Zazilie

(Or, Siri: You have arrived at your destination)

It'd been not long after they'd left that Zazilie began to wonder if this was a good idea. Traveling with, oh well, some dragons who very well had no reason to trust her, each of them having given her their fair share of dubious looks and glances.

Just find Arc and get out of here. Everything will be fine, if that happens. Right?

The fog ahead began obscuring her vision, the gray-white billowing vapor tumbling out of the sky like a stage curtain.

Right.

Suddenly, a scream erupted out of the darkness ahead.

Kite, who had appointed herself the 'leader' apparently, said something about setting down, to avoid any possible interaction with whatever made the sound.
Zazilie slid to a stop in the shallow muck when she dropped from the sky, frowning at the unfortunate memory from the last time she'd come in contact with mud.

I'll just have to be more careful.

Her thoughts concluded.

Sidewinder slipped forward, laughing as he landed on his snout and kept sliding, his weight and momentum keeping him at an extended speed.

"Oh come on, now you'll be all covered in mud." Kite grumbled.
"It's mud though! Mud's fun, right?" Sidewinder asked.
Leighton shrugged as Tradewind shook her head quickly. "Debatable."

Sparkwire strayed closer to Jake. "I think I am oddly feeling inquisitive about whatever that peculiar sound is that happened to resemble a vocal display of fear…."

Jake looked down at him, raising an eyebrow. "Seriously, I can hardly ever understand you when you talk like that."
(SPEAK AMERICAN MOTHERF###ER)

Sparkwire sighed, shaking his head and muttering to himself quietly.

Leighton stayed silent, scanning the fogline, murmuring to himself with a firm expression.
Zazilie raised an eyebrow.
He knows something, but he hasn't shared it yet. He knows something's up. I could tell the rest of the group, or I could keep it to myself.

She decided to rationalize what she knew so far.

It doesn't seem like he thinks it's dangerous, or at least not a dangerous threat.

I think I'll sit back and watch this play out.

"Trees up ahead." Kite called back, as she walked ahead of everyone.

"Finally. I'm starving." Sidewinder complained, his stomach growling in agreement.

"I'm sure they won't mind if you eat some mangoes or something." She replied, flicking her tail.

Hm. If whatever caused that scream doesn't get you first.

Zazilie thought grimly, feeling her nerves and muscles tense up.

(I'm listening to a remix of Megalovania. Yes, it's Nightcore. No, I'm not ashamed of what I'm doing.)

It's all wrong. Something just doesn't add up. Why would their borders be completely unguarded?

Sparkwire beat her to the question. "It's strange, I think, that their borders have no form of defenses, nor artillery. Is that normal here?"
"I think it's just because RainWings aren't exactly that active. From what I've read and heard, they just lie around, eat fruit, and sleep. Oh, and also change colors." Kite replied simply, not seeing the problem here.

"Ow. I think there's some mosquitoes out here or something…" Tradewind muttered behind her.
Especially during a time of war… It's odd that these dragons haven't made sure any of the other 'tribes' entered in and tried to take it as some kind of...foothold, maybe…..

They were fully encompassed in fog now, the ability to see the other was quickly waning while the white mist continued to close in like a heavy white blanket.

Zazilie looked back, checking to see who was behind her.
The mercenary, the soldier and the robot….

Hmm.

The strange-colored one's missing.

"Excuse me-" she began.

"OH MOONS, TRADE'S GONE!" Sidewinder yelped, falling over in the mud once again.

Jake and Sparkwire turned around, both looking at Leighton, who's face held a sly expression.

"What's so funny?" Jake asked, narrowing his eyes.
"I'll tell you when you wake up."
The MudWing's eyes widened. "Wait, what do you mean by-ow, the hell?"
Sparkwire winced as well, muttering about how he never needed bug spray before.

Jake turned away, scratching at his neck, something tiny and wooden falling out.

Zazilie leaned down, plucking the small wooden shard out of the mud.

A dart, by the looks of it.
So this is what he was talking about, sleeping darts.
She noted how Leighton had already backed away, chuckling as he did so, the fog swallowing him whole.

(Mm, you guys want some- *smacks lips* ?)

Creepy bastard.
Wait, that takes him off the list of targets, since he's no longer near us, right?
She looked back toward Jake and Sparkwire.

They're gone.
A high-pitched whistling noise whined behind her.

Dart.
She rolled over her shoulder, ignoring the mud now covering her shoulder and back.

Zazilie looked ahead, where she'd seen Kite and Sidewinder last.

They were gone too, the talonprints of where they once stood as the only proof that they had even existed.
Well son of a-

Right, we're cutting down on swearing. I guess uh, 'biscuit' works?

She crouched lower to the ground, ready to attack if anyone came out of the fog.

"Show yourself! Coward!" She growled, feeling another dart whizz past her head.

"And stop shooting darts at me! That's annoying!"
Some confused conversation came from the trees before her, where the fog really began to dissipate.
"Well you look certainly angry! Are you sure you're okay?" Someone cooed from above.

She grinned with the grim thought of how ridiculous this was already.

"Maybe you would be too, if you go somewhere expecting peace and such, and only get, gee, I really don't know….sleeping darts?"
The RainWing frowned, a few more of the multi-colored and strangely schemed shimmering into view beside her. "I dunno….We kind of use it as a game, really. It's like uh, target practice!"
A game? Seriously? All of those resources, such as rainforest toxins and poison, and you use that knowledge to play games? REALLY?

"That sounds silly." Zazilie commented, managing to keep her cool.

"Well, I just know it's fun! Especially on visitors. It's really fun to watch them wake up and ask em' questions." She concluded.

Leighton strolled calmly out of the fog, humming a tune Zazilie recognised from an old radio that had played Earth music from the 1950's.

"I see you're still awake," He commented.
"You're still an ass. What's new." she grumbled.

"To be honest, I'm impressed. I never really expected anyone but me would notice the darts. Well. I already knew, but hey, you didn't and still came through. It's a compliment. Take it."
"If it comes from you, I might as well have been shot." Zazilie retorted.

The RainWing stared down at them, confused.

"Why are you so angry at each other?" she asked, the other dragons behind her lifting nets filled with…..something, Zazilie couldn't tell from all the fog obscuring her vision.

"Because he's a backstabbing mercenary."

"Because she's some 'tough-guy military woman who takes no prisoners' and she's fun to annoy."

She shot him a look as he looked on, grinning triumphantly.

"Oooookaaaay…...So um, what brings you all here?"
Well, they already took in the ones looking for shelter.
Why AM I here?
Am I lost?
No. I'm here for Arc, right? He could be here, possibly.
Maybe they have a gateway somewhere nearby.

( …..I'M JUST GONNA GO WITH THE 'HOLDING BACK' CLICHE, YOU CAN'T KILL ME IF I'M ALREADY DEAD! *multiple gunshot noises in the background*)

But again, I could have just left….
She shrugged.

"I dunno." She and Leighton said in unison.

Zazilie shot him another look, not surprised that he was doing the same.

"Whatever." She said, looking back up at the RainWing in the trees. "You'll let us in? Where's the rest of our group?"
The multi-colored dragon jerked a talon behind her. "You just missed em'. They were in those nets. It makes it easier to carry our prey."
A tremble of shock cascaded down her spine. "Prey!?"
The RainWing struggled to hold her composure, then broke out laughing, almost falling off of the branch she was perched on. "Your face! Ha!" She howled, wiping away some tears. "Oh boy, I'm gonna have fun with you guys."
Leighton raised an eyebrow, shaking his head with a chuckle.
"Well, since nobody else is gonna say it, I will. Welcome to the jungle."

The flight wasn't so bad, not as much fog as the outskirts of the rainforest.

The insides of the region brought Zazilie's mind alert as the noisy hum of the creatures that resided inside the dense trees filled her ears.

Could be a problem. This place is already too suspicious as it is.

Anything and anyone could attack, and no one would be the wiser.

She followed Leighton in, as he followed the peculiar RainWing they met on the border.

Hm. I already can't wait to get out of here.

After almost getting tangled in some vines higher up, she began to wonder how far in the village was, and even if that's where they were going.

Well of course we're going there. Even if we were being captured for some odd, strange reason, the prison/whatever-rainforest-dragons-use-for-a-jail would be inside the village, I think.

Eventually multiple structures came into view, such as a few treehouses, and multiple wooden platforms.

No signs of weaponry or fortification here either. This is really bizarre….

She came to a stop, her feet stuttering and almost flying out from under her on her landing.

She cursed under her breath.

Stupid slick wood.

The RainWing seemed to think nothing was wrong with this by her expression, but the shifting colors on her scales seemed a bit too skeptical to pass off as normal.

Huh. Is that something they control, or is it just something that happens?

Zazilie sat down, sighing.
"How long does the tranquilizer last?"
The RainWing cocked her head questioningly.
"Uh, the sleeping darts."
"Oh. A couple hours."
"Ughhh. I'm gonna go poke around then."
"Oh. Okay! Don't get lost!"
Why not? Isn't that the point of poking around?
She rolled her eyes and let Leighton start asking the queer dragon questions, such as "How long is Sun Time?"
The hell is 'sun-time'?

She huffed uncomfortably as she walked away.
I don't remember asking to get caught up in this.
Upon looking around, she saw that there was a grandiose treehouse in the distance, as well as a decent-sized hut not too far away.

I'll just check that place out, see if there's actually anything interesting around here.
Well, I guess dragons NOT attacking me on sight is an improvement.

Gliding down toward the platform in front of the hut without saying anything to Leighton or the RainWing as she departed, she began to wonder what would happen if this village was attacked, for it didn't look as if they could fend off a full-scale assault if they tried.

They probably couldn't.

She concluded, making sure to grip the wood platform when she landed, so she wouldn't have a repeat of the previous time she landed on a platform.

"Hm. Anyone in there?" She called.
"Uh, maybe?" a deep voice replied.

"What the hell is that supposed to mean?" She asked as she walked into the hut.

She stopped right after entering the doorway, flicking her tail.

"Erm, where are you?"
The room was rather dark, no torches or anything, which she guessed supported the skylights.

Of course, it still wasn't a very sunny day, so it was reasonably dark.

Wanting to investigate whoever the voice could have come from, Zazilie decided to forge onward.

As she stepped out of the light, she thought she heard something fall over, something wooden and hollow.

I'm not liking this horror-movie crap.

"Seriously, what the fu-"
She suddenly blacked out.

She awoke to yelling above her, as she felt the ground so she could stand.

W-wha….
"What is wrong with you dude? You could have hurt her really bad or something!"
"Well don't blame me, her kind probably gave me Post-traumatic stress disorder or something!"
"Yeah, that still doesn't mean you hit her with a frying pan!"

"Which raises the question, where the heck did you get a frying pan?" a third voice asked.
"Uhhhhhhhh…."
Zazilie groaned, painfully rising from the wooden floor.

"What is going onnnnn…?" She groaned, rubbing her head and wincing.

Jake, a blue-and gray RainWing, and strange tan and beige dragon stood before her, the tan dragon holding a beat-up cast-iron frying pan.

He held up his talons in front of his chest, grinning nervously. "I can explain! I thought you were a real NightWing and I didn't want to almost die again, so uh…."
She growled, glaring at him. "Well that was stupid, now I'm DEFINITELY killing you!" She reached out to claw at him, suddenly stopping and clutching her head.

AHHOWWWWOWWWWWFUCK
Spitting pain shot through her skull, feeling like a cold dagger being forced through her forehead, numbing the pain and causing it at the same time.
She sat down, stubbornly clutching the sides of her head.
"...after this shitty headache goes away…."
The RainWing nodded slowly.
"Yep, a good hit to the head will do that to you."

"I guess I'm sorry for uh, hitting you and stuff…." the tan dragon apologized, glancing away.

"Whatever. Just keep your frying pan to yourself next time." She growled, rubbing her forehead.

"Uh, sure. So, who are you guys anyways?" He asked,

Jake pointed at Zazilie with a claw. "Well, you've already met Zazilie,"
"I can introduce myself next time, thanks." She snorted.

"And I'm Jake. You are..?"
"Crusoe, I think."
"Oh, I guess that makes sense. How have you been?"
"W-what'd you mean?" Crusoe asked nervously.

"Well, how have you been since the Gateway was bombarded?"
"Gateway? What's that?"
Jake stared at him blankly.

(Jake: *poker face*
Crusoe: *poker face*)

"Uhhhhhhhm. Hoooooowwwwww yooooouuuu goooot heeereeee?" Jake asked, slowing down his words suspiciously.

Crusoe shook his head slowly, frowning sadly. "I can't really….remember…." He mumbled, trailing off.

"Wait, really?" Jake asked, sounding extremely confused.

Crusoe nodded. "All I really remember is when I woke up as…."
He laughed nervously.
"...Well, me, I suppose."
Jake frowned. "I don't think this is very good…."

"Oh, and who's Terri? I remember thinking about her a couple times, as well as reading about her in my journal. I sounded like I thought she was pretty important, or something."
Jake rolled his eyes. "She's probably fine, no need to worry about it."

Crusoe raised an eyebrow, unzipping his backpack, which was strapped to his arm.

That looks retarded.
Zazilie thought bitterly.

He pulled out a small cell phone. "Uh, can you, er, remind me what this is?" He asked Jake, grinning in embarrassment.

"That's a phone." Jake replied, his expression unimpressed. "You use it to talk to other people who own one as well."

Crusoe put it back in. "Oh. Yes, of course."

The sand-colored dragon paused, an idea suddenly dawned on him. "Wait, you knew before now? What was I like? How many came with us?"
Jake sighed. "Can we talk about this somewhere else?" He asked the RainWing. "Where I can, I dunno, lay down and answer his questions as I do so, in order to maaaaybe not get a headache from Crusoe like her?" The MudWing continued, pointing to Zazilie.

"Hey, I got hit with a frying pan, not a hellish amount of questions." She hissed, flicking her tail in annoyance.

(I think I made a reference with that sentence. I assure you, it was an accident. Maybe.)
((I JUST SHOT SOMEBODY, I DID IT ON PURPOSE!))
((( watch?v=yMxY0Lxo_ow )))

"Psh. I can TAKE a frying pan to the head though, and judging by your state, I don't think you can say the same." He countered.

"Well at least I don't step into traps that weren't even covered."
"Well at least I-" He broke off, sighing. "Okay, that's fair."

Her anger waned away significantly as she sighed. "Yup."
I think….

They're alright, I guess.
Not exactly the most intelligent, but fine.

She stood up, shaking out her wings. She winced as the headache returned for a split second, then waited as it slowly receded away.

"Alright," Zazilie sighed aloud.

"What?" Jake asked.
"I'm gonna go look around some more. You guys can go on without me." She replied, glancing at the forest below.
"N-no, don't go down there, it's too dangerous!" Crusoe blurted.
She raised an eyebrow skeptically, subconsciously taking a longer look down at the primarily unoccupied jungle, unless you counted the animals that lived inside.
"Riiight. And why should I believe in an amnesiac dragon?" She asked with a hint of suspicion.
"Because that's how he almost died. Amnesia is a lot better than bleeding to death, if you ask me." The RainWing answered for Crusoe, smirking slightly when he finished speaking.
"Uhhh-huuhh. And this should scare me?" She asked, opening and closing her wings impatiently.

"Because!" Crusoe cried. "The NightWings, they come out of nowhere, they'll kill you in a matter of moments!" He fretted.
Jake raised a claw. "Uh, Crusoe-"
"I had no oxygen to my brain for a LONG TIME." Crusoe continued, shifting uncomfortably and looking at the forest with a shiver.

"Crusoe-"
"All I can do now is remember things I forgot, and if you go down there, you-"
"BYRON!"
"Who's Byron?" Crusoe asked, tilting his head sideways.

" She's-YOU'RE BYRON." Jake grumbled, covering his eyes.
"Oh. But I thought my name was Crusoe."
"No, that's your middle name."
His eyes widened. "I HAVE MORE?!"
Jake sighed, shaking his head.
"Zazilie's a NightWing." he said finally, looking plenty amounts of annoyed.
"What's that have to do with anythi-OHHHHH, now I get it." Crusoe mumbled, nodding.

"Which means I can catch your almost-killers before they try to kill anyone else. Or worse, call reinforcements." She pointed out triumphantly.

Jake grinned. "Ohhh no. You don't get all the glory to yourself."

Somewhere around fifteen minutes later…

Goddamnit, this is going to be annoying.
Zazilie thought bitterly, glaring down at the shorter NightWing, who'd just been woken to accompany her on her hunt for the NightWing assassins.
Sparkwire yawned, closing his eyes and stretching out his wings simultaneously.

"If it is convenient for you, I would like to know the nature of our mission, and if that is too confidential, maybe a primary aspect?" He asked, sitting down and blinking sleepily.
"Well it's not sitting around and feeling tired, if that's your plan." She snapped back, turning away and forging deeper into the undergrowth. The wet ground would, at times, squish inward, always giving her an instant reminder of her experience with quicksand.

She shuddered, ignoring it and waiting for Sparkwire to catch up, his head almost short enough to the point of where some areas of shrubbery would close in completely around his body, causing him to at times almost get lost inside them.

(Smol boi)

"Are you paying attention to our direction? Perhaps landmarks as well? It would not be very fun to be lost in a forest like this." Sparkwire asked, following close behind her.

"All I need to do is get above the trees if we get held up, it's not that hard." she assured him.

Sparkwire grunted, catching himself before he slipped in mud.

"How far inside are you intending to advance?" He asked quietly.

"Eh. Until we find something. Or until we find nothing. Either way, we'll head back when the time comes."
He groaned, muttering something about nighttime hours.

They continued onward, through the rain-soaked foliage and across well-worn animal trails, until eventually they arrived at a stream, which had talonprints all around it.

Crusoe said he remembered falling in a stream like this, and then he was able to feel the assassin's presence. This might be where he was talking about. Either way, these prints had to have come from either him or the assassin.

"Tracks," She whispered, signaling Sparkwire to follow.
Shivering as she stepped into the warm waters, Zazilie waded deeper into the brown waters, almost immediately coming out on the other side, shaking the excess water off as she stepped forward to the prints to take a closer look at them.

Sparkwire leapt off the bank, extending his wings to glide to the opposite side of the stream with her.
Oh. Well I guess I could've done that. Not like it makes any difference anyways.

She bent over to stare closer at the tracks, sniffing distastefully.

(*Sneezes in braille*)

They head off farther from the village. Either Crusoe is terrible at directional awareness or we've been being watched.

Huh. And they were in a hurry, due to all the stuff thrown up behind the prints.
They might be expecting us.
Zazilie shuddered, stiffening while Sparkwire examined the track himself, looking quite worried.
"Did you happen to extract any information from the signs?" He whispered, frowning.
She nodded, pointing ahead with a flick of her tail. "That way, not too long ago and fast."
"They must know we are pursuing them."

"Exactly."

She bounded after the tracks, feeling the wet ferns wiping their excess water on her scales as she ran past them.
They rounded around a small bend inside a hill, then into a small clearing, still completely roofed off from the open air by the canopy.

Zazilie halted, cocking her head back.

They're rounding back around the other side of the hill. It's big enough, it should take them a couple minutes or more if they're trying to remain undetected.
She glanced side to side, noting the vines circling around the branches of the trees on the outside of the clearing, as well as a puddle of quicksand.

It's almost the perfect ambush spot.
"I got an idea."

How in the hell does it take OVER TEN MINUTES to go around a hill?! IT WASN'T EVEN THAT BIG!

(That's what she said. ;D)

The two advanced forward, both elbowing each other and pointing ahead.
"Psh. What nincompoop made this? It's so obvious it's literally hurting my eyes." One joked.
"Stop looking into the sun then. Just deactivate the trap and remove it, for I don't see they'll give up unless we destroy it." The other grumbled.
They're NightWings, right. Why are they so thin?

The larger, older-looking one sliced a vine hidden under the dead leaves, the vines snapping upward and unraveling in front of him.

Sucker took the bait...

"Huh. Not very good workmanship, it's almost like they were in a hurry."

The younger-looking dragon gave him a look, like 'Really?'

The older NightWing shrugged. "Anyways, I think we lost em. They must have realized we took a backtrack, which wouldn't have been a problem, if YOU had decided to cover your tracks."

"I didn't think they'd notice." The younger one snorted.

"Whatever. I'd just like to go now, please."
Zazilie glanced down at Sparkwire, who was trembling in the shadows below her.
He nodded from his position, slowly and shakily emerging from the darkness.

She thought he must have stepped on a twig, because as he stepped into the open, an audible snap was heard, and the two NightWings on the other side of the clearing both snapped their ears in his direction.
"Hey, who're you?" The larger one asked, already advancing toward him, the younger one standing behind.

Damn. I'll have to get him myself if he doesn't trigger the third one.

Sparkwire looked ahead fearfully, not responding.
"How old are you, kid? You don't even look at a day over five." the NightWing muttered, almost within five feet of Sparkwire.

Aaaand now.

The larger one stepped through the thin tripwire-like strand of vine, which was in control of the large rotting tree stump she'd flown into the overhead canopy not too long ago.

The damp and very heavy, much to Zazilie's annoyance, stump dropped almost as it it had fallen from space, colliding with the ground and yanking up the vine it was attached to. This vine also happened to be looped around a rather thick limb up above, which said stump had fallen from, and was in control of the real threat:
A snare trap.

The NightWing's leg shot into the air, him following instantly.
"OH MOONS THAT HURTS." He yelled, reaching for his leg, and of course, it was inaccessible to his grasp.

His companion whipped around as he was about to leave, then set his sights on Sparkwire.
"Let. Him. Go." He snarled through his gritted teeth.

Sparkwire grinned sheepishly and shrugged, shaking his head.

The NightWing snorted smoke from his nostrils, charging toward Sparkwire.

Trip it, trip it, trip it….
Zazilie urged silently.

Sparkwire began to back away nervously.

The dragon leapt over the selected location mid-bound.

Aw, damn.
She leapt out of her vantage point in the trees, letting out her falling inertia in a shoulder-roll the second she hit the ground, ending up in front of Sparkwire.

The charging NightWing stopped, startled.

Zazilie took a deep breath, striding toward him confidently.

He took a step back. "Stay away. I'm-I'm turning both of you in. For uh…" he took another nervous step back.
Three more and he's down.
"Who are you, and what the hell do you think you're doing?" She snarled angrily.

"Uh, uhm...Ah…." he tripped backward, scrabbling back up to his feet as she towered over him, her shadow overlapping his quivering form.

She almost broke out laughing from how terrified he was.

"Hm. You honestly thought those dragons back at the village were tracking you, didn't you? A shame, honestly. I thought assassins would've been smarter."
"I-I can fight you! I will!" He raised his head, only to be cut short as Zazilie rammed her shoulder into his neck, knocking him backwards into the concealed quicksand.

She couldn't help but grin as a large sucking noise erupted from the almost liquid sand, instantly submerging him up to his chest.
"NONONO, HELP ME, PLEASE!" He cried, clawing for the solid land, only for his talons to slice through more quicksand.

She sighed. "It's not even that deep, relax. It's about uh, six to seven feet deep? Not much."

He said nothing, just began crying silently.

"Hey, what're you doing to my brother?"

Brother, eh?

Oh, this is already too good.

"Sparkwire, would you be so kind as to go fetch some dragons from the village? I have a feeling we caught what we were aiming for."

An audible slap echoed across the platform.

Crusoe rubbed his talons, wincing at the slight pain from slapping the larger NightWing in the face.

"THAT'S FOR ALMOST KILLING ME, DICK-BISCUIT!" He yelled at the top of his lungs, fuming.

The NightWing groaned from the pain, wriggling slightly to right himself after Crusoe's blow had knocked him over.

Both NightWings had both forelegs and hind legs bound in thick vines, laid out in front of everyone to stare at uncomfortably.

"What was that for?!" The NightWing yelled.
"I just told you." Crusoe replied simply, turning away.

"Mm. I almost forgot about that. I honestly thought you were dead. Maybe next time I won't."

Crusoe turned around once again, this time brandishing the frying pan from earlier.

"Can I?" he asked the Navy-blue RainWing giddily.

"I don't think we want another risk of you causing a concussion." He replied, raising an eyebrow.

"Aww….fine." He set the frying pan down.

Minorly fatigued, Zazilie relaxed her shoulders, sitting down and wrapping her tail around her legs with a yawn.

Well, I bet nobody would mind if I slept for a bit.

She dozed off right where she was, dipping her head as she closed her eyes to the sound of dragon voices and the echoes of the forest below.