Dark Mirror: Clans

[saphira]

luna had already entered the mess hall and gotten something to eat, it was as she was reaching into her pouch for some herbs to add to her meal when frost and vorun entered the mess hall she decided to go up to them and ask them to join her to eat. "why hello there frost we met again, would you and your little friend like to join me?" she asked sweetly," i know you don't get very many visitors up here i was coming back from a friends myself."

[Morty]

"Little?" Vorun grunted mirthlessly, noting the size difference between he and Frost was weighted in his favor. In no mood for small talk, he sidled past the impertinent young dragoness and found himself a spot to eat, ignoring the derisive looks from the native frost dragons as he tore into his meal. His thoughts were occupied with reviewing the conversation with the elders and the strange sequence of events leading up to it. They knew now that the dark dragons had essentially set up a base of operations in the Irihel trenches. It was not a very strategic position; its only merit was also its curse. The treacherous terrain combined with the bad weather made it nigh inaccessible, both to attacking squadrons and to the already scarce game. Accessibility was rarely a problem for Vorun. Food, on the other hand... He tore into another savoury chunk of ice hopper with relish. Since when had food tasted so good? He pricked his ears up and trained them on the nearby conversations. There was always a chance of hearing something useful, or merely amusing. It had been a while since he'd heard good conversation, Vorun noticed. The last few weeks had been a montage of boredom and irritation that he was in no way eager to repeat. Hopefully with the dark dragon's offer he would have something interesting to do for a change... And with that thought in mind, nightfall couldn't arrive sooner.

[saphira]

" oh and frost id keep an eye on your little assignment. Hes planning something i can tell." She said putting as much charm into her voice as possible then went back to her table. " oh almost forgot dessert." She said pulling out a choclate cupcake from her magic pouch.( a cupcake to her is a large cake to a human.)

[saphira]

Luna finished her meal and decided to help out ice clan and catch some food.( come on lets get caught in an epic battle to the death with an ice monster. just have your characters follow me out.0

[Morty]

After eating his fill and washing his mouth with snow, Vorun made his way to the sleeping quarters unaided, following a group of hunters returned from a long expedition. He reasoned they would be on their way to a well-earned rest, and he was right. Following a good distance behind he managed to sniff out a den that seemed to have been in disuse for quite some time. It was unfurnished, but that was more of a blessing than an inconvenience. It ensured that he would be alone. He huddled into the darkest corner of the icy hollow and cast a spell of concealment on himself, blending into the paltry shadows, in case his three "comrades" decided to exact their revenge while he slept-- they were just stupid enough to try it. And, with sundown only a few hours away, he closed his eyes and slept.

As the last rays of sun faded from the frozen plain, Vorun's ice-blue eyes snapped open and he rose unceremoniously from his quarters. His illusion was still in place, but as he moved aside Vorun could see that the warmth from his body had melted a dragon-shaped hollow in the ice. Wow, that was stupid. he thought, obliterating the indentation with a sweep of his tail. He crept out from the recessed compartment and exited the barracks, drifting past several dens full of sleeping dragons. Some were still awake, but they weren't paying much attention. And despite the lack of shadows in the room, it would take someone with exceptional vision to see through his disguise. Through another hallway, and past a few more hollows, he finally smelled fresh air, and came out onto the twilit wilderness outside the fortress. The frozen stronghold shone brightly behind him with its own inner light, like a crystal palace from a fairytale. He would need to find a source of darkness before he could slip into the shadows. Mentally, Vorun reviewed his geography. The cliffs to the south would provide a penumbra deep enough for a full-moon journey; their was a narrow gorge that ran through them that would provide for miles of uninterrupted travel. He knew of a network of caves that ran through the cliffs that should still be abandoned. That would be his shelter come sunrise.
Skirting the field of vision of the guard on the parapet, Vorun set off at a trot, plotting his course over the ice field to avoid the patches of snow. If he kept to the hard ice, he would leave no footprints.
In little time, the southern cliffs hove into view, breaking the slim line of the horizon like a tooth-whale breaking the ice. Vorun picked up his pace, kicking up shards of ice as his claws pounded the glacial surface. He slowed once he reached the mouth of the gorge. Its icy walls rose up on either side of him like the jaws of a flycatcher, ready to snap shut at any moment. He was right in choosing this spot as a place for shadows. Running north to south, the bottom of the canyon may never have seen the light of day. The only light came from the early-risen stars directly overhead. But for a dragon of his affinity, it was as bright as day.
Dotting the sheer sides of the ravine were dark portals in the ice: too high for an ordinary dragon to scale, and too confined for one to fly up to. He doubted anything could live in so inhospitable a place. Nevertheless, he kept his ears pricked for danger, and advanced into the permanent dusk of the chasm.

[saphira]

luna was just about to take of to some other part of the world when she heard someones thoughts. then she saw it a foot print then another and another. someone was trying to sneak away and she had a good idea who it was. so she followed at a respectable distance following his thoughts. luckily she blended in well. then they reached the chasm. she hurriedly but quietly came to around where he was then she saw it a faint glimmer of scales. she pounced on him surprising him and his illusion faded away. " i knew it was you, you dark clan scum." she screeched at him her hand pressing into his throat.

[Morty]

Vorun hissed, and without hesitation, he twisted, grabbed his assailant's wrist, and dragged her bodily into her own shadow. In a split second he was back on the surface, sealing his opponent's arm in ice up to her shoulder. He stood in the shadow of the chasm. His blue eyes were all that could be seen of him as he rounded on her, tensed. Surprised, he relaxed a little upon seeing who his enemy had been. "You again? What do you want?" he said incredulously, vaguely remembering some cryptic comments she had made regarding his allegiances.. and stature. "How in the name of Athalbegra did you follow me?"

[saphira]

luna glared silently at vorun he would have to torture her before she told, very few people knew about her gift heck more than half her friends didn't know. apparently he had forgotten about her tail so she slowly moved it to where she could hit a soft spot at a moments notice. she also got ready to energize her arm to break free, it was glowing softly already ready to go.

[Morty]

"So now you're a mute? Well then, good luck breaking free of that ice without my help. The sunlight will never reach the floor of this canyon, so unless you've got a sore ambition to gnaw off your own leg, you'll tell me why you're here." said Vorun impatiently, preparing to leave. He knew better than to stay within range of physical attacks when he trapped his opponents, but the girl still seemed to think she could hit him with her tail, not that it would do her much good. She'd only end up twisting her own arm if she tried. He sighed in exasperation, ready to dip into the shadows again should she prove stubborn.

[saphira]

" fine i wanted to know why exactly your clan and fire clan must drag everyone else into you r mess of a war which there is no reason to fight." she said not looking him in the eye so he couldn't see that she had simply made this up on the spot.
ooc: what is the reason that dark clan and fire clan are fighting?
bic: then before vorun could answer the ground rumbled and a big furry head popped out of the ice. it was one of the most deadliest things on the ice, a woolly spider-wolf. it screeched a battle cry and came fully out. that's when it happened, an avalanche ensued in the chasm.

[Morty]

"War? I don't know what stories you've been hearing, but the dark clan and fire clan aren't at war. Did you honestly stalk me five miles out of the fortress and assault me just so you could--" at that point, the ground trembled beneath their feet. Before Vorun could react, a crack formed in the ice beneath them, and from there a pair of bristly white legs came out, then another, until a gargantuan arachnid sat blocking the entrance to the chasm, barring the exit. On the other side, tremors ran up the walls of the gorge, and a large section of the cliffside peeled off, crashing into the ground below. Vorun gritted his teeth, eyes flickering between the captive dragoness and the massive, salivating spider. The course of action was obvious. He placed one paw on the shadow that trapped her, releasing her trapped limb. "Run." he advised, backing into the shadow of the ravine. And with that, he dipped below the ice's glassy surface and disappeared.

[saphira]

"coward" she yelled as she swung around and bit into his tail then sliding down with him.

[Awesomoman]

Frost was about to join Vorun at his table, when one of the guards caught him from behind. "Frost, Hold it. The elders wish to see you immediately." Frost let out a deep sigh, "They couldn't have asked for me during the trial?" The guard shook his head. "Now is not the time. Just come on." Frost was annoyed but he followed the guard back to the elders den.
When they arrived the elders were frantically talking but silenced the moment Frost walked in. "What is it you n-n-need of me?" He asked giving a slight bow. The grand elder took a breath, "We fear that the war will be starting soon. One of our men over heard some of the dark clan talking about an up coming assault, for all we know its already underway." Frost was completely in shock, everyone had been dreading this day. The elder continued, "After today, we now know that the Dark Clan is keeping secrets from us, they may even have several other bases in our territory that we don't know of. We intend to stay neutral for as long as we can, but if the Fire Clan found out that the Dark Clan had hidden bases in our land, they might assume we're aiding them. Since this is only suspicion we cannot hold the dragons we caught, but we also cannot let them continue operating in out borders." Frost could tell where this was going, but he didn't like it. "You want me to f-f-follow them. Since we already know where they were s-s-stationed before they likely won't go there and will head to the nearest other base." The grand elder nodded. "If they leave our territory as instructed then we will assume they have no more surprises. But if they lead you to another base, you are to return as quickly as possible and inform us, We'll deal with it from there." Frost had only one question, "Why exactly do i have t-to go?" The grand elder smiled. "Out of our finest hunters, only you were able to see the dark dragons in the first place, and you were able to sneak up on them without detection." Frost hated this, but he knew if the dark clan were hiding anything, this would be a good way to find out. "I'll d-do my best."
His best chance at staying hidden were to stay low to the ground, so following someone with flight capability wouldn't do him much good. Following Vorun would be his only option. Only problem, he left him at the mess hall. Frost examined the area closely hoping to find... Was that Luna? What was she chasing? AH HA! Found him! Then Frost had an idea. He could keep a great distance from Vorun by following Luna at a distance. (Yes, that means hes far enough you can't read his mind.)
Frost kept a good distance and stayed on them every step of the way, only to stop when Luna attacked and was then trapped by Vorun. He wan'ted to help her out, but that would blow his cover, he would just have to sit and hope he let her go. Which he did, after a giant spider broke out of the ground. This was very bad, if the spider killed any of them his job would be impossible, yet if he helped in this battle then they would know he was there and following someone while they know you are is just plain stupid.
(Will finish either after work or tomorrow.)

[Morty]

"Ouch! You insistent pest--! Why don't you explain yourself before I throw you back onto the ice?" Vorun snapped, barely restraining himself from backhanding the young dragoness across the snout to release his tail. "And let go of my tail!" he barked, appearing as nothing but a wingless wraith in the gloom of the shadow nexus. Above them the spider screeched with rage at having lost its quarry. It burrowed in the place they had just been, but that only served to deepen the shadows that contained them. Vorun ground his teeth and glared at the youth, demanding an answer.

[saphira]

"im sorry but i would have never stood a chance against that thing" she said looking up looking up with sheer terror in her eyes.