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 Posted: Mon Jan 12, 2009 6:03 pm
Kamia moved silently across the snow, stalking her prey. The white rabbit in front of her jerked upright, and the Northern dragon froze, hidden by the snow drift that stood between her and the white hare. The little rabbit remained alert for a moment, examining its surroundings, then without warning it took off, leaping through the snow.
Kamia followed swiftly, abandoning all pretense at quiet. The snow beneath her crunched audibly as she ran after the rabbit. She slowly lost track of her surroundings, focusing only on her intended target. This type of tunnel vision occasionally showed itself, and though it was good for hunting, it was bad when the hare that Kamia was chasing suddenly dashed across a thin layer of ice overhanging a small gorge. Kamia followed, but the ice bridge that had borne the hare so well was unfortunately not as equipped for the much larger dragon, and the ice cracked under her wait, sending her into the gorge...
Kamia winced as she sat up. She'd hurt her side in the fall. She looked up. The sides of the gorge were smooth and slick, and the top of the gorge was too far up for her to jump. She was stuck. To get out, she'd need help. And that required something that she always hated having to deal with; other dragons.
"HELLO!" she called up toward the opening, "IS ANYONE THERE?!... HELP!"
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Posted: Tue Jan 13, 2009 5:30 pm
 Harmoniae trotted easily over the snow, her claws digging into the thin film of ice on top. It had been months now since she and her second cousin had left their family to go roaming southwards in search of easier prey. All they had found so far, however, were rabbits and fish swimming about under thick ice. No luck there; the ice would be near to impossible to punch through, even if they both tried. She looked around at the unfamiliar peaks, the gold chain around her neck cold against her fur. I think we maybe made a mistake leaving our family...
Suddenly, Harmoniae stopped. "Oi, Spruce, sit still. Did you hear that?" Unlike Harmoniae, Spruce was cheery. No more coddling, no more relatives, no more everyone knowing your name! For the first time in his life, Spruce felt happy and free, his young heart soaring joyously through the frosty air. Okay, he was cold, and he wanted food more than anything else, but at least his mother wasn't here to tell him to sit down while she got her only son a fat, juicy hare. No, thanks, Mom, I can hunt for myself! He had been shocked when his mother's cousin had visited their family and asked if he wanted to join her on wandering. Of course he had accepted--when she wasn't too spiteful, Harmoniae could be fun to hang out with.
Spruce stopped. "Yeah," he said slowly. "Sounds like someone calling for help..." He rushed forward, ignoring Harmoniae's swift warning. A gorge fell out below him, and he peered over the lip at a pretty female. "Hello!" he called down cheerfully. "You were the one calling for help?"
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Posted: Tue Jan 13, 2009 5:39 pm
Kamia sighed as a green-colored male peered down at her. Whether the sigh was one of relief or annoyance, she couldn't say for sure; it was a mix of the two. Relief that hopefully this male could help her get out of the gorge... and annoyance that she would have to deal with... other dragons.
"Yes, I was the one who called for help," Kamia nodded as she looked up at him, "I'm afraid I'm stuck down here... I hurt my side a little, too, in the fall... Would you be able to find a way to help me up?"
She frowned, wondering if there was - heaven forbid! - ANOTHER dragon up there, alongside the male... his mate, maybe (if he had a mate)... What if he was with a whole pack?! Dealing with so many people at once! Kamia shuddered at the thought.
"Are you... alone?" she asked with dread.
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Posted: Tue Jan 13, 2009 5:51 pm
Spruce frowned as the female mentioned that she was hurt. "Huh...well...let me see...how to get you out of there...by the way, the call me Spruce...Spruce the luck." He grinned.
Harmoniae trotted up next to her cousin, catching his last few words with a roll of her golden eyes. "But his mother calls him Spruceflower," she called down. "Hold on a minute, I'll see if I can find a way down--this gorge can't last forever, it'll have some point where we can get to you." She turned away and started down the gorge, sniffing for any scent of other animals.
Spruce glared after her. "Yeah, I'm traveling with my second cousin. Her name's Harmoniae--she's okay, just so long as you catch her in a silly mood. What's your name, girl?" he asked with a grin. It was nice to find other dragons after so long with his sharp-tongued cousin. He found himself slipping into his usual flirtatiousness alone with a female.
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Posted: Wed Jan 14, 2009 6:50 am
Kamia sighed once again, and this time it held a definite trace of annoyance. One dragon was bad enough... but two?! Oh well, at least it wasn't a whole pack... Kamia winced when a sharp pain grew in her side as she shifted restlessly. She sucked in a deep breath, then let it out slowly. Usually this helped her when she was restless about something... but this time in the middle of that breath another sharp pain arose, and she involuntarily let out a little cry.
"Your second cousin, you say?," Kamia repeated quickly, drawing the attention off of her obvious weakness, "I see... Traveling with family... Ah, my name's Kamia..."
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Posted: Sun Jan 18, 2009 3:33 pm
Spruce nodded, watching as Kamia cried out in pain. "Kamia, you all right?" he asked, then mentally kicked himself. Obviously, she was not. "Having trouble breathing, I mean, cracked ribs, perhaps?" He allowed himself a nervous grin. "You'll be okay, you're too pretty to allow to die," he added.
To take her off the pain, he continued, "Yeah, but just one member of the family. Harmoniae wanted to travel south in search of better hunting grounds, so she asked if I wanted to come with. I agreed. We've been traveling for a while now. No luck so far. What about you, you got a family or anything?"
Harmoniae breathed a sigh of relief as, fifteen minutes away, she found the end of the ravine. Good thing she fell close to the end...who knows how badly she's injured? Glancing up at the darkening mountains, she squeezed her way through the narrow opening, the sunlight above soon blocked by the high walls.
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Posted: Sun Jan 18, 2009 4:31 pm
"I don't think it's that serious... I'll have some pretty big bruises, though, I think," Kamia replied off-handedly. Then she comprehended Spruce's last sentence. Pretty? The word all at once set off the self-consciousness that she'd been forgetting to feel when she first met the other dragons.
Is he sincere? Or is he just making fun of me or something? Oh no. What if my fur is stained a weird color or something?!
"Ah, um, I, uh, No, I um, don't have a family... I mean, I do, but I don't travel with them. I've traveled on my own as soon as my parents let me. I'm just more comfortable that way, you know? Well, maybe you don't since you travel with your cousin, sorry, second cousin." Kamia's thoughts were jumbled as she continued her critical self-assessment, and this confusion showed itself in her words. Stop babbling, she finally thought to herself, and as soon as she did her jaw snapped shut, possibly forever. This brought on a whole new stream of worries like, 'what if I can't speak again? He'll think I'm so weird!'...
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Posted: Sun Jan 18, 2009 5:21 pm
Spruce hid a smirk at Kamia's babbling, not saying anything until he could twist his amusement into a gentler, kinder smile. She was fumbling; he'd guess that no one had complimented her like that before. "Family is good. I'd feel sad for you if you didn't have a family, it's nice to know that someone out there cares for you by blood. Like a lifeline that will never be severed by harsh words or stupid actions. Goodness knows if it had been that, I wouldn't have anything left. And don't feel nervous, Kamia," he said with a wink. "You look fine. Could be the light, but you look good, Kamia." He looked up at the sun and frowned. It was going down; curse these short winter days! "Where's Harmoniae?!" he hissed in frustration.
Harmoniae hissed in frustration. The ravine was narrowing considerably. She was having trouble squeezing through. Just a little further, she begged, glancing up at the shadowy walls. Please, sun, don't set now!
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Posted: Mon Jan 19, 2009 2:12 pm
Kamia nodded hesitently when Spruce began to talk about family, and unseverable bonds. The truth was, had it not been for her family, she might not have become so self-conscious in the first place. Her beautiful sisters, so full of both pride and scorn. Her harsh, cold, but elegent mother... and her handsome but ashamed father... They'd made life miserable for Kamia.
Their harsh words replayed themselves in her mind, which was why she was so surprised when Spruce once again complimented her... He certainly sounded sincere... Except that one comment in the middle of his sentence, 'Could be the light', which immediately set off another stream of panic from Kamia. What did he mean by that?
She was forced back into reality as Spruce hissed aloud. "Where's Harmoniae?!"
"Maybe I could walk in the direction she went and see if we can meet half-way," Kamia suggested, relieved to find that her mouth was still working. She slowly stood up, stumbling a bit. "Ouch." She breathed as the pain intensified. She looked up toward Spruce.
"I... I think I could walk, for a little bit, anyway," she said hesitently, leaving the decision up to Spruce.
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Posted: Mon Jan 19, 2009 7:12 pm
Spruce peered into the shadows as Kamia got to her feet. He winced as the pretty female gasped in pain. He shook his head. He was beginning to like Kamia. She didn't appear to be that friendly, but he didn't mind. What he minded was the thought of not seeing her again--and her pushing herself like that. "Kamia," he sighed. "I don't think that's a good idea. You're obviously injured. You may have cracked some ribs. Sit tight. Are you hungry?" he asked. "I can find you some food, there's got to be food around here somewhere..."
Harmoniae scrambled through the ravine frantically. Luckily, there were no branching off points. But it was getting late, and cold. The other dragon was probably injured, and the cold would do her no good at all. She scrambled over smoothed rocks and sand--more likely than not when the snow melted in the spring, this was a river. Sooner or later it would widen...please let it widen...Harmoniae grinned in triumph as the gorge widened for a few feet. She could smell the other dragon just up ahead. Not too far now...
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Posted: Tue Jan 20, 2009 2:12 pm
Kamia nodded thankfully and lay down again. When Spruce asked her about food, she was surprised to find that she was, indeed, hungry. She hadn't noticed before that moment...
"Some food would be nice," she told him, adding quickly, "but if its too much trouble, you don't need to find me anything..." She shivered a bit as a draft of cool air blew down into the gorge.
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Posted: Thu Feb 05, 2009 4:24 pm
Spruce shook his head. "It wouldn't be any trouble at all, Kamia. I'd be delighted to find you some food." He turned from the edge, calling back over his shoulder, "I'll be right back!" He trotted away, lifting his nose to scent at the air. He quickly picked up the scent of rabbit and raced towards it enthusiastically, his red claws digging into the ice. Gotcha! he thought exultantly as he lunged forward and killed it with a single blow.
Harmoniae squeezed past the last two boulders between her and the purple dragon. "Hello," she said. "My name's Harmoniae, what's yours?" She padded forward without waiting for an answer, nosing gently at the other's side. She winced. "I think you may have injured your side. Let's get out of here, it can't be good for you to be cold."
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Posted: Thu Feb 05, 2009 4:37 pm
Kamia nodded, though she wasn't sure if Spruce could see it from so far up. She waited for a while, noticeably relaxing when it was just her, all alone. Not that she liked being stuck in a hole... but if it came to a choice between that and having to deal with people? ... People just barely won out in the end.
Just then Harmoniae appeared, and Kamia automatically tensed again.
"M-My name is Kamia," she answered the female dragon quietly. Harmoniae approached and examined Kamia's side, nosing it gently. Kamia winced, almost as much from the contact as she did from the pain. It'd been months since she'd actually touched another dragon, and the contact now was a bit unnerving.
"Oh, um... Okay," Kamia replied hesitently when Harmoniae suggested that they leave, "but... Spruce went to go find some food... should we wait for him to come back so that he knows where we went?"
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Posted: Thu Feb 05, 2009 8:58 pm
"Pleasure to meet you, Kamia," Harmoniae murmured. She looked up at the walls of the ravine and hissed as Kamia suggested they wait. "The silly fool's fault for going off and leaving you alone! Now let's get you up before the sun goes down. You're probably getting cold in here." Already she could feel herself begin to shiver with the cold and she played with the gold chain at her neck. That idiot Spruce! What was he doing, going off to hunt and leaving an injured dragon without ready help?! True, she had already been on the way, but that wasn't the point at all...I'll give him a piece of my mind once we're out of here.
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Posted: Fri Feb 06, 2009 3:42 pm
"A-alright," Kamia agreed hesitantly, still taking a glance up at the top of the ravine. "Um... I-I might need your help to walk... and maybe stand..."
Kamia attempted to get to her feet, wincing with pain as she did so. Finally though, she managed to stand on her own, though she was in a bit of pain... They would have to move fast, before things got even worse... as night fell...
"Alright... Let's go," she said to Harmoniae through gritted teeth.
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