Champion Career

[S] Champion Career Prompt 1

He had picked a warm day, a day he knew she would love. It was the epitome of a lazy day, bees went about their business, a gentle breeze carried the clouds across the sky, prey had been plentiful the day before, and he figured it would be easier on her if this happened on a lazy day. A black speck in the sky circled above him as he carried home his haul, each item in the cart had been carefully wrapped to minimize the telltale clink of armor, though his sensitive ears picked up the dull thud, clank of the pieces hitting each other any time the cart went over a bump.

As he got closer to home the black dot in the sky grew closer to him till he could make out the familiar bat-like wings of Sarin, the lycan had accompanied him when he went to the markets to get this special armor for Azure, his stryx he intended to use for the arena. She was battle hungry enough, so why not put her to good use. Sarin was close enough that any time he flapped Bloom could feel the downdraft rustling his fur.

Just as the hut came into view Sarin promptly flew a bit a head and landed, blocking Bloom's way forward, "What is it?"

Sarin cooed, sounding worried and looked back at the hut where Azure was surely sleeping. "I know, I know but it will be okay! Once she realizes this will help her fight she'll come around."

Sarin huffed a hint of a snarl forming on his lips, he would protect his rider. The big lycan shifted so Bloom could walk beside him and the two headed towards the hut and Azure.

Azure had been 'resting her eyes' in the shade when she heard the light scraping of wings being used to walk, and the telltale squeak of the old cart Bloom never got fixed. It was unnecessarily annoying. She cracked open an eye and watched as they crested the small hill, she noted the bulge in the cart and was instantly curious. Perhaps it is more food she thought, having eaten most of what was caught yesterday while the boys were at the market. She watched the two exchange a glance but was too far away to notice the hard look in Sarin's eye or fear in Blooms body language. As soon as Sarin left and Bloom started heading towards her she stood up.

Azure narrowed her eyes when Bloom stopped, his unnaturally long arms reached up to stroke his chin as eye rose filled eyes stared up at her, she never understood how he saw things. "Azure I have a gift for you. I went to the markets today to pick it up and I hope you like it, even if it may take some getting used to."

Azure snorted and reared her head back, "What sort of offering have you brought me, Bloom, I am in no mood for games. You woke me from an amazing nap"

Bloom took a breath and lifted the first wrapped item in the cart he could find, unwrapped it, and presented the gleaming battle talons to Azure. "Armor...for the arena. If you're interested of course." He said, hoping she would at least consider the idea. The armor had cost a small fortune.

Azure slowly brought her head down to the talons, they gleamed in the sunlight a delicate pattern had been etched onto the razor-sharp edges. She purred, they were sharper than her own talons and would serve nicely in maiming her opponents, so she shifted herself around till she was able to comfortably hold a leg up for Bloom. It took him a few minutes to get all the buckles done up and when he was done it felt...odd to walk on that foot, but overall Azure was pleased with the deadly weapon Bloom had provided her. "If you like it I-I have more," he said, pointing to the cart.

Azure glanced at the cart and back at her armored foot, "So be it, let's try it on."

It took a while, especially when it came to the chest piece, Azure didn't like creatures on her back and her annoyance ad Blooms fumbling had grown palpable, but he was soon done with that and got down as quick as he could. He took a few paces back to admire his handy work. The segmented tail bracer had mock spines on it to deter Azure's opponents from going after her tail, her wings were left bare so she could keep her full range of motion, the battle talons were fierce and deadly, they made small clinking noises every time she moved. And the chest piece looked like a dragons underbelly, segmented like the tail, it ran from the back her head, covered her neck and chest all the way to the base of her tail between her legs. The back was left open for a saddle, not that she'd ever let someone ride her to battle but the option was there and it offered more mobility than covering it completely.

At this point, Sarin had come back from whatever he had been doing and was fascinated by the shiny armor, and impressed Azure had taken to it so well! He was slightly jealous that Azure was getting this quality armor while he was getting nothing but he had to admit the fighting arena didn't interest him so much. "Is that everything?" Asked Sarin looking over Azure, feeling like something was missing.

Bloom smiled, "There is one more piece."

Azure and Sarin watched as Bloom pulled out the last piece of the armor and unwrapped it, it was a helm. It would sit on the top half of Azure's face, fashioned after a snarling stryx, the beak piece was all teeth and the metal around the eye hole smoothly curved into a snarl. Two jagged bull horns adorned the helm giving the final piece of armor even more reason to fear it. Bloom walked back to Azure, who lowered her head to the ground and vibrated as he did up the buckles. When he was done she lifted her head and let out a purr.

She was not used to this much extra weight on her body and took a few steps to get a feel for it, despite his initial bumbling Bloom had done a good job, and the armor seemed to move with her, nothing pinched, nothing felt too heavy or too light. It was perfect, and she was going to take the arena by storm. Word Count 1104: 5 Rider: 2 Total: 7

Featuring: Azure 9642 by EyeOfGalyx and Sarin 9949 by EyeOfGalyx

[S] Champion Career Prompt 2 It had been a few days since Bloom had bought her the exquisite armor. They had been taking time out of the day to practice getting in and out of it, walking around, avoiding obstacles on the ground, anything you could think of they had been doing. Azure had agreed to be cordial during the whole process, but she was starting to get testy whenever Bloom brought her to a new obstacle course or had Sarin race her. He always won, though he was never wearing anything.

After a particularly difficult course, Azure snapped, "I don't see the point of all this when we all know the battles mostly take place in the air!"

Bloom rubbed a hollow eye, the rose had withered and died and he'd been too busy with Azure to plant a new one, "We're doing this because what happens if you get beaten to the ground and can't maneuver? What happens if it's a special event where only ground fighting is allowed? What happens if you are fighting a raptor?"

Azure snorted, she was hot and tired and her muscles were not happy that she was carrying around the extra weight, "Well if that were to happen then I'd deal with it."

Bloom sighed, "Whatever Azure, I just don't want to see you killed."

"I do not need your worry!" Azure spat, her feathers now ruffled, "I wish to learn how to use this blasted armor in the skies, not on the ground."

Bloom was standing stock still, a snarl was slowly creeping up his face, "So be it you damned dragon, to the skies we go." He sprinted over and onto Azure's back so fast that she barely saw or felt it till he was sitting bareback just below her neck.

Azure roared, she had not given him permission to ride her and despite how tired she was she bucked. Though she found the hopping tiring and it was like her armor was trying to pull her into the ground. "Let's go you dumb bird," spat Bloom, kicking her in the neck.

Azure let out an ear piercing scream, adrenaline giving her the energy she needed to lift off. Woosh, woosh, woosh. Three powerful beats of her wings was all it took to get her off the ground and into the sky, and she climbed and climbed until she and Bloom were among the clouds. Bloom taunted her from her back, and she did what she could to shake him off.

First, she rolled, she rolled one way and then the other, quickly noting that the armor slowed her down and struggled to adjust herself when she came out of her rolls, Bloom taunted her every time she needed a moment to regain her composure. So she started doing flips, climbing high and holding herself upside down for as long as she could manage before diving and completing the circle. Nothing seemed to phase Bloom, which only made her angrier.

Next, she tried maneuvering through the forested area near their hut, hoping that a low hanging branch would knock him off her back. She again needed to adjust to the added weight for her usual maneuvers and almost ended up on the ground or in a tree, she knew she took out a couple smaller trees in the process but still, Bloom was on her back. A scream ripped through her throat, a scream of frustration and maybe a bit of tiredness. The armor was starting to wear her down, whatever energy she had been using before was quickly being used up. She was not used to flying with armor and flying already took a lot of energy. There was one more thing she could try.

As soon as a clearing opened up in the trees Azure shot up back towards the clouds, moisture quickly collecting on the shiny metal, sending out tiny rainbows around Bloom and the stryx. She kept climbing and climbing, Azure didn't stop until she heard Bloom pant, it was high even for her and when she reached the height of her climb she folded her wings in and the pair started to tumble back towards the earth.

They were in a very uncontrolled fall, the wind was rushing so fast past them that never could hear Bloom yelling, they were going so fast clouds stung their faces, especially Azure's eyes even though she kept them tightly shut anytime they flew through a cloud. She could feel Bloom's claws digging into her neck, it was too cold to notice but his claws were drawing blood. The pair plummeted towards the ground, it was quickly getting closer and if Azure didn't stop her descent soon they'd both be pancakes.

Luckily for Bloom, Azure didn't have a death wish and as the ground grew alarmingly closer she righted herself and snapped her wings open, the force of the wind hitting them so hard they felt ready to snap in half, her armor didn't help it seemed to want her in the ground and once again she hd some trouble accounting for the extra weight and instead of pulling up Azure stumbled to the ground tripping into a tangled mess of herself, while Bloom had been thrown off when she hit the ground and rolled.

Slowly Azure untangled herself, her whole body was on fire, and some of her snow-white feathers were covered in blood. "That will teach you I hope," snapped Bloom, "I am making you do drills for a reason, I noticed each time you failed to right yourself quickly enough, each time the weight threw you off, and still you wish to rush blindly into things. If you want to get killed so be it, but don't waste my time."

Azure blinked, taken aback by Bloom's harsh tone and words, he was usually so mild mannered. "I would have been fine if you weren't so heavy, and if you didn't make me run the drills with the armor on.......Though I guess...I understand you are trying to help me be better."

Bloom snorted, annoyed at the big brute, "Well then let's take a break and get back at it tomorrow, we're not nearly done."

Azure ignored him and started to walk back to the hut, eager to get this armor off and eat. Word Count 1051: 5 Rider: 2 Total: 7

Featuring: Azure 9642 by EyeOfGalyx

[S] Champion Career Prompt 3 After grueling weeks of training Azure felt she was ready to begin actual battle training but Bloom had insisted on waiting a while longer so he could search for a good first opponent. She kept offering to fight Sarin but the lycan always seemed to have something better do to every time she challenged him. Perhaps it was the way the battle talons gleamed in the sunlight, but she soon grew tired of pestering him and waiting for Bloom to finally bring her an opponent and it didn't take long before she was slacking on on the training regiment that bloom had set up for her.

Azure was napping in the shade and yet still boiling in her armor it was that hot. No bugs flitted around, the leaves in the trees stayed still, the air was sticky. To say it was hot was an understatement and Azure was taking full advantage of Bloom not being around to do drills. While Azure napped Bloom was headed back home with an opponent for her, it had taken some convincing on Blooms' part but the stryx had agreed to come train with Azure in the end.

Azure had been in the middle of a dream when she felt more than heard the telltale vibrations of a stryx charging on the ground, it took her a while to realize it wasn't part of her dream and just before she managed to get her eyes open a giant mass of red feathers crashed into her, she screeched in shock and confusion as her and the red stryx tumbled over each other, her claws scrambling to damage something, but her blows were slow and confused and the red stryx managed to shrug them off each time she tried. Finally the pair sprung apart and the red stryx quickly threw himself into the sky, his powerful downstroke making Azure's head spin as she hurried to get herself into the air as well.

By the time she was up and fully awake, her opponent was no where to be found, she flew in tight circles over the area where she had been sleeping keeping her back to the sky and her armored underbelly to the ground, expecting an ambush from the ground. Claws suddenly dug into her back and whatever was behind them started to thrust her towards the ground she had been on only moments ago. A roar tore out of her throat as she fought to roll herself over before she hit the ground. There wasn't a lot of time but she managed to flip herself so her attacker would hit the ground first, but just before they did they let go and rolled out of the way. Azure, however, smashed into the dry hard earth, the breath was knocked out of her and she has having trouble breathing. Her opponent had gained the higher ground again and was almost lazily circling her. She could see his brilliant red feathers dance in the blazing sun and barely make out the brilliant ember like marking that splashed from his chest. He was brilliant in his own right. Azure quickly righted herself and kept her eyes on the red dragon in the sky, not wanting to be taken by surprise again.

The red bird dove, a scream piercing the space between them, this time Azure had more than enough time to get herself into position but waited for the last moment before flipping back onto her back and bracing for impact. With a thud and the cry of claws scratching metal the two birds met again, this time Azure claws were able to find purchase and she curled them as far they would go, the battle talons giving her extra reach, she could feel them slicing into the red stryx's leg. He cried out as blood dripped down his leg and splashed onto her chest armor. In retaliation he brought is beak down on the eye hole of her helm, startling her enough to loosen her grip in his legs so he could untangle himself and throw himself back into the sky.

With a few blinks Azure was back up on her feet and quickly ascended to join the other stryx, the pair locked eyes his were cool and collected while hers burned with anger. They both hovered in the air, each waiting for the other to make a move, little drips of blood fell from the red male's leg but he didn't seem to care, his gaze was hyper focused on Azure. A shrill whistle pierced the air breaking both birds concentration, Bloom stood below them motioning for them to come back down, the red stryx dropped altitude without hesitating while Azure stayed in the sky a few minuets longer, confused as to what was going on, before also heading towards the ground.

"Well done Zeus, your surprise attack was just brilliant," said Bloom, complimenting the red male stryx. Zeus puffed out his chest, proud of himself.

"Azure, you need to always be on guard, Zeus nearly had you more than once," he said critically, "But you did good drawing first blood, sometimes that's all it takes to win a battle."

Azure snorted and ignored Bloom instead turning her gaze back to Zeus, there will be a reckoning, she thought angrily. As if reading her thoughts Bloom turned back to Zeus, "Your payment is at out hut just over the ridge, I thank you for your help and hope to employ your services again in the future."

Zeus man nodded at Bloom and took off towards the hut, it didn't take him long to grab what was there and start flying back to wherever Bloom found him. Azure watched him turn into a small speck, and then nothing with narrow eyes, committing the direction he went to memory. "Azure leave it, dear lord he'll be back, so you'll get your revenge. But in the mean time how about we get back to training so no other stryx will kick your ass again?"

Azure's head snapped back to look at Bloom, anger making her gaze burn. Bloom only laughed and started to head back to the hut, which only made Azure angrier but she still followed him back, a sliver of pride that she won slicing through the anger, even if it was on a technicality. Next time she would crush her opponent. Word Count 1066: 5 Rider: 2 Extra Stryx: 2 Total: 9

Featuring: Azure 9642 by EyeOfGalyx and Zeus 9952 by EyeOfGalyx