"i could be wrong, but - " she says, sweeping aside a fern. a distinct set of footprints - three front talons could be anything, but it's the odd smear of dirt behind them, as though fur brushed against heel, that makes her think of the dragon from the tera caverns underneath the league headquarters. 

she doesn't finish her sentence, distracted instead by his pleasantries. she stands and motions to fafnir to follow. 

"tired. busy. same old. gym summit was a shitshow. that reminds me - have you used dynamax yet?"

Greyson Connors
RXY5QoGq

☉

but would it change things for good? for better? she can't believe that. not in the long run. talk about the ramifications of extended use, the lack of science behind it. and all for what? to fight in an endless war against a terrorist organization until something bigger and badder and meaner comes along.

she runs her tongue along her teeth. 

"not sure we should get used to it," she says with a frown. another few broken twigs and overturned fronds show them their path. fafnir stays at the ready.

"most of us anyway. oh, i think i found something. i think whatever it is, it's hunting."

Greyson Connors
I_eoCxW_

☉

her thoughts turn, inevitably, back to the gym leader summit and the discussions that had followed therein. they'd chased each other's tails for well over an hour, chattering about the anxieties of dynamax, rather than solidify a strategic plan to employ it. 

some of them outright refused. 

all of this, she's sure greyson knows. the minutes had been catalogued, the summary typed in a sterile document, lacking all the venom in the words she'd used to cut alexei with. 

fafnir snorts and distracts her. a scorch-marked tree, its bark sodden and furrowed with deep scars. brown fur is stuck in parts of the bark and different tracks mingle with the others they'd been following. 

"signs of a fight. i think it - " 

a crash a click away from them. 

"close by. faf?" the dragonite clenches his fists, ready for a brawl. "connors?"

Greyson Connors
WXlc1SH2

☉

"you needn't ask twice," she says with a grin. fafnir's antennae twitch. he looks over his shoulder and then turns his bulky body as the crashing in the foliage gets closer and closer. a large, dark shape ducks under gnarled tree limbs, studded with crystals. 

the two of them instantly recognize the creature, of course. it's akin to the one that attacked them in the tunnels underneath league hq. a purple mane flows down its side. rough claws dig furrows into the earth and twin tails snap as those yellow eyes narrow at them. 

fafnir grunts once, for direction, and then again as one crackling fist makes contact with the walking wake's crown. 

Greyson Connors
i remembered to roll
x|ZUUiao

☉

the dragon reels from the attack. sparks of electricity scatter over its mane and it shakes its head in frustration, leaving it completely vulnerable to greyson's attack. freya shields her eyes, blinded by the light, but hears the agonized snarls of their attacker. 

when she blinks away the sun spots, fafnir is grappling with the beast; every muscle is strained with exertion and as she watches, he begins to buckle. 

it took hoenn's elite four and their next best combatants to take down one of these things. they're severely outmatched here. 

and at that thought, another growl emanates from behind them. 

Greyson Connors
i remembered to roll
yudkOJfe

☉

to say freya has struggled with trust issues would be the understatement of the century. and it's here that those trust issues come in handy - rather than become complacent, assuring herself that greyson can cover her back, she rips free the ball of the one creature she can trust with her life. 

one of fafnir's legs gives out and he falls to his knee with a grunt, claws unlocking from the snarling walking wake's maw so he can tuck into a roll.

her sygna suit flares to life. she snarls in another language when she sees the fae horse fall; lyune surges towards the false entei with claws outstretched and freya lunges at the walking wake wielding her shortsword. 

flames crawl down her gauntlets. the tether that binds her to lyune strengths and her own dragon claw slashes the wake's exposed hide. 

"connors, get your ass in gear," she snaps. the shimmering hexagonal barrier lyune conjures in front of himself and rae shatters with one blow from their new adversary and immediately, the dragons are at each other's throats. 

"they can't fly. get on his back - " she parries, voice clipped - "and get out."

Greyson Connors
QJ7L6XoH

☉