[Ionia]

Early morning brought fog along the banks of the river cora. The mist was chilly, and today, part of it settled over a triangular tent. It rested under a particularly large willow tree, and the green canvas rippled softly from a breeze. Within the tent, somebody sneezed, groaned, and rolled over onto her side. Cocooned within two fleece blankets, Ionia groggily rubbed her eyes. She ducked her head under the covers, wanting to lay in her bed for just a while longer.

The air became stuffy, so with another groan, she wriggled a quarter-way out of her fleece blanket and patted at the area to her right. Her hand fell upon her COM, and she pulled it over the check the time. It just so happened that somebody had sent her a text as well:
“Charlie Rizzo : 01/22/11
Two kumos in Corantha. Join us?”
Nia raised an eyebrow, wondering what Charlie was doing all the way in Corantha. Still, she'd be interested in tackling some kumo, especially when she wanted some more of their web silk. If Charlie wanted her to be in Corantha, she'd get there by tomorrow. She texted her reply and dropped her COM into the pocket of her travel pack, Nia pulled one of the blankets with her as she sat upright.

Wrapping the white fleece around herself to cover her bare arms, Nia grabbed some jerky and a loaf of bread from her backpack before ducking outside. It was cold, but she enjoyed the fresh air. Settling beside the willow and her tent, Nia stared into the field and munched on pieces of her cinnamon bread.

[Faroah]

Faroah wasn't fond of the cold. He'd much rather be snuggled up in Xanth's lap while she tickled his spine with her fingertips, or curled up against the warmth of her neck where the weight of her hair made him feel snug and safe.

But even imp dragons were hygiene-conscious and Faroah did love his early-morning baths. Normally, in Midnight's bowl, but the shape-changing panther woke up in a bad mood today and even Faroah had the sense to stay out of his way.

Not that that stopped him from stealing a few chunks of the overgrown cat's breakfast...

The mist that bathed the river made everything seem eerie. Faroah's wings splashed as he wriggled his body in the cool waters from his spot on a small rock, a muted sound that somehow seemed all the louder for it. He was hyper aware today (as far as Faroah could ever be conscious of his surroundings), because fog meant wraiths meant death. But he figured he was pretty safe this far up from their lake, and besides, wraiths didn't seem to like wriggly dragons for some reason (maybe something to do with the fact that Faroah and his kin were too simple-minded to fear much of anything).

“Eega, eega!” he crowed happily as he frolicked in the shallows, his wings flapping merrily and spraying his bathwater every which way. Oooooh, there'd probably be some glowy yummies here when it got dark. Maybe he'd take a nap and wait for them to come out.

¤ Piper's Boutique ¤ Dafont ¤ Wonderland Effect ¤ Meilin Wong ¤ Anime Rain ¤

[Ionia]

Barely a few minutes after going outside, Nia felt the cold mist settle into the thick wool of her blanket and eat away at her body heat. Involuntarily, her wings moved and jostled the blanket away from her front, exposing her to a draft of cold breeze. With a cough, Nia grumbled and huddled into a smaller ball. So much for enjoying the cold fresh air.

Leaning forward to drape an arm around her legs, Nia rested her chin on her knees and stared over the river. The water stretched over a long distance before it reached the other shore, but Nia could barely see the land through the fog. It did have an eerie feel, but Nia was used to seeing worse. Still, she was cautious enough to wonder whether she should fly home or keep walking. Flying would be the better option, she supposed, but her wings were still tired from yesterday. Speaking of which, she'd have to check on the box of gurell that Trent asked her to get from the Fae. It was sitting in her tent right now, and she hadn't a clue what the sidhe planned to do with it. There were few things that he wouldn't try with plants.

The shadow of rocks were blurry through the fog, but Ionia could see enough to tell when something's moving or not. She hadn't noticed it before, but there was something fluttering in the shallow waters. A duck? It didn't seem dangerous, so she let it be and watched idly as she placed another morsel of bread into her mouth.

[Faroah]

The splash of a wriggly fish drew Faroah's attention for a second, and he spread his wings as wide as he possibly could, shrieking and bobbing his head at the water to scare it away from his rock. His rock, his!

But then, as soon as the fish darted away, he got bored and shook himself, his long, whip-like tail lashing at the water. Preening, he twisted his neck to nibble at the back of a wing, and his jewelled eyes lit up as he spotted a humanoid figure in the mist. He couldn't really tell what the figure was - boy or girl, winged or lame - but Faroah had learned a long time ago that wherever the bipeds went, food was sure to appear sooner or later.

Having already forgot his vague plans to nap until the glowy firebugs came out at night, Faroah threw himself into the water and let the current carry him downstream so he was a little closer to her. When the slow-moving waters threatened to take him further into the centre of the river, he poofed up onto the riverbank a few feet away from her. “Eeeeeh. Aga oo? Aga oo?”

¤ Piper's Boutique ¤ Dafont ¤ Wonderland Effect ¤ Meilin Wong ¤ Anime Rain ¤

[Ionia]

From the distance, Nia watched with amusement as the duck splashed and lunged at something in the water. She thought she heard it shriek. It was lively in the morning, and she was not.

With a swallow and a yawn, Nia hunched her shoulders and stretched herself forward. Even though it was just a dull throb, her back ached from sleeping on the ground. She arched her spine to the left and felt her muscles stretch uncomfortably. When had she become so picky? She'd slept like this all the time in air force with no problems at all. Was she getting out of shape, or had she slept on a rock? She hoped that it was a rock.

Her blanket fell forward, and she wrapped it more securely around her shoulders. Bending the hand that still held her bread, Nia rubbed her eyes with her wrist.

There was a pop, and Nia dove to the side with the reflexes of a soldier. Rolling to a crouch, her wings fanned around her body as she directed sharp tendrils of shadow toward the explosion of color and sound that was too damn close to her.

[Faroah]

It was far from being the first time someone had tried to smoosh Faroah - through no fault of his own! - but he was still shocked when the Anyelos tried to turn him into a Shade. His shriek, filled with shock and fear, startled the local wildlife into a cacophony that hurt his ears. He huddled into himself, hunkering his belly as low to the dirt as he could get and folding his wings awkwardly against his body. For a second, he even tucked his head under a wing because he figured if he couldn't see her, she couldn't see him.

But with the initial shock out of his system, his head shot back out and darted forward so he could screech his indignation. Xanth was his pet, his! Who did this Anyelos think she was? She couldn't hurt him, Xanth would make him all better and then feed her to Midnight, yes, yes! The angry panther would enjoy her, yes, yes!

And so he told her so, in furious gibberish and, “Aga noo, naga, naga! Eeh, eeh, oo!” And for good measure, spread his wings against the darkness and snorted flame, hopping around in a tight circle to keep the shadows at bay, and wound up with a smouldering patch of black grass all around him.

¤ Piper's Boutique ¤ Dafont ¤ Wonderland Effect ¤ Meilin Wong ¤ Anime Rain ¤

[Ionia]

Shadows speared ruthlessly at the empty air, and they snaked as Nia tried to pinpoint where the red thing had fallen. Ignoring the shriek and chaos of sounds, she stabbed into the grass repeatedly and narrowed her eyes when the shadows came up with nothing. She kept the spears in the ground for a second, and then warily retracted them.

As her last shadow disappeared, the red thing popped above the grass and screeched at her, and she sharpened her shadows with renewed wariness. Her bread lay forgotten as she sidled toward the opening of her tent. Sliding her hand into the tent, she watched the imp dragon chitter and hop around like a monkey. When it spread its wings and snorted flames, however, she extended three shadowy tendrils in warning. At the same time, she yanked out a belt of throwing knives.

“Go away,” she bit out when the flames cleared. It wouldn't understand her, but her tone was clear enough. She did not hunt small things unless asked to. What the Hel did it want, and what was it doing outside of Nirim?

[Faroah]

This humanoid was scary! Faroah almost chittered at Xanth so she'd come and save him, but then Midnight would laugh at him. Him! Laugh!

“Go away.”

“Naga. Oooooooo. Ara on oooooo.” He was sooooooo hungry, he was going to die of starvation! (Even though he'd stolen chunks of that oversized cat's breakfast just this morning.) “Ee ee!” Feed me, feed me! Faroah want yummies, yummies! She must have yummies, yes, yes! She was here in a tent of all things, didn't that mean people had yummies? Otherwise, they'd starve before they reached the next town, yes, yes!

Oblivious to the threat of the knives, he scampered forward across the grass, pausing for just a second to “Oooooooh” when he noticed the difference in feel between the charred grass and the fresh grass. He zig-zagged a little because those shadowy spears were scary and he didn't want to be Faroah-kebabbed again, and when he reached her feet he sat up on his hind legs, his wings limp but spread a little for balance, and held up his tiny forearms. Faroah was never too proud to beg when it came to food. “Oo oo!” Food, food!

¤ Piper's Boutique ¤ Dafont ¤ Wonderland Effect ¤ Meilin Wong ¤ Anime Rain ¤

[Ionia]

Ugh. All she'd wanted was a quiet breakfast---it was too early in the morning to be dealing with squeaky imp dragons that chatter too much. Still crouched beside her tent, Ionia tightened her grip on a knife and narrowed her eyes in annoyance.

It lunged, she sent her shadows after it, and she cursed when she missed. She'd seen imp dragons in Nirim, but none of them was so lacking in the sense of self-preservation as this one! Or was it bold because it could breathe fire? So help me Xanth, if it does that... As her control of the shadows weakened, the dark mass wavered involuntarily before dissolving into the natural surrounding.

Highly suspicious, Nia shuffled backward when the thing came to sit beside her. She watched as it sat back on its haunches and waved its arms in the universal language of begging for something. Seeing this, her shoulders eased a little as she rolled her eyes. It would take more than paw-waving to make Nia a generous person. “What do you--Go away!” She spat, and jabbed a knife toward it.

She was going to ignore it, and to emphasize that, she braced a hand on her knee and stood. After tossing the knives haphazardly into the tent, she walked over to the far corner of her tent and stooped to pull out one of the stakes.

[Faroah]

Hmm. This Anyelos was a tougher nut to crack than Faroah was used to. As he dodged the knife she jabbed at him, he weighed his options -- which took all of about half a second and consisted of "pester more" and "pester more".

So he scampered after her as she stood up, and then was mesmerised by the glint of her knives as she tossed them into her tent. Taking it as a "the food's in there, go get it yourself" invitation, he immediately shrieked with glee and scampered after them. “Oooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooo,” he chirrupped happily, darting from left to right so his tiny foreclaws could rummage through her stuff. Foooooooooooooooood, give me, give me!

But alas, whatever food she had, he wasn't able to find by himself, and to his dismay the tent was beginning to collapse in on itself. So he decided she must be a poacher who was trying to kidnap him because he was so pretty and adorable and pretty, and that she must actually be hiding he food on her person. And because he had the protection of his pet goddess, and because he was mighty and powerful, he teleported to the ground near her foot and made to scamper up her leg in search of pockets.

Yes, yes, he was brave, so brave!

¤ Piper's Boutique ¤ Dafont ¤ Wonderland Effect ¤ Meilin Wong ¤ Anime Rain ¤

[Ionia]

“Leave it!” she hissed as the red shape whisked into her tent. Forcefully, she wrenched another stake out of the ground and tossed it to the side as she went to the corner at the entrance. It would be stupid to go in there with that thing, so she settled for the next thing that would scare it. She reached for the next stake, and Hel smite that nasty little bug if it dared burn down her tent!

The tent would have performed a great service for Nia if it collapsed and crushed the imp. As it were, the central pole merely toppled to the side as the canvas tucked itself into a cluster. Flicking the stake toward the tree, Nia yanked at the fallen canvas, and in one smooth motion, whipped it into a cluster around her arm. But the thing wasn't anywhere among Nia's messy luggage, and she heard the telltale poof far too late.

Minutes later, Nia would be thoroughly embarassed by the shriek that erupted from her as the dragon scurried up her leg. She swat at it wherever she could see it, and when it dove into the deep pockets of her baggy cargos, she cursed loudly and grabbed for its belly. It wouldn't find anything except a small vial and her housekeys. The pockets were small, so it wasn't difficult to get her hand around the wriggly thing and pull it out. Part of the pocket ripped from her force (or maybe the dragon's claws), and Nia yelled another anyeli oath and a healthy serving of “Son of a hydra's head!”, “censored!”, and “taroch crap!” If she could, she'd toss it far away!

[Faroah]

No food. And suddenly, he was gripped by a hand around his belly and was squirming for freedom, his wings flapping and fluttering uselessly as his tiny claws tried to pry her fingers apart. Fabric ripped under his claws, and he gave up his efforts for freedom to clap his claws to his snout and snicker. It served her right, yes, yes! Nobody grabbed Faroah! Nobody made Faroah smoosh like pancakes!

So he went back to trying to pry apart her fingers, and nibbled a little on her finger ends. His fangs were really too small to do much damage, made for insect-chewing than people-gnawing, but combined with the way he was kicking with his rear claws as well, she was bound to let him go. Soon. Eventually. When she got bored.

“Naga, naga, naga!”

¤ Piper's Boutique ¤ Dafont ¤ Wonderland Effect ¤ Meilin Wong ¤ Anime Rain ¤

[Ionia]

After a final ripping sound, the dragon came free from her pocket, but it was clutching its snout in a tiny chuckle, and Nia felt her brows furrow. You pea-brained little-- Wrinkling her nose in scorn, Nia paused briefly as the dragon wriggled, struggled, and pried uselessly against her grip--even its bite was weak. An imp dragon's bones were hollow, like a bird's, and as Nia squeezed her fingers around the skinny bug, she felt its ribcage bend from the pressure. With a snort of disgust, Nia's fist tightened around the tiny thing before she lobbed it toward the river. She felt no remorse while doing this, and if it happened to squeal and bounce across the surface of the river, she might even cackle.

“censored,” she grumbled and splayed her fingers outward. Damnit, the thing's claws were tiny, but they had still been sharp enough to leave a few nicks in her hand. She opened and closed her hands several times, as if to register each millimeter of her wounds, and then shook the pain away. Tilting her nose toward the river, she sniffed and yelled, “And stay away, you flea!”

[Faroah]

At first, Faroah was pleased to be sailing through the air. She had squeezed so hard, so hard, and he thought he was going to become Faroah-pancakes, yes, yes! But then she'd let him go and he liked flying after all. But why was the water coming up to meet him like that? He was a drag- splash.

The first impact of the water was like being smacked in the face with a brick wall (which had happened to him several times, he thought). He was so small that he bounced off and splashed again, and, yes, he did squeal. By the time he was coming in for a third impact, though, he'd gathered what wits he possessed and extended his wings and claws so he could surf a little bit. And then he snickered and chattered softly to himself as he used the same claws to swim back towards the shore, thinking it was all a game.

“And stay away, you flea!”

Flea? Fleas were insects. Fleas were food! She had food, she had food! “Ara an ooooooooo!” he screeched, splashing and flapping his way out of the water with a great deal of fuss. “Ara an oooooo, Ara an ooooo.” He wanted the yummies, he wanted them. He liked yummies, yes, yes!

¤ Piper's Boutique ¤ Dafont ¤ Wonderland Effect ¤ Meilin Wong ¤ Anime Rain ¤

[Ionia]

Nia was too far to hear the squeals, but her vision was good enough that she saw the dratted thing splash multiple times in the water. A rare laugh bubbled in her chest, but it came out sounding more like a cackle. But her mirth was short-lived, for after a few bounces, the persistent maggot spread its wings and came for her again! Xanth curse it, it just couldn't get a hint!

“You're asking for it, feather-brain!” she shouted among its screeches, as a dark thought occurred in her mind. It was early, she still needed to train, and oh, she was done with letting it be. The anyeli leaped for the knives on the ground and hooked four into her hands. Cool metal rested easily in her right hand before Nia spun it toward the oncoming creature. Without waiting to see if the knife landed, Nia followed through with two more knives, and held the fourth at ready. Below, her shadow wobbled before growing three extra arms that separated themselves from the ground.

[Faroah]

Faroah blinked dimly, frozen mid-scurry as a knife dug into the soil scant millimetres away from his left wing. His folded left wing. Before he could fully digest the fact that the Anyelos was throwing knives at him, she had thrown two more, and Faroah was forced to hop and scamper out of their way.

Thinking this was just another part of their "game", he chattered and snickered as he zig-zagged across the grass, only pausing long enough to cup his snout with his fore-claws and titter. )Well, he had to show her he was enjoying their game, didn't he? Otherwise, she might think he was bored and stop -- and what if shed only give him food if he won?)

When he noticed the three "arms" that extended out of her shadow, his eyes widened with fascination. He must have seen Skotadi in action at some point in his past (he had pestered that Aide of Xanth's often enough, at least) so the shadows shouldn't have enchanted him as they did, but nevertheless he tried to grab one as a toy by pouncing on it and trying to circle it with his tiny arms and legs.

¤ Piper's Boutique ¤ Dafont ¤ Wonderland Effect ¤ Meilin Wong ¤ Anime Rain ¤

[Ionia]

All three blades sunk deep into the soil. None of them had shed any blood, and with a growl, Nia threw the fourth knife and grabbed more from where they came from. All the while, the dragon paused among the grass and shook again in mockery. That taroch-crap-eating-cheefle! It was even playing and grabbing at her extended shadows. How had it survived for this long without the common sense of safety!?

Pinpointing the dragon with her eyes, the fingers of her arms merged and spindled into sharpened stakes that converged downward. Dust flew into the air as one by one, the shadows came up without results. They dissolved as their time limit expired, but Nia was already dragging the shadows from the base of a tree that was behind the imp. Squinting with calculation, Nia bent her knees and leaned slightly backward. Behind the imp, shadowy tree branches peeled themselves from the ground and swooped toward the imp. As the netted branches came down, Nia swung her right arm forward. Her knife spun in the air with the imp's belly as its target.

((I'm so sorry, Faroah, but I know you'll live! ))

[Faroah]

"Faroah-kebab!"

That was all Faroah really had time to consider as he realised he was about to be smooshed good and hard. Trying to escape the net and the knife was just too much for his teeny tiny mind to fathom, and just like always, instead of poofing to safety, he defaulted to his usual screeching match with a long and terrible drawn-out shriek, “EEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEHHHHHHHHHHH!!!!!!”

Even as he was huddling down with his tiny claws over his eyes and his wings folded over his body, as if he could hide from the threat like that, his mind was screaming for “Xanth, Xanth, Xanth, Xanth, Xanth!” Because Faroah wasn't having fun with this game any more, and Faroah wanted food, and Faroah was scared, and Faroah wanted his Xanthy-Xanthy for hugs and pretty kisses. He wanted “Xanth, Xanth, Xanth, Xanth!”

¤ Piper's Boutique ¤ Dafont ¤ Wonderland Effect ¤ Meilin Wong ¤ Anime Rain ¤

[Xanth]

And sure enough, before the imp dragon could become Faroah-kebab, the net plopped to a stop about six inches above his head, halting in the shape of a dome as if it had hit an invisible barrier, and the knife was deflected by the same in a shower of purple sparks. Wisps of lilac smoke billowed from behind Ionia as a crystal-clear voice, infused with banked rage, rang out. “I am quite sure there is a perfectly good explanation for your actions, no?”

Faroah snickered, but shut up the instant he saw Xanth's face. Even he did have some common sense, sometimes, but that didn't stop him from scampering (in a wide circle to avoid Ionia's wrath) across the grass to chase up Xanth's leg and torso to perch on her shoulder with a clump of purple hair clutched in his tiny hands.

Stepping further from Ionia's tent to get a better look at the damage her inconsiderate little friend had wrought (and it was obviously his work; Xanth could not think of anyone else capable of wrecking so much with so little effort, and why else would the Skotados be so annoyed?), Xanth gave a soft but clearly irritated sigh. Plucking Faroah from her hair, she tossed him gently into the air and forced him home to his nest. “I shall deal with you later.”

Ionia, on the other hand... Seeing the damage, Xanth's anger had faded to a degree, but she had still threatened Xanth's beloved companion, and the haste with which she had come here to save him was evident in her form. Purple hair and eyes, and the faint hint of wings at her back, were proof enough that she had not taken the time to assume another form or hide her identity.

[Ionia]

By no command of Nia's, the shadows scattered and her knife collided with sparks that sent it flying to ground. But Nia was already beyond that as she spun to face the voice that had snuck up without her notice. With both knees bent defensively, Nia had only a second to realize the oddity in front of her, and she straightened her posture as she saw what those wings meant, and who this person was. Eyes wide with disbelief, she averted her gaze briefly toward the ground in respect before doubt struck her mind, and she shot another glance at the goddess. “What are--” Hands slackening at her sides, Nia watched with confusion at the exchange between the goddess and dragon, and with distaste as the dragon was safely sent home. The tables had turned so quickly.

Checking her anger, she bit forcefully on the insides of her cheek as the goddess turned toward her. But really, Nia didn't see a point in explaining what she'd tried to do. All of Nia's life, she'd thought Xanth worked more like the sun and the moons. Trust her to keep Elysia running, but for everything else, you're on your own. Hundreds of creatures get killed and captured in Elysia every day, anyway, including people. So why defend a censored bug?

As her wings rustled restlessly to frame her shoulders, Nia shifted her weight toward one leg and crossed her arms. “Believe me,” she said slowly, with sharp and wary eyes, “I would have left it alone if I knew you cared for imp dragons.”

((I'm so sorry this took so long! >__<))