[Trade : Gift] Of Robins and Clouds - Strength Trial

The landscape was something of a hassle, Robin mused , in between glances at his opponent, calculating distances and the wind speeds as floating pieces of ground hovered around an ancient cemetery; not that it would impact his ability to use his archery skills…. At first he’d been wary of using them, but the generic aspect of this trial was to impress his opponent… and the 6 limbed dragon that stood in plain sight, it’s equine appearance at odds with the bloodthirsty and aggressive nature as it bared its teeth at him. So far Sleipnir was not impressed so far, almost dismissive of the avian dragons abilities. With a flicker of his antlered head, Sleipnir sent his companion diving towards Robin Hood … ignoring the other pair of dragons darting around nearby.

Cirrus chirped, darting out of the way as the much larger dinosaur dragon charged at her, Gingerbread wasn’t an aggressive dragon by nature, but that didn’t mean she would go easy on the younger female, her tail lashing out at the other dragon, her clouds trailing as Cirrus leapt up onto a rock and ‘struck’ back at the Ginger, darting up along her back. Just as she went to tap the brown dragon, a ginger threw herself, rolling around and Cirrus went flying, flaring her wings to slow the impact, and darting back, weaving a round ancient gravestone and floating earth, tail flared as she charged… all the time keeping a watchful eye on Robin so she didn’t impact his challenge.

Robin moved out from the cover he’d been using, readying his bow and aiming straight for Sleipnir, a scream echoed above, the call from the bird which often flew alongside him forewarning him, swivelling his head he saw the small companion diving towards him, as aggressive as it’s larger counterpart. Hissing Robin moved, powerful limbs covering the distance as he took, his limbs holding the pull of the bow as he avoided the companions strike, and let loose at the stationary dragon, the arrow flying true even through the wind currents. SNAP. The sound echoed as Sleipnir snapped the arrow out in mid air, and the companion chuckled, an almost evil sound as it landed on a nearby floating rock. The lazy motion, and the mocking huff from the equine, as he pawed the ground. Robin’s feathered flattened as he glared.

The snap startled Cirrus and she stumbled, that stumble allowing her to dodge Ginger’s strike, her powerful tail cutting though the air above her head; focus, Cirrus hissed to herself, she needed to focus on her own challenge. It took her precious moment to right herself, but she managed body slamming into Ginger’s back legs in an attempt to unbalance her. Ginger stumbled, for though she looked dainty, Cirrus was also an earth dragon, and though still growing, catching her opponent off guard was a boon. Picking up on her opponents ‘weakness’ Cirrus pressed her advantage, avoiding Ginger’s attacks and slamming into the powerful hind legs, all she needed was for the other female to unbalance… and then she would win. With a screech she hit Gingers leg again and the large dragon fell; dust rising as Ginger chortled. Cirrus panted as she pressed against the other dragon, making sure she hadn’t hurt herself

The two males glared at one another across the graveyard, if any spirits had been around they might of fled at the tension in the air… even the sounds of the other dragons didn’t make an impression. The wind shifted suddenly, and Robin moved, the direction off the wind behind him as he launched arrow after arrow, no longer aiming at the dragons head, but instead at other parts, his antlers, the rips in the dragons wings, each one shot designed to prove his archery skills, and Sleipnir responded, prancing out this way and that, almost elegantly until finally Robins quiver ran empty, not waiting he lunged at Sleipnir, talons outstretched to prove himself. Sleipnir reared up, hooves missing Robin by a fraction as he halted the challenge, and with a powerful sweep of his wings was gone, leaving Robin blinking, chest heaving with the exertion.

Suddenly Cirrus appeared in his sight, a few of his arrows carefully gathered in her beak, her own challenge completed as Ginger paced slowly away. Robin reached out a talon and took the arrows, checking each one over as he returned them to his quiver, some of damaged ones he could re-use, but others were a lost cause. All the while Cirrus helped him, their breath returning to normal as teh scouted teh area for any other stray arrows. ”You ready?” He asked and she nodded , this after all was only the first part… two more trials awaited them.