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Suluksati found herself wishing today that she would run into a dragon. It had been several days since she had seen one, even being hunted, and she felt sort of unhappy about that. Sure, she was happy that she wasn't running into ambushes or hunts in progress, but she did like to see dragons. They were so gloriously beautiful and lithe and powerful... she loved them so. It was a shame that, so often, they had to die. Still, that was why she was there, wasn't it. Without them, she had no purpose, and she felt as though she was running out of purpose fast.

Something blue and moving in a clearing caught her eye and she went over to investigate. It seemed relatively small- was it prey, or a child?
This was the deep Serenia woods. She hoped it was not a child- this was no place for children, even near the lakes it was dangerous and wild. Beautiful, yes, but it could be deadly.

She approached close enough to see that it was a child, but neither magescan or drakein. Her breath caught in her throat and her heart sped up, overtaken by awe.
It was a dragon.
She knew it was a baby from the awkwardness of its movements and its wings, and from the way it played merrily in the meadow. It was blue and finned, a peisio, with large eyes and its oversized hatchling paws. It bounced around, batting at a flower before rolling on the soft, aromatic ground.

Suluksati hid in a bush, wanting only to watch it...

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Suluksati couldnt resist. She walked out of the bushes and stood. It was still large for a hatchling, so she didn't exactly tower over it, but she felt her protective instincts kicking in.
"I'll play with you, little one." she said softly, trying to be as nonthreatening as she could. She had never talked to a baby dragon before, had rarely talked to a dragon without it devolving into bloodshed.
"Where are your parents?" she asked- concerned, as always, for the safety of a child.

In the back of her mind, she was also aware of being watched, of something stalking just out of sight. But she thought that could just be her imagination...

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"No reason!" said Suluksati, but something was off. Something was behind her, she knew that now, and a suden urge filled her.
Get out. Get the little one out.
She looked behind her, but she saw nothing. No, wait, were those glittering eyes? She scented the breeze, but the smell of dry, rotting leaves was strong and masked most of everything, except for... Hastar. Her crest rose, but she didn't want to spook the little dragon- quite possibly the only young dragon she would ever get to speak to in her life.
"I just wanted to know. Shall we go on an adventure? Or... or perhaps flying?" She was terrible at games, but she did know she didn't want either of them to be in the same place as a Hastar. Not one of the Serenia breed. They were unpleasant and not very friendly.
"Perhaps closer to the lake..."

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Suluksati started bustling the hatchling with her wings towards the lake as the feeling of malice grew. "You could show me around the lake. I've never been there, you see." she said quickly, trying not to look around every ten seconds for danger, "You could show me your favorite spots and swimming holes and flying spots... Flying in cool lake air is so interesting, right?" she almost didn't know what she was saying anymore, she just had to get this child out before...

A low growl sent her feathers up on edge, and the fierce feral shape of a Hastar appeared.

Too late.

It snarled and pounced at them, and she intercepted with her claws, bearing it to the ground in a flurry of damaged feathers and fur. It was only one, though, and she managed to pin it down and bit it fatally on the throat. As it bled and twitched, she looked to the hatchling, making sure it was all right.

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Sulu was briefly exasperated at the little creature, but dragons were dragons and hatchlings were hatchlings so she merely shook her head.
"How about we go to the lake and you show off your swimming to me?" she said, trying again to nudge the little dragon towards the lake where she would feel much more comfortable, not in these forests. They were nothing like Soldul's hellish horror-filled woods, but they were also not safe either.

She cupped her wings around the little dragon as she heard more twigs break around her, and soft growls come from the golden shadows of the wood. She growled back, her feathers fluffing out with her fear, trying to make her look bigger.

Where there was one Hastar, there would be many, and she bet that- in her distraction- she was now surrounded.
"Little one..." she said, wrapping her wings around the hatchling, "Close your eyes."

She took a deep breath, feeling the hostility in the air, before letting loose with a great flash of blindingly pure white light. She heard several yelps and cries of pain, and opened her eyes to see the Hastars- five or so of them- in the clearing, shaking their head as their eyes screamed at her light.

She bared her teeth. She would have to work fast.
"Don't stray too far." she murmured to the dragon, Leaping on the nearest one and bearing it to the ground, slicing away at its stomach until it stopped moving. She battered away a still- blinded hastar with her wings and slashed at it, driving it back as it limped.
One- lucky enough to grab her despite the shadows in its eyes- bit down on her hindleg, and she kicked it away, slapping it down with her tail as her magic repaired the damage.
She spun, slamming another Hastar with her tail as she crashed into another one - she knew she had cracked its ribs by the pained sigh, and she ended it with a claw to its heart.
She leapt back, her wings giving her breathing room as she returned to the Hatchling's side, shielding it from attack. She snarled at the Hastars.
"Begone!" she said, glaring at the remaining Hastars, her eyes full of wrath.

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Suluksati had no time to appreciate how cute the little dragon was. She had no mercy for Hastars or their like, and no regrets about shredding every single one of the beasts- not like she did about dragons. She blasted one of them with a burst of light. It slashed blindedly at her, and she bit down, hard, on its claw. It leapt back, whimpering warily. Perhaps she would have let it go in another time- perhaps if she was alone. But even an injured Hastar could pose a threat to her current charge, and she rammed it to the ground, ripping out its throat. She leapt back to the little dragon who had lured another Hastar over with its little water gun attack, her shield and wings deflecting another blow. She duelled with the Hastar as the baby dragon looked on and cheered, a fierce match of tooth and claw. Blood spattered everywhere- the trees, her feathers, and the little dragon's curious nose. She growled, her mouth full of Hastar blood and, finding an opening, rammed into its chest, forcing it back.
It recovered and pounced at her, and she was aware of its partners circling around behind her. She had to finish this before the dragon was hurt. With a fierce half-roar, she pounced, a fury of flashing red, white, and green claws.
The Hastar screamed, and struggled as she tore into it, landing a few hits that she, in her wrath, did not notice. She bit into it deeply and, with a mighty swing, tossed its broken form behind her, towards the remaining two Hastar. They dodged it nimbly as she spun around, stalking forward to take her place as protector above the dragon, who giggled in glee.

She was a sight to behold. Her claws were stained with the blood of their comerades and shone, razor sharp and white, against the red of the feathers around them. Her eyes were wild in her feathered, blood-splattered face, which was a mask of pure ferocity. Her teeth were very sharp, her mouth dark with blood, which bubbled as she snarled. She was covered with wounds of her own, but she still stood- resolute- the killer of four of their pack.

The Hastar barked at each other, suddenly wary. This wasn't as easy prey as they had thought, and they didn't think they could take her on. They backed away, barking at each other, before they dashed off into the woods to lick their own wounds. Only when their scent had faded did Suluksati relax.

"Little one?" she asked, her magic working on her wounds, "Are you all right?" she nosed at the young dragon, checking for wounds. It seemed fine, but she knew that sometimes you didn't notice your pain until long after the fight was over. She had heard stories of warriors that fell over from grave wounds long after their enemies had been vanquished, and would have done so herself many times if she didn't have the magic of an Aedaun behind her.

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Suluksati had inspected the energetic creature thoroughly and was satisfied that, aside from a few scratches here and there- which she quickly healed with a little magic- the baby dragon was unharmed. She couldn't help but smile at the hatchling's enthusiasm, nor could she help feeling worried as well. What if there were more Hastars? Her magic levels were quite low now- she needed to take a break from fighting, at least for a little while longer.
"I think that, perhaps, we have had too much excitement." she said, "I need a bath." she wanted to get the little one to the relative safety of the lake, and she did want to have some water running over her dirtied feathers. A dip in a healing lake would be a good way to take the strain off of her magic. Who knew what she would find out there in a few hours?
"Perhaps you can show me your favorite swimming spots? Or fishing spots?" she realized she was hungry. Protecting dragons was taxing work.

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