FSE

Furry search engine

formerly SoFurry search engine

Sun has set over the horizon, casting shadows over the treetops and its varied inhabitants. Scratchy caw echoed from a nearby corpse of a Dilophosaurus as a giant avian with grimy feathers sat perched up upon its prey, devouring large chunks of flesh with its beak. Ayliith, Walnut and the Wildcat Arakash took a detour to avoid the feeding Roc, as even the Mud dragoness herself standing on her rear legs would barely compare in size to it.

Open fields were now all around them, and much to Ayliith's distaste, they walked for majority of the distance. Alas, Walnut was a hunter and she performed her profession with the assistance of the black feline. One thing she had to admit, Arakash had a great sense of detecting anything alive in the vicinity, albeit not always was it edible. Still, he warned them about a trio of Basilisks perching in the treetops, several Ceratopses grazing by the forest's edge and most recently showed them the feeding Roc. Without a guide like this, Ayliith could imagine that she would have ended up dead several times over.

Roc immediately spotted them moving through the tall grass, its large eyes fixated unnervingly at the group without moving a muscle. "Be silent. Be normal. Don't move quick." The mud dragoness's head didn't do as much as a glance towards the giant eagle creature before moving on, keeping her gait steady. Arakash hissed silently but also followed his master, leaving Ayliith a little bit behind. Realizing that she was not moving as fast as she was supposed to, she hurried to catch up with her group realizing her mistake a little too late. A loud screech echoed through the air which prompted everyone to stop.

Ayliith gasped as the Roc was no longer obsering the group. Its gaze was locked straight at her with its wings trembling in anticipation. "Slow." The Huntress whispered and gave Ayliith nearly the same murderous glare as the giant eagle. Thankfully, as their group returned back to walking, the giant avian assumed its place back upon its prey and resumed feeding, paying no attention to them as the distance between them increased.

A sigh of relief almost unanimously escaped from everyone's lungs, and while it seemed like Walnut was still angry with her judging by the occasional glare, she kept her thoughts to herself. It was surprisingly heartwrenching for Ayliith. As someone that was used to being yelled at and made fun of aloud all the time, for reasons deserved and undeserved, the unspoken frustration somehow hit her harder than any insult ever before. Part of her also realized that now, her survival was entirely dependant on her guide's whim.

"Gryphons believe Rocs and Wildcats their parents." Arakash looked up at his master doubtfully almost as if he understood what she said. A deep rumble of amusement followed as Walnut turned to Ayliith. "I hear they worship. Generally bad idea kill either. Gryphons sometimes steal food here. They very angry. Keep mind."

This reminder was fairly unnecessary. Its not like the Hybrid will go out into the wilderness to hunt game, or worse, dare to hunt something as dangerous as Wildcat or Roc. If not for being tamed by Walnut, Arakash would have likely killed her in sleep. Still Ayliith nodded, still feeling somewhat ashamed for her own earlier failure.

Another day passed without further incidents. The two hunters managed to bring in plenty of things to eat this day, some of which Ayliith has never seen before. Apparently they were called squirrels, some sort of tree-dwelling rabbits. Why would they live on trees like birds? So odd. Most of the bounty for the tribe was packed in oil and salt for preservation and some was shared between the three of them. Still, there was a sign of dragons flying overhead here and there and the valley in the distance seemed to have a few signs of civilization already. Mud and clay dwellings of various sizes were strewn across the landscape with trees getting cut and torn down. They must be getting close!

The Wheel tribe was baffling. Perhaps the most striking difference that Ayliith couldn't get used to was the height indifference. For every lair and building within Air kingdom, the location was a major selling point. The higher atop a mountain one lived, the more prestigious and expensive it was. Beautifully carved out with ornamented walls, great carpets woven from rare textiles and painted with many dyes, expansive chambers that could house great many dragons, those were the homes at the heighest points of Throth's mountain, one of which belonged Dawnlight, the Advisor herself. Ayliith served in one of those places momentarily, before being kicked out for rudeness and getting no gems whatsoever.

The hierarchy was clear. Those that flied high were far more important than those that lived low. This was reflected even in the Towers, some repurposed for Clawstoppers and some for Couriers. Ayliith dreamed of one day standing on top of one such tower, shoulder etched with the tattoo of her station, watching over dragons going about their day and protecting them from any outside danger. No-one knew who built the Towers originally, most were in ruins and had to be rebuilt or at least repaired constantly but they held a historical significance - even if Ayliith really didn't knew why.

Compared to that, Mud dragons enjoyed a very different style of housing, one that clashed with her sense of who is important. There were seldom any trees around, with many paths trodden down to a muddy pathways. Those trees that were left standing and weren't cut down were the highest points of the entire tribe. That, to her, was unimaginable difference. At first glance, she thought that these are mere servants living here. But the truth was dawning on her as soon as she stepped further along with Walnut. A large structure made out of wood, stone and possibly bones of immensely large animal was erected amongst the otherwise unassuming cottages built half-submerged into the earth. While all Mud dragons were as large as Walnut, or even larger, Ayliith noticed that they had rarely, if ever, used their wings. Questions that she didn't have answers for welled up in her chest, but upon further deliberation, she settled on only one.

"Where are we going?"

"Introduction" The deep rumble echoed from the large dragoness. They returned the bags of meat caught together with the wildcat and the huntress' companion was left at stable of Hunter's hall at the edge of the tribe.

Much as that was not really answering any questions, another voice called out from behind them, "Ayliith? Prey tell, what in the skies art thou seeking here?"

Gralth was standing there, not far off from one of the larger dwellings. The noble air dragon's brown ears were perked up and the rest of his form was almost bright yellow. In spite of the color difference, the bright dotted pattern around his eyes was extremely similar to that of Dawnlight herself, only his claws were filed and his expression was not as smug and his head was adorned with a headcrown made with vowen flowers. This, in her opinion, made him look ridiculous.

"Hey. Your majesty." The dismissive tone combined with a flick of a tail would be unacceptable back home, especially to a brother of an Advisor, but she abhorred making herself lay flat before him or anyone like him any more. In fact, it was somewhat delightful to straight-up ignore his question.

The sound of footsteps squelched in the mud. Soon enough the important-looking male pushed himself next to Walnut and exchanged a quick series of words in Moonwatch with one another. The unnerving uncertainty of what exactly was being said settled in, the speed of the words said, accompanied by head movemnts and the dialect made it really hard for her to understand.

Why can't he just leave her be? A minute or so later, their conversation ended and the Air dragon changed his tone to Traditional without a hitch.

"Ayliith, I am afraid thy presence is poorly timed..."

Now it was time for her ears to rise up, glaring at the ridiculous-looking noble. Their 'refined' way of speech also grated on her nerves, it was one of the many small things they did to make themselves stand out above the rest.

"What is it Gralth?"

"Tenday ago, the marvelous Moon-Touched Emerald Rosebush Wakeanborn has been crowned as Patriarch following the unfortunate assassination of his father." The green-eyed noble looked at her with grave smile. "Yriinth hath stationed me amongst locals as abassador to ease the tensions. Thee could imagine, such circumstances are dire for everyone."

It was only now that Ayliith noticed that the looks their little group was garnering were strange. At first, she assumed it was due to the fact she was a hybrid and part of her was used to being seen differently. And yet, eyes of the bigger dragons were cold, and many gazes followed them even as she passed them by.

"I am sorry but... Why is this your business?"

A long pause followed. Judging by Gralth's expression, he knew the answer to that question but was hesitating to say it. Much to her surprise, this was when Walnut spoke up.

"Killer was hybrid." The Mud dragoness' thick tail smacked the Air-Water dragoness across her back. "You kind of hybrid."