Scorched Earth

In Trials ・ By Rio
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Cremello and Raito, two dragons geared and ready for an expedition. Their companion and friend, Griffith, walked beside them as they went. Glancing in directions for any signs of shade near them. Wobbling on his steps after spending most of the day in the heat. Not used to the heat and didn’t expect the desert to be this dangerous during the day. He glanced worryingly toward his dragons. He brought the map to his face and directed the dragons where they were heading next. His father gave him this map a long time ago, but there is always the chance for errors in calculations. They should have arrived at the oasis by now. He had blown through all the water and we can see nothing beyond the dunes and boulders scattered about. Panic set in and his pace continued to grow slower until stilled. As suddenly as he stopped, he collapsed into the sand. Both dragons stopped and approached their fallen companion with worry eminent in their gazes.

Cremello opted to take the first rotation and asked Raito to place him between his shoulders. They continued their journey and looked side to side, only to see dead trees or animal carcasses that have long since become bleached by the sun’s rays. The only signs of life that this barren wasteland once held. Cremello, taking their turn holding onto their companion, nudging him, for he has long since passed out from the intensity of the sun. Humans were fragile creatures and despite him being descended from an ancient Draconic race, not even that can save them from the beating sun.

The only thing they could count on was traversing toward the next checkpoint based on the last directive their friend gave them. Without their rider, their navigation and ability to comprehend the paper map were harder than maintaining contact with the sights and sounds. By now it is midday, maybe later afternoon. Their hope wanes and the dragons fear they may succumb to the hot weather themselves if nothing is to be done soon. With a gruff snort, Raito nudged Cremello, and then gestured toward the sky, informing them they planned to take a flight to search for cover.

Stretching out his wings and he took to the skies once more. He banked in a wide turn across the desert and halfway became full circle swiftly; A distance away, he noticed a crag, which began only a few miles away. The dragon estimated it to be several miles to their due west, and he believes he should take Griffith to it and have Cremello follow. He banks back around to his companions. Seeing their friend has since stopped walking and sat against a boulder, curled using their tail to block the sun to offer shade for Griffith. Raito remembers a day when Cremello was far more aggressive, but, He grew fond of Griff because of their patience. He is truly beyond prior trainers.

Raito landed with a resounding thud beside Cremello, who peered up, acknowledging Raito returning, and turned toward their companion, who lay below the shadow cast by his tail. He huffs, then looks back up to Cremello as a sign that their friend is breathing, even if slow. He scanned up and gruffed and let a low rumble from his throat. Showing he wanted to know what was going on and where to go now. Raito bumped his head against Cremello, then looked in the direction he came from and bowed that way, showing that is the direction they must go. He nudged Griffith and peered back up to Cremello, asking permission to fly him over.

They stared long at each other before Crem turned away, which was his gesture of acceptance in the tradeoff. Crem began standing and uncurled around Griffith and walked away to stretch limbs and shake off some of the sand and dust that clung to their body. Rai picked up Griff by the scruff of his shirt; He hung limply from his mouth with a slight groan coming from him, another sign that he was very much alive. Nestling Griffith into his arms, cradling him close as he turned around and quickly got his running start and took off. Following not far behind, and in one motion, Crem started sprinting after Raito; They were off toward the jagged rocks, seen only at the tops of the dunes they crossed, would be insights of their path in hopes of shade. Until they can traverse the night with minimal exhaustion. Of course, the beat of wings got Raito to the jagged crag faster than Cremello could waddle his way across the desert in pursuit.

Once his fellow dragon companion caught up, he took to the skies again to see if any source of water may have pooled into spots, as the crag was almost wide enough to be a valley in its own right. However, too small to truly be considered that. Rai had to ascend above and fly low to the tops of the rocky formations, following them before he hears a distinct sound of flowing water. He stretched his wings out slowly to drag him back to a stop. He hovers for a bit and then follows the sound and discovered between two pillars and a cliff side a small waterfall trickles down, forming a small pond. The water seems stale from age, only to be refreshed toward the small waterfall likely flowing from an underground river. The place had relatively decent shade, but seemed the pond would be all but completely dark within the next few hours.

Now that a source of shade and potential life-saving water was found, he quickly shoved his face into the precious liquid and gulped it down swiftly. Paying close attention to make sure he did not drink too much or drain the small pond. Refreshed and cooled, he sucked in air and let out a loud and low bellow that echoed across the maze of rocks and sent reverberation into the earth around. A signal to Cremello informing him to come his way. The echo bounced across and soon reached Cremello, who sprang up in alarm. He listened tentatively and then realized it was a signal from Raito. Crem had to think fast before deciding to enclose his rider inside his mouth so he may travel faster than if he were to keep him on his back. He darted as quick as his short legs would take him, even digging his talons into the sides of the cliffs to fit into higher and wider areas. He fed his last bit of energy into this task, to make his way to the lower bellows that echoed everywhere. Only stopping when the bellow would cease for a bit and pick up again.

Growing ever closer, he finds a wall crumbled and stones started tumbling from above. Signs from a landslide likely occurred recently, probably caused by their friends’ bellows. Before more rocks can fall, he leaps up in half and climbs to the top, gritting slightly as rocks slide beneath him. Continuing though, determined to overcome this hurdle. He makes it over, but slides and tumbles down the other side, slamming into his side. He can hear loud thuds coming from behind and then Cremello braces for a fight, only to realize it was Raito nudging them to see if they were okay. Looking over at their fallen friend, they shove their head under their side to get them to rise, much to Crem’s disgruntlement.

Cremello stood up for his friend and waddled with them over with a slight limp to his gait. They could see bruising forming on his side. Small slices into his flesh because of the stones embedded. Once in the shade by the water, he gently let Griffith fall from his mouth who had somewhere halfway through the experience woke up. He looked stunned, looked around bewildered before noticing the water, and immediately flopped into the water and began coughing profusely. and sat up from the water, holding his chest as the fit stopped. Soon he glanced from the corner of his eye. He could see the dragons resting not too far away. After clearing his throat, he calmly asks them; “You guys okay?” To which both dragons let out a low, content rumble. Though Cremello’s seemed more strained than Raito. Griffith quickly turned to Cremello and slowly approached him with his hands up as a sign that he was coming to see what ails them. He could hear the strain. He knew this dragon well enough. They are tough as nails and hard to cause discomfort, for it is often a sign of weakness to him.

Cremello stood up with a shake and turned his bad side over toward Griffith so that they may asses the damage done. It looked worse than it was and the thick hide of his scales probably took most of the impact. He pressed around areas looking for signs of deeper internal bleeding. After that assessment, he gestures for Raito to walk over, as they had the tools needed for this operation. Griffith then used a few hand signals to let his dragon know what to do and so that Cremello didn’t hear it. He then turned back to Cremello and began talking soothingly. Giving him reassurance that he will be alright and that he was strong and persevered in a predicament, but correcting himself and telling them both they did good. He owed them his life. A creature without care would leave a man high and dry. He knew now their connection was a strong one.

Grabbing a blade from his pouch, a few different salves retrieved from the last village they got supplies from. One of which he coats onto the blade, which he then uses to dislodge the stones embedded into the wounds. Cremello immediately launched up, only to be held down by Raito's full body weight upon him. He snapped his jaws, wriggled his the grasp, but eventually gave up because there was no use fighting it and losing energy he had so very little of. Stones dislodged officially, he cut away any loose tissues that couldn’t be folded back over and applied a different salve used to help blood to clot and promote healing.

Once he finished, he motioned for Raito to get off of Cremello, who obliged and quickly flapped up and over to his own corner of shade. Quickly nestled onto the cool ground in full rest mode. The sun was setting by now and Griffith figured he may as well build a fire preparing for the night. So they survived another day and pushed through the odds for their rider and their friendship grows ever stronger. However, no one noticed the creature hanging from the cliff side peering down at them with curiosity.

Rio's Avatar
Scorched Earth
0 ・ 0
In Trials ・ By Rio

Rites (nesting, taming, aether, etc) + 10
Added Companion + 2
150 Extra Words (1) + 1
150 Extra Words (2) + 1
150 Extra Words (3) + 1
150 Extra Words (4) + 1
150 Extra Words (5) + 1
Complex Background + 5
Total = 22

Each Dragon
Companion + 2
Background + 4
Personal bonus + 1
Nesting Rite + 2
1812 words + 18
Total = 27


Submitted By Rio
Submitted: 1 year and 6 months agoLast Updated: 1 year and 6 months ago

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