The Ocean, A Dragon, and Wards (Mali/open)

[Riley]

Riley's boots sank into the sand on the beach, a small smile spread across his lips. He remembered as a young child his mother taking him and his brother to the beach and 'sinking' into the sand. Letting the waves bury them up to their ankles. It was a whole different matter now, his mother wasn't with him and he wasn't just on the beach for a fun visit. Though he wasn't exactly here for business either, rather he was looking around for a beautiful place for his and Ana's wedding. This seemed like a good place, however he wanted to know if it was safe, he had learned quickly that Vroengard was quite a dangerous island, even for a dragon. Almost on cue Taesi landed beside him, raising her head to the sky and releasing a jet of violet fire straight into the sky.

Riley jumped back, sand flying everywhere from his boots being sunk down to his ankles. "Taesi! Since when do you breathe fire?!" Taesi closed her jaws with an audible snap and then looked down at Riley, tilting her head at him slightly. "You just saw me didn't you? That was the first time." Riley blinked a few times, then started laughing loud and long. She had waited until she found a perfect spot and a perfect time to finally release the inferno she had been waiting to summon for months. Crossing over to her, he scratched her head lightly, proud of her though maybe a little jealous at the fact that she could summon fire easier than he could. Granted he could bend it to his will better than she could, he still wanted to be able to summon it as a dragon could.

Riley smiled and shook his head, "I'm almost done making your saddle, then we can start flying together outside of practice." Taesi hummed deep in her throat, nuzzling her head into his hand urging him to scratch her jaw harder. Two small gouts of violet flame shot from her nostrils which surprised Riley and caused him to jump back and pat out the flames on his shoulder. "Ooops.." Riley glared up at the violet dragon, "Ooops? You nearly burn off my arm and all you can say is ooops?" Instead of replying, Taesi opened her mind to him more and showed him the struggle she possessed now in keeping the fire under her control. Understanding washed over Riley and he offered her a smile, scratching her neck again. "I suppose I can't stay mad at you now can I?"

Broadcasting her thoughts to be heard farther away, Taesi turned her head to one of the paths leading to the beach. "ANA! I can beathe fire now." She yelled proudly, causing her Rider to laugh again, espcially as the dragon raised her head high into the sky and let out another stream of violet flames. "Oh boy... I better cast some wards against dragon fire on the tent..." He murmured, turning to look at where Ana was coming from. He had learned long ago, this dragon's sense of smell was rarely if ever wrong.

[Mali]

Ana was trying to get an apprenticeship with Rhunon but found that the woman was oddly prickly. She was very secretive about her work and would rather work alone. However, Ana tried to express that while working alone had some merit, that there was more merit with someone to help around the forge. She tried to explain her parents’ roles during the war and such but that was of little care to the elf woman. She was known as the most skilled smith in the world! How could she be so stubborn?

Soon Ana grew tired of trying to convince the elf woman of her skills and pushed her thoughts onto something else. Instead, she thought of her first night on the island. Her cheeks grew rosy red and she lowered her gaze to the ground, embarrassed. She had been so confident then and now the thought and memory made her blush like a school girl. Why was it so embarrassing now? Why couldn’t she be as confident as she had been then? If she were more confident, then her trying to convince Rhunon probably would have worked.

Ana returned to the tent to find that Riley wasn’t there, she then turned around and left in search for him. Asking one of the other dragon riders, they said that after practise on the beach, Riley and Taesi had stayed behind. Making her way over to the beach, Ana thought about whether she could be with child already. It had been a few days since they had had intercourse, she very well could be, but she didn’t think she was. It didn’t feel right to her, she should have felt something if she were, right?

She was distracted with her thoughts when she heard Taesi enter her mind. Cursing, she remembered what Riley had taught her about guarding her thoughts. Even if it were only Taesi, she should have been more careful. She hoped that the dragon wouldn’t mention Ana’s thoughts to her mate.

Shocked to see the dragon let out a stream of fire, Ana smiled kindly to the dragon. “So pretty,” she continued smiling to the dragon.

Moving over so she could see Riley, she felt her heart swell. But wait a moment, what were they doing on the beach? She assumed that they had had training here or somewhere nearby, but what were they still doing here?

“What’re you guys doing here?” she placed her hands on her hips and gave Riley a stern yet questioning look.

[Riley]

Riley smiled at Ana as she approached, glad that she found the violet tinged fire pretty, they were probably going to be seeing a lot of it. He couldn't help but smile wider as she looked at him with a stern but questioning look. Despite being a Rider and having a dragon sitting next to him, he knew that he would rather fight a hundred dragons with nothing but kindling as weapons, than make Ana angry at him. Though that didn't mean he wouldn't tease and have fun with her. Now however... he thought he'd just tell the truth. Riley knew there was a time for jokes and a time for serious. This was a time for romantic stuff that he knew Taesi had little true interest in.

Riley shook his head for a second before walking behind Ana and wrapping his arms around her, while being careful about her wings of course, kissing her cheek softly. "I was thinking, why not get married here on the beach. Right over there, where those two rocks are sticking out of the ground." He pointed to a spot about thirty feet from them, the two rocks standing about eight feet out of the sandy beach with just enough space between them for three people. The two getting married, and the third presiding over the ceremony. "We could ask some of the elves to help us with flowers, they have a lot of talent singing flowers and plants to grow." Riley turned his head slightly to look at her, a lop sided smile plastered across his face. "So what do you think?"

Riley sighed happily, glad to be able to stand here and hold Ana for a while, it was something he didn't get to do very often anymore. This was one drawback to being a Rider that he hadn't quite anticipated when Taesi had hatched, but Ana still wanted him, and that made him happier than he ever thought he would be. Not that Riley had ever said that aloud, and for a while anyway he probably wouldn't. Not until the moment was right and he felt it needed to be said. Until then he would continue to let his actions speak louder than his words.

Smiling, Riley slowly let go of Ana and motioned for her to follow him to the waters edge, where he took off his boots and tossed them to where Taesi sat. "My mom used to bring me and my brother out to the beach and we would stand there and watch the sunset. Next thing we knew, we were ankle deep in sand." He pointed down to their feet, the sand had already slowly started to cover them, covering Riley's toes. Taesi moved up next to them, laying down and sticking one of her large feet out. "I think it will take longer than a few minutes for mine to sink." Riley couldn't help but laugh and put one hand on Taesi, the other arm he wrapped around Ana's shoulders. "Ladies, if we're gonna wait for Taesi to sink in the sand, we might be here for a while."