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The Ball of Winter Verve
Topic Started: Jan 23 2011, 01:11 AM (943 Views)
Laughing Dove
Unregistered

((Plot Thread Here))

Welcome to the Castle Pavel…

Like a vast, turquoise platter, the lagoon stretched out in a rich, saturated gradient towards a cobalt sea miles from shore, a vast plain of rippling blue-green that reflected the late-noon sun like a tinted mirror, looking up to a clear sky of a blue so pure that it shamed the lush, green-tinted clarity of the saltwater stretch below. Miles of ocean butted up against a strip of beachfront slathered against the towering white fortress of a clifface, pooling at the base like cream rimming a spectacular, frosted pudding. Seen from far above, they were chalky and stately. The wavering and dipping cliff, countless miles long, was naught but a shivering white line in the face of the infinite sea, seeming like so small a border between the rolling fields of grass and farmland and the fertile, watery garden of the sea. Closer, however…

Standing upon a broad strip of silken sand, his bare toes wriggled into the salt-crusted grains, Byron shaded his brows with a hand and gaped into the sun. Like the handiwork of giants, a wall of marble and chalk towered, vertically in places, up towards the sky, a dark green smudge of vegetation visible only upon the lowest graduations. Eerily smooth, almost polished in places, the cliffs bulged in places towards the ocean, above him throwing out a stone arch that yawned across the pitiful gap of sand and plunged its great white foot into the water. Beside it another stone stood at attention, shorter by a third and of a surface so flawlessly pallid that if not for its size, it might be a carved rock beside a water fountain.

Astonishingly, on a scale almost beyond imagining, the pillar of stone holding up this archway was carved into the flowing figure of a woman, her drapery subtly arranged to support a pathway of thousands of steps that rippled down the smooth contours and curves of her immense form, sightless stone eyes closed and her back to sun as she coyly held the archway aloft. Around her feet a stone bridge stretched towards and upon the sand, swallowed by her shadow, and spilling into a white-stone road that curved sensuously against the cliffs, salt-scorched clean of any greens that might mar the perfect whiteness of their surfaces. Like a blemish on the face of a god, the relatively minuscule and awed Byron remounted his horse and kicked the bay mare onto the road, his light clothing suiting the wildness of her saddleless back.

As he past from beneath the Statue’s shadow, and his horse’s hooves clattered to a halt on the slick, precious cobblestones, Byron first laid eyes his eyes upon it, and sat dumbstruck upon her back. A palace, a dome of naked white stone that rose from against the cliff face like a vast egg, flanked either side by two arms of the building, supported by columns three times as thick as a Celestial was round. Like hexagonal ring they protruded directly from the cliff walls, their sixth face open to a staircase fell towards a rectangular pool that stretched halfway across the mile-wide strip of beach, tiled in shining patterns of blue and white in a reflection of the ocean itself. Between each archway, a private garden, dark-leafed conifers and cycads planted in rectangular, raised beds, arranged around squared fountains, in places narrow enough to faze a human, in others wide enough to comfortably hold an Earth. Dark and light, no matter how close he got the contrasts seemed almost like a monotone, colours inhabiting the spectrum of dark and light in such powerful opposition that everything stood out against itself in geometric perfection. Pausing beside the immense pool and gazing into the dark mosaic of its depths, his horse dropped her head and noses aside the dark-purple lotus leaves and helped herself to a drink.

“I see you found your way?” a voice crooned, a Russian accent buzzing through the words like syrup. Turning his head with a knowing smirk, Byron laid his eyes upon Sascha Pavel, a rough-shaven man clad in a black turtleneck and cream pants despite the weather. Leaning against a pillar that turned his generous height into a mockery of a black speck, he ran a hand idly over the smoothness of the marble, his grey eyebrows shadowed his dark eyes as he contemplated his visitor. “Indeed…quite the palace you have here, my man.” Byron cooed in response, a hand twiddling casually in the blackness of his mare’s mane. “Is it now? Just wait till you come inside, Byron…”

“It’s positively decedent.”

----

An hour before sunset, a week before the dragons were due to clutch. The Marquiz had been busy, and the smell of wine filled the maze of gardens in an exquisite symphony of Dionysian indulgence. The sun cast the glittering building into a rippling orchestra of shadows, a musical vision only supplemented by the magically projected music that waltzed across the acres of tiled floor and sea-salt air, supple and formal. Vast tables were set up within easy distance of any open space, accompanied by great glass jugs and clear bowls of markedly varying sizes, so obviously designed for draconic participation.

Hors d'oeuvres included some remarkable stands of fruit, fresh, fermented and gold-dipped alike scattered across the grounds with reckless abandon, and the discerning might scent the delicious aromas of variously cooking fleshes wafting down over the vast staircase from the cracks in the main building’s huge stone doors. Serving the arrivals with distinguished glee, an almost impossible supply of gorgeous, lithe women attended the masses in silken shifts that barely existed at all, propped up on white heels with their long arms and legs flashing like beacons in the dramatic lighting. Equally, shirtless men of Adonissian proportions bowed in their silken pants and white loafers, both sexes as comfortable in their bareness as Roman courtesans.

Resplendent as peacocks in their various garbs, guests poured in, foreigners and natives alike dispersing and reintegrating as they explored the paradisaical gardens. Occasionally a palanquin would bear a member of the royal family through the throngs, kept ‘close’ to the central pool in order to keep an eye on the endless numbers of guests. Here and there, a dragon found wound its coils through the unusually open space, and flowing through the crowds like water entertainers paused and displayed their acts for the attendee’s pleasures, happy to indulge in their creative freedom with Pavel’s prodigious paycheck securely lodged in their pockets. The organisers of the occasion were no-where to be found, but few payed attention, for indulgence and greed occupied every corner, and wine was already beginning to loosen tongues…

----

((Ursula is arranging rides and escorts for her students, and would have recruited a few other people in order to manage it. You are welcome to say your character was brought along by her, or volunteered to help! wyrmlings will ride separate from their dragons, but in the same group. We’ll just put them at about 7 months, and haven’t flown together just yet.))

Flushed with pleasure and a faint undertone of nausea, Ursula Firdwite poked her reluctant lump of a dragon into a mournful trot, away from their quiet, cosy cottage and towards the Candidate Barracks. She’d been most insistent that as many children as possible go, both for the experience and to see how they handled themselves in such situations. She’d even invited them over to borrow from her old, well-preserved, extremely varied selection of outfits, and rather…insisted upon a few. Parking her cranky dragon at the doors, she hopped off cheerfully, cursed her light-headedness and rapped at the door with unholy zeal. “Come out, come out, your rides are here! We’ve got a lot of people coming along, so move your butts!” Satisfied, she left them to the hands of the dragons who had volunteered to ferry them, scrambling dizzily back up her dragon and heading off to repeat the process with her Wyrmlings, stepping back and leading them towards the nearby group of candidates while everyone sorted out riders among themselves.

----

((OPEN))
Standing tall with the tassels of her tail swishing in the breeze, Earth Venus towered over most of her fellow Wyrmlings, a behemoth already. At 74ft in length, she already outweighed her sire in bulk, the late-afternoon sun rich off her glowing, colourful hide. Perched in desert splendor between her dragon’s horns, Colette sat cross legged between the two curvaceous spires, the cerulean fins relaxed down below her buttocks, reminiscing on the last event as Venus patiently waited on anyone who might need a lift.
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Toxique
Unregistered

Tox and Aurum, picking up Skad

"Ugh! St-stoppit! Its to tight!" Came a piteous yowl from a certain celestial quarters, followed by the chittering of at least three female servants. "You're gonna crush my organs at this rate!"

"Sir, we're not going to crush your organs, women wear them all the time!"

"THAT'S MY POINT!"

Now, many may have been wondering what was going on in the bathroom of the celestial quarters at that time and with the words being flung about, and even the celestial that resided within had a torn look of confusion, humor, and concern twisted upon his face as he listened. Granted he loved the balls and had been distraught not to have been allowed last time, but it had been a sacrifice he would have done again in a heartbeat. His children and mate were a bit more important than a silly ball anyway. But even with that Aurum was not so secretly excited to go, this time he would even get to see the garb his rider had complained about for weeks afterwards.

But he was broken from his train of thought by another wail of despair, presumably as the last laces were tied into place and the rest of the garment was placed on, and Tox finally got a decent look at himself. Aurum only had to wait a few seconds before the poor man came trudging out with a hand on his stomach and breathing like HE was the egg heavy one and not the assorted females around the academy. But in truth, he did look very good, though last year's garb had gotten a minor facelift, it still appeared much in the same. The garment was dark blue with shimmers of iridescence, and had metallic gold woven in, exact miniature replicas of Aurum slithering up and down his chest, sleeves ending in stylized makeshift wings. Though unlike last year's design, this one did not billow out as much, and was tucked into his waist, with his legs now in view, clad in thigh high boots that had elegant buckles twining all the way up to the top. Slightly less dress like, but lots more painful, and the stupid feather earrings were still there, fluttering and twitching on his neck.

"You do look stunning, I must say." Came the pleased rumble from his dragon, though he was only given a glare and a quick snap in response. "Great, because I feel like shit." Tox growled before walking up to his leg and lifting his arms, waiting rather impatiently and staring at the look of confusion that crossed the celestial's features. "I can't climb with this damn dress and corset on, I need a lift." Tox huffed as Aurum stifled a giggle, though soon twisted to offer the man his snout, watching him hook his arms onto the ridges of his nostrils as he carefully hefted him up, then to the small two person parade saddle that had been made for such events. He quickly hooked himself up and made sure that the servant's had placed all of Aurum's ball attire on correctly. On him a huge metal collar that served as a necklace, white gold and with sapphires as big as his head that stayed just below the ending of his mane, golden chains through his horns, a plate settled across his forehead with elaborate designs welded into the metal, silver rims around his crystal, and beautiful white gold claw caps and bangles on his arms.

Once all settled away he nudged the dragon into motion, gently urging him to take flight off of their massive balcony and to float effortlessly down, Aurum soon tilted his wings, coasting over the candidate's barracks and nodding politely to the other assembled dragons. He knew he was quite flashy, but it had been his first ball in forever, he simply couldn't help himself, and demanded all he could from his personal stock. But soon he crouched, waiting patiently for the familiar face of Tox's ward to ease out throw the crowd and for him to climb up when he did.

(I'll edit my other characters into this opening post too)
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Kialish
Unregistered

{Skad; to Tox}

A ball. How could he resist such a thing? Of course his primary want to go was due to all the nobles who would be there, getting drunk and not paying attention - thiefs intentions and all - but with Tox there, it would not be easy. He himself might even get caught up on the twirl of the ball or might even meet a few new people, get distracted... Maybe. Unlikely though. The noble women and their glittering jewels would surely attract his eyes and he was sure he'd get in trouble tonight if he wasn't careful. His brain swam with the idea of all those nobles... They were so easy to steal from, with their noses held so high they didn't even notice when a diamond disappeared from their necklace or when a golden ring vanished from their greedy fingers since they had so many to replace it. It almost disgusted him, how stupid they could be, but it was easy money on his part. Pawning off gems like that made real good money after all.

One large problem Skad had was that he simply didn't have an outfit one would consider for a ball. Most of his were casual wear, nothing clean cut and fancy like other people had. He hadn't bothered to ask around for an outfit to borrow and had been unable to go to Lihn - not that he had ANY of his money from his past jobs, Tox had made sure of that - so it would seem like he was out of luck. However, one candidate around his size had been kind enough to lend him some clothing. He wanted to go in his plain clothes, but then thought about it and didn't want to stick out any, so he took the candidates offer.

The breeches the other teen had lent him were a touch too long for his shorter legs, so before putting on his knee high leather boots, he rolled up the bottoms. They were a snug fit, but he like them. The shirt he was given was simple enough, loose and billowy-made, it was off white with black buttons which he buttoned about three-quarters of the way up. It was tucked into his pants, where a black belt with silver buckle was wrapped around. The boots had several shining silver buckles similar to the one on his belt. His hair he attempted to make... neat, taking a brush to it wet down with water several times. The mess however, was not going to cooperate. He had shorn it himself just before getting tossed into prison, and it had grown a little, just enough to ignore the will of the brush and its wielder.

Satisfied with his physical appearance, Skad had only to wait for his ride. He strode out of his room to the grounds where other candidates were going to wait for their rides as well. A few people glanced at him, but he walked with the pride of a peacock, knowing that he would be riding with Tox and Aurum. No other candidates would get to ride the splendid, golden creature. And no others got to ride behind Tox and hold his waist as they flew... The idea made Skad simply tickled pink. The rider there and back would probably be the funnest part of the teens evening.

Dragons came, some with several seats saddled on their back, to bring candidates, but it was the massive, gold-and-blue dragon that held Skads eager eyes. He was adorned with a gorgeous silver collar, sapphires and white gold encrusted in the metal. His golden chains that swung from his horns seemed to shine brighter and a plate was settled on his massive forehead. On his arms were were white gold bangles and caps of the same metal were on his claws as sheaths. It took Skad a moment to realize he had to breathe.

"You look spectacular, Aurum," Skad said with a sparkle in his eye as he strode toward the beast. He threw his arms out in a wide gesture. "Absolutely marvelo-" He stopped in mid sentence, spying Tox in the saddle as Aurum lowered himself. He snorted, then coughed trying to cover the laugh. He looked splendid, yes, almost feminine, but also ridiculous. How could a man like him be talked into such a dress? "Y-you look wonderful too, Tox." He managed to spit out, the smile on his face contorted with the laughs that lay behind his lips.

Smiling widely, he began to ascend the great dragon, reaching out for Tox's hands. He noticed the man could not bend over. Was he wearing a corset too? What a poor man he was. He settled himself in the saddle behind Tox, lips tight in a smile. This would certainly be a fun night.

----

{Kialish and Tempyst; to Candidates who need a ride. She can bring 5}

Kialish wasn't really... excited for this ball, but Tempyst had poked and prodded her so much she finally caved and planned to go. She was still in a somber mood after Tanner and Metis' sudden disappearances and was sure they were gone, and although Tempyst felt for her rider, she wanted to go so badly. The last ball she had been unable to attend, choosing instead to lay on the sands with her 4 beautiful children while they were yet eggs. That night... it was also the night she had bonded to Hephaestus for the first time, bonded in a deeper meaning than simply a flight mate. They had shared their brood and both taken care of the eggs and both got to be pleased when each others hatched. It made her so... content. Happy.

Kialish had done a job with the dress she chose to wore. Tonight she chose to dress as a respectful rider and wear the garb of her dragoness. The blue dress dropped to the floor, the tail end longer than the front so her ivory heeled boots could be shown off. Its form was slimmer at the top, opening like a flower above her bosoms, giving way to a white thread of silk that wrapped around her neck several times. She adjusted it so her pearl, her crystal that bonded her to Tempyst, could be shown and would still be close to her. The slim upper portion of the dress was decorated with scales - Tempysts true scales that had molted off. They were still the same vibrant deep-ocean blue and were of the smaller variety, as the larger ones would simple engulf the dress. They stopped at the ivory belt that separated the top and bottom of the dress.The thin belt was encrusted with sapphires and pearls do complete the water ensemble.

The bottom of her dress was looser fabric, wavy and trailing to a longish tail. Unlike the top which was Tempyst-navy blue, the bottom was dark blue with light striations of pale blue, true blue and aquamarine, so when she walked it would appear as if she was water. She even allowed Tempyst to talk her into ivory gloves that stretched past her elbows. They were a touch uncomfortable at first, but she had gotten used to them after wearing them for so long.

Her hair was still too short to do any thing with, so she simply combed it straight and added a hair salve to keep in from sticking up at odd places. She had considered a hair clip of some sort, but thought she looked perfectly fine without one. She had to wear a corset, however, and could hardly breathe once she was finished getting dressed up.

"Why must I wear this blasted thing," She mumbled to Tempyst while fitting rings of silver and sapphires on the water dragons horns.

"Because, it makes you look more appealing, beautiful." Tempyst replied with a wide smile. Kialish gave a weak half smile in response, patting the blue dragons cheek.

Tempyst was also 'dressing up' for the evening, although nothing extravagant. Along with the half a dozen ringlets on her horns, Tempyst wore a collar of pure silver with dots of sapphires and sea green peridot. Kialish thought she was perfect looking as she was, but the water dragoness insisted on at least those. She hadn't even seen Aurum yet.

"Come, come, dear one," Tempyst crooned happily after Kialish and a few dragon-hands set up the extra saddles on her back. "We have candidates to pick up!"

Kialish chuckled and climbed onto Tempysts paw, who lifted the rider up to the saddle. She settled herself in and nudged for Tempyst to go. They sailed from the barracks down to the grounds where many candidates were gathering. She landed gracefully and nodded to Aurum, smiling at the many jewelery that adorned him. He certainly seemed ready to get up and go all out! Kialish called out for a few candidates to come as Tempyst laid down. Soon they would be off...

----
{Aden and Gambol; to Venus and Colette}

Ah, a ball! Aden had never been privileged to attend such fancy events. He grew up in the mountains and the outskirts of Lihn, never worthy enough to be invited to them, and now that he was a Dire Handler, he would surely take advantage of this situation and go! He had to bring Gambol though, an idea he was not too fond of. However, the boy was simply heartbroken with leaving the now 4 foot tall hulking creme and pink mass alone in the stables or in his room. Well, his room was totally out of the question, since he liked to chase Snow and make a mess/ He liked chasing Fett as well, but Aden wanted to bring the fire phoenix to the ball with him.

After finding the fire nix hatchling on the outskirts of Lihn, under a tree with no parents to be found, Aden quickly took and nursed the little thing back to health. He had grown into quite the bird now, the size and appearance of a flaming Philippian eagle. His crest was usually pulled back, but when irritated or angry, the feathers puffed right up, making his head appear much larger. His eyes were topped with intense brows, making him a fierce looking creature.

For a while before the ball, Aden was wondering what dressy outfit to wear. He almost wanted to wear a suit to match his new fire phoenix, so they could stride in in matching splashes of orange and red, but he was a dire handler and it made more sense to him to dress up like his dire. He wasn't about to walk in furry and pink, but the coloration of Gambol, he had the tailors try to imitate. The result was a creme dress outfit with points of pinkish color on the points. He wore simple black shoes with the outfit and brushed his hair nice, neat and out of the way, examining himself in the mirror. He smiled, looking at himself from side to side, fancying himself quite handsom.

Gambol seemed pleased in his fur, but Aden wanted to dress him up too. The dire vehemently protested, growling at the sight of any canine clothing. Eventually, Aden talked him into a harness at least. It looked very nice, light brown leather with pink, cheap jewels embedded in it. The harness surved another purpose however, as Aden had a leash attached to it. If Gambol pulled hard enough, there was no contest between the two, but he was told be several handlers that he and Gambol had developed a bond by now strong enough that the galumphing canine would listen to his commands. He was still a little unsure about it, and would have his hands on the leash just in case.

Rearing and ready to go, Aden kissed Snow goodbye, the feline responding with a pleased purr. Fett on his shoulder and Gambol by his side, he trotted out to where the others were, searching out one who had told him they would be able to give him a list. With a smile, he saw the extravegant earth. Apparently the huge female was only 7 months old, but she was absolutely massive. He spied Hao and Iridae on the dragoness' bulk, but decided to not be near them. He new Iridae was egg heavy and feared her a little. She tended to be nasty enough without the extra hormones... Situating himself and Gambol on the dragoness, he smiled to Collette and thanked her and Venus for the lift, eager to go.
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Senaru
Unregistered

[This is a Semper-Sen collaborative post. Should be obvious whos typing where XD]

Lyserg gently rapped on the door before him, his face flushed with color and embarrassment, waiting for the woman within to answer it. One arm held the hanger to a remarkably extravagant ball dress. Floor length, it made him for once appreciate his tall stature; the thing was very…long. Hopefully it would fit. It was all he could wish for. Midnight black, darker than he had anticipated that it would be in the evening hours, with iridescent crimson along the shoulder straps and heels. There were small, clear, colorless gemstones emblazoned along the red, sparkling even in this dank hallway. He had just recently bought it from Lihn with his spare money…the hole that it had made in his pockets, however, would seem worth it if only she approved. His other hand gently held a Glass’ massive glassy feather that had a pretty, oily shine, a token from his visit to the Hatching sands.

The ball had given him the perfect chance to dress up in something remarkably presentable but…perhaps he had taken the excuse to garb himself a bit too much. It certainly felt more fitting to be wearing something of this caliber than rub-down boots, plain pants, and a coffee-stained tunic. Though, by the looks of the other candidates leaving for the ball, he wasn’t the only one with a sense of fashion. Similar to the dress he had bought for Kairen, he was dressed to the nines in a pitch black suit with red trimmings, with crystal cufflinks and buttons. The dress tunic beneath was crimson as well. Zria also supported a minor fashion statement. Her left foot boasted a small red ribbon at the ankle. For the moment, she had stopped trying to pluck the secured fabric off of her and was chirruping softly.
***
She'd been invited, but the woman, who was already trying to get her roomate to go, had nothing nice to wear herself. The other girl did, but unless Kai wished to go dressed in tribal garb and traditional bone-wear, and make a fool of herself, she had declined Lysergs offer to take her on the basis that she had nothing to wear. But it didn't mean she wouldnt do everything to get Larka ready to go. The timid girl had been easy to comply..if only because she didn't stick up for herself. Hearing the knock on the door, Kai, who was dressed in something a bit skimpy- her usual behind doors ware, got up and answered the door and immediately flushed bright tones under her tanned skin. Because, there, at her door, was an ever so primly dressed Lyserg, who she was already flattered by. Then her gaze wandered down to the dress....Was that for her?

Opening her door wide she cast an ancy glance at Larka...good she was dressed. The dark haired girl had forgotten that she wasn't entirly dressed for company, but it didn't matter. “Come in!I'm still getting Larka ready....” she chittered, her falcon making chortling noises like it was laughing at her. “Kestrel agreed to take you guys so she's ready to go when you are,...” She kept staring at Lyserg...he looked absolutely handsome, she hadnt seen him so spruced up before... Awkwardly, she fidgeted and showed him where to sit, and moved her things off her bed, still not realizing the state of her current attire. Odd how good she looked when her hair had no bones and stuff tied in it, and she was out of the old things she wore mostly because it was familiar. She coughed and looked around... “Do you want anything to drink?”
***
He'd seen scant few women dressed down to their skivvies in his lifetime, save for his adoptive mother but he was little when that happened and it didn't really count in that sense, but from what he could see before he hastily averted his eyes up to her stark blue irises, she wasn't half bad. She was certainly more attractive when she nixed the bones and cleaned her hair up a bit, though he hadn't expected her to look so feminine He felt a hot rush of warmth spread across his cheeks as he stumbled to say something, anything. "Uh....what?"

Quite eloquent in times like these, if he didn't say so himself.

Turning his head away, he held out first the dress. "I went into town earlier and purchased this for you because, well...you said that you didn't have any formal wear for the ball. Do you like it? If you don't I can get something else..." Though we haven't the time for that, now do we? Zria chirped merrily, cocking her head at the familiar female. Lyserg jumped at the sudden sound and instinctually thrust out his other hand toward her. The clear, prismatic feather flashed in the torchlight of the candidate hallways, casting a ray of soft rainbow splashes across his suit. "I received this and a few similar scales from the Glass female, Celiostiahle, I think her name was...Anyway, I wanted you to have it. Maybe you could wear it or something? It doesn't matter." He chuckled lightly before he noticed the other woman within the room, twitching when he did so and looking away once more in case she was as scantly clad as Kairen. "Oh, oh, I'm terribly sorry, miss. You must be...Larka, yes? In any case, I apologize for my intrusion, both of you."
***
Kairen looked quite flustered, but accepted the gift, and gasped when he told her that the feather for for her, given to lyserg by a /glass/ dragon...It was probably worth more than the dress, his outfit, and a lot of things combined...Visibly awed, the girl expressed an amount of delight that she never outwardly showed, and leapt up to hug the boy in thanks. “Oh, Lyserg, thank you so much....” Accepting his gift, she darted to the back room, a luxury really, but with two people in here there was need for mild privacy. It was a few minutes later when she'd emerged, the dress clearly fit, and her hair was up, the scale-clips and feather was tied elegantly in her hair. This was...a shocking revelation, she didn't hardly look like herself. Smiling shyly at Lyserg, she noticed that they matched well...“Oh it fits, this is wonderful,...”
***
Meanwhile, elsewhere, the Air dragon, Kestrel, awaited them. She'd been primped and pampered, washed and brushed out, had her talons shined and filed to sharp points, her horns too had gotten nice treatment. Even Nivia was dressed in his best, a typical tux that looked good and matched his dragon in reverse. It was mostly black, but had gray trim and a yellow-gold rose on the collar accented well. Now all they had left to do was to wait.
But it was not Kestrel and Nivia alone who were readying themselves, for the Night-sky colored black star-toned dragon Lagrange and his albino rider, Senaru, as well as Tesla E. Dison, Talon of the Stormsong wing and her dragon Kazrael were also getting ready to go. The latter two were already in flight and en route to the event. Another soul was tempted to get up and go, but his heart was quiet. He was unsure if he should go, would it be right? Maybe it was..

Carpédiem, and the great Glass Celiostiahle were already at the event. Having aided in making and decorating, they had come early. Byron himself had been quite taken with the two artists, which was why they'd come. The Rider was hanging back, sketching and drawing the ball, the people, their dragons. How he loved parties! At the moment, Celi was messing and manipulating a bit of glass and shaping it, laying a ways off and out of the way. She loved seeing so many people! Such opportunity to make friends...
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Zinc
Member Avatar
The Owl Waife
Moderator
To say that this almost felt like she was one of those maids that went to the ball against anothers wishes would have almost described Larka well. She'd never been to, nor even considered, going to something of such prestige as this. It was a new experience, and most surprising to herself, despite her wariness, she felt a little excited at the idea. It would be fun, she decided, to go out and have a little fun for once. She would do her best to not be nervous, but she knew that plan was shot as soon as she had found what she was going to wear. The dress was actually the only suitable piece of clothing that she had for this type of event. She'd forgotten how she'd acquired it, but did remember that she'd enjoyed the idea of owning one if something had ever come up that she'd need to look nice. It was definitely coming in handy now.

Larka looked down at herself feeling almost like a little girl dressed up in her mother's clothes. She felt slightly foolish as she pushed at the dress so that it hung right. It was a dark midnight blue and it hung looser than she'd thought it would. It wasn't in danger of falling off thank goodness, but it was comfortable. The fabric was ruffled hiding her almost non-existent figure. The dress had sleeves that attached at the armpit but did not cover the shoulder. The sleeves billowed out in a thinner and almost see-through fabric that went down to her wrists but left her hands free. In terms of jewelry, Larka didn't have anything to adorn herself with, so she'd just skipped that step entirely. Her hair was a different matter, it hung in waves from being bound in a braid so frequently, she hadn't had an idea of what to do with it, so Kairen had helped her with it.

The end result left her looking fairly pretty, though not remarkably so, and that was okay. Larka was about to see if she could find her shoes, feeling as if she should leave Kairen to find something to wear. The girl was still in her skivvies after all. When the door knocked, Larka was about to get it, realizing that Kairen was in no shape to do so, but the girl answered anyway, and Larka stopped her movements, her jaw dropping in surprise. Did Kairen just...? Her attentions were distracted from the fact that her roommate had opened the door in such a state by the fact that she was being taken by dragonback. "What...?" she asked, eyes widening. She'd never flown upon a dragon, and the prospect made her a little nervous.

She watched Kairen snatch up the dress that Lyserg had given her along with the scale and move into the back room. As Lyserg spoke she looked to him offering a small smile. "It's not a problem, I just...didn't expect her to answer the door like that." she said looking back at the back room. She resumed her search for her shoes and found them after a few minutes. Her attention flitted back to where Kairen had disappeared in time to see her reappear in her dress. She looked beautiful! Larka grinned at her roommate, knowing she looked so much different from her normal attire. No doubt both of them did.

Larka's grin widened slightly as she noticed that Lyserg and Kairen also matched. They were each others dates for the ball, and she thought that by the way they approached each other, both shy and uncertain was fairly cute. She wouldn't voice that aloud however, worried what Kairen's reaction to such terms would be. She finished putting on her shoes and smiled over at Faren who was watching the scenes unfolding around him with half closed green eyes. He purred slightly as she scratched under his chin. Things were different, and she was starting to think that she was liking it that way. It made it all the more exciting.
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SemperMemor
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Majestic Space Duck
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[Lyserg]

The tall blonde froze in his tracks, not that he had been moving anywhere in the first place, when Kairen all but threw herself at him with a cry of thanks. Great…Celestial…Tailfeathers. What just happened? His mind buzzed with shock, refusing to accept the fact that a nearly-naked woman had just catapulted herself at him. What the hell was going on? He felt her body up against his and went further rigid, not knowing what else to do lest he wish to become better acquainted with her feminine figure than was already necessary from this exchange in affection. Though he was happy that she liked the dress and the feather. Thankfully? He didn’t want to think about what might have happened if she hadn’t taken a liking to it.

And just like that, she was gone behind the closed door once more with Larka. “O-okay then…” Would he ever understand the workings of women? He probably had a better chance at bonding to a Celestial than the chances of that ever happening. Not much longer the two appeared in the doorway and came out in their finest. The dress, it fit, thank The First, looked, surprisingly (to him) more elegant that he had anticipated it would upon her. She certainly cleaned up well! None of those reminders of her days in tainted territory, were there? Lyserg couldn’t help but smile. “Oh, good! Y-you…uhm…look great, Kairen,” he stuttered at first, bowing a little as his chivalry kicked him in the gut. To Larka, too, he bowed and said, “And you, as well, madame.” Carefully, he took Kairen’s arm in his and lead the way. “Shall we be going?”

Just outside, the Air and her rider awaited them patiently. Coming up to them with the two young women in tow, Lyserg smiled. “Good evening Nivia, Kestrel,” he greeted pleasantly, offering a small bow to both in turn. To the Air dragoness, he added, smiling, “How are you faring? Good, I presume? You look wonderful.”

----

[Hao and Iridae Entering]

With a gruff snort, Iridae leapt off of the Venus’ back and landed softly. She wasn’t in a terribly great mood, not with the uncomfortable swelling around her midsection and the often times ungainly flares in hormone-induced mood swings. Though, with the smell of good food and drink wafting about in the cliff-side estate, it wouldn’t last very long.

The violet Rosemary barked at Venus, though it probably went unnoticed, until she lowered Hao and his wheelchair safely to the ground from her broad back platform. In the evening light, he looked dashing before her eyes. His wheelchair boasted an intricate vine and soft purple flower arrangement; though not too gaudy, it was a nice touch from the everyday bland metal. He wore dark violet regalia to match his dragoness, complete with a baby blue undershirt and yellow-gold trimming. His boots, too, although completely ill of use, were shined to a brilliant polish. If nothing else, she was glad to see him dressed so; he even had a soft smile upon his bleached face as he peered around with calm wonder at the extraordinary events. The change in pace away from the Infirmary seemed to do the man well. She gave a soft thrum to him and rubbed his shoulder with the end of her snout.

As they entered the extravagant manor and its grounds, Iridae made a bee-line toward the refreshments. The crowd of humans around her proved no massive problem. She was barely larger than they at the shoulder anyhow. It wasn’t as if she were a massive Fire barging through the nobility. Iridae’s eyes widened as they walked past the beverages. She gave a tentative sniff of one of the red varieties of wine and nearly giggled, slyly filching a bottle of it and shoving it in Hao’s face for him to see. “Oh, look, dearest, they have Cabernet Severny!” The rider gave a hearty laugh and clapped her on the shoulder, smiling widely.

“You go and enjoy yourself,” he murmured to her as they wandered through the gathering crowd. “Heavens know you need it. Though I say-----“

Tiny violet nostrils flared delicately and followed a platter of those delicious-looking gold-dipped fruit as he body stayed rigid in place. “Excuse me, good sir,” she said merrily, asking away after him. Her mouth nearly drooled after the decadent hors d’oeuvres as they passed by at the whims of the ball guests. The basket around her neck was already teaming with fresh, rare fruits, yet she didn’t care. She wanted those. She didn’t even know what type of fruit they were, but the fermented scent, combined with the deep metallic odor (faint to the humans, but not to her sensitive smell) utterly captured her attention. “Would you mind terribly if you could save a platter of those for myself?” Her tongue didn’t wait for a reply as it darted out, curled around one of them, and dashed back into her mouth. Biting it, she positively wiggled with happiness.

As Iridae, bottle of her own wine in hand, darted off without another word once the attendants, unfazed in their draconic request, and made off to sit somewhere remotely secluded outside. Another tray of red meat found itself lost to the guests as well, only the flash of a Rosemary’s plumed tail as she retreated, a massive smirk on her face.

Hao, relieved of his dragon for the time being, found it pleasurable to cruise through the crowd slowly on his way toward the beverage tables, greeting those he knew with smiles and compliments of appearance and those he did not with simple hellos and well wishes.

---


[Cain and Kemet Entering latuuuuur]
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Carni
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Leokadia and Air Auster entering... Open ^^


It had taken her several hours to get ready for the ball and Kady was still somewhat unhappy with the outcome. Everything was perfect, every strand of hair in place... still, wasn't there a way to look even more beautiful? Frowning, she picked at her beautiful lightblue dress, straightening it even tho it hadn't even needed any straightening. Fine, there was nothing else she could do about it. Auster was perfect as always, of course. If possible, her scales were even more than usual polished into soft shine, her feathers comed even straighter, the curl of her tufts even curlier. Yes, she was perfect. Unlike many other Wyrmling pairs, she had decided not to go with the group, locking herself up and 'refusing to go' instead whilst getting ready for the ball. She didn't plan on arriving as part of a group of filthy youngsters. No, Kady shone alone. She had managed to bribe one of her father's men into bringing her to the ball, arriving just a little late as befitting for a young lady. One should make others wait a little before arriving, thus increasing one's own value and superiority over them. Or so she thought. At least, her stupid little sister would not attend this ball. Misery, of course, had almost been forced to stay back at the Barracks but Kady had finally given in to his piteous wails and attached a few colorful bands to his murky-brown fur before taking him along. He had been ordered to remain quiet and timid but she doubted he would remember that order for long.

Gracefully as befits a Queen..., she told herself when she strode though the entrance into the great hall, making a servant announce her as 'Leokadia of Treston and Air Auster!', as proper. Not everyone had arrived yet, it seemed and she considered her arrival a little miscalculated. A hint later would have been better. No need to look desperate. Smiling quietly to herself, she begun to search the room for faces of importance... the Byrons for example. Or the Celestialrider... The rest... was probably much too far below her.
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LeoEyes
Unregistered

(Dalien to Kialish and Tempyst)

She was not pleased, not pleased at all as she stared in her little mirror with a great scowl. She felt confined and strange in such garb, as if looking at a completely different person. And it made her uncomfortable and feeling a little lost. This was NOT what she was used to, hell she'd never been to anything like this. The closed she'd been to a party was hanging out at some local bar with her fathers after traveling and enjoying the local drink. And never in a dress like this.

She plucked at the red dress that draped across her, if she had known what things to look for she would know the dress had been picked out well for her build. The dark red going nicely with her tanned skin and dark hair. Ursula after all had a rather impressing set of clothing stashed away and had insisted she wear such garb to the festivities. Even insisting her hair was trimmed a bit to get rid of the shaggy, i've cut this with a knife, look. At least she wasn't forced to wear heels. She did make a rather contrast to the candidate from before. The dress was pretty and things but still Dalien shifted uncomfortable, she had decided from a young age anyways that no amount of dresses or girly things was going to make her pretty.

She huffed a sigh at the fluffy silver gryphon that sat on the table nearby, his back legs splayed out rather cat like and showing off his little pudgy belly, “well Oden, I guess this is as good as it gets. But why... why do I have to go,” she moaned softly. If she didn’t show up Ursula would know and oh would there be hell to pay. Turning she walked over to Oden and scooped up the gryphon, at least he looked nice with his shiny silver fur and feathers and blue merl markings. He had grown into a handsome, if a bit bulldogish young adult gryphon. With a chirp he hopped up onto her shoulder and settled down. To hell if people objected, she was taking the gryphon with her. She needed SOME kind of support for this.

With a groan she heard the woman of her demise calling from outside, apparently their rides had come and it was time to leave. Taking a deep breath Dalien paused a moment, trying to calm herself and compose her expression. Hell if she was going to look nervous and as freaked out as she felt. Turning away she opened her door and strode down the hallway to the outdoors. Many dragons were arranged, all apparently ready to take the candidates to the ball and many looking excited. She glanced over at Ursula and nodded to her, she might not like this but she was going to show that yes, indeed, she was going.

Then she looked around and spotted a rather lovely looking water dragon, that must be her ride. Stifling her scowl at all of this she walked over to rider and dragon. She might not be scowling but she did look rather out of place at all of this.

“Er.. Hello, I guess im suppose to go with you to.. the ball,” she murmured, petting Oden absently.
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~Kataya~
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(Daria and Rio to Hawthorne and Eiira for a ride to the ball)

Rio was beside Daria, just like he had been since they had first met a week or two ago. Or had it been longer? The days in the infirmiry were blurring together. Daria needed to get out and do something. She wanted to see Dedric, or at least her heart did but her mind did not want him to see her like this. For the first while he had always been there by her side but then his lesson kept taking him away from her. She was sad about that but never said anything about it, lesson were a nessecary evil. One day she hoped that she would have to deal with lessons, but what dragon would pick her when she was like this? She had even talked to Hao and no matter what they did she would have the two gashes along her leg, Denkou had scared her. There was a smaller one on her thigh then it cut off and a larger one replaced it, going the rest of her tigh, down her knee and then down almost to her ankle. Her knee would never be properly fixed so she would have a limp the rest of her life.

She screamed out in frusteration and punched at a pillow, then she started crying. She felt so weak. She could not walk very well and when she did she needed crutches. She could barely care for her kitten Nemo, and he was starting to look sick to her. She did not want to lose him. Rio was also looking weak from his nights staying up and watching her. Dedric was probably still worried about her. Alaric was still worried about her.

Daria needed out. She wiped at her eyes and grabbed her crutches. She gathered up Nemo and stuck him in the pouch she had made for him so she could still use the crutches and carry him. She did not want to leave him behind but was not sure it was safe. She would most likely only end up sitting and listening to the music anyway. She couldnt dance. She would only be gone an hour or so anyhow, surely she could leave him with someone. She handed the kitten of to an infimiry worker that she had gotten to know well and knew that he would not do anything to the kitten.

Rio would not leave her side so she got changed into some dress pants and a blouse with her crutches. The pants black and the blouse a wine red. Hao and Iri had already left but there was a rosemary pair that he had mention could take her if she decided to go. She walked to where they were about to leave, or so she thought.

"Lady Eiira, Lady Hawthorne, I am Daria Kalren, would I be able to get a ride to the ball? Hao said that you could give me a ride if I wanted to go and that even Hawthorne would keep an eye on me in case my injuries get out of hand. If I wont cause too much trouble."

((Alaric and Anteaus will come in a little later))
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Blood of the Beast
Unregistered

Nevereki, to Colette & Venus

Amidst all the fervor of activity around the wyrmling's hall, few rooms remained quiet. Young women cooed and twittered to their dragons about the dresses they should wear for the upcoming dance. Yet in one room in particular, the heated anticipation seemed to be eerily absent. It wasn't because its occupant had chosen to ignore the festive happenings; on the contrary, he had been quite eager to attend. He had made it to the last one, and formal events always gave him the opportunity to display himself in the best light possible. This time, though, the atmosphere would be quite noticeably different. Whether that was for better or for worse was yet to be seen, but one thing would be made certain. Nevereki would not break the promises he had made since he and Adirondack had formed their life bond.

He, naturally, was the last person that anyone would expect to consciously break what he believed to be a contract, and under no circumstances was he going to violate a promise that held the potential to alter his life. Perhaps the happenings at tonight's festivities would be able to cast a light into the omnipresent darkness that seemed to cling with tenacious and deeply-sunk tendrils around his heart? The Academy had done a great deal for him, had loosened that guilty chokehold around his formerly sorrowful being, yet something was still lacking. The shadows that manifested in the center of the wheel-shaped crystal still had one sanctuary where they could reatreat. In a certain place in every man's heart, a place that should be occupied by a piece of another human's soul, only vacant emptiness lurked inside Nevereki. A hole that ached to be filled, yet feared the transformation. Would the nervous mess that arced and crackled like static inside him accept what he was doing to it? Would it try to remind him of what had happened the last time he had opened that inner door to a soul's flower?

It would have to let him, for there was no going back now. Never. He had made the promise, and no amount of inner pain could keep him from it. Adirondack had been firm in her reassurance that forward was the only way his life could take him, and no matter what unseen forces attempted to batter and abuse him in his forward march, he would be strong enough to overcome them. He certainly hoped she was right. Adi had insisted that it was wrong to try to shy away from fear, and that with the turmoil that had so scarred his inner being and planted that persistent darkness, he had every right to feel such fear. She had phrased it wonderfully; his fear was a monster he had to slay. He had only to imagine it manifesting as a thorn-crowned, striped crimson dragon wreathed in a cloak of smoke, and his wrath flared up like the hot breath of that demonic creature.

With a slightly shaky sigh, he met his own grey eyes in the mirror, fixing them with a glare that, to all the world, seemed intent on burning courage into them. He dismissed his own stare with an uncustomarily harsh blink, then turned on the heels of his newly-polished boots and strode out with a new confidence. A while ago, Adirondack had convinced him to trade two of his older suits for a custom outfit, made especially for flaunting at events like this. Nothing too fancy, for despised the extravagant; in his mind, it made a bad first impression, as though he'd come off as a rich snob. No, he had gone for a more gentle look. His strong body rested intimately inside a well-fitting, mint-green shirt, complete with fairly plain pants and a coat of a dark green hue, to reflect Adirondack's shades. The long tie that slashed through the light color of his shirt matched the coat's color, though with intricate, swirling laces of light-green vine patterns towards the edges and bottom half. For a touch of gentleness, this being Adirondack's idea, he himself had made an ornament that both securely tied his oddly-placed ponytails and also managed to trail over his shoulder, falling to about the small of his back. It accomplished quite the illusion of looking like a true vine of flowers, with new buds bursting with color. The only touch of a different color was the centerpiece--his crystal mounted squarely on the knot of his tie.

"You look wonderful," Adirondack purred, accompanied by a cheep from Emersei, who happened to be resting on the dragon's antlers. Reki smiled but said nothing, as his attention temporarily diverted to a nudge on his leg. Dropping to his knees, he gave Morpheus an affectionate scratch behind an ear. The dog's scraggly fur always calmed him, and if he was calm when leaving, his faithfully attentive guardian would not worry. Besides, Emersei was also going to be a guest at this Ball, which provided the removal of a potential nuisance for a likely-bored Morpheus. With one last pat on the dog's head, Reki turned and held out his arm for a slightly disoriented featherball to flutter down to his perch. No further words were spoken as he and Adirondack departed their room in a procession-like line.

They fell in step with each other soon enough, and within mere minutes, they were in sight of the unmistakable Earth dragoness who had become a noted friend of the tiny DelVance clan. Adirondack raised her head and chirped a sweet note, with a flare of her wings to signal her arrival to the much-larger Venus. She then dropped her head and nuzzled Reki's back, her breath causing the flowered strands in his hair to flutter. "Have a good time," she whispered, her eyes bright. "I'll see you there."

Reki nodded, and with a smile and a loving pat to the nose, he strode away from her and towards Venus. He wished he could fly with his own dragon, but for safety's sake, it could not happen yet. Adi was of a small breed in the first place, and she was in fact a small specimen of her breed. Compared to his imposing height and physical strength, flying with her now would be dangerous. The time would come, but for now, he would have to deal with ground travel, which was naturally something he was accustomed to. He craned his head back to try and meet Venus's eye. "Good day Venus, and my lady Colette." Gently, he laid a hand on Venus's foreleg. "May I?" Of course he'd be allowed up for a ride. He WAS Colette's company, after all, and she had been the one to invite him. Force of habit, however. Politeness came as a reflex. Perhaps she appreciated that.

((Reyzha, Arcy, and Akitsa will be edited in later. Might also bring in NPC noble Kasren Serstrik to talk to Kady, if that's cool, Carni ^^))
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Toxique
Unregistered

Tox to Skad

"Why thank you, Skad." Aurum purred back to the teen as he scrambled up his shoulder, watching him with a wide, hooded blue eye in contentment. Meanwhile his rider seemed anything but contented, in fact scowled as Skad scrambled up onto his shoulder, his outstretched hand soon taken as he scowled even more.

"Good my ass." The man growled, huffing again as he pulled him up before crossing his arms over his chest, with quite some difficulty too. But that didn't stop him from sulking as the younger man positioned himself behind him, feeling him settle in before carefully strapping him into the saddle. Aurum was a very smooth flyer, but one never knew when a bumpy gust of wind would toss the dragon to and fro, and taking a tumble out of the saddle was never fun. Tox did that only once in his life, and he was quite happy to only have it once again.

So without further talking, he carefully nudged his hands into the pressurepoint just behind Aurum's shoulders, kicking the celestial back into standing and trotting until he was a polite distance away from the other dragons, his wings were some of the widest of all the dragons, and he could easily hurt someone without meaning to. So he made sure no one was in range before flicking up into the sky as easily as a house sparrow would, slowly climbing until he found a good cruising altitude. He was also fast, and could make the normally long, boring trip to the outskirts of lihn in less than an hour.

Tox was mainly silent for most of the ride, sighing softly after a long while and turning to peer at Skad as much as he could. "You've been keeping up with the lessons and chores?" He smirked over, though he wasn't feeling it very much up for it, he loathed these stupid ball thinks, but every year he kept getting an invite. Ugh. But thankfully his thoughts had kept his mind away for most of the journey, and soon Aurum was backwinging, rumbling as the cliffs and castle came into view before landing on the grassy lawns. It was a beautiful place, it truly was, but only Aurum was marveling the area as he laid down to allow his riders off.

"Let the fun begin." Tox sighed heavily before shifting to let Aurum's nose give him another ride down, grunting when he was set down and huffing quietly as he stumbled slightly before finding his feet and adjusting the robe. "I hate this thing..." He finally sighed before shifting to go find the wine table, he wanted a drink...
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ManekiNeko
Unregistered

“Matthieu” and Daranau to Kialish, Tempyst, and Dalien

A Lightning dragon in the grips of a laughing fit was, as it turned out, one of the most dangerous things in the world. The wickedly bladed tail sliced through the air, and an occasional stray volt of electricity smacked into the ground. Quebec stood far, far away from his dragon and waited for the laughing fit to pass. And waited. And waited. And finally got tired of waiting, and called quietly, “Can we go now?” The orange dragon snorted and rolled onto his belly, blue eyes shining with mirth.

“You’re wearing girl’s clothes, Matt! That’s hilarious!” Daranau said, as if Quebec had somehow missed this fact. The young rider sighed. Yes, he was wearing girl’s clothes. While it wasn’t as obvious or humiliating as, say, a dress would have been, it was still noticeable. The neckline dropped a few inches below his collarbone at its lowest point, and the jacket was clearly made to emphasize curves he did not have. Only the pants were designed for males. Having the money sensibilities of someone raised in the lower middle class (his kidnapping by nobles didn’t count), Quebec didn’t want to spend all of his wyrmling salary on clothes he would probably only wear once. So he had taken Ursula up on her offer of her wardrobe, and spent the better part of two hours trying to find something that fit and wouldn’t make him look too girly.

... at least it was clearly high-quality stuff. It wasn’t flashily embroidered, but it was nice, and apparently androgyny was fashionable nowadays. He had done his best with his hair, but it was almost completely hopeless. As always, most of it was perfect. And the rest stuck out at odd angles, and could only be tamed by plastering the whole mess to his scalp with liberal amounts of water. That solution wouldn’t last for the entire Ball, so he had just given up on those few stubborn strands.

His connection to one of the noble families of Vien and his bond to a not-quite-common dragon had been enough to seal his fate and get him an invitation. He couldn’t refuse, could he?

He found all of this information ridiculously hard to articulate when faced with Daranau, who was still grinning in a mildly terrifying way. He had taken care of his dragon’s appearance before getting dressed, oiling and polishing the slick gold scales until they shined, trimming the lightning’s talons to a less dangerous length, and procuring some jewelry from the local smith. Quebec was still young enough that he would probably grow some more, so buying fancy clothes was pointless. Daranau, on the other hand, was nearing his full length, and jewelry was more easily fitted anyway. Draping chains were hard to outgrow, and jewelry could be made with adjustable lengths.

Daranau had managed not to dislodge any of his finery, so he still looked more magnificent than silly. Due to the electricity that was often trapped in Daranau’s spines, Quebec had chosen steel as the base metal for the Lightning’s jewelry. Each grey horn was capped with a form-fitting sheath, with small pearls around the edges. A thin chain of the same material trailed from each sheath and was wrapped around the horn until the base, where it doubled back on itself and was attached to the links that had preceded it with a simple clasp. From the chains dangled well-crafted glass ornaments that were cut to look like gemstones. The colors alternated between brilliant blue, deep orange-red, and the pure white of the crystal on the underside of Daranau’s jaw. Each spine on the lightning’s head and neck had at least two thin bands of well-polished steel that almost appeared silver. And above every ankle joint was a bracelet made of three separate bands of iron, “woven” together loosely enough that there were plenty of gaps to display Daranau’s own striking color. These were fitted with black glass beads on wire-thin strands of steel. His saddle was similarly adorned with sturdy beads and patterns of woven steel wires.

Due to the relative inexpensiveness of the materials, Quebec had been allowed some creativity with their design, which he had worked with to the best of his abilities. The materials were chosen specifically because they were unlikely to trap and store Daranau’s electricity. Not that the Lightning seemed to appreciate it. He did, but the simple fact that Quebec was wearing girl’s clothes was far more important.

“We can go,” Daranau told Quebec, hide still twitching with contained mirth. The Lightning flattened himself as best as possible, and held up a paw as a sort of intermediate step. The young man managed to haul himself up without slipping too many times, and the Lightning twisted his neck around, regarding his rider with an expression that could only be described as mischievous. “You do know how to get there, right, dude?” Quebec leaned forward slowly and thumped his head against the lower part of his dragon’s neck, which thankfully lacked spines. “Yeah, I thought so. Look, there’s Tempyst!” Without any concern for his rider, Daranau began to lope towards the water dragon with a bouncing gait. Quebec hastily strapped himself into the saddle and considered reprimanding his dragon. However, the correction would probably go unheard and unheeded, so he stayed silent.

“Hello, Tempyst! My rider doesn’t know which way the Ball is. May we follow you?” the Lightning asked with his characteristic mix of cheer and bluntness. “Oh, hello,” he added, peering at Dalien curiously. “I’m Daranau. I’m from the last Hatching. You’re a candidate, right? I think that’s totally awesome. I can’t wait to meet my new brothers and sisters. I don’t know how many of them there will be, but I’m sure they’ll be cool. Hey, you have a gryphon! That’s neat. I wish we had a gryphon, but we haven’t managed to find one yet. What’s his name?” Quebec, meanwhile, tried to fade into invisibility, tossing out a quiet “I’m Matthieu,” on the tail end of his dragons chatter.
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Senaru
Unregistered

As soon as both girls were ready, dressed and had some light things packed- just in case they had to spend a night elsewhere, which was possible depending on what all went on. Kairen. Fully of bubbly pride, had found a red ribbon in her stash of things and, like Lyserg and his phoenix, she tied the trailing clip to her white gyrfalcon. The bird was used to having letters tied so it was handling this much better than Zria was, for now. The two candidates truly did match up quite nicely and there was nothing else to be done before leaving, so she followed him out, smiling to see Nivia and Kestrel, who had on a rather elegant multi-passenger harness.

Nivia cleared his voice and went to the ladies, helping them up and aiding them in securing the belts, which were attached to the harness. “Make sure these are secure, if they feel loose at all, tell me now so I can tighten them. All good? Okay, Lyserg, sit here- He indicated the seat behind Kai and ahead of Larka....That's a good lad. Now, something to remember here, I know it is very tempting, but as excited as you might get- or frightened- do not pull the feathers or hang onto them. They're very strong but our lovely Kestrel would rather ye not pull'em. That's what these arm rests here are for...”

The lovely well groomed Air dragon was doing her best to stand as still as possible as the three candidates got settled into the harness, holding herself neat and proper while Nivia double checked each and every strap and buckle, then signaled Kestrel to fan her wings and tilt - lightly- to one directions and then to the other. After a mild adjustment, the Rider deemed the straps perfectly straight and firm, and mounted the dragon, locking himself in place. They were ready. With wings unfurling, this time with purpose, the dragon took a running leap and was off.

After an uneventful, and likely thrilling flight for the candidates, they arrived quite on time and made their arrivals known, Nivia asking for assistance in removing the harness, as it was not needed for the ball. Shaking her coat out, she bid the others farewell and padded into the event, quite glad to be here. Oh there would be such fun things to do here. Kairen, meanwhile, had never been to a formal gather like this and was looking to Lyserg and Nivia for ques on what to do. Nivia himself waved them off. “You three go have fun, make some friends, talk to some other dragons.”
***
Not long after, Senaru and Lagrange arrived, the black, star-strewn dragon looking a slick match for his rider's black gown, which had some aqua trim here and there. The two of them had just missed seeing Kestrel and her crew, but particularly the albino riders own blood twin- who she still didn't know was even at the academy, or know who she was. They moved on into the gathering carefully, holding themselves with pride and trying to hide their respective limps. Perhaps they would see someone they knew here? Likewise, the electric Kazrael and Tesla arrived, though rather than the silent arrivals of others, the appearance of the Talons of the Stormsong Wing were announced.

Given the role, the two did their best to stay formal, though Kazrael was eagerly looking around for the chaos dragon he was becoming fond of. Was Rya even here?... “Tesssla, let uss go and sssee who elssse is herrre....” he purred, rolling his R's and hissing his sibilants. “Of course, and you stay out of the wine, I don't need a tipsy dragon flying us home...” “Oh posh, Tesla, I would never.” He chuckled, flicking a wing and moving to where the more dragon-sized things were set. To cook for humans and dragons had to have been quite the chore. He was one to watch his figure as much as any lady- which he was often teased about by his own rider, but, as it was, being light and fit did have its rewards. He rumbled to himself and asked some of the servants to get him a few things, though he was delightedly surprised by the dragon-sized glass plates, probably dragon crafted too- and he could guess who was the one who'd done it. Thanking the humans, he made his way to other dragons and rumbled, greeting them. Tilting his head, he spotted none other than Iridae. “Ah, Iridae, are you enjoying yourself this evening?”
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Incognito
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To Kialish and Tempest

Rynn took a deep breath and released it slowly. The room was filled with a multitude of lit lanterns that cast a bright, but wavering light all around the room making it hard to see all the details of her dress as it blurred into the darkness, though she knew without a doubt she was pretty to say the least. Having a rather poor excuse for a wardrobe, Ryn had taken Ursula's generous offering of formal wear with an open heart and quickly found a dress for herself. It was something of a miracle to come across a dress that fit her rather well, both in personal taste and body type. It was a simple dress, ruffled like regular ball gowns below the hips and tailored with legs slits to allow free movement with long,draping sleeves that reached to her elbows, all while being modest around her chest.

The color was a soft blood red with accents of orange and dark maroon bordering on brown around the neckline, waist, and edging along with slight gold trimming. Her hair was in an up-do, similar to a pony tail but with her new layers it flared out in all directions in the likeness of a feathery crest at the top before smoothing out in delicate curls. On her face she wore a mask in the likeness of a fire phenix with an array of carefully arranged feathers, some quills others wispy, that graced that sides of her face, bending back toward her head. It was part of a family tradition to wear feathered accessories to formal events, partially pheasant or hawk feathers. Why or how it had started Rynn couldn't remember but she was determined not to have it end with her family's death. Besides, she enjoyed being festive and eccentric. Along with her mask, Rynn wore a sphere-shaped pocket watch as well as her crystal, which she wore on a simple gold chain.

Suddenly, Rynn felt a faint breeze behind her and looked up into the bright green eyes of her dragon. " You look fine tonight, Rynn." Smallfire let out a small pruum. " Feathers and all." The human chuckled lightly. " As do you. Ribbons and all." At that the fire lowered her head near to her rider, sending the soft and heavy materials strung about her duo horns writhe with life. " There silk drapes, not ribbons." The fire said in a mock offended tone. While most dragons went with jewels, Smallfire had taken more kindly to silks and other materials of the like to adorn herself with. Wrapped loosely about not only her horns, but nape, wing points and tail, were a sort of transparent, irradesenct scarves that shifted through a spectrum of warm colors ranging from soft reds to golden yellows to lush oranges, accenting her blood red scales and moss green eyes. They were bought at great expense to Rynn, having to part with a few of her precious stones, though the girl didn't mind. The only part she didn't like about her assortment was her saddle, but then she never did. It made her feel confined and it's constant presence peeved the fire more then she wished it did. At least once they got to the ball perhaps she could could take it off...

Outside the door small fragments of muffled chatter leaked through the walls. " Seems like the other candidates are leaving. You ready?" Rynn grabbed her mask and put it on before nodding and climbing onto the dragoness's neck joint with assistance. Once outside Rynn saw a number of grown dragons around helping candidates board them as well as a few familiar faces, though she had no real desire to near any of them. Browsing the crowd again Smallfire caught sight of her mother, Tempest. Her long, sinuous body was hard not to identify and the fire felt a slight warmness at her sight. She found it rather humorous how she was almost the complete opposite of the Water, being so that Tempest's element was water and her's was fire, her scale as dark as an ocean and her's as brilliant as blood. However, that's all she knew of there differences and somehow it the fire inside in the fact that she hardly knew anything of her parents and half-wonder if they had any pain at not knowing her. But dragon relations were differences from humans, perhaps vastly so. Still, sharing a bond with another dragon couldn't be all that bad. Being at 14 months Smallfire was near full grown and was a match for her mothers size, perhaps not in length but in height and bulk.
" Might we accompany you to the ball? I don't know where it is and hoped you might guide us there, so I can take this infernal saddle off!" That last bit slipped out unintentionally and the fire ducked her head a little once she realized it as did her rider.
- ------------------------


[ Nealious and Fenrir to come]
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Balu
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Perpetually sketching
[align=center]Update:
The correct age for the wyrmlings is 14 months, not 7. They are 80% fullgrown and able to carry their riders in most cases

Update II
Please remember to put whom your posting, and who you're posting to at the top of all of your posts!
(Ex: Tox and aurum to Skad)
~Tox[/align]
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