{Open} ;:CURIOUSER AND CURIOUSER:;

[elise]

DATE & TIME:

23/5 Just before sunrise.
WEATHER CONDITIONS: Clear with a few scattered clouds.
CHARACTERS INVOLVED: Anyone; vikings and dragons alike.
PREVIOUS THREADS: None.[/left]

She knew well that this was not the wisest thing to do or the most safest, but it was something that had to be done...Sort of. Elise did her best to justify her actions with the fact that she was only here to get the food she needed, the sheep and fish always easy prey, especially when they were practically just laying around. But, it was only an excuse for the real reason she was lurking around the edge of the viking village. The two-legged, soft-fleshed beings were always something that consumed her attention, fascinated by their appearances and way of life. For example, just looked at the nests they made. They were hard, wooden nests that really didn't seem to have much of an entrance into them, and she could only imagine what they were like inside. Did they have rocks and grass for their roosting places? Or, did they sleep on the warm, burnt grass that she knew she always enjoyed to lay in?

With her head twitching as her eyes stared at wonder at the many buildings that were scattered around the village, Elise faintly clicked her teeth together, her claws scratching at the ground with anticipation. Oh, what she would do to be able to look at the many things the beings had, but she wasn't stupid enough to let herself get carried away with it. As her thoughts flooded her mind, the female Nadder brought a light growl up her throat, her head spines fanning out for a moment. Yes, she would admit that she had often thought of being claimed by the weak, fleshy beings that inhabited the "nesting grounds" like the many others who lived with them, but to have her freedom possibly taken; it was a disgrace! What dragon in their right mind would want to give up their freedom to live with such weak, feeble beings? Dragons were the ones with the power and yet her kind lived with them like they were owned.

No, her freedom was the one thing she would never give up, even if it did mean she could satisfy her curiosities of the humans. Snorting, Elise was almost tempted to just walk away and forget about her little 'mission' for food, but it wasn't enough. Not to mention, she needed the food. With her hunting ability being so weak and unpredictable, she really had little to no choice on the factor. Her survival depended on the easy prey that the two-legged beings held captive. With her wings shifting at her sides, scrapping softly against her glistening scales, Elise focused her dark golden-orange eyes to the blackened, starry sky growling at herself as she caught the faint rays of light that lined the horizon. 'Oh, nice. You just wasted practically all your time.', she hissed at herself, obvious dissatisfied that she had allowed her thoughts to take up her 'hunting' time.

The Deadly Nadder needed to act quickly now, not having the luxury of taking her time like she had earlier. Pressing her wins against the sides of her chest and lowering her head spines, Elise quickly darted around the perimeter of the village, her sharp eyes searching for the best opening to snatch up a sheep or two. Unfortunately, in her hurry, she failed to notice that she was being watched.

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[Scratchet]

[OOC: BLergagh I can't resist! Scratchet's last RP before the war )

Scratchet was snoozing on top of someone's hut. She was waiting for a Viking to open the smoking shed across the way, so she could feast on the masses of seasoned fishes that hung inside. Hearing a noise, she opened up a lazy eye and twisted her head a little, so the smoking shed came into view. Instead, she saw a familiar spiked tail curl it's way around a building and disappeared. Curious, Scratchet got up and traversed the street onto the next building, and stalked the other Deadly Nadder, that seemed to be of a greenish hue.

Scratchet deduced this wasn't a tame Nadder - it's sneaky attitude was a dead giveaway. The first glimpse of sunlight caused a little panic within the Nadder below, and Scratchet merely grumbled quietly as she heard a creaking of the smoking shed door behind her. The dragon below was acting a lot quicker now, almost desperately as Scratchet followed Elise all the way to the sheep's paddock. Scratchet cocked her head, even more confused. Deciding to reveal her presence, she stood up a little taller on the rooftop, trying to look 'cool'.

"Sheep is more of an... aquired taste." She said out loud. She gave a smug smile before flying down from the roof to beside the greenish Nadder. She appeared a decade or so older than her, and almost a darker sort of green-turquoise than herself. Scratchet hadn't interacted with another one of her species since... well, since she got booted out her flock for being a nightmare to look after. "Unless you want to get sick, of course. You're obviously not familiar with how these humans get food."

Scratchet wondered what Elise's motives were. Was she so hungry that she would eat a creature that made most Nadders stomach hurt? Or was she going to steal all the food to annoy the Vikings? Scratchet's tummy gave a little grumble. Well, this Nadder had satiating her hunger as her priority right now.

"You know, the humans tend to come back from fishing in the morning. With loaaaadss of big fish. Last time I tried to steal a net-thing, I got my ankle broken. It's a long story, but seriously, you won't get sick, and it's totally worth the risk. I learnt from my mistake anywho - if i'm gonna brag about how lax they guard their food, I'll brag on the roof where they cant get me, instead of running down the street." Scratchet gave a little chuckle at that.

"What do you say? Oh, and I'm Scratchet. Official bother-maker at your service"Scratchet gave a curt nod of her head whilst she introduced herself. Scratchet wanted to know if this Nadder came from the same pack as her, but that question would have to wait, as she saw a ship coming in to the docks.

[elise]

Inwardly smiling as she found the sheep, her dark golden-orange eyes darted around as she looked for any sign of movement, failing to scan the building tops though. Creeping closer to the enclosed meadow, Elise eagerly ran her tongue over her rough lips, but froze as a voice sounded from behind her. Snarling as she swung her head around, her head and tail spines fanned out as she arched her back, however the sight that fell upon her faltered her threatening motions. She usually didn't show much aggression towards those of her own species, always being the playful one and happy to be around others. But, that didn't stop her from keeping her position, her only thought being that this was one of those 'pets' that the humans kept.

"That's none of your business.", she hissed, obviously untrusting of the female Nadder in front of her. Keeping her tail somewhat raised in a gesture that she was ready to attack if need be. Of course, she really didn't know how well that would go if she really did get into a fight. Elise wasn't one for close combat, always being the weaker one in any kind of fight. Her weakened, thin body was useless in such fights, but aerial ones; now those she could fight with. Having been the one to always be found flying as a hatchling, her wing muscles were stronger and bulkier than most others and she knew how to maneuver very well, but it obviously came at a cost.

Watching the Deadly Nadder, Elise gave a sharp snort as the other female practically insulted her -- at least in her mind she did. "What makes you think I'm not familiar with those?", she spat, her head spines fanning out in her irritation. "I know what these humans do for food, and I don't need you to tell me." Narrowing her eyes, the green-colored Nadder ground her teeth together with annoyance, hoping this irritating female would leave her alone. Though, her real reason to be so over-defensive was the fact that she didn't want to admit her actual reason for avoiding the humans that brought in the massive amount of fresh fish. She didn't want to risk that possibility of being captured and brought to submission like this insulting female seemed to be, and she wasn't about to be any part of their living.

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[Scratchet]

Scratchet cocked her head at the aggressive response she recieved. She didn't realise that Elise took her for a tame dragon, not a fellow wild one. She was only stating the obvious, because she thought that this green dragon was completely not in sync with the goings on in the village. Scratchet, being more... involved with the goings on in the village, felt that she knew more about the village than this other Nadder, and also felt it was her obligation to inform. However, this dragon appeared to not desire of Scratchet's company or information, but the Nadder still hung around behind the green one. She hadn't even introduced herself yet!

Scratchet rolled her eyes at Elise's answer. "If you knooow, then why aren't you over there already? For me, it would be common sense." There was a moments silence, the other Nadder clearly annoyed. This must have been a personal record for Scratchet.

A door opened behind them, spooking Scratchet. Looking behind her, a black bearded viking emerged one of the huts, obviously going to meet with the incoming fishing boats. He took one look at Scratchet, recognising her for her reputation, shook his head and left hurriedly, grumbling. With that reaction, Scratchet chuckled to herself. Yep, she still has it.

Turning back to the Nadder who was still contemplating on risking a stomachache, an idea popped to mind that would benefeit both of them. "You know," She started, coming round to Elise's side so the green Nadder could see her better. "We could work together in getting food, and succeed in getting something mighty awesome to eat. Like, the entire stock of fish they're pulling onto shore right now."

Scratchet drooled at the thought. She hoped it would be tempting enough for this other Nadder to join in in the fun.

[elise]

Elise was beginning to become uneasy once more, her eyes glancing at the morning sky. She knew it wouldn't be too long before the humans of this 'nest' would awaken, and she didn't want to be anywhere near them when they did. Her distrust and dislike of the two-legged, soft-skinned beings is what kept her from raiding their fish boats and other food supplies that they held. But, of course, fish was always something that tasted so much better than the sheep they held captive in their farms. Ruffling her spines faintly, the green-hued Nadder opened her mouth to give a reply to the other female's little remark when the sound of a door being thrown open startled her. Her tail spines fanned out again as she spotted the male human stalk out of the human nest, bringing a hiss into her throat.

She was surprised though when the viking only glanced at them and walked away. Stopping her hisses and growls halfway, her dark golden-orange eyes wanted him as he walked down to the port, confusion smacked right onto her face. Weren't these humans suppose to try and take her? Weren't they the ones who always tried to claim dragons for themselves? She had hardly made herself visible to the humans on the island, but on the rare occasion that she did, she always ran or flew off before they had the chance to do anything. Shuffling in her place for a moment, Elise ground her teeth together for a moment as she tried to understand in all.

It wasn't until Scratchet spoke once more that pulled her out of her thoughts. "...Are you sure going after their fish is...is a good idea?", she questioned, not having expected that kind of offer from a 'pet'. "Doesn't you feeble master already feed you?", she said with a layer of disgust in her tone of voice. Of course, it aroused her suspicion against the Nadder as she spoke of robbing the vikings of their morning catch, but it didn't make sense to her why this 'pet' would do something like that. Completely assuming that she was a domesticated dragon, it only made sense that she should since she seemed to live here.

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[Scratchet]

As soon as Elise said 'master', Scratchet stared blankly at her, all emotion wiped off her face. She staying like that for a moment, then, she suddenly reared back her head and gave a very loud laugh. Scratchet was having a fit of giggles now, unable to stop herself, though she managed to keep herself from rolling on the floor, as to risk damaging her pretty scales.

Eventually calming down, she looked back to the green Nadder before her. From all that she said, how could she *not* know she was a fellow wild dragon? "Blimey, what a laugh you are! Me, tamed? You have to be kidding with the reputation I have here!" She then cocked her head, looking at Elise once more. It came to mind that Elise did not know who Scratchet was. She made sure she would impart some Scratchet 'magic' onto her, but she was hungry and missed her breakfast, so cooperating with this fellow Nadder would be a better idea for now.

Scratchet smirked and gave a wink, although only being able to see from one side made the effect loose it's value.. "Come on, we got work to do." With that, Scratchet flew back up to the roof of a house, and scampered along, jumping over rooftops to the desired location.

Hoping Elise would follow, Scratchet finally found her target - two fishermen hauling one large net each, stuffed to the brim with fish. A signature tricky little smile curled it's way around the corners of Scratchet's mouth. This would go well. Well, better than last time anyway, when she broke her leg and was forced by morals to owe her life to Luna.

[elise]

If dragons had the ability to blush, then Elise's face would've been completely darkened with such a thing as the other female laughed at her. Or, rather her comment. Her head spines lowered themselves as she shyly lowered her head, lowering her gaze to the ground beneath them as her embarrassment made her uneasy. Nervously shifting her left foot back slightly, creating a faint line of upturned earth, she turned her head away slightly. If she hadn't been so embarrassed by her obviously incorrect assumption, the Deadly Nadder would've actually been glad to have found a wild companion in the area to gather food with. But, seeing as the situation didn't turn out as such, her mind didn't even compute that idea.

"I-I...I didn't know you had a reputation...", she replied almost timidly, though a faint sense of anger began to develop in her gut. Who the anger was actually directed to, she had no idea, but she was becoming angered, though perhaps it was the laughing and humiliation that had brought it up in the first place. At the sound of the other Nadder's words, Elise finally returned her gaze to the reptilian only to find her gone from view. Fanning her tail spikes out with surprise, she clicked her teeth together as her head jerked to the side, her dark golden-orange eye searching the roof tops as her ears picked up the rough scrapping of claws on the house coverings. Finally spotting the female scrambling and jumping on the tops of the humans' 'nests', the green-pelted Nadder remained where she was for a moment, debating whether or not to follow.

While she was highly tempted to simply and quickly grab the sheep she had come for in the first place, the sound of having fish instead seemed much better. But, it wasn't that that fully convinced her to go. With a shuffle and a loud bang, Elise jumped as the door of a nearby 'nest' swung open to reveal a female human who had come to check on the grazing sheep. Hissing, Elise took a few steps back from the fleshy being, her spikes raising as the female looked at her. In a quick movement, the Nadder jumped onto the roof of the house as she had seen Scratchet do, but with her inexperienced abilities. It took some trouble to get onto the top properly, scrapping off some of the coverings on the rooftop. As soon as she got her footing, though, she was quick to follow the other Nadder, half flying and half jumping from house to house, hoping to catch up to the female.

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[Scratchet]

Scratchet heard the clunk of claws on roof tiles behind her. Shifting her head a little, the turquoise dragon saw Elise come to her side. Smiling, knowing the dragon had gained her wits and accepted her offer, she looked back at the targets who were just walking underneath of them. The vikings had not yet noticed the two onlookers - too busy hauling their heavy load.

"Okay, here's what we're going to do - we're going to sneak up behind them and 'relieve' them of their workload. There are two nets, one each." She whispered to her new partner in crime. "The tricky thing about nets, is that if you take them at the bulging fishy part, you'll lose your goal, because they'll all fall out. You need to pick the net up where there aren't any fish: where the vikings are holding. Either take it in your claws or your mouth... I prefer mouth; more risk." With that, Scratchet smiled once more, ruffling her wings, preparing for the procedure.

"Ready?" She asked, spreading her wings wide, revealing the yellow interior, though they weren't as great as Elise's. "Oh, and don't prance about when you get the fish, I broke my leg like that! GO!" Scratchet cried, jumping off the roof onto the path, and running up behind the Vikings.

The fishermen barely had the time to react as Scratchet bolted past them, tearing the net out of the man's clutches and throwing to the floor. With that, the running start made her take off much easier into the air. With the extra weight, it was hard to get much lift with her scrawny wings.

When she got to a decent height, she let out a triumphant laugh through gritted teeth, looking below her to see if Elise had also succeeded - if she failed, Scratchet would be sure to share the catch with her bretheren. The green Nadder must act quickly though, know knew they were being hunted, the fisherman had picked up his pace.

[elise]

Even though she had lived near these strange, fleshy beings for years, she had never even dared to try for their fish. And, in consequence, she wasn't as experience as the other female obviously was. Watching the male humans carrying their load of fish, she felt her stomach clench at the sight of the fish. Oh, they looked so good. She couldn't remember the last time she had had a fresh meal of fish. With her spikes fanning out faintly with excitement, Elise shuffled eagerly on her feet. Unfortunately, she didn't hear the last bit of Scratchet's advice in her excitement, jumping when the female suddenly shouted 'Go!'.

Blinking for a moment, she shook her head as she took off, her stalled reaction costing her. With the appearance of the other Nadder, the vikings were on alert. Jumping down from the roof clumsily, the green-pelted Nadder tried to match her performance with Scratchet's, but it was obvious that wasn't going to work. Running up to the other male, he was more prepared for her and tried to run. Hissing, she jumped lightly as she snapped at the net. She was becoming irritated as her jaws only closed down on air. Growling, she flapped her wings as she tried to lift up into the air, her talons snatching down at the net. Her claws managed to hook onto the closed end of the net, bringing a grin onto her face. Her burst of flight had only meant to be for a moment and her feet stumbled onto the ground as she landed.

Proudly laughing, she was thrilled to have managed her first 'catch'. Letting go of the net quickly, her golden-orange eyes darted up at the vikings that ran at her. Washing a wave of fear over her, Elise almost darted without grabbing the fish. Scooping up the net into her strong jaws, she tried to get her balance, the weight of the fish throwing her off. Veering off to the right, she let out a faint screech as she struggled to get into the air, only managing to run as a few more humans came from their houses.

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[Scratchet]

Scratchet's eyes widened as she observed Elise's fatal flaw. She hadn't listened to the turquoise Nadder's warning! She shouldn't be loitering! Not wanting her comrade to befall the same error that happened to her, she swooped down to where they were.

"Gangway!" She shouted, slightly muffled through the net in her jaws. She landed, as Nadders always did when in action, and began to run around after the Vikings, making sure they didn't get close to Elise. Using the dangling mass of fish like a wrecking ball, she quickly winded the vikings, knocking them to the floor.

Nudging Elise with the base of her curved horn, Scratchet helped Elise get into the air, obviously not used to flying with such a great weight dangling below. Once done, she turned around, tail spikes flaring threateningly. The Vikings, upon recognising the dragon that caused them so much trouble, began to grumble, not finding the threat very terrifying. This dragon never attacked humans with the intention to injure, so they were unafraid.

With a little roar, Scratchet took off before a volley of maces and bolas were thrown at her, only just missing. Gaining elevation, she smirked at the angry Vikings below, before turning to Elise.

"Follow me!" She mumbled, flying a little way outside of the village, where the vikings wouldn't ruin their feast. Landing on the ground with a light thud, she let loose her cargo, letting the hoard of slippery fish spread into a neat pile. She began eating her well-deserved prize, hoping Elise would be just as pleased with her own catch.

"Well, for once things went well." Scratchet cackled triumphantly as she ate, filling her stomach. Fish was always great in bulk. "None of us got injured, lost our catch or anything. An overall success.

[elise]

Breathing hard, her wings frantically flapped around as she tried to gain height and distance. She jumped as Scratchet landed and started swinging the fish net around, surprising the reptilian. She would think that would hurt the fleshy beings. And, while she wasn't particularly fond of them, she had no intention of harming them. Lowering her spikes faintly, she hesitated before the other female reptilian nudged her with her horn. As her senses came out of her momentarily daze. Finally looking around at the crowd they had accumulated, her claws scraped against the dirt of the earth as she began running again, her wings lightly brushing the ground as she finally managed to get into the air. Still tilting to the side faintly, it took her a time to gain some sort of balance to get herself leveled.

Grinning at the rush of adrenaline this little adventure had sparked through her veins, she gave out a muffled roar, her tail spikes excitedly fanning out faintly. Clumsily flying next to Scratchet, she was happy when they finally managed to find somewhere to land. With the heavy weight of the various fish the vikings had gathered, her landing was sloppy as she stumbled onto the ground. Panting, Elise happily dropped the fish onto the floor, unbalanced as she watched the fish spill out onto the grass. "Wow...I-I...I've never done anything like that.", she said with a wide grin, laughing faintly as she straightened out, holding her head up with pride. She had never done anything like that with the humans. She would steal a few sheep when she can, but it was always at night. She never had to actually deal with the vikings, but this...This had been thrilling!

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[Scratchet]

Scratchet looked up from her meal, a cheesy grin on her face at Elise's comment. The Nadder was happy to be able to share her adventure with a fellow dragon for once. It felt nice. For once someone wasn't bothered about her mischief-making.

"Yeah," Scratchet replied, mouth full of fishy goodness, "Not many dragons have the guts to do it. After all that happened before my hatching, lots of dragons are wary of getting on human's bad sides again."

Scooping of another mouthful of fish, "'Sides, it's totally worth it." She said, muffled, not bothered if Elise comprehended her or not. Gulping the bite down she shook her self, tail spikes flaring briefly. She then stretched her wings.

"Well, that's my life. Pretty uneventful. What's with yours? Part of a pack? My pack shunned me." A proud smirk etched itself along the turquoise beast's face. Scratchet was genuinely interested in Elise, since it had been so long since anything had tolerated her. The Dragon considered her options - both of them were hungry, so the green Nadder probably didn't realise this was a routine activity. Maybe Elise was just as mischievous as her? No... She never realised that Scratchet was well-known for her behaviour. Or maybe she just tolerated her, plain and simple. Scratchet considered testing her limits. Why make an exception, after all?

Just them, a pack of Terrible Terror- about ten strong, whizzed past Scratchet's head and dived into her pile of food. Distracted, the Nadder's eyes widened in shock and anger, nostrils flaring. No one steals Scratchet's food! Growling, she stomped her foot right in the middle of the pile of fish, making all the slippery fish fly everywhere. The little things were brightly coloured, but they were persistant.

"This is MY food, damn you! MINE! Bog off!" She roared, crest and tail spikes raised. Scratchet discreetly winked at Elise. "Or I'll eat YOU instead!" With another stomp on the hand ground, making the earth vibrate a little, the Terrors left Scratchet alone.

"Finish your noms. The smell is attracting the folks." With that, Scratchet began to suck up all the scattered fish like some sort of vacuum cleaner.

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(OOC: I've written it so you can do what you want with that pack of Terrors, if you want them to invade Elise's foodstock or go away, its up to you ^_^)

[elise]

As her tail happily flicked from side to side in pride of her catch, she took in a relatively large mouthful of the fish. It had been awhile since she had had a large meal of fish, and she didn't plan on wasting any bit of it. Only lightly listening to the other female's words, Elise only momentarily glanced up at her as she spoke of her pack. She was was shunned? That seemed horrible. But...what did she do that would result in something like that? Shifting her weight slightly, the green-tinted Nadder gave out a low rumble as she thought, her mind going over the number of possibilities that could've occurred for Scratchet to be all but banished from her home pack. She couldn't imagine what it was like to go through that. Yeah, she may not have been one who liked to be around such a large group constantly, but to be forced to be alone seemed hard.

Swallowing the smooth, slimy fish in her mouth, the female opened her jaw to speak before the pack of Terrible Terrors suddenly came tumbling in. Screeching with surprise, her wings flared out faintly as her head spikes stood out, obviously not happy with the sudden appearance. Her pupils were dilating faintly as the swarm of small reptilians came towards her. They were completely covering her pile now, angering her greatly, which was something that didn't usually happen. At least, not recently. If anything, she was infamous for her extreme short temper, something that was never good to mess with. Snarling, Elise suddenly snapped at the pack, not caring if she hurt any of them. If they were stupid enough to try to get food from a Deadly Nadder, then it was their fault for being hurt.

As she snapped at the small pests, her teeth sunk into the wing of one of them, the squeal of the tiny dragon hardly faltering her actions as she flung it to the side. It wasn't long that the others quickly left, screeching in fear of the green reptilian as she let out a roar. Her spikes were all flared out, her dilated pupils jerking from side to side as she searched for any others that dared to take her meal. The small Terror that had unfortunately fallen into her jaw was weakly crawling away, trying to follow the others as its now damaged wing dragged on the ground beside it.

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((Yeahhh, you do not wanna piss her off xD And, sorry it took so long to reply xP))

[Scratchet]

Scratchet snorted in approval at Elise's method of dispersing the pack of Terrors. She eyed the injured one, none of it's pack coming to it's aid. Her orange eye narrowed. The Nadder wasn't stupid - she was thinking about how she was a runt of the litter, and no one care about the sick, frail and runts, as dictates the Pecking Order. Within a split second, that Terror had fallen to the lowest of ranks. Scratchet had been lowest ranks all her life. Her personality led her to leave her pack altogether.

Shaking her head from the thought, she snorted again, slurping up the fish she had spread over the clearing. "Serves them right." She said gruffly, now ignoring the mournful cries of the Terror. It would die in the night. Finally finishing her pile of fish, she ruffled her leathery wings, quickly forgetting the lament of the Terror. Survival of the fittest, after all.

"Well, it has been a pleasure to make your acquaintance..." Her mouth lay open for a moment, realising she still hadn't got a name from this Nadder. "...Greeny." She quickly finished. Beating her wings several times to get air underneath her, she soon took off into the air, out of the wooded clearing, into the crisp morning sky.

For once, an overall success. Scratchet tried to barrel-roll in celebration, and ultimately failed, plummeting hundreds of feet before recuperating. Well, almost an overall success.