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His landing was purposefully ungraceful. Dheadrix did not care much for formalities and appearances, just as Cedric did not care much for waiting. "You there!" the human male demanded immediately. "I did not bring you to this world, so how is it that you are here?" Though the dragon settled down, Cedric did not dismount, and kept his hand ostentatiously on the hilt of his sword.

The white dragon snorted as Cedric finished. I smell a new human, her other half.

"Well, go on," Cedric pressed. Although his questions pertained to Isk, it was Kera that he settled his stern look on. Kera had been under his care, and he rightly suspected that she had left the valley against his orders. "And my wife. Where is she?"

There was a short pause: perhaps Cedric and his bonded had a private conversation.

However you got here, intoned the white dragon, you are now under our care. None of the hatchlings are to leave this valley. When you come of age, then you may gallivant into foolish adventures to rescue bonded. Kera!

The white head swung with immense speed towards Kera, causing her to cringe. Yes, Sir!

You have left this valley!

Y-yes, Sir!

Do you know the whereabouts of Sekius'talen?

No, Sir! Her bonded was here when I left.

Dheadrix snorted as Cedric began to dismount. Dismounting was not a fluid thing for him, as jumping down might break his ankles. Some of the others have also left. There will be no rest for you! You will come with me to round them up.

Kera chirped in the affirmative, scrambling to catch up as the older dragon lept into the air.

Cedric sheilded his eyes from the sun as he came to stand near Isk. He was frowning as he watched them leave, but his voice was much softer as he spoke to Isk. "It is lucky that you and your bonded have both made it back to safety. Tell me where she is resting so that I may look after her."

As he spoke, Dheadrix and Kera were flying over a small group of younger dragons, and they rose like a magnet to the older white.

Cedric blinked, initially taken aback, but this resolved into a hearty laugh. "Oh, of course! I'm not good at meeting new people, because I always expect them to already know who I am!"

He wiped the tears from his eyes and settled down to a low chuckle. "Well. I'm part of the royal blood line of Tok, which is this country that we are in. I don't know how much they teach you in dragon school, but all of the royal blood are your kin in one way or another, because it was our ancestors that your ancestors chose to bond with." His tone grew more serious as he rambled along, and he began to focus on things that were more immediately relevant. "I'm the brother of the king, and I've just come from a nifty little experiment where we brought over a grown dragon to this world. I'm the one who's been bringing over you little ones, which has quite scandalized certain of our kin, I might add. They've all been living here with me and my wife, but recently I met a few of my children from Feretris, which has stirred up a lot of this trouble."

He took a deep breath. "To tell you the truth though, that's why I've been bringing young dragons here, in the hopes that some of our family from Feretris might meet me here and that I might be able to help them escape. I suppose that you're my daughter, too. It's worked a little better than I had expected! Now Katrina is trying to find more of our kin in the plains, and my brother is venturing into Feretris to try to talk to them, of all things!

"There's so much going on, it's so hard to keep track of, and now my wife has disappeared again."


(LOL, now your character knows a bit more than most. Old man doesn't have any one to talk to xd )

The older man looked slightly disappointed. "I will check on her then. But I will probably be leaving this place very soon. I must look for my wife, but it will leave the valley in chaos again. Dragons aren't exactly..." He stopped, laughing at her. "Predictable."

With that he bent down to open up his underground dwelling and check on the newest stranger in his life.

Meanwhile, the rounding up of wayward dragons was coming to a close. The valley became crowded as young dragons pressed towards the center, near where Isk was, as Cedric's dragon took a tally and tried to figure out what all they had missed. Cedric's wife wasn't the only one missing, and it was becoming clear that it would be a daunting task to find those who had run off. Many of these dragons were approaching adulthood, and there was uncertainty as to the extent of Cedric's responsibility for them.

Cedric stopped a few feet away, seeing her awake. With hands on his hips and shoulders thrown back, he greeted her in the relative darkness;

"Hey. I'm Cedric. You feeling alright? Need any thing?"

He crossed his arms in a scrutinizing fashion. "Yes. Well, if you need any thing, let me know-- or let your other half know, if you prefer. I'll be leaving some one to watch over you, but it will be a dragon, not a human."

He paused and, if she did not say any thing sensible, went back outside.

There he found Isk quietly watching the gathering. "Has he picked guards yet?" Cedric asked. "We must leave right away, though I suppose that you are staying?"

Cedric looked pained at this information. "I suppose..." he considered slowly, forcing the words out, "they do not need me on the search. She is almost certainly in dragon form and I will be of little help." He did not sound like he believed his own worlds. "It is too bad," he continued more sincerely, "that none of us can reach the dragon world in our current states, for either my wife or her other half is there right now."

He left her side abruptly to talk to the other dragons, before he could change his mind. When he returned, he looked ragged. "I think we are all tired, now," he said with a long sigh. "And what can we do but wait, and eat, and sleep?"

As he spoke, his white dragon and many of the smaller ones lifted into the air-- the search party. The others dispersed, not interested in talking to an old man who was feeling tired and depressed. That wasn't very exciting for a young dragon.

"You can tell me about these deaths you mention."


(If you do not want to write out her explanation/recap then we can skip that part. There's supposed to be another group headed our way and I can have them arrive any time now)

Lilith and Tesunie arrived at Cedric's valley alone. Hariim, the tribes healer who had helped them much of the way, had encountered one of her peoples on a patrol and left to join them. Isaac had gone with her, more interested in the tribe's people way of life than the vague explanation Lilith could give for where she was going.

But because of her previous relationship with Tony, and because Tesunie seemed to need a place to rest, she pushed them on until they reached the valley. It was not too difficult to find as it was on the slopes of the mountains, away from the cities that Lilith wished to avoid any way. Get near enough and you can catch glimpses of way ward hatchlings.

And so it was that when they reached the valley, their presence was announced by young dragons running ahead of them. The dragons ran past Cedric, Auri, and Isk with the quick information; Two human strangers! After that they wandered in circles, watching the meeting of the humans.

Cedric had been about to respond to Auri, though he had been taking his time because he did not know what to say. Now he said, "Is she going to be alright?" He could see Lilith and Tesunie coming towards them, and naturally had no idea who they were.

Lilith stopped Tesunie a few yards from the stranger. Though they had made their destination, they had no idea who would be greeting them, or if they might be in some unknown danger.