Tatyana coughed at the sand in her mouth, trying to get out of the sand but it was almost impossible as he kept her down. He hissed at her, then stare back at the entrance, slowly getting up out of the sand and there a black dragon had been. The dragon stared at her, purple eyes now staring at her father as he leaped with his wings outstretched and talons slicing through the throat. Tatyana jumped, leaping to her father.
"That was totally unnecessary!" She protested with a frantic flap of her wings.
"He could have killed you!" Her father snapped.
"I highly doubt it," The Russian dragoness rolled her eyes. "Come on, let's go in."
She ducked through the entrance as the dead dragon was hidden in the sand, and her father had bolted after her, looking down at his talons. "Paint." He muttered to her.
"You don't even like that stuff," She once again rolled her eyes.
"Listen to me, Tanechka, we need to keep us from getting hurt here," He scolded in Russian.
He looked forward again to see some sea looking dragon land in front of them, and they bolted frantically. Her father chuckled a little, "These dragons are so flighty."
"Looks like something happened, come on!" She bolted down the small alley he had bolted through then stopped, raising her wing slightly to stop her father from venturing further.
"Did you see it? There were those dragons! A grey Skywing with those wings on his tail! He had blue on his wings and those smaller wings too!" The dragon shouted.
"Silence!" Another voice hissed like a snake. "What you saw were those Aviationwings. They will kill you if you step a foot into their territory."
"So that's it," Illich whispered, staring at her tail. "It makes sense." He took her up through the canopies and into the air.
"Cipher, that had to be Cipher," Tatyana said in surprise. "The Demon Lord is here." Her voice went quieter. "I have to go find him!"
She darted off into the air, leaving Sergei confused with what had happened. Why the hell would an Ace like Cipher even bother to travel around here? In dragon form too, it didn't make much sense but nothing ever did make sense to him. He flew beside her, knowing fully well that her reason for slow flight was so her father could keep up with her. She went down, then banked away to fly back to camp.
"Are you not flying to find Cipher or has my little annoyed teenager changed her mind?" He asked her.
"Sun will be up, papa. And I'm tired so I am sleeping." She protested. "I can feel it, like the sun will rise soon."
"Agreed," Major Illich replied, soon joining her into a steep dive to land on the ground that seemed rather cool on his talons.
Tatyana nestled herself into her father's warm wing, looking up at the sky that was starting to brighten and huffed. "I hate this."
"You hate everything," The Russian major said in a tone that sounded slightly mocking.
"I'm a teenager," And with that she slunk right back into the cover of his wing.
Things had gotten much much more silent, dragons all had fallen asleep. She lied there, trying to sleep in the cold grass. The warmth radiating from Illich kept her warm, and the fact his body and curled up form allowed more darkness for her had been nice. She started to awaken to the sounds of rain pattering on her father's wing, and when she fully opened her eyes she had seen him somehow sleeping through it. Tatyana nudged him, awakening the major from his sleep and he stared around.
"Raining," He muttered in Russian. "Great."
"Do not move!" The smaller dark dragon yelped, but he still did and she bolted for cover under the canopies. It didn't help and she roared at them. "I HATE THIS!"
"You are as moody as your mother," Her father laughed, using his claws to make a small pool of water and dash as her with.
Tatyana screamed, literal screamed which woke everyone up as Illich threw the cold water at her. She leaped over him, hating that her wings felt so heavy. She landed behind him, slipping on the grass right into Rehl who had helped her back up. Tatyana pouted under the American major's wing, giving her father a pair of sad eyes. "Papa tried to kill me!"
"With water!" He protested, stomping his claws on the ground.
She mocked him which got her a rather sharp slap across the snout with Markov's long Icewing tail as he leaped over to join his friend. Markov rose his wings up as Tatyana pouted, running her claw over her snout to make sure it hadn't been bleeding. Rehl angled her head around to take a look as well and used her talon to wipe something away. It had been red. Tatyana walked out from under the major's wing and went around one of the rocks to lie down and pout away from the others who seemed rather overjoyed to ignore her presence.
She curled around herself, hating that she was there. She should have…left. It made her wonder if she could slip away unnoticed, so she tried to, keeping herself low until she went into the forest. A part of her couldn't stray far, it tugged at her heart, at her chest and made her feel bad. But still, she kept going on through the forest. She heard her father curse, and look back before she ran through the forest, keeping her wings close to her side.
"TATYANA!" He called.
Leave me alone, today I think for myself papa, She thought, her thoughts were always in her mother language.
The dark dragoness rose to the sky, quickly darting away towards the mountains. She was lucky to once again not be seen and hidden for a few days, and actually it would be nice. Her speeds rose up faster, and again the large boom radiated over, and Tatyana was streaking high above the clouds with a deafening screech going by. Tatyana had hidden herself in the mountains, finding herself in a ravine where it was dark.
"WHERE IS SHE?!" The major roared.
It may or may not have been a good idea to do that, Markov had realized this when Illich started pacing around the camp, trying to look around for her. His eyes were full of worry, his wings were spread out and his gaze set on the mountains. Quickly he took to the skies, and the rest scrambled to follow the major into the air.
"Find my damn daughter!" He hissed at the dragons, landing in a spire of rock around the base of the mountain.
He had to adjust his wings to keep his balance, and stared at the mountain. His eyes scanned the hillside, and Markov had done the same, flying around the mountain ranges.
Two Days into Tatyana's Rescue
The library was massive, scrolls were everywhere and rolled up with written letters on them, they reminded him of those child fantasies he would share with his daughter of the dragons, mostly hydras with massive leathery wings that exhaled fire, singing the land. He smiled, it reminded him so much of zemi. The candles burned dim in the room. He had taken a good look at the architecture and it reminded him so much of home, of Moscow but not as colourful but with it's spiralling towers and sculpture-it was a beautiful reminder. He looked back as one of the doors opened, and there a small golden Sandwing without a barb and green eyes trotted in with the Sandwing queen by her side, it had been the golden dragoness's mother, Thorn.
He gave a respectful nod to the queen, "Any sign of my daughter?" Sergei rasped, it sounded desperate and as a proud Russian he hated it.
"No no sign of the dragonet," Thorn said with a solemn shake of her head.
The dragon growled, trying to stay in place as a Sandwing guard in full armour dashed in to duck his head down by Queen Thorn. He spoke a few words and Thorn nodded.
"There's a Skywing outside, apparently she would like to speak with you," Thorn said.
Major Illich nodded at the queen's words, bowing slightly before silently dismissing himself out from the foyer into the outer courtyard that was covered in a layer of sand. Outside he'd seen a golden Skywing, glimmering like blocks of gold stacked up upon one another and he smiled at the dragoness' beauty. The sleek Skywing looked back at him, letting a little smile form on her maw. They both approached one another.
Tatyana awoke once again with familiar cool scales against her own with another's tail wrapped around hers. Their chests rattled, a nice relaxing purr as they kept the younger girl safe, tucked within their wings. One's had shifted a few colours, an uncomfortable grey green as she shifted around. Tatyana wriggled away, stretching her wing that had been put in a makeshift splint. She looked up longingly towards the cave entrance, huffing as a sudden pair of wings attacked her and she screeched. There had been Rico, her scales bright in colour and laughing hysterically like a hyena in the sand dragon kingdom.
"Not funny, Rico!" Tatyana said, looking back at the joyful rain-dragon as she sat back up again with Sierra sitting beside her, wings folded in.
"Oh little kitty isn't happy?" Rico asked teasingly, Tatyana swore she was too much like Gutierrez.
Sierra stared down at Rico, a look that clearly told her that enough was enough. The Icewing's scales were silver in colour, and the membrane was a misty white. Her talons were more of a titanium colour. Sierra walked forward, brushing her tail against the black dragoness' cheek, smiling back at her. "Rico pick her up and let's go to Possibility."
"Possibility?" Tatyana echoed, looking at the Icewing dragoness with a quizzical expression.
Rico grabbed Tatyana and made sure the smaller dragon had wrapped her arms around her sleek neck, before Rico quickly took to the air. Tatyana yelped as she glided alongside Sierra. She had looked down at the ground rushing past them, all in greens and the trees started to fade into rolling sandy, beige hills. Sierra took a sharp turn, Rico followed along through the air before they landed in the entrance area to a large village-the other side was over a large river. Tatyana slid off of Rico's back, looking at them as a few dragons had stared at them.
A Skywing came down from the sky, trying to snatch at Tatyana before Sierra had shot a blast of frost at the dragon, making the dragon have to land and glare at Sierra. "That thing is one of the cursed tribes!"
"Hierofalcon here is our girl, she is very nice and does not support the Aviationwing's brutal ways," Rico said. "She is nothing like them." A soft glance was given to the injured dragoness, and the Rainwing nudged her forward gently along with Sierra who had already been walking towards the river's bridge.
Tatyana made herself appear smaller and less harmful by bringing her wings in and ducking her head down, staring only at the Icewing that stood before her; she ducked under the silver thicker wing on her right side. Sierra had allowed the small dragon to clamber up her back and rest there so she wouldn't have to constantly carry that injured wing of hers.
"Amazing I must say, I have never seen her kind up close before," The night dragon was dark grey with silver speckles under his wings, eyes bright and staring at her with interest. "She will heal, her wing I recommend to keep in the splint for a few moons."
"Alright," Sierra nodded.
The rain dragon that had been perched on the window ledge had come down and nodded at the larger Nightwing, "So what is she? She looks a hella lot like her father but just those...rudders."
"Aviationwing as they call themselves, a savage tribe," The Nightwing spat. "Even Darkstalker himself feared them. They fly what they call Mach one plus."
"They break the sound barrier, creating a sonic boom," Tatyana rephrased. "My father-he was once one of them but he no longer has his abilities due to war and mom is a Skywing."
The Nightwing seemed uneasy around her, watching her curved talons that sparkled like opal in the light. Tatyana was staring at him, head slightly ducked to show that once again, she meant no harm to the dragon tribes of Possibility. It made her wonder what the point of lying was.
"Her wings, she likes to hold them back at an angle but her stabilizers you can see here, the skin goes right up to the back of the hip. She's likely park Mikoyan and Sukhoiwing." The night dragon explained, walking around to show them what he had been talking about.
The Icewing dragoness purred a little, jabbing it with her talon and watching as the Aviationwing whipped around and snapped her jaws at her. The area was damn sensitive, why? Pressure point there? The smaller dragon purred a little, nudging the Icewing.
"Aviationwings are one of meanest tribes out there beside the Skywings," The Nightwing continued on.
Tatyana held her wings back at forty degree angle, cocking her head at him as her ears twitched a little as she listened through the air for anything that could be deemed as a threat. Ever since she had taken part in the war between NATO, Russia and the NRF she was on high alert half the time. The horrors of what she had experience had scared her for life, a part of her only wanted to bring peace and unity to the worlds where war was constant.
"Can you tell me anything more about my tribe? I grew up here and papa doesn't talk about them." Tatyana said.
"I have nothing more to say, if you want to know more find your father and ask him about the species. They are no longer here, they no longer battle constantly with the Skywings and win." The Nightwing said, his voice had become much more harsh with the mention of her being an Earth born dragon.
The three girls knew well where they all came from, two from America and the other from Russia, raised as a military brat. The three nodded, and exited the middle in size hut, staring at the sky for a moment as there had been a formation of dragons. One Tatyana could recognize as her father with his dark coloured scales and the unique way he held his wings back at an angle just like a Fulcrum's wings, maybe as they had been dragons they were gifted with some knowledge in flight that had to do with their original assigned aircraft. The dragons of all bizarre colours(Gutierrez as some strange blindingly bright yellow) banked around, perfectly.
Fighter pilots as dragons, even they didn't lose their instinct for formation flight. Rico snatched Tatyana and her scales changed colour as she hid Tatyana under her wings, curling around the girl so that neither could be seen. However they landed, Bishop staring at his nice with some form of happiness yet still suspicious.
"You haven't found her?" He asked.
"Tanya is sneaky, uncle, can't do much about that kid. Who knows, she might be at Vista Air Force Base." Sierra replied, angling her neck to seem less to be suspicious about.
"Vista?" Major Illich asked, stepping forward.
"It's a navy base on another world where her kind comes from, Sergei Illich," Sierra ended up snapping slightly at him, but knew better than to anger the already irritated and worried Russian major.
In her hiding place, Tatyana was struggling with staying hidden for so long and her injured wing was starting to ache badly, she hissed quietly at Ricada to grab her attention. Ricarda slightly looked down, and moved a little.
"Rico, don't act like I can't see you," Guts said.
"Tatyana, run," She whispered, rolling out from her curled up state to let the girl bolt for one of the nearest alleyways.
"Oh thanks a ton," Guts rolled his eyes, then taking to the air to chase after her, however it wasn't likely that he could find her in this clutter of dragon mess.
Tatyana was running north towards the Sky kingdom, hoping to get lost in the trees so they couldn't find her. This was her last split chance to find the Aces of Strangereal, to find her mentor, Cipher, and to find out how the hell she was supposed to fly as an Aviationwing. When she exited the town she could see dragons flying around, attempting to find her so quickly as she could she took off into the forest that she could see lining the coastline. There were rocks there, jutting out and just waiting to make her a broken, mangled dragon for the crows to peck at. Her small size allowed her to sneak through the underbrush unseen, but with the wooden splint that was a light beige in colour, she could be seen from more than forty meters away, just a rough calculation.
As a fighter pilot herself, she was supposed to be intelligent but right now she wasn't feeling so confident in her ability to disappear from sight and the alert so easily. This would have been easier as a human in her camouflage fatigues and a horse, but right now...she would have to make do with gliding short distances as it wouldn't put too much pressure on the injured wing. Tatyana saw a small crevasse that could be proved as dangerous if she didn't leap early. Tatyana moved back, then bolted full speed, having to slightly unfurl her wings to help glide over the crevasse and she just made it. Her tail on the edge of the rocks, looking back and down.
There were natural forms of spikes, eroded rocks that could kill a dragon if they weren't careful enough, unless she were paranoid. That was the cause for anytime she was acting cautious. She looked around, sitting there and bowing her neck and head down as she tried to steady her breathing.
"What are you? Worried?" Cipher asked.
Tatyana looked back, seeing the grey dragon with the blue markings on his wings and rudders made her smile. The Demon Lord was here. He started walking towards her, only having to leap with very little force over the opening below. He landed right beside her, damn it he was massive, compared to her...he could kill her with one swipe of his claws. However Cipher wouldn't do that, he was far too nice to do that.
"No, sir," She replied.
"Come along with me," He stood up and started for the forest to get away from the annoyance of crashing waves.
She followed him, having to jog to keep up with Cipher before the Ustian mercenary decided to sweep her up and let her sit on his back. The forest had been much more quieter, only the occasional scurrying of creatures as they tried to escape from the dragon walking through it; although he was heavily silent. The calming silence gave her enough time to think and take in the area around her. It felt magical, like how the forests around home felt when she was younger, where she would meet Cipher and Pixy as spirits to walk around through the forests and fields.
"You remember this, don't you?" He asked, his voice snapping her from a trance.
"Yes," She replied, voice calm.
Cipher purred, low like a wild-cat at her response. It rattled through his chest and she could feel it in her talons, vibrating like the engines in a fighter aircraft. It was somewhat soothing to feel, although it wasn't screeching loud. Tatyana climbed up to sit on Cipher's head.
"You are a cat now?" He asked with a low laugh that once again vibrated in his chest.
"Always," She grinned, curling her tail around and bringing her rudders in at the joints so that they wouldn't hit Cipher in the eyes.
Speaking of his eyes they had been dark green, lighter than the moss around them though. He set her down by a tree, sitting to take a look at her wing.
"It's only sprained, you'll be okay," Cipher explained, taking her wing out of the splint and having her stretch it. "Our species' bones are very strong little one."
The Aviationwing looked down at her supposedly broken wing and stretched it out, grimacing as it started to sting a little but it soon went away with a few movements. There was something satisfactory about being a species of dragon that didn't exist in an otherwise fictional world, albeit she's admit she'd looked more like Toothless had a dragonet with a Skywing. Cipher smiled down on her, affectionately as this man turned dragon had much been like a secondary father, also mentor to her and flying. He looked up at the sky.
"It might be safe now, Tanya," He went up into the air, circling around before he took far off into the clouds.
Tatyana was quick to follow him into the air, still wincing a little but followed him through the air, trying to keep up with the larger dragon. It was a hard task, he flew like how he did in his Eagle, swift movements as he could easily bank around, folding his wings together, or splaying them out in a quick move, managing to fly straight up. Of course he'd come back down to join her by her side, and the Russian dragonet rolled to catch onto his spines and fold in her wings, landing on his back with a bit of a thud.
He felt that, jolting a little but he quickly went back to usual flying. He started to slow down through once they reached past the Skywing kingdom, flying over towards one large mountain, it was at least taller than Mount Everest. Snow capped peaks waited for them, and once again he started to dive down. Tatyana hung onto him tightly, feeling her talons slip and she made the mistake to flare out her wings which blasted her off him, making her do a tight barrel roll but she recovered quickly. Cipher had landed already on a spire of rock, waiting for her to land with him and so she did, shaking her wings in much like a fashion of a falcon.
"This is?" She asked.
"Behind us is Jade Mountain Academy, that is where that Sierra and Rico are currently attending," Cipher explained with his head flicking back to nod towards the large mountain. "They say it's not the greatest but intelligence there for us is good-"
"What do you mean? Why has nobody told me about this?" Tatyana asked, slightly irritated with the bigger dragon who calmly looked down at her.
"You were never around, Tanechka," He said, patting her head with his right wing.
"I never get to have any fun," She pouted, crossing her front legs, using her tail and wings to stabilize her.