"mhm," she says, giving him a withering look. his teasing will only worsen if she dare tell him just how many dragons strong they are now. granted, she'll admit half the horde isn't battle ready - at least, not up to morningstar standards. they need proper training regiments, feeding schedules, and more. 

but now's not the time to worry about that. 

her fingers hesitate on the furled paper. she's no artist by any means. her mother held that title; not her. but it's a dumping of all of her thoughts out on one page. scrawled notes in the margins say things like:

cape - fireproof? bottom cape/skirt. wings? glider.

claws - easier than punching

bowblade - circhester, galar. bow -> blade -> bow

"i thought i'd rather you try to make sense of it than me continue to attack the page like this," she says and smiles sheepishly.  

ALEXANDER STONE

☉

fire swathes them and steam billows around the room. its crown shatters and as hoenn's finest overwhelm it, its snarls of malice give way to the screams of the dying. she knows it will not stop until it's dead, but it's with a grim expression she helps assure its end.

Greyson Connors 's pitying gaze and disentanglement makes her swallow. in the end, we're all animals, she thinks. animals backed into a corner and fighting tooth and nail to make it out of this alive. 

the walking wake's body disperses in light and freya murmurs, barely audible save perhaps to kyle lopez , passing words in draconic. 

they crowd around Eva Morales and the book. freya rests a hand on her dragon's flank and ignores the discussion, their congratulatory praise, and looks further down the tunnel. the tera crystals have stopped growing at their backs, but as of right now, they're still trapped down here. 

she clears her throat and raises her voice. "this might not be over yet. discuss your findings later. illeana reyes and Eva Morales will have plenty of time to look over it after we get out of here." 

lyune lumbers forward and, sparing Michael Navidson , MATIAS SILPH , and even PENELOPE LIVY withering looks, freya strides forward at his side. 

AQUA

bg3 hit that short rest button and leggo ppl.
freya is antsy and reminds them they're not out of the woods yet

|EA3LpC0

☉

micolash is investigating a crag when an icicle crash hits him from behind. he squeals, letting loose a series of trills freya's come to learn convey its frustration. pale gold eyes gleam up at the frigibax's hiding spot, but freya does not call an order. 

she watches micolash. 

his tail fwips back and forth, a nasty plot brewing as he searches for his adversary. another rain of icicles bears down on him and he seethes, jabbing his stinger into the side of the rock. and then, surprisingly, he looks at freya. 

"hirwes," she whispers and micolash cocks his head, flips all the way around, and sprays poison into the crag where the frigibax is hiding. 

the tiny dragon yelps and loses its footing. it crashes to the ground and freya withdraws a pokeball. 

SOLO WILD

catching frigibax!

☉

metal bends and warps, cooling in a position that bends lyune's wing. freya swears under her breath and careens away, thankful for thalia's assistance. skithiryx emerges from her hip and lyune struggles not to snap at the black-scaled charizard as it uses flame and claw to loosen the device's skeleton. 

below, thalia is engulfed in dragon fire. her pained howls turn into enraged screeches. wings flutter and claws scrabble for purchase on the charizard's hide. the rider is exposed now and she's so close. 

scales burn and scatter in the wind, but she ignores it, eyes narrowed. her pupils warble and then she strikes, jaw darting in close to rip the life from his throat. 

she bites with the force to rip through bone and she startles when pain explodes in her face as all of her teeth shatter simultaneously. blood pours down her front. she panics, lurching to the side, raw, pinkish flesh exposed from the charizard's earlier attack. 

zev's knife slips into the wound and rips it apart. her intestines spill through, falling alongside her as shock and blood loss take their toll. her body falls lifelessly into the water. the writhing on the surface stops. 

and then from above, freya screams. 

Zev Harcourt

dragonite deadged
fixing lyune's wing

☉

she takes the bait. good. in the air, with the both of them whirling around one another, her bow is going to be useless. so lulu rises on the back of a noivern and lyune is quick to follow. heavy wingbeats carry them upward. his sheer size (not 4'11) helps him carve through the air, but he's no match in speed when it comes to the bat dragon. 

her poipole floats almost lazily after them, waving and winking as they pass by. lyune's head cocks, curious of the almost dragon that smells very much like micolash. 

"xikin ptaual," she snaps.

lyune snarls and tears past the poipole. as he snakes through the air, he gathers a ring of light in his maw and blasts as the rocket ahead of them. 

Lulu Flint

2/15 arrows used
lyune is charmed uwu
lyune uses dragon pulse
don't worry about the moon ^_^V

☉

into the waiting jaws of a dozen hungry dragons does the xatu go. in seconds, a horde of dragonair are upon it, latching onto flesh with their needlelike teeth. the surface of the water is a mess of writhing snakes, froth turning red, until only feathers are left coating the surface. 

the smoke clears and through its last stringent tendrils comes a golden-scaled dragon. thalia, an unruly dragon, raised from hatchling to the beast she is now, bellows as the flamethrower curls against freya's side. 

her cape protects most of her, but the metal workings along lyune's wings burn white hot and he snarls as the leathery membrane sizzles. 

a fog lifts from the sea, a tempest spurred by thalia's anger. thunder cracks as one illuminated fist aims to smash down on the charizard's rider. 

Zev Harcourt

hit by flamethrower! ouchie
dragonite tries to use thunder punch on zev from behind :peepobigsmile:
get her

☉

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

☉

echo bares her back and freya mounts. triangular wings fling outward; her inherent levitation helps lift her from the ground. the noivern has to slow for them, but they cover distance quickly and it's not long before the rolling pink cloud of mist comes into view. 

seeing it like this, in broad daylight, unsettles her. seeing it out of the distorted realm makes it more real...reminds her of something else. 

the cloud ruptures. paradox pokemon rear their ugly heads and freya looks up, shooting greyson a wily grin before tossing four pokeballs around her. 

the roaring moon emerge and shake the air with the force of their roars. echo shivers involuntarily, but freya soothes her and then they dive. 

Greyson Connors

☉

they disperse, all with more questions than answers. she retires to her office and stands behind her chair, fingertips dappling the desk. poised, frozen, stoic, a faraway look in her eyes. memories swim behind closed lids whenever she blinks, prodded back to the surface after seeing the cover of that book. 

the suicune abomination at their feet, disappearing into motes of light. eternatus, necrozma, and now this? what does it mean? 

what does any of it mean?

she turns abruptly and casts a sideways glance to the bow resting in its mantel, considering. ultimately she leaves it behind, but she is still adorned by her sygna suit. she'll have to talk to alex about the damage it had done to her clothing...

the walk through the corridors is difficult. far more difficult than she'd expected. but she reaches his office and raps her knuckles against his door, notices her hand is shaking, and tucks it behind her back. 

"i need to talk with you. it's important."

FERNANDO SILPH

☉

it's done well in the ultra deep sea, but that is its homeland. and the destructive rein freya allows it is not suited to more tactical battles. this endeavor is more about training micolash's restraint than anything else. 

so better to do it with her own home field advantage.

SOLO WILD

☉