The Past [Past]

Valerian laughed as she pressed herself closer to him, yelling in to the wind and smiling from ear to ear. He had always wished he could be a wyvern master, but sadly he had been rejected. Though it had helped him befriend a few riders that were willing to give him a ride now and then. Holding on to specially made leather straps, he opted to use his other hand to hold her too. Maybe it was just something in him that told him she might let go.
They flew around for a while before the rider guided them down to the ground. The rider got off pretty easily, and Valerian followed, helping Jade if she needed it. The wyvern was calm, the rider stroking it between the eyes but keeping their helmet on.

Being in actual air was also just a different feeling. She was definitely enjoying this new feeling of strong wind in her face, though she had to blink often to keep her eyes moisturized. Only as they flew around, feeling his grip on her only made her that more sure that she had to try this at least once. She let go of her strap and lifted her arms up into the air with her torso stretched, giggling as she felt the wind kiss her body. She was quite light anyway so it probably wasnt much of a struggle for him. Once they were on ground, she was giddy going down on ground. "Must be a strong bond between the two of you for such a great creature to transport us around like that." she said to the unknown rider before she looked to Valerian. "Thank you both so much." she said with a teethy smile. Then she looked to the wyvern. "Will you let the creature know that I'm thankful?" she asked. It was somehow important to her.

Valerian couldn't help but chuckle, feeling her hair whip in to his face as she stretched her arms and torso. Once they had finally landed he felt a little wobbly on his legs, but it was all good once the worst had died down. He looked to the rider as Jade spoke to them, smiling to himself as he knew who was under that helmet.

Raine was an experienced rider at this point, having bonded rather strongly with her wyvern. They were almost inseparable at this point. As they touched ground she was reluctant to remove her helmet, because being a rider could be risky if it was exposed. Even her family didn't know what she was. "I should hope there is," she said politely to Valerian's guest. She knew her cousin well, but he had never brought an outsider to this place. As the female asked to thank the wyvern on her behalf Raine shook her head, digging a hand in to a pouch by her leg. Out she pulled a dead rabbit, tossing it to the female. "Tell her yourself," she encouraged the stranger, taking off the helmet, revealing her long dark hair and her strange colored eyes.

She didnt want to outlive the hospitality she had been shown, so she wouldnt just walk up to the wyvern and interact with it, especially because Valerian had made it clear that they didnt just speak to anyone. The rider threw a rabbit and Jade looked at it before picking it up. She didnt quite understand the concept of hairy animals that were consumed for food, but she had learned a lot coming here. "She would want to eat this?" she asked, if confirmed she'd go closer to the wyvern, carefully offering the dead animal with a stretched arm. She wasnt afraid, or she was but it was more in a sense of doing something wrong.

"Yes, she loves rabbit," Raine said with a smile on her lips, letting the stranger approach. The wyvern narrowed it's beady eyes, staring at the stranger, but quickly understood the name of the game as it smelled the rabbit's blood. Poking it's head closer to the stranger, it grabbed the dead animal quite delicately before hurrying off to eat it in peace. Raine groaned, "show some manners!" she scolded the giant beast before shaking her head and looking to her cousin. "It's not often you drop by, and even less so when you have a friend with you," she teased, adjusting her belt a little now that she wasn't seated on the back of a wyvern. "You must mean a lot to my cousin for him to bring you here of all places - or do you have something dirty on him that made him take you here?" she asked, looking from Valerian to the stranger.

Valerian sighed at his cousin's words, shaking his head, "Jade is one of the newly arrived emissaries, I just wanted her to experience our culture," he retaliated, though with his charm it was clear he had a reputation. Sighing he gestured to his cousin, introducing her to Jade and Jade to Raine by their names. "She is my cousin on my father's side, they bear the blood that allows them to be here," he explained. Raine just chuckled, leading them to a dining hall for the riders. There were a few scattered around, but Raine found a table just for the three of them, getting them something to drink as well. "Wyverns were once wild around here, but poachers has made it incredibly hard to let them simply roam freely, so we have secluded most of our population on this island," he explained, taking a sip of his ale.