a bird! a plane! a...dragon?

[hearted]

Minako is seriously cursing her luck right about now. She'd thought just one mission with the police in Transylvania would be all right. They'd caught a suspect, saved the children, and even battled some vampires. She was still a full-blooded human, thankfully, but that last ambush had left her a little worse for the wear. Even as Sailor Venus, her magic couldn't fend off the pain forever.

So in her weakened state, jt's far too easy for that pack of possessed wolves to jump her. She yelps, swinging her good leg and the heaviest branch in the forest with all her might, but those fangs snap angrily. She doesn't have much time to run, but she must, gritting her teeth through the pain. The branches tear at her and slow her down, but she's managed to stop all but three, escaping from the forest into the open meadow.

Now, though...there are three closing in on her. She faces them down, chain whip in hand, but it doesn't comfort her much. Even worse, there's an ominous thump behind her in the grass.

What could that giant shadow be?

Comments

[caelum_ignis_draconigena]

That thump is followed by a very loud roar... and the shadow getting bigger.

Skyfire was pissed off beyond all reason. Wolves hunting for food was one thing, but these possessed demon... things... had got to go... but... There was a human? Okay, new plan, grab the human and then smash the wolves to bits.

A large pawlike hand grabs for Minako in an attempt to snatch her up and out of the way of the wolves as his massive tail comes slamming down towards the them.

[hearted]

A dragon? Oh boy, this couldn't get any better. She can't quite see what's going on with the tail, but those claws are coming far too close to her. She yelps and hits it with the whip...surely just a minor sting to someone Skyfire's size.

"Stay back! Please!"

Her leg shakes, not willing to hold her much longer. This is very bad.

[caelum_ignis_draconigena]

That paw keeps right on coming, and if she doesn't doge it... will scoop her right up off of the ground as Skyfire's tail slams into the wolves. Injuring a few and making them scatter... and he snarls at them for good measure.

It probably wouldn't discourage them from hunting for too long... but maybe they'd retreat for a while at least.

[hearted]

Well, that doesn't help. Minako is snatched up, and, predictably, screams. Great. Instead of being ripped to shreds by wolves, she'll be eaten by a dragon.

Did dragons eat humans? Maybe she was thinking of chimeras. Either way, not good. She whacked those claws with her fists for all the good it would do, watching helplessly as the wolves were beaten back.

Clearly the dragon wanted the kill all to itself.

[caelum_ignis_draconigena]

He flinched at her scream, but there really wasn't the time to try and explain at the moment, so he just tried to hold onto her as best he could without hurting her.

The wolves scattered, only to come right back and Skyfire snarled and used his tail to send one flying... quite literately. It lunged towards the paw holding Minako and he smacked it hard enough to send it through the air and smashing head first into a tree... the result was... far from pretty, quite illness inducing really.

Skyfire used the paw not holding her to block Minako's view of the end result while turning fully away from the mess. It was awkward, but he did it. He didn't think she needed to see that, but on the bright side, the wolves seemed to get the hint and ran for the hills... Or rather, they ran away from the hills, since that's where Skyfire had taken up residence.

[hearted]

What was all that about? The dragon didn't want her to see the carnage before it happened to her? She made a few more desperate attempts to escape with her heels, but her power refused to come to her.

So she hung limply in his claws, mulling over what her rapidly ending life had come down to. When he stopped to look, he'd find the misery clear in her eyes.

"I bet I don't even fill a sliver of your belly," she said hollowly. "But even dragons need a snack, huh?"

[caelum_ignis_draconigena]

Once he was indeed sure the wolves were gone, he looked down at her and gave her a sad look. He couldn't speak at the moment after stressing his throat from over use of his flame breath earlier in the week to make glass for the new addition to his cave. Skyfire hadn't thought that such a situation would have come up... but now he had no voice and a human to try and calm.

The claws that had been out just moments before, were sheathed, and he reached out to try and give her hair a gentle stroke of reassurance... though her words made him flinch... What a ruddy mess this was. He could put her down and leave her, but that would likely see her back in much the same situation that he'd just rescued her from.

[hearted]

What was that about?

She shivered, surprised to find the claws retreating. She instinctively cringed away from his paw...but the touch was gentle, as if he were handling a frightened kitten.

"Or is it a pet that you want?" Minako wondered aloud, confused. "I don't make a good one of those either. I keep slipping off the leash."

Her voice cracked a little when she tried to joke, but it was the only thing keeping her together through the pain and fear. Pain...yeah. She looked at her mangled leg and winced---at this rate, being eaten would be the more merciful act.

[caelum_ignis_draconigena]

At the mention of being a pet, Skyfire just sighs and rolls his eyes. Really? Why were those always the first things humans thought of when they saw him? He just didn't get it... at least she seemed to be calming down a bit.

He'd carefully shift her so that he could take a look at her injuries and figure out the best way to carry her so he could at least get her wounds cared for somewhere safe. The wolves were gone for the moment, but that didn't mean standing around in the forest was a good place to tend injuries.

[hearted]

What the heck? Minako whimpers a little when moved, but he's really not going in for the kill here? And if she looks close...those faces he's making almost seem like he doesn't want to.

She settles with her legs dangling---her left got the worst of it, but those definitely need sealing before she can move safely.

"I just don't know what to think anymore. Well...do what you want, I can't really stop you." And that's that, she guesses. Her fate's in his hands.

[caelum_ignis_draconigena]

He very carefully sets her down on the ground, being as careful as he can to keep from making her wounds any worse and then starts rooting around in a bag under his wing. Skyfire was cursing in his mind at having left most of his normal supplies behind, finding himself lacking a lot of what would have been really useful at the moment.

Finally, he finds what looks something like a bed sheet and lets out a silent sigh as he starts tearing it into strips. It wasn't his first choice, but he could use it to wrap her leg and other wounds till he could get her somewhere safe enough to really tend to them.

[hearted]

That completely catches her off guard. What's he doing? Minako shivers, all those wounds starting to affect her.

"I don't think you need to tie me up. I'm not going anywhere fast." She's stil joking, all she can do to stay calm in this mess.

[caelum_ignis_draconigena]

That comment gets another roll of the eyes as he carefully starts to bandage her left leg, since it seemed to have the worst damage. The torn strips of cotton cloth aren't really the best, but they're better than nothing.

Despite being so large, he's very gentle and he tries his best not to cause her any more pain... but wounds will hurt no matter how careful he is...

Replying to the top before we break the page. XD

[caelum_ignis_draconigena]

"Safe at least... they are pretty disturbed by the energy around here at the moment, even if the taint is fading. Most are still pretty leery of me, even if I did make an agreement to let them stay and leave from here as they like."

He chuckles softly before yawning a bit and laying his head down on the grass.

"Quite a bit to be honest. I spend a lot of time in here doing upkeep and planting new things in here."

If Minako is very observant of the area around them... she might notice a little white nose and a pair of bright blue eyes peering out at the two of them from some nearby bushes. A little unicorn foal had gotten curious about the 'big thing' that was hiding them from the 'mean feeling'.

[hearted]

"Aww, the poor unicorns," Minako sighs, thinking of them. Everybody deserved to live in peace and happiness...and living with such a feeling of wrongness couldn't be easy at all.

"I see! Well you did a great job. It's gorgeous."

She sits quietly for a moment, taking it all in...when she spots something unexpected. She knows how easily they're startled, so she's silent about it, but she insistently pokes Skyfire's tail to get his attention. When he looks at her, she'll just blink straight ahead---subtly, of course.

[caelum_ignis_draconigena]

Skyfire is dosing softly by the time she starts to poke at his tail, and sleepily swats her gently with it. She'd get a face full of red hair for a moment before he winds the end of his tail back around her in a hug like gesture.

The unicorn foal seems to find that reaction funny and whickers softly in an almost laugh like noise, coming out a few steps to get a better look. The little guy is all head and legs, but possibly most surprisingly, he has what looks like young wings folded up against his sides. A winged unicorn...

[hearted]

Oh gosh, Minako can hardly resist squealing. She knows she musn't scare the poor little guy off, but he's just so cute! Skyfire's really missing out, the silly dragon.

She restrains herself to a gentle "Hi," lifting her hand to wave very slowly.

Because Skyfire adopts everyone and anything anyways... :p

[caelum_ignis_draconigena]

He's not missing much... but Skyfire is worried about spooking the little one, so he just stays still and pretends to sleep, peeking at the happenings through barely open eyes.

Her movement has the little foal skittering back a few steps, but he stops when he realizes that she's not doing anything that could possibly hurt him. The foal keeps a watch on her from the corner of his eye, but he's creeping closer to Skyfire, curious about those big, red wings. The foal keeps looking between his own wings and Sky's.

Minako might have some fuel for teasing Skyfire later out of this, since the foal seems to be giving him a look that could be interpreted as 'are you my daddy?'

[hearted]

Oh gosh, that's so cute! Minako really wishes she had her camera. She shifts just slightly to watch the two of them, just barely stifling her giggles.

"He doesn't bite. He's just a lovable lug," Minako promises softly.

[caelum_ignis_draconigena]

The little foal looks towards her a moment and then promptly ignores her... poking his little nose right into those feather wings of Skyfire's, then whickers softly. The big thing had wings just like he did, and that seemed to thrill the little guy.

He starts prancing around and doing a little happy 'dance' in a circle. Skyfire can't help himself and opens his eyes to watch, a small grin on his face.

[hearted]

Minako pouts, as if slightly offended by this, but hey: just watching them interact is an opportunity too. She just smiles at her new friend now: since he's the favorite, why doesn't he try saying hi to the little guy?

Come on, Skyfire. She nudges him.

[caelum_ignis_draconigena]

He didn't say hi, because he didn't want to scare the little guy off. It was one thing to be next to a big sleeping creature, and quite another to be next to it when it was awake... Skyfire had learned that through his interactions with smaller beings time and time again. The foal was only a baby too, and he didn't want to panic it.

It would seem that he'd been right about his thoughts on the foal's reaction, since as soon as the little guy saw Skyfire watching him with those large eyes of his... The foal froze and started to back away looking rather frightened.

He was however, backing up towards Minako and Skyfire stayed as still as possible hoping that she might have better luck making friends with the little one.

[hearted]

Minako noticed this and smiled softly, slinking back and doing her best to appear as non-threatening as possible. She hummed a little song she knew from her home, almost like a lullaby.

After a while, she spoke just as softly. "We won't hurt you. Sky's just an overgrown kitty, even if he doesn't look it."

Her eyes sparkled with mischief.

Hope this works?

[caelum_ignis_draconigena]

The foal let out a bleat of panic as Skyfire tilted his head, and he bolted straight for Minako. She'd find herself with the little guy trying to hide behind her, despite the fact she was still seated on Skyfire's tail. Clearly he'd not made the connection that her 'seat' was part of the creature that he found scary at the moment. He's also a pretty big 'little guy' since even a young foal was of a decent size...

[hearted]

Minako slowly turned her head to peek at him, still smiling kindly.

She softly lifted her hand, very careful to keep it relaxed. "Hey. It's okay. Promise."