(Sorry, I totally missed you today! I have been overwhelmed with completing my homework on time, so I didn't get the time to come on xP)

Psyche trudged under a gray sky through tall grasses, which sprouted densely from the marshy soil beneath his claws. Unable to fly well due to the difficult weather by the seaside, he was forced to travel by foot through the marshlands.
Psyche had been traveling from town to town for the past two weeks, asking around for any signs of the people of his now-demolished homeland, but to no avail.
So far, he had managed to cover every inland town for the southern section of Japan, but none of the information he collected concerned his people and their wherabouts. His next plan was to investigate the villages by the sea for any news of them.
To pass the time, Psyche thought back to the two dragons he had met half a month prior: Crowley and Cherry. Crowley loathed Psyche with a passion, and Cherry was more timid than a cornered mouse with a broken leg, but he missed their presence anyways. It shocked Psyche that he had parted ways with them only two weeks ago, yet it felt so long ago.

---MEANWHILE--

'We're done for today.' Crowley left the bar with a massive yawn, stepping out onto the cold streetside with barely a shiver. Dusk was falling; the burning orange sunset was only just visible between the looming shapes of the city's buildings. It was going to be a freezing night.

Cherry stepped out of the bar's cosy, firelit interior with slight reluctance. 'Whatever you say, boss,' she said, though secretly she knew Crowley would never give up his search for his younger brother. They had been in Angustis all day, asking around for any sign that Lucifer had been sighted, but to no avail.

Crowley let out a short chuckle as if he'd read her thoughts. 'We'll find him eventually, don't you worry,' he mocked, setting off up the street with quick stride. Cherry followed absently, her mind still full of thoughts.

//I hope he never finds his brother...// Unbidden, the image of another dragon entered her mind. //And what about him... Psyche? Will we ever see him again?//

(By the way, feel free to use another of your characters as well as Psyche if you want to. I'll probably introduce another character later, I can't help myself. XD)

(Lol XD I might put another character in there if the time or place is correct, but I don't know of any OCs that I have that would be able to fit in very well, and Psyche is quite a bit of a loner after all xP)

When Psyche finally reached the end of the marsh, he found himself standing at the edge of a bustling village, elevated on wooden platforms above the sloshing waters of the Yellow Sea, even though it was undeniably blue-colored. Compared to the villages that dragons inhabited, this place was small, and it swarmed with humans. Psyche was not surprised though, because in the world that he lived in, dragons and humans coexisted peacefully. However, not all dragons were cooperative with the humans, and the fall and destruction of Psyche's hometown had been caused by those few numbers.
Psyche made his way into the floating village, acknowledged by the humans with respectable bows as they passed, and in turn he dipped his head to show he meant no harm.

Darkness was falling when Crowley made a portal to transport him back to the dreamscape for the night. However, Cherry hesitated before entering.

'Actually, boss, I'm going to stay here for a while. If that's OK.'

Crowley squinted at her suspiciusly, but then shrugged as if he didn't particularly care. 'Suit yourself,' he replied, and jumped through the warp-portal without her. The vortex closed at once, leaving her alone by the side of the road.

As soon as she was sure he wouldn't come back, Cherry quickly called up a portal of her own and stepped into it. Light and colour flashed in front of her vision, and suddenly she was enveloped in a blanket of warm, windy air. She opened her eyes and looked around at her new surroundings.

Japan. She'd come to the right place.

Psyche walked over the wooden plateau, each plank creaking beneath his weight. Eventually he arrived at a busy market, where humans walked to and fro among the shops and fisherman tossed fish from one man to another, remarkably never once hitting a passerby.
Instead of walking into the crowd and attracting too much attention, Psyche ventured around to a group of men who were chatting loudly at their stalls. He adjusted his ears to hone in on the gossip, hopefully to catch something useful. "...tide washed out most of his crops, and the wind wrecked that shack of a house he had, the poor old timer. Finally gonna retire like he should've a century ago." The men laughed and Psyche turned away, but stopped when another man spoke up.
"Oh yeah, I heard that Gakuto spotted a white dragon the other day," he bragged, as if he was the one who had seen it. Psyche turned back around with interest and addressed the group. "What about this white dragon?" he inquired.

The men jumped in surprise, partially because they hadn't noticed the massive dragon towering over them until then, and partially because it spoke their language as fluently as they did.
After exchanging glances with the others, the man spoke up again, but with an anxious tone to his voice. "Er, there was this dragon that this guy saw fly from the sea and head inland," he explained.
"What did he look like?" Psyche questioned.
The man paused, probably trying to remember the details of the story. "He said it was all white, with feathery wings... and a long, bird-like snout." He illustrated a tubular shape in front of his face with his hands.
Psyche nodded thoughtfully before walking away, not thinking to say thank you or comment. Though the white dragon did not have any relation to him, he knew the psychic crow-dragon from before would show eager interest if he knew.

The seaside village was completely unfamiliar to Cherry, who had never before been to Japan, though her aunt Florence had told her stories about the place when she was young. None of the images painted in her mind matched up to what she saw now.

//Psyche... He must be here somewhere,// she mused, turning around and picking a random direction to explore. The sea breeze washed over her, carrying a faint hint of fish. Her nostrils flared to better catch the familiar - and welcoming - scent, and she quickly made her way down towards the water, where she found herself enveloped in a surprisingly crowded marketplace. With her relatively small size, only a few of the passing humans even noticed her.

Psyche questioned a few more people concerning his hometown, but when each reply came up negative, he finally turned to leave.
Suddenly, Psyche picked up a very familiar scent, and he paused, his tongue tasting the air. 'Am I just imagining things?' he pondered. He shook out his mane skeptically. 'Maybe the thought of the crow-dragon and his brother reminded me of her,' he considered, but he lifted his head above the crowd to scan the market. His suspicions were confirmed when he saw a familiar pink hide slinking around the edge of the market, her head lifting above the crowd every once and a while to look around. The next time her head popped up, Cherry gazed in Psyche's direction and their eyes met.

A flash of disbelief passed over Cherry's face as if she hadn't actually expected to see him. But then it disappeared and she made her way through the crowds towards him, muttering apologies to all the people she pushed aside to make a path.

She was out of breath when she finally reached the larger dragon. 'Ps-Psyche, you're really here!'

Psyche looked down at Cherry with surprise and amusement. "Of course I am," he stated in a friendly voice. "I never said I'd leave Japan. But the bigger question is - why are //you// here?" he inquired.

She shrugged, a little self-consciously. 'No particular reason, I guess I just... needed a short break from being around Crowley.' Changing the subject, she asked, 'What about you? Have you managed to find your people yet...?'

"No news of them so far," Psyche admitted. "I have not investigated the north yet, so they must hav moved in that direction. However," he added alluringly, "I recently heard some peculiar gossip about a dragon that a certain boss of yours would find much interest in..."

Cherry looked up quickly. 'Y-you mean Crowley? Why would he be interested in... Oh.' A sudden sense of realisation washed over her, and her heartbeat quickened a little. 'Are you saying Lucifer's here somewhere?' she finished in a hushed voice, even though she knew Crowley wasn't around to hear anything.

"Perhaps," Psyche said. "I don't understand how or why this brother of his came to Japan, a country in an entirely different universe from yours, but if he has the warping abilities as does his brother, then he is fully capable of coming here," he stated.

'I don't know if he has warping powers,' said Cherry slowly, as if considering the possibility. 'But
seeing as he's related to Crowley, I guess it's possible...'

She raised her head and surveyed the landscape around them, though she was unable to see very far over the heads of the market crowd. 'I wish I could see Lucifer... I've never met him, but if I did, I could warn him that Crowley's hunting him down... it would give him the chance to escape and hide...' She fell silent, pondering.

Psyche shrugged a wing in the direction of the inland. "Then why not we meet him?" he suggested casually. "I should also like to meet this dragon, and perhaps warn him about his brother. Although, I can assume that he has already known the crow-dragon's intentions for a very long time."

Cherry shook her head. 'I'm not sure, but I don't think he's aware of exactly //how// much Crowley wants to destroy him. That's why I want to talk to him... and make sure he understands.' Shaking the note of regret from her tone, she asked, 'Do you know where he is now?'

Psyche shrugged. "Could be anywhere by now. I wasn't the one who sighted him, but the one who did said he had flown in from the Yellow Sea," he said as he nodded at the open waters. Psyche looked back at the island. "My guess is that he's headed in a north or north-eastern direction, so we ought to start searching there. Heading north will benefit me as well," he added.

'Well then, if it's OK with you... I think we should go there right now,' Cherry said, following Psyche's gaze to the distant, slightly foggy northern mountains. //I wonder what Lucifer is like...// she mused absently.

"I see nothing wrong in that," Psyche assured her. "But let's get out of this crowded area before we take flight. We don't want to disrupt the humans with our blustery wingbeats," he cautioned.

The two dragons were able to quickly make their way out of the marketplace, with Cherry following Psyche, as he knew the area better than her. Once they were in an open spot free of any humans, she turned to look northwards and gave a few warm-up stretches of her wings. 'Ready to go?' she enquired.

Psyche gave a curt nod before launching off the ground and giving a powerful sweep of his massive wings to send him soaring over the marshes. He looked over his shoulder to make sure the pink dragon was following.

Cherry took off with slightly less speed than the larger dragon, flapping several times before she ascended to his level. 'You pick the direction,' she half-shouted over the rushing of the wind. 'I'll follow.'

An air current buffeted the two dragons as they continued flying, and Cherry adjusted the angle of her tail to avoid going off course.

By then, the weather had calmed enough to allow flight, but still too ragged to be considered easy. Psyche's large wings and heavy body helped a lot in keeping steady, but the much smaller and lighter Cherry had more difficulty, so he slowed down enough that she didn't have to struggle to keep up.

Psyche adjusted his wings to let the wind carry himself over to the pink dragon's side, then leveled out. "What do you know about this Lucifer dragon?" he asked to pass the time.

'Not much at all...' she admitted. 'I've heard a little about him from Crowley, but nothing that could help me learn about who he really is. You already know why Crowley hates Lucifer, don't you?'

"Enough slipped his mouth that I can make a fair guess of his story," Psyche said. "Crowley's hatred burns so deeply for one who is merely jealous of his brother... I wonder how Lucifer has taken this."

Cherry turned her eyes ahead to watch out for potential obstacles; the wind was gathering speed and becoming rougher the further they flew. 'I guess we won't know until we meet him,' she said absently. 'It might seem surprising that Crowley would try to kill his brother out of sheer jealousy, but Crowley's never been... well... completely mentally stable,' she finished, opting not to use the word 'insane'.

Psyche snorted. "So he was crazy from the start, huh? That explains a lot." Silence befell the duo for a moment, the only other sound the rippling of their wings and the rush of the wind.

After a minute of quiet meditating, Psyche spoke up again. "Why are you protecting Lucifer from his brother?" he asked. "The crow-dragon told me that nothing is holding you back from leaving him, and yet you choose to stay by his side anyways. Why then do you wish to go against his desires?"

'I don't stay with him because I agree with what he does,' said Cherry. 'I stay with him to... well, it's hard to explain. I guess... I want to make him into a better person. If it's even possible...' Even as she spoke, she had no idea why she was telling Psyche this, her secrets that she'd kept to herself for so long. //Maybe I'm just desperate to get the weight off my shoulders,// she thought.

Psyche nodded slowly. "So you wish to help him." He paused, remembering back to the last time they parted. "But you told me yourself that the crow-dragon will never change his ways. How can you hope to convince him to change if you cannot even convince yourself that you can change him?"

Cherry flapped her wings slightly in what might have been the airbourne equivalant of a shrug. 'I have moments of hopelessness...' she admitted. 'Sometimes I think it's impossible to change him, but I have to at least try. Besides, I've already made some progress. He doesn't murder people anymore.' A small smile appeared on her face, but fade quickly. 'He still wants to kill Lucifer, though.'

(*faded. I'm typing too fast. XD)

(Lol XD It happens)

"Then you still haven't accomplished that," Psyche stated, a hint of humor in his voice. "But, there is something about your presence that pacifies him, if only a little. I too believe that you are capable of changing him. Although, protecting Lucifer from him will not make the crow-dragon a better dragon, and is even less likely to stop him from wishing to kill his brother, but I have not the wisdom to know how to better handle this," he admitted. "I have never been situated with an insane dragon, after all."

'Right now, my only goal is to make sure Lucifer knows what's coming for him,' said Cherry. 'He might not know Crowley still wants to kill him, after that failed attempt all those years ago...'

She tilted her wings to better catch the wind and glanced down to see a row of mountains stretching beneath them. There were several small caves visible in the rock, along with a patch of sparse green woodland. 'Shall we go and check out this area?' she asked.

Psyche briefly pondered what Cherry had meant by 'failed attempt', but decided that it was best left unexplained. "Good idea," he replied. "Are you hungry?"

She ducked her head and replied quickly, 'Sure, I guess.' Noticing they were now directly above the trees, she half-furled her wings and started to descend in a slow, lazy spiral.

Psyche followed in Cherry's descent and soon joined her on the ground of a small clearing in the trees. His serpentine blue tongue flicked at the air, searching for prey as well as any traces of Lucifer's scent. He wouldn't be disappointed if he didn't pick up his trail, but since the white dragon had just flown across the Yellow Sea, Psyche couldn't help but consider the possibility that he might have been hungry enough to stop there to eat.

The smell of animals was appetizingly strong in the forest - scents varied from bears to monkeys to wild boar. "Any food preferences?" Psyche asked Cherry.

'I usually eat smaller prey,' she began. 'Rabbits and such... but I suppose anything would be fine.' She mimicked Psyche's movement, trying to catch the air for any trace of an unfamiliar dragon scent. She didn't know what Lucifer smelled of, after all.

(Now that I remember it, from where they currently are, the East China Sea is closer than the Yellow Sea... oh well XD)

Psyche paused to search his memory. "You could find rabbits... there are also plenty varieties of birds, foxes, small boar and raccoons... plenty of everything to go around, so feel free to eat whatever you find." He tasted the air once more before pouncing into the forest, picking up and following the strongest scent trail. Since Psyche was such a large dragon, his diet consisted of large creatures, so a black bear or a few deer would better satisfy him.

Cherry made some mental calculations and noted that if she and Psyche split up, they would have a better chance of finding food without scaring the prey away. She headed off in the opposite direction into the woods, scenting the air every now and again to pick up the smell of small animals.

After just half an hour, she had managed to catch and eat two mountain rabbits. Leaving the remains under a tree for scavengers, she started to walk back to the place she'd last seen Psyche when something on the ground caught her eye. She bent her head to examine it; a single glistening silver feather. 'Psyche? Over here!' she called out as loudly as she dared.

Psyche was finishing up a large buck when he recognized Cherry's voice sounding through the trees. He went rigid for a moment, wondering if she was in trouble, then assumed otherwise and bounded soundlessly in the call's direction.

He soon spotted the dragonette's pink hide and slinked over to her side to discover a white, glossy feather, abandoned on the forest floor. Psyche leaned towards it, his forked tongue sensing the air around it curiously. After a moment, he stepped back. "It smells of dragon," he confirmed. "And the scent is somewhat fresh. Our first true clue."

Cherry nodded. 'Maybe if we're lucky, we can find him today.' Then an idea struck her. 'Now we know what Lucifer's scent is like, could we track him down by following the scent trail?'

(Sorry for taking so long to reply, I've been busy today and I'm pretty tired now. XD)

(No problem! I was pretty absent yesterday as well xP)

"A bright idea," Psyche encouraged. "It seems that he has gone through the forest on foot, so tracking his scent should be very easy."

Psyche turned and looked into the direction where the dragon's scent led. "The sooner we move, the more likely we'll catch up with him. Have you had your fill yet?"

'I'm good,' Cherry replied, thinking back to the rabbit remains she'd left under the tree deeper in the forest. 'Let's hurry and find him before it gets dark, if we can.'

Psyche checked the sky before taking the lead down the white dragon's trail, keeping up a progressive pace but moving slow enough to not miss any details. He took note of the occasional feather on the ground that ascertained that they were headed in the right direction. "I wonder if this Lucifer dragon will be resting in this forest," Psyche mused. "Other than for food, he hasn't any reason to be down here."

'Maybe he came here to find food, and is resting now on the ground somewhere,' suggested Cherry. 'It might be hard to him for fly away if he's eaten a lot.' She swooped a few feet lower, barely skimming over the treetops as she searched the area below for further signs of Lucifer's presence.

(Ahh, I kinda want to join Kjumper's new RP, but I think the timezone differences will make it impossible. Sometimes it's inconvenient living here in the UK. XD)

(I'm super excited to join! If I'm chosen, of course... I want to be unique, so I'm thinking about a spider centaur, but spider-haters will hate me for it 'XD
I'm not sure what KJumper's timezone is - who knows, she might actually be in the UK too! XD)

(I'm pretty sure she lives in America, which makes her timezone about six hours before mine. But I'll try to join anyway, X))

Psyche turned his head to the setting sun as he sailed over the treetops before returning his gaze to the shadow-splattered forest floor. A sudden question popped up in his head and he glanced at Cherry. "Do you have night vision?" he inquired.

(I guess we'll never know unless we ask her directly xP If you are entering, I am excited to see your entry!)

Cherry hesitated. 'Well... my vision isn't that great in the dark, but it's probably better than a human's,' she replied. 'Why?'

"Just wondering," Psyche replied as he looked back at the quickly sinking sun. "If you had night vision, then we would have been able search the forest even after it was dark. After all, we haven't much daylight left. We too should start thinking about finding a place to rest."

'I guess so...' Cherry glanced down at the darkening woodland stretching beneath them. 'If we fly into the mountains up ahead, we should be able to find a cave big enough to hide in.' She fell silent, contemplating. //If I'm gone for too long, Crowley will wonder where I am.//

Psyche nodded in compliance, then sent his gaze to the mountain side to search for a cave to rest in. When a black gap gradually came into view, Psyche veered towards it, but he noticed that the white dragon's scent grew stronger the closer he came to the cave. "Cherry..." he murmured.

--MEANWHILE--
Lucifer stirred against the cold, unwelcoming rock floor of his temporary lair as he heard faint noises outside; he shivered and tried not to think about whatever monsters might be lurking out there... //I want to go home,// he thought, but knew it was impossible. After days of travelling, he barely had the energy to stand up on his own four legs, let alone summon a warp-portal. He was trapped in this strange world until morning.

Suddenly, his ears caught the sound of leathery wings beating powerfully against the air, and his whole body stiffened in recognition. There were other dragons outside - dragons who he wouldn't be able to fight.

He shrank back against the cave wall as the sound grew progressively louder. 'Stay away...' he whimpered, largely to himself.

(I really want to have an action scene or battle sometime, but I don't have any ideas for their opponents. XD)

(Ditto! XD I don't have any other OCs who live in Japan, and I doubt you do either, so they'd have to warp somewhere else... maybe Cherry brings Lucifer to another place and they encounter another dragon?)

Psyche tucked his wings in once he reached the cave and dropped at the entrance, landing gracefully and cat-like. He paused to taste the air, and after ascertaining that Lucifer was in it, he stepped inside.
The cave was cold and received little light, partially because his large shoulders almost entirely covered the entrance, but his eyes quickly adjusted to reveal a small stony room. On the opposite side of the clearing crouched a thin and weary white dragon, its back arched defensively and feathered wings tilted back. Psyche awed at the difference between this dragon and his brother - one was dark, sinister, and mocking, and the other was travel-battered and fearful.

"Lucifer?" Psyche addressed in a calm voice that he hoped would ease the white dragon's nerves.

'Wh-who are you? Why are you here?' Lucifer asked, his voice rising to a near squeak. He tried to press himself further back, away from the huge dragon silhouette looming in front of him, but there was nowhere else to run. In a panic, he summoned his energy to create a portal, but found he was too exhausted. He collapsed, gasping for breath. 'Don't... come... any... closer...' he forced out.

Before Psyche could speak up again, Cherry stepped around his bulk to make herself visible to the white crowdragon. 'It's OK,' she said, hoping her gentle voice and appearance might convince him they weren't enemies. 'We won't harm you, we just want to talk.'

(Great idea. I think Cherry will make a portal to take Psyche and Lucifer to another world where they can all rest, but they get attacked by someone there. I'll have to pick out one of my OCs to be the enemy, unless you want to use one of yours?)

(You go ahead and use one of yours. None of my aggressive OCs have been thoroughly developed yet xP)

(Haha, OK. I only have somewhere around 180 OCs to choose from... XD)

Psyche realized that his towering and intimidating appearance was not helping, so he crouched low and spread his wings onto the ground in an attempt to look submissive and harmless. "We won't you Lucifer; we are friends. We have come here to protect you from your brother." Psyche pondered what Lucifer thought of his brother and whether he was terrified of him or not.

(oops, meant "We won't hurt you,)

(I keep a lot of text documents on my computer containing all the information I know about them... Although some of my old OCs aren't used anymore, I still keep track of them. XD)

(And yeah, I'm awake late tonight. XD My internet gets turned off now though, so I'll reply to this tomorrow.)

(Dangit, I have a problem with deleting comments without thinking xP
Okay then, see you later!)

'My brother? Y-you know him?' Internally Lucifer wondered if these people were Crowley's messengers and felt a spark of excitement at the thought of being able to talk to his brother again. But it quickly faded when Cherry stepped forwards, her face grave and serious.

'Lucifer, listen,' she said urgently. 'I... I've spoken to Crowley, and he wants to kill you. He's going to find you one day, and then you'll be in trouble.' She left out any mention that she was actually Crowley's assistant, not knowing how Lucifer would react, and glanced at Psyche instead. 'This is my... friend Psyche, he's on our side too.'

"Pleasure to meet you," Psyche said with a courteous dip of his head. "We find it important to tell you that your brother will stop at nothing to find you, and that he will show you no mercy," he warned. "I suggest that you avoid staying in one place too long, and not warp to anywhere that the crow-dragon has been. Your life is at stake."

Lucifer shuffled his feet; once his initial fear of the two strangers had worn off, trepidation had quickly been replaced by embarrassment, 'Actually, I'm looking for him too,' he said hesitantly. 'I know he tried to kill me before, but I still want to see him again. Maybe I can reason with him...'

"From what I've seen and experienced, simply //talking// with him is impossible," Psyche snorted. "His mind is beyond reasoning. Especially if it is you who is reasoning with him, since you are the dragon that he hates most in the universe." Psyche wrapped his tail around himself like a cat. "You will only give him a chance to kill you if you confront him, so I won't let you do that." In truth, Psyche didn't want the brothers confronting each other because that would satisfy Crowley, and he had no intention of letting the grouchy crow-dragon get his way.

Lucifer looked distraught, flattening himself against the cave floor. 'Is it really impossible?' he whispered. 'Should I give up hope that I'll ever have my brother back?'

Before the white dragon could go on muttering to himself, Cherry spoke up. 'I know you're probably tired, but this isn't a safe place to rest. Crowley could find us here; he knows Psyche lives in Japan, so he could possibly find a way to come here and attack you.' She closed her eyes for a long moment, losing herself in consideration. 'I'm going to make a portal and take both of you to a safer world.'

"Very true," Psyche agreed. "I don't want that vermin crow on my lands; he would only soil them," he said with a scowl. Psyche checked on Lucifer. "Can you stand?"

Lucifer shakily got to his feet while, near the cave entrance, Cherry summoned her magic to open a new warp-portal. 'I'm taking us to England,' she announced as the white crowdragon stumbled forwards, hesitantly leaning on Psyche's muscled foreleg for support. 'It's one of the few places Crowley doesn't visit. But dragons aren't welcome there, so we'll only stay the night. Is that OK?'

(I still have no idea who their enemy should be... I picked England because I don't have that many developed fantasy worlds, but I also don't have many evil OCs who live there. XD)

(Lol XD Hopefully we can figure something out... I'm out of ideas right now xP)

Psyche wondered how Lucifer could have wrung himself out so much as he assisted the white dragon towards the cave's mouth, but decided to wait until he was better rested to ask any questions.

The two dragons exited the cave and stopped by Cherry's side as she summoned a swirling vortex before her. "You first?" Psyche offered.

Cherry nodded and jumped through, careful to keep the visual memory of their destination clear in her mind. She hoped the others would follow quickly, as she could already feel the portal draining her energy from the effort of maintaining it.

Raising her head to observe her surroundings, she found herself standing on wet, muddy grass - and it was raining. Hard. She let out a soft sigh. Somewhere in the West Country, no doubt.

Heavy rain slapped Psyche's face the moment he stepped through the other side of the portal, and he flattened his ears in distate. "Cozy choice," he commented. Psyche was somewhat glad that Cherry's vortex had closed shortly after he came through, because he might have jumped back in.

He gazed down at the panting white dragon that was slumped against his shoulder then looked to Cherry. "Any nearby shelters you know of? This guy doesn't look like he'll be able to travel far."

'Well, this //is// England,' Cherry muttered, then raised her voice enough to say, 'There's an abandoned building not far from here... hardly anyone goes near it nowadays, so we should be safe. Come with me.' She set off at a brisk but steady pace, not bothering to take flight as she knew from experience that the rainwater would weight her down in the air.

Lucifer looked up, blinking, and seemed to regain a tiny fraction of his energy - or at least enough to stand shakily on his own four legs. 'I'm coming...' he murmured. The cold was getting to him; his feathers weren't keeping out the rain sufficently to stop him trembling.

Psyche watched as Lucifer stumbled ahead, then followed after him after he deciding that the white dragon could manage on his own.
The area around them was too dull and blurry in the rain to be interesting to look at, so Psyche kept his eyes on the ground in front of him or on Lucifer. He found it amusing that Crowley and Lucifer were both the same crow-like dragon species, yet their scales were the exact opposite colors. //I wonder how that happened?// he mused.

Cherry led them along a stony path half-hidden by slick mud until they saw the silhouette of a derelict building emerge on the horizon. With the weather conditions too horrible to even see what the place looked like, Cherry hurried inside through the open front door, stepping sideways to invite her companions in after her. 'Sorry about the rain...' she said a little guiltily.

Lucifer staggered to a bedraggled couch and collapsed onto it. For a moment it looked like he was going to fall asleep, but then he raised his head and fixed Psyche with a surprisingly piercing gaze. 'I... I want to know exactly what's going on,' he said quietly. 'How did you talk to my brother? If he's really as evil as you said, why didn't he kill //you?//'

Psyche tilted his head in thought. "I wonder... I teased and provoked him constantly, yet he never tried to kill me. Well, there was one time where he attacked me, but he hasn't tried anything since."
He found a spot by the wall and settled down alongside it. "He is quite a mysterious character, isn't he?"

'He definitely is...' replied Cherry, a weary note to her voice. 'Maybe he thought you could be useful to him, so he let you live. Just remember that Crowley's completely unpredictable. Just because he hasn't tried to kill you //yet,// it doesn't mean he never will.'

A cold silence followed her little speech, broken only by the hammering of rainwater on the roof above. Finally Lucifer turned to address the two dragons.

'I-I'm still not sure why you're here,' he said uncertainly. 'Why do you want to stop my brother hurting me? You don't even know me.'

Psyche shrugged. "Cherry here was the one who wanted to warn you; I just wanted to meet you, and compare you to the crow-dragon. And now that I have met you, I can see that you two are quite the opposites," Psyche mused.

'My parents - our parents - always called me their white angel,' said Lucifer, speaking more confidently now. 'Maybe that's why Crowley got angry. Maybe --'

Before he could finish, the entire building was rocked by a sudden tremor. Lucifer shrieked and fell off the couch, while Cherry instinctively leapt under Psyche's large wing for protection. Then, as quickly as it had started, the shaking stopped. The pink dragon warily lifted her head, sniffing the air to try and detect any unusual scents.

Psyche stood silently after the tremor had ended, his wings partially unfolded and his ears straining. He could hear and smell nothing besides the creaking of the disturbed walls and the muddy rain outside. "Does England have earthquakes often?" He asked Cherry from under his wing.

'N-no,' she murmured, recovering from the shock and creeping out into the middle of the room again. 'I can't smell anything unusual, but I feel like that was caused by something alive...'

At that, Lucifer untangled himself from his own feathered wings and sat up straight, eyes widening. 'Alive? Could it be Crowley?'

Cherry shook her head absently. 'I'd recognise his scent straight away.'

(By the way, if you want to take the role of the enemy here, feel free. If not, I'll create something for it. XD)

(Thanks for commenting on my latest post! My goal was to make him creepy but cool, but I don't know if I accomplished the latter or not xP)

(You go ahead if you would like to, unless you would prefer that I did. It would even out the number of characters that each of us controls after all...)

(He definitely is cool! You're great at making unique-looking characters.)

(I'd rather you took this character, seeing as I have 3 and you only have 1... I kinda feel like I'm controlling this RP, which is not my intention. DX)

(I didn't think that at all, but okie dokie! x))

"I feel that way too," Psyche agreed. "And if it could shake this building that much, then we had better stay outside in case it decides to collapse the ceiling on top of us." Psyche began to head for the entrance to the building. "And I have a premonition that remaining in here would only give it the opportunity to trap us."

Cherry looked shaken, but oddly more determined than she had in hours. 'OK,' she said quietly. 'Let's get out.'

Among the commotion, Lucifer sidled close to her and Psyche, apparently getting over his fear of the two strangers in the face of something possibly more horrifying.

The three dragons exited the building together and stopped outside to survey their surroundings. The rain was still falling, but the downpour had softened enough to allow further visibility. Psyche could not see anything that appeared to be living, but he could still sense the mystery creature's presence, so he continued to strain for any signs of the intruder.

The ground trembled again, this time so small and unnoticeable that Psyche almost missed it, but it was all that he needed to figure everything out. "Below," Psyche breathed. Almost before he had finished speaking, the ground shook violently and the earth split open before them. From below, a huge creature - a dragon - at least a third bigger than Psyche and reddish-brown in color heaved itself from the torn up earth with its muscular front legs. The dragon shook the dirt off its body, the tall spines that lined its spine rattling together like bones.

Once it fixed its beady golden eyes on the three dragons, it let an ground-shaking roar tear itself from its throat. "WHO DARES TRESPASS ON MY TURF??" It bellowed scornfully.

Lucifer practically threw himself behind Cherry in terror, but the pink dragon was hardly faring any better herself.

'I-I-I...' she began, slowly backing away. 'We were just...' Then a thought struck her. 'H-how is this //your// turf? Creatures like you aren't supposed to live here...'

Psyche glanced at Cherry, surprised that she should ask such a challenging question towards literally the hugest threat at the moment, but it was too late for her to take it back.

"YOU DO NOT ASK THE QUESTIONS HERE!!" The dragon shrieked. His wings spread out to reveal a wrinkled, holey membrane that ruffled like paper when he flapped them in anger. "THIS IS RIGHTFULLY MY TERRITORY BECAUSE //I// CLAIMED IT, SO //YOU// ARE TRESPASSERS! GET OUT BEFORE I BRING YOU TO YOUR GRAVES!!"

'We need to stay here!' Cherry's gaze hardened. 'If you won't let us, we'll h-have to fight you.' She drew in a lungful of air and, opening her jaws to their widest extent, exhaled a jet of flame that nearly reached the other dragon where it stood. Then she flared out her pale-pink wings in mimicry of the beast, though the gesture was nowhere near as intimidating when used by her.

Lucifer hung back, looking highly uncertain, not to mention terrified.

Psyche understood that with their opponent bigger and stronger than himself and a weakened dragon to protect, a fight was not likely to be won. Now that a fight was unavoidable, Psyche set his feet apart and roared a challenge, his wings spread out to cover Lucifer.

The newcomer laughed scornfully from deep down in his throat. "Looks like some dragons don't know how to preserve their lives," he sneered. His yellow eyes scanned the intruders, and with a thrust from his muscled legs and a piercing roar, the dragon launched himself straight at Cherry.

Cherry was not, by any means of the word, a nimble dragon. She forced herself to wait until the beast's jaws were almost upon her, then reared up and struck blows on his muzzle, trying to pierce the rough scale armour. A moment later his massive head smashed into her and she was thrown sideways, rolling a few times before coming to a halt in front of Psyche. She pulled herself back to her feet with difficulty, staggering as disorientation took over.

Lucifer cowered back as the sounds of combat began to roll across the rain-soaked landscape.

The moment the dragon's momentum stopped, Psyche sprang into his side, the impact causing their opponent to stumble sideways. The dragon reached around and snapped at Psyche, managing to catch his shoulder, which he used to pin him onto the ground and attack him with a flurry of claws.

Cherry recovered from the earlier blow and leapt upright, shaking her head to clear the rainwater out of her face and gritting her teeth as a dull ache sprung up immediately in the place she'd been hit. She glanced around and spotted Lucifer cowering back in the darkness, looking to be on the verge of collapse, but she quickly noted that Psyche was in greater danger.

While nowhere near large enough to wrestle the dragon off Psyche, Cherry bounded forwards, hitting her top running speed before smashing shoulder-first into the side of the dragon's head, putting all her weight behind the charge.

The dragon shrieked in pain when the impact slammed into the side of its skull, and it staggered sideways as its vision spun wildly. Psyche seized the chance to kick out with his hind legs and send it tumbling backwards into the mud.
The dragon snarled as it leaped back onto its feet, frustration blazing in its eyes and a viscous snarl wrinkling its snout.

(I'm not sure whether I'm roleplaying the new dragon as a random enemy or an actual character... should I be doing the latter?)

(I was only thinking of him as an enemy, but it'd be pretty cool if you turned him into a new character.)

As Cherry prepared to run at the monster a second time, she heard a dull thump somewhere behind them. Hurrying back to look, she found Lucifer's bright white body lying motionless on the damp earth, one wing folded awkwardly under him. She checked his heartbeat; it was fast but weak. She gritted her teeth. //He must have finally passed out from exhaustion after his long travels.//

She then ducked her head instinctively as the larger dragon's tail cracked through the air not three feet above her. Leaving Lucifer alone for the moment, she turned around to shoot a thin jet of flame in the beast's direction.

(I might just do that, but I don't know if I will voice his thoughts or anything. He'd probably be more of a secondary character, no name until introduced and no thoughts narrated, like how I've been doing it so far.)

As Psyche and the earth dragon were tussling in a battle of strength, a stream of fire shot towards them and rolled across the larger dragon's flank. He hissed in annoyance as the scorching heat seeped between his scales, and Psyche used the chance to slash him above the eye. The monster roared in agony, stepping back to blink away the blood that dripped into his eye. Psyche seized the moment to shoot a glance in Cherry's direction and caught a glimpse of a motionless white lump sprawled beside her. 'Lucifer's out...' he groaned inwardly. 'We need to help him. He'll only be a burden if he cannot move or defend himself.'

Having recovered from his wound, the muscled dragon reared up and sent his full weight onto his distracted opponent, crumpling him beneath his weight. Psyche grunted in surprise as his legs buckled beneath him, and soon both dragons were rolling in the mud, wings and tails flailing and teeth snapping wildly.

Cherry stood protectively over Lucifer's crumpled form for a moment, then realised she could not afford to leave her companion fighting alone any longer. Reaching down, she locked her jaws around the scruff of his neck and dragged him several feet away, before depositing him unceremoniously behind a tree stump. //Hopefully he'll be safe until I come back...// she thought.

Hearing the sounds of combat intensifying behind her, Cherry rushed back to fully join the battle for the first time. Seeing that the dragon was preoccupied with tearing into Psyche, she lunged forwards and slashed her front claws down his side, leaving bIoody lines almost a foot long. She braced herself in preparation for the dragon's inevitable retaliatory attack.

The dark dragon let out a blood-curdling shriek as talons scored down his flank. Shoving Psyche away from him, he whipped around to face the smaller dragon. He then launched himself into her and knocked her onto the sodden ground, his massive burrowing claws digging into her shoulders.

She let out an involuntary yelp and, reflex kicking in, immediately swung her tail up to hit him solidly anywhere she could reach. But the monster was huge and barely seemed to notice the small blows. Its scale armour was like iron.

Further away, hidden behind his tree stump, Lucifer stirred uneasily in unconsciousness.

Painfully, Cherry shot a thin jet of flame onto the dragon's thick foreleg, trying to get the needle-like claws out of her shoulder.

The dragon hissed in annoyance but stayed firm. "Your fire is weak," he taunted in Cherry's face. "Let me show you what a true dragon is." He then arched his neck back and inhaled, gas hissing in his throat in preperation for a lethal flame.

Just before the monster could ignite his fire, Psyche, having recovered from the earlier tussle, pounced onto his back and sunk his claws in. He then mumbled a regretful apology of sorts. "I hadn't wanted to do this, but..." Psyche sucked in a lungful of air, then exhaled a brilliant blue flame onto the dragon's shoulder blades. Blazing hot fire melted through scales and into knotted muscles, filling his nostrils with the smell of scorched flesh.

Having forgotten about his own flame, the dragon cried out in unbearable pain, but choked on the gasses in his throat, causing them to erupt internally. He shrieked all the more, and Psyche leaped off his back as he stumbled to the ground and writhed in the mud in an attempt to put the flames out.

Psyche watched remorsefully, knowing that his flame would leave a permanent scar on the dragon's back, or, even worse, damage his wing muscles beyond repair, thus rendering him forever flightless.

Cherry scrabbled away from the dragon as he trashed in agony on the grass, wincing as his shrill scream pierced her sensitive eardrums. The still-falling rain quickly extinguished Psyche's fire, but the damage was already done. She staggered over to her companion and nearly fell into his side as her injured shoulder almost gave way beneath her.

'I think it's over...' she murmured, voice barely audible over the weather and the dragon's roars.

Psyche nodded vigilantly, then looked Cherry over. "You should rest," he prodded. "I will see to it that we stay here, on peaceful terms." He then turned away from her and approached their fallen opponent.

The earth dragon had stopped flailing by then, and he lay limply in the mud, smoke rising from his back and his labored breaths sounding rough like claws on metal. Psyche stood over him, and the beast lifted his head to meet his eyes. "We will stay here until we are ready," Psyche stated.
"You dare have your way on //my// territory?" the dragon rasped despite his pathetic appearance. He made a move to stand up. "I won't allow it..!"
Psyche placed a paw on his shoulder, forcing him back down. "You have lost," he said sternly. "Admit defeat, and keep your life."
The dragon glared at him hatefully, but after a moment, he slumped down in submission, and Psyche lifted his paw off of him.

Cherry hesitated to watch the brief confrontation between the two dragons, unsure if Psyche could handle the situation alone. When it became clear that the larger beast was too injured to start another fight, she limped away, picking up the still-unconscious Lucifer by the scruff of his neck as she went. Exhaustion crept up on her like the tide. More than anything else at that moment, she wanted sleep.

Once she was inside the derelict, abandoned building again, she dropped Lucifer rather unceremoniously on the floor and left him; normally she would be more careful, but she was almost too tired to care. She stumbled a few paces from his body, then slumped down and curled herself into a comfortable position. She would be fast asleep by the time Psyche returned to the building.

(By the way, I'd like to draw something for this RP, maybe Cherry and Psyche together if that's OK with you. X) But I'd almost certainly do it with my tablet (no canvas size restrictions) so I'd have to post it on dA.)

As Psyche stepped away from the larger dragon and began to make his way over to their temporary shelter, he realized how much of a beating his body had taken. His muscles protested with each step, and the numberless claw marks on his belly and forelegs throbbed like a beating heart. He swallowed the pain though, as he had learned to do in his days as a guardian in Japan. 'Succumbing to pain was for the weak', as he had often been told.

Upon entering the mishapen, run-down building, Psyche located Lucifer sloppishly deposited on the stone floor and Cherry not far from him, tail snugly wrapped around herself and sound asleep. He settled down between the two dragons, and found that he fit quite comfortably between them and at the same time kept both them and himself warm. Although he had intended to stay up and keep watch, exhaustion overcame him and soon, Psyche had slipped off to join his partners in their slumber.

(Ooh, that would be awesome! I can't wait to see it! Of course, since I don't own a dA account, you'll have to notify me once it's finished x))

(I have also been wanting to attempt a sketch or basic drawing of the new dragon to show what I imagine him to look like. However, I don't know if I will be able to successfully recreate the image in my head. xP)

(Haha, OK. X) And I'd love to see what the dragon looks like, it'd be interesting to see if it matches up with how I imagine him to look.)

--NEXT MORNING--

Cherry woke up slowly - more so than she was used to. She normally slept uneasily, waking at the smallest provocation, a by-product of sharing a cave with Crowley - she tended to be too nervous to relax. However, the crowdragon himself rarely woke her up, as he loathed early mornings and was often still asleep at noon.

Easing her head up off her forelegs, she quietly surveyed the room and smiled slightly when she noticed Psyche curled up between her and Lucifer. With both of them asleep, it gave her a perfect opportunity to watch them in a way she never had before. //I still wonder why Psyche wants to help us,// she mused. //He said he doesn't want to give Crowley the satisfaction of killing Lucifer, but is that the only reason?//

She swept her gaze over his still form, taking in the sight of the half-healed wounds he'd gotten in his battle against the earth dragon. Her own injuries were not healing any faster, and she hoped they wouldn't hinder her in continuing their journey. //I want to help Lucifer,// she thought, staring at the tiny, weak white dragon snuggled up on Psyche's other side. //I might not really know him, but I know he doesn't deserve to be killed by his own brother, regardless of what happened when they were children.//

She rose to her feet and cautiously approached Psyche, nudging his shoulder with her muzzle. 'We have to wake up. lt's time to leave.'

Psyche stirred slowly and opened his eyes to early daylight. Instinctively, alertness and energy snapped on in him and he sat up, fully awake now, but paused when he noticed Cherry's wounded foreleg. "Aren't you still injured?" he asked rhetorically. "We should properly rest before we make any attempts at traveling," he mentioned, then glanced over to the insignificant heap of ungroomed white feathers beside him. "Lucifer especially. He's done more traveling than both of us combined as of lately."

'I guess you're right,' Cherry replied reluctantly. 'I'm worried about the earth dragon, though. He might attack again.'

He threw a glance in the direction of the doorway. "I don't believe he is in any condition to cause trouble... after all, the dragon still has his pride. He will accept his defeat quietly." Now that his mind was focused on him, Psyche wondered how the beast had fared through the night. He had suffered the worst wounds out of all of them, had lost a good portion of his ego by losing on his own turf, and had been forced to sleep outside. However, judging from how he made his entrance, the earth dragon likely slept underground, instead of the building that they were currently in. Most likely, his large size would only cause it to collapse on himself if he tried to inhibit it.
"I feel that it is my responsibility to check on him," Psyche stated as he rose to hos feet. "He was a respectable opponent, after all. Join me if you would like," he said while making his way over to the exit.

(Also, would you tag your two drawings of Psyche with #FGPsyche? It'd be great if I could view all the drawings of him in one place x))

(Of course. X))

Stealing a final quick glance at Lucifer to ensure the white crowdragon wouldn't be waking up anytime soon, Cherry slunk to Psyche's side and headed out of the doorway.

Outside, the air carried the sharp, clear coolness of early morning; it couldn't be later than 5 or 6 AM. Looking around, Cherry saw evidence of the battle everywhere - claw and scorch marks on the ground, a few tufts of Psyche's mane and even some splashes of blood staining the green grass. She shuddered. The night's darkness had hidden the signs before, but now she could see all of them in vivid detail. She stared determinedly at her own paw as they walked.

Psyche surveyed the clearing, but no earth dragon could be sighted. He made his way over to the vacant spot where their opponent had once lain, careful to avoid the rainwater-filled gashes in the earth and the splashes of blood that made the area look ghastly.

Though he had slipped away from the scene, obvious signs of a large creature dragging itself through the mud led to a nearby copse of trees. Psyche followed it at a casual trot, and soon discovered the reddish-brown dragon which was heaped miserably at the end of the trail.

He must have been awake, because he lifted his head to look at Psyche and Cherry before they had even addressed him. His eyes burned with contempt and hatred as he glared at them eerily. Psyche couldn't blame him though -
not after they had challenged him for his territory without his consent or approval, and had won. "What do you want?" the dragon hissed in a frail voice.

Cherry very nearly shrank back behind Psyche as the sound of the earth dragon's rough, rattling voice snapped the morning air. It was a voice that threatened a cruel death to any who opposed it. However, she forced herself to stand tall and not cower back like Lucifer.

'W-we came to see if... you were all right,' she said lamely.

(sorry for any spelling errors I might make, it's nearly 1AM and I'm kinda asleep here XD)

(Why were you up so late?? XD)

The earth dragon snorted in disgust. "I would rather //die// than receive sympathy from an enemy," he growled. He set his head back down on his crossed forelegs. "Leave me alone, and get out of my territory."
"Your wounds are serious," Psyche warned him. "If you don't treat them immediately, you may never be able to fly again."

Psyche caught a flash of fear in his eyes when the beast returned them to the two dragons, but they disappeared as quickly as they had come. "Why should I trust what you say?" he asked suspiciously. "What if you are tricking me into letting my guard down, so you can kill me?"

(It's fun. XD I always stay up until 12 or 1AM, and then I don't wake up until 11AM in the morning. XD)

Cherry intervened. 'Listen, I'm sorry about what we did. It really was rude for us to shoulder into your territory like that... but we were desperately in need to somewhere to stay, and our companion was too weak to travel further.' She dipped her head in a gesture of apology. 'And please, listen to my friend. He's not lying to you.'

The dragon snorted again, but he must have understood the graveness in his situation because he didn't retort. "So what do I do?" he snuffed.

"It may already be too late for you, since you waited overnight, allowing the heat to spread all about. But try submerging yourself in water," Psyche suggested. "Cold water. It should stop the heat from causing more damage and will temporarily soothe the pain." He then turned to Cherry. "Do you know of any nearby sources of water? You've been here before."

'S-sure. There should be a river not far from here,' said Cherry. She stole a nervous glance at the earth dragon, then turned back to Psyche. 'I... I think you should stay here while I take him to find the water. I don't want to leave Lucifer alone in the shelter, when he's weak and defenceless.'

(I would stay up late too if I didn't have morning classes on some days xP)

The wounded dragon retorted angrily before Psyche could reply to Cherry. "I know where the river is, and I can take care of myself!" he growled as he heaved himself onto his feet.

As the earth dragon began to lumber off through the trees, Psyche turned to Cherry. "Are you sure about this? You don't have the strength to support him if he collapses, and I have more knowledge on healing burns than you do," he pointed out. "Why not we wake Lucifer up and bring him with us? He's rested long enough to be able to move around."

"Besides, we will probably find plenty of prey by the river," he added. They hadn't eaten since yesterday, and food would replenish the energy that they had burned up during their fight with the earth dragon.

(*grabs popcorn to watch Kjumper's RP*)

Cherry quickly contemplated his idea, then nodded in agreement. 'OK, I'll go back and fetch him. You go on ahead... I'll catch you up in a few minutes.' She turned and hurried back to their shelter, leaving Psyche to deal with the sulky earth dragon alone.

(I think we might have to split this RP again... this part is getting pretty long, and it'll allow us to take a break from it before continuing. Then again, I'm not entirely sure how and when to end this. XD)

(I guess it would be fine if we just abruptly ended it like this, and then in the next RP we pick up immediately where we had left off, with no introductions or fill-ins x))

(And it's a bummer that you couldn't join us in KJumper's RP, especially now that the meeting time was moved. xP Is watching an RP as interesting as partaking in one? 'XD)

(Probably not, but it's fun seeing what happens. X) And sure, we can end it here if you like. I could put up a new RP room in a week or so.)

(Okay! I'm fine with that or whatever else we do! x))

(OK then, let's end it here for now. X))

(Also, if we ever do another RP after this one, I'm pretty excited to try out some other characters like Nick and Gin. XD)

(Ooh, yeah! I ought to start sticking some of my own OCs in too 'XD)