The sky had faded into navy blue, the sun having set possibly months ago. Numerous stars illuminated the evening sky, the white dots of light twirling and bunching up in splotches, a beautiful design against the sea of black ether. An Aurora Borealis glowed deep in the distance, it a rare sight holding a swirling array of colors. Also in the background were two huge floating icebergs, drifting in the deep blue semi-frozen ocean. The only walking space was a wide open field of pure white snow. Offsetting the pristine white clearing were two figures, a green haired ranger and a hazel eyed huntress.
As soon as they landed, the half dressed Vanessa immediately felt the biting winds of the tundra setting. Clutching her arms, she fell to her knees, unable to adjust to the drastic climate drop. "Good GOD its cold!" Vanessa leaned on her knees, trying to regain a sense of her bearings.
"Hmm..." Charlie analyzed the new area, surprised they arrived there. "We're not even supposed to be here," His breath came out misty, the ranger taking in the beauty of the location. He checked the communicator attached to his arm. "Here being Ragol's ice caps. Apparently, the teleporter malfunctioned."
"Yeah, okay," Vanessa said, her tone weak and dull. Her hazel eyes had caught a horrible scene when she lifted her gaze from the ground and for a minute, she could only stare in heavy disdain. The cold she initially felt was overcome by the intense fear felt from the sight. Getting back to her feet, she took out her magnificent red sword, examining it to keep distracted. "Uhhh...Charlie?"
"Hmm?" Charlie gave up on sending a fix of their location back to Pioneer 2, turning his attention onto Vanessa.
"Yeah…what the- is that?!?" Vanessa exclaimed, eyes closed and voice squeaky. She pointed her glowing sword in the direction of a flying monolith in the distance.
Steadily approaching the two fighters was what appeared to be a gargantuan twenty foot dragon. Obtruding from both sides of its head were large weather beaten horns, each looking as sharp as they were deadly. Its serpentine eyes easily spotting the two, the dragon began on a swift decline towards its prey.
Charlie blinked once, twice, his communicator beeping finally bringing him back into reality. He lifted his arm calmly. "That…would be the Silver Dragon." Lowering his arm, Charlie slowly reached for his handgun. He shrugged. "Or Sil Dragon if you wanna be exact."
"Hmmm…really?" Vanessa broke her gaze from the approaching creature and twisted up her face in disagreement. "It looks more like a bluish platinum or dull blue from here…" she muttered. Her grip tightened on her sword as she reluctantly turned her focus back to the creature. Taking a look at her surroundings, Vanessa had already figured running was out of the picture. And drowning/hypothermia isn't high on my list on how I wanna die either…
Making an entrance, the dragon impacted the snow covered ground, creating a wave of snow and ice. Folding in its grayish yellow wings, the creature roared horribly into the night sky.
Charlie glanced at Vanessa, expecting a far from enthusiastic response from the command about to leave his lips. "Vanessa…run towards the dragon and try and hit its legs."
"Try and do WHAT?!" Vanessa blinked hard, shaking snow out of her hair. All her fears vanished from the insane proposal. "Are you out of your ass, are you out of your MIND?!" Her full attention shifted to Charlie.
"Just do it." Charlie returned her gaze, his emerald eyes hardly joking. He actually seemed to be serious about the request.
Before Vanessa could reply, the dragon threw back its head, its throat moving rapidly with the motion. Roaring in the duo's direction, boulder sized pieces of ice escaped from its throat and decorated the arena. Charlie and Vanessa split up, running frantically from the chunks of ice. Vanessa rolled her eyes in disbelief, already knowing where her footsteps would guide her. "Why oh why couldn't you just breathe fire like normal dragons?"
Already up to the dragon's kneecaps, she let her sword swing, striking the mighty creature hard. To her astonishment, the creature faltered in its speedy step and fell hard to its knees. She stared for a moment in disbelief before the echoing sound of Charlie's back-up fire snapped her into action. She swung her sword again, hacking repeatedly to the dazed dragon with her brows furrowed in thought. Knights in shining armor make this seem so damn hard. Wonder why…?
As if on queue, the dragon regained its sense on reality, its vicious eyes focused on its bold prey. It beat its wings heavily, sending the two fighters in opposite directions with a mere gust of wind. Hovering in the sky as it watched the two beings recover; the dragon suddenly broke off into an impossibly fast spin, pelting the arena with chunks of ice.
Oh hell…! Vanessa rolled out of the way of the first icy boulder, immediately getting to her feet to begin the evasion game. Annoyed at almost being beheaded by a sharp shard of ice, she growled while navigating around the area. "This!" Jump. "Is!" Dodge. "A." Dive. "Load…!" Leap. "Of!" Step back. "Bull-" Before Vanessa could get the last words out, her high heels finally led to her downfall. Slipping backwards on the somewhat icy ground, the huntress fell hard to the floor. "Owies…"
Vanessa didn't have to dwell too long on her pained backside, or rather, she couldn't. Her hazel eyes were glued to the dragon that had landed feet away. Feeling the earth tremor while the dragon greedily marched towards her, Vanessa scrambled backwards over the ground. Almost confident she could stand up and run, she felt her left hand swipe at air. The huntress risked a glance back, noting only the coldest of water behind her. From the side of her eyes, she spotted Charlie beginning to head her way. Hmm…he can't get a shot… She turned her eyes back to the dragon, the beast's open mouth indicating its intentions. And here I didn't even get to meet Spokey Dokey….
The dragon bobbed its head forward, a huge circular fiery explosion erupting over its body making the beast stop short. The dragon roared and arched its back, maniacal laughter in the background close to drowning out the wail of the dragon. Along with the diabolical cackle of glee, came an overly ebullient voice. "Yes, yes, I got it!!!!!!" shouted the happy-go-lucky force. The female didn't give the Sil Dragon a chance to react and with a graceful lift of her hand, sent two more nuke like explosions into the creature. The beast emitted an earsplitting roar in her direction, the icebergs bobbing carefree in the distance close to shattering from the sound. The female, the force, Isale, gave off a devilishly elated smile. "Vaminay…" Isale motioned for the dragon to come. She smirked, the dragon entering the atmosphere before finally plummeting into the ground, beneath the ground.
Vanessa shook her head at her luck while jogging up to Isale. Of all the people to save my ass… She skidded to a stop in front of the girl and shook snow out her hair. Glancing to the force from the corner of her eye, she asked. "So about those nukes…what the hell?"
"What the hells a nuke?" Isale arched a brow, her eyes scrutinizing the female before her.
"What are you doing here…?" Charlie spun Isale around, a grateful gleam in his eyes.
"Well…I'm not slow. But you two combined reach a new level of the word "slow"…" Feeling the grip on her shoulders tighten exponentially, Isale laughed. "I don't mean it…" She relaxed herself, smiling carefully. "I figured you two would need my help. Plus..." Her eyes wandered over to Vanessa, a smug smile gracing her lips. "…I want something."
Feeling uncomfortably from the brief look Isale had given her, Vanessa hid her paranoia under narrowed eyes. She said cautiously. "…something…?"
"Later on that, this fight isn't over!" Charlie shoved Vanessa several feet, propelling himself backwards a mere seconds later as the dragon burrowed underground in their direction. Isale performed a simple side-step to avoid the beast, the force annoyed from the ongoing battle and her unanswered question.
Managing to recover from the sudden push, Vanessa dashed out of the way of the dragon heading towards her a second time. Feeling a glare coming from her side, Vanessa turned to Isale. "What?"
"Why don't we just use you as bait? Give you a purpose other than being useless…" muttered Isale bitterly in disdain.
Vanessa broke into a deranged smile as she felt her cheeks begin to heat up. Her heart beating hard in her anger, try as she might, she gave in on being polite. She normally restrained herself from cursing around people she barely knew but Isale would be the exception. Up to the force, Vanessa sneered. "Why don't you go fu-"
The crashing of ice behind the two females interrupted Vanessa's question and Isale's prepared response. Vanessa and Isale glanced at each other and gulped in unison. Swearing beneath their lips, they turned around horrorstruck to find the dragon behind them. The two girls broke off into a mad spiral run in the hopes of it going off course but to their horror, found the dragon steady on their path.
Pumping her arms as hard as possible, Vanessa closed her eyes and shouted over the ruckus of the dragon. "Take it back!!" Seeing Isale express only confusion and fright, she elaborated. "Take back the useless comment!!"
In disbelief the girl even had time to bring it up, Isale shook her head stubbornly. "Go to hell!"
"Take it back or I'll trip you…!" Vanessa pulled out her red sword, moving it in front of the running path of Isale. She knew it was a completely suicidal gesture but if she were to die, she wanted to die at least content Isale went down with her.
"You're crazy, move your sword!!" Isale's grip increased over her psycho wand, the force struggling with not running too fast and running fast enough. Seeing the sword grow closer to her legs, she pulled her hair, out of breath and frustrated. "Crazy humarl street whore! You win! I take it back! Move the sword! Move your swo-" A quick yank pulled her, along with Vanessa out of the path of the dragon. She looked up to see a chuckling Charlie. Shaking him off of her, she exhaled. "Assholes…"
Charlie pounded his fists playfully into both of their scalps. "Oh my little geniuses…" he sighed with a smile. "The dragon's tunneling in a spiral and you BOTH run IN a spiral…!" He started to laugh, his humor dying down as the dragon burst through the center of the ice arena.
The three comrades glanced at each with a mischievous look in each eye. All three finally smiled before scattering off in different directions. Only Isale stayed in place, the force licking her lips as she watched the dragon go airborne. She raised both her hands in the air and a single fume of fire rushed to the flying dragon. On impact, Isale spread her arms, the fireball overtaking the evening sky in a hellish inferno. "Mwahahahahaha…!!!" she laughed insanely pleased from her flame creation as the dragon dived back to earth. "Vanessa!!"
Already running to the descending dragon, the female huntress smiled broadly at the fact it was her turn. Vanessa jumped aside, slipping wildly to avoid the angry lunge from the Sil dragon. Licking a mini-fang, she skidded beneath a wing of the dragon, and brought her sword back. "B-YAH!!" She struck the dragon's kneecaps, coming to a sliding stop as the dragon tumbled down behind her. Laughing from her horrible imitation, Vanessa turned her focus to her last comrade.
"Alley-oop!" Charlie leapt onto the back of the dragon, the creature coming out of its daze instantly from the move. Struggling to maintain his balance on the back of the serpentine monster, he scrambled to the head of the creature, his rifle out and ready. Feeling the dragon throw its head back, he pressed his rifle to the Sil Dragon's temple and pulled the trigger. Knowing he'd get thrown off, Charlie jumped off before hand and eyed the dragon warily, an anxious hand on his still smoking rifle. The yellowish eyes of the dragon rolled upwards, the mighty creature letting its final roar escape. It tumbled in step over the slippery surface of the ice and tumbled down dead in its lair.
"Okay, Legolas…." Vanessa smirked, shaking her head at Charlie's expression of bemusement. Despite being exhausted, Vanessa found the energy to dance in place. She let her hands fall while doing her spirit fingers, snapped her fingers, then cleared her arms out with a final cheerful snap. "Whew!" She plopped down to the ground with an ebullient smile, her hazel eyes on the night sky. "We did it…at last!" Rubbing her stomach and looking up to Charlie, Vanessa smiled. "Let's get outta here. I desireth a mealeth after all the worketh…" She grabbed his hand and let him tug her back onto her feet. Keeping a carefree hold on his hand, Vanessa started to walk with Charlie to the teleporter that mysteriously appeared after battle. Seeing a fireball burst inches from her feet, both Charlie and Vanessa jumped back.
"Ahem!" Isale coughed to the side and looked over her fingers with a bored expression. "I did not come here for my health you know…" she smiled, her blue eyes practically glowing with the gesture.
"Oh yeah…" Vanessa snapped her fingers and released Charlie's hand. Tilting her head, she took a deep breath. She said. "Isale…at first I thought you were just arrogant and it was compensation for your height. As a matter of fact, I STILL think you're arrogant but…you know, it's just the way you are. But…" Glancing aside, she shrugged. "I must admit, you're stronger than I thought. And…we all work fairly well with each other so if/when you're prices lower, we should try the jolly-go-lucky "team" thing," Grinned Vanessa. She nervously scratched the back of her scalp. "And…sorry about the comment on your outfit."
Isale waved off the apology, tickled by the fact she found the huntress's words amusing. "That doesn't matter anymore but like I said when I first arrived here, I want something. Or to be exact…" Isale sauntered up to Vanessa. Grabbing her face, she stared up into Vanessa's eyes. "I want you."
"WHAT?!" exclaimed Vanessa and Charlie in unison.
"Did I stutter?" Isale narrowed her eyes. She pulled her fingers through Vanessa's wild and somewhat damp mane. "I want you. I just want to do a little experimenting is all…" She gave an eerie smile, still playing about through Vanessa's hair.
Metrosexuals…etc sexuals…dragons...it's like being on Absinthe in the village on Halloween, god damn! "Uhm…" Vanessa felt her cheeks flush violently, she unsure how to respond to Isale's request. She glanced for help to Charlie but found him holding a similar expression. Widening her eyes and almost tempted to mouth the words "help me" she instead mouthed "idiot-jerk" at seeing him turn around and whistle. Returning her attention on Isale, Vanessa moved Isale's hands from her hair. "Right…okay…Isale…while I'm flattered and all, I'm not…that way at all. But if…you know, you're playing both sides of the field, I'm sure Charlie could be of the BEST assistance. Or better yet, he can cover the meseta fee…?" Vanessa shrugged, letting go of Isale's wrists.
Isale screwed up her face and tapped her nose. "Noo…noo…" She shook her head. "I think you've misunderstood me. I don't WANT want you. I just need your hair for an experiment. And even if I DID want you, you should be honored by the idea. I could treat you better than ALL the men on Pioneer 1 and 2 combined. But I digress…" Isale smiled with a hint of haughtiness. "Perhaps I should've been specific from the beginning?"
"Perhaps so, smug ass…." muttered Charlie. Until that moment, his sole focus had been on tending to his gun. He lifted his gaze from the weapon, emerald eyes now staring at Isale.
"I'm sorry, Charlie was not being addressed. Why the hell do you care?!" snapped Isale.
Rolling his eyes, Charlie threw his last words over his shoulder. "I don't." He holstered his gun, moving casually onto the teleporter.
Ay dios mio… Vanessa slapped her palm to her forehead and closed her eyes. At least she doesn't only start nonsense with me. Opening her eyes, Vanessa shouted to Charlie. "Charlie, waita-"
"Ignore him for the moment. Can I use your hair or not?" inquired Isale, her fingers practically digging into Vanessa's arm.
"Yeah, sure," Vanessa pulled her arm away, not seeing the big deal with the issue. "I don't care but it's under a condition. If I let you do whatever, you'll work with us…free of charge?"
Isale twitched from the last three words spouted by the Huntress. She grinded her teeth, her head hurting from the concept of not making a profit. Growling, she said. "Fine. I will. Free of charge."
"Good. Now come on, we have to catch up with Charlie…!" Vanessa holstered her red sword properly to her hip and knew if she didn't catch up with the ranger, she'd have to have Isale be her guide around Pioneer 2. Hell…no. Hastily, she ran to the teleporter and transported to the ship hovering above the planet.
"Like I'd waste my time…" muttered Isale. She resisted the temptation to laugh from the very idea. Instead, she stuck out her hand in concentration and created a swirling mass of twisting green light. Stepping inside, the force disappeared, leaving nothing behind but the corpse of the Silver dragon, an aurora borealis, and the chill arctic winds…