraping scales off her belly, before she clamped her jaws down and its neck snapped. Immediately she dropped the foul-tasting thing and whirled to find Icyck.
((It's a lizard like creature, about half the size of a dragon, which can breath fire, and are like Chinese dragons. Go here (http://s664.photobucket.com/user/Charmybee_Honey_Bucket/media/Mythical%20Creatures/Fire-Drake.jpg.html) to see one. Those, breathing fire.))
Icyck had two others attacking him, and one of them managed to rip part of Icyck's leg, before he got frustrated and angry, and froze both drake's and smashed them.
Then he slumped, hurt badly by his wounds.
((Ohhh, okay thanks. Basically a scaley fire-breathing pain in the a** without wings? :P))
Tanith tossed the dead drakes' bodies in the fire for good measure before turning to Icyck. "If you could freeze them solid like that, why didn't you do it from the beginning?!" she complained, sitting down to examine her own wounds. She had a rather large gash on one side, but it was shallow. The rest of her wounds weren't serious, but that didn't mean they didn't sting like a raindrop in the eye. Deciding she would live, she stood up and began poking around her side of the fire, meticulously picking up every single scale she had lost. She brushed them off with a claw and dropped them into her knapsack.
Having found and stowed all of her missing scales, she took a step toward the fire and transitioned into her human form with a pained grunt. Her shirt was bloody and completely shredded in some places, but her undershirt seemed to be more or less in tact. Now that she had fingers and hands to work with, she again opened her knapsack and began pulling things out. New shirt, a small vial of clear gel, a bandage, and finally a waterbottle.
She lifted her top shirt off and let it drop on the ground, leaving her undershirt on. Lifting its hem, she spashed some of the water on the wound on her side, hissing at the cold, then tossed the bottle in Icyck's direction. "Freeze yourself back together." she suggested, focusing on spreading some of the gel on her wounds. She covered the big one with the bandage, then pulled her undershirt down, pulling the clean shirt on over it.
((Yep. :) ))
Icyck silently stared at the tree, feeling truly annoyed. He had saved her from a surprise drake attack, and that was all he said.
He let out a slow growl. He didn't move, he just growled. Until he felt it turn to gargling, at which point, he put his paw up to his neck, to find a huge gash there.
The buggers had got him in the neck.
"Uhhh..." He felt light headed, and on the verge of passing out. He was annoyed that all she cared about was her own wounds. She had only been attacked by one. He had taken on three. And all she cared about was her petty wounds. He had a neck gash, and several missing chunks.
"Selfish bitch...." He muttered to himself, as he bled and burned adrenaline, until he could feel pain again, and couldn't move.
Tanith looked up when he made no move to catch the water bottle. Seeing the gash in his neck, she paced around the fire and grabbed the water bottle from where it had landed in the dirt. "Lay down and don't move," she instructed him firmly.
"How about, I can't?" As he spoke, even in his strained voice, blood seemed to flow more profusely than when he was silent. He was in blazing agony, and just wanted her to get on with it, so he could leave. She didn't care for him in the slightest. That was evident.
"Okay, well in that case at least shut up and hold still," she retorted. She splashed a generous amount of water over his wounds, especially the one on his neck, until his scales were dripping. It might be uncomfortable, but she knew it would clean them and that was more important. "Can you shift to human form?" she inquired. She was fairly certain there was nothing more she could do if he said no.
((Hey check the cbox.))
"Do you want me to die?" If he shifted, the gash could potentially end up on his jugular, and he would just spray blood and die pretty damn quickly. He wasn't prepared to take that chance unless he was certain that it wouldn't.
"If I shift, you better be able to patch me up pretty damn quick, cause this could be a human jugular wound, and that would mean death unless that's some instant healing water." Icyck watched as, instead of clotting, the water on the wound froze into a seemingly stretchy ice. It acted almost like a bandage, stopping bleeding, and closing the wound.
Tanith shook her head as she saw the ice freeze. "Never mind." Realizing that his body was creating its own bandage, she cheerfully emptied the rest of the bottle over him, thoroughly drenching him. The ice would do far better than her medicine ever could have anyway. "Mr. Ice, I am pleased to announce that provided you don't to anything royally stupid, you shall live." she announced with a grin, then a wince as her side stretched.
He was not amused by the joke. "Thanks. No thank you for fending off three drakes while you killed one? No thanks for stopping the first one attacking you and setting you on alert for the second? Typical. I was wrong to think that you, the dragon that prefers her human form, wouldn't act like a human." He huffed, standing slowly, and shakily, stretching all his limbs to full extent.
"I seriously can't believe I can't at least get verbal thanks for doing that. All I got was you yelling at me, before realising that my wounds were worse, and then you reluctantly helped. I thought you would be better, considering you know how to live in both worlds. Guess only the lucky ones get it lightly. I'll go and live my hardships, you keep your damned, gods-given luck, and live out your happy life. I'll go and get cut up trying to do good." He sent a cold breath her way, enough to be a painful frost nip, and began to walk away, waiting for any attack, mental or physical.
Tanith raised an eyebrow in surprise. Yelled at him? She hadn't once raised her voice. No, she hadn't coddled him, but he was an adult dragon for heaven's sake! "And you're welcome for the rest of my clean water you moody jerk," she muttered, in a foul mood as she began picking her things out of the dirt.
He stopped, and began to laugh as she said that. "I'm sorry if I got my throat ripped out trying to defend a complete stranger. All you did was chuck some water over me! If I had died you'd have done that to make sure I was clean for when you cremated my body! My gods, you are so selfish." He turned, deciding to confront her.
"This world has got a funny sense of humour, hasn't it? Dragons like me, who do their utmost to never do wrong, always help others, are the ones that get hurt and cut badly. Dragons like you, the dragons that think you can leech off of the good nature of others, and just chuck water over them in return, are the reason people don't like dragons! You're all so pathetically selfish!" He sent a colder breath at her this time, designed to emphasise the sting of his words with some minor frost bite symptoms.
Seeing he'd resorted to outright confrontation, Tanith shifted back into her dragon form with a puff of smoke. She had just finished the change as he shot cold air at her. It was freezing, and uncomfortable, and it pissed her off, but thanks to the fire in her blood it didn't harm her.
"Nobody asked you to do squat!" she snarled angrily. "Do I really look that helpless to you?" She was standing tall, making full use of her impressive size, and her purple eyes had a reddish tint to them. If there was one thing she did not look, it was helpless. Actually, to most she would have looked rather scary. "And in case you hadn't notice, me "just chucking some water over you" happened to save your miserable life." her voice may as well have been dripping acid for how venomous she sounded.
Icyck laughed at her. She was really defending herself here.
"Exactly, that's what separates me from you. You, don't do anything unless it suits you, and somehow, despite how selfish and self centred you are, you don't get any bad experiences in life! Yet, me, who only ever wanted to help people, was held captive for 100 years. Cut and hurt, for 100 years of my damned life, by people like you, who did what suited them. If they didn't feel like sewing wounds closed, they didn't. If they didn't think it would kill me, they would leave it open. And when it was going to kill me, they only reluctantly did it. You don't know what it feels like to be treated like that, to have that pent up fear and anger, and to try and dissipate it with good deeds, making the world better, just to be met with hostility. You go on living your stuck up, privileged life, and no-one bats a damned eye, you stuck up cow..." His lip curled as he prepared for a fight. His words were pronounced like cold daggers, the burn of the ice causing as much pain as the stab of the blades.
Tanith released a puff of hot breath to fend off his icy one. "You don't know anything about me or my life, maggot," she hissed. "Just because I don't go around telling strangers my life story doesn't mean I don't have one." There was a rumble of thunder in the distance, and a breeze swept through the clearing, making the dwindling campfire sputter. "And just in case you're thinking of actually attacking me, perhaps I should remind you which of us has the barely healed neck wound. To attack me in your current state, or ever for that matter, would be suicide. Unless that's what you want," she sneered. "I wouldn't recommend it."
"Tell you what, I don't care if I die anymore! No-one will gods damn miss me!" He swung his spiked tail at her, his temper getting the better of him. He really didn't care if she killed him. He was truly in no shape to fight, but he would try.
Tanith sprang forward, knocking his tail out of the way with her own. In his weakened state it wasn't difficult to bowl his over, but she pinned him gently, not actually attempting to harm him. "Get a grip wingling," she growled, using the dragon term for a child who can talk, but cannot yet take care of themselves. "I'm being merciful this time, because you appear to be lacking in the way of a brain. But only this time. Keep that in mind the next time you decide to take on a full grown, battle ready dragon." All at once she lifted up, grabbed her knapsack in her claws, and was high in the air faster than you could say 'what just happened'.
((If it's too godmoddy for you tell me and I'll change it, I just figured it was realistic since she's in not-bad condition and he's in very bad condition.))
((It's fine, I don't mind godmodding if it is realistic. A perfectly healthy dragon would be able to react, but he's severely injured, so I don't mind :) ))
Icyck looked up as she flew off, and decided to chase.
"Come back and kill me then, you weak, pathetic coward!" His taunt was followed by a burst of freezing ice breath, and a sudden burst of speed as he levelled with her, and tried to knock her out of the air with his spiked tail again.
"What happened to "suicide"?! You stupid cow!"
She dodged his tail easily. Really, even in good health she was probably the more agile one, and certainly with him severely injured. "If you want to commit suicide then grow a pair and do it yourself," she snarled back at him, dodging his every move. The thunder grew nearer with her every word, and a moment later it started to rain.
The rain froze on his wounds, and he gave a small breath of fresh air. That felt better. He shook himself, feeling the huge chunks of ice go solid, and shatter, revealing scales where his wounds were.
"No. I'm not out to commit suicide. I'm just angry." His newly rejuvenated form spiralled at her, tackling her mid air.
Gods damn it! Her own, uncontrollable reaction had strengthened the dragon attacking her! She really needed to see someone about reining in this stupid magic crap. She rolled in the air as he tackled her, throwing him off her as fast as he was on. Her anger grew and lightning cut through the sky like a knife, sizzling treetops and shaking the earth with thunder. She roared, and a jet of flame lit up the stormy sky, nearly boiling the raindrops with its heat.
"Bring it you gutless worm! I saved your life! This rain would have saved me if you hadn't. Wasted water. Now you know what wasted efforts feels like!" He felt the fire singe his scales and boil some permafrost away. Then he went for her tail, hoping to knock her balance completely.
Tanith dodged again, yanking her tail out of the way just in time. Focus, she remembered her mother saying. All there is to controlling magic is focus. Ha! Right, like it was that easy. But it was the best thing she had going for her. He wasn't making any headway attacking her, but neither was she.
She spun in the air, soaring in a giant loop as she let her blood begin to boil. Heated, uncontrolled rage pulsed through her veins like lava, building on itself. The rain pounded harder. She was not just angry, she reminded herself, she was angry at HIM!!! As she thought it, her eyes darted to him, directing all her anger at his icy form. As her eyes shot toward him, so did the lighting, 3 bolts shooting toward him from 3 different directions.
He had called her a coward, and a worm, and a cow - twice! With every word she though, another lightning bolt shot toward him, lighting up the sky with her vengeance.
((I assume you don't actually want him to die? :P))
((No, but they could reach a reconciliation?))
The lightning bolts which struck just coursed through the permafrost on the outside of his skin, the salted ice being a better conductive material than him. Then it went on down and struck trees, plants, animals. The next best thing.
He mixed a ball of saliva in his throat with his ice breath, and spat it at her, the icy ball shattering into flying shards midair, designed to shred the scales of any dragon.
((Heh...he's going to have to initiate it...Once she gets going she doesn't back down easily lol. Bad temper, that one.))
Tanith laughed turned sideways, lifting her wing and allowing his icicles to hit her straight in the side. They melted on contact. The force knocked her back a bit, and the cold was rather uncomfortable, but it didn't pierce her armor.
"Now who's stupid?" she taunted back. "I'm not some normal Thunderblack, you know. My scales are made of stones! You think you can pierce that with your little ice cubes?!" In the same breath she released a ball of flame, rocketing straight for him. Even if he managed to duck, it would surely melt some of his frost with its heat as it passed...
The flame passed straight over him as he continued his path towards her, a layer of glistening ice crystals permanently fused to his skin. No fire could melt this cold.
"Nice try." He got close and unleashed a blizzard of frost and cold from his mouth, making strange rain drops appear from nowhere seemingly. It was just liquid air, but it was still freezing.
With a scoff, she breathed fire at his face, effectively shielding herself from his cold behind her own flames. The force of his breath blew her flames back a little, making her cheeks pleasantly warm before she huffed it away again.
((What do you want to do?))
"KILL ME!" His voice was full of tone, and it was clear he was serious. For the minute anyway. It was sad to hear someone so desperate to die. He was worthless, his life just full of misery.
"WHY SHOULD I GO ON?! No, please, tell me why?! Why won't you KILL ME?!" He dove viciously, rolling over her, hoping to catch her underside with his tail. Not fatal, but painful, and annoying.
((Maybe she could feel sorry for him?))
She pulled her wings in and curled her legs to protect her stomach, then rolled forcefully, plummeting out of reach. As the ground drew closer, she spread her wings, gave a few powerful beats, and was high in the air again, out of Icyck's reach. "Because I don't believe in having others do your dirty work. If you're such a coward as to wish to end your life, end it yourself. I am not here for your convenience. Nor will I end your's for you."
It clicked in Icyck's head. He could do it himself. He could pierce his scales. He was one of the few who could.
Icyck dug his claws into his neck, drawing huge amounts of blood, flying as high as he could bear.
"Fine. You get to watch then..." The crunching of the permafrost underneath his claws was distinct, and the blood was staining that arm red. Or leg rather.
Tanith pulled up short, staring at him in surprise. Did he seriously just...? "What rotten egg did you hatch out of?" she yelled, gaping as he began to bleed. "Whatever issues you have, mommy issues, self-esteem issues, whatever you keep telling yourself, you're proving yourself right you know! We're dragons! We're warriors, fighters! We don't run from anything! Especially ourselves! I've never met a true dragon who was so willing to give up on...well, everything, so quickly."
"You'd never understand. I suffered, in a steel cage, for 100 years. I was born, raised, and tortured there... And you think I didn't give up? I've made it this far, and it was painful, and this is my limit... All I want to do is live in peace, and every time I am met with bows and swords and armour. So I'm going to go where peace is inevitable. The White Valley... Where I can watch this world of hostility burn." His claws raped a bit further, and blood was staining his scales. Much longer and he would bleed out, or fall to his death.
"You don't know what it feels like to be defenceless. Alone. Nothing but knives and pain for 100 years."
Tanith huffed in exasperation. "We've been through this before! You don't have any idea what I've been through. But regardless of your self-righteous victimization, you're right, you have made it this far. You made it out of that cage and into freedom. Which is precisely why I don't get how you could survive for 100 years in a cage, and then once you're finally free, you choose to end your life! What in the gods names was it all for then??"
It wasn't the most sympathetic thing she could have said, but it was true. And if there was one thing Tanith Stormflight believed in, it was saying things straight. She had never been what anybody could mistake for a coddler.
What she was saying didn't click in his head. "I showed my slavers that I am stronger than them. I'm clearly not strong enough for the world. I'm clearly the one who deserves to be treated coldly, when I haven't done anything wrong! Why should I carry on in a world that doesn't want me?! Maybe I should give myself to my slavers? Have them carry out more sick experiments?" His body was heating up, and the ice was melting. Even the permafrost was beginning to feel the heat.
His body was starting to steam slightly, as the frustration made him heat up.
Tanith beat her wings in exasperation. "Do you have a brain in that frozen head of your's?! What you're saying makes no sense! How do you figure that you can overcome 100 years of slavery, so you obviously aren't strong enough for the world? I think you're just trying to come up with an excuse to off yourself. Or maybe you just want pity. Attention. Either way, I'm about done. Have a nice life."
She rolled, and like a swimmer pushing off the wall of a pool she shot off toward the west, her nostrils smoking her frustration to the sky.
Something bad snapped in his head when she said that. Something violent, and nasty, and cruel. She was right. He was pathetic. He was an ice dragon for Angsar's sake! He should be tyranting something, not wallowing.
"Fine. Let me show the world how hostile I am." And with that, he took a swooping dive, strafing the trees, freezing them solid, letting his tail smash them all.