[zapdragon555]

THUD. THUD. THUD. THWACK!
Leaves released their grip on the twisted tree they were clinging to's branches, and fluttered to the ground in defeat. Haruzon leaped backwards to stare in satisfaction at the dents she had made in the tree bark with her powerful claws and tail. With a smirk she dove for the tree again, raking her somewhat-dull claws down the tough, old bark. Chips flew off here and there, one hitting her squarely above the eye. She growled.

"Is that all you've got?!" she shouted at the tree, slamming shoulder-first into it. The tree groaned in protest, then shifted a bit as it's roots loosened beneath the ground. Electricity sparked between her horns as she strained her muscles against the tree's defense. Just a little more, just a little more...! She whipped her head around and pressed her forehead against the tree, charring it with her electric sparks. CCCCRACK! The tree finally gave up; it's roots were flung high into the air as it flopped to the ground. Haruzon snorted and raised her head high, sizing up the tree like it was a fallen opponent.

She'd won. Again.

Haruzon sat down on her haunches and swung her head around to view the scenery. Fallen trees lay scattered around, at least a dozen of them. Haruzon was getting bored of this. Trees didn't really put up much of a fight. She needed something that fought back, something that actually could dodge her attacks. Not just sit there like a... well, like a bump on a log. Tree. Whatever. She liked being alone, though. Maybe if she'd gone somewhere that had a gym she could at least punch a sandbag or something... but Craiss Caverns was just so... mysterious. It had an edgy air to it, and that made her senses stronger. Her ears still weren't the best, but she just felt more aware than usual. She sighed. For once, she actually hoped someone would come along and bother her.

[6]

[Thunder]

(Imma jump in with you? owo)

Darkness. The Craiss Caverns were one of Tsugun's favorite places because here he could see. There was almost no light here beneath the earth, except for perhaps a few torches here and there, and so his dark element Dragonforce could do its work. He moved silently, prodding out into the shadows with his powers to navigate as he shut his sightless red eyes.

Although he was focused on reading the shapes of the shadows, Tsugun's other senses were still alert. He stopped in his tracks when he heard a strange cracking noise, reminiscent of branches snapping. Every so often, he'd hear a faint voice too. The noises continued for a while, and then they finally stopped. Odd. What could it be? Curious, the Voidbringer continued advancing through the caves in the direction of the sound.

It took him a while, but eventually he reached where Haruzon was. Purple, smoke-like wisps rose from his claws as he used his Dragonforce to probe the area. There was a gnarled shape some distance ahead that seemed like a tree, and near that was another large shadow. Tsugun concentrated harder, and based on the shapes of the shadow, whatever it was seemed to be reptilian. After analyzing the rest of his surroundings, Tsugun slowly stepped up to the mystery creature. "Greetings." His voice echoed throughout the cavern.

[zapdragon555]

(Hello, Thunder~ x3)

Haruzon whipped her head around as a deep voice echoed around her. The cavern she'd been training in was huge, large enough for her to stand up on her hind legs (though not exactly high enough to fly), and the sound of the intruder's voice bounced off of every surface. It rang in her ears, surprisingly clear compared to what she was used to.

It had startled her, but it didn't seem threatening. Not yet. In fact, she was quite curious as to who would be down here. "Hey," she said, simply, turning her back on the twisted tree she'd been fighting. The trees inside the caverns were strange indeed, living off the light produced from the crystals that occasionally lined the walls.

It, or rather, he, by the sound of his voice, was a Paragon, like her. Haruzon watched as tiny clouds of violet smoke danced around his claws. He looked powerful, she decided. She glanced at the trees she'd destroyed and scraped her front talons on the dirt a bit. "About the trees... I uh. Got bored," Haruzon muttered, not sure why she felt the need to explain herself. Sparks flew between her horns as she studied him. "You got a name?"

[7]

[Thunder]

Tsugun detected motion as soon as he spoke. Whoever it was had probably turned around at the sound of his voice. "Hey." The voice sounded feminine, and not overly shocked. He let out an snort at her reasoning on the trees; he wasn't quite sure what she had been doing with the trees, as he only heard sounds that suggesting hitting or breaking them and such, but "got bored" struck him as amusing for some reason. He focused on the darkness again to try to get a better image of the creature standing before him. Every so often, there would be strange, bright points that disrupted the shadows, resembling sparks. He supposed there was some affinity with electricity.

"Tsugun Alistar," the Voidbringer declared, curling his tail around his feet. "And you?" She didn't sound threatening, so starting a conversation seemed fine.

[zapdragon555]

Haruzon looked Tsugun over a second time and took a step forward to study his shadowy claws better. "...Haruzon," she muttered, curiosity literally sparking in her eyes. It had been a long time since she'd seen a creature that could control elements like her. Or at least, it had been a long time since she'd seen a creature use their powers. In the arena, most fights were limited to physical combat, and thus elemental attacks were forbidden to make it fair. That had always irked her.

"So what's with the purple smoke?" she asked, flicking her tail back and forth as she studied it. As much as she hated to admit it, purple was her favorite color. She thought it was too girly for a fighter like herself. But even so, anything purple intrigued her. "Some kind of elemental ability?"

[8]

[Feint]

((Me join you. You post more. Us train. Bl ))

"HEEEeeeeeEEeeheeheeHEEEeeee...." xxx

Slowly drawn-out and yet tell-tale mekkayena laughter echoed across the walls of the caverns, everywhere at once and leading within, deeper into the blackness of the caves, resonating against the stone and singing of times long since past, when the mekka were the rulers of this subterranean world. It trailed off, leaving only the echo, then at last fell very quiet, and there was total silence in the cave. The two paragon were left in suspense, and when it seemed the cackles truly belonged to a ghost, the sound of quiet shuffling came from the blackness, so far in that its figure had not yet rippled the utter dark that swallowed the interior of the Caverns.

The shuffled steps came louder, and a bright red pinpoint could be spotted, bobbing rapidly up and down as though placed on something with a natural sway in its step, which it was. The pinpoint became an eye, joined by a blue eye, joined by the large, powerful form of a blue-grey senior mekkayena. His scruffy fur made it clear his age (had he been human, he would be about fifty), and his disillusioned and unfriendly gaze made it clear his patience for the two paragon making a noisy mess of the trees littering his old home's doorstep. Completely unafraid, he swung near the paragon with the yellow head, pivoting his body on his large hyena paws with an unusually placed grace, then shoved his noise inches from his scales and noisily inhaled the dragon's scent.

[Thunder]

Haruzon, eh? Interesting name. Tsugun could detect movement in front of him and supposed that this Haruzon was coming a bit closer. When questioned about his Dragonforce, he held up one hand so Haruzon could inspect it better. "Yes," he replied. "You're correct. It is the power of darkness, though it is of limited use in fighting. I can darken an area, but it lacks offensive abilities." Tsugun was hesitant to reveal the fact that he was blind, even though he could see almost as well as any other person with his Dragonforce. His father taught him that a warrior should never reveal his deepest secrets or weaknesses, as enemies could take advantage of these. Of course, Haruzon did not seem to be a foe, but he thought that he'd better let her find out for herself.

Suddenly, out of nowhere, there was a sharp laughter. Tsugun turned his head to where he thought the sound was coming from, but soon the laughter faded. He fell silent as he focused on his surroundings again, and eventually he caught a strange patch of white in the darkness of his vision. Another patch soon followed. And now there was a scuffling noise, accompanied with an odd, stocky form moving towards him. Before he knew it, Tsugun heard a sniffing right by him. He grunted and backed off from whatever it is, baring his teeth menacingly. "Who goes there?"

[Feint]

In response to the paragon, the mekka growled, baring his teeth menacingly at the blind creature as he padded away, toward Haruzon, whom he growled at in quiet warning before inhaling her scent as well.

Having memorized their scents so that they could not hide from him and whatever other nefarious plot he might have, the mekkayena pivoted on his heel, padded toward a large boulder, and gracefully hopped up on top of it, making himself eye-to-eye with the scaled newcomers.

He put his head at a tilt as he examined one, then the other, nose wrinkled in quiet contemplation.

"'Who goes there', you asked? Yes?" he asked tauntingly, his voice hoarse and... a little odd-sounding, but for reasons one could not quite place. Now that he was at their level, it became apparent that his flesh reeked of a foul rotting odor. "My name is Dhaifu. This is my ancestral home. Tell me now, outsiders, who goes there?" he said with a voice that spoke of accustomed high authority, and sat his hind end down on his stony throne, leering at the scaled behemoths on either side of him.

[zapdragon555]

Haruzon had been alarmed at first by the sound of the high pitched laughter that filled the caves, but relaxed a bit when she saw it was just an old Mekkayena. Still, those things could be nasty, but this one seemed rather stupid to approach two full-grown Paragon. She kept her head level with the creature's once it climbed atop a boulder and spoke to them. "Uh, this is Craiss Caverns. Lots of people come here. Maybe not this deep but... still," she said, raising a scaly eyebrow. "We can come here as we please, 'Dhaifu'." She snorted and glanced behind her. "Sorry about the trees though. Really. I didn't know I'd knocked over that many," she said humorously.

(Sorry for the short post and late reply~ D8)

[9]

[Feint]

...This attitude did not sit well with Dhaifu. His eyes glared murder, lip curled; this eventually turned into a grin under his leering, shining eyes. He stood on his rock for ease of body language, which he made great use of when angry.

"'Lots of people come here'," he mocked in a high-pitched voice. His expression instantly went sour. "NO ONE comes this deep, princess," he snarled, "This is off-limits to outsiders, a law impressed by Hunters to keep stupid little daylight creatures from trampling their crystalline homes. You think people met their oh-so-faithful companions this deep?" he asked, then paused, head tilted. "NO!" he barked. "Hunters longing for butterflies and flowers moved up the tunnels and met their fleshy friends near the surface. 'But aren't you an outsider, Dhaifu?' I am a mekkayena. I lived here before any hunters, and their law states 'off-limits to outsiders.' I am not an outsider. I come and go as I please, along with the rest of my pack," he said with a meaningful grin. "'But don't females lead mekka packs?' Yes, they do, when there ARE females. Did I miss any of your questions?" he asked mockingly, sneering at one, then the other. "Oh, and about the trees--pardon my memory--I couldn't care less about living things, but it does draw to my attention that you feel the need to attack them. Couldn't such a big, bad paragon like yourself find bigger fish to fry? No? Well, I'm sorry," he said in a voice full of fake pity, turning away from her on his heel, head hanging, as though to hide her secret.

[Thunder]

((OOC: Didn't notice you guys posted x_x Sorry!))

Whoever it was didn't seem happy, and smelled like they really needed to take a bath. Tsugun detected more motion from the unknown creature (though judging by its growl, it was probably something dog-like). And when Dhaifu began his little tirade on the caverns being forbidden to outsiders, the Voidbringer felt slightly irritated. He tried to maintain a degree of calm, however, as his father always taught him that agitation was not a good thing to show when speaking with others.

"I am sorry that we intruded on your territory," Tsugun apologized. "We really did not know that you lived here. I can tell you that I am not here looking for Hunters, however. In fact, if I recall correctly, most of them abandoned the caverns. I doubt there would be many Hunters around to enforce their law." The Voidbringer shrugged his powerful shoulders. "But if it really bothers you, we'd be happy enough to leave your territory."

[zapdragon555]

"Hold up," Haruzon growled, flicking her tail back and forth in rising annoyance. "Speak for yourself, Tsugun, I think we have every right to be here. And besides, what do you do to the Akail that live here? Chase them out as well?" The purple Paragon thrust her snout in the Mekkayena's face and snorted, trying to look more intimidating. She bared her teeth, enraged at his comment about the trees. "Well excuse me, but I didn't know anyone was down here. And if you think I should pick on someone my own size," she hissed, squinting. "Why don't you fight me, old man?" She knew she could take this Mekkayena; she was much larger than him, and younger. She wanted to prove a point and boy was she going to prove it. Something in the back of her mind nagged her that she should just let it go, but her stubbornness wouldn't allow it. This Dhaifu character had made her angry, and now she had to take it out on something; preferably the cause.

((I figure since this is training they should fight a little~ xD  Maybe Haruzon could get beaten and learn to respect Dhaifu? Dunno~ xD))

[10] Level up!