Scipio's Grand Courtship

Strength Trial

Jimena watched as Scramble limbered up, stretching all of her ridiculous limbs with a satisfied squeak as she faced her opponent. The Shéar Rider sat, tense, as the Emissary approached with a bounce to his step. Clay seemed to always be moving, the smaller Dragon bouncing from foot to foot while Scipio struck a foot against the ground, eyes narrowed before she lunged forward, sharp-toothed maw open wide as if she could simply eat the other Dragon.

Jimena didn’t bother telling her not to take it too far. Scramble might not be the sharpest tool in the shed, but even she knew better than to wound a Dragon that much. Plus, Clay, despite his size, was strong. Underestimating him, taking it easier on him — those weren’t the rules.

A feat of strength meant fighting at full force.

It didn’t necessarily mean winning, but Jimena wouldn’t say that, either. Why not fight to win?

Scipio lunged forward suddenly, and Clay bounced back, earth rising under his feet to propel him into the air. With something like a laugh, he bounced to the next platform he made for himeslf before jumping down to Scramble’s back, digging his own teeth into the thin mane that ran down Scramble’s spine.

The bigger Dragon floundered, top four limbs pinwheeling uselessly, tail swinging behind her.

An idea came all at once when she saw the pieces of earth still hovering in midair, and Jimena had no sooner thought that it was probably a bad idea than Scipio was flinging herself forward, jumping with earth-augmented strength and twisting in the air in an attempt to slam into the dirt and grit, scraping Clay off her back.

The smaller Dragon landed, eyes narrowed. Under his feet, the dry, dead ground twisted again, hastily launching him into the air, but Scipio wasn’t going to fall for the same trick twice (at least not so soon after the first). Underneath a blistering sun, Scramble followed the shadow, leaping into the air and snapping her jaws just shy of Clay’s fluffy tail.

She attempted a roar as the two faced one another again, but the torn sac at her throat made it sound like a high-pitched screech, a feeble impersonation of grander Dragons than she. Clay laughed again, though whether it was at the somewhat-pathetic display of aggression or out of mere merriment, neither Dragon nor Rider knew.

Scramble took mild offense and lunged forward, but rather than using her teeth, she kept her head down, slamming her spiky head into the smaller Dragon. He reeled backwards, getting back onto his two feet faster than either Dragon or Rider expected. Jimena supposed Emissaries had to be powerful, if they were to be the examples all other Dragons would follow.

But as Jimena spotted a weakness, so did Scipio, their bond sharing the information in less time than a heartbeat.

Scipio charged again with another strained series of squeaks, head down. And when she rammed into Clay this time, she swung her momentum, planting her feet firmly on the ground as her hips swung wide, bringing her spiked tail around and slamming it into Clay.

The male went flying, a gash in his side, though he quickly held up his forefeet with a toothy grin. “Not bad! Not bad at all, Scipio!”

“Didn’t hurt?”

“Oh, it hurt plenty. You’re more than capable of fighting.”

“Respect?” That was the rule, wasn’t it? Scramble’s eyes were narrowed, as if expecting Clay to suddenly either attack or withhold his permission to continue chasing her Courtship at this time.

Clay smirked. “Wouldn’t surrender if there wasn’t respect involved.”

With a pleased, squeaky crow of victory, Scramble jumped up and down, forefeet waving wildly before she turned to return to Jimena to tell her the wonderful news that she already knew.

Wordcount: 638

_____

Flexibility Trial

Sweat beaded on Jimena’s brow, her hands clutching tightly at Scramble’s mane, though her legs were clinging even tighter. Ahead, in a flash of yellow, green, and blue, Macaroon sailed with ease from one island to the next. The islands were no doubt magical, though there was no telling what had created them, leaving them aloft over a small island in Eredia.

“Good bird!” Mac crooned, apparently intending to encourage this test of madness.

Scramble was not a bird. Scramble had nothing remotely resembling wings. Mac’s head cocked to the side as he gave a cheerful chirrup, not at all bothered by the Earth Dragon’s lack of flight, the fact that she was not, in any manner, a good bird.

But Scipio was determined to make the first jump, backing away to get some running space.

Jimena just thought that perhaps she should get off the Dragon’s back to make this easier when Scramble rushed at full speed towards the first jump and, without hesitation, leaped through the air. The thin grass on the floating island caught beneath her back four feet as she skidded to a halt, eyes immediately snapping to Mac who gave a careless flutter to the next. He cocked his head, the challenge unspoken, though Scramble picked up on it in an instant.

She rose back onto her hind feet, letting loose a squeaky roar as if stating her intent before her tail swung behind her, balance tipping until she righted herself and readied. One step, two, and it wasn’t that Jimena didn’t trust Scramble or Macaroon. It was an understandable anxiety to close her eyes, to hope with her entire heart that they would make it.

There was an audible thud, and Jimena cracked her eyes open, stomach plunging at the realization that they were clinging to the side of the next island, though Scramble quickly made it on top, multiple limbs helping her climb with ease.

Just as Jimena breathed a sigh of relief, Macaroon hopped across a series of smaller stones, leading a path to the next bigger island.

“Can you do that without the run-up?” she asked, thinking that perhaps a bit of caution might not be unwarranted even if they were absolutely going to follow the path the Wind Emissary set for them.

Scramble squeaked an affirmative answer that sounded far too confident given the circumstances, and with a quick jolt, she took off in a sprint. No sooner had one foot landed on the small island than it was jumping to the next, a graceless dance with dire consequences. Below, the ocean crashed in choppy waves against the rocky shoreline, promising pain if not something worse.

Scramble was uninhibited by Jimena’s worries, and it was easy to turn her eyes upwards, focusing on the next jump along with her Dragon, holding her breath between each jump.

The last one, Scipio’s reptilian feet landed just on the far side, not enough room to get a solid plant before jumping to the main island. But Scramble wasn’t worried about falling in the slightest, even as they began to go sideways. For a moment, Jimena was looking down again, unbidden, and the next, there was something carrying them on.

Scramble had used their hefty tail and forward momentum in combination, closing the gap with a quick twist, though it sent both Dragon and Rider sprawling as they landed without grace.

“Good bird! What a good bird!” Macaroon flapped his sizable wings, chirruping merrily as he hopped up and down. With a whistle, he wheeled into the air, apparently determined to leave them both behind when Jimena yelled after him.

“How do we get back?!”

Mac paused, flapping in place as his head cocked to the side. “Same way, good bird!”

Jimena groaned in frustration as Scramble got back to her feet, letting loose a series of victorious squeaks.

Wordcount: 646

_____

Providence Trial

Scramble’s hefty tail wagged dangerously close to Jimena’s face, but the Shéar ducked instinctively out of the way, eyes narrowing as Scramble moved forward as silently as she was able. It took an immense amount of concentration, something Scipio tended not to have a terrible amount of to begin with, but she was, for the moment, succeeding.

Without having to ask, she was shown what her Dragon saw. Ahead, a sizable beast lifted its head, ears flicking around and nostrils flaring as if to scent the imminent danger. It had claws and teeth, some kind of large feline that roamed the lands near La Galleria.

However, it discarded its instincts, returning to tearing at the meat it had hunted freshly down.

Scipio could smell it, too. The iron of blood, the tantalizing promise of a full stomach, but she restrained herself. It wasn’t the kill she intended to steal, but to keep the Den safe by removing a predator that had ranged too far from his established hunting grounds. The meat was going to be a nice side effect.

“So you are planning on stealing,” Jimena said softly, accusingly, but in her mind’s eye, she saw the feline’s ears swivel towards them, tension coiling down its spine as it dropped into a crouch. She covered her mouth for a moment before determining that she could defend herself if needs must.

Scipio didn’t intend to let it come to that. The Dragon rose from the grass, immense size enough to give the feline pause before amber eyes fell again to what Scramble must be hiding.

“We run,” Scramble said, tail lashing behind her. She spoke not to Jimena, but to the cat who leaped forward in a pounce only to be headbutted away from its desired dinner.

The cat quickly got on its feet again, pupils narrowing to slits as it lunged forward, this time at Scipio. Scramble did exactly as she’d said she would — she ran past the cat, picking up the carcass it had been feasting on to lure it away from Jimena. The Rider poked her head up to watch with amusement as Scramble ran in a meandering pattern, frustrating the cat until it lunged forward again, paws catching on to Scipio’s leg.

Immediately, Scramble brought her other down hard, stomping on the cat’s face and kicking furiously to get it to let go. The cat yowled indignantly, releasing only to try and jump up onto Scipio’s back. Scramble ducked out of the way, and as the cat came down on the other side, she opened her jaws and lunged forward. The cat thrashed in her grip, claws raking over her smooth scales, body trying to wriggle free when Scipio’s jaws tightened and, with a loud crunch, ended the cat’s life.

“Now,” Jimena said, getting to her feet. “Can you eat that?”

“Can eat anything,” Scramble said with a disturbing amount of pride that reminded Jimena to check carefully to make sure she was, in fact, only swallowing things that were technically edible.

“Skin will make good bed.” Scramble’s tail swung in a wild wag, eyes pinning Jimena to the spot, looking for approval.

To give it to her unearned would be a disservice, so Jimena knelt near the twitching corpse, examining. There were a few bleeding holes from Scramble’s crest and from her teeth, but beyond that… “You’re right. Skinning this will be easy.” She smiled up at the Dragon. “You did well.”

With a loud, grating noise that would have been hard for outsiders to determine the intent, Scramble bowled into her Rider, nuzzling up a storm as she sat on her back four feet. Jimena smiled in spite of herself, scratching at Scramble’s jawline as the Dragon gave a low, reedy squeak that may have sounded, if not for the torn throat, like a purr.

Wordcount: 640 scipio 21's grand courtship ft her rider jimena 7 for cosmonstars

total wordcount: 1924