Dragon Riders - Version 2, Dragon Riders, V.D. Style.

[silent_voice]

Renneth's massive wings fluttered in the breeze as he and Sparhawk made their way towards the open plateau on top of the cliff. A few dragons had already landed and were waiting for their trainer. Nobody knew who it was, there was no set time or age of when a rider and his steed was ready, people just felt it. When they believed they were ready, they would gather here to learn about the races. Some were never ready to race, and lived their lives without it.

Others were young when they started, growing up with the races. Only a select few however, lived to be in more than five.

The great races of dragons and riders. It happened once every ten years. Each decade brought a new group of competitors. Fresh meat to be slaughtered on the racetrack. The race itself, is worldwide. A race around the globe itself. Races usually lasted anything from three month's to a year. Depending on how much bloodshed. The races themselves have only one rule. There is only one winner.

At the moment, there are four highly ranked competitors. Moss, riding a dragon only known as 'Hellbringer'. Leron, a young and reckless racer and his steed Matai. Penneth, a beautiful and deadly Lioness. And finally Azoth, a warrior born and bred. Not much is known about these riders. Only that they raced before, and survived.



As Sparhawk landed he saw a few others had already made it, and a few more that he didn't know. Most were in their late teens or young twenties. Looks though, could be deceiving. Sliding down from his great titanium dragon's back Sparhawk stood before Renneth and inspected the competition.

Vanion and Zarintheis lay together under a tree, Zarintheis lay dozing under Vanion as the panther watched others arrive slowly, a few came in groups but most arrived on their own. He recognised a few faces but most were new to him. Giving a loud yawn Vanion stretched, his bones popping as he did so, waking Zarintheis beneath him. The long black frame of the goanna-dragon slithered over itself as Zarintheis stretched "Has it started?" The long dragon asked sleepily as he blinked himself to awareness "Not yet' Vanion muttered softly as he patted his dragon's shoulder. "Soon hopefully."

[OldSocks]

Viktor perched on a high wall, his soft wings slightly lax for balance, his feather and fur tail kept stiff. His eyes scanned the sky for his partner, who had gone skyward to stretch his wings.
Sure enough, if he focused, Cyril became visible far in the distance. His snowy fur and wings made him appear almost invisible against the fog on the mountainside, but to Viktor's keen eye, he was outlined perfectly. Cyril banked toward the ruined building where Viktor was waiting, revealing himself to the less trained eye.
His sleek figure was a sight, a predator. His forepaws were tipped with black talons, the dew claw much longer than the others, and wrapped around his paws like knuckle-busters. He had black toes, blue-grey paw pads, and a white-grey rump.

Cyril landed softly and cantered to a stop beneath a mossy archway to rest. He Released a soft yawn, boasting his porcelain fangs and pitch black maw, then rested his head between his forepaws, very much like a dog would while waiting for a treat. A couple of nearby riders "awww"d.

Viktor sometimes envied his dragon's cuteness, but he was sure there was a flaw in it somewhere..
Besides, who wants to be 'cute' in battle? Certainly not him.
He huffed quietly and hopped from his perch, digging his claws into the rocks to slow his fall and beating his wings only once to steady his landing.

"What the hell was that..?" he muttered.

Cyril grinned from between his paws, "Problem?"

"Yeah, problem!" Viktor growled, "Oh look at me, I'm so cute. Yaaawwwn~ Give me a break."

"What can I say? I'm a crowd pleaser." Cyril rolled onto his back and purred loudly, "If only I had someone to rub my belly.." His soft, snowy ears appeared dopey as he lay there on the ground, looking about at the other riders.

"Stop it, Cyril.." Viktor buried his face in his hand, "You're embarrassing me.."

Cyril frowned and rolled onto his side and assumed a 'puppy in trouble' expression.

Viktor just folded his arms and shook his head. "Give me a break..."

[Shay]

"Are you sure you know where you're going Kith?" Nix asked as they passed a church tower for what she was sure was the fourth time that day. "I'm sure I've seen that tower before..."
"You worry too much, Venix.. It's a little further from home than usual, yes... however I know that on he other side of this rise is the plateau we are meant to meet at... and I am well aware that we've been here before..." Kith-ra smiled back at her rider, "I just don't see the hurry. you shouldn't be nervous.."
Nix watched as her dragon made another turn, causing the sunlight to play along her blue scales, making them shimmer with their irridescent green highlights. "I'm only nervous because you're making me that way... can we just go to the plateau?"
"As you wish, Venix.. however I thought the flight would calm you more..." Kith-Ra said as she headed straight for the rise which concealed the meeting place behind it.
Nix only rolled her eyes in response, "And you call yourself a reader..."

"...And you think you're one of them? ...... You're flappin fast and goin' nowhere, Zeke........ I know you don't have any wings to flap... just.. It's a figure of speech you silly git!" Adrian and his dragon Zeke sat under one of the few trees on the plateau having a.. 'conversation'... Zeke, an adolescent, white furred dragon who walked on all fours, was 12 foot long but twice as long including his tail.. a description well rehearsed by Adrian... was the picture of health for his species... people guessed.. apart from the fact that he didn't speak.
"Listen, Zeke.. if you were one of them... you'd look like one.. and don't give me this and that about mutation.. I've heard it all before." Adrian stopped his pacing in front of his companion long enough to catch the dejected look on his face. "Come on.. I know exactly what you are... You're my Pal! My buddy... My wingman.." there was a pause which earned Adrian a quick bap to the head from Zeke, "....Figuratively speaking..." he added, earning a grin from his dragon, "You know we really have to work on getting you to talk.. I can understand you.. but it still makes things hard for other people.." he said finally, setting himself down on the ground next to Zeke and leaning against his side.

[silent_voice]

Zarintheis watched as others arrived, seeing them all he shook his head, the red fur around his neck fluffed out before flattening once more. Giving a big yawn his green tongue slipped out and licked his lips.

Vanion's attention turned to Viktor and his dragon, giving a snort, looking away he scanned the others "By the looks of it Zar..... nobody here is that much of a challange." He said before turning his back to the competition. Reaching up he rubbed Zarintheis' mane. Vanion wore a simple garb of pants with a simple white singlet over the top, his muscled arms and almost zero body fitted the garb almost perfectly. He and Zarintheis began a soft conversation between themselves as others began to mingle.

Groups of friends moved together to talk, outsiders remaining alone, looking at the groups with wary glances. A fair number of these glances were at Sparhawk.

Being only in his early twenties, Sparhawk's frame was of one much older than himself, standing almost seven feet tall he rose head and shoulders above all others. Even though he was mostly gentle in nature, his massively muscled frame gave others a reason not to talk to him.

Renneth, much like Sparhawk rose head and shoulders above all others at the training ground. Being made from pure titanium he was not only massive in height he was also that way in weight. Just like Sparhawk however, he was gentle in nature. Sparhawk looked up at Renneth "When do you think Venix will get here? She's cutting it close." He muttered.

No sooner had the words come out of his mouth, a fireball landed in the center of the clearing, all dragons became silent, as the flames and dust began to die down, it became obvious that someone was standing in the center. His frame was something of pure power. Standing in full race armor his body was encased in powerful dragon made steel. Flames embedded in the actual steel danced up and down his arms. Images of his monstrous dragon were engraved onto the shoulder plates, they themselves moved freely within the steel.

Standing fully, Moss slowly looked around at the dragons and riders before him "Is this all?" He asked, his voice nothing but a deep rumbling burr in his chest "There were more last year." he said as the dust finally settled "Welcome to the first day, wanna be riders."

[Shay]

Kith-ra unexpectedly dove down and landed next to Renneth in the clearing, just as the fireball hit the ground, "Greetings, Renneth, Sparhawk.." she said softly, eyeing the ball of flames cautiously as Venix climbed down from her back.

"Sorry we're late.. Kith decided to take a few passes of the town before coming here... thought it would calm me down.." Nix whispered to Sparhawk as she came to a stop next to him in front of their dragons, "Still making friends I see.." she added wth a slight grin, noting the sizable girth the other riders and their dragons left around the pair.. "Though it makes things easier to land.."

Moss' speech seemed to render the entire plateau silent save for a few shuffles of feet and uneasy glances around the rest of the riders, Kith could sense that the anxiety levels had just jumped a few points, so much so that it could almost be tasted in the air and she stepped forward a pace to set herself closer to her rider.


Zeke had looked up in time to see both forms falling from the sky, one aflame and the other plummeting faster than what should have been normal and he nudged Adrian to call his attention to them. Adrian however waved them off until Moss' rumbling voice carried to his ears, at which time his attention snapped to the fireball and he listened intently to what it had to say.


"Chen we're late and it's all because of you..." the dragon rumbled irritably, though there was a hint of play still hidden in the tone as he zipped past the church the knuckles of his feet mere inches from the ground.

"Well you were the one who didn't wake me up until ten minutes ago.. it's your fault!" the rider retorted, pressed low and close to the dragon's body to reduce drag, "We may as well slow down seeing as we are already late..."

"And miss important information? Are you crazy?" the dragon exclaimed, slowing ever so slightly as he turned his head to look over his shoulder at his rider, "Don't answer that.. I already know the answer.." he stated, turning his head back and stepping up the speed again with a flap of his wings, "Hold on.. here comes the climb to the plateau shelf.."

His rider flatted their ears and streamlined themself to the dragon, laying between his shoulders as he flew up the side of the hill, "Lit, you may want to slow down before we.." Chennelle didn't get to finish the sentence.. as at that moment, the two of them shot up over the lip of the plateau and into the air. "..Call attention to ourselves.." she said, resisting the urge to facepalm herself or smack at her dragon, the resulting drag would probably pull her off him.

The dirt brown western dragon plummeted back down to earth before braking with his wings at the last second for a soft landing, folding his wings in triumph as he nearly strutted to a bit of open space and set himself down, allowing his rider to slide off. He gave a tranquil smile as his rider walked around to his front ready to give him a serve of verbal abuse before he reminded her that thers were present with a small tilt of his head.

[silent_voice]

Vanion raised his brow at the arrival of first the fireball, then the arrival of the young woman next to the massive dragon and his rider. Like others he had separated himself from Sparhawk, but unlike others, he had separated himself from everyone else. Watching the woman silently for a while as she spoke softly with the Badger he wondered whether the massive dragon and rider were to be feared as much as it appeared.

Moss was halted in his speech by the arrival of the newest rider, turning fully to her he cast his calm eyes on her, for a moment they seemed to shift from the calm lucid cover to a more sinister creature, it battled for a moment before he turned away "Nice of you to join us, Chennelle and Lit." He said before turning back to the main group "Your training will consist of you being in groups. Each group will be tested, and passes and fails will be set per group. If one person in your group fails, you all fail." he said casting his stern gaze upon all of them "To first decide what groups you will be selected into, tests of your abilities will be taken." he said before looking up at a slow circling beast "To assist me, I will ask of my own dragon, Hellraiser." He said raising his hand "Come down and introduce yourself, my friend."

Sparhawk acknowledged Venix's arrival with a soft laugh "Its almost as if we smell." he said with a slight grin. As Moss' speech continued it began to set in how serious this was "Seems like we'll have no choice but to make friends." He muttered once more before giving Renneth a slight glance, the titanium dragon snorted in distaste "I hope we are with you Kith." The dragon muttered himself.

As Moss raised his arm to call his dragon the plateau went silent, the great circling shadow slowly disappeared from view, a few silent moments passed before suddenly the great flaming dragon appeared from over the trees, roaring her supremacy at the dragons below. She was a picture of pure power, Moss' words echoed over the massive roar "Meet the last Elemental dragon on our world." he called out with a proud beaming smile.

Vanion blanched at the words "Elemental.." he muttered before glancing at Zarintheis. The other dragon's eyes narrowed slightly "I thought they were extinct." he said before the massive flaming dragon landed.

Hellraiser herself was larger than Sparhawk's massive dragon Renneth, her wingspan spread almost over the entire length of the plateau and was made of pure flames, her body easily twice, or three times longer than any other dragon. Underneath her scales it seemed like flames were dancing, her head itself was larger than some dragons with flaming mane and eyebrows. Raising her head she gave a mighty roar, belching pure flames from her mouth. Now that the introduction was complete, and the Plateau was a little wetter from other riders and a few dragons actually wetting themselves, she folded her wings and rested her great bulk on the earth "I hope these dragons are better than the last lot you trained Moss." She said with a hint of humor.

[OldSocks]

(ooc: I thought her name was Hellbringer in the last thread? Anyway I'm adding twins into this here soon, Tox and Nano, I will make bios for them a bit later.)

Cyril thumped his tail on the stone floor happily and shifted his paws excitedly, "Viktor!" He whispered, "She is the Mother! She will bring the elementals back!"
"What on Earth are you barking about..?" Viktor growled, elbowing Cyril's shoulder, "She's the Harbinger of Death by the looks of her.."
Cyril gasped, "Back in the Mother's day, you would be beheaded for such talk!"
"Hmph, at this rate, we'll be beheaded for talking, period."

As he looked around, Viktor noticed just how large some of his opponents may be. He hoped that he wouldn't have to fight any of them, he wouldn't get far in a battle of brawn.

After Moss' speech concluded, everyone was asked to sit side-by-side so that their teams could be selected, and the first trial could begin.

[silent_voice]

(OOC: I tend to accidentally change the names of characters, please let me know when I do it, but you've also got to remember I have a LOT of characters. I also have to direct the story, so like... please be kind? lol)

[Shay]

Chennelle continued to glare at her dragon until he looked over at the huge titanium dragon and his rider, "Hey Chen... that guy looks kinda like you... 'cept bigger..." he added with a short laugh.

"Litmus.. I swear if we survive preliminary rounds of training.. I will put you in so much pain..." Chennelle threatened under her breath, but the dangerous tone was dulled to mere annoyance at her dragon's seemingly carefree attitude, and usually she would share it.. however he had allowed them to be late and then flaunted that fact.

"You can't stay mad at me forever... you're already softening..." Litmus said with a small smirk, "Look sharp.. groups are being called.."


Kith-ra acknowledged Renneth's distaste with a slight nod, "He'd want to put us at an unease... to force better teamwork between rider and dragon.. or he may look at how everyone has interacted so far and form teams based on who seems to get along well... I don't know.. he's hard to read.."

"Give it a rest you two.. even if we ren't grouped together.. we'll have ome to ourselves to get together and compare notes..." Nix hissed under her breath loud enough for the two dragons and Sparhawk to hear her.


Zeke yawned silently, expressing his boredom as he sat in line about four dragons down from Kith, he was looking around idly waiting for something to happen.
"Zeke, eyes forward you idiot.." Adrian whispered, earning a look of distaste and a soft thwap from Zeke's tail, "Hey what was that for? You don't want to be called out like that Chennelle chick and her dragon do ya?"
Zeke promptly sat still save for the slight shake of his head. he did obey however... for the most part... sitting still and keeping his eyes forward... until a small bird caught his attention in the distance and he followed that with his eyes until he got an elbow to the chest from Adrian along with a warning look. "Behave.."

[silent_voice]

Moss's eyes hardened as he looked around at the group before him "When i call your name. Stand before Hellraiser, she will sort you into your groups." he said before looking around briefly "You." he said pointing to Viktor and Cyril "Viktor and Cyril, you are first." He said watching with hardened eyes.

Hellraiser rose slowly as Moss chose the first, watching the pair carefully with a glowing orange eye. "Approach." She said, her voice soft and pleasant but it was brimming with raw power.

As time passed, the dragons were slowly placed into groups each one having a balance of power, size, speed, and intelligence. Finally after they were all sorted Moss looked at the four groups with a careful eye. "I will give you ten minutes to get used to your groups, to learn names, abilities and learn who is going to be your friend, and who is going to be your greatest foes."

(OOC: be back later, need something)

[silent_voice]

Sparhawk stood before Renneth, looking at his new group with an annoyed eye. "I'm Sparhawk." he said before jerking his thumb up at Renneth "This is Ren." he said briefly.

Watching him carefully Vanion couldn't help but give a slight snort at how annoyed the large beast was over nothing. His eyes roamed the group, first at Viktor and Cyril. In his mind he was furious that he would be placed with such a hopeless case like those two, shaking his head from the dark thoughts he looked at the others.

Chennelle, a young girl, looked just like Sparhawk but unlike him she looked like she had a sense of humor, casting his eye over her he judged her as not worth talking to. Adrian looked like your every day army boy, focussing on his goals and never relenting, Vanion rolled his eyes at the thought. His dragon however, Vanion might be able to have fun with him. Standing right next to Sparhawk was that woman that caught Vanion's eye earlier, he considered the fact they were standing so close they knew each other.

Sparhawk saw Vanion's eye roaming and looked at him directly a non verbal challange between a dark figure mingling in the background and the shadows, and a monstrous titan of strength. A battle of wills if you would. "Who are you?" Sparhawk demanded, his eyes glinting with an almost unchecked anger at the ballziness of his blatent stares.

Vanion smirked slightly, dropping his gaze, not in defeat, but in jest, stepping out of the shadows so others could see him and his dragon at the same time, Vanion crossed his arms "I am Vanion D'ask. And this is Zarintheis." he said as his dragon coiled behind him, a long tail with a bladed tip surrounded Vanion. Vanion watched with a smirk, the two large scars down his left eye giving him a fearsome gaze.

[Shay]

Venix rolled her eyes at Vanion's bravado act before stepping forward, "My name is Venix Muhn, My friends call me Nix.. this is my dragon partner, Kith-ra." As she was announced, Kith lowered her head in greeting, however staying near to Renneth moreso than the others.
"Renneth and I are from the same breeding pens.. we were brought up in the same cresh before Venix and Sparhawk came to get us.. coincedentally on the same day as each other when they were children.. we've all been friends since then." she said with a smile to Renneth.


Adrian nodded as he listened to Kith's explanation and afterwards stepped forward to make his own introductions. "Hey guys, My name is Adrian, not much to say really..." he went to step back but Zeke pushed him forward again with an indignant frown. "Alright fine.. but one of these days you'll have to introduce yourself..." Adrian said wagging his finger at his dragon, "And this is my pain in the butt doesn't talk doesn't know what he is dragon.." Zeke swatted Adrian arcross the back of the head with his tail, "Hey.. no cheek from you, mister... when you introduce yourself you can do it however you like... and as long as I am doing the introductions I'll do it how I like.." he said with a smile before turning back to the others again, "Nah he's fine.. a mystery breed and refuses to talk.. his name is Zekerin, but we just call him Zeke.." Adrian patted Zeke's fur down around his neck, earning a gentle purr from his dragon's throat.


Chennelle was leaning against Litmus' shoulder as the introductions went around soon it was her turn, "I'm Chennelle.. though you'd already know that seeing as my partner made us late... His name is Litmus, rather fitting as his paws can change colour depending on the ground's ph levels.. fun fact number one!" she said with a smile, "Everyone in our village didn't think we were ready to leave.. but we'll show them how wrong they are when we get into the races..." she finished with definate determination in her voice and face, and her statement was punctuated with Litmus' firm nod.

"They aren't going to be too happy to find us gone in fact... I was meant to help them test the soils for seeding.." Litmus added as an afterthought before Chennelle shrugged it off.

[OldSocks]

Viktor bowed to the females of the group before straightening and inclining his head to the males, "I am Viktor," Cyril mimicked his movements behind him, his tail waggling playfully, "Pleased to meet you. Cyril and I are from the great frozen tundra beyond the rocky mountains surrounding this valley." His blue-tipped flight feathers glinted in the sunlight, "I must say, the weather is not quite what I expected." He added with a smile, looking up to the cloudless sky.

Cyril rolled his eyes and nudged Viktor lightly out of the way, "He means the weather is lovely. I am very excited to see all of you, you all seem very nice." His eyes fell upon Vanion and Sparhawk, "Except you two. Stop frowning, or your faces will freeze when a new wind whispers." He smiled toothily to the pair, ears drooping when he received a glare from their dragons.
"Ah.. well is that everybody? Did we miss anyone in the introductions at all?" Cyril looked about the group.
Viktor stepped up onto Cyril's back and leaned on his head, "I think part of the introductions is showing off your skills, too. Anyone want to start off this pissing contest?"

[silent_voice]

Zarintheis couldn't help himself, he began to laugh softly, when he recieved a glare from Vanion it just made him laugh harder, finally he was on his back, tears rolling down his face as he laughed "He's right!" He gasped as he laughed "Its just a pissing contest! There's no point in it at all!" He laughed, soon enough Vanion too was laughing.

As the pair laughed harder, Renneth snorted, then he too began to chuckle softly, Sparhawk blinked in surprise which just caused him to laugh more, which in turn made Sparhawk laugh.

With all four laughing, the group couldn't resist, its a well known fact that laughter is contagious.

Time slipped away from them and without warning, a fireball was belched into the center of the plateau. Moss called for silence "Thats enough! I'm sure you all know much about each other." he said before looking around at all the dragons "Now... before we begin fully, is there any dragon or rider, who thinks they are good enough to defeat me in direct combat?" He asked looking around at the nervous competitors "Anybody at all, it can be a rider, dragon, or both. Hellraiser will not interfere, its just me. Does anybody have the balls?"

The crowd went silent for the longest time till finally, a mean looking rider and his dragon stepped forwards "Me 'n' Jax will go against you.

[Shay]

Chennelle wiped her cheeks clear of the tears of laughter as she looked over at the new voice that echoed over the plateau. Litmus came up beside her, still smiling, "So.. who are the walking corpses who just announced their deaths?" he asked with a casual chuckle, Chennelle only shrugged in response.

Kith-ra looked over and narrowed her eyes, "They are not to be underestimated... they aren't well known by anyone.. they may even be a plant so that Moss can show off.."

"Well, thanks for the vague information, Kith..." Nix said sarcastically, earning a shrewd look from her dragon

"I don't know who he is... Why you asking?" Adrian said with a hint of annoyance, "You know everyone I do..." he waved his hand dismissively, making Zeke snort his annoyance.