The Unraveled Unknown [Shea!]

[Juno]

Daza had been traveling toward the southern city for quite a while now, enough that she'd lost track of the days. In fact, she had no idea what day it was now, just that it was just after mid-day. Her shoes worn and making her her uncomfortable, she had quite the snarl about her as she winced at the roughness of sand ground against her soles.

She could not wait to get to her destination. The brightness nearly blinding, she wished it weren't such a clear day. She'd forgotten what it was like nearly all the time out here in the desert. She was tired, thirsty, and her eyes were really sore from all the intense sunlight. Daza adjusted her pack, its contents weight pulling at her already sore muscles. She winced at the tightness felt along her shoulders.

Exhausted from the long days of walking, she looked out at the horizon, staring at the speck she hoped was the edge of the city she hoped would be ahead.

[miss_sanguine]

After he had finished warming himself out on the sands of the desert, Tarik had taken to the skies. He loved the feel of the wind under his wings as he soared, the sheer exhilaration that came with being in the air. While he was fast on the ground, he was faster in the air—unrivaled by any other desert-dweller, a master of the heavens.

The day was perfect for it, too. No clouds as far as the eye could see, the warm northern currents sturdy and easy to manage. It made for an easy flight, little to no flapping required, allowing him to glide along and enjoy the view. And what a view it was—golden sand, the occasional shrub. He felt more at home here than he did in the city.

After another mile or so, something caught Tarik's eye, however. Something that he did not normally see. It stuck out like Essyrn did from above.

A person—a girl—was wandering the desert.

Wandering was the best word he could come up with to describe it. She wasn't headed in any understandable direction, the city being some sixty miles to her left. If she was planning on walking until she died, then she was doing a great job of it.

The only conclusion he could come to was that she'd been headed for the city and then lost her way.

But how was she alive? She didn't have a caravan of any sort, no large supply of water to keep alive. Was this a suicide mission?

Veering off-course, Tarik flew toward the stranger. As introverted as he was, he couldn't let a woman die out in the desert. Dehydration was a terrible was to go.

He landed some few feet in front of her and inclined his head on its long neck. *What are you doing?* he asked her.

[Juno]

She could hear a sound different from the winds. Quirking a brow, she looked around herself. Nothing...? Daza looked a bit puzzled and wondered if all of the time she'd spent out here was beginning to get to her and make her paranoid. No, there wasn't anything. Nothing. Carry on. She hadn't even thought to look to the skies, though, and hadn't noticed Tarik's shadow as he flew above.

Continuing forward, however, she didn't get very far before she watched a dragon land in front of her. Stopping, wondering if she was truly going mad, she blinked for a few moments, just staring at him, unimpressed. You're just tired. You need more water.

Daza tried to continue forward, but she only brought herself closer to this dark creature. Then, she felt something. No, heard something. Did the thing talk? No, she hadn't seen it move its mouth at all. Where had that voice come from, though? You've seriously gone mad, she told herself, trying to walk right through the dragon.

Utter shock took her face, though, when she bumped into the creature instead of walking right through him. Ah. A dragon. Just a dragon. Yep. Right here in the middle of the desert.

"Did you...?" she began, pointing at the dragon's face. "Hey, y-you can talk?! Wait, say something else!" On the inside she was in a panic, but she tried not to let it show, tried to remain calm, but her composure was slowly cracking. Oh, GODS! It's a dragon! He's going to eat me! I'm dead. Dead, dead, dead! Oh, stupid girl! Now you're never going to make it there! Or at least not in one piece!

[miss_sanguine]

Concern bubbled up when she ignored him and proceeded to walk straight into him. He'd seen people become so dehydrated and hot in the desert that they became disoriented, and walking right into a giant dragon fit within his definition of being disoriented.

Bringing his head level to hers so that one of his eyes was right next to her, he looked her up and down. She didn't look dehydrated, nor did she look delusional. Maybe a bit surprised to find that he was solid, but nothing else. He could smell her fear, a spicy sort of smell that agitated his nose.

*I'm not going to hurt you,* he said. To emphasize this, he lowered himself further onto the ground to appear less imposing, his black-scaled underside resting in the warm sand.

He thought about going back to his true form, yet decided against it. It might freak her out more and then he'd have no chance of helping her.

*What are you doing out in the desert with no water?*

[Juno]

He did it again! Daza just stood there staring at the dragon as he sunk himself low against the sand, his head turned up to look at her. She thought about running, but how far would she even get without him catching her? She decided not to chance it, at least not yet. Just calm yourself. Calm and cool. He said he wasn't going to hurt you... But everyone says that before they hurt you...Oh gods.

"I... I-I have plenty of water! I'm not just out here, I'm on my way to the city!" She didn't know how lost she actually was, though, and probably would have just wandered to her death had he not seen her out here.

[miss_sanguine]

*You're going the wrong way,* he stated. He lifted his head high and looked off in the direction of the city. He couldn't see it from this distance, but his inner instincts and years of living there told him that was where it was. Not to mention he'd seen it from the sky, a speck in the distance. *The city is that way.*

That was, if she was talking about Essyrn. There was no other city within a closer radius. If she'd been planning on trekking across the entire desert to the other side and making it out alive, then she was sorely mistaken.

There was a certain boldness that resided in him when in his dragon form, a boldness that most definitely did not exist when he was in his true form. He felt less shy, for one thing.

*Would you like a ride?* he asked, looking down at her.

[Juno]

She watched, curious, as he raised his head, looking off in the general direction of Essyrn, telling her she was going the wrong way. How, though, was she supposed to know that he was telling the truth? She'd never known a dragon she could trust. Then again, she'd never known a dragon before, or even met any before for that matter.

Eyeing him curiously, she folded her arms. "Sure, but...I've never ridden a dragon before," she admitted.

It had to be better than walking. Even if he'd lied and took her somewhere else, to some lair or something, at least she wouldn't be out in the middle of this godforsaken dry, sandy place.

[miss_sanguine]

It only occurred to him then that this girl might be a stranger to these lands. He didn't know why he didn't think of it before now. To her, it must appear very strange for a dragon to come out of nowhere and offer her a ride.

Actually, it would come off strange to anyone, even those from Essyrn that didn't know him--and not many people did.

He stared at her for another long moment before speaking. When he did, he said that first thing that came to his mind. *My name is Tarik.*

Then he put his long neck down into the sand, opening his wings slightly to leave room for her to climb onto his beck between them and his collarbone. *I'll take you to Essyrn.*

[Juno]

She was indeed fairly unaccustomed to these parts, having rarely been in the south before in her life. It was a bit unnerving, though, having a dragon find her out here, though she had been alone. She just didn't like thinking she'd been that vulnerable, that someone could see her that easily out here. She supposed it was a good thing in this case, though, or she might've died in a matter of days if he was telling her the truth about being off course.

"Ah, hello...Tarik," she tried the name, watching, wide-eyed, as he unfurled his wings a bit and laid out his neck. He really had been serious.

Hesitantly, she moved closer. Each small step she took, though, had her heart racing. I'm about to fly?! Real flying?! Daza had never been in the air like that before and, while it was indeed a thrilling idea, she was worried she'd be all stupid and unbalanced and fall off somewhere, plunging to her death.

"Okay, I-I'll take you up on this, thanks." With that, she carefully crawled up. Setting herself down right in front of his wings, she held onto his neck, wishing she had something more sturdy to hold onto. "Will it take long?" she asked.

[miss_sanguine]

When she situated herself on his back, Tarik suddenly became very conscious of the feel of her body against his. As old as he was by human years, he was not one that had given rides to many people, and when he had they were usually men. Were he able to blush through his black scales, he would have.

*Not very far,* he said, not looking at her and instead focusing his attention on the sky. He shifted his weight a little to make sure she would not fall, then rose slowly. She wasn't heavy at all, as he'd expected. He could barely even tell she was there but for the feel of her hands on the more sensitive part of his neck. *You didn't tell me your name.*

[Juno]

Now they were rising and Daza wobbled a little on him, but steadied herself by adjusting her hands on his neck. "Whoa, this is-" She chanced a glance down as they lifted higher into the air. "M-My name? Daza, you can just call me Daze." Her body was tensing up, afraid at every little twist or movement that she was going to plunge to her death.

"Wow this is...high. I mean, I've climbed trees, but this is high." Looking ahead for a moment, she saw something in the distance, an odd shape she figured, and hoped, was Essyrn. "Um, please hurry," she whispered, hunkering down, her body pressed against him as she clung for her life.

[miss_sanguine]

Being the mount, it wasn't hard for Tarik to feel Daza's tensing muscles. With every flap of his wings, her grip tightened and her body attached to his more firmly than before. Had he less experience in the matter, he might have got a kink from it.

*I can go higher,* he said simply, veering a little to the left. Really, this wasn't high at all. He was going as low as he could while still having air currents to ride on. There was nothing frightening about the sky. It was open; it was freedom. Nothing was more beautiful and serene and trustworthy.

Just then, however, something caught his eye and he pulled back sharply to avoid it, wings snapping in the air painfully as he tried to keep a position that would not knock his passenger off. The item went whizzing by at dangerous speeds, slowing as it lost altitude.

Looking down, he saw a man he hadn't noticed before coming out from behind a dead bush. He held a weapon of some sort in his hand and had it aimed directly at Tarik's wings.

What was this?! He'd never been attacked as a dragon before; no one was foolish enough.

A roar of confusion escaped him then as he tried to gain elevation where the attacker's ammunition would not be able to reach him.

[Juno]

Higher? Higher didn't sound good. Higher sounded scary. No, higher would not do for her, she didn't want to go any higher than he needed to go, but she didn't have time to ponder this much further because she was abruptly jerked around as Tarik pulled back. "AHH! What was that for?!" Looking around, she didn't notice the thing whizzing along in the air, though she could hear it, but as she looked down again she did notice the man below. He was aiming something at them. This couldn't be good.

Tarik's roar startled her, causing her to cling to him as if her life depended on it, which it probably did as he ascending higher and higher into the air, climbing fast. As they went, though, she heard that crisp sound again and found herself looking for whatever it was. Until she realized she saw it not in the air, but embedded in Tarik's wing. The shaft of a large arrow was sticking out from him. "Tarik?! Tarik, you have..umm...SOMETHING OVER THERE!" she yelled over the buffeting wind, pointing with a frantic hand before replacing it again to grip him in fear.

[miss_sanguine]

A piercing hot pain blazed through his left wing, sending stabs of hurt all through his body. He cried out again, louder, chest reverberating from the force of it. Panic engulfed him. He could hear Daza screaming, but couldn't make out what she was saying through his own cries and the roar of the wind on his face.

Gods. Had she been hit, too?

There wasn't any time to find out. Whatever had hit him was still there, ripping at the leathery folds as air blasted against it. It couldn't be an ordinary arrow; those were too flimsy to pierce his hide, and they didn't hurt this bad.

With effort, he kept his wing straight, gliding to the best of his abilities, not wanting to fall and kill Daza. He curved through the air, off-course. Some several yards away was large outcrop of earth, uncovered by a recent sandstorm, big enough to conceal him for a short time.

Focusing on nothing but this, he dived for it.

- - -

The desert heat was nearly unbearable. How could people live out here? Akar wiped his arm across his sweaty brow, repositioning his weapon on his shoulder. Squinting, he watched the dragon as it bellowed and writhed in the air.

It was a big one---huge. Its black figure blotted out the sun as it moved in front of it. The wingspan had to be at least 25 feet in length, easily more. The beast would fetch him a nice profit, dead or alive.

But it was strong. Hit by one arrow and still flying, though losing height quickly. It looked to be headed for the large rock some distance away. Thought it might be able to hide from him, no doubt. Well, it might for a while, but once he reached it, that would be the end.

Hefting his bag over his other shoulder, he headed toward it.

[Juno]

It was all happening too fast. Clinging to Tarik for her life as they wobbled along in the air, Daza clenched her eyes shut for fear they were about to plunge to their deaths. When she realized he was swerving but still managing to keep them relatively steady for now as he made his descent, though, she peaked through one eye to look to the ground before she opened the other.

She winced as she looked over to his struck wing. Who would shoot at a dragon?!

"Tarik! L-land there! Over there!" she cried, pointing frantically to the spot he was already taking them to. Then, she burst out in her panic, "ARE YOU GOING TO DIE?! ARE WE GOING TO DIE?!"

[miss_sanguine]

He couldn't make out anything Daza was saying, her voice still a muffled yell of nonsense to his ears, but it sounded panicked. At least the fact that she made noise meant that she lived. Silence would have troubled him.

His landing was anything but graceful, his wing providing no support whatsoever. Sand exploded all around him, his ribs screaming as they made hard impact with the ground. The shock knocked all the wind out of him.

Scrabbling at the dirt, he tried to get back on his feet. Desperation and pain made him want to go back to his human form--the wound on his wing would disappear--but he couldn't leave Daza vulnerable to the new threat that was undoubtedly on its way.

With a strangled cry, he twisted his neck around to look at his passenger.

[Juno]

Their rough landing almost threw her from Tarik, but her arms were still wrapped tight around him. Her legs slammed down against him again as he righted himself, causing a hiss of pain from her, but there were other things they needed to worry about right now. Opening her eyes, Daza blinked as she looked around them. Where was the shooter?! As Tarik looked at her in his desperation, she eyed his injured wing again, frowning.

In a split second decision, she shifted herself over one of Tarik's shoulders and slid herself down off of him to land ungracefully in the sand. Righting herself, she snatched her short dagger from its sheath along her belt and positioned herself almost comically in front of the dragon. "There was a man, Tarik, did you see that?! If he comes over here! Oooooo! I will break all of his arrows! And cut his hair, too, evil bastard! How rude, how mean, how cruel!" She looked around them, searching for a glimpse of something, anything.

"How dare he mess with a dragon! How dare he mess with me! I'll let you have it if you come near us, you...YOU-you bully!"

[miss_sanguine]

She was alive. Thank the gods. He didn't know what he would have done if she'd been shot, or broken her neck on his terrible landing.

Soon she stood on her feet, waving a small dagger around like an olden day hunter, shouting threats. The idea of a small person such as herself trying to stand guard in front of him, a large dragon, with her little knife, left him staring. But the pain in his wing made him cry out not too long into watching.

*Daza,* he said, mind-voice distant in his strain. *Do you think you could pull the shaft from my wing?*

He wouldn't be much use to her if he couldn't fight. The pain was unbearable, hindering his movement as though whatever had been on the point of the arrow now turned his blood to wood. He could barely move.

[Juno]

She was ready to fight, ready to put an epic hurt on whoever this guy was. Then, she heard Tarik talking to her again, but he sounded very...weak. You idiot, his wing!! Nodding, she put her weapon away and cautiously moved back around him to get closer to his punctured wing. Wincing at the sight of it up close, she looked over to him with concerned eyes. "Yeah, I'm sorry, Tarik!"

Then she had her hands wrapped firmly around it. For a moment, she hesitated and just stood there staring at it, but then she finally began pulling. Problem was, it wasn't smooth. When it got caught up again she tugged harder and finally got it out, but she immediately dropped the thing to the ground and looked up with apology written all over her face. "Any...a-any better?" she asked, pulling her knife out again as she glanced to the wound on his dark wing.

[miss_sanguine]

The pain laced through his wing like white-hot fire. Instinct commanded that he pull away, that he rip his wing away from the girl so that she could no longer harm it, but he resisted, clamping him sharp fangs together. He only gave one final cry of agony when Daza managed to rip the offending weapon from the tender leather fold of his wing.

Even with the arrow gone, the wound burned and throbbed with every beat of his heart. He inspected the hole, his long neck curving around to look at it. His long snake-like tongue flicked out once, twice, to test the sensitivity, and his entire wing shuddered from the pain that simple action caused. It had a bitter taste to it, like a desert fruit many weeks past its ripe stage.

Poisoned?

*Thank you,* he said, his attention back on Daza before he looked down at the arrow. It wasn't any sort of arrow he'd ever seen. Black and barbed, thick. Made of a dark wood he didn't recognize. Foreign.

As the idea of being poisoned settled in his mind, he found that he wasn't as panicked as he should have been. Most of his focus stayed on keeping Daza safe, and the only way he could do that was by staying in dragon form.

*Are you all right?* he asked.