[Jaykobell]

Of course, while Balthazar couldn't see the two withdrawing from his den or from him, he could still feel whether or not they were still close or walking away. He could feel both being exceptionally tired, and truth be told, he was also fairly exhausted. He was getting a headache from staying up for so long trying to do this unplanned exercise. Humph. Now that he thought about it, Izotz could've waited until morning to do something so tiring. Well, too late to think about that now. "Remember what we practiced," the Sandshark reminded Azazel, hoping the Sailfin would at least remember some of it once she'd gotten some sleep. And he, too, would get some much needed sleep once those youngsters were out of his den.

If the Sailfin looked beaten up and exhausted, Izotz wasn't faring much better. He could recall closing his eyes now and again just to try to get a small hint of sleep, but every time he would try to wake himself up. If the Sandshark had gotten but a small sleepy noise coming from Izotz, the Frost would've been in for it. The whole ordeal hadn't gone as planned at all, but at least it was over. He would appoint Slavica to handle the clan for a while today, considering he couldn't quite think clearly right now.

At Azazel's question, Izotz didn't have an answer for her. "Ah, I don't know. The Paragon that will help you might already be gone for the day, or she might still be around," Izotz admitted, hoping that the Paragon he wanted wasn't already out to hunt, and that she was still hanging around. "I promise it shouldn't be all that far. I'll try to make it that we don't have to walk too much, promise," he added as he smiled weakly, probably just as tired as her. "We're leaving, Balthazar. Thank you for your help," Izotz thanked weakly, whose words were meant with a low grumble from the old Sandshark. With that said and done, Izotz slowly turned and started heading out the large den, sighing with relief that everything was over.

Of course, now was a new set of problems. He had no idea where Agrona was, and neither him nor Azazel wanted to walk through the entire Hive. The problem of Azazel still being unknown to the whole clan was also something he would have to do, but neither of them were up for it right now. Once both of them had gotten some sleep, maybe then they would consider it. Izotz also needed to find a valid excuse to welcome Azazel to the rest of the tribe. Slavica's reaction to the smaller Sailfin's cowardliness wasn't far off from what the others would think if Azazel didn't show potential for something. He would have to think about that.

Exciting the larger den and making his way slowly back towards the main clearing and the main area of the Hive, Izotz started looking around. There were obviously more Paragon now, but the crowd was still relatively small. It was still early in the morning, so not every single Paragon was awake yet. Still, the crowd was significantly larger than the small one Azazel had seen during the night.

Izotz frowned as he caught no sight of the white and orange-red female Voidbringer he was looking for. She was one of the earliest hunters, so perhaps she had already gone. The Frost was a little discouraged at the thought of having to look for the female. Fortunately for both, there suddenly came a breeze that flew right overhead of both Paragon. Blinking, Izotz looked up to find the source of the sudden wind that had gone just as quickly as it had appeared. Gasping, the Frost found a solution to their problem. "Kyrylo! Wait, come back!"

After calling out to what could only be another Paragon, Izotz quickly turned to Azazel. "We won't have to walk very far, this little guy will help us out," the Frost explained as he smiled again, although this time the smile showed some anxiety. "But I just want to warn you that he's a little—"

And then came a flash of black and gold, together with some red thrown in the mix, but the lightning-fast Paragon that was the source of the flashing colors missed his landing and ended up crashing right into the mountain wall next to Izotz and Azazel. Landing with a loud crashing sound against the wall, the newcomer sent a small dust cloud flying as he fell to the ground.



Unlike Izotz and Azazel, the small Carapace looked like he was in his young teen years, quite a few years before his prime, but not a hatchling, either.

Izotz initially gasped at the crash-landing, but the small Carapace seemingly shook it off pretty quickly. "Kyrylo! Are you okay?"

Making his way back onto all fours, the small male Carapace turned around and managed to make his way towards his leader and Azazel, although his steps were sloppy and a little dizzy. Once where he should have landed, the little Paragon known as Kyrylo blinked a few times and shook his head. "I'm okay!" he squeaked, his voice still high-pitched and lacking a deeper, more masculine tone to it as most male Paragon had. Not only that, but the Carapace was even smaller than Azazel still. "Sorry, you called out to me, so I thought I had to turn really fast!" And then the small one got excited and derailed entirely, bouncing up and landing back on all fours, belly now flattened against the ground. "So I tried to fly upwards and then twist around! Um." He then straightened up and turned back to Izotz. "But I flew too much upwards and turned too late, so I crashed. My mummy's better at landing than I am!"

Izotz smiled at the energy of the smaller Paragon, which was an incredible contrast when one looked at how tired the Frost was compared to him. "Ah, at least you're okay. Kyrylo, I—"

But the words of the Frost fell on deaf ears as Kyrylo noticed Azazel next to him. Staring quietly at the Sailfin with eyes bigger than the moon itself, the small Carapace looked extremely intrigued by the newcomer. "Hey, I've never seen you before! Are you from around here?" Excited to meet a new face, Kyrylo started bouncing, even getting closer to Azazel. "What's your name? Are you gonna stay here with us? Hey, do you want to see some of my cool flying moves? My mummy taught me them!"

And so the conversation was entirely lost to the small Carapace who was way too energetic for the two exhausted Paragon to keep up with.

[Kallile]

At the sound of the aged Sandsharks voice, Azazel quivered and shrunk into herself a little—quickening her pace. The sound of his voice alone was enough to send her into a mild panic after the endless hours he had spent speaking to her. It would haunt her in her sleep, she was sure of that much. Most of what Izotz said was lost to her; she merely nodded and glanced up at him with her tired eyes and hoped for the best. He had had all night to do something and he had not…while she still didn’t understand it, it had done something to dampen her apprehension around him. Though it was subject to change once she had finally gotten some rest, for now she was as docile and calm as she had been since her arrival.  

Stepping out into the morning light changed all that instantly. Compared to the few Azazel has seen last night the sight of the morning gathering was a shock. And it seemed as if another body or two were moving into the clearing every few moments. There were…so many… She forgot then to keep herself in Izotz shadow and instead froze solid where she stood. It was overload on her tired mind to see this many paragon and to try and grasp fully what all of them were doing here. It made no sense…and there were so many males….

Before her paranoia and fear had a chance to fully raise its ugly head back into the world there was a breeze and a yell from Izotz. The younger Sailfin instantly and obediently snapped back to his side before realizing he hadn’t even been talking to her. Instead it was a youngster barely out of his shiny new hatchling scales. The crash made her jump and hit the ground, covering her eyes with her hands. Oh, this was not good! He was dead…dead and gone! She was sure of it! That is, she was sure of it until he began speaking in a higher voice that had not yet matured.

Slowly peeling her hands away from her eyes she stood back up ever so gingerly as she watched the youngster bounce around and chatter. She was having trouble keeping track of most of it—more concerned with the quick motions he was making than the words he was putting with them.  Which was a pity, because before she knew it that same youngster was bouncing his way ever closer to her with that dangerous looking golden-yellow nose-horn right in her line of vision. She trembled at his approach, but did not cower as she had before Izotz and Balthazar.

The simple and short reasoning was that this youngster, while male, lacked the sound and scent of a male in his breeding prime.  He simply lacked the experience to be too threatening to her, though she still showed her deference to him based on his gender alone. His questions were flying at her so fast she hardly had time to process them apart from one another. “N-no…I’m A-a-azazel…” She answered. But then he was off on flying moves and his mother and the Sailfin’s head began to throb from all the information being both asked of her and shoved in her face.

“I don’t…I don’t know…” She finally managed meekly as she took a small side step to try and hide herself deeper in Izotz shadow from the young and overly enthusiastic youth.

[Jaykobell]

Well, the youngster's active and hyper personality is what Izotz had been trying to warn Azazel about.

With both of them being exhausted, it wasn't surprising for Azazel to react so confusingly to Kyrylo's questions and behaviors. He was a younger Paragon, but a male nonetheless, which probably didn't help the poor Sailfin. Not to mention, the poor female hadn't even been here for a single day's time yet, even if that single night had probably felt like a whole week on its own.

Izotz was, however, happy that the female had spoken on her own and interacted with the small Carapace. He did notice how the crash had scared her, though, but it hadn't left the leader unfazed, either. The questions just intensified the Sailfin's confusion, as the female tried so desperately to hide in his shadow from the small newcomer.

While Izotz could understand Azazel's reaction, her bewilderment left Kyrylo just as confused as the Sailfin. He had never met a Paragon reacting so confusingly to him, nor looking so... scared. It was an unfamiliar behavior to him, and the Carapace was left tilting his head in self-conscious confusion. "Um... is it something I said?" he voiced out confusingly, trying to crane his neck to take a look at the shaky female Sailfin.

"It's all right, Kyrylo," Izotz answered for Azazel, knowing that the Sailfin — and himself — was probably too tired to really keep up with the freshly-awakened and energized Carapace. "Kyrylo, listen, I need you to do something for me." The Frost hoped the small Carapace would listen without giving him too much trouble. While hard-working and helpful and with his heart in the right place, Kyrylo remained very hyperactive, which sometimes made it hard to give him specific orders or commands.

At the mention of getting something from the leader himself, the youngster's eyes lit up with excitement and pride. "Wh-what do you need?" he stuttered from the excitement, spreading his wings and adopting a military-like position, ready to receive his order. "A quick flying wake-up call? Herding? Finding breakfast? Bringing breakfast? Finding—"

"Kyrylo," Izotz called out to the youngster, lifting a hand to silence him quickly. "Yes, I do need you to find a Paragon for me. Can you please try to find Agrona? I need to speak to her as soon as possible." As he instructed that, he paused for a second and blinked as something came to mind. "When you do find her, tell her to meet me in her den. I need to introduce someone to her. Did you get all that?"

"Find Agrona, bring her to her den, because you need to talk to her and introduce someone to her!" the young Paragon repeated quickly, barely taking a breath between commas. "I'll get right on that! You can count on me!" And with a powerful flap of his Hybrid wings, the small Carapace was off the ground and already flying away in a general direction in his search for the female Voidbringer Izotz had requested him to find.

With a relieved sigh, Izotz slowly turned to Azazel, whom was still hiding in his shadow. "I'm sorry, I did mean to warn you he is very excitable," the Frost spoke with a sheepish smile. "He'll find the female who will take care of you and help you while you stay here. For now, we can go to her den, where you can sleep for the day. It's not too far," he explained, hoping the last sentence would, again, motivate the Sailfin to bear with him for just a little bit longer. He, too, was already having daydreams of a soft, comfortable nest in his den.

[Kallile]

Azazel stayed trained to the young bundle of energy as he bounded around. He had taken what had been maybe a ten second break before Izotz request had him up and bounding again, something that perplexed and scared the female. Where all males here so…abrupt and demanding of attention?  She wasn’t sure she could cope with those sorts of mental demands. She was, however, relieved to hear Izotz say the name of the one he wished for her to live with. It didn’t sound made up or something generic that might be a cover up to a cruel trick.

As the young Carapace took flight and left the two alone, Azazel cringed a little as Izotz began speaking to her again before bringing herself back up into a semi-relaxed position. It was, to be fair, the most relaxed she had looked since getting here at any rate. The idea of going into a den with the male would have been terrifying, but given the odd night she had just suffered through even the Sailfin herself had to admit that she was numb to even the most vivid worst case scenarios that chose to play through her mind. It was a place to finally rest, one way or another.

“I…I would like that. Very much.” She managed to whisper out as she continued to hide in his shadow. Her eyes darted around every now and again as more Paragon began to emerge for their daily tasks to begin. There were just so many…she wondered if that little one would ever find this female she was supposed to meet.

[Jaykobell]

It relieved Izotz to see Azazel still cooperating with him, regardless of the reason why. The Frost wanted to sleep just as much as the Sailfin, and to be truthful, it was becoming difficult to stay so awake and alert. However, he realized how he had no other choice, considering Azazel couldn't be left alone. He signed quietly for a while, also relieved to know a competent Paragon like Slavica was around to replace him when he needed her. The idea to sleep in his den, on his comfortable nest, it was enough to have him daydream for a second.

Blinking, the Frost suddenly realized they hadn't yet started the last trek. "Ah, sorry," Izotz piped up weakly as he snapped out of his daydream. To Azazel, it would've looked like the Frost had just started staring at the scenery in front of him, not saying a single word. He was so tired that his mind was wandering off elsewhere. "I can't keep my mind straight," he joked, giving Azazel a small sheepish smile. "Agrona's den fortunately isn't far, so I can guide you there before going back to my own den," he explained as he started walking slowly, looking over his shoulder to make sure the Sailfin was following him and not getting lost in the growing sea of Paragon.

Izotz lead Azazel up a small slope, which was big enough to hold up to three Paragon side-by-side. Most decided to fly off the slope once they were out of their den, although the wingless Paragon had no other choice but to walk down the path. Some decided to opt for the more challenging descent, namely to scale down the mountain instead of going down the slope. Considering they were both very tired, Izotz had decided to walk up the slope, despite both Paragon having wings. The thought of putting extra energy to fly just didn't sound all that appealing to the Frost.

Of course, as they went up the slope, many Paragon slowed down as they noticed the leader himself going up, but also to take a look at the newcomer. No one besides Izotz, Slavica and Balthazar had seen Azazel, so it wasn't a surprise for the majority to wonder who she was, and most importantly, why she was here. No Paragon stopped to talk to them beyond a polite greeting to Izotz as they passed their leader, and fortunately for Azazel, the males seemed uninterested in her. While they looked at her curiously, there was nothing more to it than just that: curiosity. None of them tried to jump at her, none tried to start a flirty conversation, and none tried to snatch her away to their den.

However, there was one Paragon out of the ever-growing clan that actually stopped when she noticed the two exhausted Paragon.



The small Placid had looked and tilted her head like all the others, but unlike the uninterested others, she had actually stopped in her tracks for a closer look. Izotz seemingly hadn't noticed her, or he hadn't bothered to pay attention to her stopping. However, the dark Placid had noticed how exhausted they both looked, and she looked genuinely concerned for them. Even though she had no idea who the small Sailfin was, that didn't change much in the mind of the Placid.

"Are you okay?" she piped up as she started walking back in the direction she'd come from, making her way up to stand next to Azazel. "I haven't seen you around the Hive before," she added, her voice gentler than a bird's feather and quieter than ever. "Were you traveling all night? You look so exhausted," she pointed out, frowning with worry and tilting her head. "Do you need anything?"

Although he was hearing a female speak behind him, Izotz didn't bother to stop for fear that Azazel would stop cooperating with him from exhaustion. "Ah, Azazel, this is Concetta," the Frost introduced, only giving a small and short look over his shoulder. "Concetta, her name is Azazel. She did travel all the way here last night, although we were both awake through it for a different reason." The Frost wasn't surprised to see the Placid interacting with the small Sailfin. Concetta would probably be Azazel's best friend given time, considering their similar origins and past experiences.