[GD] Ruse, Raijin, Jasmine & Carnage

Strength Trial

She eyed him cautiously, noting the many, MANY spikes on his tail and his long sharp fangs. He was dangerous head to toe, that was for sure and she was primarily a lover, not a fighter. She hesitated to go near him for this trial, hesitated to even humor him but she had volunteered and backing out now might look bad for her and her rider. She had gone up against different dragons for the same trial, so she wasn’t some young inexperienced dragon, which is perhaps why her rider often volunteered her for things like this. She thanked the skies that she was an earth dragon, able to take a beating and still keep ticking but she was sure those tail spikes could do quite a bit of damage.

He was the first to move, taking a few steps forward, perhaps a bit slower than she had anticipated thanks to his slightly chunkier build but when he swung his tail, it has hard and fast and she had to back pedal fast to avoid the middle, and then she scrambled even further to avoid the tip of it. She let out a sharp breath of what might have been relief and he smirked, rather proud of himself. She wasn’t his preferred fighting partner, he liked them bigger, stronger…or perhaps for her it was just bigger? She was an earth dragon like him, so stronger wasn’t a problem. He lunged for her again before she could catch whatever breath she had lost but despite no room for reorienting herself she dodged again, ducking out of the way of his snapping jaws. Her sharp beak closed around one of the feathers on his elbow and when she pulled away, the feather came with it. He stopped all movement to stare at her in what might have been bewilderment and this time, it was her turn to smirk. He was quicker than she had assumed, with decent instincts she supposed, so he would pass.

The next pair were perhaps a stranger matchup than the first. The taker of the trial was beautiful, covered practically head to tail in sharp treasured scales and buzzing with an electric current that seemed strong enough to make all his display partner’s fur stand on end. Just like with Artemis, this wasn’t the two-headed dragon's first time being a grand display companion but this was the first time being up against a dragon with such good defence. Her instinct to bite this dragon was nearly completely nonexistent, like deep in her bones she knew biting would probably result in unfavorable results. Prism stepped forward, one step, then two and when she got close enough, she jolted back as if shocked by electricity and that was exactly what had happened. Raijin tilted his head at her and she took the moment to shake herself off. Her wings flared up and her spare hands lifted to touch her heads, as if she could brush away the after shocks. Wild. Prism did not try to get close again, he had more than enough armor and automatic defence mechanisms to make him a formidable foe, one who could protect any nest, partner or eggs of his. When the dark green dragon made no move to come at him again, he stepped forward towards Prism. Her ears on both heads pinned and she let out loud hiss and the horse-like dragon stopped moving forward. He tilted his head again, her ears unpinned after taking a few steps away. As far as she was concerned he had passed and he didn’t need to get closer to realize that.

If the second pair was a stranger matchup, then hold onto your pants because the next pair was also a strange pair, to be fair, all the matchups were strange but these two were different especially in size and personality. The smaller one, a bird of sorts you could say, was a medium size, a pale gray color, spotted black with blues and darker grays mixed in. She was pretty, a pink flower on her head and a lantern to light the way. Her companion was… dark brown. With streaks of yellow, black, white and red along her neck and back. The most colorful part of her apart from her sharp pink eyes were her big wings, while pale, they were still pretty in their own way. She was covered from head to toe with sharp treasured scales that she often used to keep the riff raff away from her. Rather successfully she might add. She was already annoyed, before she even showed up and now she was even more so. She didn’t want to be here but her rider had insisted (forced) her to come be a part of this stupid nonsense.

Asmodea sat, picking at her treasured scales with little interest in the smaller dragon she had paired up with. However that wouldn’t stop Jasmine from the task at hand. She opened her wings with a quiet gracefulness, moving her tail in an acth to show off the blue tips of the feathers there. She swayed gently, as if in a trance, she moved her wings up into an arch of sorts to show them off further. She spun gently, making sure to show off every part of her beauty. Then she bowed gracefully and when she stepped away from the spot she had done her little showy dance on it was covered in beautiful freshly grown flowers. Asmodea gave her an unamused snort, “You pass or whatever.” Without any other words she took to the skies to go home.

The final pair were just as strange as the previous two matchups but not in size and it was mostly the female companion that was the strange one. She was colorful, almost ant-like in her shape. Her wings were perhaps the most stunning part of her. She chittered happily at the dragon she was to be a companion for. How exciting. The vines connected to the flower on her head began to grow in her excitement. Carnage had to think a little when he saw the other dragon, they were around the same size. Carnage could tell right away that this dragon wasn’t a fighter, so that threw that idea right out the window. The good part about this companion was that she didn’t seem too hard to impress, he had shown her his wings briefly and her strange bug eyes seemed to light up or at least he thought they had. It was a little difficult to tell but her flower seemed to grow and he took that as an easy sign to tell how she felt.

He supposed for this trial, a display of jungle magic might be the best course of action. He leaned forward, brushing the ground gently with his front limbs and flowers sprouted where he touched. He dragged his tail across the ground and there were more flowers. He walked around Bhramari carefully, tail still dragging along the ground and flowers still growing where his tail touched. He walked a full circle around her and when he stepped back the female chittered happily. She was surrounded by wondrous flowers that seemed to match her wings. According to her, he had definitely passed.

Flexibility Trial

She was a teal color, splashed with white, with sharp fangs and even sharper claws, giant claws. She was massive, horrifically large and terribly mean and it was so very easy to figure it out. Anyone who lived around or near her territory knew it and they knew to steer clear of her. Always. If you saw her shadow you hid and prayed you were not on her shit list that day. Today on her shit list was her rider, who had told her she had to come participate in some stupid dragons, stupid trial. She growled quietly at the thought. One day she’d give that man a piece of her mind, you mark her words. She spotted Ruse and sighed, rather loudly at the sight. Another teeny dragon to let guide her through territory she already knew. Great. The dragon taking the trial was a brownish color, with a dark brown streak along his side, sandstone colored legs, white spots down his back and thighs and white splotches along his tail. She eyed his spiked tail with barely any interest and snorted unamusedly. The spikes were sharp yes but they’d be like poking someone with a tooth pick if he were to swing them at her.

One of the other companions, who had arrived around the same time as Gremlin, was someone Gremlin hated. Gremlin hated a lot of dragons but this might be one of the dragons she hated most. Speedy. She was an orangey color, red spots on her body and the same color brindle down her back legs, dotted with white and striped with one long stripe of tan starting on her head, splitting into two distinct lines on her neck. They went along her spine on both sides of her body before meeting up again on her tail. She had a mane of tentacles that moved and writhed as if it were a different entity than herself. Gremlin glared at the smaller dragon, who didn’t even flinch at the colossal dragon’s' dislike. In fact she didn’t even acknowledge the other dragon at all. Was that intentional? Her companion was smaller than herself but that didn’t seem to bother her at all. She chirped at Carnage who acknowledged her with a nod. Another dragon who didn’t speak as a companion. Great. Speedy tilted her head at him, her mane of tentacles moving like worms along her face. He was a black dragon, rosettes across his body and rattlesnake down his back.

The third companion had participated in the first trial and had been more than happy to participate in the second one. Her companion was different but she didn’t mind. She chittered a greeting to Carnage when she spotted him before turning to chitter happily at Jasmine who greeted her with a smile. The final companion was a bipedal like the second companion and it was very clear with one glance that she was most definitely related to Speedy. Gremlin spotted it first and her dislike of participating grew. Just what she needed. Speedy AND one of her crotch goblins. Speedster’s tail lashed slightly at the much MUCH larger dragons glare and she bared her teeth. Gremlin looked taken aback at the small dragon's lack of fear. Speedster blew a puff of fire from her nostrils at Gremlin but before she could do anything back the trial had begun.

They were to lead their companions through ocean terrain. Jasmine entered the cool water with a little shake, she almost didn’t expect the little dragon to enter the water on account of her looking like a big bug but to the bird-like dragons surprise Bhramari leaped right in. She even dipped below the surface and stayed there for an uncomfortable amount of time and when she resurfaced she noticed the bug of a dragon had gills. Gremlin floated above the water as Ruse entered and when he was treading water she dipped beneath the surface, leaving barely a trace that she had done so. It was almost eerie how quietly she seemed to become one with the water and when he looked down, all he could see was her blood red eyes staring up at him. The rest of her body blended nearly seamlessly into the water surrounding her. He stopped looking down quickly and decided to focus on swimming, instead of the demon beneath him.

Speedster eyed her electrified companion cautiously but when Raijin entered the water, the other dragons did not get electrocuted and the small dragon sighed in audible relief before climbing in after the horse-like dragon. She was glad he could swim, she thought perhaps with all those scales that they might be heavy and make it hard but Raijin didn’t appear to be struggling at all. However, Speedster still stuck rather close to him, just in case. 

The last to enter the water was Speedy and Carnage. Perhaps they were waiting like Speedster, to see if Raijin would electrocute the water and kill everyone already in there but he didn’t. Speedy was the first of the two to enter the water, leaping in and making a rather big splash. Some of the water even splash on Carnage before he decided to just do it, leaping in after the female dragon with the tentacle mane. She swam a circle around him once before settling behind him, ready to follow. Then the group of eight… seven? No no, it was eight, the malicious intent from the eyes below the group confirmed it, well regardless they began their journey. They were doing well, making good time without rushing through it and losing their companions, not that that was something that could happen, the companions being ocean dragons in the ocean of course. Speedy chuttered behind Carnage when he turned his head to make sure she was still there. Raijin felt Speedster brush against him after a while, as if to reassure him she was still there. Bhramari kept dipping below the surface and resurfacing with a happy noise and Jasmine couldn’t help but smile at the bug-like dragon’s infectious joy.

Ruse never saw his companion, never dipped his head down to check for her because he knew she was there. Could feel the malice in her red gaze, could feel the air around him shudder as she moved soundlessly beneath him. A constant incentive to just keep swimming, just keep swimming. When they reached their destination, he was the first to scramble onto dry land. He wasn’t a coward but something about how quietly that colossal dragon could move under the water made him shudder. He was glad when she didn’t come onto land with him and when he peeked into the water again, she was gone. Good. Speedster rumbled at Raijin after they both exited the water and the bigger dragon dipped his head in thanks. Speedy did the same and it was once again clear that they were indeed mother and daughter.

Bhramari chittered at Jasmine, who waved a wing at her goodbye like manner. That was two trials down and just one more to go. Perhaps it would be a relief for the dragons to know they needed no companions in the third trial.

Providence Trial

Here it was, finally at the last trial, just this one more to go before they would be eligible to breed. How exciting and unlike the first two, they needed no companions, didn’t even need to do this together, they could all go their separate ways, do separate things if they wanted. The day was theirs to pick whatever option they wanted and what a day it was. They started early, the sun partially hidden by the clouds but the temperature was still nice and warm, a perfect day for a trial. The wind tickled the freshly regrown leaves on the trees, happy for the cold grip of winter to finally be gone… for now. However long mother nature decided to be nice, the trees were grateful for it.

Ruse set out, he knew what he was going to do. He was going to find the greatest, most valuable treasure imaginable to start the greatest hoard ever. So whatever he found had to be perfect, he knew that and he was sure he’d find it. Perhaps he’d go caving, find a big rare crystal? No…that was perhaps too obvious. He wandered around for a bit, finding a rather cave and making a mental note of it, just in case. After looking for a distance he found himself walking along a beach. There was an old ship, perhaps a pirate ship of some sort that had long been washed upon the shore. He was sure the chances of there actually being anything on the abandoned ship was zero to none, he figured it wouldn’t hurt to take a quick look. After all this beach was rather secluded, perhaps even unheard of if he was lucky. He ventured closer and the closer he got, the bigger the ship became until he was standing right next to it, dwarfing him in size. There was a hole, perhaps where the ship was smashed against a rock and sunk before the tide washed it ashore.

He entered, a bit on the cautious side, his tail seemed ready to be swung at any sign of danger, but there didn’t seem to be anything dangerous in the ship that he could see. At least not right away, hopefully it would stay that way. Not that Ruse was a chicken, he jumped at the opportunity to fight a dragon for whatever was on this ship but no dragon appeared. To his luck, there seemed to be a chest left, heavy and locked. He dragged it from where it had been left, tucked beneath the desk in what must have been the captain’s room. When he pulled it, there was a click, the sound of a wheel moving and Ruse jumped back just in time to avoid an old rusty arrow. Ah. So that’s why the chest was still here. The brown dragon shrugged before grabbing the chest again and pulling with his earth dragon might, he pulled the chest right out of where someone had nailed it to the floorboards.

When he exited the ship, carrying the chest, he was rather smug with himself. He set the chest down and using the same strength he had used to pull the chest from the floorboards he yanked it open with ease. There were many things in the chest, mostly what appeared to be treasure maps, little jewels, a captain’s hat for some reason and a rather large golden necklace, covered in what might have been diamonds. He ignored the other stuff and picked up the necklace, he briefly wondered why the only thing of great value in this booby trapped chest was this one necklace but he’d take it nonetheless. A perfect start to what would be the greatest hoard the world had ever known.

Raijin had an idea like Ruse’s, treasure for a hoard but unlike Ruse, he didn’t have to go far to get what he wanted. After all, he was covered head to toe in treasured scales, a coveted crafting material but also very pretty in their own right. He shed them naturally but for his hoard, he turned his head, grasping one of his shoulder scales and tugging lightly, it came off rather easily, most likely because it was going to be shed any day now but that didn’t matter. What mattered was that he was willing to pull them out to build a magnificent hoard, at least this first one only. He’d have to find more treasure, after all a varied hoard is always good, especially to potential mates, he supposed.

Carnage took a different approach, he had decided to collect food, to show that he could provide for any dragon who decided to carry his eggs. A hoard was fine and all but food was important and any dragon who couldn’t provide food, obviously didn’t deserve to sire offspring. He watched as a herd of deer heard him coming and took off, he pondered going after them before deciding against it. He could hunt if he really wanted to but he had decided on gathering, so gathering he would do. Technically he was sure he could just make a berry bush grow if he really wanted to but this trial was proving he had the ability to find food, not just grow it himself. Probably. Would a dragon carrying his clutch even know the difference? Probably not… he shook the idea from his mind, what was important was that he knew he could grow them himself but he was choosing the hard way. He sighed quietly before stumbling upon exactly what he was looking for, a berry patch. A… eaten berry patch. Probably those deer he had scared off, how unfortunate… or was it? He glanced around before touching the berry bushes with his nose and new berries began to grow. This didn’t count as cheating right? No… no of course not, he had found the berry bushes by himself, it wasn’t his fault he was slightly to late. He gathered them up quickly. Perfect.

Lastly it was Jasmine’s turn to complete the last trial and she knew exactly what she wanted to do. She would build a nest, so grand and so perfect that any dragon who saw it knew she'd be a perfect mate. She found an easy to guard spot but not a dark dingy cave, more in the open, around the spot were prickly bushes with sharp spines, a natural defence for her nest. She collected tall grass, bendy vines and wove them as best she could with her feet and mouth until somehow she had made a nest. She left it for another moment and when she came back, she had a mouth full of flowers, a perfect last touch to her nest. Now as beautiful as herself. She stared at the nest before narrowing her eyes. She tucked a few looser vines deeper into the nest before deciding to get some more tall grass, to make sure the nest was nice and extra soft. Yes. That would do. Finally she glanced around a bit before touching her free antennae to the prickle bushes around her and nodded to herself when they grew bigger, further protecting her nest from potential threats.