Dropping In.

[Skyler]

He had no idea where he was going to wind up, but that was the art. He was beginning to doubt if the thrill of it all was worth the perilous struggle. “I just wanted to go on a joy-ride and now this? You’ve got to be kidding me,” he wheezed under his breath. The onslaught of heavy droplets continued to blot his sight, the ferocious air battering his feathers in scattered directions, wings dangerously teetering. The plains seemed endless, landing here wouldn’t do him any good, and it lacked any shelter. He merely pumped his giant wings with as much strength he was able to muster up. His turquoise eyes strained for the sight of caves or trees, it wouldn’t be long until the heaven’s drums would begin to start their coda. Despite the oily coating on the outer feathers, the downy underneath his wings were growing damp, slowly becoming more of a burden. At last a few idle shrubs and trees began to grow into a thick forest. The green of the canopy looked liked lumpy cotton balls from his blurred vision, and it beckoned him towards it. He waited for an opening in the trees where he could gradually circle in. Then, the unsettled air with positive and negatives opposite of another in this invisible war clashed together, thus; creating lighting. Like never before, the stream of electricity and ear splitting boom sounded simotansiouly. He knew it as soon as the million volts pulsated through his body, muscles wreathing and burning for the worst split second of his life. The murky skies turned yet darker, into a black void.
Skyler fell from the sky, crashing into the woods below, crushing the trees in and around him, which fell like a mass execution under the massive weight of the dragon’s body. The body lay limp on its in rubble, wings splayed unnaturally to either side, head tossed back and odd blue tongue hanging from the razor blade rows of fangs. A few rounds of static jumped from feather to feather, before the lightning’s energy had drained from him. His mind recovered quickly, with a moaning roar, he lifted his head and began to maneuver himself out of the wreckage, pushing logs and branches away to free himself. “That was a rather shocking…crash landing,” he grumbled, pain laden in his voice.

[Erik]

Why exactly had Erik come out here? Oh, right, that was simple. He thought it'd be interesting to explore the woods instead of sitting at home, which it most definitely was, aside from the fact he was now lost. He was all but freaking out though, he was confident that he could get out of this mess. At that same moment, Erik heard a crash emitting from quite some way from him. Instead of running from it, which he was sure any normal person would, he went to investigate it.

He climbed over the rubble that was made out of several fallen trees or branches, before seeing a... Dragon? Dear god, it was! This was... What? Awesome? Yes, Erik had never seen a dragon before, so this was amazing! He finally got to a spot where the rubble ended, and walked up to the dragon. He listened to it's roaring complaint, before inhaling a deep breath. For all he knew this dragon could want to add him to it's lunch menu. Erik hardly even noticed the rain hitting him, or his outfit. The only thing on his mind was the dragon. "Do you need... Help?" Erik asked rather blandly, not knowing what else to ask.

He would have been tempted to ask 'Are you alright?' but... That'd be stupid. The dragon literally crashed, so how would he be alright? Hell, how was he even going to help the reptile that loomed over him? He'd probably kill himself in the process. However, so long he didn't feel useless, he guessed it was alright. For now, he'd stand here and wait for the dragon's response, and pray the dragon wouldn't eat him.

[Skyler]

The black slits that floated on the blue orbs caught sight of the human scrambling up the rubble, blonde hair and fair complexion like a flag in the dark forest. His radio dish sized ears perked, stopping his process off pushing off the branches that would likely crush him in his human form. The reptilian bird flicked its tail, head tilted to one side with a questioning glance. The dragon parted its jaws to voice itself. “No thanks, I’ve got it,” he said heaving a log from his tail with a hind leg sending it rolling down off the pile. “So, what’s a kid like you talking to a carnivorous flying lizard? I’ve been flying for miles on end with out a meal, ever had the slightest thought I might be hungry?” he partially hissed, nostrils flaring with effort as he pulled his wings from the wreckage. He turned his belly over right-side up again. He shook droplets and pieces of bark from his feathers from head to tail.

Skyler had been hauling tail for a good hundred miles, a little fun wouldn’t hurt, so he decided to play with his “food”. The dragon skidded down the pile, claws leaving a neat carved trail down the moist wood, sap beginning to bleed from inside the tree’s flesh. The dragon began to circle the boy, tail lashing from side to side, tongue gliding over his teeth, animalistic eyes not leaving the pupil’s of the human. “I despise you revolting humans, creating wars amongst yourselves,” he began, he was really going to get this person going. “Sometimes I just want rip you apes from leg to arm, spine to rib and- BOO!” said Skyler and shoved his snout into the boy’s chest to knock him down.

In a mere few heartbeats the fearsome dragon downsized to a harmless boy, hands placed on his hips that were cocked to one side, an amused smirk plastered on his flesh colored lips. “So, fellow stranger, what did we learn today?” he chuckled offering a hand to help the other up. “Well it was a pleasure to meet you, I’m Skyler, and you must be what’s-your-face.”

[Erik]

Erik looked up at the dragon, an emotionless look plastered on his face. Something about him didn't seem all that deadly, and that tone... Obviously faking, or so Erik thought. Erik was thrown down by the dragon, but not at all phased by it. "I can't say I don't blame you... We are stupid to some extents," he muttered, the cold down pour of rain finally getting to him, causing him to shiver. He sighed, closing his eyes for a few minutes before looking up and to see a... boy?

Yes, it was, and in the dragons place... None the less. He gave a questioning look to the boy, before he spoke. "Never talk to a dragon, it's stupid. Yes, I get it." He muttered, accepting the boy's hand and listened to his greeting. He waited until he was standing up before commenting on it. "I do have a name, you know." He chuckled slightly, looking up at the sky. Hopefully it'd stop raining... He didn't know how much of this he could take.

"I'm Erik, and despite that odd way of meeting, it's a pleasure to meet you too. Now, can we please get out of the rain?"

[Skyler]

Skyler looked a little unsatisfied with the mild reaction from Erik, he was hoping for something a little more dramatic, but the boy kept his wits. He wondered what it must have taken to scare or at least give this kid a thrill. He waited for the new face to glance up. He seemed pretty miserable, the shiver was visible. He was still warm from getting his blood flowing. Sitting here, wouldn’t do either of them much good. “So are you lost, or just out for an afternoon walk?” he asked feeling his own locks of hair begin to stick to the side of his face, and the cold droplets fall onto his unprotected skin.

Skyler hastily pulled up the newly met stranger, a wide grin on his face despite the shaky meeting. “I learned something too today. Don’t fly in a god damn thunder storm. Yeah, you’re probably right, names haven’t gone out of style yet,” he said indicating he was waiting for the name to come out. “Well sir Erik, lets get a move on it,” he said beginning to take a few paces forward he still had an image of the lay of the land in his mind when he was up above the trees. He didn’t have a defiant direction he absolutely needed to get to. “So where were you headed? The trees like to get up and stretch from standing there for so long, it’s easy to lose your sense of direction eh?” he said eyes surveying the nearest forest. “Or maybe we can find a cave or something, I’m beat,” he said.

As they walked, the shape-shifter spoke up. “So where you from Erik?” he asked picking up a walking stick, to keep proper balance in the mud and to whack underbrush out of the way.

[Erik]

Erik was rather puzzled by that question, wasn't it obvious? After all a well clothed rich kid in the Woods was seriously just an afternoon walk. He just nodded at the first option, before being pulled to his feet by Skyler. He couldn't help but chuckle at some of Skyler's comments, perhaps they both were better off from learning something, rather then nothing. Erik just smiled, giving a quick nod before following Skyler. When he finally caught up, he kept an easy pace while walking beside Skyler. "Hm? Oh, no where in general. This started as an exploration trip, now look at me." He gave a faint sigh, followed by a weak laugh. Well, he tried to joke around, but he wasn't particularly in the mood. He was sure being soaked in rainwater didn't help a bit.

"A cave would be just fine," Erik commented on Skyler's statement, before searching the woods for a cave opening. He was an expert at finding such things, so it shouldn't be to hard. In fact, he was so busy looking he barely heard Skyler's question. "Oh, uh.... I'm from Arvila, on the borderlines of the city, actually. What about you, do you live anywhere in particular?" He didn't really know how to ask, after all, he had heard dragons were nomads rather then the type who settled down and maintained a home. "To tell you the truth, I hate it there. It explains why I'm out here right now," he muttered, before spotting a cave.

"There, does that work?" He asked, pointing the to entrance of the cave. He didn't know if anything lived in it, so he'd let Skyler investigate. He was, after all, a dragon. While Erik on the other hand, was more likely to be a human meat shield instead of anything else.

[Skyler]

Skyler looked Erik over, they were dressed differently which did hold a statement about the two. The other looked like he was ready for some sort of noble service with a white shirt, neatly folded at the color now gray from the rain and soot. The shape-shifter was wearing a shirt made from animal skin, indicating some sort of middle to low class. Although he noticed that he and Erik had a similar quality, a need to get out and about. “Oh, please. You’ll change whenever you get back. Not like squirrels or trees are laughing at you,” he teased. “Hey look at it this way, at least we don’t have to take a shower now,” he mused, you could say his hygiene needed a little work.

“Arvila…rings a bell. It’s some really important big city right? The capital if I’m correct. I came from the East Fidel Mountains from a wee village. I left about three years ago, been sort of a messenger and well…just exploring. Anyway, I know this is kinda soon to be asking but, could I stay at your place after tonight? I need a day or so to rest and whatnot. After a while sleeping under the stars looses its novelty,” he said grinning sheepishly in hopes for a welcoming.

Skyler turned his head to the cave that Erik pointed out. “Looks cozy, let’s check it out,” he said walking over, he looked over his shoulder and smirked. “Wuss, I’ll go check for any big-bad wolves or the three bears,” he said morphing to his dragon form and lowered his head to enter. He sniffed around, poking at the dark corners. “The coast is cle- Holy shizz!” cried dragon’s echoing voice from inside. In an instant a swarm of bats came bursting out, as well as the two ton dragon leaping over and behind Erik, their tiny wings slicing at their cheeks.

[Erik]

Erik sighed, listening to Skyler's remarks about his clothing. "You know, I don't care for my looks at all.. I hate looking like this, even." He muttered, walking in complete silence next to Skyler until he spoke again. "M'hm, it's Rodylia's capital." He stated mildly, listening as Skyler continued on with his speech. Erik only smiled as Skyler asked if he could stay the night at his home, it wasn't sudden. Heck, Erik even welcomed it. "Of course! I don't have a problem with it, we just have to deal with my brother." He stated, before stopping as Skyler went to investigate the cave. Did he realize how easily Erik could get ripped to shreds by a wolf or bear? He wasn't as resistant as a dragon was. He only sighed, watching as the dragon quickly shifted to investigate the cave, only to jump back with millions of bats of his tail. Some of the wings, on impact of Erik's skin, scraped it, causing him to wince as he held his arm in front of his face to shield it from the bats.

When that was over, Erik had a slight cut on his cheek, of which was slightly bleeding. It wasn't that bad, though. He frowned, turning to face the dragon that was cowering behind him. "And you called me the wuss," He remarked, walking in front of Skyler and into the cave. It was rather cozy, compared to the rain soaked outside. Thank heavens Skyler pissed off the bats to make them leave now, instead of making their lives miserable. Erik waved to Skyler, hoping he'd get the hint to come inside the dry cave instead of sitting there looking like an idiot.

[Skyler]

“Oh…” said Skyler in pleasant surprise. That was easier than he thought. “Can’t thank you enough then,” he said offering a grin up to his ears. “Well your brother sounds the most bit charming…what’s the dealio with that guy?” he asked, with a small inquiring frown. “I’ve haven’t got a sibling are they as bad as they are said to be?” he added, amused with himself. He wanted a brother or sister, siblings were those kind of people that knew the most about you, and were the most likely to be there for you when you needed them.

Skyler lifted a clawed hand over his snout, then finally then black swarm past with their awful screeching that pained his sensitive ears. The dragon ruffled its feathers, clearly discontented with the pesky little creatures. “Ick those things give me the willies, nasty little things,” he spat, slinking back around Eric. “I wasn’t scared!” he began defensively. “I was just startled! There’s a difference you know,” he pointed out, with hint in his voice indicating he might be joking.

Skyler The dragon stepped inside the cave, deciding stay this way for the advantage of having warm downy in his feathers. He found some scattered sticks and twigs around the inside of the cave he gathered them together and pushed them into a pile, and released a small blue flame onto the wood. The flame grew into a small fire. “Kinda puny, but everything else outside is too soggy to burn,” he mumbled. Skyler curled up along the wall, leaving some room for Eric. “Know any good campfire songs or stories,” he said, lowering his massive head onto his paws.

[Erik]

Erik laughed a bit. "Your welcome, also..." He paused abruptly, looking for a way to answer him. "He's a bit stuck up, and doesn't like people out of our wealth range. Something I dislike about him, it's also something he'd give you hell about..." He trailed off, giving a quick sigh as he looked up at the treetops. The rain wasn't as thick as it was out of the shelter of the trees, that, Erik was thankful for. He was caught off guard by Skyler's question, shrugging instead of giving a full answer.

Erik gave a grin to Skyler, giving an amused laugh. "Uh-huh, sure. Keep telling yourself that." He called out from the cave, moving further into the cave as Skyler entered with his dragon form. Erik just stood until Skyler was situated, watching him burn some twigs to make a fire, before laying down. Erik sat next to the dragon. "It's fine, it's better then nothing, right?" He asked in an easy going tone. He got comfortable before Skyler asked him about camp stories. "No, I don't. I never really went camping... Thus hearing no camp stories," he frowned, resting his back on the cold cave wall.

He closed his eyes, taking the moment to relax. "Also, to answer your question from earlier... Siblings can be a pain, but you can't help but to love them. To tell you the truth, he isn't my real sibling. I'm adopted, I don't know anything about my parents. Or if I actually do have another sibling out there. Ah, but I doubt you care..." He trailed off, still not opening his eyes. He had a hard time even admitting that much, even if he accepted the fact he was adopted it was a bit... Nerve racking. Plus, it was something he needed to get off of his chest. Not having many friends did have a pretty spectacular downfall, didn't it?

[Skyler]

The uncalled for pause made Skyler look Erik in the eye for a moment. He winced a little at knowing what seemed to be troubling the younger brother. “Oh, don’t worry about that. I’ll do my best to settle that with your bro in a peaceful manner. If he’s got something to say, well so do I. Oh, and that’s right he can talk to the dragon,” he chuckled, seemingly unmoved.

“Better not nothing eh? Like your attitude,” said Skyler as he stretched out, eyes gazing into the discolored fire. He folded his wings neatly across his back, and flopped a part of his heavy but warm tail over Erik, he was dressed rather minimally for this type of cold weather. “Ha, this is way better than camping. It’s the real deal,” he said feeling his own eye lids begin to grow heavy from the effect of the day’s strenuous ordeal.

Skyler listened to Erik, ears perked at attention. It was hard to decipher exactly what the emotion was that was wafting off the human because his ivy colored eyes were closed, he listened carefully to his voice to see if he could pick up any hints of thought. “Oh you’re adopted huh?...” said Skyler thinking his own past and family over. “I guess I could somewhat relate to you there Erik. I mean I have no idea where I came from. It’s not the matter of where babies came from but…You see my parents found me under some shrine called Aeolus, and they took me in. I don’t know if you’d call it adoption, but I had no parents by blood, I probably came form some spiritual thingy-ma-bob. But it doesn’t bother me, even if it’s a mystery. I grew up right and that’s what mattered. Is it something that’s not easy for you to accept?—I do care. I wouldn’t have asked you stuff like that otherwise,” he said lifting his head for a moment with the last comment before snorting and resting his head down again.

“Anywho, I think we’ll be good friends. I could sleep until next week, say we get up an hour after sunrise?” he suggested, letting his own eyes close.

[Erik]

Erik lazily opened his eyes to look at Skyler as he spoke. He nodded, glad someone could at least understand. The question however, caught him off guard, for what? At least the second time today. "I don't know, really..." He murmured, pulling his legs closer and resting his head on his knees. Come to think of it, he was tired. He lifted his head enough to give a nod, before letting sleep take over.

Hours later, sun shone partially through the trees and into the cave, giving a rather interesting glow to the once dull stone. Better yet, it stopped raining. Erik woke up, yawning before staring lazily at the beams of light before he fully was awake. He got up and stretched, looking at the now diminished fire. He was going to let Skyler sleep in, but he figured they better get a move on. Sitting here in a cave wasn't exactly comfortable. He barely tapped the dragon, enough to get his attention. "Wake up, Sky. We still need to find our way out of these woods," he stated, waiting for the dragon to wake up.

[Skyler]

Skyler opened a single sapphire eye, peering up at Erik, ears drawn back at his awakening. “Ick, it’s you again…” he grumbled, wetting his palette with his tongue in a groggy manner. “Five more minutes…” he said finally rolling over and lifting his head, feathers flattened on side. He got to his feet stretching his hind quarters much like a feline would do. “Downward dog…and salutation to the sun…ugggh,” he moaned as he stretched out his aching and tight muscles that rippled healthily under the covering of scales and feathers. He broke a toothy yawn before looking the human boy. “Good morning Eric,” he said then trotting out. The fresh sun felt warming on his skin. “I’m going to take a look around skippy, any landmarks I should take note of?” he said climbing nimbly up the cave wall. After observations he hopped back down and morphed to his human form.

“Homeward bound…You think your folks might be worrying ‘bout you? Don’t you have any curfews?” he asked Erik lifting a brow, pushing some of his bangs out of his eyes that were still adjusting to the yellow and white sunlight. The air was incredibly fresh and took a deep lung full of air, and looked around. The forest was sparkling with dew and droplets of rain water. Birds were hoping about plucking the worms that had come to the surface, singing contently. A nearby stream was full again by the sound of it, and he spotted some fleeting deer that were now grazing on the greening clumps of grass. “It’s gorgeous out,” he commented, a optimistic smile on his lips.

“Hm well looks can be deceiving, quite literally. Let’s not get lost, I’d really like a human meal soon,” he said beginning to walk with a good pace in their set direction.

[Erik]

Erik rolled his eyes as he listened to Skyler's claims about getting up, slightly narrowing his eyes at the reluctant dragon. He somewhat reminded him of his brother, but he was different, how odd. He shrugged it off as the dragon fully awoke, and gave his greeting. "Morning, Skyler." Erik said happily, in a much better mood from earlier. Erik watched as the dragon made his swift comments, and did whatever. Erik sighed, this guy was a spazz, he wasn't going to lie. "Indeed," Erik commented on the last part, following Skyler as he began walking.

"Human meal, huh? You'll be pampered, the servants cook the best meals in Rodylia. Or, so my brother claims." He stated in a rather amused tone, before falling silent.

((OOC: Suuuucks, but I had no creativity. >.<))

[Skyler]

Skyler rolled up his sleeves, his stomach gurgled loudly. He felt his mouth salivate at the mention of good food. "I've never been pampered before, but I have a feeling I'll get used to it pretty fast. Claims? What do you think of the chow? After all you do live there. I don't know about you but I'm excited to go back to your place," said the shape shifter, torturing himself by asking, he wondered if Erik was starving too. Skyler’s head turned away from the emerald eyes, when something rustled in the bushes but quickly faded. By the sound of it, it was probably a small deer, or an overgrown rabbit. Something about the sudden noise followed by sudden silence was odd. He merely kept his thought to himself this time around, continuing to stride down the trail. He would have taken a second thought to hunting this creature, but knew there was an even better quality meal waiting if he was patient enough and walked quickly.

“Man, I can’t wait to get out of this fore-“ before the shape shifter could finish his sentence, and a snap of a twig he felt himself hurtling upward into the air and flipped upside down. Before Erik could blink twice Skyler was dangling a good fifteen feet in the air, a rope holding him around his ankle. “What the hell?! Erik!!” he shouted, attempting to curl his body upward and untie the rope, and unfortunately it was a slip-knot and was kept tight with his own weight. He couldn’t shape-shift like this, his body needed to be unrestrained, and definitely not upside down. With the blood rushing to his head, Skyler spotted three older young men practically leap out of the bushes and onto the human boy. “HEY!! Leave him bloody alone!! Don’t make me come down there!!!” he hollered frantically flailing around trying to grab hold to the trunk of the tree.

Erik had been brutally shoved to the ground, beat down, face right into the mud, before grabbed upward by his blonde hair and had a bag pulled down over his face, while the other two continued to disarm Erik, holding his arms and legs together before carrying off the squirming younger brother into the thick of the forest. Skyler grabbed a handful of figs and began pelting the fleeting bodies without much success. He felt a panic overwhelm him as his newly made friend was taken away. “Shit, shit, shit!” he muttered, realizing one of them had been mugged. He was really looking forward to his meal, that now had been postponed.