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Closed Semi-lit: PG-13: The Order of the Dragon Knights

((Pfffft why's everyone posting so much? ))

Razkr looked at the silver dragon. What is Endy-the-sparkly doing? He's just sort of lying there after firing a small puff of sparkly cloud at the not-as-sparkly purple dragon, making the purple dragon seem sparkier than normal. "Well, you're just sort of sitting there," the bronze dragon summoned up uncomfortably. It seemed like he was missing some important meaning, but he couldn't figure out what... Razkr shrugged. The purple dragon looked rather entertaining in the sparkly cloud, as the swirling cloud made strange patterns in the air.

Razkr stared.

He didn't notice when the silvery dragon left to chat with some green dragons, for he was too busy studying the swirling clouds. "Ohhhhh..." Muttering to no one in particular, the bronze continued to stare at the fading wisps of clouds. "That's pretty cool. Did you see the way the clouds were all sparkly? Must be the electricity in the clouds... Wait... That means Morry must be getting shocked, right? But she's not being shocked. Hm." Suddenly thoughtful, Razkr settled into a silence.

~~~~

Charlie looked up at the commotion, then quickly lowered his head again. The well-dressed girl seemed to be a noble -- he would have to try to get out of the way. The other boys have swords, too, although one of them was wood. The boys whispered something to each other -- Charlie was dying to find out what, but he didn't want to butt into somebody else's business. It's better to sit back in safety... He did not want to get off of the wrong foot with these guys. Especially not before he figure out what the third quest is. The boy kept quiet, but still keeping an eye on the small group in front of him.
 
"I'm fine," Raiha said abruptly. He licked the stream of blood on his chin, making it clean for a few seconds, and went on to the second form he had seen a wandering swordsman use, now using his right foot as a pivot as he swung at an imaginary enemy.

He had taken small cuts and the like before, and it always stopped after a while. He went on to the second form he had tried to practice once, trying to keep it from hitting the small girl next to him. He really should've found something to do while he was sitting.
 
"Are you sure? It looks like it hurts..." She said quietly, kind of pressing up against the boy so she didn't get hit by the swings. "I can help, you know. Just because I am on noble blood does not mean I am useless at work. Now let me see."

She poked the boy in the ribs with a thin finger.

"Or would you prefer to bleed all over the place, messing up the poor person who owns this place's floors?"

((Urk why is this post so short.))
 
"I'm FINE," Raiha growled through gritted teeth, licking another trail of blood. "It's already starting to stop."

If he hadn't been trained from an early age to never strike a woman because of her nagging, he'd have given her a clean blow with his sword. Damn his father for teaching him to be chivalrous. He concentrated on the form, but it wasn't going well. He would occasionally overswing and lose his balance, or underswing and mess up the form.

Swordsmanship was hard.
 
Alanna winced when Raiha raised his voice, taking a few steps backwards. He was a lot bigger than her, and stronger, and he was capable of hurting her. She wasn't used to being yelled at or having anyone be mad at her like this boy seemed to be, and it scared her. So she did what was a normal reaction for her in a fear-situation - she burst into tears.

So she stood there in tears, whimpering and pressed against the wall, eyes shut.

"I'm sorry I was just trying to help please don't hurt me..." She whimpered.

((Man, Al does not know how to deal with people x3;))
 
"Uh..." Raiha stared for a minute, dumbstruck and frowning. "What the hell?" He knew girls were weird at times, but he didn't know they were that weird. Raiha stood there for a moment, quite unsure about what the hell he should do in this point.

So you teach me how to be nice to women, but you've never told me what to do when they're crying... he thought. Nice going Pop.

Seriously not knowing what to do, he stared at the others with a pleading look in his eyes, the kind of look that says what the fuck should I do now?

((Dear god I hope this never happens to me in real life, I'd have no idea what the hell I should do))
 
Ilia dug her fingernails into the palms of her hands, trying desperately not to scream. And now, that boy had made some girl cry. Along with everything else going on, they had a crying girl here. Great. This was a complete disaster, and nothing had happened yet. She pretended to not notice Raiha. Ilia stood up and looked at Alanna, speaking softly.
"Calm down. He can't hurt anyone. There are guards nearby, remember?"
She practically dropped back down onto her chair, embarrassed. Why did she keep talking to these people? They were all either obnoxious, loud, or completely scared her (90% of the people here were in the third category).
 
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(Yay for plot advancement... more coming soon)

After Zz'lara spoke with Maia, the last of the young dragons she was to visit, she flew off through the valley, toward the base of a mountain. She landed near a solid iron gate, where a small, older, male human could be seen, wearing a black hooded cloak. The adult green dragon then sat down and lowered her head, beginning to speak to him.
"All the dragons should be on their way to the temple. I'll head there to brief them."
He smiled, lifting a hand to pat her on the snout. "Good... I'll introduce myself to the humans. Hopefully there will be enough. Meet me back here in five minutes."
"Of course..."
Zz'lara then flew off toward the temple, and the iron door began to open, the human walking through.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

The silver dragon glanced back up at the bronze, smirking at how easily amused he was. Just looking at the sparkly results of his breath attack seemed to be enough for Razkr to stay occupied. He's cool like that, I suppose... Endy thought. Just as he laid his head down on the ground to relax though, there suddenly was a slight vibration, enough to make Endy look up for its source. He didn't wonder long, though, because it was clear... Zz'lara began to walk inside, obviously having just landed out in front of the temple. The adult green dragon looked around and smiled, then made an announcement to the younger dragons.

"Well, it looks like you all made it. Good. I will be carrying the humans here soon, and I'd like you all to gather over there and wait peacefully." She pointed toward the center of one side of the room, where most of the dragons already had pretty much gone to. "Relax and remain calm, maybe close your eyes for a little while. There will be enough time for showing off and interacting after the orientation. Don't worry, it'll be short and sweet. My partner and I will let you know when you can choose your human partner."

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Verne looked a little nervous when he saw the wooden sword fly clear over his head, appearing to be heading toward Ardeina. He couldn't do anything immediately, because of his own sword, so he quickly moved to put it away, but before he could reach to catch it, he saw Ardeina had already handled the sword herself. He looked a little disappointed that he couldn't help, but he then looked up and asked her, "Are you all right, Lady Ardeina?"

Just then, the second door, the one across the room from the one everyone entered, opened, and an older human walked inside, wearing a black hood and cloak. Most of his face, particularly his thick, grayish mustache and eyebrows, and his three-inch long pointed beard, also grayish with a hint of black, could be seen below his hood. He had deep brown eyes, and a wrinkled face.

"Good morning, children," he spoke in a gruff tenor voice. "Welcome to the first day of the rest of your lives. My name is Mister Lanhol. You may refer to me by my full title, or by Sir, never just 'Lanhol'." He paused and counted the number of teens that had arrived, then grinned. "Ten, perfect. I'm glad you could all come. Now then, let me warn you. What lies ahead for you is pain, torment, hard labor, and for many of you, death. You will be tested in ways you never knew were possible, and there will be many times where you could only wish for a swift end. But, should you succeed, should you prevail through these tribulations, you will discover what true fortune, and what true power is. You will become heroes, to yourself, your people, and your kingdom. Now, I cannot blame you if you are troubled, if you do not have the confidence in yourself to continue. So, I will give you two options. Walk through that door..." Mr. Lanhol pointed toward the one the kids had entered through. "... and you will be escorted back to your former lives. You will be safe and secure, back among your worried families. There will be no penalty, except you will be left to wonder for the rest of your lives, 'What could have been?' Or..." He then changed hands, pointing toward the door HE entered from.

"... Follow me through this door, and you will learn the great secrets that have been hidden from the masses. You will discover your destiny...." He walked back toward that door. "Let me give you one final word. You are the finest children the Examination has found, perhaps not in your immediate skills... but in your potential... what you can become. But it is up to you to determine whether you will live up to that potential."

With that, Mr. Lanhol walked back out the door he had entered in. Verne stared at the strange old man for a while, looking a bit confused. He was worried about what some of the things the man had said, but did he really mean the last words, that Verne, and the other kids there, were the selected as the very best? He couldn't help but also be curious. "What do you think?" he asked around the room, before staring at the open door the man had exited from.
 
When the strange man entered, Alanna stopped crying and stared, wiping her face with her sleeve. He spoke to them, and then left. She stood against the wall, blinking, for a moment, then one of the boys spoke.

"What do you think?"

She looked towards him, brown eyes glimmering.

"We go. Seize the day and all that. Grab life by the jugular!" She chirped, and started to march towards the door, drawing her rapier. "My brother told me, 'Never waste a chance that life gives you'. I think that will serve us well."

---

N'Hee snorted. Humans. She wasn't a big fan of them, to be honest. Just overgrown rodents without fur. She hoped that her human would be easy to manipulate, and she supposed she wasn't supposed to eat them, so they'd better listen. She streched her wings a bit, and picked a scab off of her paw.

"I take it we can't eat them if they do stupid things, then?" She purred.
 
Morrigan stirred, shaking off the remnants of the sparkling cloud and looking curiously at Zz'lara. Without a sound, the purple got to her feet, stretched and walked to where she had been bidden, eyes shining. Finally, it was happening! She couldn't wait for her partner to arrive - what kind of person would it be? Hopefully they weren't scared of heights, and were interesting enough to keep up with her topic changes.

-----------
Ardeina smiled at Verne again, rubbing her hand where the wood had smacked against her palm. "I'm fine, thanks. I -" Whatever she was about to say was cut off as a stranger entered. She instantly stopped talking and turned to look at him, head tilting to one side. She kept quiet during his speech, but someone close to her would note that she pursed her lips, looking rather displeased as he continued. Eventually, when he left, she crossed her arms and narrowed her eyes, glaring at the door as if it had insulted her personally. "There were secrets. They hid information from us - all of us - even the wealthiest nobles!" She was obviously affronted. It seemed the compliment on their potential hadn't soothed her ruffled feathers. "But - if we do this. If we go through with it... We'll be heroes. With power." Her eyes sparkled with the realization and sudden longing. Fairy tales that she had dismissed long ago suddenly seemed very, very close.
 
Erandor waited for a second. It appeared that the Nobel didn't hear him. Probably because she was catching that other boy's sword.

Just then, a door he hadn't noticed before at the other end of the cave opened. A small old man in green entered, and made a speech, introducing himself as Mister Lanhol, and talked about what was going to happen to them. Another boy, after Mister Lanhol left got up and asked what every body was going to do.

A small, scared looking girl promptly got up and walked through the door after Mister Lanhol. Erandor got up and announced to the room "What she said" and followed her. It was a small door, and his bright red hair brushed the frame as he went through it.
 
Verne was about to say something to show off his concern, but then he remembered something. He had nothing left. No food, no money, hardly any water... It would be tough for him even to make the journey back to his poor little village if he were to back out now. And his father... the one who had convinced him to come in the first place, would be very disappointed. He knew then he only had one choice. "All right. I'm going then." He stood up and began to follow the man out the door.

There was another short hallway, and the man appeared to be standing by another iron gate, seeming to be waiting for the others to make up their minds. Verne walked up to him and nodded. "I'm coming, Sir." The man just smiled, peering at the ones who had accepted so far.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Zz'lara smirked a little from the black dragon's question. "Your own methods are up to you. If you find out the human you choose isn't what you thought, doesn't live up to your expectations, well, it's more important that you can find someone that does. But just remember, your human partner is your choice, and if you choose wrong, or if something happens to your human, it may be some time, up to a year, before you have another chance. And also remember, you may grow strong by yourself, but you will be much stronger together, with the right one for you.

With that, the green dragon walked off, out of the temple, and glided back off of the hill. Endy seemed to find her comments interesting... Nothing's off the table, hmm? Maybe this could be fun afterall...
 
Arite glared at Endymion, about to tell him that if he had actually known a few things then she wouldn't have spoken at all. Zz'lara entered, though, and she decided to shut up.

She had always liked Zz'lara, enjoyed her company. One wouldn't necessarily call them friends, but they certainly shared a close master-and-pupil bond. Atleast, on Arite's side. She was humble enough to know that she could never know what someone was thinking, if they were lying, or putting on a mask. She had only heard this phrase, never seen a mask. She had a hazy knowledge of them, and knew that they were apparently something humans put on their faces so that you couldn't see their actual face.

Why would anyone want to do that? she had wondered, until one day she saw an extraordinarly old dragon whose face was deformed from overexposure to too many kinds of magic. Atleast, that was what she had been told had caused his deformity.

Arite was personally excited when she heard that the humans were coming. She wondered exactly what they looked like; she had only heard descriptions, which were very limited. She was told that they had something called hair on their heads. It was almost like fur, Zz'lara had told her, but far longer and thicker, which had led to amusing mental images of a large puffball rodent that walked on its hind legs, and was bald except for its head.

She relaxed out of her coiled position and instead curled herself around a rather large space of the temple in a shape reminiscent to a mix between a C and a J. She laid down flat on her belly; her skimpy legs were getting tired of supporting her weight.
 
Raiha almost dashed through the door Mister Lanhol had said would take him somewhere cool. Sheathing his sword, he sped towards the gate, making sure to give the chick that just cried a wide berth.

"Uh, sir, I have a question. During those tests, are any of them going to teach you what to do if a girl starts crying for no reason?" He looked at Mister Lanhol slightly desperately. "Now that I think about it, that's a serious flaw in what my dad tried to teach me."
 
Now, if Kinri wasn't already at least a touch confused-though he had felt a touch of personal pride that no one had seemed to get angry at his witty comment. Still, that silver did have a point. Where were they? The green dragon had to wonder.

And, if anything, Endy was at least getting to see Kinri give him a rather odd look that seemed to be rather the mix of confusion, annoyance, and mild disbelief.

Of course, his kind were rather fond of reasoning things out, so despite the fact he felt he might be able to engage in a striking conversation with Arite (though he didn't know her name personally), or at least try and come up with a comeback for Endy's prediction on them having to work...he decided to try and figure out why they weren't there yet.

Perhaps it's one of two things, he decided after a moment, This is either a rather elaborate prank, or they're getting the humans ready to meet with us...hmm?

Kinri paused in his deliberations as the older of his kind made her appearance. Oh, certainly, he thought to himself as he made his way over to the appointed area. True, he was excited...but now he suddenly had something he could say to get even with that silver dragon.

So it was that the young green made his way over to Endymion and craned his neck so as to speak in a draconic mumble. "I knew you were lying, Endy," He said with a bit of ov'rweening smugness, "You just had to be..." He snerked; the sound probably one of the oddest things one could ever hear a dragon make and rather impossible to describe, actually, as he settled in more comfortably to listen.

So I have to make my first choice a good one...And behave. He smiled innocently. Well, scratch behave...
 
Endy glanced up as Kinri walked over to him this time, seeming a little too smug after being reassured again by Zz'lara. After listening to his ranting, Endy calmly replied, "Oh yes, you got it. You're so smart, Kinri." The way he said it, though, it wasn't clear whether he was being honest, or facetious. He then turned his head away, resting it on his forepaws, and curled his tail around, closing his eyes and relaxing. "Shouldn't be long now..." he muttered.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

(note that if you haven't replied to the choice, you can still retroactively choose to accept to follow him, and just be 'part of the crowd' for this post... or decline, for that matter, though what fun would that be?)

Mr. Lanhol watched as kids began to file in after him and smiled. He answered one question. "Here, it doesn't matter whether you're a girl or a boy. Girls chose to leave behind their effeminate innocence when they chose to take the Examination. The ones here were chosen for their gifts, just as you were, and should be expected to perform just as any boy would be."

When he was confident that everyone who was coming had done so, he announced to the crowd of kids. "All right then, from now on, there's no turning back. Your decisions and your development will determine your survival." With that, he began to open the gate.

As the gears and crank turned, and the gate lifted, sunlight finally began to shine in through the opening... they apparently had made it through a tunnel through the steep hill. Suddenly, before the gate was even half lifted though, a tremor could be felt along the ground, and something big... and green, seemed to approach, until, as the gate was fully opened, a large green, scaly snout lay just in front of the gate. It grinned and snarled a little, revealing a long set of large, pointy teeth.

Zz'lara sat crouched down in front of the gate, peering in at the new batch of recruits, watching to see their initial reactions to the dragon in front of them. This never gets old... she thought.

(note: Zz'lara's about 30 feet tall and 70 feet long, so her head is maybe 7 feet tall and 10 feet long, just by itself. Just to give some reference for visualization)
 
Woah.

That was all Alanna could think when she saw the dragon, her mouth hanging open. Her big brother had told her about dragons, but she had never believed him... But here one was, right in front of them, and is seemed to be grinning. The scaly green creature was beautiful, and Alanna stared as if she was experiencing the rapture, her brown eyes wide. She almost dropped her rapier, but managed to keep a hold on it, just barely.

Finally, she spoke.

"Can... can I touch you, dragon?" She whispered, oblivious to the fact that the massive beast could just as soon eat her as look at her.

----

N'Hee thrashed her tail impatiently, mulling over the words the old green dragon had spoken. She could eat the human...but then she would be at a disadvantage. That would not do. She would just have to whip the human she chose into shape. That meant picking one that was easily manipulated, but she didn't want a stupid human. She would have to get a good look at the humans before she could make up her mind.

"I call first dibs on picking my human." She hissed, looking around the room.
 
Ominak continued to stare at the dragon before him, silent for the first time in his entire life. He usually always had something to say, but now he didn't.

"Can...can I touch you, dragon?"

He glances at the girl that spoke, reconizing her as the fencer that nearly fell to her death. He then watches the dragon, a little concerned about what may happen if the Dragon took offence to that.

---

Maia yawned, waking up once more when the other dragons started to speak loudly. After listening to a few conversations, she got the idea that the Humans will be here soon. One of the dragon's seems to have called "dibs" on picking.

Silly young thing.

She rests on the floor again and waits for the next thing to happen.
 
Ardeina squeaked. It was an undignified sound, and she was ashamed as soon as she did it, but it was the only real reaction to something so big... And pretty. And dangerous. And big. Did she mention that it was very, very big? The words of another girl made her turn to look at her, astonished. What... what bravery! Ardeina had to do the exact same thing, lest she be called craven. "Er... Pardon, but would I be able to as well... sir?" she hazarded in the sweetest, most polite voice possible. It took all her strength to keep from trembling or yelping at the thought of going near something whose head was taller than her, but she managed. The gender of the dragon was impossible to guess - did they even have genders? Could they speak? Why wasn't this one eating them? All the tales she had heard bards recount were of dragons as vicious monsters that lived to destroy and pillage. Still, 'sir' was polite, and right now, polite was far more important than accurate.

She took a step forward, and then wished she hadn't. The dragon loomed, and she wished she had something to hold, something that hekpt her hands from shaking. What if - what if this special honour, this amazingly hard training... what if it was a lie? What if this was one of those sacrificial lotteries that sometimes occured, where youths were given up to the dragons to keep the dragons from eating everyone?

Her imagination gripped the idea, and ran away with it, until she could barely stand to look at the dragon or Mr. Lanhol. What if he was a part of the vile plot?

((I'll fall off my chair laughing if I don't kill this little idea next post. XD Sadly.))
 
Raiha gave a low whistle at the giant row of teeth.

"I guess he doesn't have any trouble chewing his food." Slowly walking forward, Raiha kept a tight grip on his wooden sword. This is one time he REALLY wished he had a sword, but he could... poke the dragon in the eye. Or... yeah, he'd die. Raiha licked off the last of the blood on his lip, and noticed his hand was shaking, either from excitement or fear, he didn't know.
 
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