Figure in Shadows

[Ashten]

The night was dark, and the village of Tronfo quite and still, save for a hunched shadow on a roof. The weak moon and starlight did little to expose his features, save give an onlooker the surprise of seeing not a man but a strange beast.

Xolin watched silent Tronfo with an interest that seemed almost detatched, his emerald eyes hardly looking on the homes around him. His gaze was mainly for the moon. THis night, he didn't bother to blacken his wings, and allowed them to glow palely, even with the faint moonlight.

Flicking his ears, he stood, spread his great pinions, and dropped from the roof, gliding low over the village with eerie, silent ease.

[Khaliall]

((Would you mind if I brought Karlyn and/or Sadiron into this? Or is it a closed topic, with someone particular in mind?))

[Ashten]

ooc// You can join. I just wanted to have some fun with Xolin.

[Khaliall]

An emerald dragon lithely touched down on the outskirts of the village. His hide had been smudged with charcoal to dim it's brilliance, and his rider was completely clothed in black.
The dim light of the moon didn't suffice to betray their presence, and as the rider hunched low over his neck to avoid detection, they settled in a field.
The rider slid lithely off of the dragon's back, and adjusted a coif which covered her hair. It wasn't evident that she was female; her garments were loose and all enveloping.
She muttered something, and a glimmer of steel betrayed a weapon as she checked ot make sure that all of her tools were in place. The glimmer disappeared. There was another sheen, then another, as she checked all of her knives, and then her sword.
And then the black clad woman was ready.
Karlyn crept into the village, bound for a house that she could see clearly in her mind, even if she could see hardly anything in the dark.
Wait for me in the trees she ordered Jathin. The Emerald silently sprang into the sky, and winged quietly to the first cover he could find.
Yours to command the dragon told her; serious for a change.

[Ashten]

His nostrils twitched, ears swiveling to the sound of secretive wingbeats. Quickly, Xolin blackened his wings, veering into the alleyway between two buildings, frightening a cat in the process. It hissed, racing away as he backwinged silently into a landing, crouching with wings mantled above him as he listened to pinpoint the sound. The edge of the village. Like a shadow, he padded along the back streets, reaching the edge of the homes within minutes. Dark against the pale crescent of moon rose the shape of a dragon, quickly vanishing into hiding. He watched the half hidden firgure of its rider in the field, eyes hooded to completely extinguish the moon's reflection.

[Khaliall]

Karlyn paused in her stride -she knew from experience that walking as though you belonged was one way to avoid detection- and tilted her head to scan the rooftops. She disliked the sensation of being watched.
Determined, she checked her weapons one more time, and scanned the darkness. She saw nothing, but the prickling sensation persisted. Gritting her teeth, she put her shoulders back and continued along. Every so often, however, she glanced over her shoulder. The field was out of sight now, and Jathin was nowhere to be seen so she could only assume that he had taken her advice.
However, she had to wonder just what lay in this mysterious town. Once she completed her mission, it was a shame that she couldn't stick around to find out...

[Ashten]

ooc// Quick questions: What is a trainee called once he impresses, and do we name our own dragons?

bic// Xolin qatched the rider curiously, gliding silently back onto the roof tops and following her. He laid his ears back as he caught the slight clink of weapons, eyes norrowing suspiciously. It sounded as though there were multiple weapons, by why a rider would need so many, and come into the village under the cover of night was a mystery to him. Concentrating hard to keep his wings dark, he leapt from house to house, concealing himself in ragged shadows upon landing. He would solve the mysterious arrival of the rider.

[Khaliall]

((Once a Trainee has Bonded, they become a Dragontrainee, and yes you get to name your own dragons.))

Karlyn was still certain that she was being watched. Because of what she had been sent to do, that could be bad. And she couldn't call Jathin in for reinforcement, because that would be a dead give away that she was here...And that she wasn't supposed to be.
And she needed to be as invisible as possible. Had she had more talent as a Mage, she might have been able to make herself literally invisible. As it was, Karlyn could only use her natural talents for fading into the background, and hope that she could get into the house, which she could see only in her mind as yet.
The magician's house. He was a danger to the country, and to the work the Dragonwarriors did to protect it.
He had to die...and Karlyn had to kill him. The thought sent a shiver through her.
What if he had creatures watching her? What if that's what that was? The idea did not reassure her. She heard a soft thud, and glanced up sharply, but after several moments scanning the darkness, she saw nothing.

[Ashten]

Xolin waited until she'd looked away, then snuck farther ahead, keen eyes watching for loose shingles. One false step may alert the rider-prey-to his location. Her presence was still a mystery, as was her purposeful stride. A deep loathing started in his chest, not of the figure, but his curser. Had he not been formed as he was, he might have approached and asked her bussiness as this time of night. As it was, to approach would most most likely mean death. He narrowed his eyes, having run out of rooves at the village's center square.

[Khaliall]

Karlyn, very uncomfortable now, was speeding up her stride. She didn't want to look like she was rushing, but this 'being watched' was getting on her nerves in the extreme.
Her hand was on the hilt of her most convenient blade, but she didn't want to use it. And if it was a magic being, then she was in trouble.
Jath she called warily. I think I'm being followed. But...I don't know by what.
I'll keep an eye out for you. the Emerald replied cautiously. But I don't really think I can do much. You're in an alleyway. I can't fit.
Damn. She moistened her lips, and paused, whirling around to stare into the darkness.
"Hello?"

[Ashten]

Coldly, Xolin kicked a single loose, letting it fall into an alleyway, cuainsg another feline fellen to hiss and darted out and across the street, a small, lithe shadow. He remained in place, wings hunched about him as he hid behind the peak of a roof, eremald gaze searching the alleys around the house until he found again the rider. He noticed the movement of her hand, and tensed. The trick may not have fooled her, and dragons had better eyes than their riders.

[Khaliall]

There was the clatter of a falling shingle, and movement: Karlyn tensed, adjusting her grip on her blade, but scowled as she realized that it was only a feline that darted across her path.
Warily, in case there might be anything else about, she stood frozen in place, the faint light from the moon dancing along the length of her drawn blade. After a moment, she sheathed it, but her stance didn't change. Uneasy, with Jathin on the alert, she clung to the shadows of buildings as she moved along, certain that no human would have been able to see her that night.
And yet she still was being watched.
She hoped only to get this task over with as soon as possible. She had heard of strange things in Tronfo...but never beleived them until now.
What was out there?

[Ashten]

Hiding carefully, Xolin watched her, his gaze detecting her movements easily. He tensed as the blade shone in the waning moonlight, the fur rising along his back in thick waves. His feathers rustled softly, and he lay down quickly into the shadows once more. What could possibly be driving a rider to hide herself so well in the village of Tronfo. Again that simmering hatred.

[Khaliall]

Karlyn felt herself shiver. She didn't like being so unnerved. All of Tronfo affected her this way...but surely there must be something in particular that was doing this to her...
She was an assassin. She should be used to feeling watched, and wary. She could never get used to it.
She heard a soft sound, and tensed. Her blade was drawn once more. Invisibility be damned--she wasn't going to let herself get ambushed.
"Whoever's out there, you should be more careful," she muttered, just loud enough to carry through the dark night.

[Ashten]

Xolin withheld his tongue, sliding steathily farther into the darkness. He waited a moment, fur flattening along his nape. "So should you." He said, his voice echoing off the buildings. He padded to a new position, staring coldly at the rider.