Fantasy Skyheart (1 slot open)

[SleepyCreamy]

Ezekiel 'Zeke' Marcellius

III✦III Location: On top of Mount Arebos III✦III
III✦III Clan: (To'Bai) Westeros III✦III
III✦III Mentions None, as of yet III✦III
III✦III Interactions: None, as of yet III✦III

III✦III

Spoiler: Stitt

III✦III

Spoiler: Azurine/Azz

III✦III​

As Ezekiel walked through the open spaces, approaching each and every single group of Skybeasts he can find, almost all of them fled or stubbornly stood their ground as they gave him a disapproving glare. He approached the Skybeasts he was more familiar with, such as Gryphons, Phoenixes, Wyverns and many more that he has already drawn on his journal. Zeke wondered if his Skybeast is under the category of a 'lone Skybeast', a term he'd like to use for uncommon Skybeasts that live in solitude or perhaps, the less social among the Skybeasts he has come across with. Zeke could already see the resemblance between him and his Skybeast.

Zeke was satisfied at the mere thought and felt his palms become a bit sweaty and his heart seems to race when he caught sight of a mere black feather with blue tips at the very end. It's the same feather he saw in his nightmarish dreams. Zeke noticed an upward slope before him and he froze when he caught sight of a silver tail. He gripped his rope harder and clutched the amulet that was wrapped around his neck.

It's now or never, Zeke. You're doing it for your mother. Just then, a tiny voice echoed in his mind as he took that first step.

"Zeke, your mother... Would she want you to sacrifice your freedom for her?" [Little Feathers: Post 47, page 2]

Zeke was silent at the moment before shaking the thought off, he himself wasn't sure where the memory came from (but the voice did seem familiar), but the thought of him sacrificing his freedom for his mother was somehow deemed acceptable for him. Ezekiel will do about anything to restore his happy lifestyle with his mother, even if it means sacrificing his own happiness. And that's why he yearns for that fellow feeling, not just from his mother but from anyone. But the moment he experiences them, he feels like he's being dragged down into the pits of vulnerability. And Zeke didn't want anything to do with that. He didn't want to end up like his father, where he got killed due to his curious attitude and his pursuit of knowledge. Zeke promised himself that his pursuit of knowledge will be far different than his father, which means that to him, there will be no room for being vulnerable.

Being vulnerable is the last thing I would ever want. So, gods in the heavens above, let me say my prayers and please guide me through this trial. Let Casseus--

But before he could finish his thought, a blast of wind swiftly hit his face and Zeke realized that he has closed his eyes during his line of thought. When Zeke opened them, he was greeted at the sight of a beautiful beast with enormous bat wings. Zeke couldn't describe how its wings looked because it was a confusing mix between a bird's and a bat's. Nonetheless, Zeke was at awe at the creature in front of him. The beast itself looked exactly like the one at his nightmarish dreams, however, in his first dream, he recalled being attacked by it, so Zeke wasn't surprised when the creature launched itself over to him with its front claws out in the open.

Zeke was quick enough on his feet and managed to dodge the beast's attack. From Zeke's vast knowledge about Skybeasts, he hasn't seen anything like one in front of him. He'd go as far as to assume that the Skybeast was a Manticore due to it's feathered back, cat-like body and devilish horns. Every Manticores he has ever encountered were uniquely attributed with a scorpion-like tail, filled with poison. However, this one seems to have some kind of deformity. To which Zeke grew to be disgusted by. He actually hoped to have a magnificent Manticore to be by his side, and not some kind of cripple.

Zeke gave the Skybeast a disgusted gaze and beast returned one back when it's blue gaze landed on Zeke's own yellow eyes. "If this is what the gods intend for me to receive, then I shall have it, whether I grow to like it or not," Zeke said, more to himself, however. Zeke stretched the rope horizontally in front of him, holding it as if it was a lasso.

The Skybeast then lunged at him one more time and Zeke waited patiently for the beast to come to him and for his plan to fall in place. Once the beast was only one or two feet away from him, Zeke tossed the rope around the beast's long and delicate snout, successfully shutting the beast up with any other noises. As the beast continued to run up to him, Zeke swiftly ducked underneath the beast and pulled out his amulet as the beast jumped over him, preparing the amulet to make contact of the beast's chest area. "This is easy." As Zeke told himself, he made the grieve mistake of not looking at his sides, as the grip of his amulet suddenly loosened and his hands suddenly became empty with no amulet insight. When Zeke turned his head to his left, he saw the creature's wings grabbing a hold of the lace of his amulet.

Once the beast landed right behind him, the beast gave Zeke a triumphant glare, before it smugly twirled the amulet around with the claws on its wings. "Interesting, yet annoying." And clever too. Zeke commented. The beast then prepared to take off to the skies, but before he could, Zeke quickly grabbed onto the rope and tugged it with all his might. He angled himself to the beast's side, to have the rope tighten to its snout. I have to get that amulet back no matter what, he stated with nothing but pure determination, however, the Skybeast seems to have the same level of stubbornness and determination as Zeke himself.

When Zeke suddenly tugged the rope with a harsh tug, the beast's azure eyes seemed to glow even brighter as it stared at Zeke with a pure warning. Zeke watched as the beast's head dove to the floor. He took it as an opportunity to get the amulet. Zeke climbed over the beast's neck, to reach for the amulet. Once he took hold of it. Zeke just then realized that the beast's eyes were staring right at him as Zeke flailed his arms to reach the amulet. It seems like Zeke's determination amused him and it only took a swift movement from its wings to have them airborne.

Zeke gripped the beast's neck tightly with his arms and leg, hanging like a koala with a face-filled with feathers. "Stop it, you little Azz!" When Zeke was about to say 'ass', he slightly stuttered due to the beast whirling around, trying to get Zeke off of its back.

Once Zeke finally had enough, he decided to finally say the beast's name as his last resort. "Azurine. Please." This must've worked because once Zeke uttered the beast's name, it then stopped with its zig-zag pattern flight and hovered over to a group of magnificent-looking Manticores. The ones he has always dreamed of wanting. Zeke hesitated for a moment, just a moment of hesitation was all it took, for Zeke to be thrown off of its back. Zeke quickly stood up as soon as he felt the ground underneath him.

No! This is not over yet! I REFUSE TO! He thought as he took the rope that followed his beast's trails. That's right... all this time, he's been calling the beast 'it' and never 'his'. The gods chose you to be apart of me. The gods also chose my parents to be apart of me. And I refuse to let another blessing go to waste. He said to himself as he was almost on the verge of tears. Zeke has never cried before, not even to properly grieve for his father, but if he has to beg on his knees and cry his eyes out for the beast to come back, then he will. He already took his father for granted and look where that got him

Once Zeke took hold of the rope, he felt a surge of power generate through his chest and onto the palms of his hands. And then, suddenly, he felt the same static feeling he felt during the Stonewarg attack [Post 156, Page 7], but it seems to be much stronger. Without Zeke's knowledge, he watched as electricity generated through his palms, passing the shock onto the rope, and then to the deformed Manticore's face. Zeke was in awe, as he watched the beast fall down to the ground. Zeke took that time to swiftly dodge the Manticore's flailing claws and reached to the beast's chest with his amulet in hand.

Once the amulet made contact with the beast's chest, Zeke was filled with all kinds of emotions he hasn't felt before. He was overwhelmed by so many emotions, that all he could do was fall onto his knees and contemplate on what just happened. Zeke looked at his hands as the feeling of static completely vanished. However, it was then replaced by a light touch of his Skybeast's wet nose.

I-- I just... Zeke was speechless. He couldn't believe the fact that he just tamed his Skybeast, almost facing imminent death and also the lingering possibility of him being a mage... Just like his father and his fathers before him.

 

[AncientBird]

Serik and Valkyrie glided through the wind of the plateau. No rush, no hurry. Serik absorbed the wind and the scene before him. He felt calm and at peace, even his leg wasn’t as painful as before.

“I think that’s enough, Valkyrie... Let us go to see my friends. I don’t know how they will react when they see you, your kind does have a rather poor reputation, but I will try to make it work as good as I can.”

Serik spotted his team mate where they started off, many of them already got their skybeasts. Valkyrie seemed to know what he wanted and slowly, they descended toward the band.

At the band, Serik could see Aldaf, with his newly acquired wyvern, the kind that has many sharps scales and quills all over its body and a large single horn on the snout. He had never seen a wyvern liked that before. Aldaf was flying off to somewhere else with his wyvern and didn’t seem to notice them coming in.

Then there’s Leandra, with her black, winged panther and Katja, the owl masked girl, with her giant white owl, a fitting beast for her indeed. They both just returned together as well.

Serik saw Kari, with her gryphon, a beautiful dark colored one with a majestic pose, typical to its kind.

The one that caught his eye the most was Gerel’s skybeast. A winged horse with reptilian feature Serik thought he briefly saw earlier among the herd of other winged horse, but it disappeared just before he could take a good look at it.

Valkyries landed right next to them. Her immense height towered over everyone as she walked slowly toward the band, making a sharp shriek to announced herself.

“Greeting my friends!” Serik spoke from Valkyrie’s back. “I want you to meet with my beast friend over here... This is Valkyrie, she is a stork drake...” He said.

“Also I think I broke my leg...” He added.

Featuring: SleepyCreamy SilverFlight Naberius YumenoTsukishiro explosiveKitten Elenion Aura kase9187 Lioness075 Saturn_moon

 

[Naberius]

Caliban Lupei

Caliban made his way through the massive open area slowly. He had very little to go on in terms of how to find his beast but that wouldn’t stop him or slow him down. He set off towards the center of the area with grim determination and an unwavering smile. This was the day he had been waiting so long for. Finally, real freedom was within reach and he would not fail here no matter the cost.

When he reached about where he estimated the center of the space to be, he sat down and closed his eyes. The biggest hint he had to go on was the distinct sound it’s wings made when it flew and the color if its feathers. He sat there on the ground for what felt lit hours but in reality was only a handful of minutes. Unfortunately, the many sounds of flight all around the area made it virtually impossible to locate a single specific wing beat pattern amongst the mass exodus of skybeasts. Still, he sat motionless, honing in on every sound he could that sounded similar. He did not know how long he sat there, only that by the time he opened his eyes again nearly everyone else had already claimed their new mounts. He wouldn’t allow it to discourage him however. He had finally heard what he had been searching for. His smile was bright enough to light up a dark room as he jumped to his feet and ran off towards the direction he heard the sound coming from. Difficult in a large area with so many flying creatures lifting off one after the other.

It was a rather long walk, but he finally crested the lip of a plateau-like area and found a number of blue-white feathers just like the ones from his dream. He had finally caught the trail. He picked one up and rolled it between his fingers, getting a feel for the coloration and how the sun reflected off of it at different angles. He had no idea what sort of creature it belonged to, but it must be rather beautiful. He kept the feather with him as he went, searching for anything with a similar color pattern Out of the corner of his eye, he spotted it. Not far away sat a magnificent beast, drinking its fill from a stream. Like a great feathered dragon almost, though more a wyvern. The blue and white color of its feathers was unmistakable. The bottom of its legs and its feet were covered in black scales, and ended in long talons, each one nearly the length of his entire arm.

Finally, the fun part begins!

He crept closer, slowly. Taking his time and approaching from what he assumed was the creatures blindspot. However, as he got close, it whipped it’s head around and settled its gaze directly on him. Instead of taking flight though, it turned to face him with what he almost would have called a smile if he didn’t know better. It began to claw at the ground beneath it, tufts of feathers on its chest bristled though he couldn’t tell if it was anger, excitement, joy, or a combination of the 3. He had no more time to take in its appearance or contemplate his next move as the beast lunged forward, running with a surprising speed on land. Caliban took off running back towards the edge of the plateau area with the winged beast right on his heels. He jumped off the edge, sliding down the small incline on his boots and hitting a hole towards the bottom, launching himself face first onto the ground.

He heard the beasts’ call, and looked up just in time to see it leap into the air to dive at him, talons extended. He rolled towards it, ending up on the other side looking at its back. He pulled off his jacket seeing as weapons weren’t allowed, and decided a bit of matador-esc wrangling might be in order. It was far lighter than it usually was, seeing as he was forced to empty the pockets and leave his trap making supplies, poison and other sharp and deadly items behind for the trial.


“Come on then, you big blue chicken! Let’s go!”

He taunted the beast, stomping the ground a few times to get it riled up, to get it to charge him. And charge him it did, it’s mouth full of razor sharp teeth open for all to see.

This may have been a mistake..

He braced himself and at the last possible moment managed to twirl out of the way, wrapping the jacket partway around the beasts face and obscuring its vision. It thrashed around for a bit trying to rid itself of the veil and Cal took that moment to strike. He pulled the green pendant from his pocket where it had been since Ferro had given them out and lunged forward. But the beast was just a bit faster than he was, whipping the jacket from its face and striking out with one of its clawed feet. Cal managed to dodge most of it, but one of the talons caught him in his left arm, leaving a rather nasty gash. He winced in pain, but didn’t have time to think on it. The beast was on the attack again, and he was still recovering from the first one. He couldn’t get out of the way in time, and the great beast slammed its large head into his chest and sent him flying back a ways, landing with a rather impressive thud on the grassy field. The impact knocked the wind out of him and by the time he struggled back to his feet, it loomed over him again, charging to finish the fight. It was already too close to dodge out of the way of the incoming talons, he couldn’t run. The beast was going in for the kill and if nothing was done, Caliban would not be returning down the mountain alive.

SleepyCreamy SilverFlight AncientBird YumenoTsukishiro explosiveKitten Elenion Aura kase9187 Lioness075 Saturn_moon

 

[Elenion Aura]

Matthias ​

Matthias was pinned down, his back flattening against the bare cave floor. Volos’ paw was large enough that it splayed the full length of Matthias’ chest and spilled over onto the rock on each side. Matthias gripped the beast’s claws with both hands, struggling to keep their sharp tips from finding purchase in his flesh. Both their teeth were bared. Hot, sinuous ropes of saliva dripped from Volos’ jowls onto Matthias’ sweat-beaded forehead. Its strength was unbelievable.

The wind was knocked out of him. He could hardly breathe as the weight of its one paw kept him down, scrabbling helplessly like a beetle turned on its backside. He remembered the amulet, caught the familiar glint of it out of the corner of his eye. The first swipe, the one that had sent him careening to the cave floor, had knocked the gem loose. It laid inert not one pace away, though still tantalizingly out of reach. The corners of his vision had started to blur as he fought with all his might to wrench the beast’s mammoth paw free from atop his chest, to no avail. It hardly budged, hardly seemed to notice his feeble attempts. He was unworthy.

Matthias’ thoughts drifted. Perhaps this meant his end was near. He thought of home. His father at the forge. His mother... His family. One year. They had gone one year without him. Matthias didn’t know which possibility frightened him more. Whether they had managed to carry on without him, or whether they hadn’t.

Something ignited within him.

He felt it all at once. One moment it wasn’t there, and the next it was everywhere. It was everything. Every stifled emotion. Every sacrifice made for the betterment of others. Every piece of himself, neglected, put second, bearing the weight and responsibility of lives that were not his own. It coursed through him, this fire-which-was-not-fire, this light-which-was-not-light. It pulsated, undulated, coiled like a snake within him, like it was alive.

His muscles exploded, super-charged, humming with life, with energy. His arms, like spring loaded pistons, shot out and tossed the bear’s paw aside. It stumbled, caught off balance. Clearly, Volos was as surprised as Matthias was by this new development. Before it had a chance to respond, Matthias snatched up the amulet and pressed it against the beast’s rhythmically beating heart, in cadence with his own thumping one, and the amulet itself. Time slowed to a crawl.

Tags: SilverFlight Naberius Saturn_moon YumenoTsukishiro explosiveKitten kase9187 SleepyCreamy AncientBird
Lioness075
​

 

[kase9187]

Aldaf saw Zeke tame his skybeast from above and cheered so loudly that he managed to startle Spica and a few other skybeasts, his voice carrying down below to Zeke.
"THAT'S MY GUY! THAT'S MY GRYPHON-HEAD! WOOOOOOOO!"
He asked Spica to dive down lower so he could talk with Zeke. He circled Zeke and Azurine on Spica's back.
"Good job, Gryphon-head! That was some mighty fine work you did!"
Aldaf's laugh was almost infectious as Spica moved and began to maintain it's position.
"Whaddya say we race on back to Ferro then? Now that your hunt's over, let's have some fun!"
He was practically over the moon with joy that both he and Zeke got their Skybeasts.
Without waiting for his answer, Aldaf and Spica sped off towards Ferro, hoping Zeke would join in.

SleepyCreamy

 

[SilverFlight]

Kari
Kari watched Aldaf fly off, of course he was going to get a better look at Zeke's proving. She shook her head with a smile. That made her think of Gerel, and she began to scan the scene for him. She spotted him, skybeast and all, running the exact same maneuver she and Zephyr had pulled. She was up on her feet as he landed and waving as she moved slowly too him, the pain in her rib still horrible.
She raised an eyebrow at the name. "Jeff." She repeated, but looked away pressing her lips together. Kari offered the kirin her hand, waiting to see what he would do, after that, she sat down with Gerel, slowly, and holding her damaged side.
"I guess the others won't be long now. This is Zephyr." Kari introduced the gryphon proudly. Zephyr's eyes dilated and he dipped his head, advancing on Gerel, but the beast only sniffed him, thoroughly all over then raised his head to assess Gerel visually. Zephyr gave a snort. Acceptable. And went to sit by Kari. Kari put a hand behind one of his long ears and scratched him idly.
Gerel's wide grin made her smile brighter, and she lay back in the grass and looked up at the sky.
"Is it everything you dreamt it would be?" She asked him.

Serik came just a little while after, riding the mosrt peculiar skybeast Karo had ever seen.
"Hello Valkyrie!" She called cheerfully. "Gods Serik how did you tame her! She's incredible."

Without warning Ferro launched from their vantage point. Kari watched him go and her heart twisted, she tried to see what it was their witness had seen.

YumenoTsukishiro AncientBird

 

[Saturn_moon]

As Marylka slowly made her way back towards the ledge on Archimedes's back, they passed over Caliban who was wrestling with his beast. She heard him shout something about a big, blue... chicken? It was likely that she had been mistaken for there was no way that could be right. Could it? She squinted to try and get a better look and realized, perhaps even to her slight disappointment, it was instead a giant wyvern with a coat so brilliantly blue it could break your heart.

She watched as he gracefully dodge the wyvern's attacks, one after another, like he was executing a choreographed dance. Until he faltered and the beast slammed its head into him with enough force to throw him back several feet. "Cal!" She shouted from the sky and instinctively tried to go to his aid. However, when she tried to steer Archie towards him, the hippogriff resisted with a huff.

"B-but..." she stuttered, unable to find the words to finish for she knew Archie was right. Ferro had said this was their battle and their battle alone. If she interfered, Caliban would have failed either way. She could only trust that his beast would be forgiving enough or that Ferro and Emerald would step in if needed.

Marylka turned back just as the Wyvern reached Caliban with its talons extended, sharp and deadly.

Naberius

 

[AncientBird]

"Gods Serik how did you tame her! She's incredible." was Kari’s reaction as she looked at Valkyrie.

“Well it started with disappointment, then came confusion, horror, followed by sheer pain then a little bit of self suffocation, rescue and the most hearth warming feeling I had ever felt in my life... And here she is...” Serik said with smile on his face.

“She wasn’t exactly what I had in mind but I think I like her. Your gryphon looks as regal as what I heard about them. Have you seen one before in your home plain?” Serik asked Kari about her skybeast companion. He’s still clinging on Valkyrie’s back as it’s the only way he could move around now.

“What about yours, friend Gerel? Your winged horse looks so peculiar yet beautiful. What type is it? All my life I had been with winged horses and I have never seen one like yours.” He turned to ask Gerel about his mysterious winged horse.

Just then that Ferro launched off in hurry. Serik looked after the man, wondering what was happening...

Featuring: SilverFlight YumenoTsukishiro

 

[YumenoTsukishiro]

Gerel heard the question in Kari's voice when she looked over the Kirin and called him by his chosen name. As she reached her hand out, Gerel felt Jeff considering the woman before him with imperious eyes. The tension held for a second, and broke when the Kirin pressed his nose against Kari's palm. Through their connection, he knew Jeff accepted Kari for... something? There was a warmth in his skybeast that resonated with his own whenever Kari was around. What else did they share across the bond formed by the amulet?

And then it was his turn to be examined. "Pleasure to meet you, Zephyr," Gerel said, staying extremely still while the beautiful gryphon sniffed him over. One wrong move and he might end up on the sharp side of Zephyr's beak. Fortunately, he seemed to pass the skybeast's examination. He snorted, then sat back down next to Kari. Gerel watched as Kari scratched behind the gryphon's ears, watched as she turned to him and grinned.

"Is it everything you dreamt it would be?" She asked him.

"Yes. Yes it is," Gerel said, hesitated, then added, "The only thing better would be watching you fall far behind when we race."

Then he noticed her tender movements, the way she favored a side of her body. "But we won't be having that race anytime soon. We have to take care of that injury of yours."

Just then Serik came down atop his own skybeast. It was unlike anything Gerel had ever seen before, more predator than beast in its appearance. "Congratulations on getting your skybeast, Serik!" Gerel said, then remembered something about what Serik said... It looked like a smaller winged demon, based on Serik's descriptions. How Serik came to ride a similar creature to his greatest adversary was a story he needed to hear sometime later. "As for Jeff here, he's a Kirin, a rare type of winged horse. He has the traits of both alicorns and dragons, and he's really smart."

Jeff huffed in approval, eyes gleaming with haughtiness. To their surprise, Ferro was up and moving, urgency in his actions. Gerel tried to look at where he was going, ready to move if necessary.

Featuring: SilverFlight AncientBird

 

[SleepyCreamy]

Ezekiel 'Zeke' Marcellius

III✦III Location: Mount Arebos, Ledge III✦III
III✦III Clan: (To'Bai) Westeros III✦III
III✦III Mentions YumenoTsukishiro III✦III
III✦III Interactions: SilverFlight III✦III

III✦III

Spoiler: Stitt

III✦III

Spoiler: Azurine/Azz

III✦III​

"Tsk." Zeke clicked his tongue as his eyes darted above the skies as he caught the sight of a Kirin showing flying gracefully up in the skies. Due to Zeke's sharp eyes, he managed to spot Gerel riding behind the Skybeast's back. "Show off." Zeke muttered as Azurine lifted his head and gruffed in response, seeming to agree to his comment. However, as the beast lifted its head, it slightly flinched and Zeke landed his eyes over to the beast's snout, where a mark was made due to Zeke's ropes. Zeke felt a bit of sympathy for the pain he caused towards the creature. He also noticed that the beast angled its snout away from Zeke, preventing his rider to see the damage his rider caused.

What a stubborn guy, it is as if we both share the same personality... Wait, a guy? Zeke questioned himself as he curiously looked at the creature's hind legs, with nothing but pure curiosity. To which the beast responded with a questioning look with his own blue gaze. You're a male, right? Zeke asked as he waited for the creature to answer, or to give him a sign that he agrees with his statement. Azurine then gave him a nod and an amused expression, to which Zeke returned with the same amusing look. I can't believe I thought of you as some type of a deformed Manticore. He thought silently, but his mind would not be silent anymore when he received a harsh push behind his back by none other than his Skybeast. Zeke almost fell face first, if it wasn't for Azurine's hooked wings, which he then used to pull Zeke upwards and have Zeke sit behind his feathered back. To which Zeke completely obliged to due to its soft, cushioned back.

And that was when he received loud applause from Aldaf himself. "Whaddya say we race on back to Ferro then? Now that your hunt's over, let's have some fun!" Aldaf said and Zeke was about to decline to his request. The only thing that he could think of right now, was flying over to Westeros by himself and finally reuniting himself with his mother.

However, his beast seems to have other plans as Zeke was met by the beast's headstrong gaze. Zeke's eyes widened when he saw the beast stretch his wings out, preparing to take flight. "Oh no, you don't." Zeke threatened the beast but he soon found no use of it when he saw the same glint in the beast's eyes when Zeke himself is determined to achieve something. Zeke's competitive nature completely kicked in once he saw Aldaf and his Skybeast bolt out of his sight. What a cheat, Zeke's will to suddenly win seemed to have been made clear by his thoughts and Azurine took off of the ground with incredible speed. In just one wingbeat, they were off the ground.

Zeke tightly clenched Azurine's feathers, which seemed to affect the beast's flight performance. Due to Zeke's tight grip and maybe his fear of falling, they easily lost the race. It's not like Zeke practiced horse-riding or did any practical practices out in the field with his mother's job as a Skybeast Breeder. This was Zeke's first flight or ride with any creature, and it was only sensible to have Zeke be in such a frenzied mindset. Once Azurine gracefully landed on his feet, Zeke hastily got off of the beast's back and just sat on the grass. His beast did the same thing and protectively wrapped its body around Zeke's, his wings tucked in. "You win, this time, Scar-Face." He muttered under his breath in a slaty manner as his beast gave Aldaf and the Skybeast beside him a menacing growl.

Zeke stood up as Ferro hastily walked past him. "Oh, Ferro, I--" Zeke was about to ask Ferro whether his beast is a Manticore or not, but he held off his tongue when Ferro suddenly took off, which means that somebody was in deep trouble. Zeke then scanned the whole area, only to find a glimpse of blonde hair laying on the ground.

I already knew Caliban's a smiling idiot, but I never knew I'd have to label him as just an idiot. Zeke's eyebrows arched as he watched the scene unfolds.

 

[kase9187]

Aldaf landed to see Ferro start moving towards Emerald. He dismounted the same time Ferro flew off, looking at his destination.
Cal had been pinned, as he could see.
"Fuck. I hope Cal makes it out okay." He moved over to Zeke, looking at his Skybeast.
"Hey, Gryphon-head." Spica looked between the two somewhat confused.
"Do you mind if I... sit with you?" He looked for an answer.
You know he feels something, but pushing too hard makes him shut off. Aldaf thought to himself, a bit worried. Maybe just... being a bit more... gentle will get something.

SleepyCreamy

 

[SleepyCreamy]

Ezekiel 'Zeke' Marcellius

III✦III Location: On top of Mount Arebos III✦III
III✦III Clan: (To'Bai) Westeros III✦III
III✦III Mentions Naberius III✦III
III✦III Interactions: kase9187 III✦III

III✦III

Spoiler: Stitt

III✦III

Spoiler: Azurine/Azz

III✦III​

Zeke was confused at first when Aldaf approached him and asked for the space at his side, but the space was occupied by his overprotective Skybeast. As Zeke took a seat at the crook of Azurine's neck, he felt the Skybeast move his head onto his lap, with his claws on either side of Zeke's figure. "Do as you wish, I won't mind." Zeke calmly told Aldaf as he petted Azurine's head. Zeke used to pet Stitt whenever he's stressed or is in need of relaxing, but just petting the beast's head seems to have made Zeke almost forget about Caliban's dangerous predicament.

 

[SilverFlight]

Kari looked at her gryphon when she thought about Serik's question. "Never one like this. It looks like he's built for fishing, with the type of his feathers, and shape of his wings, like an osprey, or a kingfisher."
The gryphon stretched his neck to look around at her and blinked once. Kari suddenly had the impression of a massive dog, so far from the lithe and brutal predator she had fought. It made her feel privileged to know this side of the creature. A friend.

When Gerel made the crack about second place she looked at him, mouth agape in mock offense. Kari made a disgusted noise.
"Oh, I see how it is. Well, looks like you're still dreaming."
She reached over and flicked the rim of his hat affectionately.

She looked back out to find the others. Most people had their beasts now and looked as happy she she felt. The clanless girl had faced off with and tamed a beautiful white, winged wolf, with vibrant blue eyes. She stroked its head and spoke softly to it.

The boy, however, still sat close to the cave entrance, unmoving, an expression of resignation in his eyes.

YumenoTsukishiro AncientBird

 

[Elenion Aura]

Matthias ​

Volos plodded along. Matthias was happy to let him as he walked beside, resting an easy hand on his flank. They would take their first flight another time. For now, Matthias contented himself with walking. He thought back on the cave. The feeling that had overcome him, somehow managing to feel both instantly recognizable and impossibly alien all at once. It did not feel raw and untrained, as he’d have expected untapped magic to feel. Instead it felt honed, obedient, patiently waiting for him to let it loose.

Volos did not seem particularly bothered with this new reality. Once their bond had formed, the great bear had huffed, noncommittally, then sniffed the ground around Matthias’ feet. They both had mutually agreed to walk. Matthias felt the beast’s consciousness pressing up against his. Like his magic, it felt both familiar and not. Like he was staring into a mirror, but instead saw the visage of an old friend reflected there. It was... Natural. Comforting. Soon they arrived back on the bluff where many of the others had already gathered. Matthias and Volos appraised each pair in kind—their looks said, Well done—before slinking down, beast and man, against the sheer flat wall of the ring that encircled them. Matthias‘ head rested against Volos’ gently rising and falling side, arms crossed over chest. His eyelids fluttered. He was impossibly tired.

Tags: SilverFlight Naberius Saturn_moon YumenoTsukishiro explosiveKitten kase9187 SleepyCreamy AncientBird
Lioness075
​

 

[Naberius]

Caliban Lupei

Just before the attack reached him, Cal smiled, the amulet already pressed against his own chest. He threw himself forward, through the opening between the large talons and right to the beasts chest.

“Sorry, I have far too many people to prove wrong for me to accept dying here!”

He slammed the amulet home, catching the beast by surprise as a wave of energy passed between them both. It took a step back after a few moments, a low rumbling sound coming from deep in it’s chest. Like a growl but not out of warning. She pressed her head against Cal, like a cat or dog might to nuzzle their human friends. He had earned her respect and her loyalty in their exchange, and now they were bonded for life. Nerene.

He pressed his head against hears, bringing an arm up to pat the side of her head. It was finally over, he won. The intensity of the situation finally dawned on him and the adrenaline left his body. He collapsed to his knees with a huff and just sat there for a moment. Then, he started laughing. It was quiet at first but it continued to grow. A hearty belly laugh, the kind of laugh that comes from someone having endured a horrifying ordeal but came out fine on the other end. Nerene even seemed to roll her eyes at his sudden display before nuzzling him again.

“Right, right. Time to go, I know. You don’t have to keep reminding me.”

He stood and she lowered herself down to the ground, allowing him easier access to her back so that he may climb aboard. They kept to the ground for now, making their way back towards the others who had almost all already finished with their taming. He seemed to be close to last, but that was fine with him He didn’t particularly care about the timing, what was important is that he had done it.

Mom. I did it. And now, I’ll follow my dreams just like you always wanted me to. You don’t have to worry anymore. I even made a few friends.

He was smiling as he made his way back to the others, brighter than ever before it would seem. He grabbed his jacket from where it lay on the ground on the way back, putting it back on. He was finally, truly free. Not even the earth could keep him bound any longer. He was free to roam the skies and see the world. They all were.

SilverFlight Elenion Aura Saturn_moon YumenoTsukishiro explosiveKitten kase9187 SleepyCreamy AncientBird
Lioness075

 

[SilverFlight]

Kari

Kari waved a hand dismissively. "It's not broken, just cracked I think. It's a little hard to breath though..."
She looked over. "I'll be fine, really." She added hastily.
Kari sat back, content to watch the others for now and press herself into Zephyr's soft feathers.

Ferro had his weapon in hand, hovering close to where Caliban had made his stand. He put it away, seeing the beast quiet under the boy's touch. Ferro was smiling, and even Emerald looked approving, as well as a dragon could.

The beasts felt it before the humans did. Zephyr perked up his ears and stood so quickly Kari tumbled under his legs.
"Ack! What the?"
But suddenly there was a rush of noise like a tornado as thousands of skybeasts took to the sky all at once. The wind they kicked up blew Kari's hair back and suddenly the air was speckled with downy feathers and glittering scales as they were shed with the wild motion of flight. She had seen her herds spook from a monster in the grass, but she had never seen the terror painted in the movements of these animals before. And then Kari felt it. A hum, no a rumble, coming from deep within the earth.
Zephyr screamed at her and the feeling through their bond was clear. They needed to get away from the ground. She struggled to her feet and slipped onto his back, wincing in pain.

Zephyr was airborne in one leap and just as his paws left the earth, there was a massive explosion. The blast rocketed upwards from deep within the well of darkness at the center. Zephyr and some of the last beasts were blown back and lost their height, forced to land, but the earth was crumbling under their feet. Zephyre jumped again and Kari yelped in pain, but they made it up, just as a massive blast of dark mist erupted from the mountain.
Kari clutched her side, holding on with one hand while her gryphon flew.
She watched the mist carefully, a vile purple-black mass...and it was writhing...there was something inside it.

"Get clear!" Ferro roared above the noise, and something roared back. Huge and ear-splitting. Great skeletal wings threw themselves our of the mist, and a head reared, jagged teeth, hard skull and the size of a small island, an eagle skybeast flying by would barely have been able to stretch its wings across the length of its head.
A long dead wyvern, brought back by no magic Kari had ever seen. Its insides pulsed and glowed with the same foul purple hue as the mist, caged in the chest cavity but exposed with no skin or muscle. Its heart pulsed in the open, encased only in the ribs. Its wing membranes were purple too and seemed to pulse with the same light.
Savage horns grew from the top of its skull and the sides of its head, and the glowing light in its eyes held a malice that made Kari shiver.

Spoiler: The creature

It hovered in mide flight as the mist about it dissipated, and the true horror of it was displayed to them. It pulled back its head and Kari head the rushing of wind. Then it loosed an awful gout of deep purple energy at the earth. Everything it touched shriveled and died. Flowers, grass, and one unfortunate dragon, too late from slumbering in its cave.
Kari looked on in horror, then she remembered. One boy hadn't chosen a skybeast.
Zephyr was moving on her thought as she raced back. She gave the others she passed a panicked look and pointed to the boy, cowering on his ledge while the energy, snaked along the ground with an intent all its own, killing everything in its path.
As if that wasn't enough, in the creature's wake flew six smaller skeletal beasts, glowing, like the giant. The size of a skybeast or just larger. They gave chase to the fleeing animals, and attacked anything that flew too close. One caught a pegasus and tore a wing off as if it were paper, sending the poor creature hurtling to its death on the rocks below. Another wild skybeast attacked, a dragon, blue scales gleeming. It grabbed the skeletal creature that had dispatched the pegasus in its claws, but it was overpowered, and the creature laid jaws on its neck and wrenched. Whatever these things were, they possessed incredible strength. Zephyr saw it though, and Kari knew it through their bond. The creatures' flight was jerky and uncertain, and they might be out-maneuvered, but first things first, Kari had to worry about the boy. Then the creatures began to catch sight of the newly proved riders, and they bellowed their fury. From then on, they went straight for Kari and the others, all else forgotten.

Kari landed right beside the unproven boy, Zephyr rearing in urgency.
"Come on!" But before she could get him onto Zephyr's back one of the smaller creatures landed with a spray of rock and dust. It had a wyvern shape too and was bigger than Zephyr, who arched his back and raised his hackles and hissed for all he was worth. Kari swore, the couldn't take off with the beast blocking them, it would tear them to pieces if they tried, but the dark energy was creeping closer, sucking the life out of plants and insects and soon it would be their turn...

((You can control the smaller skeletal creatures, but not the big one. They are very hard to kill so please, don't be greedy, put on a good show, team up, and have fun.))

Elenion Aura Saturn_moon YumenoTsukishiro explosiveKitten kase9187 SleepyCreamy AncientBird
Lioness075 Naberius

 

[kase9187]

Aldaf saw the wyvern skeleton land in front of Kari. He ran towards the edge, Spica diving off as well.
"SPICA!" He screamed, his Seregios mount catching him mid-air. They both dashed off towards Kari.

A few dozen meters away from them, Aldaf called out. "QUILLS!"
Spica roared, lashing her tail and letting loose a hailstorm of sharp quills. Aldaf summoned a gust of wind to redirect the projectiles around Kari and nail the skeleton with the quills, the force of the attack forcing it to the ground. Some of them pinned the skeletal beast to the ground. It writhed and tried to pry up the quills, and was managing to do it slowly.
"KARI! GO!" He flew off back towards the ledge, intent to give them a clear path back.

A skeletal wyvern screamed out of the sky, broadsiding Spica. Aldaf got knocked off onto Spica's tail as they both fell into a dive.
Spica roared, the wyvern's talons clawing into her side past her scales.
"Spica! Release quills!" Aldaf shouted. A quill in his hand came loose and he let go of Spica, coming loose of the bundle.
Aldaf dived face first, catching up to the wyvern. It was just about to bite down on Spica's neck when he slammed into the beast's back. He took the quill in his hand and stabbed the sharp end of the quill into its skull. The beast roared as Aldaf kept stabbing the beast's skull, starting to fracture the skull apart. The beast let go of Spica as Aldaf jumped back on, throwing the quill to pierce the beast in the chest and resuming a somewhat shaky flight. The beast clawed at the quill as Aldaf and Spica flew off back towards Kari.
"Good girl. You did good." He pat Spica on the head. "Take it easy, don't strain yourself."

Elenion Aura Saturn_moon YumenoTsukishiro explosiveKitten SilverFlight SleepyCreamy AncientBird
Lioness075 Naberius

 

[AncientBird]

Just as Serik about to ask if anyone else still yet to obtain a skybeast, a loud noise startled him. It was like an entire mountain just crumbled, the quake was far stronger than anything Serik had ever felt in his life. Then came the horror, at the middle of the proving land the participants just got their beasts, the sink hole in the center which was believed to lead to the world below the cloud, a forbidden land... Came crawling out a gigantic monsters, fuming with terrifying purple cloud.

It looked like a wyvern, but its entire body was skeletal. Its breath sapped life away wherever it touched. The creature took flight, hovering above the proving ground and started destroying everything around its presence.

Serik was frozen in place, he could feel the same terror from the heart of Valkyrie too. Then darted off Kari with her gryphon headed back into the proving ground.

"What are you doing?!! Kari, come back!" Serik screamed in terror as the girl and her skybeast rushed out. Then he saw that one of the participant left behind in the proving ground, Kari was meant to go and safe him. However, as the giant skeletal monster arose, smaller similar looking creatures also appeared right behind it. The smaller monsters started slaughtering every living things they could get a hold on. One of them headed straight for Kari and the boy. Aldaf bolted off with his wyvern, engaging the skeletal monster to give Kari time to escape.

"We need to help them!" Serik said and looked at Valkyrie. "Go, Valkyrie! We need your help!"

However, the stork drake wouldn't move. Instead, she stepped back, shrilling in fear. "Come on! What got into you? I thought you were bold!" Serik spoke to his skybeast.

Featuring: SilverFlight kase9187

 

[Naberius]

Caliban Lupei

There was no time to celebrate. Just as he was reaching the others, Cal heard and felt the rumbling at the same time. Everything happened at once. The eruption of the strange anti-life essence, the swarm of dozens of those skeletal monsters, the mother of all beasts and something straight out of a nightmare. He heard the others calling for Kari and found her new position and swore. This wasn't good, they were already getting separated. This was not how their proving was supposed to go, this was not how things were supposed to be.

This is not how things will be, damn it.

Nerene made to take flight to save his own life, but Cal would have none of it. He spoke in a voice that would brook no argument or rebuttal.

"We're going to help. If you want to save me, you'll have to save them too."

The smile was gone, in its place was a look of grim determination tinted with fear and fury. This was not how things were going to end, not right when he had just met these people, not right when they had just gotten their key to freedom and living their lives.

The giant beast forgotten about, Caliban pulled hard on Nerene, forcing her to turn to the right towards Kari and the injured boy. She could feel his intent, and he could feel her exasperation at his idiotic plans. He didn't care. This was just the kind of person he was, and he wasn't about to change. Not when people needed help and he could actually do something about it. At their full speed, Nerene ripped across the sky like an arrow, nearly getting caught several times by the other skeletal monsters flying about. He hadn't even had time to retrieve his spear, but he would have to make due. Aldaf made it there before him, though he never saw them going, too focused was he on those in danger. The monster was injured, rather badly in some places. It struggled to rise to it's feet with the damage it had already sustained and the lingering barbs embedded in its bony body. Nerene dropped in from above, driving it back into the ground, her powerful talons finishing the work that Aldaf and his mount started, shattering its skull entirely.

"Everyone move, we have to go. Now! It's not safe here."

Elenion Aura Saturn_moon YumenoTsukishiro explosiveKitten kase9187 SleepyCreamy AncientBird
Lioness075 SilverFlight

 

[explosiveKitten]

The ground started to shake while Katja was laying with her face in Barran’s feathers, and at first she didn’t notice it, but when everyone started shouting, Katja looked up and watched everyone rapidly mounting their beasts.

“Huh?” Katja questioned, only to be picked up in Barran’s beak and flung up into the air, conveniently landing on her shoulders as the giant owl unfolded her wings and took off from a standstill.

“WhA- what’s going on?” Katja shouted just in time to watch a giant, purple, glowing wyvern burst from the ground of the once- serene place. Watching it writhe and spew sickly purple mist from it’s ribcage, Katja could feel a wash of anticipation and fear from Barran. Barran had never seen anything like it. Katja could tell.

The fear was swept away and replaced with cold determination as the giant owl shrieked, flexing her huge black talons, almost challenging it to come closer. The air was humming with evil energy and Katja was frozen in place, holding onto fistful a of Barran’s feathers, honestly just clinging for dear life.

“WHAT IN THE BELOW IS THAT?!” Katja screamed, shaking in pure terror as hundreds more smaller skeletons began to crawl from the ground, taking to the wing and starting to attack all the proven children.

Katja was whimpering and looking around at all the people she knew, being attacked by undead beasts, and all she could do was sit there in quiet fear. Her hands were shaking too much to even try to use her blow gun for this- she wasn’t even sure if it would work on these things. And after that, what? She had a sword. What was that going to do? Mildly inconvenience HERSELF?

She was whimpering when she felt yet another wave of apprehension from Barran. She finally let herself look up in time to see a large bird, with three long sinewy tail feathers coming towards them. She had no idea what to call it, but Barran seems determined to call it, “DEAD”.

The large owl puffed up her feathers and flapped up once, spreading the front two talons on her foot as she let gravity take the razor sharp claws towards the encroaching creature. The bird screeched in response and dived out of the way, far more agile than the owl. Barran shrieked when she received a sharp peck to the tail feathers.

“Run! RUN! RUUUUNN!” Katja shouted, which Barran seemed to understand a small the big owl turned and began to fly away, with the smaller bird still pursuing them. The long neck of the creature allowed it to snap its beak at Katja’s hair as it blew in the behind wind her

“OH MY GODS, WHY IS THIS HAPPENING?! WHAT KIND OF MAGIC IS THIS??”

Elenion Aura Saturn_moon YumenoTsukishiro Naberius kase9187 SleepyCreamy AncientBird
Lioness075 SilverFlight

 

[AncientBird]

No matter how much Serik wanting to go help the others, Valkyrie didn’t seem to want any of it. She began to turned away from the fight despite what Serik told her to do.

Serik wad frustrated and started to feel angry. All he want was to lend his hands and helped his friends but his damn skybeast was not listening to his plea at all.

“You coward! Turned back!” He demanded, but the more he tried, the more resistance Valkyrie gave.

In his desperation. Serik saw his bow set and other of his belong on the ground where he left them before taking the proving. Something ran into his mind...

“Fine, go ahead and flee, you brainless scavenger. If you don’t want to, I will do it myself!”

Whether it was the need to help his friends or frustration of being ignored or madness... Serik rolled down the back of his skybeast. His leg hurted ten folds more as he hit the ground, but he managed to got up and limped toward his bows. He grabbed them... Now if he could take aim and perhaps help shooting from this range... But before the young man could do anything, he was tackled to the ground.

Valkyrie stood upon him, pining him to the ground. She reached her beak to Serik’s leg... And with a quick jerk, she snapped Serik leg even further.

The young man screamed in pain as his leg that might probably just had fracture before, now definitely broken. “Traitor!!!” Serik screamed. Tear of pain and rage leaked from his eyes.

Valkyrie then used her beak to gently scoop the young man up, placing him on her back and with a heavy launched, threw herself up into the sky, leaving the place.

Serik clang for his life. He started to cry looking at his friends struggling. As he and his beast went further away.

“I am sorry...” He whispered to them, tear running down his cheeks. “I am so sorry...”

Featuring:
Elenion Aura Saturn_moon YumenoTsukishiro Naberius kase9187 SleepyCreamy explosiveKitten
Lioness075 SilverFlight

 

[Lioness075]

Name: Leandra LaFrae	Nicknames: Lea, Firefly
Clan: Sudenta	Clan Job: Huntress
Equipment: Knapsack, Medicinal Pouch, Bow, Quiver (9/10), Twin Daggers

Spoiler: Momo's Appearance

Spoiler: Falarion's Appearance

Leandra was resting on the ledge with Falarion acting as a pillow behind her back. He had one of his wings lazily stretched out and rested his head on his front paws. She let her legs dangle over the edge, mindlessly kicking them back and forth. She was the most relaxed she had been since they all woke up in that tent together. She felt a warm sensation coming from Falarion and smiled at the happiness they were now sharing.

The moment of peace and solitude was shattered as the gargantuan wyvern surfaced from the massive hole in the plateau. Leandra scrambled backwards, having briefly forgotten about Falarion, and ended up falling backwards with a yelp onto her butt.
Startled by the roaring and chaos unfolding, Falarion leapt to his paws and snarled at any undead beasts approaching them.

Terrified, Leandra got up and sprinted for her gear nearby. She snatched up her bow and quiver, notching an arrow. Turning to face the incoming monsters, she watched as her teammates entered the frenzy. It seemed most were being helped by someone else already, so Leandra focused her fire on an undead hippogryph that was starting to dive at their gathering group. With rapid succession, Leandra let two arrows loose and watched as they struck true. The first one hit the hippogryph in the side and it yowled as the second arrow struck it in the neck. It seemed unperturbed by its new wounds, though, and it continued its dive, heading straight for Caliban and his Skybeast.
Abruptly, Falarion leapt up from the side and tackled the undead hippogryph out of its deadly dive. His wings unfurled to aid his balance, as he roared and bit deeply into the hippogryph's shoulder.
As they crashed down on the ledge, Leandra notched another arrow and tried to take aim at the undead monster. Her left hand began to shake suddenly and she felt fear washing over her, as she did not want to hit Falarion with an arrow.
"Someone, help Falarion!" She cried out, hoping that if Falarion could just get untangled from the monster, then she could save him.

Just as she shouted this, Falarion cried out in pain as the hippogryph's shark beak cut into his own shoulder, leaving a sizeable gash. Blood quickly began to soak his fur.
Seeing this, Leandra screamed and took aim with her bow and arrow once more. The shaking was gone and she let loose her third arrow, watching as it struck the monster in its eye socket. Yet, it still seemed to be holding its own.
SilverFlight Naberius kase9187 explosiveKitten YumenoTsukishiro AncientBird

 

[Elenion Aura]

Matthias ​

Chaos erupted. Before Matthias knew it, he was in the air. He wasn’t alone. The rest of them had taken flight, too. Well, almost.

Matthias’ thoughts turned ugly as he watched a few of their group swoop down to attempt to rescue the boy. Leave him, the ugly part of him said. But more than ugly, Matthias feared he was right. Hell was unleashing itself on them, now. The only objective should have been survival. Survival of the many, even if it meant sacrificing the one... Volos huffed. Their thoughts were pressed together, impossibly close. They disagreed.

In the sky with him was the mage. One of them, at least. Their Skybeasts were close enough that Matthias could shout to be heard. ”Water Mage... Marylka!” He growled, taking fists full of Volos’ fur in his hands to keep himself steady. If the great bear minded his new rider’s rough grip, he didn’t let on. ”Create cover!” Matthias’ mind was racing too quickly to offer a better explanation for what he meant. They could not win this fight on their own. They would need to beat a tactical retreat. But they were exposed here. The undead beasts could chase them. Or worse, they could lead the large one back to civilization... His thoughts returned to the mountain pass, the Stonewarg attack. If she could lift the fog there, why couldn’t she recreate that action, but in reverse? With a large enough mist cover, the group might’ve been able to escape.

When she didn’t immediately seem to comply, he grew impatient. This was not the time for hesitation. ”You are the water mage, yes? Then make water... Now!” The last bit came out as a hiss through gritted teeth. One of those skeletal Skybeasts was coming straight for them.

Tags: SilverFlight Naberius Saturn_moon YumenoTsukishiro explosiveKitten kase9187 SleepyCreamy AncientBird
Lioness075
​

 

[SleepyCreamy]

Ezekiel 'Zeke' Marcellius

III✦III Location: On top of Mount Arebos III✦III
III✦III Clan: (To'Bai) Westeros III✦III
III✦III Mentions/Tags SilverFlight Naberius Saturn_moon YumenoTsukishiro explosiveKitten kase9187 SleepyCreamy AncientBird
Lioness075 III✦III
III✦III Interactions: None, as of yet III✦III

III✦III

Spoiler: Stitt

III✦III

Spoiler: Azurine/Azz

III✦III​

Zeke felt Azurine move his snout over to his cheeks as an act of comfort. Zeke felt relieved, but just for a second. After Zeke's conversation with Aldaf, he was feeling a bit guilty for refusing his offer to this possible party, after they make their way down the mountain. In the meantime, Zeke just had to bury his feelings, he's been doing it to survive in all of his years, so why is now so different? Zeke sighed and finally made it back to the bagging area where all of the people's bags were placed. Zeke spotted his bag quickly and went over to the object, making a beeline over to it, Azurine doing the same.

Azurine suddenly stopped in his tracks as Zeke paid no mind to this behavior and picked his bag up, with Stitt comfortable on top of his father's journal. "Hey, girl. I'd love for you to meet someone." He told her in a soft tone and Stitt quickly fluttered her wings over to Zeke's shoulders. Zeke attached his bag over to his shoulders and went over to his frozen Skybeast. Zeke sensed his anxious state and stopped abruptly when he felt a rumble beneath his feet. Just then, a humungous skeletal beast entered the scene. Within a few minutes, a skeletal Wyvern started attacking and pillaging everything in sight. The purple energy it released corrupted everything in its very touch.

Zeke's heart almost stopped at the sight of the creature and the amount of mystery it oozed with it. And Zeke didn't like that one bit. He heard scuffling near him and saw the boy with no Skybeast near at his side. The boy gave him a pleading look and mouthed, 'Help, Please!' His eyes screamed with helplessness and Zeke felt his heart drop. When the boy took his first step towards Zeke, Zeke quickly mounted on top of Azurine and told his beast to go. The ground cracked once Azurine took to the skies and Zeke took hold of his long feathers behind his back. Zeke looked back to the boy with a sympathetic look. I could've saved him, he thought for a second. But his eyes quickly turned cold as he thought, He could've been a dead weight anyway... Right?

If you're too weak to even save yourself, then you deserve what's coming for you. I should regard after my own interests rather than considering those of others. He thought as he saw more miniature versions of the creature emerge all of a sudden. That's how it's always been. Without this way of thinking, he wouldn't have survived this far.

Zeke watched from above as Kari went over to the boy's rescue only to find herself in trouble. Zeke looked down at his satchel bag and saw his father's un-opened journal and it reminded him of his father's failures. His father's way of recklessly going into the unknown is what got him killed. And at the moment, Zeke wanted to fly far away from all this mess. He wanted none of this uncertain knowledge. He loves all types of knowledge that he could find, but he only loathed only one, and that would be the unreliable type of knowledge. Zeke's a calculative man who values strategy and precision, so if a piece of false information is involved in any of his current situations, his mindset would simply switch to avoid the said situation or material. That's why he gathered as much information as he can with the Stonewargs, at least he knows what he's dealing with back then, but now?

I'll just take my leave, I don't plan on dying today, anyway.

Zeke angrily pushed his father's journal deep down into his satchel and urged Azurine to fly away from their position. Zeke took a final glance at the dangerous beast, before looking forward, following the group of Gryphons that flew away.

 

[kase9187]

Aldaf and Spica were fighting off two of the beasts, one being the one he had pierced with the quill. He saw a number of his friends flying away, intent on running.
No. They can't be. Aldaf couldn't believe that his friends were leaving them to fight and get this kid out alone. He felt... betrayed.
Spica landed as Aldaf jumped off. "Spica, when I say, drop anything you can." He walked out towards the approaching beasts, the grass around his feet swirling.

The beasts closed in quickly but were rebuked by the whirlwind Aldaf was summoning. His veins were popping out of his forehead and his jaw was clenched.
"SPICA! NOW!" He screamed. Spica let loose her quills and scales, and Aldaf caught them in his whirlwind. He moved slowly towards the creatures, a twister of shrapnel. He blocked their approach, covering Kari and the boy. "GO! DON'T WORRY ABOUT ME!" He called out to the pair. His vision started to blur and his legs started to falter. The twister was visible from far enough away.

Aldaf kept them at bay, but he fell to his knees. His shield was failing. Blood was dripping from his mouth as his fingernails dug into his flesh. His magic was getting sloppy, and he got cut a few times by Spica's own scales. One nicked an area around his eye, as part of his vision was stained red with blood. The beasts kept getting back up, though. With scales carving away at their bones and quills piercing their skeletal figures, they kept trying to get into the twister that Aldaf had made. He could barely see, and he only knew to keep the shield up around him. He couldn't feel Spica's emotions, or even feel his own. The pain drowned them out. With one final shove, he managed to make the twister move forward and push the two skeletal wyverns with them. His vision went black as Spica dropped down, grabbing his unconscious body carefully and taking off once Kari and the boy had gotten into the air.

Spica sped past the fleeing Skybeasts and caught up with the group, roaring out in fear and desperation. Aldaf was dangling in her claw, barely clinging to life. She was terrified for her rider's life. He'd used everything in that last magical attack he pulled, and he might pay dearly for it. She managed to hit the beast holding Falarion, dislodging it from the winged jaguar. However, her rider was more important than Lea's Skybeast, and that was all the help Spica could spare. She caught up to the fleeing skybeasts, flying alongside Zeke and Azurine. Blood trickled down her leg, falling off into the expansive nothingness below them. Aldaf was clutched in her other claw, tightly to prevent him from slipping but loose enough so he could breathe.

SleepyCreamy SilverFlight AncientBird Lioness075 Naberius Elenion Aura YumenoTsukishiro explosiveKitten Saturn_moon