[Mouldy Jam] Here Fishie, Fishie

[Lady Luck]

Time and Date:: January 18th - Early morning

Weather:: Freezing cold deep snow everywhere, ice beneath the snow, and snowing heavily

Previous Threads?::  N/A

CURRENT IC SEASON - DEVASTATING WINTER

"Lady... I'm cold.. Why do we have to come out of the cave?" Luck whined as the duo trudged through the forest. "I told you once, I told you a thousand times; food! We need... food." Luck looked at her stomach, "But I'm not hungry..." Luck whined, confused as to why they were hunting. If she wasn't hungry, surely that meant Lady wasn't hungry. So why were they hunting in the first place? Oh how her sister confused her sometimes.


Lady growled, "One word. Hibernation." Luck looked up, "What's hiber-what-cha-call-it?" Lady rolled her eyes, "Hiber-nation..." She emphasized the part Luck had messed up on, "Is what other animals do to survive winter." Luck groaned, "But we're not other animals! We're the most powerful species there is! We're dragons!" Luck snapped at her, "Shush!" She put her head up high, "You may think you are strong now, but when food disappears you will be starving. And if there is no food, there is no me, and no you."

At this Luck tilted her head, "Yes, but there is another way to survive-" Luck piped in, as Lady growled, "Don't say it." She warned, yet Luck continued, oblivious to her sisters warning, "You remember that other zippleback-" Luck continued and at this Lady groaned, "How could I forget. You only remind me every five minutes." She said sarcastically. Luck seemed oblivious to the sarcasm and replied, "Right, so we could do what they did!"

"For the last time; we are NOT becoming pets. Pets are weak, they rely off of those fickle two legged things for food, shelter, and life. Do you remember at all what grandmother told us?" Lady lectured, and it was Lucks turn to moan, "Oh not this story! Please..." But Lady wouldn't hear of it. "Grandmother told us humans killed us for sport. They killed us, we killed them. And then one puny two legged decided we should be friends, and our kind betrayed us to join their side. And why? For an easier life. They say its all dandy and what not but I beg to differ. Those... Those... things... are the same things that killed our ancestors. Whose to say they wouldn't kill us?"

Luck groaned, "Fine, fishing it is." She grumbled, as they arrived at the cove. She looked around, "Isn't there supposed to be... I dunno... water... Y'know, where fish live?" Luck asked, dumbfounded. For as she peered around the entire floor of the cove looked the same; all one even, un-touched blanket of snow, save for a few paw prints of the animals that had scurried through.

[Mouldy Jam]

The faint hum of dragons snoring filled the air, beasts of varying sizes lined the stables all tucked away in their individual sleeping pens. A few were roaming about, perhaps for food or perhaps to simply get out and stretch their wings. But one thing was clear. None still had saddles on their backs. Except for one.

The Zippleback had taken an empty pen, void of any recent dragons scent. Curled up with tail wrapped around then and necks curved and resting on the ground. Perhaps it was a pang of regret, of memory for how things once had been, but they had felt the need to come to the stables. After what had been a long while of whining at each other, and then some more at other dragons, they had fallen asleep. First Mouldy, and then moments later Jam.

Normally the beast would sleep until at least high-noon, but they could not keep their rest any longer than the sunrise. Perhaps the noise, perhaps lingering scents, whatever it was the Zippleback rose from the dust and lumbered out. Dragons and humans bustled by, they had to bob and weave to get out of the traffic. With a hiss of annoyance from Jam, they took to the air. It was cramped, but they managed tog et out of the bustle and left the stables. Unfortunatly they quickly found out why the stables had been so busy. The thick heavy snow, it plastered onto their wings and made flight near impossible. Managing a short flight over Berk, the beast was forced to land in the forest.

A few distressed gurgles escaped Mouldy. «This isn't safe.» Their winds folded tightly, a few brief ruffles to rid them of the dense layer fo snow that had gathered before they settled at the dragons sides. «It's better than in there.» Jam retorted, eyes squinted against the wind. Each step was a labour, but Jam had to get out of the crowds. But a quick flare of his nostrils and his lips pulled into a grimace. «It's them again.» Mouldy perked up a bit and blinked slowly. «The other dragon? Like us?» Jam simply growled in response, not wanting to dignify his other head with a response. But while only Jam could pick up the scent, Mouldy could identify it as well.

«They are too close to Berk.» He clicked his jaws, sparks beginning to jump from between his teeth. «They need to learn to stay out.» Mouldy gave a nervous glance at his other head. «Man, they aren't doing any harm.» «What have I told you about making friends with the enemy?» Their tail began to lash from Jam's anger alone. «A wild, and obviously aggressive, dragon has no place this close to us.» And with that they began to plough through the snow.

Reaching a ravine in the forest, they stood at the top staring down. In the trench below was the other dragon, and sure enough it was the same one from before. «Hey, I thought we told you to get out.» Jam curled his claws into the frozen ground beneath, snarling deeply. Mouldy however just glanced sideways at his other head, wondering why he was lashing out at them. Not even his aggressive other head was usually quite THIS aggressive. A gurgle escaped him as he looked down at the other Zippleback. Hopefully this wouldn't escalate. They had to eat as well, and with out a steady food source they would have a hard enough time making it through the winter with out another outside force working against them.

[Lady Luck]

The dragons stood staring at the cove, before Lady sniffed the air, "There. Over there." She said, leading them over to a spot before stopping abrutly, "Whoa, whoa, stop!" Lady growled. Luck look confused, "Okay, okay, I stopped!" She retorted, "But.. why are we stopping? There's nothing here." Lady snorted, "Or is there? Look closer." Lady put out some fumes, "Light em up." She demanded, and a reluctant yet curious Luck drew sparks, as a flame grazed the snow, just enough to melt the snow and ice beneath. What was left was a partially thawed lake, and a little bit of dead grass, too.

"I don't get how that's a big deal. It's water.. but wait.. how did you know-" Luck asked, but before she could answer Lady was sniffing the air, her pupils slits. Luck instinctively became on high alert too, before a growl from behind them alerted her to another dragons presence; and the voice was all too familiar.

Cringing downwards so as to be as small as possible, Luck shivered, "Please, Lady, don't start anything. Let's just go find another lake-" But before she could talk sense into her sister, her sister had growled in a retort, "Why do you care?" Lady growled before turning away. She lunged her mouth into the lake and caught a fish, swallowing it in one gulp. "Look if you're here to fight, beast, I'm not in the mood."

"It's Jam." Luck piped up before quickly cowering back down, "I mean um.. his name's Jam. And his brother is Mouldy. Not beast." Lady looked to her sister, before she looked at the dragon before her. Finally Lady sighed, "Look, what do you want with us? All we're trying to do is eat. If you want food, there are plenty of fish here, or I'm sure your human has some." As moody as Lady was, she was actually trying to be nice, but any outsider could see that her patience was wearing thin. First the dragons came up and threatened her for no reason, now they were demanding she just leave the best food spot in the forest.

Luck looked down. "Actually no, Lady, there isn't... Not enough for both of us... Lets just go..." Lady looked at her sister, "And starve? Look around you, Luck, there isn't another lake for miles. All the boars have left for the winter, even the birds and rats are gone. There is nothing else. Our only option is fish... So... Tell me, Mouldy Jam... Are you going to deny us our only food source?" Lady turned to the dragon, this time not with anger but with just plain shock. "What do you have against us?"

Meanwhile Luck was staring at the ground. A soft whimper was coming from her. "Lady..." She whimpered softly, "You said if there's no food, there's no you or me..." At this Lady froze, the other dragon forgotten, for just then her sister asked what was arguably the most heart-breaking question anyone could hear from their sister, "Does that mean we'll die?" Lady clamped her jaw open and closed, as Luck cringed her neck, "I don't want to die, Lady..." Lady looked to her sister, unsure of what to say. She couldn't say for sure they would survive the winter, especially not with this beast chasing them out of their food sources, but somehow, Lady couldn't bring herself to tell her that. And so, she gulped, looking straight ahead into the distance as she did the only thing a sister could do; lie. "We're not gonna die, Luck..." Lady chanced a glance to the beast. Silently, in her mind, she thought... not yet anyway.

[Mouldy Jam]

Jam held his head high, sparks spitting from his jaw. «The big deal?» Jam let out a deep bellow, as they took a quick jump down into the cove. «There is an entire ocean for you wild dragons to eat from, you don't have to come and take our fish!» His eyes grew narrow, despite the fact the other dragon didn't actually seem to want to put up much resistance. He snorted a bit and settled in the snow. «They are right though, there's nothing left except for what Berk has gathered.» Mouldy tried to keep his other half calm, but Jam didn't care about reason. His nostrils flared as he stared them down. «So?»

Mouldy straightened out his neck a bit though, Jam was taking this too far. But then they said it, the h-word and Mouldy cringed. Jam however took it far worse than that, his pupils hardly even thin lines between his narrowed lids. «My human? Oh you think you are so clever. Think just because of this-» He clawed at the saddle straps that hung tight despite their age. «-that I have a human?» «Jam, dude, calm down.» «No! I wont calm down. We may not be an untame, wild pest like you, but that doesn't mean we can't take care of ourselves!» They stood up, Jam's paws tensing and relaxing as his claws kneaded the ground. He snorted and turned his head to Mouldy, snarling. If he couldn't fight them, there was always some one else he could fight.

But not even he could ignore the twang of sadness in the others voice. He... didn't want any one to die. Sensing the change, Mouldy nervously glanced over. He had been braced for a full on assault which thankfully never came, and was just now unwinding from it. «Jam?» He leaned closer cautiously. «Shut-up.» Pulling away a long sigh escaped the angered head. «You want food?» Jam snarled through clenched teeth. «You wont find any there.» Waddling over to the small lake, he clawed at the ice beneath the dense snow. «Nothing left in there worth eating.» Glancing at the female dragon with obvious distrust, he continued. «I know where you can get food.» Spreading his wings a bit, the dragon meant to take flight. «If you ...» He paused, and gnawed on the words for a moment, working his jaw as the thoughts refused to come out. «If you trust me.»

Mouldy's eyes widened a bit, his lips turning into a small grin. Maybe Jam was moving past Bearhands, finally? Despite his hope, the other half still seemed tense and angry. This was an act of begruding friendship, not out of true selflessness. «The ocean hasn't fully frozen over yet, we can find plenty of schools there! Easy picking!» There was a slight bounce to his voice. «Or-» «There is no other option.» Jam interjected, knowing full well Mouldy was about to suggest the feeding stations back on Berk. «Either come with us to the ocean, or you will rot here.» Spreading their wings further as they turned away. «So what will it be?»

[Lady Luck]

As the zippleback seemed to continue to insult them, Lady took a moment to observe him. What was his beef, anyway? All they were trying to do was eat, and this dragon seemed to have some sort of problem with that. But why? It just didn't make sense; not to Lady, at least. But even as she looked at him, she couldn't deny that he was a very strong, and dare she say handsome, zippleback. For a moment she silently thought what a shame it was that he was so busy belittling her rather then actually getting to know her. After all, snoggletog had just passed and the she-dragon had not even found a mate to provide her with offspring. It was her first year, and the fact that no zippleback had wanted her still stung a little, and even the ever proud Lady couldn't deny the bit of pain at having to pass up her first journey to the island to have a clutch.

Yet she pushed the thought from her mind. The next breeding season wasn't for another year, which left her plenty of time to find a mate, or at least someone to provide her offspring. Yet as Lady thought it over, she realized she would much rather have a mate then just someone to provide her with offspring. Even so, Lady tried to hide her emotions, for even if her anger had faded it had now turned to a Thus, as she spoke about humans, she was surprised when the head known as Jam snapped at her.

She looked down, "Sorry." Lady said tensely, yet her apology was sincere. "I didn't realize you didn't have a human." She looked away, before her sister mentioned death. At the pang of emotion she found the other dragon watching them. For a tense moment, all was quiet, before the beast came over to tell them there was nothing worth eating in the lake. Lady looked at him, confused, as he told her he knew where they could find food. Looking to Luck, who seemed to perk up, she listened as the other head talked about the ocean. Luck nodded, "Lets go, lets go!" She said eagerly. Lady nodded, and they lifted their wings, as she said cautiously, "Lead the way."