Sailing Seas With Noodles and Bats

Tilting her head as her lit up dongle in front of her face flickered off like a dying light bulb, she after all didn’t want to blind the nicely dressed male with the lovely ginger hair that also didn’t blend well with his skin or clothes. Noth that she minded too much, she did love the beautiful side of life, but she wasn’t stuck up enough like other light riders. He after all had a sense of fashion! Which was more than what she could say for some riders she saw sailing the vast seas of the chronoscape.

“I am Angel, I’m a rider. This is my dragon, Speckle.” With his attention drawn to her large dragon who was just watching from the comfort of the watery land, he nodded as he was introduced and didn’t seem bothered at all as the dragon landed on him. His neck turning to gently nose at the strange light colored bat as a greeting of a sort for himself.

“Hello there!” With the company down on his back now though, Angel descended the ocean tunnel back down to the mass of water that spanned as far as the eye could see. The water suddenly just became still for a moment before falling straight back to the ocean it came from. Waves crashed against Speckle as Angel bobbed in the water but neither seemed to look bothered at all. The water was after all their home.

“What are you doing all the way out here? There’s no land for miles. You don't look to be an ocean hybrid at all, and I heard drowning is very bad for you.”

Rory was still highly suspicious of the dragon's stability--what if he dove down while they were relaxing on top? He stayed in place while Cloud yawned and dropped his wing knuckles to the makeshift ground. He did a small bit of walking to tease Rory, pretending to slip off a little bit. His wings finally had the opportunity to relax, even if it was in a very strange spot.

Refusing to let Cloud cause any more trouble, Rory quickly answered her question. Sea monster or not, she was sentient, and maybe she could get them out of this predicament. "Cloud isn't an ocean hybrid, no. He's a Storm-Light crossbreed. I'm a bit of a new Rider, so he's a bit of a new dragon." Cloud struck a proud pose when he heard his name spoken, caring nothing about the context or whether anyone was actually looking. "We tried flying through a storm and it...didn't go so well. We blew way off course, probably, as far as we know. We certainly weren't expecting to end up in the ocean. It's been over a day since we got out here, and I'm afraid we flew the wrong way when we hoped for land. We tried east, for Corli', but haven't even seen its skyglow. That means we're over 200 km out." He sighed. "If we're even still in line with the city."

Shedding water as Speckled looked to the proud seeming dragon who was also a bit of a idiot, he found the strange wyvern to be charming and cute in his own way, a carefree nature that was refreshing when it came to him more nervous but controlling rider who didn’t want to be bad at raising her ocean beans that need all the love and care from what she understood. Not really, but she wanted to give them that strong emotional bond and keep them safe even if they were much larger then herself, as Speckle was.

“Ah, that makes so much more sense. He looks the storm part.” Humming to herself as she looked the dragon over, he did look like what one would think a typical storm would look like. It left her wondering if the unnamed new rider matched both or just one of the light colored bat’s elements.

“He also acts the part.” Speckled added in, his head sinking below the wobbling surface to take in some water, shooting a little at the playful bat who was a little too curious of his surroundings. “But I think it’s very cute.”

Shushing her very opinionated dragon, her eyes looked up at the sky, studying the vast black void that held many twinkling shapes among the large glowing orb that proved to be their main light source if you didn’t count her currently off lure.

“I see, well you are very far from that. But if you fly or drift north or south you’ll hit land again. I can’t say I know what’s on them myself, but we can accompany you if you wish?”

Part of him wanted to say 'Absolutely not!' since they had just met and were still quite intimidating. Especially the one that was big enough to carry them on its back. The other part of him knew that he had no idea which direction was north or south without the sun to guide the way. Who knew if they were even travelling east at this point. He remembered his formalities and made a small bow towards Angel. "We would be greatly indebted to you if you could accompany us. I'll see to it that you're properly compensated." His allowance wasn't that big, especially compared to his siblings', but it should satisfy a pair of creatures that were content to live in the middle of nowhere. He stood up straight and finally introduced himself. "My name is Rory St.James, and this is my wyvern, Cloud. We'll be flyi--"

Rory meant to say 'flying beside you' or 'above you' or something to that effect, but Cloud whined and looked at him with pleading eyes. His wings were still very sore from the flight; Honestly, he shared a bit of that pain, and wondered if he could handle it when Cloud lifted off. He looked to the long-necked dragon and hoped it had no ill will towards them. "Are you okay if we ride atop your back instead of flying?" Cloud made a tiny chirp and gave his finest puppy-bat-eyes to Speckle and Angel.

Nodding as the offer to lead them back to the safety of land many creatures of this world required, as it was much easier to be on land then wander aimlessly over vast open oceans and seas, Angel was turning to Speckle to ask if he minded even if in honestly he didn’t have a choice. The cut off followed by the soft whine had the female turned back though, Speckle investigating the noisy bat as well with more soft boops from his elongated snout at the new dragon who was just so opinionated.

“I mind not! Though it may not be as easy as it sounds if the pair of you are going to stand. The water may look calm but often wants to capsize even the biggest of things to keep for itself.” Speckle often skimmed the water’s top during the day to warm his large fins and body while Angel laid to rest on large rocks, and always a passing wave would try to over take him. Even when it succeeded it mastered not to him, being an ocean dragon, but for the air breathers it would matter.

“Well, it is very nice to meet the two of you. Let’s travel on! It shouldn’t take more then a few hours.” Slowly sinking below the water, the rider’s lure lit up as she was submerged. Moving ahead as Speckle waited a few moments before he followed after his rider.

Only a few hours until land! Cloud hummed cheerily. Rory sighed. He'd still have to stay seated during all that, if the ride would be full of waves. Just sit side-saddle, the dragon insisted, shrugging his shoulders to dislodge the Rider.

Fine, fine. He did as he was told, still hanging onto the saddle, but with his legs in a slightly more comfortable position. Only a few more hours.

Maybe we can sleep? Cloud asked.

I'll stay on watch. You rest up. He pet the dragon and wondered if it would be able to sleep through the choppy waves. Probably. He'd just have to watch and make sure the dumb thing didn't drown. He watched Angel swim ahead and then turned to Speckle. He bowed his head again. "Thanks."