The Last Hunt (Adventure, possible other tags)

Nuria swallows her food and replies to the headmaster again. "Evolution of course." She says mater of factually. If you look back many many generations in my peoples heritage, you'll actually find that we're descendant from Pegasus, not dragons." She then takes a claw and impales a leaf from her salad, placing it in her mouth and chewing to test the flavor.

Star looked at Orchid with a slight frown. He thought about her questions for a few moments and shook his head slowly. "No. Not dragons. I don't want vengeance on them. I don't have anything I want revenge on them at all. I just do it because I need the money. I never knew my parents. Abandoned at birth, you see." He sighed and shook his head a little. His ears perked up a little, listening to the other conversations for a moment. He had to will himself not to outright laugh at Sharp for her salad was really really good. He looked back up at Orchid and shrugged. "I could possibly find some other way to get money but eh. Ponies need a little action in their lives every once in a while."

Verdant’s reaction was met with a small smile from Sharp. “Uhh… at this moment, not particularly. We haven’t been told much. I don’t even know where we’re going, only that Aerv is going to lead us there, and that we've got a treaty to deliver.” she said in response to the Duchess’ question. “I myself look forward to it, though. It’s the literal definition of a learning experience.”

The collection of nobles seemed prepared to launch their next volley of questions, but the sounds of a throat clearing quickly drew all their eyes and halted their speech. "Well, I think that is enough questions for tonight. We don't want to overburden our brave dragon hunters right before they embark on such a journey in the morning of the next day," Celestia said as she stood up slowly.

"And I must take my leave now to resume my nightly duties," Luna said mostly to her sister, but also enough to the rest of the collection of ponies, kirin, and dragon to not be disrespectful. With a nod towards them all, she turned and began to depart from the room.

"And I, like our hunters here, need to be heading to bed as well," Celestia replied as she began to exit the room as well. "Goodnight Luna," Celestia said to her departing sister before addressing the hunters again. "The guards can show you all to your rooms," she added before departing.

The nobles also bid their goodbyes, some even expressing a wish to continue talks at a later date before exiting the castle.

--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Alright, so you're free to post more than once, doing other things like wander about the castle or the surrounding areas, talk with each other or NPCs, (yes star you can follow after Luna if you want), ultimately I'll be UPDATING again when everyone's gone to bed or expressed an equivalent way to spend the night.

Nuria quickly took a few more bites of food before she got up and left the table, fixing her robe as it had become displaced from sitting down. She gave her regards to the headmaster and then left the dining hall. However, instead of going to her room, she started to wander the castle a bit, taking the once in a lifetime chance to tour the magnificent structure herself.

Aerv yawned as he stood up and watched as everyone left. "Well, some rest may be useful..." he said tiredly. "Haven't slept in four days, after all" he said with a smile before he looked at Star and Sharp, who were the only remaining near him. "And a room, huh... Truth be told, was expected to sleep outside with at least 10 guards watching my every move.." he said jokingly as he stood up, careful not to nudge the table before looking at Sharp and Star. He would wait for their decision before doing anything on his own.

Star waited for all the nobles and the princesses to leave before standing up and stretching. "Well that was fun. But yes. Sleep would be very nice right now." He said to Aerv before chuckling. "Well don't complain. A room is far better then outside." He shrugged a little. "I'll see you two in the morning I suppose. Even a night pony like me can get tired after pulling you all day." He said to Sharp and Aerv before turning and asking one of the guards to show him where his room was. When he got to his room, he would promptly flop onto his bed and fall asleep as soon as his head hit the pillow.

After wishing the nobles a good night, Sharp immediately returned her attention to her salad, only to be interrupted by Aerv and Star. “Mmm.. Yeah, good night then. I’ll probably be up a little longer, sleep well.” she said, eager to return to the seemingly elusive food in front of her. She spent a few more minutes alone there in the dining room in relative silence. Afterwards, she took a moment to stare out the nearest window at the night sky. Being in a castle atop a mountain offered a more-than-passable view of the stars. Once that particular bit of admiration was over with, Sharp retired to her own bedroom for the night, where she spent some time cataloging the day’s events in her diary before falling asleep.

While the others went to their arranged chambers, Nuria would find little to no issues or objections to her nighttime inspection of the castle. A few of the rooms were still off limits, but for the most part she saw little opposition right up until she went to bed.

Then the night passed and morning came about. A little after sun up, each member of this newly tasked group would be receiving a knock at their door and instructions from the corresponding guard that the princesses wished to see them off on their departure. The guard would then wait for a moment for the individuals to get ready, and also answer questions if asked and time allowed, before escorting each to the throne room where the diarchy sat upon their thrones.

Nuria answers her door, still groggy and half asleep. When she recieves her instructions she mumbles an answer and goes to get her things ready for the trek. She remakes the bed, smoothing out the nest she had formed from the pillows and blankets, then washes up and gets her gear on, sighing as she puts her black disguise on again. Then heads out her door and goes to meet everyone else.

Star wouldn't answer the first knock from the guard nor would he answer the next few. It would take the guard a grand total of about ten knocks before he was able to wake Star up. Star opened the door and yawned, listening to the instructions the guard gave him. He then proceeded to close the door and put on all his things that had magically gotten take off him during the night time by most likely himself, but he didn't remember it. He strapped on his saddle bags and sword walked over to the door. Before he went out though, he grabbed a banana from his bag and peeled it with great difficulty. When it was finally peeled, he opened the door and followed the guard to the throne room, not asking any questions and just eating his banana.

As the guard knocked on Aerv's door, there would be no answer, and it would stay so no matter how many knocks the guard would make. If the guard were to walk in to wake the dragon up, he would notice the bed was practically untouched, with Aerv curled up in an empty corner of the room. The blue dragon would be snoring silently, and would not wake up unless the guard poked him. Once he would wake up, he would thank the guard and swiftly prepare himself, correcting his scarf, goggles and a satchel on his side before slowly making his way towards the throne room, silently inspecting the guard's armor.

Sharp awakened with little incident at the behest of her corresponding guard. After taking a moment to magic her mane into place, getting dressed and collecting her things, she followed the mare/stallion in what would probably be an uneventfully quiet trip towards the throne room. “Good Morning.” She told her fellow dragon hunters, and the princesses upon arriving.

The princesses bid each of the dragon hunters a 'good morning' as they entered the throne room, each looking as regal as ever despite one likely having woken up recently and the other about to go to bed. With the greetings out of the way, the princesses directed everyone's gaze towards some freshly packed saddlebags. Nothing had been removed, but a few things had been added like fresh provisions, a few copies of the letters to the dragon king, and some other misc equipment that for the moment shall remain mention-less. Then the princesses bid the group fare-well and set them upon their journey.

------------------------------------------------and que travel time music----------------------------------

OOG: alright, next post is the arrival at the dragon lands, free range posting until then and then we start to finally reach the intense action scenes.

Nuria slipped her mask on before she exited the palace, wanting to, of course, keep a low profile as her appearance was one of quick ridicule. She had slung her spear on her back along with her saddlebags and made her way down the steps, keeping noticeable distance between herself and Xereth.

Star used his wing to wave hello to Sharp as he ate his banana. He quickly swallowed the banana in his mouth and bowed to the princesses as they said good morning to him. He said a good morning back to them and then looked at the saddlebags they had directed their gaze to. He strapped on the saddlebags, all the while finishing up his banana and then throwing the peel into one of the pounces of his saddlebags. The one without the letter in it to be more specific. As they all left the palace to the dragon lands, he stayed closeish to Aerv.

Aerv simply bowed to the princesses to bid them good morning before looking at the saddlebags. He sort of wondered how is he gonna wear something designed for ponies, but he shrugged off, looking at his own satchel hanging from his side. Once they were underway, Aerv silently walked, waiting for someone starting a conversation rather than him starting one while he was slowly leading the group. His hair looked a lot messier than it did the previous day, and his wings were half folded and half extended. When they finally crossed the 'border' between Equestria and Dragonlands, he inhaled deeply, trying to smell something familiar again.

Sharp thanked the princesses for their supplies before bidding them adieu and following her partners out of the castle. She quickly took note of Nuria’s decision to distance herself from Aerv, and, with a small, silent smile, took position next to her as the group made their trek to the dragon lands. If the kirin chose to stay silent, the only sound from Sharp would be the subtle clinking of her light armor as she trotted.

(And cue fast travel to a few days later) And what a shift it was leading into the dragon lands. A more natural border existed in the form of a impressive mountain range, serving the purpose far better than any formal border could. While there was no true path up the sometimes even sheer wall of rock, Aerv would be able to lead the group up a mostly stable route. As the group ascended the range, they would note a rather abundance of wild life they were disturbing while walking or flying. About halfway up though, one could see around the mountain range enough to behold the plateau beyond that truly marked the dragon lands. This immediate area appeared like a scrub lands, rocky yet with scattered greenery about the generally light brown color.

As the group began to make their way into the actual dragon lands, they didn't get far before something suddenly reared it's head from behind a large boulder. The head was avian like, yet it's body was that of a reptile and coated in scales, complete with clawed talon like feet, and a long spiked tail. The creatures red, slit pupil eyes looked at the group with a mix of malice and hunger. It began rapidly slithering forward, dragging it's body along the rocky surface with ease. While some may have recognized a cockatrice, Aerv would certainly recognize the almost common creature of the lands.

Aerv's stoic expression slowly turned into a happy expression as they were approaching the dragon lands. His happy expression however soon turned into a frown as the cockatrice suddenly appeared from behind the boulder. "Oh come on, so soon?" he muttered to himself, swiftly remembering to not look it in the eyes and warning the group about that. "Make sure to look away from its eyes...". He kept his eyes on cockatrice's neck, its eyes just out of his field of view. He made one step forward and angrily growled at it, a bit of fire coming out from his nostrils. If the cockatrice would continue coming at them, he'd prepare his claws, ready to claw at the cockatrice and breathe fire on it, and if it would get too close, he would go for the cockatrice's neck, hoping his sharp teeth would be able to cut it in half or at least crush it.

Nuria had stripped away her disguise as they entered the dragon lands, feeling much more comfortable. When the cockatrice suddenly showed itself, she was among the first to react to the monster just after Xereth. It was clearly a danger and a serious threat. She let her instincts take over, picking her spear up and aiming for only a split second, her long experience with hunting giving her a steady claw, before she let it fly with a powerful swing straight at the cockatrice.

Star had wrapped a cloth over his eyes just like when they went to bring Aerv to Canterlot, blocking out most of the sunlight so he wouldn't get blinded. When they got to the dragon lands, he smiled in amazement as he looked around at everything. He looked back forward just as the cockatrice started slithering towards them. He draw his sword as he looked at it for a moment then looked at Aerv when he said not to look at it in the eyes. He looked at him confused, but didn't question him since he knew this place better then him. He looked down at the ground as he backed away, letting Aerv and Nuria deal with the thing.

Sharp hung back and let the very capable members of her party deal with their scaly enemy. She was fully ready to just fling the thing off the side of the mountain should she have to, but, until she did, she would allow them to take care of it.

The almost serpent like lizard slithered around the spear throw, showcasing it's agility and fluidity of movement before letting out a strange and unnerving cross between a "caw" and a "hiss". Then the creature began to half slither and half crawl forward more at a quick pace. The bit of fire didn't seem to faze the creature, though it did rear up and let out another hiss as Aerv bared his fangs at it. The cockatrice then began snaking it's head about to try to get a glare at Aerv in the eyes.

Aerv groaned as the cockatrice dodged his attempts to bite. "So you leave me no choice..." he murmured and angrily looked at cockatrice, though avoiding it's eyes. Those who were watching Aerv could see that his red eyes started glowing.

If what he planned would've worked, the cockatrice would suddenly be surrounded by the dark-red glow and lifted into the air before being violently slammed into the wall with more than enough force to easily break most of the bones in its body.  Once that'd be done, the glow around cockatrice and in Aerv's eyes would fade away. "Don't get in our way." he partially said and partially growled out before sighing and looking at the dead cockatrice. "Anyone wants some meat?" he asked and turned towards others. If noone would've wanted it, he'd begin eating the dead cockatrice on his own.

However, if the magic wouldn't have worked in the first place, Aerv would resort back to using his claws and fire breath to fend off the cockatrice while making sure not to look it in the eyes.