Emergence

[Swix]

It was a usual, insane day in Blackstar. It was raining weasels and foxes in Dojopolis, while in Psychotopia the dreaded Chocolate Fudge Surprise was making an appearance in the skies. The Guardians stayed dutifully guarding the Citadel and watching, while the Evil Council was up to it's usual tricks in the Corrupted Cave in the Black Forest.

But as usual, not everything was going to stay this way.

Within the Great Plains the earth heaved under the grass, scaring the local wildlife away. It heaved up and up, until the earth finally gave way and revealed to creature that had sought to escape it's embrace.

The first thing to make an appearance was the creatures head, a sharply angular snout with a horn above the nose and very sharp fangs, followed by glowing red eyes and two pairs of horns. The longer pair of horns started just above the creatures eyes, while the second pair started just behind it's ears and were only half the size. Black scales covered the whole of the head, although not the entire body as a long neck was the next thing to come, and showed that red scales started just beneath the creatures throat. Spikes ran along the length of the spine, runningback into the earth below the creature.

The earth heaved once again as an unbelievably large mass pushed against it until it split asunder, showering the ground with yet more earth. It became glaring obvious that this creature was a dragon, it's wings folded tightly against it's sides and it's tail sweeping the ground with the mass of spikes that adorned the end of it. The red scales ran from it's throat, under it's belly and all the way to the end of the tail, although down there it was mostly obscured by the sheer mass of black spikes. The spikes that ran from it's neck also continued until they reached the end of the tail and were swallowed by the deadly spines. Strong legs and sharp claws pulled it's sinuous and serpentine body completely out of the hole it had come from, the claws gauged heavy wounds in the ground.

The dragon blinked and looked around, unused to the sunlight. As it waited for it's eyes to adjust a similar displacement of earth began close to it, as similar mounds appeared throughout the Dojo. The dragon seemed relieved at seeing the rest, and wisps of smoke constantly escaped it's nostrils. This was not just a dragon, this was a Dark Fire Dragon, the same species as Furnace. And ever more Dark Fire Dragons were emerging from their underground lairs. It was as though there was a mass migration of the fiery reptiles.

The dragon that had just pulled itself out of the ground next to the first did not sport a horn on the end of it's nose, and it seemed a little more slender than the first. It too blinked it's bright red eyes and looked about, also wanting to confirm it's brethren had emerged. This one was a female, while the other was a male.

Both standing at eight storeys tall (that's four times the size of Furnace ) and around 3000 years of age, they were both the largest and oldest living Dark Fire Dragons. The Elders, Inferno and Ebony, and they were the ones to have organised this trek. They'd had to be, they were the only two collectively respected by all the others, as it was in a Dark Fire Dragons nature to riot and attack others, sometimes ending up in mutual respect, others ending in severe mutual hatred.

~Is anyone missing?~

Inferno sent out to the others as they continued their emergence, rather than asking if everyone had made it, as the responses would have been far too many.

"Do you think it'll follow us?"

Ebony asked without the use of telepathy, casting an apprehensive eye over the holes they'd both left in the ground.

"I do not know. I hope not"

Inferno answered his mate, before hearing an incoming message.

~One of us is missing. A young female, no-one knows where she's got to~

Inferno breathed outwards, a large puff of smoke obsuring a large area around him.

"We should gather our number and see if we can stay here for a while, even if it is above ground"
_____________________________________________________________
Furnace stared at the sea, his bright red eyes that glowed with an inner fire scanned the water as though he were sizing up an opponent. The young Dark Fire Dragon had come to the beach, determined to overcome his hatred and irrational fear of the apparently endless expanse. He snorted, and small flames jumped out of his nostrils, accompanying the dark smoke that also escaped.

He was only 500 years old himself, neither his nose horn nor his second pair of 'head' horns would even begin to start growing until he was at least 1000 years old himself. Even though he was young by his species standards,he still thought this fear to be stupid. He could fly over the liquid easily after all, it was just plain dumb to be scared of something he could easily overcome.

His vindictive gaze settled on a dark mass in the water, a little way off shore. It must have been very heavy or wedged in the sand, as the waves were quite strong and yet they were failing completely to move it. Furnace moved a little closer to where the waves lapped at the shore, straing his long neck to get a better look. The mass seemed somehow familiar to him.

A much stronger wave hit, budging the black mass closer to the shore and Furnace, as well as rolling it over a little. Two more much smaller lumps appeared attached to the first, and Furnace squinted in the sunlight, as he was sure he could see claws and feet. Whatever it was, it was dead.

The Dark Fire Dragon cautiously trod towards the carcass, gingerly stepping into the salt water with his legs until he got close enough. It was then he realised this carcass was familiar, because he'd seen it before when it was alive. The body had belonged to a young female he'd once had many scraps and fights with when he was younger.

Now alarmed, Furnace gripped one of her front legs in his jaws and began pulling the carcass ashore. The only thing he could think of that could have killed her was that she'd come up under the ocean and drowned before she could find safety. But still, why had she come up?

Furnace tugged harder on the body, realising it was now tightly wedged on the seabed and he'd need some help to move it. He wasn't about to leave a fellow Dark Fire Dragons body to rot in the sea, that was just wrong for their kind.

~Kiri, anyone, I could use a little help with a body. A very big body~

Furnace sent a general cry for help, so this would be recieved by anyone who could, or wanted to, recieve it.

((Freeform RP, so the usual 'no powerplaying' goes. Apart from that, 'enjoy' the unintentional invasion of vicious and temperamental dragons ))

[Ashen Rain]

Ashen sat at the end of a long pier, her boots sitting in a comfortable style next to her. Her legs dangled cutely of the edge of the pier, short waves lapping softly at her toes as she dangled a fishing line in the water.

Now, it had previously occurred to her that fishing in one place so close to the beach would not bring her in a good haul of fish- But there was really only one fish she was looking for.

An eel, truth be told, prowled these waters in the dawn and as sunset, when the water was lit up with a reddish orange sheen. But, this wasn't just any eel- it was a glass eel. A rare creature, completely see through save for it's orange-red organs. The times of day it hunted at were the times that left it most camouflaged- there fore, easier for it to catch prey.

But this morning, Ashen was hunting it as her own prey. She had had a hankering for fish, and she wanted to see what the effects of the creature would be on her- besides the glass skin. She figured that she would go nearly invisible, but she was unsure of what else this creature would do to her. She was ready to find out, though.

As she sat there, the sun rose. A tingling feeling went up her spine, and she readied herself for any tug on the line that might show her the creature she was seeking...

And then a tingling sensation in her mind caused her to blink, and raise her head.

What it sounded like, to her, was someone (or something) calling out for help. She squinted her eyes and shook her head a bit, trying to listen for another call. She shook her head again. It had been a weird sensation, but one that felt worried. She sat there for a moment, looking torn between the possibility of catching the eel, and helping whoever needed it. With a slight sigh, she stood and pressed the handle of the fishing line between two somewhat loose boards on the pier. She slipped on her boots, turned to where she had felt the sensation come from, then finally ran along the beach toward it.

Moments later when she was out of sight, the line tugged sharply. Suddenly, the entire fishing line was pulled from the dock, and yanked under water.

Along the beach she moved, seeing two large and dark forms in the distance. Frowning, she slowed slightly, giving her a chance to catch her breath as she drew closer to quite the sight.

Her eyes widened considerably, seeing a large dragon attempting to pull another large dragon out of the water. At first she believed that this couldn't have been the one to call for help- but seeing him struggle with the limp form of the other one proved her wrong.

"Pardon," She called loudly, hoping that he would hear her over the roar of the waves. "Were you... The one who needed the help?" She tilted her head slightly, taking in all of the scene and wondering how she could help. "Do you... need a push, I suppose?"

[Phoenix]

Pitch walked casually along the beach, barefoot and enjoying the sea breeze. It was so good to get away from the city, if only for a short while. She sang and skipped and danced. After all, no one was watching. Granted, Dralacour scurried along at her side, but he wasn't watching.

The dragonet was hunting and trying to keep his feet dry and away from the surf. Whenever the tide would come in too close to him, he would let out a comical squeal and run up the shore a bit further. But it was nearly worth it to him, since every so often he could catch delicious little crabs and fish out of tide pools. And that was perhaps the only reason why Dralacour hadn't made a complaint for hours.

Dralacour heard the call first, as he had the better hearing of the two. He stopped and tilted his slightly to the side. "Pitch. Pitch! You stupid girl, stop singing for a minute and listen!"

Pitch stopped and obeyed, catching the sounds of dragon.

"There, down the shoreline. I can see him. He's trying to pull something big out of the water. You'd better take shape and go help him. I don't know how useful you'll be, at your age..."

"What's that supposed to mean?" Pitch asked before she was shrouded in a cloud of purple smoke. In a moment, the smoke was gone, leaving Pitch as a black dragon with red ridges. Since she was only 16, as a dragon she was still a child. Pitch was only the size of a pony or a large dog and had all the grace of a dinosaur. But even Great dragons had to start somewhere.

Pitch sent up the reply call and set to running down the beach. Dralacour scurried after her, dodging waves as best he could with Pitch splashing in them.

[Ashen Rain]

Ashen stood, waiting for an answer from the large dragon in front of her (while also wondering if he had even heard her in the first place) when another sound caught her ears. This one was normal, thankfully, and sounded as though someone was splashing through the water behind her. She smiled and turned, glad for a moment that she wasn't going to be the only human out here with a tong of big reptiles.

That is, until she realized that the thing splashing in the water towards them was a horse sized dragon.

Her shoulders sagged slightly, but she perked up a bit as the new lizard-beast came running up. Attempting a smile, she waved slightly, checking over her shoulder once to see what the much larger dragon was doing.

'It's good that she came,' Ashen thought to herself, looking at the smaller dragon and ignoring the dragonet completely, having not noticed it. [i]'Maybe we'll actually be able to help this big guy over here... As soon as he tells us what he wants us to do, specifically.'[i]

Ashen was almost entirely sure that the larger creature would ask them to help him push the limp dragon out of the water- but she wanted to make sure first. It would probably be a better idea to wait and see though, as she didn't want to do something wrong and then be on the wrong side of the dragon's teeth...

[Phoenix]

Pitch nodded a hello to the human girl. She would have said it, but she didn't know how to form human words with a dragon's throat. Pitch then sniffed around suspiciously, trying to assess the situation as best she could.

Then, without asking for either name or explaination, she grabbed part of the limp dragon in her mouth (for she was a breed that did best with all four legs firmly on the ground) and began to try to pull the carcass out of the water at the grown dragon's side.

Dralacour supervised from a nearby rock outcropping that he figured was safe from the water.

[Swix]

Furnace had at first simply continued tugging on the females leg, trying his hardest to pull the carcass ashore even without the help of the waves. It seemed to him his call had not been heard, or it had been completely ignored.

The young male dragon could barely contain his surprise when a human of all creatures walked up to him and asked him if he needed help. As a result, his sharp teeth bit down a little harder than he'd intended on the leg and had got stuck in the gaps between her scales.

His eyes rolled over to watch the human as he now tugged to get his wedged dentistry out of the leg, his mind recieved a response from a creature he knew he'd never met before, and he observed what appeared to be a baby black dragon and a much tinier reptile making their way towards them. He wondered just how creatures so small thought they could help, especially as he'd clearly stated this was a very big body.

His question was partially answered when the hatchling moved next to him and grabbed the body like he had. To his surprise, it actually moved a little easier.

After one final, gigantic pull that sent the dragon stumbling backwards as well as jerking the body, Furnace finally got his fangs out. Blood oozed out of the small wounds his fangs had left behind, yet the body was still not clear enough out of the water for his liking.

He turned a fiery eye on Ashen, although the ever present smoke slightly dulled the glow in them.

"She is stuck. I must get her out of the water. Push if you think it'll do any good. If not, don't"

The Dark Fire Dragon then seemed to consider something before bringing his head a little closer to Ashens body.

"Maybe you could go under and move whatever has caught her"

He then turned back to the leg, gripping a little more gently this time and continued the exercise of pulling with the baby female by his side. It was moving under their combined efforts, albeit slowly.
_____________________________________________________________
Furnace's message sent a shockwave through the recently emerged Dark Fire Dragons, ending in a crescendo as both it and the others thoughts reached the minds of the Elders.

"Furnace is asking for help?"

Ebony commented to her mate as she spread her massive wings and prepared to take off. She and Inferno were going to have to gather the others and then find a large enough space for them to settle. The red scales underneath her wings had an iridescent sheen to them, while the black ones on top reflected the sunlight as a mirror might.

Inferno snorted and ducked his head to allow Ebony to take to the skies. The two of them were so large that they had to wait for one to take off before the other could, especially in close quarters.

"He's changed since he started living closer to the surface. He would never ask for help unless there was a good reason, and even then he'd say what. But we have more important matters to attend to before dealing with an errant youngling"

Ebony did not say a word as the female Elder jumped and then flapped downwards powerfully with her wings. As impressive as they were on the ground, in flight they were even more so.

Soon after, Inferno joined her. Their two gigantic forms were unmistakable in the skies, blotting out a huge area of light below them as they moved.

[Panther385]

Supaiku's copper scales glinted dimly in the sunlight as he flew over the ocean. He'd recognized Furnace's voice, and went in place of his mother, who'd been busy with the Council all day. Something about increasing Pixie Punch production rate.

He pumped his abnormally large wings- they were twice the size of his body, which was at fifteen feet already despite his young age.

The dragonling skidded into the beach's sand as Furnace was sent tumbling backwards.

"I-I could go underwater..." He stammered- The only dragon he'd had much contact with was his mother, and the Dark Fire dragon appeared to be quite fierce to him.

Supaiku gathered his composure and approached the corpse, his nostrils flaring as he memorized the scent. He'd been complimented before for his acute observational and tracking skills.

Maybe that was because his father was a detective in human form? Anyway...

He slipped his length under the waves, snapping his wings in to protect the membrane. The dragonling latched his ebony claws into the water's bed, thankfully finding a rock to grip as he struggled to see in the water, which was murky from the unsettled sand and plant life.

A few moments after he dived under, his serpentine head burst forth from the sea. "Her tail spikes are wedged under some kind of rock, sir," He commented, noting the familiarities between Furnace and the dead female. "It shifted when she arrived at the shore, I think."

[Swix]

~Can you move the rock?~

Furnace sent to Supaiku, now even his mind-voice showing the urgency he felt. His mouth was currently busy straining to bring the body closer to home and away from the sea. He had to get her out.

~Ask the human to help if you can't~

[Ashen Rain]

Ashen smiled slightly at the smaller (if she was even considered smaller) dragon, still somewhat in shock of all the large lizards around.

~(I cannot put what I'd like to put into this post right now, so, here's a basic jist of it:

Ashen smiles at Pitch in response, then listens to Furnace in a quiet manner, though she isn't quite sure she likes Furnace's tone. Supaiku shows up, and Ashen notes that right as she summons her rhinoxik. She attempts to tie a rope around part of the female, then to the horn of her rhinoxik so it can help pull. She then changes to her heavy armor form, chews a bit of jerky to become the anthro of some big muscly creature (I haven't decided what yet) and goes into the water to help get the dragon free, and push her out. She's slightly unbalanced in her big form, but what happens with that I will begin in a separate post.

There. Now you guys can continue posting, and I can just make the post more detailed later. =p)~

[Mitsukai]

"This one looks good enough..." Jun murmured to herself as she crouched down to pick up the delicate, rose-petal shaped shell. Clad in loose fitting slacks and a blouse with a ribbon around her waist and tied in the front, all articles of clothing a pale yellow colour, she had been collecting seashells and gently placing them in her willlow basket. Tucked into her "ribbon belt" was a special fan that she used both for flirting and defensive purposes. It was when she placed the shell in the basket that she heard the commotion a bit farther down the beach. Intrigued in this turn of events, she hung the basket on her arm and ran towards the group.

[Phoenix]

Pitch was pulling with all her might and growling with determination. But the sand kept giving way beneath her and made it nearly impossible for her to move the body anymore. She stopped to take a breath, disliking the taste of dragon scales in her mouth.

"Aww, is little Pitch giving up already? I knew you couldn't do it. Besides being weak, you're also dumb. If I were you, I'd pull from that spine there. It would give a better grip and better leverage. But I wouldn't expect you to know that." Dralacour said with a haughty sniff from atop his rock. He was curled up and comfortable like a cat, and didn't seem troubled at all to watch all the others work hard to bring the deceased dragon to shore.

Pitch was stung by Dralacour's words and growled again before latching her teeth into the spine that he'd indicated. She would help! And then Dralacour would see that she wasn't just a dumb girl.

Her new position did give her better leverage, and the sand was wetter so that it didn't give so much when she dug her feet into it. So maybe even Dralacour had done his small part by helping her, though Pitch was still angry with him.

[Panther385]

Supaiku plunged into the waters again, this time touching his muzzle to the rock. Small glowing crimson orbs appeared and floated around the boulder. Their dainty dance became faster as the rock seemed to shrink- the floating things were what magic the Time Dragon could summon at his age, and possessed quite an array of abilities.

The rock soon shrunk to the size of a pebble, simply rolling off the dead beast's tail.

Supaiku emerged from the water again, the small bulbs of Time magic still hovering around his head.

"Aye, you can pull now!"

[Swix]

~Good~

Furnace sent to Supaiku once again, although the mind-voice seemed relieved it was devoid of any gratitude.

The Dark Fire Dragon heaved backwards as hard as he could, and with the help of the others the body lurched forwards with such force it actually went flying over Furnaces head. Furnace himself had pulled too hard and lost his balance, the black and red reptilian lanbded unceremoniously on his back with loud 'thud'. A second thud followed after, just as loud, as the body of the female hit the ground behind them.

THe Dark Fire Dragon thrashed about in the shallow water before turning and righting himself, his pride hurting at the show he must have given the others.

He approached the body cautiously this time, his eyes and nose looking for anything unusual. What the sea had hidden was now in plain view, and apart from it looking little more slender than him, it was completely obvious this was the same species as him.

He walked about the body, but all he could see was that she was dead. Her eyes were open, but the fire had gone out, leaving them a dull red colour. There wasn't a mark on her, and he was at a complete loss as to why she'd come up.

The Dark Fire Dragon looked up at the group that had helped him, feeling he at least owed some sort of explanation.

"This is Crimsa. I grew up with her, see those scars? I made some of them. I couldn't leave her in the water, and I need to know why she came up"

He stopped, and if it weren't for the smoke, you could imagine him taking a deep breath.

"My kind rarely comes up to the surface. Something must have happened. I have to find out what. Come with me, or don't"

His head slightly tilted to the side, curiously looking at them all. He could probably count on Supaiku, but he wasn't sure about the others.
_____________________________________________________________
The sky began to grow darker as more and more Dark Fire Dragons either heeded the call of the Elders or saw the two in flight and joined them while they looked for somewhere suitable to stay.

Even with the viciousness inherent in a Dark Fire Dragons nature, the undertone of fear they brought with them was unmistakable.

[Phoenix]

Pitch quickly bounded forward when Furnace sounded like he was asking for volunteers. Her tail thumped against the sand beneath her, clearly betraying her excitement. She hoped to go on an adventure.

"Oh Hells! Now look, you've got her all eager to go. And if she goes, I have to go, or else it'll be the death of me if I'm caught without her." Dralacour grumbled as he scuttled off his dry rock. "Never mind that the stupid girl doesn't seem to have a care in the world over your dead friend."

Dralacour looked at Ashen and the new girl who'd just appeared (Jun). "And if either of you want to come, but have trouble moving at dragon speed, you could probably ride on Pitch's back. Surely she's strong enough to carry one human. And she's too stupid to care about dragon's dignity or anything like that..."

[Danikat]

*Elsewhere in the Dojo the apperence of so many dragons was causing considerable chaos. And giving one armadillo a headache*

Dragons, Arian! Dragons everywhere.
I see 4, 5, 6....
Theres dragons popping out the ground,
Dragons....
Flying all over the place,
...huge.....
Dragons,
....don't know where they....
Arian: SILENCE All of You! Team Three this is your juristiction. Report please commander.
*A series of images flash through Arians mind, catching him up on the sudden apperance of the Dark Fire Dragons*

*Finally the armadillo nods, blinks a few times to get used to seeing whats really in front of him again and hurries over to the figure sat on the table at the far end of the room*
Arian: Danikat? I think you'll want to get over to the Dojo, and bring Veamoth.
Danikat: Erm....ok. Explain it on the way.

*Danikat hops off the table and hurries down to the weyr where all the excitement has already roused her dragons*
Danikat: Veamoth we've been ordered to the Dojo. You ready?
*The great dragon streatches slowly and attempts a shrug*
Veamoth: I suppose so.
*Danikat mounts quickly and they take off, barely clearing the cave before dissapearing between, emerging above Psychotopia....and in the middle of the biggest collection of dragons either of them has ever seen.

Veamoth: What? What is going on?
Danikat: I....I don't know. I've never seen so many dragons. Arian, do we know what kind they are?
Arian: Only that they look like one of the EC members, Furnace.
Danikat: Veamoth, can you talk to them at all?
Veamoth: I'll try. *After a slight pause* Hello? Can anyone hear me?

((Veamoth is speaking telepathically, if any of the Dark Fire Dragons near by re sensitive to telepathy they should be able to hear him. If not then they won't even notice it.))