Deez nutz.
2nd form...
Several, what he could only assume to be as days have passed since he found his way into this scathing network of caves and scales. And since he wasn't able leave, (even though he clearly had the ability to at any time he wanted), but he wanted to see more. He needed answers and this seemed like the only place he was able to get any.
Pulling his talons back, he held the wooden sword in a large arch over his head, twisting his body into the shape of an "S" before holding the form, his tail curved to the left before swinging the sword down. Not like a slash, but in this form, it acted as a parry, blocking and bouncing off an attack before using the downward motion to slash back up in a bloody slice. At least that is the primary goal of the attack.
Using the upward slashes momentum to fall back into the shield position of form one. His free talon standing just in front of his chest, a loaded sping incase he needed to jump back, his wings perched just behind his back with his back legs perched like loaded springs, flexing the dense muscles in his core in preparation for the imaginary enemy.
Holding still for what felt like eternity, his body become cold as stone. Holding like a statue as he forced his muscles to tense and flex under the metel of his body, burning with that familiar feeling one gets when they are active or training. The only sound emanating from him being his low, controlled breaths, keeping his heartbeat low and his mind clear of any thoughts, he sprung!
Twirling the wooden blade in his talons, it spun, swayed, and hacked at the large dummy that hung in a portion of the cave. Each strike creating a loud thwack with every strike. Making the dummy swing back and forth in violent jerks.
Into the jugular, through the pit arteries, across the throat, down the skull.
He mentally noted. Watching, feeling his body with every strike. Correcting if he found any flaws, even if there wasn't, he tried to make up any. Only to perfect the movement further more. Each silent movement only furthered to keep the armor smooth and soundless, added with the padding fused in, it drank up the sound like a parched dragonet on a hot summer day. Making him the deathly silent killer he is.
4th form....
Pulling back, this time he heaved himself onto his back legs, pulling his back away from the bag.
Splaying his wings open, Riplash pulled his left arm up to his face as he reared his head back like a snake, using the armor on his arm as a makeshift shield for his chin and sensitive scales between his chin and neck as his test weapon fell to his side. The wooden blade fully extended, and there he sat. Soon the muscles in his haunches, hips, and thighs began to burn that familiar feeling, he held it. Counting down the timer in his mind before tensing his arm, backhanding the bag as if to disarm or knock the opponents weapon away before thrusting upwards. The wooden tip of the sword piercing the back of the training dummy, sand bursting out the other end in a grand finish.
Pulling out the training weapon, he watched with mild satisfaction as sand piled up on the stone floor below in front of his talons. The torchlight illuminating the yellow grains as they slowly slowed their draining speed. Leaving behind a large pile in the aftermath.
"You are going to have to pay for that you know." A feminine voice spoke up, annoyed with his actions.
"Mmm. Your guys faults for not having equipment that could stand up to the obvious stress it will receive." He shot with an eye-roll. This place didn't trust him to wander alone, so they decided to pair him up with a Sandwing.
Well.
Mostly the Sandwing. It changed somedays, but it was mostly her.
"Well sorry that not everyone is stabbing into training dummies." She shot back, stepping out of her shadowy seat she chose to take. Her tan colored face dotted with little red spots over her cheeks and forehead.
"Maybe you should make a little adjustment for that then." He spoke, looking down at her. Her head only meeting about a third of the way up his neck with the similar body of a sandwing, a strange detailed sail on her back, and leafier details on her wings. All around, she could probably get the attention of other males if she was back at his training academy.
Heh...academy. So many bad decisions there. Though most of them had a pleasurable ending, the few painful ones were still entertaining. No matter what was done to him or he did to any others. Some of the only good times in his life...
"Have you ever tried pulling back? Just so you don't obliterate and destroy everything you train with?" She suggested, taking a heavy sigh as she inspected the impaled dummy. Opuntia. One of the few dragons that was paired to watch him for a while until everything was sorted out. Whenever that was going to be.
"I've heard of pulling out." He shrugged, walking away from her and the dummy to rack the wooden sword back into its place among the others.
"I bet you have. Though judging by what I see, you don't have that kind of game." She teased. He rolled her eyes at yer taunts. One thing he found ridiculously annoying about her, was her ability to always have a comeback or taunt.
"And you don't have any game of any kind. From what I see, males steer away for a reason." He huffed, looking back at her with his same flat expression.
"H-hey! It's not my fault all the males are scared of my mother!" She responded, stepping away from the sand pile in favor of the conversation.
"Totally." He responded with an eye-roll. Waiting for her to walk up to him before he would proceed out.
"You have no clue what it's like with a controlling mother." She continued. Patting up to him with her same, energized smile. Though her eyes shone a different gleam as she looked up at him.
"I bet." He responded, walking with her out of the one of many training rooms. A large number of dragons darting back to their training caves once they noticed him coming out. No doubt we're watching him train as well. Who could blame them? They probably heard a lot about him. How he was a vicious killer, a skilled warrior, bounty hunter. They would no doubt want to see him practice in his own element.
"What was that standing on your back legs thing earlier? No dragon can stand up like that regularly, especially to the degree you were." She pointed out, trying to look back down his spine to see if she could make out anything under his armor that would give her an answer.
"It a bipedal move. A few types of dragons can do it back in the Sun Kingdom." Riplash explained, looking back to the jittery sandwing, only to be faced with her puffy chest inches from his face as she tried to balance on her back legs as well, flailing around like a child learning to fly before tripping over herself and falling unceremoniously onto her back.
"Ow..." She grumbled, rubbing her back and neck.
"Also I have a rare deformity in my spine." He added. "It allows me to to essentially move and fight standing upright. Though not for long because it tends to weigh in on the bones." He explained, looking down at her. A small smirk tugged at his lips as he looked at the position she was in. Laying on her back, legs and wings splayed back. She was completely exposed to him.
"Oh that's...kinda cool?" The cogs in her mind churning. Probably thinking up a solution to the information that was given to her all of a sudden.
"Indeed." He mused, diverting his eyes away from her and the familiar sight he has seen so many times. "Also, you might want to at least close your back legs." He added. "Don't want to give anyone the wrong idea." He pointed out, looking down at her face with a smug smirk.
Once Opuntias realization hit, the red spots on her face seemed to explode with red. Her flustered look beating into her cheeks with rosey red color. Quickly jumping to her feet in a panic before looking around quickly. Her eyes scanning for any possible sightseers besides him.
"Relax. I'm not some hormonal just-maturing male. I've seen it plenty of times." He shrugged, turning away from her before going down a hall of his choosing. The grey rock walls and floors grown accustomed to his sight. Now bland and uninteresting.
"I-I-I wasn't saying you were!" She protested, catching up to him. Her face still beat red from the embarrassment she just received.
"I know. Just thought you'd appreciate that I had no plans to do anything with you in that position." He shrugged. The truth be told, she was pretty cute when embarrassed. Her rosey cheeks making her eyes cuter as she tried to divert eye contact.
"Um...th-thanks. Heh. And to think you were the type to stare." Opuntia laughed nervously, her composure slowly loosening as she reassured herself it was alright.
"Why would I stare? It's a part of the natural body. Even if it is very...pleasurable." He hummed, passing by several more dragons, both soldier and citizen alike. Their cautious looks constantly reminding him that he is not in friendly territory, but a dangerous guest that is only kept here to be watched and give information.
Now I just need to find the exit. I'm tired of nothing but rock.
He grumbled mentally, already memorizing the inlay of the deeper parts of caves in only a day or two of exploring them. His quick mind cataloging the different routes and where they all lead to. What would take a normal dragon a week or more to learn, he learned in one day.
Opuntia looked up at him, her eyes reading him up and down. "I take it you know the feeling all to well." She side-eyed him. He could feel her interest crowing as they made more small talk of such precarious things.
"When you get older and on your own-"
"I am an adult. Really. I mean, I'm probably a few years younger than you, but I'm still an adult." She broke in, voicing her side of the conversation.
"So you are around seventeen years old?" Riplash questioned, looking down at her with mild questioning.
"In our dragon years, yes." She straightened her shoulders, inching her chin into the air triumphantly.
"Okay. Good to know. But if you're an adult, why don't you try to go out then? Find a life for yourself?" He asked. Is her life that controlled that she can't even date? Or are all the males around her scared of her mother? Whoever that is.
She gave a heavy sigh. "I can't leave because of the sisters stupid war. And look at me. Do I look like a normal sandwing? Burn will stuff me for sure! I will be another statue in her wierdling tower!" She explained, kicking one of the rare stones that existed on the otherwise smooth walkways, watching it skip, bounce, and roll down the hall.
"Don't you know how to fight back then? You are clearly old enough. And you got the right physic to be a successful fighter." He complimented, looking back down at her. He couldn't help but smile slightly, even if it was a tiny one, it was still there, when she blushed lightly.
"I do know how to fight just...I don't fight a lot." She confessed.
"Maybe it's for the best." He huffed. "No need to constantly fight if you don't need to." He explained to Opuntia, nodding down in her direction before looking straight ahead.
"Yeah...where did you learn to fight like that anyways? I mean when you were first brought here, you took on endless amounts of soldiers and came out on top." She asked. Her curiosity about him seemed to be indulged further and further as they talked.
"They were all smaller than me, I had the size and speed advantage." He explained nonchalantly.
"Oh..."
"And I'm much more skilled than any of them. Lightwork for me." He flexed, earning a chuckle from Opuntia.
"You've got to teach me some of your moves. The way you can achieve ultimate stability in a fight is incredible." She complimented. Her cheery attitude tugging a smile onto his face. A small gesture that seemed to reward her self esteem.
"Maybe someday. Not quite sure how your mother would feel. Or anyone else for that matter." He commented, his tail slinking back and forth behind him in an amused manner. He couldn't deny he enjoyed the conversation with her. Her cheery attitude towards even him lifted his mood, even a little bit. It was...nice.
The two trudged down through the labyrinth of tunnels and dragons. Mostly walking in silence, he wished. She had non-stop questions about his home, time he spent ruled under the Sun Queen, the academy. The last one had several amusing stories. Even if he didn't want to share the more...dirty ones. He might share those another day...or keep em for himself.
"Interesting. So your tribes over there have some sort of magic?" She asked.
"Yes. And they don't go by that 'wing' thing that you all do here. They go by a different manner." He explained, the aroma of sweet corn and venison filling his nostrils as they passed the kitchens. The dragons inside hard at work making the meals for the next wave of hungry dragons.
"Yes. Such as the earth speakers. They have this, way with mother earth. Almost like they talk to the earth. Gravity walkers, as you might have seen, use gravity magic for...whatever they use it for. Mostly flying I would assume. Since they don't have wings and all." He explained, counting through a couple of the different types of dragons under the Sun Queens rule.
"Interesting. That's so much cooler than the tribes here!" She exclaimed, new imaginative thoughts danced her head.
And now a new sense of wonder for her.
"Indeed. And the Sun Queen rules over them and the rest. Making her armies the most powerful in the world." He explained, using his talons to add effect.
"Wow..." She thought for a second. The question banging around in her head before deciding to ask it. "Which of those tribes are your favorite?"
He thought about it for a second. Memories of his encounters with each of the tribes sparking its own cascade of memories and thoughts. Oh how some felt good.
"Hmm. Maybe the Moon listeners, or the Sun flyers. They were always an...interesting tribe. The Wave watchers always knew how to have a good time. The Star Stalkers were always welcoming..." He named off several more.
"I'm going to assume what you mean by good time." She joked, giving him a knowing look as they passed by thick wooden beams that held up the cave tunnel. The rock here was much looser, not the smooth stone that was left differently behind him, this portion held dirt between the cracks of the walls.
Could this lead to an exit?
He thought as he studied the integrity. A last ditch attempt would be to destroy the pillars. Hopefully it would have to come to that.
"Yes. Assume what you like Opuntia, the Star Stalkers were absolutely gorgeous. They kinda remind me of the nightwings here. Except they have small stars that twinkle off their mains." He explained with a chuckle. His mind drifting to the one delegate that was sent over to talk with the Sun Queen. Well...talk with her, and pleasure with him.
She did indeed have a nice ass, cute voice, and eyelashes that could bat the stars themselves at you. Those beutiful violet eyes glossed over with pleasure, it made her unforgettable.
"Yeah. I'd have to say the Star Stalkers were my favorite of the tribes there." He responded, answering her initial question.
"Oh...they sound...beutiful." She thought aloud, recreating a mental image of them in her head. Probably the wrong image of what one would look like, but he would let her imagination fly since she wanted to think of it.
"They were. And they had some of the most colorful fire as well." He explained. "Beutiful waves of white, blues, pinks. Like the Great Tail of Siv-naka in the night sky." He explained. Earning a gleam of wonder from Opuntias eyes so bright, it could match the Sun itself.
"Wooooooow! That sounds so cool!"
"And hot. The heat one could spit from their flames was incredible." Riplash described in detail about how the flames were used to make some of the strongest weapons and armor in the entire kingdom.
"Oh wow. Does that mean the armor you are wearing also was made by them?" She asked curiously, the question raging through his mind suddenly.
Did that make his armor? Or aid in the creation on it? No it can't be. It has taken the heat from several Star Stalkers at once, and not even a mark left on it...but how did she find a way to make it then?
Thoughts danced through his brain, jabbing holes into every answer he could think up. He was told the armor came from some meteorite, falling from the sky in a fiery display. He knew something was up when they first designed it for him. But this...not even the greatest future seer could predict this.
"Not to sure. It is a special type of armor. Magiced to grow with me in a way." He explained, the quiter parts of the tunnels passing by them, not paying attention anymore as he conversed.
"Interesting. That must be some special armor then. Must've saved your tail more than once." She commented. Earning a chuckle of amusement from Riplash. Oh how she was right. So, so many times his armor saved his tail.
"Yes...heh...more times than once dear-"
"Don't let him get to close to you Opuntia. He will get under your tail if you let him." A different sandwing growled maliciously, interrupting Opuntia rudely.
"Really Sandwraith. Must you interrupt her like that?" Riplash questioned, draping his armored tail over his talons calmly. Sandwraith lashed her tail behind her as she stared down at Opuntia.
"As I said, you are relieved of your shift for the time being. Go get something to eat and rest up. You have a scouting mission in a few." The sandwing instructed. Her diamondback patterns allowing the black scales under her eyes to resemble eye-shadow. Something she clearly prided herself in having.
Kinda resembles Sandstorm in a way. Wonder if this is the sister she mentioned.
The sandwings cute face popped into his mind. How she was so eager to know him and figure him out, figure him inside and out. Though it only resulted in him being inside her for quite a while. Oh how she moaned his name.
"It's fine Opuntia. Watching me was your job, treat it as nothing more." He responded, seeing as her slightly disappointed face as she was told to leave.
"Yeah...have a good day Riplash." She bowed her head in a nod, turning away before leaving him with the obviously upset individual.
"She's sweet." He responded with a nod, diverting his eyes from her hips to the back of her head before looking back at Sandwraith. Her copious black eyes watching her like a hawk as she left, turning behind a corner and disappearing into the grand work of tunnels and passageways.
"And she isn't for you." Sandwraith growled, taking her own sest in front of him. Her diamondback patterns mixed in amber browns and golds in her scales. Now that he had a better view of her, he was able to study her slim shoulders and hips. A fighters body no doubt, and clearly puts in the work to train when she can. The slimness and fit tonnage around her arms, waist, shoulders, and legs told him all he needed to know.
She would make an interesting training partner. Not afraid to get a few scratches or bruises. As by evident to the few scars on her body already.
One scar in particular caught his eye. A large red mark danced over her chest. Almost as if something both hot and sharp tried to cut her open in a vicious slash. A brutal way to die, if you are not killed quickly that is.
"Stop looking me over like some female in heat ready to be laid." She snapped, standing back up stoutly.
"You act like you need some action." Riplash mumbled calmly, shrugging away her aggressive attitude before chuckling at his own joke.
"What was that?" She asked, closing the distance in a matter of seconds, baring her teeth.
"By the look you give me, and impression, you would make an interesting sparring partner." He winked, standing up himself with a stretch.
Looking down at her, she was easily a good head shorter than him. Meeting his armored neck as her onyx black eyes stared up into his blue pupil/onyx black eyes of a sandwing tribrid. Her reflection dancing on his plated armor.
"You wish. I've seen males like you play the same game all the time. It's nothing new with you lot." She growled.
"Well then, with your mind made up, care to show me the library I know is around here somewhere. Since for some reason you have a mental idea that I want to fuck you somehow, very self centered mind you." He taunted, looking down at her expectingly. The fact that the first thing she thought was that, was quite sad. Though what was her reasoning behind that?
"Yeah." She snorted, stomping by him. "Don't go staring at me." She commanded, walking down the tunnel behind him. Her toned hips alured his eyes slightly, her long tail following behind her in slow, graceful waves.
For someone who acts like they despise the idea of banging them. She is kinda flaunty.
He thought as he watched her lead him through the tunnels, back into the earth.
Oh yeah. Already making friends and enemies. This was going to be fun. And maybe...just maybe...a bit pleasurable for him.
Alrighty there yo. Hope y'all enjoyed the newest chapter and care to read on. I on purposefully left tension in the air so you lot could keep asking for more lemons in here. Plus more comments makes my book look more read too! Till next time!