Damsel in Distress

Merrielle
I felt a little scared when Renn threatened the fox. He could be frightening when he wanted to be.
"Where were we?" he asked, as if nothing had happened.
"You wanted to know why I admitted to being wanted." I remind him, "Which, of course, I am, like any pirate worth their salt. I want to be feared, and I've no reason to hide it. I could beat any of you in a fight if you tried to take me on."
Renn laughed at my arrogance, but I knew it was true.
"If you don't believe me, I'll fight you." I say, fiercely, "Name your weapon."
He looks a little taken aback, but takes it for a joke. I draw out my cutlass, my pirate cutlass.
"You're serious?" he asks. I nod.
"So, will you fight me?"

Renn Ariyal:

Renn's eye lit up at the challenge in her voice. He had always found it so strange that humans and even elves treated their woman as if they were lesser. Any dragon knew the female was the more dangerous of the species.

"Swords, naturally." Renn told her as he glanced around. "But we'll have to wait until we get to a rest stop."

Testing the edge of her sword Merielle laughed. "Scared?" She asked him.

He shook his head. "No, but I'm not used to fighting on horseback." He willingly admitted it. Merielle, and he had the feeling Arwn as well, gave him a duh stare.

"We're in." River spoke up. "Arwn would rather know what her team mates are capable of before we get in a real fight. After all, anything can be written on paper."

Merrielle
I waited excitedly for the next rest stop, sure that I wouldn't be beaten. I never lost a fight, the evidence being that I was still alive after several years as a pirate. Would Renn and Aryn be skilled fighters? Probably. But I had clashed swords with some of the best.
Ms. King pulled in her reigns and stopped her horse in a clearing. We all followed suit. I could tell our companions were interested in the fight. I dismounted my horse and did a few practice twirls with my cutlass.
"My first opponent?"

Bryan | Forest clearing

Bryan carefully dismounted and guided his horse to a nearby stream. The saying said you could only lead a horse to water, but after a ride like that of course she would drink. When the mare had drunk her fill he patted her flanks and encouraged her back to rejoin the group.

He did not expect to see Merrielle and Renn standing with weapons drawn.

Merrielle, the half-elf had adopted a relaxed defensive stance. Her cutlass didn't glitter or shine in the light -- it was an old weapon, but tough and familiar in Merrielle's hand. She held the cutlass low, ready to block or counter Renn's blades, and a confident expression assured Bryan that she was in no hurry.

Renn, the elf-that-was-a-dragon, was quite different. He held his two swords forward and high, neither in any position to guard. Every muscle was drawn tight like a bowstring and a predatory gaze had reached his eyes.

"Your fault," said Bryan to the fox on Aryn's lap. The fox looked up, surprised that Bryan had addressed him. "Your fault if one dies."

"Who me?" River responded. "I don't think it'll be my fault if they end up gutting each other."

Bryan only shook his head. "You encouraged them."

Aryn looked to Bryan with a curious expression but a sudden crash drew their attention away. With a clash of metal the fight began.

Merrielle

I was relaxed, just playing with him. Getting a feel for his fighting style. A few lunges and easy blocks. Then suddenly, he caught me unaware and made a stab at my stomach. I dived to the side, no longer in control. He had the advantage and made to knock the cutlass out of my hand. I grabbed his arm with my left and twisted it behind him then made to stab at him. He kicked my cutlass and it flew out of my hand. Disarmed, I let go of him to deftly catch the sword. We continued with the blocks and lunges, both working our hardest. I was taking no chances now that I knew his ability, waiting for my opportunity. I could tell he was doing the same. One mistake would be the end of the fight...
I was still sure that I would win.

*I haven't done much action-writing, sorry for any mistakes.*

*I need to practice my fight scenes too, how does this sound.*

Renn Ariyal:

Renn knew she was a skilled fighter he was actually having a hard time beating her. She made a visious swipe at his torso and Renn leaped back out of range. He crossed his swords, scraping one along the other and creating a shower of sparks that were blindingly bright in the dark forest.

He heard Merielle cry out as she was robbed of her night vision. He flipped one blade around and plunged it into the ground. With a graceful bound he placed his foot on the hilt of the sword and leaped into the air, flipping over Merielle's head. Renn landed behind her with his sword resting at her neck, with a flick of his wrist he could slit her throat.

"Checkmate." Renn declared, breathing hard.

"More like a draw." Merielle retorted. Feeling a light prick on his chest Renn glanced down and found that in the space of time it had taken him to get behind her Merielle had dropped her scimitar and drawn a dagger, the point of which now rested above his heart. Renn grinned good naturedly, it wasn't often that someone kept up with him so flawlessly in battle.

Cypher

Sparring? I suppose it's as good a way as any to find out just what we're working with. I thought smirking.
I had to admit, these two weren't half bad. I turned with a devilish grin to Larkinus.
"Hey Larkinus. How about you and i show these pups how its done?"
"That depends. You going to try and gnaw my head off again?" He laughed showing off the teeth shaped scar on his shoulder. Some of our merry band looked genuinely horrified.
"Oh come now old friend. I was a teenager. Puberty and turning into a lion really shouldn't mix. I have much better control now." I looked around the group.
"Seriously it's fine. It'd take pretty deep magic to drive me feral anymore."
A few people relaxed and the pair finished there bout in quite a spectacular draw.
"Well Larkinus. Shall we?"
He dismounted and calmly strode into the clearing adopting a relaxed stance. I grinned, allowing myself to partially shift. I rose up in the stirrups, gripped Fireborn by the hilt and pounced off my mount, my blade whistling as it flew from its sheathe into a vicious over head blow.

While the others rested, Halieo had gone out flying. He appeared as suddenly as he had left, and made his way to Isabella.

"We have a big problem."

"How big?"

"I asked her to stay behind and watch the four groups depart from the city. The problem was that four did depart, but none of them was Price's group." Hal waited a few moments for that information to sink in.

"So we have two problems: the first is to identify the new group; the second is to figure out where Price is. How do we deal with them?" Isabella said with a frown.

"Our only option is to head to the mountain as quickly as we can. If Price snuck out before us, then we will have to hurry. I've asked her to look into the new group and then to find out about Price."

"One day you'll have to tell me how you met her."

"She'll tell you herself when that day comes. In the meantime, we must rush through this forest without delay," Hal said. The others were gathered around the sparing fighters, but conveniently the fight ended just as Halieo came near.

Cypher

The overhead blow came down on Larkinus' block with truly inhuman force, part gravity and part bestial strength. He redirected the blow to his left and rolled to the right.
"I've got to admit. You've picked up some muscle somewhere along the line," laughed Larkinus moving into a riposte. At that moment the shadow of the Gryphon filled the sky.
We had time to exchange a few blows before we put up our blades to hear just what Halieo had to say.
"Well," i purred, letting the word roll off my tongue. "Whats the plan?" I smirked a confident predatory smile before stretching my arms out into a yawn that was partly necessity and partly an excuse to show off my rippling physique.

"The plan is simple: we move. If we hurry, we should make it to the town of Harbinus. From there, we can pick up additional supplies to aid us before we go into the mountains. There are a couple of old tunnels that pass through the mountains, it should cut down the travel time considerably," Halieo said before turning to Ms. King. "Anything else?"

"Cypher, take point. Renn, you'll be riding with me. I need to know what you know about the mountains and the dragons that live in them," Isabella said.

Cypher

"Gladly," I grinned, letting my body flow back into its familiar all human form while still maintaining my same predatory almost debonair smirk.
"Ok people i am going to keep this simple. Pair up and keep behind me. I want eyes open at all times. Larkinus, your upfront with me. Brawn pick an elf or half elf or whatever it is that has good eyesight and follow at the rear. I want unequal spacings between the pairs. No bowman is getting the drop on us understand?"
The group looked almost gobsmacked at my sudden military efficiency.
"What? You pick up a few things blacksmithing for the High Houses and their soldeirs, alright? Now get to it!" I roared the last word and the expected milling about began. Finally they had paired up and we set off on the road to Harbinus.
"Well haven't you picked up a few things since we last met?" Smiled Larkinus.
"I'm betting i'm not the only one," I replied eyes scanning the road ahead.

Aryn

Aryn fell into formation alongside Bryan, glad to be away from the dragon and his new playmate. As they rode, the hood of her cloak fell back from her head, but she didn't move to adjust it. The disguise had always been River's idea, and a disguise was only so good if people didn't look under your darn hood all the time.

She let her thick brown hair fall over her shoulders, waving and curling as it did. When she worked in the flower shop, she had always been told she was quite beautiful. However, that was before Kilhein colored her face in burns - one running along the right edge of her face, just missing her eye, and the other a small sliver, almost just a scar, below her left eye - and she took to covering her face all the time, and not just when she was on a job.

She could feel Bryan eyeing her as they rode aside one another. She could also feel River getting a sly foxy smirk on his face. "You will keep to yourself," she warned him.

"Tsk tsk, Miss Rowe," River said, swishing his bushy tail under her nose. "Never having any fun."

Aryn rolled her eyes and focused on the people riding in front of her.

*Sorry I've been gone, we had a power line go down and lost internet for something like three days. But my stay in purgatory has ended at last.*

Renn Ariyal:

"I have to explain about dragons now? Crap." Renn shook his head as they moved out, this time at a much swifter pace. This whole thing was getting very complicated. The two-legs were just supposed to be cover so Renn could sneak into Black Dragon territory.

He raked a hand through unruly dark hair and glanced over at his employer. Issabella raised her brows impatiently, a silent hint for him to get on with it. Renn sighed in frustration and cast his mind back to his childhood lessons at his mothers side. "Right. Well the Eastern Mountains are Black Dragon territory. Generally blacks hate taking human form. They tend to be more animalistic than the other colors and they're looked down on for it. The other Tribes consider them to be barbaric. And the current Black Tribe leader is a real piece of work even by their standards."

"Is the color really that important?" Isabella asked, her griffin snorted at what even he knew was a stupid question. Then again humans were pretty much clueless about dragons.

Renn glanced around and realized that the others were quietly eavesdropping and pitched his voice just loud enough so they could hear. "Yes the color is that important. There are differences in personality, size, body type, abilities, rarity, and most important of all magical strength between the different colors. The most common color is brown, followed by green then red, whites and silvers have about the same rarity and powers. Above them are the yellows and golds, then come the blacks, which are just below purple. And at the top of the pyramid is the Blue Royal, the greatest of which is the Dragon Queen."

Brow furrowed in concentration, Isabella tried to follow what he had just said. "So Blacks are third strongest in the hierarchy, and they're a little psycho even by dragon standards. That doesn't sound very good for the Princess."

"Yeah. That sums it up." He admitted. "Although Shameazol, the drake you said is holding her ransom, is surprisingly decent. Shay's scales may be black but in terms of personality she takes after her mother, who was a purple."

"Shay... You know the dragon we're going up against!?" This came from one of the other fighters as they all abondoned even the pretense of not eavesdropping.

Renn glared in the general direction of whoever had shouted. "She's a childhood friend." He explained. "Shay's always had a soft spot for downtrodden women, and back at the capital I heard a rumour the King is trying to marry his daughter off to an eighty year old man. And she's what sixteen? For now, Shay will consider her part of her hoard. Princess Blossom couldn't be in safer claws... Unless her Shay's dad finds out, then it could get ugly."

"Which is exactly what I'm hoping for." Renn admitted to himself. "I would do anything for a shot at that bastard." He ignored the familiar itch up his spine. He would have to change shapes sooner rather than later.

*If anyone's willing Renn can cut travel time by giving some of the gang a ride. He's a pretty big dragon after all.*

Larkinus Zephyrius

I rode my flying carpet at a slow pace near Cypher. "You know buddy even though your skill could never match mine, your strength could give you an edge if you were lucky. Speak of skill and luck you never told me what happened to that Dragon Gun I lent you." At this Renn's ears seemed to prick up.

Cypher looked back at me polishing my gun, Luck of the Seven, looking a little shocked. "I was honestly hoping you wouldn't remember old friend. I um...I lost in on an adventure." He looked at me nervous waiting for my response.

I chuckled to myself, "I had heard news of a magic gun wreaking havoc and I was afraid it might be one of mine. At least now I know for certain now. I should really check in on that matter myself."

Renn looked at me questioningly he called to me and I rode my carpet back to him. "So tell me Larkinus what is a Dragon Gun. I'm curious that it has so fierce a name what is it capable of?" He looked at Luck of the Seven curiously, "is this one of them?"

"Why indeed it is Renn and the name is simple what creature is more fierce than a dragon? In the right hands no gun is fiercer. I made this one for myself and crafted a few others but none responded truly in my hands." I sighed looking at the shine of it in my hands. "This one is named Luck of the Seven and was made for a master of skill. The other one I was speaking with Cypher about was the only other I ever found a match for Strength of the Dragon. Cypher was it's first match and it appears it's found another." I looked about seeing what I could use for target practice and settled on a patch of trees. "Would you like to see a small sample of what a gun like this can do when in the hands of it's true owner?"

Renn seemed very curious and eager to know, "Well it's seems like it would be a show," he looked at me and whispered in a low voice, "and maybe afterwards I'll show you the strength of a real dragon."

I swallowed hard, I'd fought dragons on many occasion when on adventures, and knew I may have to on this one. I was grateful to know for once the dragon was on my side. "Well watch that tree and don't blink." I pointed the gun at the tree not bothering to check my target and let loose a bullet. As it hit the tree it and several surrounding trees were encased in ice. I had held back but I hoped it would make Renn more inclined to do the same. As I turned though I noticed he was gone and already shifted I looked to sky to see a massive dragon. I had seen many in my life but he had successfully taken the cake.

Job Application

Full Name: Nicholas Stone

Age: Classified

Species: Werewolf

Gender: Male

Weapons: Fangs, Claws, and a strong backbone

Skills: Skilled in tearing out livers

Magic (if any): None

Previous Experience: With magic? None.

Are you currently wanted for any crime? (Yes or No): Yes

If yes, what was the nature of the crime? (Please explain.): I've infected 17 persons, and eaten many livers of people who did not want their livers eaten

Picture (if any):

Please list all health problems or curses that you have had had in the last five years, (if any): I broke a nail seven years ago

What level of education have you received?
A: A basic course with the Dark Brotherhood

In the event that you are killed during this mission; who, if anyone, would you leave your share to?
A: Since I wish to be paid in raw meat, I'm not sure who would take my share.

This job is extremely hazardous and can result in severe injury or death. In the event that you are injured. Further, no payment is given until after the successful completion of the mission, which is not guaranteed. Please sign if you understand this:
Nicholas Stone