"So, how 'bout it, Saori, you feelin' lucky today?!" The Red Dragonborn Rogue flew overhead, a broadsword in one set of golden claws and an axe in the other, her breath as red, orange, yellow, bright, and hot as her scaley body and leathery wings.
"H-huh?! What?! No!" Never! The Tiefling Shadow Sorceress, despite her terrifying appearance, was the terrified one, moaning to herself. I'm soooo bad at combat, and I'm soooo naturally unlucky too! Is Rika insane?! Wait. I don't need to ask that… Ugh…
Last, but certainly not least, was their Gnome Necromancer, Tsubaki. She stood silent, face set in grim determination as she summoned skeletal and zombified warriors to do her bidding. Waiting on the horizon were a pair of Dragon mates, Golden and Silver, Kokoa and Hayate. As a test of character, they were there to duel the trio on Rika's request, to see if they were ready to embark on dangerous quests around the realm.
"Ah! My sisters!" Rika greeted the pair of Dragons with open arms, beaming broadly.
"Ew! No! We're not related!" Kokoa hissed, flashing her golden tongue and fangs at Rika. A burst of golden fire shot from the back of her throat.
Rika easily dodged it, pulling her wings against her body and doing a barrel roll out of the way.
"Well, if anything, we're more like second cousins thrice removed," Hayate mused as she flew after Rika once Rika successfully dodged her mate's attack. With Rika's wings still so close to her body, Hayate was hoping to strike before Rika could unfurl them again.
The second before Hayate could get into a position where she could wrap any part of herself around Rika, though, a purple hand stained in black ink suddenly shot from the folds of Rika's red wings. H-huh?!
"Hayate!" Kokoa cried out as Hayate was shocked out of flight, plummeting to the ground. The Golden Dragon spiraled after her falling Silver mate, helping her reorient herself before she hit the ground.
Back up in the sky, Saori materialized and resolidified onto Rika's back. It wasn't ink on her purple hands, but shadow.
"Hey, thanks, buddy!" Rika grinned, twisting her long, red, scaley neck around to look the terrified, trembling Tiefling in the eyes.
"RIKA!" Saori pointed down at Tsubaki, who was directly beneath the two, falling Dragons. Even if there was no danger of Tsubaki being crushed, since Kokoa was actively trying to help Hayate regain her bearings, Saori still didn't want to leave the third member of their party alone for too long.
"Oh, right!" Rika entered a swift, downward spiral like Kokoa (and sort of Hayate).
"RIKAAAA!"
Back on the ground, Tsubaki was surrounded by her little undead army, and they were supported by black and blue roses whose thorny vines twisted through and around their bones and organs. Tsubaki sang her siren commands to them, ordering them to aim their weapons at the falling Dragons.
"Ready… Steady… FIRE!" Tsubaki's hand was raised, then she abruptly brought it back down. Blue fire seemed to burn in her eyes as her undead warriors, soldiers, and minions raised their weapons. Some shot, and some threw.
"RIKA!" Saori howled again, nails digging into Rika's sturdy, red scales as they flew right into a cloud of bony, rusty arrows. Maybe trying to help Tsubaki was a bad idea! She's gonna hit us too! Friendly fire, friendly fire!
"No worries! I got it!" Saori's Dragonborn mount smiled roguishly before letting out a puff of red, orange, and yellow. Any arrows that missed the Golden and Silver Dragons did not miss Rika's fire. "Ashes to ashes! Dust to dust!" she sang jovially. Saori trembled on top of her.
Oh, no! Wait! Now we're flying right into RIKA'S friendly fire! The Tiefling despaired her bad luck, and Rika's low intelligence score. Saori melted away in shadow a second time, not wishing to become somebody's evenly-roasted BBQ lunch snack.
In the end, even though Kokoa managed to restabilize Hayate, they were unable to defend against the onslaught of arrows from the undead warriors waiting for them on the ground below. And retreat was nigh-impossible when they were blocked by a Shadow Sorceress Tiefling who could morph into the darkness itself, and an overly zealous, overly passionate Red Dragonborn Rogue blocking them from above.
"Ready to surrender?" Tsubaki asked grimly, arms crossed, eyes still burning. All around her, her undead army prepared for more attacks.
"Fine! You were better than we thought you were!" Kokoa huffed bitterly, raising the metaphorical white flag. The shame of the defeat hurt worse than some of the injuries she sustained. None of them were fatal, neither side was aiming to kill, but those arrows smarted! Most embarrassingly, though, Kokoa was a Golden Dragon! The paragon of Dragonhood and nobility! To be defeated by the likes of…
Ew. Kokoa cast a disgusted look at Rika, Tsubaki, and Saori. Tacky losers…
Hayate, meanwhile, only chuckled to herself. Ah, my poor Kokoa. She is the silver sugar AND the golden spice!
Rika, meanwhile, led the celebrations and cheering while Saori shakily slid off of her back as soon as they were safely back on the ground (never mind that Saori could've just shadow-traveled there herself) and Tsubaki returned her undead warriors to their resting places, brushing off her hands once the morbid work was done.
"Well?" she asked impatiently. "Are we finally ready to get this show on the road?"
"Yes!" Rika replied, nodding her head so hard Saori feared that she might break her long neck. "We've proven our worth! Now let's get goin'!"
Although Kokoa was reluctant, pouting and scowling, sometimes even in mild disgust for the three adventurers, Hayate was happy to lead them back to her and Kokoa's lair. There, they would receive more information on some of the "fun" quests Rika so desperately sought.
Just HOW did I get wrapped up in HER little campaign? Saori and Tsubaki sighed as they followed the two Dragons and one Dragonborn away.
AN: I wrote more short scenes the same night, but since they're unrelated, I'm posting them as different chapters. That said, this is not a linear story. It's just a series of unrelated scenes. If that's not your thing and you're disappointed this isn't a full saga, I'm sorry, you don't have to keep reading, LOL!