uisgeannan | Some kind of dragon au

Some kind of dragon au

[Before you lies a picturesque kingdom of forests and fields and farmlands. Mountains rise up in the distance, and set at the edge of a massive lake is an elegant castle with tall spires. It looks out over the land - forests surrounding the lake, a small but pleasant medieval town pushed up against the castle walls, farmer's fields further out.

The land itself is fertile and full of wild game, unsual plants, and natural wonders like crystalline caverns and waterfalls. Rivers of all sizes wind their way down from the mountains, which alternate between covered in fir trees and bare, jagged rock with mazes of caves hidden within.

Dragon AU go!]

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[ And Ven will toddle right along beside him, sticking a bit closer than normal after all that. Just in case B((( ]

...Why do you think they came out here? [ The humans, that is. It's been ten years since his last glimpse of one. ]

[Ffff are you his protector now?? Vanitas notices, and almost almost thinks it's cute. But at his question, his voice turns a bit more serious.]

Who knows? Maybe they came here to hunt, or stole something and were looking for a good place to stash it. Humans do all sorts of stupid things.

[ SHH he is the littlest guardian okay ;^; mom got hurt now he is going to do the protecting thing and stick close like a dutiful goldscale. ]

Why did they attack?? We didn't take anything of theirs.

They saw me before I saw them. They tend to attack first and ask questions later when dealing with us.

But why...? We didn't attack them first.

[Vanitas snorts again at the question, and pauses to put a paw on the other dragon's neck, just behind his head. In an almost-imitation of a pat.]

Your sense of fairness is sorta cute, but listen. Neither side exactly plays fair. If I'd seen them first, I would've attacked too.

[ It receives a small chirrup from the smaller dragon, ears bending back and eyes closing with the gesture until he can lift his head again curiously. ]

How come? They don't smell tasty to me...and you squished them. [ So it doesn't seem like a territory thing to him. ]

It's just the way things are.

[He lets his paw slide back to the ground, ruffling his wings a bit as he continues retracing their steps.] Humans fear most of us, and we know that. I guess you could call it a rivalry.

Huh...that's weird. [ But not a weird enough thing that he feels the need to interject or argue too much. If it's a rivalry that sounds familiar enough since dragons did tend to have those. But he doesn't think he has any reason to fight a human...not unless they make the dumb mistake of going after mom anyway 8T ]

Do you think they brought anything good?

Dunno, but we'll find out.

[And speaking of, they're almost there! Only a couple more minutes of trudging through the undergrowth, before they happen upon the clearing again. The horses are still there, and have since calmed from all the excitement.

But they're more alert, and when they see the dragons approaching, they instantly begin pawing their hooves at the ground and snorting nervously.]

[ They definitely smell like prey, but for the moment Ven's less interested in that and more interested in finding things so he sends a searching glance Vanitas' way since he gets first pick and all, but he's obviously keen to start rummaging around through their belongings. Maybe they'll have something tasty C8 ]

[Vanitas isn't too hungry, but he knows it's an easy kill and will feed them later. So he's less cautious this time as he just charges forward.

A few well-placed blows, and both horses won't be getting up anytime soon. Afterwards, he glances at Ven and cocks his head a bit, taking in the other dragon's eagerness. He moves to the side, plucking at the packs and fastenings on one mount while he leaves the other for the smaller to explore.]

[ Spoils, most excellent. A quick scratch to his side with one foot and Ven's hurrying to catch up.

He'll lick the smaller pack a few times just because it smells good with all that dead horse and blood on it. Once he gets down to it though the pack gets a few good sniffs before he starts to bat and claw at it, trying to figure out a way to see what's inside. Mostly he winds up dragging and batting it around until he just decides to take a bite and tug, ripping the thing right in half and sending supplies spilling out onto the dirt. ]

[....GOLD STAR. Though no, it's effective enough and Vanitas isn't complaining. He also hasn't had any experience with this sort of thing, and after he bites through the straps connecting the packs around the horse's body, he tugs the whole thing free and rips it open as well.

There's not a lot that's interesting in the first side--mainly just tools and papers that he can't read. But on the other, his teeth rip into a pocket...

And immediately releases a small explosion of gold coins that come spilling out.]

[ Ven hears the soft clink they make when they fall to the ground before he see the gold glints, but when he turns from his own 'winnings'--bottles of some kind, not nearly as interesting as gold--he perks up and flaps his wings a little. ]

--Scales? [ :D JUST LIKE HIS he tried ]

No, even better than that.

[Vanitas' whole demeanor seems to change upon the discovery. His tail flicks a little more excitedly, eyes lighting up as he scoops the spoils out of the dirt and cradles them in a paw.]

Treasure.

Treasure... [ He'll creep a little closer, curious, but not get overly-invasive or anything like that. At worst he'll just be a snoop and crane his neck around like a bother, but he'll shrink back pretty quick if rebuffed. ]

Like what's in the den?

Exactly.

[But way more valuable than what he'd been able to collect on his own. A few shiny baubles and stones were one thing, but this was real gold, and his species was drawn to it like a moth to flame. As a tiny hatchling he'd played around in his broodmother's treasure hoard... easily fifty times the size of his own... even though the memory was faded the feel of the coins in his palm triggered a happy and content response.] This is really great.

.... [ Ven cants his head a little--the gold shimmer's pretty, but it doesn't hold the same fascination and wonder for him. He's already gold and shiny and it'd be pointless for goldscales to attract themselves to one another instead of diversifying. Baubles are much less their thing than other types of dragons, but if they make Vanitas happy...

He'll turn quickly back to his own pack and begin pawing at it again, trying to see if he can find any of the gold coins as well. Mostly it's just the bottles though, and although they clink pleasantly when they collide with one another there's nothing as fantastic about them as Vanitas' coins.

So Ven does the next best thing to make use of them and grabs one between his front paws and sits down on his belly to gnaw at the end of one with his teeth, gumming and licking at it as he watches the blackscale. ]

I don't think I got any.

It's fine.

[He's less concerned with what Ven's doing right now, and is instead focusing on finding any more hidden gems or coins. But his rifling through the rest of the bags just produces more random items and a few water skins.

The coins are definitely the most important part. And once he has them safely secured, he raises his head and glances over at the other, cocking his head a bit.]

What'd you find?

Weird rocks! [ And right one cue he gnaws a little harder and breaks right through the middle of one bottle and quickly makes a face at the bitter taste. Yuck. That was definitely mead or something, but at least his maw is tough enough that the tiny fragments of glass don't cut into him or anything.

It also doesn't stop him from batting around a few more, much smaller ones, and bumping them with his muzzle as he sniffs them. ]

They smell.

Hnh.

[This needs further investigation, because the goldscale obviously has no idea what he's talking about. Vanitas steps closer, and picks up one of the small bottles to examine it, sitting back on his haunches as he sniffs.

He has no experience with them, either, but can't smell what the other's talking about. It just smells like cork from the top, to him.]

I don't think these are rocks.

What do you think they are?

[ That is because his nose is superior, mister. Even with the corks in he can pick up trace amounts of what's contained within and several carry the scent or, well...sweet. Like spring when flowers tend to bloom, but much heavier and not so fresh. Some smell more bitter, others like plants he's found while moving through underbrush. Nothing terribly exciting, but it is rather fun to push them across the ground with a bat of his paw.

He'll nose his way back to the bag and shake it out a little. Which is of course more bottles, but there is a tied bunch of dried plant matter to be found as well. It looks like dried grass or reeds or...something, but that doesn't matter. What does is the scent that hits his nose, making practically all of him perk up before he takes several more quick sniffs of his as his pupils dilate.

That is an amazing smell wow. Wow. What is that?? It's like wheat or lavender or clover--something made of all of those. And it smells like happiness (that's the best way he can put it, because he feels giddy after each inhale). ]

Some human thing.

[Which is to say, he has no clue, but he'll bite off the cork and try sniffing after he has it removed. But his first whiff smells like almost sickly sweet herbs, and actually stings his nostrils a little. Not as much as whatever he'd been hit with had, but it still catches him off-guard and makes him snort before he drops the bottle back to the ground.

An amber colored liquor runs out, staining the dirt and grass as he turns away from it and blinks once at Ven, before he settles down and starts counting his coins again.]

[ Go ahead and count your coins man Ven found something even better and he literally can't get enough of it. His nostrils flare as he quickly snags the bottle in his mouth and growls a little, playfully like a whelp would do when "hunting" a meal that's already been killed for them and they are just doing the sou tough!! thing.

And then he's snorting, dropping it on the ground, and rubbing his chin and head all over it. ]

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