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Laughter.

Rich. Light. Melodic. Laughter -

- was spoiled by a hacking similar to if one was trying to pry a lung out of one's chest, and accompanied by an exasperated drawn out sigh. "Think... I'm.... dyin'-"

"You are being overdramatic. Not that you wouldn't deserve death by choking on the same fruit you stole."

The coughing was ended by one last breathless gag, followed by something wet hitting the underbrush. Shaylee took deep, greedy breaths as she settled herself back on the dragon's back, eying the apple in her hand gravely. And took another big bite. With a grin. A very wide, very no-raining-on-my-parade happy kind of grin. "Ain't my fault the merchant wasn't keepin' his eye on his goods, now is it, Mercy~?" Her alliance seeking question was directed towards her human companion, irises the same shade as the forest around them dancing wickedly.

Some might say the redheaded fae was asking for trouble. And they would be very much correct.

Below her, Zuzana was shaking her head in almost disgust, wispy wings fluttering as she dipped and swooped around trees. For a moment, she pondered flipping to knock her ungrateful rider off, though was perfectly aware the girl could simply spring from her back her own pair of brown and purple wings from wherever her magics hid them while she took a human appearance. Shaylee, who was currently lounging on Zuzanna with her back against the dragon's as she chowed down on her stolen grub, gave a light snort, making the fact their mental link was fully functional obvious to her ride.

Zuzana did nothing to suggest she heard the sound, instead focused more intently on her flying.

It wasn't long before Shay tossed the cleaned core to the ground below, wiping her now free hand against the rough trousers she wore. Her other hand was curled amongst Zuzana's hair, currently the only thing keeping the girl anchored to the dragon's back beyond her own weight or the fact she was nestled between the other's wings. Lids slipped halfway over her eyes, lazily letting her gaze wander around.

"I hear voices up ahead."

"We're almost to the border, doubt anyone's come to meet us though," she responded, ignoring the fact the message had been sent over the mental link. She looked again to the other redhead. "'Parrently we've got company."

The lead fae frowned at Astalder, looking strangely disappointed. He spoke briefly to the other two and they both turned their mounts and started riding away, leaving the dragon and their leader alone on the hilltop.

"I tell you this only because you have been given some of the strands of creation," the fae said to Astalder, "Never take the word of a fae so easily. Three times we swear something and we are bound to our word. But I dare do no harm to you, favored, for you have been given a gift from one of the Blessed. You have my respect. We are hunting a fae in these woods - are you of the clan to which they belong, that we may request permission to continue our chase?"

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"My wounds will keep," Kocerou replied with a faint growl under the words, "I would not trust any one of you to tend to them even if I had time. I bid you cease your bickering and make haste!"

At some unseen command, the horse picked up its pace. Kocerou glanced somewhere off to the right.

"Dragons! If you so desire to cause mischief there are two fae hunting us! Can you lead them astray? Reborn... stay with me."

Vincent blinked in confusion at the young dragons' reaction. He stayed where he was but held up his hands to show them that he had no weapon drawn. Valerie stepped inbetween them though she had a feeling that no real violence would take place. "He is safe. He is my bond. Please do not fear us." She spoke it as calmly as ever. "I take it you have had bad run ins with humans before." Yoshi stayed hunched up but even just having the human blocked from view helped his mind a little. "Humans are mean! Hate them!" Valerie took this in and then looked at the other younling. "Do you agree in that?"

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Another mount entered the dragon territory and it too was rode by a fae. The dragon was sure footed and aware of little changes in the area around him. His rider scanning the forest to find the tracks of the one they trailed. Uritai frowned a little and then had Falinor move forward. They had scented the steed that the prince rode and picked up on the blood smell as well now. It worried the fae and she urged Fal onward so that they could catch up with Kocerou.

The two were mildly surprised that the Fae was able to tell where they had received the harness from. But they supposed that was a good thing. As for the advice, they'd have to keep it in mind for any future encounters.

However, the purpose of the fae was more intriguing. Why they were hunting one of their own was a curiosity. Even more was the fact that their quarry had apparently ran into dragon territory of all places.

"Unfortunately not," replied the dragon, "I'm not aligned with any of the dragon clans. Though might I ask why you are hunting one of your own?"

----

Looking back and forth between the bound and the adult dragon, Nerevarine slowly nodded. The human may be bound to her but that didn't put her much at ease. The mage she had dealt with really ruined her impression of them.

"Humans do bad things..." she growled lowly, "They locked us up and did weird things!"

"Zen?" Shay propped herself up onto her elbow to stare skeptically over at Mercy. "My dear, I was not aware such a thing existed between bar hoppin' and dragon ridin'." If Zuzana decided to ever fly like Dredia, the fae might actually be then tempted to sit properly when flying instead of lounging about like the bum she somewhat was. But no, she just had to find the dragon that didn't possess an adventurous side. Or a sadistic side.

Unlike Mercy's earth toned psycho.

Dragon and rider alike listened in as Mercy and Dredia exchanged words, Zuzana's lip curling distastefully upon hearing the unwelcomed nickname. "If Dredia managed to throw you, I would be fast enough to catch you before you were injured." She sent a very pointed glare at the other dragon, a sort of but don't you dare do it or I will hurt you, you twit thing. Shay was snickering on her back, having a front row seat to the thoughts behind the look. And the fact that despite the rude way of saying it, Zuzana's tone was clearly of the motherly variety. She was almost shocked she hadn't called Mercy 'dear' or something.

"Well while these two duke it out, I can always play the hero and rescue the damsel in distress." For the tiniest of moments, her appearance seemed to shift. It wasn't much, but something in her face most certainly changed for that spit second, something wispy seemed to trail behind her in the wind. The second passed, and the fae girl was just lying there as ever before, grinning to her friend wicked as any devil.

The grin didn't last long though, pierced pointed ears flicking ever so slightly as she whipped her head around, eyes narrowing faintly as she stared ahead of them. Zuzana's form seemed to tense, tail lashing in the air as Shaylee drew herself up into a low crouch on the purple monster's back. Once, twice, trice did her head lift, bouncing slightly as she sniffed the wind before groaning.

Shay wound her hand tighter in Zuzana's mane, rolling her eyes to Mercy. "Something's up ahead alright. Blood's in the air." She paused to check the knife in her boot, then the one at her hip, before resettling into her crouch. "Wonder what's up... 'specially so close to the border..." Shaylee snorted as Zuzana flicked her tail again. Go figure. First time in a long time that she decides to take a trip to the fae's neck of the woods, and it can't be a simple trip.

It really was Zuzana's way of showing that she loved people, the way she snarled at Dredia at her comment. Beyond that however she remained silent, eyes focused on the area from which she detected the blood. Her vision was blocked by trunks, branches, and various greenery, but her nose directed her forward nonetheless.

"Running headlong into the unknown is a fool's job," the purple dragon stated crisply to Mercy, doing what she could to ignore the fairy's mental urging to land. "We do not know what is injured, or by what."

Shay hissed, "We've got two dragons, a cloth mage, and a fae. I think we're safe!" She wanted to see what was going on, yet her body language spoke of a far more uneasy, unsettled being atop the dragon. For a moment, she seemed to not hear Mercy, free hand flexing repeatedly by the knife on her belt. She was expecting a fight, something that further prompted Zuzana to stick to the air rather than lower them to the ground. "We ain't hanging here for long," Shaylee stated at last, using the mental link to nudge her dragon towards the forest floor.

"You would be the fool," the beast growled, though her fluttering wings did take them into a gradual decent. Around trees they arched, sticking to the foliage to hide as the pair decided silently searching for their target would be best done before it potentially saw them first.

Now, if this was successful or not, the duo had no way of saying. But Shay's sudden outcry, an interesting mix of horror, shock, rage, and... joy? Somehow, it was in there too, and it undoubtedly helped to give them away as she rose out of her crouch a bit, staring at the figure on the horse once they'd rounded a turn that set them off to the side of him and another being on foot. "The prince?" Her voice was a squeak. Her expression was unreadable, though a general good god I'm ********> could be summarized from it at the very least.

Zuzana, although quite curious as to why a royal was out in the dragons' forest, had her attention caught on the second of the figures. Mainly, the Reborn. "Interesting company for him to keep," she commented dryly, noting the shape of the other's wings with a snort.

"Land."

The dragon turned her head to stare at her rider over her shoulder. "Excuse me?"

"Land! Down there, near them. Land~!" The heel of one of her boots lightly hit the purple scales at each word for emphasis, making the whole scene look like she was throwing a mini temper-tantrum. Again silver eyes rolled, though Zuzana did begin yet another slow decent towards the fairy prince and the Reborn. If there were any others in the area, neither female was aware of them due to, one, tunnel vision on part of Shay, and two, the forest's thick flora.

The Prince didn't pay any attention to the bickering between the reborn and the dragons. He was focused on something else. As Zuzana, Mercy, Dredia and Shay descended he pulled the horse to a stop and drew his sword.

"Do not interfere unless I call for it," he said flatly, "One of my kind is with them. I do not think it is one of my pursuers... but it is hard to tell. I do not give orders just to hear myself talk. I give them for reasons."

And he swung out of the saddle, grimacing with pain at the motion, and moved to meet the dragons that were slipping through the foliage.

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"He is..." The fae hesitated, narrowing his eyes at the dragon and Bound. He appeared to be debating with himself for a moment. "He is dangerous. I cannot speak freely so close to our borders - the land might tell him what I say. I dare not speak even his name. Words have more power for us than they do mortal kind."

Then the fae smiled softly and reached up and took the harness of the horse in one hand.

"May I ask a favor? I wish to meet with the elders of this land. Could you take me to them?"

-----------------

A handful of miles to the north, an elder and one of the younger clan dragons stood on a ridge, looking out across the forest.

"I caught the scent on the wind," the younger dragon said nervously, "The border is just rife with movement - dragon, fae, and human. More than what usually passes through here."

This part of the forest was an intersection of sorts, as a river wound through and served as a landmark for travelers both dragon and fae. It was not uncommon to have small groups moving through. However, this was multiple groups and something just felt off. The elder sensed it too. They'd lived on fae borders long enough to know something was happening.

"Call the clan together," he said.