Introductions by TheOwlette (Commission)
Ashar had a new neighbor.
The territory north of his own had always been somewhat contested; possessing as it did a spacious comfortable cave, access to plentiful prey, even a lovely waterfall dropping into a deep pool for bathing, it was only natural that other dragons would compete for its comforts, and now another set of claws had dug into it. Rumors from a couple of more wide-ranging of his villagers spoke of a green-and-yellow beast, tiger-striped and fierce. Far less lenient than he, the anthros had been chased off the dragon's territory with roaring and threats. How unfriendly! Perhaps they merely wanted to assert their control over the land while they were new to it.
But Ashar was friendly, irrepressible, and saw no reason why meanness towards bipeds should preclude [i]him[/i] from paying his neighbor a visit. They were sure to see each other's wings in the sky with regularity, after all, so no reason not to introduce himself and get things started off right between them. If they got along well, they wouldn't try to claim [i]his[/i] land, or poach from it, or harass him, and he'd so dearly like to keep relations peaceful and carefree! So off he went.
He picked up the scent of the new dragon almost the instant he made it to the road that had always made the easy divide between his territory and the one across it, and he perked up a little as he soared onto their lands: now with even more incentive to get along! As was custom, he made a high, bugling call as he flew across the boundary, so that he did not come onto their lands unannounced, and he made sure to stay above the mountain peaks rather than weaving through them, so that wherever his neighbor was, she would be able to see him from a long way off. He knew where the cave was, having visited its prior occupant a few times--a slim reddish dragon, who had been pleasant enough but aloof--and drifted in that direction, slowing his pace a little. It would be disrespectful to come in at his usual flying speed, so near to the top speed of most other dragons, and he wanted to make a good first impression.
At last he spotted wings, lifting up from the lake, and he spiraled lazily in that direction: bright green on the upper side, green fading into yellow on the lower, and even from a distance he could see the black stripes that ran from her neck all the way to the tip of her tail, striking against her brightly colored scales. How pretty! He roared again as he came closer, friendly, but the dragoness's response came back strong, challenging: perhaps not happy to have a guest, but he would forge ahead regardless. Her features grew clearer: the patterning on her wings was mirrored on her body, the yellow starting on her chin and running down her underside to the base of her tail, with face and limbs bright green. A pair of horns sprouted from her head, with an attractive double curve, and a pair of frills clung to the backs of her jaws, green with yellow webbing and standing stretched to their extent to show her anger. His tail swayed in the air, and he turned it into a playful corkscrew through the sky as he approached.
"Hello there!" he called to her once they were in speaking range, flaring his wings out to slow himself, and showing off his orange and white markings.
A snarl was her response, though it did nothing to dampen his spirits. "You are trespassing on my territory, dragon! You are not welcome here."
He didn't let her anger get to him; he intended to get to [i]her,[/i] hoping his friendly attitude would thaw her. "Hardly! I live just to your south, and since I'm sure we will see much of each other, I thought I would come introduce myself." The two of them had begun to fly circles with each other, to maintain the distance, but up close he could see that she was built stout and muscular: surely a capable brawler, but his slim body and broad wings gave him far more speed, and he had to check himself to make sure to stay across the circle from her. He began to bounce playfully in flight, though, the easy pace giving him opportunity to dip and twist and spiral playfully through the air. "I'm Ashar! Happy to meet you."
She eyed his antics with distaste and bared teeth. But his introduction had been polite, and at last she said, "I am Adhara. And I like the borders of [i]my[/i] lands to be respected."
"Adhara! A pretty name for a pretty dragoness," he said, feeling the urge to grin and doing just that, his jaws parting to show his happiness--quite the opposite of her bared but clenched jaws, which seemed unaffected by the compliment. "I wanted to come say hello, maybe get to know you a little, and I made sure to let you know I was on the way!"
Adhara's pace increased, the skin of her wings going taut with a [i]snap[/i] with every stroke, as she tried to get around the circle enough to be able to cut him off; he saw what she was doing, and with only the slightest effort threw his shoulders around, falling into a corkscrew and coming up again on her other side, his bright orange underside facing her instead of the black that ran down his spine. This close he could see she had blue eyes, quite beautiful, and small spines down the back of her neck. She snapped her teeth, trying to bring herself around, but he was already back out of range. "Well you've done that, and I have made it clear I want my mountains to myself!" The dragoness tried to chase him a little ways, but he kept ascending and catching the wind and turning back, avoiding being harried towards the road that marked the border between their lands.
"Come now, surely such a beautiful day for flying is better with a little company! Did you move in from nearby? Or are you new to the mountains?" Ashar rolled in the air, caught the wind again, let it push him sideways to once again show off chest and belly and legs, the orange and black and the white bands between them.
She hissed frustration, snapped after his tail again, before giving up and drifting down to land on a nearby peak evidently giving up the chase. He only took this as invitation to fly circles around that peak, and now that she wasn't pursuing him he could fit in some more involved tricks, starting with a high-speed spinning loop! Her tail lashed, watching his performance. "Yes, I'm new to these mountains," she finally said, her wings staying up, mantled, still trying to show herself threatening, but he thought the posed showed off all her prettiest aspects! "But strong enough to force away the last dragon here, and you'll find out for yourself if you don't leave!"
Turning into the wind, he flew past her, low and just barely out of range, this time showing her his back, and his tail, and the spade-shaped marking where black ran to white ran to orange down the length of his tail. She still seemed grouchy, but he'd get to her! "There's no need! I can see how strong you are from here, Adhara. How tough you must be to claim such prime territory! I could show you around a little, maybe let you see my own lands if you like... hunt together, maybe do something fun!"
He hadn't even meant mating--well, [i]maybe[/i] he had, or certainly wouldn't have minded if she thought that was the invitation he'd made--but Adhara roared, and jetted a stream of fire after him, which he corkscrewed gracefully to avoid. "Let [i]you[/i] under my tail? As if!" Rearing, she breathed more flame in his direction, forcing him back a bit farther.
Ashar could tell he'd reached the end of her patience, regrettable as that was, and flapped up a little higher, pointing his snout for home. "Suit yourself! But don't be a stranger, I'm not far if you ever want to go flying! I'll see you again soon I'm sure," he said, his voice still all cheerfulness as he flew away. Of course someone knew to their territory would be so defensive, but he'd get to her eventually, who could say no to his handsome markings and easy manners? She couldn't stay so grumpy and territorial forever!
------
This is a commission I got from TheOwlette! I just love it, lovely details, such fun posing, and it really displays the personalities of both characters so well. You can try Ashar, but I don't know if she'll ever be too interested! Adhara seems more the type to try to wrestle you into submission and then tell you you're not strong enough to be worthy, anyway. But good luck!
The territory north of his own had always been somewhat contested; possessing as it did a spacious comfortable cave, access to plentiful prey, even a lovely waterfall dropping into a deep pool for bathing, it was only natural that other dragons would compete for its comforts, and now another set of claws had dug into it. Rumors from a couple of more wide-ranging of his villagers spoke of a green-and-yellow beast, tiger-striped and fierce. Far less lenient than he, the anthros had been chased off the dragon's territory with roaring and threats. How unfriendly! Perhaps they merely wanted to assert their control over the land while they were new to it.
But Ashar was friendly, irrepressible, and saw no reason why meanness towards bipeds should preclude [i]him[/i] from paying his neighbor a visit. They were sure to see each other's wings in the sky with regularity, after all, so no reason not to introduce himself and get things started off right between them. If they got along well, they wouldn't try to claim [i]his[/i] land, or poach from it, or harass him, and he'd so dearly like to keep relations peaceful and carefree! So off he went.
He picked up the scent of the new dragon almost the instant he made it to the road that had always made the easy divide between his territory and the one across it, and he perked up a little as he soared onto their lands: now with even more incentive to get along! As was custom, he made a high, bugling call as he flew across the boundary, so that he did not come onto their lands unannounced, and he made sure to stay above the mountain peaks rather than weaving through them, so that wherever his neighbor was, she would be able to see him from a long way off. He knew where the cave was, having visited its prior occupant a few times--a slim reddish dragon, who had been pleasant enough but aloof--and drifted in that direction, slowing his pace a little. It would be disrespectful to come in at his usual flying speed, so near to the top speed of most other dragons, and he wanted to make a good first impression.
At last he spotted wings, lifting up from the lake, and he spiraled lazily in that direction: bright green on the upper side, green fading into yellow on the lower, and even from a distance he could see the black stripes that ran from her neck all the way to the tip of her tail, striking against her brightly colored scales. How pretty! He roared again as he came closer, friendly, but the dragoness's response came back strong, challenging: perhaps not happy to have a guest, but he would forge ahead regardless. Her features grew clearer: the patterning on her wings was mirrored on her body, the yellow starting on her chin and running down her underside to the base of her tail, with face and limbs bright green. A pair of horns sprouted from her head, with an attractive double curve, and a pair of frills clung to the backs of her jaws, green with yellow webbing and standing stretched to their extent to show her anger. His tail swayed in the air, and he turned it into a playful corkscrew through the sky as he approached.
"Hello there!" he called to her once they were in speaking range, flaring his wings out to slow himself, and showing off his orange and white markings.
A snarl was her response, though it did nothing to dampen his spirits. "You are trespassing on my territory, dragon! You are not welcome here."
He didn't let her anger get to him; he intended to get to [i]her,[/i] hoping his friendly attitude would thaw her. "Hardly! I live just to your south, and since I'm sure we will see much of each other, I thought I would come introduce myself." The two of them had begun to fly circles with each other, to maintain the distance, but up close he could see that she was built stout and muscular: surely a capable brawler, but his slim body and broad wings gave him far more speed, and he had to check himself to make sure to stay across the circle from her. He began to bounce playfully in flight, though, the easy pace giving him opportunity to dip and twist and spiral playfully through the air. "I'm Ashar! Happy to meet you."
She eyed his antics with distaste and bared teeth. But his introduction had been polite, and at last she said, "I am Adhara. And I like the borders of [i]my[/i] lands to be respected."
"Adhara! A pretty name for a pretty dragoness," he said, feeling the urge to grin and doing just that, his jaws parting to show his happiness--quite the opposite of her bared but clenched jaws, which seemed unaffected by the compliment. "I wanted to come say hello, maybe get to know you a little, and I made sure to let you know I was on the way!"
Adhara's pace increased, the skin of her wings going taut with a [i]snap[/i] with every stroke, as she tried to get around the circle enough to be able to cut him off; he saw what she was doing, and with only the slightest effort threw his shoulders around, falling into a corkscrew and coming up again on her other side, his bright orange underside facing her instead of the black that ran down his spine. This close he could see she had blue eyes, quite beautiful, and small spines down the back of her neck. She snapped her teeth, trying to bring herself around, but he was already back out of range. "Well you've done that, and I have made it clear I want my mountains to myself!" The dragoness tried to chase him a little ways, but he kept ascending and catching the wind and turning back, avoiding being harried towards the road that marked the border between their lands.
"Come now, surely such a beautiful day for flying is better with a little company! Did you move in from nearby? Or are you new to the mountains?" Ashar rolled in the air, caught the wind again, let it push him sideways to once again show off chest and belly and legs, the orange and black and the white bands between them.
She hissed frustration, snapped after his tail again, before giving up and drifting down to land on a nearby peak evidently giving up the chase. He only took this as invitation to fly circles around that peak, and now that she wasn't pursuing him he could fit in some more involved tricks, starting with a high-speed spinning loop! Her tail lashed, watching his performance. "Yes, I'm new to these mountains," she finally said, her wings staying up, mantled, still trying to show herself threatening, but he thought the posed showed off all her prettiest aspects! "But strong enough to force away the last dragon here, and you'll find out for yourself if you don't leave!"
Turning into the wind, he flew past her, low and just barely out of range, this time showing her his back, and his tail, and the spade-shaped marking where black ran to white ran to orange down the length of his tail. She still seemed grouchy, but he'd get to her! "There's no need! I can see how strong you are from here, Adhara. How tough you must be to claim such prime territory! I could show you around a little, maybe let you see my own lands if you like... hunt together, maybe do something fun!"
He hadn't even meant mating--well, [i]maybe[/i] he had, or certainly wouldn't have minded if she thought that was the invitation he'd made--but Adhara roared, and jetted a stream of fire after him, which he corkscrewed gracefully to avoid. "Let [i]you[/i] under my tail? As if!" Rearing, she breathed more flame in his direction, forcing him back a bit farther.
Ashar could tell he'd reached the end of her patience, regrettable as that was, and flapped up a little higher, pointing his snout for home. "Suit yourself! But don't be a stranger, I'm not far if you ever want to go flying! I'll see you again soon I'm sure," he said, his voice still all cheerfulness as he flew away. Of course someone knew to their territory would be so defensive, but he'd get to her eventually, who could say no to his handsome markings and easy manners? She couldn't stay so grumpy and territorial forever!
------
This is a commission I got from TheOwlette! I just love it, lovely details, such fun posing, and it really displays the personalities of both characters so well. You can try Ashar, but I don't know if she'll ever be too interested! Adhara seems more the type to try to wrestle you into submission and then tell you you're not strong enough to be worthy, anyway. But good luck!
8 years ago
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