into another warfront they go. she likes to think everything is different now, but she'd left things much the same way with KING WAYLAND as she had the last time the summons came. with conflict, wistful resentment, and the painful reminder of just how far apart they've strayed. 

her sygna suit glows silver in the early light, a sliver of a moonbeam atop a gargantuan salamence. her black and red cape flutters behind her in the wind as lyune circles. steel arrows rattle in the quiver at her hip. a matching bow is clutched in one clawed hand.

the sky is their realm. the radio frequencies in her ear feed her reports of where she's needed most, but right now a majority of it is preparation. this has only just begun.

they slip through the air; lyune's shadow stretches far below them, down over the glittering water. soon more survey teams will be here. soon more friend and foe alike will descend upon this place. but for now, her eyes glimmer. 

lips curl as she sheds her worries. adrenaline stirs and the threat of a fight makes her palms prickle with anticipation. at this one's threat, lyune's jaw cracks open and a thunderous roar is all the reply this rocket is given. freya snarls. a guttural command, spoken in a language unbeknownst to the other, makes the dragon beneath her expel a spray of white-hot flames at the iron jugilis and its rider.

Kouji Matsubara

sygna
salamence intimidate is active
salamence uses flamethrower

☉

a dark pulse laps feebly at lyune's armored chest. the heat spilling from his throat warms freya's cheeks even from where she's nestled on his back. pale eyes stare through the lapping flames, around the smoke as it singes metal, waiting for retaliation. 

only instead, a shape plummets from the mount's back. freya nocks an arrow and takes aim. one breath in, one breath out, and plex strings twang. the arrow arcs towards the target, zipping through the red light of a pokeball's recall. it sails harmlessly through the air as the rocket changes his trajectory, rising once again atop an angry bird. 

light gathers around the bird's form and freya's quick to deduce its next move, courtesy of her long-standing friendship with Alexei Ivanov. 

lyune does not flinch. claws burst with blue fire and when the bird's body collides with him, he sinks those claws into the mandibuzz's body, tucks one wing and sends them spinning. freya's arm is wrapped around the reins, body sinking into the dizzying maneuver. 

entangled as they are, she spares a pitying glaze towards the rocket rider. 

Kouji Matsubara

sygna
salamence is hit oof
salamence uses dragon claw

☉

the bird breaks apart in lyune's grip. viscera rains down into the sea and bloodied feathers swirl around them in their whirling hellstorm. the rider tumbles into the air once again, its mount limp and useless in her dragon's claws. 

bones crunch as lyune snaps the avian's chest free, sanguine wine slaking his throat. freya shifts her reins and he stops his dizzying spin. below them, the rocket rises, this time on the back of a true dragon. a call from freya and lyune's neck cranes downward. 

empowered by his fresh kill, he bellows. bright light gathers in his mouth. she could call a protect instead, but she'd seen the way his dragon snapped at him. it is a beast wholly untamed; lyune has been in their family for generations. 

its dragon pulse blasts against his flank as the condensed ball of energy fires down on them, splitting into half a dozen meteors to shower over their adversary. 

Kouji Matsubara

sygna
salamence's moxie is active
salamence hit by dragon pulse (bloodied)
salamence uses draco meteor

☉

devastation rains below them. smoke plumes and through it all, freya can see the rocket and his unruly dragon struggling. she grits her teeth. don't make me have to kill you. her wish nearly comes true as one of the hydreigon heads snaps back at its rider, black ribbon wings spasming as it tries to toss him off. 

she brushes a hand against her belt where her roaring moons rest on her hip, but lyune snarls, alerting her to the enemy's advances. 

"drex astahi quaaltakra," she says and the mega stone in her braids glimmers. the salamencite's light wraps around lyune's body as he rockets upwards; green fire pokes through the chrysalis and by the time he's reached the apex of his maneuver, his body has been remade. 

he dives and one powerful thrusting of his wings makes an explosive sound as he rockets towards the snarling dragon.

Kouji Matsubara

salamence mega evolves
salamence uses dragon ascent

☉

that explosive green light envelops his untamed dragon, singeing feathers and fur alike. they go down screeching and for the umpteenth time this combat, the rocket rider tumbles from his mount's back. ready for this, lyune ripes through the space where the hydreigon was, fangs bared to catch the rocket in his jaw. 

but freya jerks him to the side and he's left snapping at air. he turns tightly, tail lashing in frustration, pupils narrowed in concentrated bloodlust. her snarls tear through the wind and the dragon's own curdling growls, taking control of his weathered mind. 

another brood, this of lyune's own ilk, fills the space. expert eyes rake over its form and she knows the battle is won. 

the creature is not used to its new body.

resentment twists in her gut. already, one of his own pokemon have fallen. if he hadn't withdrawn the hydreigon, it would have met the mandibuzz's same end. and now he dare challenge her in the sky, dwarfed as his salamence is by lyune's shadow?

lyune hovers in the air, muscles rolling. freya could order dripping molten fangs to rip away the salamence's underbelly, to burrow into the soft flesh underneath and end this once and for all, but instead she releases the reins and reaches for her hip. 

the double-edge collides with a hexagonal barrier of lyune's own making. the glasslike substance cracks, splinters, and then bursts in bright white light and as the protect fades, the rocket operative will realize he's surrounded on all sides by four larger, hungrier dragons. 

"you're an insult to your dragons," she says. lyune turns his head, exposing freya so she might meet him eye to eye. "go - before more needless blood is shed."

Kouji Matsubara

salamence uses protect

☉

in the wild, the weakest of the brood are consumed or left for dead. most of her salamence were bred in captivity, hatchlings separated nigh immediately to prevent casualties, save for the few lineages they'd continued breeding in the traditional sense. lyune had never sired, but those she calls upon in battle are all victors. killers. survivors. 

she looks on in astonishment, bewildered he'd even consider asking such an asinine thing. the nuances of her life's work - her family's life's work - won't be turned into some quick-fix for some rocket degenerate in over his head. 

then perhaps a demonstration. 

"i said go."

and she stands, legs drawing free from saddle straps, balancing poised on the back of the enormous mega salamence. a low hiss in the back of her throat, a raising of her hand, and lyune begins to hum. in their circle, at her command, the rest of them thrum the sound of death.

"or die."

Kouji Matsubara

freya says no in her own special edgy dumb way

☉