Laraz looked up at Atryn's voice and quirked a smile as he saw the picture his friend was holding up. A pair of small, furry creatures stood in the center, facing each other, wings spread wide. "I think you spend too much time around those creatures of yours." He said matter-of-factly. "And I also think you should try another guild, because I seriously doubt you're gonna be an artist."
Atryn scowled at his good-natured jibes. "Huh, and what am I gonna do for a living, midwifing?" She shuddered at the mere thought, making Laraz smile. "Hey, and what's wrong with my pets? Riclya and Gadien are cute, and much more well behaved than your canine, or Rynina's flitters, for that matter." The blue-haired girl pouted.
"They're rats with wherry wings." Laraz pointed out as Rynina joined in from the dark corner of the smithy she'd previously been skulking in.
"What about my flitters?" The girl asked, looking back and forth between the two people closest to being her friends she'd ever had.
Laraz and Atryn just smiled at each other. "Nothing, 'Nina." Laraz said. "We were just joking around."
Rynina rolled her eyes, but still couldn't quite hide the smile that came to her face. She stepped outside, where she was met by her three previously-mentioned flitters. Bronze Seruu took up residence on her shoulder, leaving purple Amydor and Brown Soran to hover in the air around her.
Rynina frowned and peered up at something in the sky. Curious, Atryn soon joined her, and the blue-haired girl squeeled in delight. "Ooh!"
"What?" Laraz asked, looking up at the two girls standing in the doorway of the smithy.
Atryn turned her head to look at him. "It's nothing, Laraz. Aren't you supposed to be working?" She smirked at her friend.
Laraz rolled his eyes. "I was, until you two came in here and distracted me." He grumbled, brushing soot and dirt from his clothes as he walked over to the door. "What are you looking at, anyway?" He asked, curious.
His eyes lit up when he saw the graceful, colorful, and very large shapes soaring through the sky. Dragons! Two dragons, a green and a blue, wheeled in the sky above. Laraz smiled as Atryn watched in excitement and Rynina hung back in the doorway.
"Do you think they're on search?" Atryn asked, thinly veiled hope in her voice.
Laraz shrugged. "It's a possibility." He conceded, then pointed out, "But there are lots of other reasons they could be here."
"Whatever." Rynina said from behind them. She clutched a tablecorner with her hands as Seruu fastened himself around her neck. Laraz bit back a laugh at the sight. It was unusual for the girl, usually so brash and fearless, to look nervous about dragons. Ah well, he supposed everyone had their personal fears.
His reddish-bown eyes watched the dragons spiral in to land. Atryn was bouncing up and down beside him. He shook his head. "Don't get your hopes up." He said.
A dark silver and white husky trotted out from the back of the smithy and ran outside before Laraz could stop him. "Huh? Verdar!" He yelled at his canine. "Come back here!"
His calls were in vain, Verdar's tail wagged happily as he weaved back and forth through the streets, but he paid his master no heed. Laraz cursed. "Now I'm gonna have to go after him. I hope the dragons eat him, crazy mutt." He muttered under his breath.
Atryn giggled beside him. "I'll go with you." She volunteered.
Rynina sighed behind them. "I suppose I'll go too. Can't leave you two by yourselves, no telling what sort of trouble you'll get into." She laughed, then stopped and looked outside nervously. "Hey, are the dragons still out there?"
Laraz and Atryn ignored her and sprinted outside to follow Verdar. Rynina sighed and stepped out, somewhat slower, then saw she was being left behind. "Hey guys, wait up!" She yelled, running after them.
Zuheilenth cocked his head to one side as a voice from the village below was carried to him by the wind. "Hey guys, wait up!" The danachian blue craned his neck towards the town, seeing two young people, probably in their mid teens, chasing after a large dog, with another girl chasing after them. He stared at them with interest for some seconds before turning his head to his rider.
Loarim, I think there may be some Discovery-worthy people here after all.
Loarim looked at the blue curiously. "Really? Who?" He asked with interest.
Zeheilenth motioned to the trio of teens with his wing. Those three, I think.
Loarim nodded, but the action was unseen by his dragon as he backwinged to land.
Once Loarim departed from his mount's back, the three kids they'd spied earlier were nowhere to be seen. It seemed they'd disappeared into thin air.
Atryn looked around in confusion. "Laraz? Rynina?" Her two bird-weasels, Gadien and Riclya, had followed her in the air as soon as she left the blacksmith's shop, and were now wrapped around her neck and shoulders, looking bored and unsurprised at their surroundings.
The surroundings were odd, because they were utterly unlike anything Atryn had ever seen before. The sky was bluer, the grass-what little there was in the snowy mountainscape-was greener, and the air crackled with freezing ice droplets. A cold wind whipped the girl's sky blue hair around her head. Atryn shivered, wearing only her cotton tunic and a thin jacket to keep out the cold, which seemed to have suddenly dropped to near-freezing temperatures.
Several sounds came from behind her, and she turned around. Her eyes brightened to see Verdar trotting toward her, tongue lolling out of his mouth happily, looking as if he didn't have a care in the world. Laraz and Rynina stumbled along behind him, Rynina's flitters creating an awful ruckus as they flew around her head.
Atryn stared at them, relieved. "Laraz, Rynina! Where are we?"
Laraz had his arms crossed across his chest, and he rubbed his uper arms, shivering. "I don't know, but wherever it is, it's cold!"
"It doesn't look like anywhere I've ever seen." Rynina said, looking around. "It's almost like we're on another world..."
"Well, that would be because you are." Someone spoke up behind them all. They all jumped and spun around. A blue dragon crouched on a large rock, and his rider stood in front of him. "We were wondering what happened to you." He said.
"Huh?"
"It appears you and your friends stumbled onto a thin point." At their utterly blank looks, he continued. "A thin point is a place in the world where space and time seem to rip or tear; people often end up landing on another world unexpectedly. That's what happened to you."
"Can we go back?" Atryn asked worriedly. "I don't wanna be stuck on another world!"
The rider smiled reassuringly. "Zeheilenth and I can take you back easily enough." He assured them. "However..."
"However what?" Rynina asked suspiciously. Laraz and Atryn looked at her, then to the rider for his reply.
He shrugged. "Zeheilenth seemed to think you were worthy of being Discovered. I just thought I'd give you a chance to think it over first."
"Discovered?" Laraz asked.
"To bond dragons."
Atryn's eyes lit up. "Like Impression?" She turned to Laraz and Rynina, who looked doubtful.
"I'm not sure-" Rynina began unsteadily.
"Come on you guys! This is a once in a lifetime oppurtunity!" Atryn pleaded.
Laraz and Rynina glanced at each other. "Well, we can't just leave her here on her own." Laraz pointed out, and Rynina sighed defeated.
Atryn grinned happily, and even Laraz smiled a little.