Sionnach (closed)

[KieranSoares]

"Not anymore," a tenor male voice murmured, youthful and clear but hollow. Finally the rider tore his gaze away from the mangled corpse of his partner, and he looked toward Riley. In the early dawn light, the blood running down his face on the inside of his helmet almost glistened, still actively bleeding even after an hour. It trailed down from his hairline and the side of his nose following the contour around his mouth. And as he carelessly tossed his helmet aside, he revealed tanned skin and bright blond hair and blue eyes. He looked Scandinavian, or at least northern European.

"You Northern Riders are no joke, are you?" He murmured in a soft Welsh accent, one that Riley rarely heard. "Efficient killers... And cleverer than us, I suppose." He looked back to the dragoness and a tear streaked down his bloody face as he seemed to speak to the corpse, "I guess our luck had to run out sometime, Ellie... Always thought I'd be the one to die first, idiot that I am... but you always prove me wrong."

Standing, the rider withdrew a sword similar to an English cavalry saber. "Come on then, Fox... The Triad is supposed to be famous for mercy and hospitality. The least you can do is let me go with her." He turned to face Riley and brandished the blade, a haunting, empty expression on his face and his eyes devoid of any will to live. But he seemed set on going out fighting with honor.

 

[heartofcourage]

"No." Riley said as he drew his sword, intent on starting a fight in order to end his own life. "Save your strength for the tasks that you still have ahead of you. She needs a proper send off. You can't do that when you're dead."

She sheathed her own sword, staring at the blood soaked figure in front of her. "Besides, you're too injured to make it a fair fight."

She stepped forward, unbothered by the sword that was still drawn. She knew that he didn't really want to attack. He was injured and anguished.

"I'm searching for the wolf that was taken from the Voya. His name is Tuck and he was taken from his wife and young cub."

 

[KieranSoares]

The Welsh rider's brows furrowed and then his expression relaxed back into near-blankness as he sheathed his sword slowly. No matter how lost he felt, he wasn't the sort to kill an unwilling enemy.

"I'm just a mercenary. I don't know anything about what you and Spain are playing at. The one who has the Wolf is already long gone. The rider who grounded us was hot on his trail." He sat down where he was, facing his fallen companion again. "I thought it was Blackstone and her partner... But it was another white Elder Dragon, one I'm not familiar with, and a woman younger than Blackstone. She appeared out of nowhere and just... Well... You can see." He looked at his partner and tears brimmed again. "We've stayed alive all this time because she was such a skilled fighter... But that Elder and her rider made us look like helpless children."

 

[heartofcourage]

"Another white elder dragon?" Riley asked with a confused look on her face. "There are no other white elder dragons that are of age and fighting."

 

[KieranSoares]

"It couldn't be Rikke..." Marth murmured. "... It would t be Tanya and Deidre, would it? Why would they have been here?" He looked to the rider and asked, "Did she have any Imperial colors or markings?"

"Her gear was plain, but she had some kind of badge on her chestplate. No colors."

"That sounds like Tanya, she doesn't flaunt her associations," Marth murmured to Riley.

 

[heartofcourage]

"Why would she be involved in this? It's a clan matter." Riley asked, looking up at Marth. "Why is she not with Joachim?"

She was silently pondering that as she looked back at the rider who seemed so despondent. "Where are you from? Can we help you get back there?"

 

[KieranSoares]

"I haven't been 'from' anywhere since the Empire took the isles," the rider murmured, still staring at the fallen dragon. "And you shouldn't help your enemies, even when they're down. It's a good way to get stabbed in the back later."

 

[heartofcourage]

"I'm not a Northern rider. You're not MY enemy. I'm simply trying to find my clansman." Riley insisted.

 

[KieranSoares]

"Good luck, then. Like I said, I don't know much about it," he murmured, resigning himself to sitting there til the will to live found him again, or death came calling. But he paused a moment, brows furrowing slightly. "Actually... fuck them and their plans..." He stood again, limping slightly as he approached his partner's motionless form. He climbed up with some difficulty, his wounds beginning to gush blood again with the strain, and he brought down a saddlebag and tossed it to Riley's feet.

"I was supposed to deliver some messages and such. They're all in Spanish so I can't read them. Hope it helps... If you're an independent rider like me, then I guess we should help each other out. No one else gives a damn about us anyway."

 

[heartofcourage]

Riley barely dared to hope that what he was giving her was legit. He was severely hurt and didn't seem to want help. He just wanted to stay there until he either lived or died.

"Do you want help?" Riley asked him. "I can get you to the nearest city. I can help you take care of your dragon."

 

[KieranSoares]

"What good am I going to be?" He muttered, sitting down against his dragon's side, pulling his own crossbow down with him from the saddle. "You don't even know me. I helped a bunch of Spaniards steal away your kin."

 

[heartofcourage]

"But you're not a monster. You're doing this for work." Riley said with a slight shrug of her shoulders. "You have to make a living just like anyone else."

 

[KieranSoares]

"I don't think the Northerners would see it that way," he muttered, glancing up as a shadow passed them and he looked to the east to see the silhouette of a gigantic dragon coming in to land. "Well, look who's back to finish the job..."

Deidre, white scales reflecting the dawn oranges and reds, came in for a graceful landing. Blood was still streaked and dried on her maw and claws. On her back, Tanya was perched with her crossbow on her lap, loaded but not aimed. Her armor, dark with metal plates in key areas, had no defining features save a small shield-shaped crest on her chest with Joachim's personal coat of arms, a white phoenix on a gold and green field to compliment the overall Empire's black eagle and gold field.

Tanya pulled off her metal-plated helmet, her dark hair tied back in a tight bun and a small, bloody cut on her jaw that had closed on its own shortly beforehand. She was initially looking at Marth, but she turned her gaze to Riley and the fallen rider. "I was wondering if I'd catch up with one of you," she called to Riley, unhooking her harness and sliding off the saddle with crossbow still in hand. "I lost the trail on the other bastard, so I came back to see if this one had anything useful on him." She didn't aim at him, but it was clear she'd have no qualms finishing him if he tried anything. The Welsh rider simply sighed and let his head rest against his fallen partner's side. Tanya paused seeing this, and she understood right away that he was no threat.

 

[heartofcourage]

“What the hell are you doing here? Why are you involved?” Riley asked, kicking the saddle bag behind her and into Marth’s open claws as she stepped towards Tanya. “This is a clan dispute and doesn’t involved the Empire in the least.”

 

[KieranSoares]

"I didn't even know it was a clan issue," Tanya told her, holstering her crossbow on her back. "I saw a dragon in foreign colors fleeing with a Wolf captive and I gave chase. It wasn't til I lost them and turned back that I saw Northerners chasing." She came to Riley's side but kept a respectable distance, glancing toward the Welshman once more. "Deidre managed to catch this one, but the other was smaller and faster."

Looking back to Riley, she added, "As for why I'm here, I was headed to Trondheim to meet with your aunt. Joachim can't be everywhere at once and I want him to have the time to be a father as well, so we split his duties and meetings. But I'll admit I caught wind of Stila or her dogs skulking around, so I was taking my time."

 

[heartofcourage]

"Seems like a luck coincidence." Riley said with a dry tone, not sure if she could even trust Tanya even though she was technically the empress of an entire nation.

 

[KieranSoares]

"Believe what you want, Fox. I've given up trying to convince you of anything. Now... What are we doing with this one?" She motioned toward the rider, looking him over. "Doesn't seem like he'll last if he stays here."

 

[heartofcourage]

"i don't think he wants to last long after you killed his dragon." Riley said bluntly. "I don't blame him, honestly. Losing that being that you cared for above any others."

 

[KieranSoares]

"I don't blame him either. But I wasn't about to let someone aiding in taking away a Wolf go free. Especially not with Stila potentially involved."

Tanya stepped toward the rider and hauled him to his feet. "Come on. She purposely crashed like this to save you. Don't waste her love." Despite the man's quiet protests, Tanya dragged him toward Deidre and the dragon gently but firmly took him in her claws, murmuring in broken English to Tanya. She'd been working hard on learning to speak properly, it seemed, and considering she had Tanya's same accent, it seemed her rider was working just as hard to teach her.

 

[heartofcourage]

Riley watched Tanya for a moment before she moved to remove the man's saddlebags from his dragon. Once his possessions were secured, she removed the most perfect scale that she could find. Handing that over to Tanya, Riley took a step back and looked at Marth.

"Give her a proper send off." Riley said softly.

 

[KieranSoares]

Marth regarded the crashed dragon for a long moment before moving closer to pull down the broken trees around her, stacking the logs together and carefully folding the dragon's broken wings. He was able to gently gather her up to make her look almost asleep, curled up. There was no saving the ruined saddle so he simply cut it off and folded it up before surrounding the body with dry brush and kindling.

Marth inhaled, his chest glowing blue, and let loose a gout of fire all around the kindling, careful to make sure it didn't catch the forest alight. The fire spread quickly and soon all was engulfed in it.

The Welsh rider, held in place but kept comfortable by Deidre, simply watched it all with a lost, blank expression, tears rolling down his face.

 

[heartofcourage]

Riley leaned against Marth's side as he came back to her. They all watched the fire engulf the dragon in front of them, the silence almost deafening. She and Marth had been through a situation where they had both almost lost their lives, so Riley felt this kind of pain intensely. It took a few moments before she got herself into motion and packed up the other rider's possessions, passing them to Tanya for safe keeping during flight.

"You're not my enemy." Riley said as she looked at the Welsh rider. "You're a fellow rider who had to do what he had to do to survive. I'm sorry that this happened."

 

[KieranSoares]

The Welsh rider said nothing, only giving Riley a small nod as Tanya climbed into Deidre's saddle quietly, looking on to the pyre out of respect. When the rider turned away from the pyre finally, into Deidre's hands, the young dragon took the cue to stand and face northeast.

"Where am I taking him?" Tanya called to Riley as she hooked into her harness.

 

[heartofcourage]

"Take him to the Voya. While you're there you can explain to my Ma what you're doing here." Riley said as she looked up at Tanya. "They can get him back on his feet before he decides where he wants to go."

 

[KieranSoares]

"Where he goes is up to her, I suppose." Tanya picked up her helmet but added before taking off: "I'm not your enemy, Riley. I'm trying to be of help for once in my miserable life." With that, Deidre set off while Marth lowered his head for Riley to climb on.