Fond Memories (Open)

[Arya & Saphira]

DATE & TIME : October 20th, Midday
WEATHER CONDITIONS : Slight breeze with a soft chill to the air
CHARACTERS INVOLVED : Anyone
PREVIOUS THREADS ? Nope.

It was around this time every year that Arya would feel homesick. This was the time of year in which the Longwing eggs would hatch where she lived. It was a tradition in her village to go and watch the young colorful reptiles look around the world for the first time, a tradition in which she never missed out. That was where she had gotten her first glimpse of Saphira. The blue-hued dragon was flying above her right now as the girl sprinted through the forest. She liked to go on runs right now. It was the perfect time of the day. The chill of morning had gone away and the chill of night had yet to appear.

She finally broke the cover of the forest, but she was still far from the village. Instead of continuing to run, she spotted a nearby rock ledge that would drop off into the grassy field below. She glanced up at Saphira. She could barely see the outline of the dragon against the sky, but she knew the dragon had felt her eyes and had looked down. Arya slowed her pace so she would get the right push off the ledge that she needed. Just as she hit the edge of the rock, her foot pushed herself into the air. The fleeting moment of flight lasted only moments before Saphira grabbed her rider in her front claws.

Arya smiled up at her dragon as Saphira tossed her slightly forward so Arya could get onto her back. Seated on the Longwings back they made their way to the village. The flight was a short one and with what seemed like only minutes, Saphira was slowly angling her wings downing and starting a lazy flap as they landed just on the outskirts. The dragon was too large to land right in the middle of the village. Her wings outstretched could smack an unsuspecting passerby and that just wouldn’t be good.

Tucking her wings into her sides, Saphira walked slowly behind Arya. Her voice was soft as she spoke. ”Do you know what today is Arya?” Arya gave an almost imperceptible nod. ”Of course I do. Why do you think I’m headed this way in particular.” She slipped easily into dragonese as she spoke to her dragon and a smile came to her face. As they walked from then on in silence, she couldn’t help but let her mind wander to the past couple months.

It had seemed to be a bust couple months. There had never been a dull moment. She had been helping one villager after next. It was just simple tasks. Helping them pick things to sell, helping them carry the heavier items, telling them what their dragon was saying, etc. She finally neared her destination. The Hatchery was just as warm as ever and made a smile come to both the rider and the dragon. Arya slipped inside, the glow of the different eggs making her eyes shine. Saphira stuck her head in through a window. Her body too big for the building and not wanting to block the door need anyone else wanted to come in.

Arya walked through the rows of nests of eggs. These eggs still had awhile before hatching, but it didn’t mean that she couldn’t watch them in order to fill the void of watching the eggs back home. It did upset her a little in that no one else had ventured into the higher mountain tops in search of Longwings or their eggs. They really were and intelligent and beautiful breed. A wistful sigh escaped her lips as memories of the past flowed through her mind.

[Opal Lockheart]

"And HERE-!" A loud burly viking woman with redbrown hair proudly sauntered into the hatchery, "Is the hatchery! None are ready for hatching just yet, but one day you'll get to see it happen." Behind her was a much skinnier girl, with redder hair and blue eyes. She walked a bit more hunched over, and dressed a bit different then most viking woman. Her clothes had no spikes attached, she seemed a bit under dressed for the weather on berk as well. The bigger woman turned and grinned at the red head as she gestured around, seemingly unaware of the other girl in the hatchery. "Look around, Opal! One day, you'll be a viking and you won't hear anymore of this pirate nonsense!" Opal merely sighed, she hadn't been here very long and that was all anyone would talk about.

Paint, the taller viking woman, looked around with a bit of a uneasy eye. She turned back to Opal and placed a large meaty hand on top of Opal's head. "You... Look around. Get a feel for things, ya? I gotta go paint." She shuffled out, leaving Opal behind. Opal watched her go with a bit of a shocked look on her face. Was she really going to be left here with a bunch of eggs? Opal crossed her arms in her customary manner, she bit her lip and stood in the center with nervous eyes. There were barely any dragons out in the deep water, no eggs to be found anywhere. It was safer like that... However now... She was surrounded.

As Opal looked around she finally took notice of the other girl in the room. Opal took a step back, she seemed to be looking at the eggs with a great fondness, and her Aunt had quite possibly ruined that. She was loud and wasn't exactly... quiet about what she wanted to say. Opal waved a bit awkwardly before turning to the side and staring at the lava and the eggs as if they held some kind of inner meaning. Clearly there wasn't, and Opal was doing her best to not disturb the woman any further. She couldn't help but notice she seemed a bit sad though.

Opal turned her head, as if she was going to say something. Anything, but nothing came out of her mouth. She sighed once more again and dropped her head. Why was speaking to others so... hard? She could apologize, but it her was Aunt who had made all the noise. Opal had just wanted to go out to the shore to swim a bit more. It was cold outside, but it was still... Swimable. The window for swimming was going to close soon, and she wanted to get in all the time she could... Opal grunted a little bit, running her fingers through her hair.

[Arya & Saphira]

As someone burst into the hatchery with a shout, Arya barely raised her head to glance up at the women. She did however give a soft, barely noticeable chuckle. These Vikings here were so much different then the ones from where she was originally. These ones were much louder and more rambunctious. Her village had been subdued. Especially around the dragon eggs. Then again, the eggs burst when they opened, so why were they so quiet around them? Ahh yes, respect. But Arya didn’t doubt that the people here didn’t respect the dragons and their eggs. Of course they did.

The Viking women continued talking though, so of course Arya raised an eyebrow as she listened it. It sounded as if she was explaining what this building was to someone else. But, everyone knew of what this building was on Berk. Didn’t they? Arya looked up then, her head tilted slightly as she took in the young girl behind the Viking. She didn’t seem like those around here. That wasn’t saying much though considering how unlike Arya looked to all those around. She too didn’t have spikes on her outfits. They were much more sleek and fit to her slender size. Even Saphira’s armor was fit to the dragon, no extra spikes were added.

They both came from an island that decided that they didn’t need extra. They needed what would make their dragons the fastest. Longwing’s are swift fliers, the extra metal the spikes were made out of would make the dragon slower. But as the older Viking left, the word pirate seemed to ring through Arya’s ears. At the same time she heard Saphira give a low growl. Pirates were almost never a good thing. Arya walked quickly over to Saphira’s head and put a calming hand on the dragons snout. ”Now now. We can’t jump to conclusions. This girl is too small to do any damage like those pirates did back home.”

[/i]

Saphira gave a small snort. Of course she remembered. Pirates had ruined their harbor the first time they landed on their island. Of course, that had also been the last time. ”Yes well. It would be nice to find out if she is like the rest of those. “ The dragon paused slightly as she took in the young girl and it made Arya turn her head to glance at the young girl as well. ”She does seem to be confused on what she should do though. Perhaps you should talk to her.”[/i] Arya rolled her eyes at Saphira and couldn’t help the small smile that appeared on her lips. ”What did you think I was going to do?”

She patted her dragons’ snout one last time before walking over to the girl. She walked in the opposite aisle full of dragon’s eggs, putting a row of eggs between them. ”Couldn’t help but notice, but it helped with Paint pointing it out, you’re new here aren’t you?” She tilted her head slightly as she took in the small girl.[/blockquote]