DRAGONS!

[Netdroid9]

*Net stared at the dragon. It was big, and cuddly, and he was gunna love it, and cherish it, an-FLAME!

...Well, he was still gunna love it, but he'd leave the cherishing until after he'd killed the mother dragon. He turned to the rest of his handy team of dragon tamers.*

Alright beings of unknown species and gender, load your weapons and start killing dragons! The EC has decided to colonise this area and the person who kills the most dragons will be handsomely rewarded!

***

Simple: All of my money to the person with the most impressive RPing performance (I'll set up a poll in the Corrupted Cave . Feel free to give me money. By that I mean add money to the pot, of course. <.< >.>.). You can attack as many dragons as you like, they're APCs.

APC? All Player Characters, like Cornelius for example. Here's an example of what I mean:

Player 1: *The Dragon attempts to bite my character's head, but gets a stomach full of lead instead.*
Player 2: *The Dragon screams in outrage and attempts to kill Player 1's favorite RP character with an awesome banjo-guitar riff.*
Player 1: *The Dragon's banjo-guitar riff has no effect on my RP character. In it's resulting rampage, it attempts to stomp on Player 2's favorite chew toy.*

Et cetera. Have fun!

[Embri]

Well, colonizing is inevitable I guess, but dragons? Dragons are nice.

*Embri gets charbroiled by a dragon.*

"Um, I guess I just have a different perspective, since I'm flameproof."

Couldn't we clear out wyverns instead? You're going to have Danikat and her pair on your case if we go after dragons!

[Netdroid9]

Danikat doesn't know about this, or at least I certainly hope she doesn't. I went into the future and stole the eggs from her room for this RP.

[Embri]

YOU STOLE ALZARANTH'S EGGS!

Are you insane!?!?

*Embri leaps up towards the sky in horror.*

You must have NO idea what an angry Queen dragon is like. I'm leaving, right now, before the armageddon begins.

~They must be half mad....~ Embri thinks, with great sadness. ~Pernese dragons were never meant to be without a Rider. How will we ever find enough people to take them all? Will they even Impress so long after hatching? I must get Danikat!~

*The fire unicorn shimmers and disappears in a sparkle of crystal fragments.*

[Danikat]

YOU DID WHAT!!!

Net, please tell me you're joking. You have no idea what you've done do you?

Firstly the only recorded case of a Pernese dragons eggs being stolen almost lead to the first war in the planets 5,000 year history. Dragons were more than willing to kill each other over it, which is otherwise completely unheard of.

And in this case you'll have not just Alzaranth, but Veamoth, a weapon of mass destruction, on your case. And anyone/thing else I can find to attack you.

Secondly as Embri pointed out if they hatch and no one is around to Impress (bond with) them then the results really won't be pretty.

Thirdly I'm really not sure I like the sound of the 'kill the mother' part of that plan.

Edit: ((I'm willing to assume this was an honest mistake and Net just doesn't know enough about Pernese dragons to know that this is a really bad idea. Take back the part about these being Alzaranths eggs and all will be forgiven.
Stick with it and we'll see just how much damage my forces can do.))

[Netdroid9]

((T'was a mistake. Sorry!))

[Embri]

(( MOST relieved to hear that. Danikat is right, the last and only time a SINGLE egg was stolen, Brenden Weyr almost went to war with the Oldtimers. Mind you, it WAS Ramoth's Queen egg that was stolen.

*Looks about nervously at the mention of Ramoth*

If Lord Jaxom and Ruth had not gone back in time to rescue the egg, sky above only knows what might have happened. Hundreds of dragons, up to the size of 747 jumbo jets, would have torn the planet asunder. *sudders* ))

[Goron40]

((Let me know if you run into any Large Dragon-Owls...))

[Ashen Rain]

-(I'm just going to go ahead and assume that the dragons are still here... and that they're just evil dragonly creatures. And the like.

So... yeah... I'm gonna go kill one to death now.)-

In the lands of Psychotopia, there were indeed a few places unexplored. Not just unexplored by the people living in this place, but unexplored by the likes of Ritka. She had never really been to Psychotopia before... heard about it in her travels maybe. Tread in a few areas of it that she did not know well... but then again, she didn't really know any of the places too well. It would have probably done her more good in her quests to make maps, so that she could make sure she wasn't heading in circles, picking again and again over places that may hide the wonderful little spheres that she ever searched for... but then again, she didn't do too badly on her own.

In this case however, she would have done well to ask for directions. The problem was that this was one of those special areas, where hardly a person had ever been into- so, there wasn't really anyone she could ask. With a slight huff, she pulled a soft leather tan cloak a bit closer around her arms, and chewed upon her bottom lip to keep the icy wind from biting it instead.

The girls hair, white as her skin and the snow around her, flowed freely in the rough breeze flighting past. Under her cloak, one hand was wrapped around a pouch at her side, making sure that it was safe in an almost obsessive way. It was a tad too cold here... and this greatly confused her. Random things generally happened in the lands of Psychotopia. Here, the ice did not change, or melt, but she felt that there should have been something more to it. Something strange, to add to the psychotic drama that constantly plagued this land. Or blessed it, depending on how you thought.

But as she trudged along, her feet sinking in the snow, her amber orange eyes suddenly began to change color, sifting from their golden color to more of a blood red. She couldn't feel this change, and there fore was not warned by it (this being a trait of her species). She was, however, warned by the large, somewhat clawed foot print suddenly placed in the ground before her.

Her nose pointed to the ground at the sight of the impression, she swallowed slightly as a figure shimmered to being in front of her. A large dragon with an icy blue coat of scales (which apparently had adapted to camouflage the creature) sat before her, curly, bleached bone spines, horns and claws protruding evily from different places upon it's body.

Ritka's eyes followed up from the foot of the creature all the way past it's wings, to it's glaring yellow eyes. The look on the white females face was one that nearly anyone could pity. Fairly carefully, she reached down into a pocket by her pouch, and pulled out a small mirror, closing her eyes and bringing it up in front of her face.

"Please not red, please not red, please not red..." she thought nervously to herself. Upon opening her eyes, and seeing the ruddy red sheen in them, she closed them again, and gritted her teeth. "Of course..." she muttered, around the time that the dragon began to growl...

With a burst, Ritka suddenly spun round, and took off away from the dragon. With a sparking roar, it lashed out at her newly exposed back. Interestingly, however, with the mirror in hand, the young Celanthros held it up to her face and watched the claws come at her. As one grim paw swept close to her head, she dropped down into the snow, knowing full well that if she messed this up, it would be her head- literally. As soon as that wide paw was past her, the dragon was scrambling to set another down upon her, it's wings beginning to flap furiously. With a slight whimper, the girl sat up and pushed fore ward with her feet, laying flat when the claws landed around her.

All was still. Ritka was shivering, her eyes closed. She could feel the shadow over her, but no pain came with it- only two large structures on either side of her legs. Quietly, she opened her eyes to see that the open hand of the creature was directly over her. With a quick glance down at her body, she found that she was unhurt- and that two of the dragons sharpened fingers were spread out, two on either side of her self. Well how the hell was she supposed to get out of this?

Swallowing, she suddenly realized that the creature was removing his hand from around her, to see if he had caught his pray. With a hopefully inaudible whimper, she moved back as his claws did, praying quietly that it wouldn't see her if she stayed hidden under it's lifted paw.

Apparently, the ploy worked. This may have been a good aspect of the dragons of Psychotopia- that they weren't as intelligent as other species of dragons. As the thing searched the snow for her, she hid under it's body, till she found an exit between his hind legs (though this is not necessarily a place you'd want to go). When his tail lifted as he bent fore ward, she made her exceptionally unpleasant escape. Past the large brutes legs, the wind whipped her white hair and stung her cheeks pink. She needed to get out of this, now, even if there were marbles in this place or not.

As she raced for a new hiding place, a shadowed area caught her eye- a cave, evidently too small for any dragons to readily fit into. She slipped into it quickly, gasping and ducking within, dropping to her knees and quite nearly curling up in a fetal position. Now out of breath and quite the bit freaked out, she rested her head on her arms, and decided to wait it all out.

"Alright beings of unknown species and gender!"

Ritka's ears perked up slightly, and she lifted her head in confusion, turning and looking deep into the cave. Apparently, someone on the other end was speaking, and his voice was echoing down to her...

"Load your weapons," the voice called, "And start killing dragons! The EC has decided to colonize this area and, the person who kills the most dragons will be handsomely rewarded!"

Now, Ritka was curious. All traces of fear seemed to have left her face as she listened to what this disembodied voice had to say. "... What on earth is the 'EC?" she murmured as she listened. "And why do they want to kill dragons so bad...?"

With her eye brows furrowed in thought, the young Celanthros chewed her inner cheek. "... Well, obviously this, 'EC' is a good organization of some sort, and they desperately need help clearing this area out of evil dragons..." she concluded. She tilted her head back and smiled. "Well, I could do that! Just..." she grimaced slightly, "... What should I use?"

Her hand lingered down to the small brown pouch at her side, and she turned, looking at it. In the cave, it was grim and hazy, making it difficult for her to see clearly. From the pouch, she lifted one of her precious marbles, and attempted to inspect it. She couldn't tell wether or not this one would be really useful to her, but if she left the cavern now, the dragon would probably snap her up in a heart beat. She frowned softly, then closed her eyes and slid the marble into the slot at her neck. She felt her body shift, her bones cracking. This change over seemed more painful than the others... and she couldn't feel her legs any more...

With a sudden crack, her head hit the top of the cavern, and she ducked, growling with a reptilian scowl at the pain. The voice she now had made her eyes go wide, and she shivered slightly. Apparently, she was growing much to large for the cave now- quickly, she squirmed her way out of it, and- wait a minute... squirmed?...

Outside, Ritka looked over herself in shock and near horror. This was definitely not the creature she had meant to change into- in fact, she barely knew what this one was. Square green scales now coated her body, and she squirmed because her legs were indeed gone- the lower portion of her body was now snakelike, and fairly creepy looking. A trail of feathers came down from somewhere on her back, and ended in an organized bunch at the tip of her tail. It felt strange with no legs... and even stranger once she realized that she had a set of bird like wings, apparently where the trail of feathers on her back and tail began from. She moved the new muscles slightly, testing them, and looking down at her more human like arms (though they were more skin toned, they still had claws at the end, and white-green scales). Her face, which at the moment she could not see, still had the red eyes and white hair, and her face was still her own. In fact, her entire torso was still hers, save for the more reptilian features. With slitted nostrils now, and somewhat pointed ears, Ritka was confused. She ran her newly forked tongue over her sharpened teeth... what on earth was she?

She was too late to figure that out however, as the blue dragon came barreling toward her at full speed, it's leathery bat wings held close to it's body. She felt herself hiss oddly at it, and as it crashed into her, she sunk her claws between the leathery scales in the creatures neck. The dragon, on the other hand, was not without weapons of it's own. Sharp fangs sunk into the newly changed Celanthros's shoulder, and claws penetrated deep into her right side, and left arm. A low, growling hiss of pain escaped her throat as she moved her hands to tear the dragons off of her, her snake like bottom half wrapping now around the back leg and wing of the creature.

As soon as the dragon's toothy grip on her shoulder was loosed, she wrenched him off of her with her lower half, tearing him free from his grasp and hers. He flung off some distance into the snow, and lay there for only a moment before beginning to get back up.

Ritka was in tears now. Blood was flowing freely from her wounds, and it was terrible. She couldn't believe how quickly she had been injured, and the dragon, flames lashing from it's mouth, was already coming back for her. Testing her wings again, she bent and used her arms to push herself up off of the ground, and get up into the air. She beat her wings quickly, as fast as she possibly could, hoping to take flight. She hovered, slowly moving upward, but apparently too slow. A bolt of flamed whipped her tail, and she suddenly felt claws sink into the muscles of her lower body, through the newly formed burns. She screeched horridly as the dragon below her yanked her back down to the earth, and prepared to pounce upon her. The creatures flame breath was escaping the corners of it's mouth like an angry red foam, as it flapped it's wings and prepared to dive at her. Burned and scorched, Ritka could hardly move.

The dragon flew up into the air a ways, when the injured Celanthros thought of something. Quickly, even as the dragon began it's dive, she reached up with her hands to yank at the marble still placed within the socket that was ever present at the base of her throat. With the dragon nearly upon her, she pulled it free, and closed her eyes, feeling herself form back into the way she once was, save for her newly added injuries.

The dragon crashed about her in confusion, it's legs splayed to either side of her, expecting to have torn apart the snake creature he had been fighting, instead of his claws being stuck in the frozen ground. But suddenly, that creature was just... gone. And he didn't realize why...

Underneath him, Ritka was wounded, bleeding from her shoulder, arm, side and tail... She could feel the burns on her tail melting the snow around her, and she grimaced, shoving the marble of the feathered snake woman back into it's pouch. She closed her eyes again, and felt around in the small brown bag for the thing that she wanted- the one marble she needed right now.

When her hands came into contact with it, she almost knew she had it. She pulled the blue marble from the sack, and carefully slid it into the slot, just as the dragon began attempting to dig his claws free.

From under the flying lizard, a glowing flash of blue was seen, illuminating and shining off of the creatures scales. Then, a sudden crack was heard, and all of a sudden the dragon sunk into the ground a few inches. In confusion, the dragon attempted to move- the problem was, however, that he wasn't going any where any more.

Now, moving infront of the face of the dragon, a silvery blue crystal floated. The dragon stared at the thing, even as it shifted like some sort of strange fluid, until it had an actual appearance. The dragon watched as the thing, whatever it was, formed into something that in fact seemed so familiar even with it's ice blue body- not to mention the clear, crisp red eyes.

The dragon roared, realizing who this person was, with her silver hair stuck now in crystal shards behind her. Her face was as still as ice, and her body, though it seemed fluid, was solid as well. It was as if Ritka was now made of ice. Her ears were still slightly pointed, and she now seemed to wear a dress of ice cicles... A staff, the same color as her body and clothing, was held in her hand. Another similarity was that her bleeding wounds still marked her body with frozen red blood that no longer flowed, but stayed held in place.

The dragon roared and reached it's head out to snap at the girl, realizing all at once that this was the small white creature and the snake creature all together, but she was just out of reach that he could not get to her. He could not move his claws to grab at her, and shatter her icy form into a million pieces... because he had not yet realized that ice was now creeping up his limbs.

When the ice had reached up to the creatures rump and shoulders, he finally realized that he was truly stuck- and it was too late for him to escape. The blood stopped it's flow to his limbs as he struggled to get out of his situation, but even as the ice cracked a bit on his forelegs, his chest and neck were beginning to be covered with it. His tail had alread been engulfed, held now in place by one of his right back legs. The wings were now still, and the dragon could hardly struggle any more- one wing was held close to the body while the other was partly open, and held up.

With a struggling roar to breath, the creatured head was finally frozen, it's maw open, it's yellowed teeth taking on a silver sheen. A tiny, futile burble of flame escaped, melting only a tiny portion of ice before it froze once more, looking at if the creature was now drooling...

But now, all movements were gone. Not even Ritka was moving, until her free hand lifted to remove the blue marble at the base of her neck. As the thing slid out, her eyes shimmered and faded back to their soft amber. When her true form had returned, and her white, singed tail twitched softly behind her, Ritka whimpered slightly, and sat back in the snow, attempting to hold her bleeding side and shoulder. Grinding her teeth, she reached into a pocket within her coat, and pulled out a roll of bandages, sliding her shirt and coat off to the side a bit so she could get to her wounds.

As she bandaged herself, she looked up at the dragon before her, and shook her head slightly.

"... One down..." she whispered softly...

[Netdroid9]

"...I havn't seen you around before. What's your name?" Said Net, trying out the style that seemed to be common to the Dojo these days. Nah, seems a bit wierd to be typing like this.

***

*Ah, that's better. Where was I? Oh yeah. Net shoots a dragon that was approching him from behind, and misses. The dragon promptly walks up to him, picks him up with it's mouth and spits him out a few seconds later as it's tastebuds practically melt with anguish.*

Net: When in doubt, cover yourself with that anti-nail-chewing stuff. Works every time. So, as I was saying, who the hell are you and what are you doing here?

[Danikat]

[Ashen Rain]

-(No, not Perny dragons. =p Stupidly dangerous Psychotopian fire dragons of the Northen Unexplored Tundra.)-

Ritka, who was now happily bandaged and clean, jumped slightly and scrambled foreward at the voice of someone behind her. Interestingly, she scrambled under the legs of the dragon she had just frozen. Sliding a bit in the snow till one of the creature's iced legs was between her and whoever was behind her, the young Celanthros skidded to a halt, then turned, peeking out at the speaker. When she did, she suddenly blinked.

"... Wait a minute," she murmured to herself, before speaking up so he could hear. "... Aren't you the person who said something about clearing out the dragons in this area?..."

Her pale cheeks reddened slightly, and she gave a somewhat small, embarassed smile as she stepped out from behind the trunk like dragon leg. "Yes, of course... your voice sounds a bit the same now that I think about it..." she said quietly. "Right then... I would be Ritka... Ritka Calling that is... And I was here looking for some mar-"

She stopped, midsentence, and her hand protectivly slid over the pouch at her side, squeezing it tight. It was still there and safe...

"... Looking for something to do." She corrected herself. "I came out here, got attacked by a dragon, heard your little speech, and then decided to go back and kill it. And let me tell you," she continued, kicking the frozen leg beside her, "It wasn't freaking easy."

[Panther385]

((You have a very interesting character there, Ashen.))

[Netdroid9]

...Well, whatever you were doing here, don't expect payment. Hmm... But you did kill the mother dragon... Tell you what, tell me what you were really looking for and I'll tell you if I've seen it recently.

[Ashen Rain]

(Why, sank you Panther. ^^)

Ritka blinked, and swallowed slightly. "... You'll... tell me if you've seen it?" she repeated slowly. This was an interesting predicament. Risk someone looking for the marbles that she ever searched for by telling them about it... or miss one completely because she didn't say anything.

Swallowing again, she gave a slight smile. She didn't have to tell him everything, now did she?

"Well, uh..." she began, searching for the correct words to use. "Honestly, I've... lost some marbles, I guess you could say." At this point, she blushed. "... Not to say that I'm crazy or anything. They're just... these very special and rare orbs that I own, and... Erm... Well, basically, I need them back, and someone has scattered them to the four winds, I suppose you could say."

She chewed the inside of her cheek, her face flushed grandly. "... So, what I'm looking for are marbles... There are alot of them. Many different colors and the like, with little... figures in the middle." She swallowed nervously for the third time, hoping that this would go well in the end. "... Have you seen any?"