Legend of the Armoured Warrior

[X-Kal]

You wake up in the midst of some trees. Nearby you hear the sounds of a cave. Dimly you remember that you are a new dragon, and something of a dangerous Dragon Slayer that is plaguing the area. You decide you would like to earn a name for yourself by perhaps some day confronting this vile creature.

The point of this is that you ARE the Green Dragon, or rather, you are one of many. Considering how many dragons are slain on central/classic every day, there must be a significant population. You must somehow deal with the menacing warrior. The warrior has been significantly weakened, still wary from the fight with your mother, and he is still working his way up the food chain. Rather, THEY are working up THEIR way up the food chain, as there are many warriors out there to fight. However, so are you. If you're going to stand any chance against this menace, you'll need to strengthen yourself, and fast. In addition, you will need to come up with some way to distract the Armoured Warrior in order to prevent him from completing his goal.

Somewhere, in a remote cave, a clutch of eggs remain unnoticed. You are unexpectedly awaken by a sudden burst of light entering your egg; it's time for you to hatch! Fortunately, you have help! Ylfnogard the pixie flits past and offers to remain your guide throughout your ardurous journey.

[Mess]

Better make that Ylfnogard ;) Ah, just a suggestion.

[X-Kal]

Nogard quietly changes his name to Ylfnogard, while reminding Mess of the in-character rule. :P

[Mess]

Mess, being a warrior, is accustomed to follow Eibwen's advice :P However, now that he awakes to a brand new life of a dragon, he decides to follow Ylfnogard and his advice. Stepping out of the cave, he follows a path that takes him straight into the forest, where destiny awaits to test his mettle to extreme - extreme patience, that is.

[tinuviel]

Tiv liked it inside the egg. =C

She blearily swats at Ylfnogard like one swats at that pesky alarm clock in the morning.

[X-Kal]

"Hey! Hey! Watch it, there! Ylfnogad yelped, as he avoided tinuviel's barrage. "Shouldn't you be whacking the pesky humans, instead?" Ylnogad flits about, then winds up outside, with Mess. "At last," he thinks to himself, "someone who will appreciate my advice!" "Perhaps you should be trying new things? See that pile of debris over there? Give it a smoke!"

[Mess]

Mess rubs his hands with glee and exclaims,"Ooo! Fun fun!" Then hobbles across the forest floor looking for smoke.

[tinuviel]

Tinuviel grumbles under her breath and accidentally falls out of her shell, which promptly cracks and collapses. "Blaaargh!"

Dragging her feet, she sniffs out the trails of a sibling and follows it out into the open air.

[X-Kal]

"No, no, no! You're supposed to make your own smoke! Ylfnogard exclaims to the young Mess. "Just close your eyes, concentrate, then breathe one it with all your might!"

He then spots Tiv arriving outside. "Good morning to you, too! Are we ready for our first lesson?"

[Valancy]

Valancy finds herself awake, but she can't see anything. She's not even really sure what "awake" means. There seems to be something shady in front of her eyes. She finds she has sharp claws, and gently pokes this grey thing with one finger.

Her eggshell begins to crack...

[tinuviel]

Tiv looks blankly at Ylfnogard, and tilts her head to one side. "Lessons? What sort?"

[X-Kal]

"We have to get ready for the humans to come. Unfortunately, they're not as nice as the other dragons, so we'll need to deal with them appropriately. For now, let's start on some easier things and work our way up. I've set up a few piles of dry wood, so you can practice setting them on fire."

Ylfnogard looks over at mess, who had recently been searching for smoke. "I suppose the first step is the most difficult."

[JackZackson]

Valancy finds herself awake, but she can't see anything. She's not even really sure what "awake" means. There seems to be something shady in front of her eyes. She finds she has sharp claws, and gently pokes this grey thing with one finger.

Her eggshell begins to crack...

Awww man I was going to do the whole eggshell thing... Bah, I'm going to stick with it even though it now looks like I've got no imagination of my own

*Slithering about his increasingly cramped confines Jack notices that the grey (It'd be yellow if there was any light) fluid that had been sustaining him was gone. It had been getting smaller for a while and now he was really going to have to do something about it... With a little effort he starts to rock his egg*

[Valancy]

*Valancy thinks she hears something coming from the other side of the grey. Curious, she pokes a little more at the eggshell, until she finds she can see things. Colours, other eggs, and... Valancy thinks to herself... ye gods, what is that creature over there? It's all scaly and has... She looks down at her claws ...claws... like mine... With that thought, Valancy abruptly falls out of her egg.

[Mess]

Mess puffs and puffs and puffs. Still no fire comes out. He looks at Ylfnogard and says, "Yeth, talking take efforth!"

[X-Kal]

Ylfnogard pulls out a tiny feather and tickles Mess's nose. Quickly, he darts into the cave, hoping to avoid becoming a roasted advisor. However, he heard quite a nose from outside, so he assumed that Mess had learned how to breathe fire.

Looking over the eggs, he noticed that Valancy had hatched already. "Hmm, I'm going to have to feed these little ones, soon. Ylfnogard flits outside again, then spots a wild antelope in the nearby clearing. Hoping that nature would take its course inside the dragons, he lured the antelope near the cave, giving the dragons an opportunity for their first combat experience.

[JackZackson]

With much heaving Jack finally gets his egg to tumble from it's nest. A resounding crack is heard and in the inrush of air the mighty hatchling speaks for the first time Ouch

[Valancy]

Valancy hears a noise to one side, and jumps a little. on the down end of the jump, she discovers that she floats down. she wiggles her shoulders and finds... wings! She looks over to the place the noise came from, and sees the newest hatchling plop out of his egg. She begins to look at him intently.

[JackZackson]

Blinking to allow his eyes to adjust to the light Jack manages to focus on a green object in front of him, a few blinks later and it looks to be a scaly quadruped with wings, a racial memory flickers through his mind and he realizes this is what he looks like. He raises a paw curious to see if he has discovered his own reflection

[Valancy]

Valancy, her young attention span very short, soon gets bored with eyeing the green scaly creature in front of her. She begins to smell something... alive. Something delicious. Hungrily, she turns her head toward the antelope. She stares it right in the face as she tries to think what to do with it. It stands very still, but she notice it is trembling all over. She takes an unsteady step towards it; the antelope's fear overtakes it and it bounds away. Valancy lets out a snort of defeat and squats down on her haunches. This is when she becomes aware of a tiny being in the air to one side of her head.

[JackZackson]

Concluding that the vanishing hatchling cannot be his own reflection he follows it for lack of anything better to do, after a few unsteady steps he leans heavily against the cave wall Left paw... no left paw first, no my other left paw

[X-Kal]

"Ooh drats, you were so close, too! Hrm... maybe something slower.

Ylfnogard spies the clearing for other creatures... something alittle slower. After a few minutes, an ox appears near the cave, oblivious to his surroundings. The ox calmly leans down, eating a clump of grass nearby. Leaving the whelplings to their task, Ylfnogard flits back into the the cave. He quickly whips out a large mirror, aiming it at Jack.

[Mess]

Mess feels an uneasy twitch inside his nose, but before it could result in a sneeze, a huge thing with branches on it's head runs him over. Mess, however, manages to get back up on his feet, desperately in need of healing.

[JackZackson]

Jack is instantly distracted from the daunting task of coordinating all his limbs and stares into the mirror, this time the scaly, green quadruped mimics his movements

[tinuviel]

Tiv runs around in circles in the cave entrance. "Humans? Humans? What's humans? They don't sound nice at all."

She then watches the other dragons, and carefully mimicks them.

[X-Kal]

Still holding the mirror facing towards Jack, Ylfnogard begines to tell the tale. "Since the dawn of time, humans have feared anything they do not understand. Before, they used to hide from things that were too scary. Today, they kill them instead of hiding from them. Sadly, they fear us the most." Ylfnogard utters a stange incantation. Suddenly, the reflection in the mirror fades away, revealing the image of human warriors, bearing sword and armor. The humans, however, are fighting each other in this scene! "It seems that they fear each other enough that they must kill their own kind. This is why we must be ready to respond."

[JackZackson]

Jack watches the new images, his mind overflowing with questions
Why is only some of it's body covered in scales? Why does it have only one very long claw? Why is it standing on it's hind legs?

[Valancy]

Valancy only vaguely hears Ylfnogard's words as she becomes aware of yet another dragon (Tinuviel). Valancy stares for a long moment, then makes an attempt to wobble over toward Tiv.

[Mess]

Mess, as it turns out, happens to be the first casualty. *Dead on level one*

Daily News:
Mess has been defeated in the forest by Antelope.
"Come back when you learn how to fight," Antelope scoffs.

[X-Kal]

Ylfnogard, sensing trouble, finds a place on the cave wall to mount the mirror, then quickly flits outside. Ramius quickly, but silently approaches Mess for his next feast. However, Ylfnogard flits by and gets in the way. "Hold it!" he exclaims, "These dragons are MY charge, not yours!"

Ramius puts on a pair of glasses and pulls out a few scrolls with fine print on them. He begins to read them, "According to regulations, I am in charge of managing the deaths of all creatures, ranging from humans, elves, dwarves..." and then trails off, hoping that Ylfnogard wouldn't be able to read the fine print. Of course, he did forget that the small size of the little guardian also made the text much more clear. Ylfnogard flits in front of the paper and reads the rest: "Felyne and Storm Giants, but NOT DRAGONS!"

Ylfnogard began to flit about Mess and bring him back to life. Finally, the whelpling's heath had been restored. He then looked at the ox, sighing. "Rules are rules." He pulled out a small dagger and killed the ox, allowing Ramius to take its soul in the dragon's place. On the plus side, however, the whelplings would have something to eat for now.

[Mess]

Mess feels the fresh air circulate his lungs again. He blinks rapidly to find that a new day has been bestowed upon him. Mess looks around for more creatures, with every intention to level 'em this time.

[tinuviel]

Tiv cautiously watches Valancy the dragon approach her, still jogging around in circles. She then trips over a stone, inhaling a fair bit of dust.

"Choo!"

A small spout of flame issues from her mouth, setting a piece of dead wood alight.

[JackZackson]

Pulled from his introspections by the smell of fresh meat Jack shuffles unsteadily in the direction of the ox
Mmmmmmm

[X-Kal]

Ylfnogard looks over at Mess, "You should get some decent experience if you can roast this beast." Ylfnogard tosses insect dust all over Mess's nose, hoping that it would cause a fiery sneeze across the ox. He flits into the cave to investigate the commotion inside, when he notices Tiv's fire. He then starts to dart back and forth across the cave at top speeds, shouting to Tiv. "Catch me and gain a level!"

[Valancy]

Valancy finds herself to be a bit overwhelmed, but as Ylfnogard kicks up more and more dust, she finds she has a strong urge to sneeze...


aaaaaaaaahhhhhhhhhhCHOOOOOOOOO

Flames shoot out her mouth, narrowly missing both Ylfnogard and Tiv. Valancy herself looks quite startled and slightly embarrassed.

[Mess]

Mess sneezes but, nothing happens. No fire. Just plain old slimey phlegm.

[tinuviel]

Tiv stops scampering clumsily around the lighted bit of wood in panic as soon as she hears Ylfnogard shouting. She then dodges Valancy's flames and leaps up, latching tightly onto Ylfnogard and gnawing madly on his arm.

"Gotcha?"

Tiv then loses grip and lands on Jack's back.

[X-Kal]

Ylfnogard finally struggles free from Tiv's grip, then begins to nurse his sore arm. "Oww, yes. You certainly have. Now for your level..." He flits about over Tiv's head, spilling insect dust over her, causing her to grow stronger. As a side-effect, however, it seems that the dust spilled onto Jack, as well, granting him the same effects.

"Hmmm... I suppose that wasn't supposed to happen. Oh well, I suppose Jack's astute observations will work towards experience, as well."

[Valancy]

Except for her new fire ability, Valancy seems to be a bit behind the others. She hasn't yet spoken a word, instead preferring to see what everything's like first. She's not sure she can really say anything, anyway. She sits back, her nose still twitching, and watches Ylfnogard with wide eyes.

[JackZackson]

Jack looks on in amazement as his muscles bulge and grow under his scales. He tries a few tentative steps only to find his co-ordination has greatly increased Woo!

[Valancy]

Valancy looks around for Ylfnogard.... Hey! Faerie-thing! Where'd you go? She suddenly realises she just spoke aloud for the first time.

[X-Kal]

Ylfnogard was alittle too close to Valency's nose, so when she spoke for the first time, her breath threw Ylfnogard across the room unexpectedly. The pouch of insect dust began to fill the room, then dissipate out of existence. Before anyone knew what happened, all the dragons near the cave had grown to level 7! Ylfnogard rubbed his tiny eyes, then took a better glance across the cave. "Is it just me, or have you all grown enormously in size? You look like you're all well on your way to adulthood!" Ylfnogard flits around the cave to examine the dragons more closely. "Ooh, perhaps it's about time that we go out on an excursion through the forest!"

[JackZackson]

Jack wobbles as physics finally reasserts itself over the rush of gaining a level and collapses under Tiv's weight Little help?

[tinuviel]

Tiv blinks, and flops off Jack's back.

"Sowwy!"

She then gets herself to her feet with a lot more ease than anticipated.

"Hey! Look what I just did!"

[JackZackson]

Jack blinks and then with a little help from his furiously flapping wings he gets to his feet

Impressive, now where's that ox?

[Valancy]

Valancy's nose twitches in anticipation as she finds she has more interest in food now. Maybe it's the 7 sudden levels gained, or maybe she's just hungry. Ox? she echoes.

[X-Kal]

A lion from the forest appeared and appproached the dead ox. Ylfnogard, however, flit over by the ox, sensing competition for the food. "Alright, guys! This is your chance. There's four of you, so you should have no trouble battling the lion. If you don't, however, he's going to take your food away."

[JackZackson]

Jack blinks

Food, taken away... Not if I can help it!

With a minimum of quadrupedal confusion Jack charges to the entrance of the cave

Shoo, bad lion!

[Valancy]

Valancy is on her feet before she even knows what she's doing. Wings raised, ready to lift her into the air, she thunders up to the lion and swipes at him with her claws. The lion, a little confused, pauses, then roars loudly at her. Valancy didn't expect the creature to respond in that way, and she trips and rolls onto the ground [she loses a few hitpoints].

[tinuviel]

Cowering in fear, Tiv notices a pile of rocks left by passing travellers by a dead tree. She scampers over to them, and using her claws, picks the smallest ones off the top and throws them at the lion.

A slightly larger rock hits the lion on the rear end, causing a large bruise; the lion emits a furious roar.

[Mess]

Buh wittle Meth mithd tha dust. He blinkittee blinks in awe at tha otha dwagons fwom a thafe plathe.

[Bosk]

Meanwhile, back in the cave, Bosk is just coming out of his shell and is very confused and hungry. He looks around at the empty cave in disapointment. Lonely he sees some foot prints and not knowing what they are, just that they smell faintly of something either fleshy or scaley, he decides to see where they lead.

[JackZackson]

Realising he's fighting a lion all by himself Jack inhales trying to look bigger and scarier

[Valancy]

Valancy rolls rightside-up and looks at Jack, as if to say You're not alone in this. She starts tickling her nose with some low-hanging tree branches, and soon begins to feel that oddly-familiar itching sensation in her nose. Watch out, here comes the fire! she warns him. With that, the flames come shooting out of her mouth and ignite the lion's tail. The creature, annoyed but not actually injured, rears around infuriated.

[JackZackson]

Jack ducks his head as the terrible claws swipe at him. Thinking quickly he rubs his nose against the tree branches and hopes that he too can shoot fire because the Lion is not going to be impressed if he just exhales warm air

ah... ah...CHOO!

[Mess]

Mess continues to blinkitty blinks, probably waiting for his next instruction.

[Shiqra]

Shiqra becomes conscious inside her shell and is thoroughly confused as to what to do. Knowing only that she wants OUT and she wants it NOW she begins to rocks back and forth, clawing at the inside of her prison with her feeble claws. Her motions eventually dislodge the egg from the nest and SMACK - her egg shatters on the stone floor of the cave. She lays there splayed out, even more confused than before, but very very happy to be out of that egg.

[X-Kal]

Ylfnogard flits into the cave, having heard the noise. Upon noticing the new drageling, he shook his head and thought to himself, "Oh dear, another one. The folks at headquarters owe me time and a half for this!"

He then speaks up, "Ah, good morning! Glad to see you're up and about! Your siblings are all outside, getting food for the lot of us. As for you... time to stand up and get used to your surroundings!"

[Shiqra]

Shiqra sees a flitting shape on the outskirts of her blurry, yet sharpening, vision. The first thought that comes to her newly formed mind is FOOD and she feebly swats at it. Luckily for Ylfnogard, she hasn't much strength, or reach, and her claw falls harmlessly on the stone. His intructions slowly filter in, and she gets the sense that outside is where she ought to be. Climbing unsteadily to her feet, she shuffles toward the light and sounds coming from the entrance to the cave. On her way she bumps smack into another drageling who blinketty blinks at her. Sniffing it and poking it, she wonders...Food??

[JackZackson]

Jack waves a claw trying to clear the smoke and see if he had successfully slain the marauding lion. Seeing nothing he turns to boast to the other hatchlings but is rudely interrupted when a smoldering paw smacks into the back of his head and he is pinned by an angry lion that, while being very badly burnt is still alive Little help?

[Shiqra]

Shiqra's inspection of Mess is interrupted by a commotion outside. Deciding that this possible food item will wait until she returns, she shuffles outside to see what all the noise is about.

Upon reaching the entrance to the cave, blinking blindly at the sudden bright light, her nose begins to itch. Unbeknownst to her, she is highly allergic to cat fur! One gigantic SNEEZE sends her flying head over heels, flames shooting everywhere, igniting her own tail, the lion's mane, and nearby tree branches. She lands sprawled on the lion's back, her little claws scrabbling for purchase, another uncontrollable sneeze welling up within her. The lion, thoroughly annoyed by now, its mane singed and smoking, rears up, trying to shake the pest from its back.

[JackZackson]

Jack takes advantage of the lion's distraction to bite the lion in the throat and kill it... at least that was his plan unfortunately his hatchling reflexes are still not the best and his scaley head smacks into the lions face with a resounding Bop!

He and the lion collapse stunned.

[Shiqra]

The lion's collision with Jack sends Shiqra tumbling from its back just as another gigantic SNEEZE overwhelms her small body. Flames shoot everywhere, igniting both her scales and the lion's fur. She lands in a smoldering heap next to the stunned Jack, and turns one red, watery, half-blind eye toward him as if to say Now what????

[JackZackson]

Through the haze of stars circling his head Jack growls at the lion but it turns out to be unnecessary as the lion's mane is now ablaze and it scampers off looking for a waterhole or pond.

Jacks legs twitch as he attempts to pose triumphantly however he is too disoriented and collapses in a victorious heap.

[Valancy]

Valancy looks up in time to see the flaming lion race past her. Gathering her strength and a little heat, she carefully aims her fire, and in one go, ignites the lion's head and swipes at its neck with her sharp claws.

The beast takes a few jolting steps before collapsing.

Mmmm... roast lion...

[Shiqra]

Shiqra gapes at Valancy in amazement! How did you DO that!!!!??

Sitting up, she looks around and sees Jack in his victorious heap. She grins at him - BBQ?

[JackZackson]

Jack nods his head with a toothy grin I think that ox got some collateral cooking so it should be just about done. With only two false starts he gets to his feet, lumbers over and begins to carve up the ox using his claws Who wants the flame kissed meat and who wants the charcoal?

[Shiqra]

Shiqra hadn't even NOTICED the ox until now - how unobservant of her! Such mistakes could be quite costly in the future...

She sees Jack carving up the beast and starts to drool in a most undignified manner ooh ooh!! Charcoal - please!!!

[JackZackson]

Jack carves the ox into several roughly equal portions taking the medium burnt sections for himself Well come on hatchlings it's not getting any deader! With the formalities of sharing out of the way Jack unceremoniously thrusts his head into his meat pile and chows down.

[X-Kal]

Ylfnogard heads into the cave to make sure that Mess comes out to partake in the meal; it becomes clear that he could use the extra strength. He then sneaks over to Shiqra and sprinkles a little insect dust behind her ear - she has gained THREE levels!

Finally getting a chance to relax for abit while the dragelings enjoy their meal, Ylfnogard grabs a chunk of the food, just enough to feed a tiny insect, then collapses on a nearby rock to eat.

"Very, very well done. I am thoroughly impressed!"

[Shiqra]

Shiqra sees the chunks of meat and charcoal Jack has carved out and forgets all about the tiny buzzing food possibility, and the blinketty-blinking food possibility and dives in to a smoking heap of charcoaled ox. As she is gulping down smoldering chunks of meat she feels something tickle her behind the ear, and suddenly things start to make a whole lot more sense! She feels a whole lot bigger too!
Then she remembers that there are such things as "manners" and looks up from her meal and gives Jack a toothy Thank you! around a mouthful of ox. Well, she is young and still learning. That's what advisors are for...

[JackZackson]

His belly full, Jack feels a reptillian lethargy wash over him. He nods to Shiqra and then lumbers onto a nice warm rock to sleep Ahhhhhh

[Valancy]

Valancy looks to Shiqra. I'm not entirely sure how I managed that. She nods over to Jack appreciatively. With a little help from my friends, I guess.

She lumbers over to the lion and picks out a rare-looking slab of flesh, then sets to work in front of it. Mid-way through, she looks around for Ylfnogard, and seeing him in front of a pea-sized bit of ox meat, smiles to herself. This is not a very pretty sight; a young dragon grinning more resembles an angry scaly dog than anything.

Valancy then turns around and looks at her collection of siblings: Shiqra, Jack, Mess, and the others, and shares the angry-dog smile with them.

[Shiqra]

Shiqra returns the grin and, her appetite sated for now, she follows Jack's lead and finds a sunny spot to curl up in and take a nap. Soon she is snoring softly, little puffs of smoke rising from her nostrils.

[JackZackson]

Jack shares a tired, toothy grin with his siblings but it has been a big day for a little dragon and soon he to is snoring, blowing little smoke rings and twitching his paws as he dreams

[Valancy]

Valancy completes her meal and suddenly understands the others' insistence upon sleep. She looks around for a big warm rock, and finding one just the right size, spreads herself out on top of it as well. Finding the proper position, she lowers her head and sleeps.

[Stormkitten]

A small black kitten wanders the trails of the forest, looking for somewhere warm to snooze. Stalking into the clearing, tail high, she sees all the best spots have been usurped by hatchling dragons.

Still... dragons are centrally heated, and there's plenty of sunshine. She creeps up Valancy's tail, curling up to nestle between her wings, and enjoys the warmth. Her purring is easily masked by the snores of the young dragons.

[Mess]

Mess, despite being the first born, is surely the slowest one it seems. And, completely ignorant of his surroundings. Probably the reason why he never realised the events that unfolded around him - the birth of new hatchlings, their battle and subsequent victory against a creature many times their own size, and the feast that followed. He missed it all, probably due to an early setback and lessons forgotten thereof. However, there shall be a fresh beginning for him.

While every other sibling is fast asleep content to their stomach, Mess wanders off to the forest looking for a first test of his skills, of which he still knows nothing about, except how to walk and how to sneeze. With little help, of course.

[X-Kal]

Not realising that Mess had wandered off, Ylfnogard kept watch over the sleeping group. However, in the forest, trouble was near! Surprising Mess from a shadow in the woods, a monster leaps out and frightens Mess!

You have encountered a Pile of Gold, which lunges at you with the Need to be Hoarded in a Cave!
Pile of Gold surprises you and gets the first round of attack!
Pile of Gold hits you for 1 points of damage!

[Valancy]

Valancy feels something in the soft, warm spot between her wings. Gently she raises her head and turns it around to get a look. All she sees there is a tiny pile of fur, so she nudges the thing with her nose.

[Stormkitten]

The kitten wakes with a start, knocked off balance by the nudge, and sliding down the smooth scales of Valancy's side in a tumble of fur and claws. Landing on her paws beside the young dragon, she gives her best 'I meant to do that' look.

[Mess]

"Mommy!" Mess exclaims knowing full well that the creature is more experienced than him. He makes a run for the cave.

[tinuviel]

Tiv's stomach growls hungrily. Breakfast!

[X-Kal]

The pile of gold catches Mess by surprise! He cannot escape, and must battle! The pile of gold startes Mess down with an irritated look and prepares to strike.

Meanwhile at the cave, Ylfnogard becomes curious by the arrival of the kitten. "Uhhhhhh... you do realise that you just stumbled upon a group of carnivores, right?"

[Stormkitten]

The kitten grins, showing tiny sharp teeth. "I'm a carnivore, too, you know." She walks over to look more closely at Ylfnogard. "You do realise I sometimes hunt small flitting things, don't you?"

[Valancy]

Valancy looks around to Ylfnogard and the kitten. She scoffs quietly, That thing? You think I would even get a morsel out of something that small? Besides, I don't know what it is, but it's kinda cute.

[X-Kal]

Ylfnogard, not ready to be so intimidated by the kitten, decides to show off alittle. He pulls a ring from his pocket and slips it on. Suddenly, he transforms into a gigantic red dragon, towering thirty feet above all the other dragelings. "Hunt away, dear kitten."

[Valancy]

Valancy is caught unawares by Ylfnogard's transition. She runs as fast as her drageling legs will take her, and hides behind a boulder.

[JackZackson]

Jack snores, blowing smoke rings

[Shiqra]

Shiqra rolls over, one eye coming half open, but is lulled back to sleep by Jack's soft snoring, and misses the whole thing. The powers of observation are strong in this one...

[Stormkitten]

The kitten looks at a very large claw that seems to have appeared right in front of her nose. "Oooh."
Backing away, she looks up, her eyes widening as she takes in the sight before her.
"NEAT!"
With a grin, she starts trying to scramble up the huge dragon's forelimb.

[X-Kal]

Ylfnogard amusedly looked down to Stormkitten. "You've sure got spunk there! It takes a lot of courage to wander into a crowd of dragons, especially for someone your size. But I can tell that your heart is much, much bigger."

Ylfnogard reaches down and scritches at a portion of the remaining ox meat in order to prepare it for StormKitten. He then gestures the kitten to eat.

[Stormkitten]

The kitten grins, as is usual for her, and settles down to eat a very large portion of meat. She watches the dragonlings with an expression of intense curiosity, a curiosity which has so far failed to get her killed.

[Mess]

Faced with mortal danger, Mess quickly dodges the grasp of Pile Of Gold and readies himself for the inevitable battle. With most exits cut off, the only way for him is to go back. Thus, he backs away one step at a time and while doing so, he picks up a stick and waves it at his adversary. The Pile Of Gold simply snatches it out of his hand. Next, he picks up another stick and the Pile of Gold snatches it too. Again, Mess picks up a branch this time, then a pebble, a rock and various other things lying around on the forest floor, yielding the same result each time. After a while, continuing his backpedal, he reaches the place where his other siblings lay half-asleep, half-awake. While continuing to fight off the Pile Of Gold, the last thing he picks up and waves is a kitten. This was right after the Pile Of Gold snatched a sizable chunk of meat which Mess had picked up earlier. Somehow, Mess and the Pile Of Gold seem to be unaware of Ylfnogard's transformation.

[Stormkitten]

The kitten yowls as she is snatched from her meal. Her wild flailings of claws would have done considerable damage to the unfortunate Mess' arm, save for his scales protecting him. As it is, she succeeds in scattering the Pile of Gold into a Collection of Loose Coins.

[Shiqra]

Shiqra is awakened with a snort as one of the Loose Coins rolls her way and thoinks! against her nose. Picking it up between two claws, she examines it with interest. Turning it over, she bites down on it - OW! - no, not food...but still verrry interesting. The coin sparkles in the sunlight...OOOOOOOH - shiny!!!...

[X-Kal]

With a loud clatter of coins, the Pile of Coins is defeated! Both Mess and StormKitten start to feel slightly more powerful as they each gain two levels!

[Mess]

Mess is going to keep the kitten for himself.

"I'll pet it, I'll feed it, I'll play with it and call it, Kitten," he says with a big grin. :D

[Shiqra]

Shiqra raises one scaley eyebrow George...don't you mean George?
Shiqra is also half asleep and slightly hypnotized by the Loose Coin still grasped in one claw, and so is most likely utterly confused as to Mess' meaning. Don't mind me...ooooooh - shiney!!

[Valancy]

Valancy jumps as a few Loose Coins roll her way. She, too, begins examining them. What in the...? The first one she manages to claw off the ground glimmers innocently at her, but she finds herself completely enthralled. She blinks back at it, bats her dragon eyelashes, and looks for somewhere to hide it away from the others.

[Mess]

"George it is", Mess says agreeing to a familiar voice.

So far all has been good. A chance victory gained him a companionship which, he knows, will last as long as its needs are taken care of. And of course, the ability to fight stronger opponents. Except for one thing. Mess is still hungry. Seeing that the Collection of Loose Coins is already discarded as a choice for food, Mess sets out to look for more, his confidence following him close behind on four fluffy paws and sniffing the wind for something edible.

[X-Kal]

Ylfnogard spots the arrival of the new coins. "Oh dear, I knew this would happen! Just remember that the more gold you keep, the more humans you will attract." He then flits about, trying to guide Mess and StormKitten towards the remaining food.

[Shiqra]

Shiqra is too busy admiring the shiny Loose Coin to pay attention to Ylfnogard's warning. Soon she too is overcome by the overpowering urge to hide it out of sight, away from the others. She wanders off to look for a likely hidey-hole, all the while muttering under her breath
My precioussssss....yesss...my shiny beautiful precioussss...

[Stormkitten]

The kitten follows Mess to find some more to eat, hopefully not being interrupted this time. "George? Do I really look like a 'George'?"

[Valancy]

Valancy, like Shiqra, barely hears Ylfnogard's warning. She, however, is less worried about a hidey-hole than about a place to hide her Loose Coin NOW. she promptly finds a good-sized boulder, rolls it over a bit, stuffs the Loose Coin in the dirt where the rock was, and rolls the rock back over it. There! That'll do. She finds that all the energy she spent on the coin-hiding has made her hungry, so she trundles off deeper into the forest in search of something to catch for dinner.

[Mess]

Mess looks over his shoulder and answers, "I can't say. I've never seen a George before."

[Shiqra]

Shiqra finds a hollowed place under the large roots of a nearby tree and stuffs the Loose Coin in, covering it with some dead leaf litter. Seeing Valancy's disappearing tail in the distance she decides to follow and see what her sibling is up to. She shambles off into the Forest after her sister.

[JackZackson]

Jack awakes after a long nap to see most of his siblings leaving Hey what's happening, is there more food?

[Mess]

Mess carries George on his shoulder and continues to roam while following Ylfnogard in search of food. Suddenly, he pauses hearing the noise his grumbling stomach makes. Mess gazes at Ylfnogard, but the words he speaks are directed towards the kitten on his shoulder. "He looks quite delicious from here, you know," he says, running his tongue along his gum line.

[Stormkitten]

"Maybe so. But I don't think we're allowed to eat him." The kitten grins, as her new mount is proving quite entertaining. "What's your name, anyway?"

[Mess]

Mess stumbles to a halt. "My name?" he wonders. "Why, I haven't really thought about it. But, now that you ask, how about Most Eminent Sapiens Slayer?" Mess doesn't stop there, he throws more suggestions at George, "Or, Mega Ear Sewer Sized? Also, Much Eerie Serpentine Soul? Better yet..." His list goes on and on. "... Um.. Merrily Erratic Smiling Silly?"

[X-Kal]

Ylfnogard suddenly realised that he forgot to shrink down to his usual size. Meanwhile, the tall trees of the forest were swaying back and forth, as if they were blades of grass on a windy day.

"Whoops!" he said, then slipped the ring off and pocketed it, now returned to his normal size.

"I understand there's a hive of minotaur to the north. Perhaps we should keep that in mind, for when you're feeling ready."

[Valancy]

Valancy wonders which direction north is. She finds herself in a thick part of the forest, and stops to look around. Trees, lots of tall trees, surround her on every side. She waits; maybe some prey will come up on its own.

[JackZackson]

Jack jogs to catch up with the tail he sees in the overgrowth ahead, he is so focussed on trying to catch his siblings he fails to keep an eye on his footing. He trips over a root and tumbles off a mossy embankment

Woah!

[Shiqra]

Shiqra, also running as fast as she can to catch Valancy's disappearing tail, sees Jack go tail over snout into a ravine. She catches herself just in time and halts at the edge of the embankment. Are you all right? Need a hand...er...claw? And why am I suddenly thinking of Minotaur?

[Valancy]

Minotaur? Valancy sniffs the air. Mino... I'm not sure exactly what that means, but for some reason I think one is headed our way. Be prepared! she says as she locates Shiqra and Jack by their voices.

[JackZackson]

Yes I think I'm OK I'm on a ledge but I don't think I can climb back up Jack's wings flap excitedly as the news of an approaching minotaur reaches him but he does not generate enough lift to get back up the embackment Is it tasty?

[X-Kal]

Ylfnogard flits flits over and follows Jack's voice until trouble can be seen. With a sigh, he slips the ring back on. In his gigantic dragon form, he picks Jack up and sets him down safely at the side of the embankment, near his siblings.

"I'm not sure if tasty is the right word..."

[Mess]

Mess has been following Ylfnogard for quite a while now. Seeing Ylfnogard once again in his gigantic dragon form, Mess feels a dreadful pang of hunger churning in his stomach.

[JackZackson]

Jack watches in awe making sure to take note of how Ylfnogard's wings move in flight So that's how it's done!

[Shiqra]

Shiqra, too, is awed by this concept of "flying". She flaps her small wings So THAT'S what those things are for! However, the excitement of the combined ideas of a hive of Minotaur and flying are too much for her, and she plops heavily down on the ground. Her stomach grumbles in protest, and she looks to Ylfnogard for guidance.

[Valancy]

Valancy sniffs the air. Minotaur, over here to my right! It's getting closer! She hears Shiqra close at hand saying something about wings, so she shrugs her shoulders and feels her own wings unfolding. Hmm... these could come in handy...

[JackZackson]

Jack stretches limbering up for anything that might be comming Can we eat it?

[Shiqra]

Shiqra looks at Jack I sure hope so!! Come on - Valancy is right over there. We should face this together.

She starts to make her way over to her sibling and stops along the way to sniff a dandelion gone to seed. The fuzz shoots up her nostrils, causing her to sneeze violently, lifting her off the ground and setting a nearby bush afire with a gout of flame. Her small wings flap furiously, providing just enough lift to save her from an unceremonious tumble into the dandelion patch. She lands heavily and sheepishly dusts herself off, then stomps out the fire with a look that says I meant to do that....

[JackZackson]

Jack gives Shiqira nudge with his head to encourage her to her feet as he chuckles inwardly.

Come on if we take too long all the good bits will be gone

[Shiqra]

Shiqra regains her feet and shambles after Jack, now salivating at the thought of roast minotaur. Good point!

[JackZackson]

Jack builds up speed for a charge, despite not having a visible target

Lemme at 'em!

[Shiqra]

Inspired by Jack's enthusiasm, Shiqra charges behind him.

RAWR!

[Ice]

watches beneath a tree

[Shiqra]

Shiqra picks up speed, head down, legs pumping furiously. She charges straight into a thicket of brambles, snorting and clawing before realizing this is probably not a minotaur. She stops and looks around to see where her other siblings have gotten to.

[X-Kal]

Ylfnogard pauses for a moment to take his Geritol and collect himself - for some reason, it seems like his memory is failing.

[Shiqra]

Shiqra cannot see her siblings, but she DOES spot her guide and teacher! She looks to Ylfnogard for guidance.

Valancy mentioned a hive of minotaur ahead, but I seem to have lost my way...

[Valancy]

Valancy twitches her shoulders and feels her winglets unfolding, so she decides to try them out. First she wiggles one shoulder, then the other, but nothing happens.

Suddenly one of the wings unfurls completely and catches a bit of a wind gust, which propels her downhill a bit. Valancy starts running to keep from falling over, but finds the running gives her momentum, and suddenly she is in the air!

[Shiqra]

Shiqra peers out of the thicket in time to see Valancy flap, tumble...and then FLY by!!

How did she do that?? Shiqra wonders

[Mess]

Mess sits quietly under a tree, drawing plans in the dirt of his new sand castle.

[Valancy]

Valancy looks down to find her self high up in the air. Her siblings all seem very tiny, and so does that funny horned two-legged thing off to Shiqra's left.

Wait... funny horned two-legged thing? Valancy sniffs the air. Hey guys, that's the Minotaur thing I was smelling earlier...

[X-Kal]

(Out-of-character: I'll work on getting back on track over the weekend. I've been swamped with cataloguing homework. Seriously, I just spent nearly 6 hours on it just now)

[Shiqra]

Shiqra is puzzled by the sudden appearance of a pile of books in her advisor's arms. But then she hears her sister say something about minotaur and the rumbling in her young stomach reasserts itself.

Hmm - let's see if I can do that flap-tumble-fly thing Valancy did.

She shrugs her shoulders, and feels her winglets pop out and spread a bit in the breeze. She begins to run down the slope, trying to run and flap at the same time, which being the uncoordinated drageling that she is proves impossible, and she is soon tumbling head over tail down the slope. Luckily for her a gust of wind catches her wings at the right moment and suddenly she is airborne! Looking down in surprise, she spots Valancy heading towards a strange smelling creature, and she banks left to follow.

[JackZackson]

Burst out of the braken at high speed his little legs pumping for all they are worth as tiny puffs of smoke emerge from his nostrils in time with his breathing.

[Shiqra]

Looking down, Shiqra sees Jack huffing and puffing down the hill. She remembers to mark where Valancy is, and then she attempts to fly down next to him. Sadly, in her excitement at seeing her sibling she forgets to watch where she is going and flies smack into the trunk of a nearby oak.

Ooof!

She lands in the leaf litter, briefly knocked out by the untimely collision.

[JackZackson]

Jack is so stunned to see his sibling fall out of the sky near him that he trips over his own feet and tumbles forwards. Fearing a similar crash he closes his eyes and braces for an impact that never comes.

When he opens his eyes Jack discovers he is somehow aloft and hovering over Shiqra's prone form. In his panic he had spread his wings and managed to catch the updraft or warm air radiating from his sibling.

"Wow, get up Shiq you gotta try this!"

[Valancy]

Valancy looks down and rumbles amusedly at her siblings.
Come on, I'm starving! Another puff of air throws her off balance and she has to flap-flap-flap to regain an upright position.

Hm, this flying thing is harder than it looks.

[Shiqra]

Shiqra blinks and looks around, trying to get her bearings. Jack is now UP, and she is now DOWN. As her small brain tries to sort this out, she stirs and shuffles to her feet.

Hmm - gotta remember how I did that trick with the run and the tumble and the flap and the erm...

Luckily for her the wind and the hillslope are in her favor and soon she is aloft again.

C'mon Jack - this way! Valancy says there's food over there. Something about a minotaur!

She flaps a bit harder, swooping drunkenly as she attempts to veer off in the direction Valancy was heading. However, she manages to both stay aloft and to change course and lets out a roar of excitement.

Chaaaarge!

[JackZackson]

Jack's feet flail wildly as he tries to run in the air. He's got the hang of hovering but can't quite make the mental gearchange between running and flying. He roars in frustration producing a small jet of flame that sends him backwards at high speeds.

So that's how you make yourself go! Jack exclaims gleefully.

[Shiqra]

Jack's jet of flame singes Shiqra's tail scales and she shrieks in surprise.

Owie! Hey now!

Shiqra whips around in time to see Jack shooting backwards. In an unusually bright flash of insight, she realizes that if he could shoot a jet from the OTHER end he could go forward!

[JackZackson]

Jack, lacking the insite that Shiqra display continues to fly backwards, richochetting off several trees before flapping hard and gaining some hight

Much less to hit up here, now where is everyone?

[Shiqra]

Shiqra flaps excitedly. On one side is Valancy, heading towards the hive of Minotaur. On the other is Jack, flapping hard and looking around.

Over here! she shouts This way! I hear there is Minotaur!

[JackZackson]

Jack looks down to see what Shiqra is talking about the angles his head up and exhales another excited blast of flame jetting down towards the minotaur.

I can almost taste it now!

Jack is most surprised when the holiday filter kicks in, his breath turns frosty and his stance becomes bipedal while his feet grow and his wings vanish.

This can't be good!

[Shiqra]

Shiqra wonders what Jack is going on about when she too feels the Change! She plummets from the height she had so proudly attained - and lands in a drift of freshly-fallen snow.

OOF!

[Mess]

Mess finally works out a design for a castle like structure. He calls it Duck-Billed Keep and plans to lure unsuspecting prey like insects, small animals, etc.

Hmm, now to find a place where I can build my trap. Oh, and I'll need sand. Right, right. Hmm...

[JackZackson]

Jack plummets to the ground, fortunately the snow covered branches slow his fall and his newly aquired magnificent feet seem to take the impact well

Oof, what's going on?

[Shiqra]

Shiqra gets to her feet and shakes off the snow, inspecting this new form she has. She looks over and sees Jack.

Whoa! What happened to us?

Her stomach takes that moment to assert itself in a rather loud rumble. She remembers something about Minotaur. She pokes Jack with one hairy hand and points towards where she last saw Valancy with the other one.

Minotaur - that way. Food?

[JackZackson]

Jack looks himself over but is interupted by the poke and shiqra's rumbling stomach reminding him he has more pressing needs.

He nods to Shiqira and sets off towards the minotaur a little unsteadily as he is unused to being bipedal

I think it's just over that ridge.

[Valancy]

Valancy wakes up to find herself on the ground. How on earth did I get down here?

She shakes a wing that seems to have frozen over under some... snow... what the? and finds the wing to have been replaced by a large muscled shoulder with shaggy white hair on it. Instead of smaller forelegs and larger hind legs with demure yet dangerous claws, she finds that she has a pair of huge cushioned bare feet (strong hind legs still!), long arms and big hands good for wrenching a minotaur's neck.

Hey guys, wait up! Let's rip that minotaur to pieces!

[JackZackson]

Jack begins exagerated sneaking motions which slow him down for Valiency to catch up and with his cushioned feet, make his movement almost noiseless.

He gestures over the hill and then holds up a hand with all five fingers extended.

5
4
3
2
1

[Shiqra]

Shiqra shambles over to where her siblings are. Crouching, ready to spring at whatever is over the hill, she waits for her siblings to give the signal.

[JackZackson]

Jack gives an exagerated chage gesture with one of his decidedly simian arms and then lopes over the ridge at high speed, not checking to see if anyone is coming too.

[Shiqra]

Shiqra follows Jack's lead and charges forward over the ridge, nearly bowling him over in her excitement.

[Valancy]

Valancy races up to the minotaur and roars in its face, intending to scare it into submission. The minotaur blinks, then ROARS back.

Valancy topples over backward.

[JackZackson]

Jack runs into the collapsing Valiancy as Shiqra almost bowls into him leaving him staggering about comically as he is still unused to bipedal movement.

Fortunately his random movement confuses the minotaur and it's first swing misses him by a whisker.

[Shiqra]

Shiqra's momentum builds for a charge, just as her siblings collide in front of her. Unable to stop, she roars a warning - or a challenge - just as she trips over Valance and plows into the Minotaur. She bounces off the startled creature and tumbles down the hill.

[Valancy]

The startled minotaur flops over sideways, giving Valancy enough room to grab it by one horn. Finding her strength, she lifts the beast into the air with great effort. Feeling herself tire, she hefts the minotaur a bit, rearranging its weight in her Abominable Snowperson arms, and throws it high into the air in the opposite direction from the way Shiqra went.

Valancy watches as the minotaur fades in the distance.

I don't think that's the last of him, but he'll be a little bruised when we see him next.

[X-Kal]

Ylfnogard wakes up in the middle of a field, unsure how he got there, where the dragons went, or why he is now surrounded by hundreds of books. Quick zipping into action, he flutters off to see the battle in progress. Valency had just tossed the minotaur far off into the distance - but perhaps that was not the wisest choice. Filled with rage, the minotaur quickly returned! It seemed like the minotaur would quickly overtake the dragons! At that moment, Ylfnogard realized that all the dragons had turned into abominable snowmen!!!

Thinking quickly, he pulled out his celestial wristwatch, which indicated "December 25" as the date. He quickly adjusted the time to something else - ANYTHING else - that would allow them to return to dragons. He finally adjusted the clock to April 1, hoping that this date would be far enough away from any other holiday filters that might cause problems to the group.

Ylfnogard passed out from sheer exhaustion, completely unaware that the minotaur was now surrounded by a bunch of Swedish chefs. He transformed his students into Swedish chefs with the April 1st filters!!!

[Mess]

Mess suddenly stops his search and exclaims, "A keetchee! Zee trep needs a Keetchee!!"

[Valancy]

Valancy feels herself shrinking, as white clothing and a funny hat mysteriously begin to cover her body.

What een dee BORK BORK eez go BORK? she exclaims, confused.

However, she discovers she now has a good set of chef's knives on hand, and begins throwing them at the now-larger-than-she Minotaur. Two or three strike, making the creature even angrier.

Valancy finds a nearby tree and climbs it, taking the rest of her knives with her.

[Shiqra]

Shiqra suddenly finds herself shrunken also, clad in something strange and white. In her hands she clutches a...a..spatula and a tennis racket? Somehow this seems perfectly natural to her, and she charges back up the hill towards the minotaur shouting "De gitt der gue Bork, bork!"

She charges the minotaur, swinging wildly, even managing to connect with the angry beast. Her erratic movements confuse the beast, and it too begins swinging wildly, in general missing Shiqra completely.

[JackZackson]

Jack swings his enlarge fist at the minotaur only to have it shrink mid swing and the large cast iron skillet he is now holding rebounds off the Minotaur's thick skull with a comical Boi-oi-oi-oi-oing sound that leaves Jack vibrating in place.

Vhet zee heck is gueeng oon?

[Valancy]

Valancy continues to throw chef's knives at the minotaur from her safe, distant, and tall tree. Eventually she notices that their combined efforts seem to be working--the minotaur is tiring, bleeding from several knife wounds and appears to have a pounding headache, no thanks to Jack, and some ugly bruises from Shiqra's fists.

Valancy lets out several excited "BORK!"s and waits for the creature to collapse.

[JackZackson]

Jack whips an oven out from no-where and begins to prepare a workstation for the creation of Minotaur delux as he no longer has the desire to eat it raw.

[Shiqra]

The tennis racket and spatula disappear and Shiqra suddenly finds herself holding a rubber chicken and a rocket launcher. She promptly stuffs the chicken in the launcher, aims it at the Minotaur, and fires.

BORK!

[Valancy]

The minotaur is done for, and done in. And when Jack is through with it, it will probably also be well done.