Here is an adventure scene where a young traveler stumbles upon a dragon tribe. Initially suspicious and skeptical, the two sides quickly warm up to each other.

Bat Reptilian

Athena had no idea how long she's been walking but the young woman stayed focused on her task. The bat briefly removes her headband to shake out her hair before securing it and pressing on, intent on reaching her destination. But before the woman can rest, she hits a sudden snag…

*WHOOSH!*

“!!” A sudden cry later, Athena is left suspended above the ground, her body pointing straight towards the ground. The female bat has gotten herself snagged by a rope trap, leaving her dangling. Although she does not have any tools to cut herself free, she can only wait. But she doesn't have to wait for long.

There is a roar in the distance followed by the sound of beating wings. Athena’s heart begins to pound in her chest, fearing her untimely demise. If she is to die here, she'll likely be torched to a crisp with no second thought. But being upside-down and suspended by a rope squeezing her ankle, Athena is unable to see the approaching figure.

Flying onto the scene is an indigenous dragon, and he is massive. Red and cream coloring, along with large wings and golden eyes holding a fierce energy befitting a fighting warrior, the male dragon is a homing missile, zeroing in on Athena’s location. But when he sees the trapped woman, his expression softens and he lands directly before her to free her.

The last thing Athena was expecting was being preserved. But after a brief silence, her ears fly up to the sound of leather being untangled. She later finds herself being settled on the floor, gawking silently at the muscular red dragon before her. The female bat gulps, “Th-thank you… I was expecting to be eaten alive or be burned. Just who are you, anyway?”

The towering dragon kneels down to be eye level with Athena and he begins petting her head gently. He then speaks, introducing himself, “My name is Gunther Williamson, and I am from the Eastern Sky tribe to the east. I am one of many warriors in the tribe. We're always welcome to visitors passing by!”

“I see…” Athena is presented with an eyeful of Gunther's muscular body - he is wearing only indigenous attire befitting a warrior for his tribe. Silver shoulder gauntlets, wrist wraps, foot wraps, brown loincloth, Gunther is ready. But here he is rescuing an innocent traveler who got snagged on one of the traps.

While Athena begins inspecting the indigenous dragon, Gunther folds his large wings and mentions, “If you're looking for a place to stay, we are happy to help. But the chief has the final say.”

Before the young bat can even get her thanks out, Gunther stretches out his arms while extending a hand to her, “It's just a short journey back to camp. You can ride on my back if you want.”

Respectfully, Athena shakes her head and declines the offer, “That's okay, Gunther. I can fly on my own.”

“Right. So let's head on back, get you screened and whatnot.” The endearing smile on Gunther’s face puts Athena at ease, assuring the young woman that he is a gentle giant. Together, they set off for the territory in flight.

~~~~~

The journey to the dragons’ territory was short, like Gunther said. Situated on a mountain, numerous tents and fire pits dot the landscape. Following their arrival, Athena is led off to the chieftain’s tent while Gunther is meeting back up with the other warriors of the tribe.

Athena has good reason to be nervous - she is in unfamiliar territory with giant native dragons who can easily squish her or torch her, plus her well-being also hangs in the balance, depending on the tribal chief’s final say.

The tribal chieftain is a large strawberry colored dragon, looking more regal and aggressive in appearance. But his royal blue eyes focus on Athena once he notices the young bat approaching, surrounded by two Eastern Sky warrior dragons. Intrigued, the chieftain motions for the warriors to leave, which leaves Athena solitary.

“I am Griffin Garrith, chief of the Eastern Sky tribe. What is your business here, traveler?” After introducing himself and making known his role and rank, the dragon chieftain gets down to business; he demands a reason why Athena is in his tribe’s territory.

Athena meekly responds, “I am a traveler, just passing through and exploring new lands. I assure you, I am no threat to you or your people.”

Griffin strokes his chin lightly, pondering over his final decision from what Athena has mentioned to him. After some consideration, Griffin finally renders his verdict, “Hmm, I'll allow it. You are free to stay for the time being and continue on your journey. But if you steal something from us, there will be consequences.”

“Duly noted…” Athena gulped, intimidated.

“Gunther will show you around our land and you can get yourself acquainted.” Griffin acknowledged. “Now, I must get back to my work.” With that, Griffin turns to walk away, bidding the female bat a temporary goodbye. This leaves Athena wondering what she has possibly gotten herself into. But since she's receiving a tour of the territory with Gunther, it shouldn't be that scary, right?

~~~~~

Traveling with Gunther proved to be anything but scary. Instead, Gunther is sailing along in the air with Athena riding his back; the red dragon is having a bit of playtime for himself and his visitor before getting down to official business.

Using the wind to his advantage, Gunther swoops down to give Athena a closer observance at the various parts of the Eastern Sky tribe’s territory as well as its various locales, which appear to be scattered around different parts of the territory.

During the flight, Gunther requests, “Hey Athena, how are you enjoying our little flight??”

Although Athena is equally capable of flying herself, she doesn't mind the flight she is given at all. In fact, she cheers, “This is amazing! You're an automatic airplane and I love it!”

Gunther smirks, “Heh, glad you're enjoying the ride so far, Athena. Anyways, we’re reaching the border of our territory so we'll be touching down soon! Got a bar and a tavern to show you just two miles east from here!”

Her pink hair whipping about, Athena wonders, “Didn't you show me that already?”

“We're in flight!” Gunther reminds her, “We only flew over it. I have yet to show you directly.”

“Okay! I’ll stay tuned!” Athena responded eagerly.

~~~~~

Following the touchdown and brief overview of the territory border, Gunther later revealed that they're on the west side of Eastern Sky territory. This surprises Athena, who wonders directly, “If this is the west side of your territory, then what is the rest of it like?”

With his large wings still outstretched, Gunther holds his hand out to the young bat in offering. He insists, “Well if you fly with me, you’ll find out. We're still trying to expand but we're managing slowly.”

While Gunther leaps into takeoff, Athena joins him a short time later, floating beside him in midair. The red dragon later recalls, “By the way, I wanted to show you our bar and tavern we have installed here. It's not that big but it's cozy.”

“Right!” Joining the red dragon warrior, Athena flies alongside Gunther on their way back to revisit the tavern they sailed by. It is no problem for Gunther, though Athena is having a harder time keeping up. And by the time Gunther touches down and folds his wings, Athena arrives seconds later, also landing beside him.

With a smirk, Gunther realizes, “Looks like you're starting to grow exhausted, there. Why don't you just ride on my back so we can make things easier for us?”

Athena pouts, “I am not exhausted, you’re way bigger than me! And I can fly just fine!”

The red dragon then goes on to tease her, “Yes, my little hummingbird.”

“Honestly, I can punch you right now.” Athena huffs, still pouty. This disappears when she notices the tavern that Gunther mentioned is right before them. The red dragon smirks again at Athena and strolls over to open and hold the door for her. Motioning for her to enter, Gunther insists, “Ladies first!”

Wordlessly, Athena strolls inside the tavern and is immediately impressed by what she sees as homemade. The tavern is sporting a completely different aura from what she's normally seen when going to a bar and restaurant. But this one is more natural.

“So this is your bar…?” Athena mused while eyeing around. “Huh, it's got an island feel to it.”

“Yes it does. We mainly have juice and water as planned but we're still working on it. It's still under construction.” Gunther revealed.

“So you mean this bar and tavern you guys have is still a work in progress?” Athena realized.

Gunther nods to confirm her suspicion and he later leaves the place, beckoning Athena to follow him out. Then the red dragon unfurls his large wings in preparation for takeoff; he holds his stance, casting his head over his shoulder to see if Athena is on top of him. Once the female bat is holding on to him from behind, Gunther opens his large wings and takes to the skies once again, this time going to the eastern side of the territory.

Suddenly, Gunther changes course and recalls, “There is nothing on the East end of our territory - everything is concentrated in the middle, so that's where we're headed.”

“So there is nothing on the northern or southern boundaries as well?” Athena assumed.

“Afraid not.” Gunther confirmed. “Everything is concentrated in the center of our territory.”

“I see - you guys must have some kind of city center for a hotspot.” Athena rationalized in conclusion.

“You can say that. We usually get tourists and visitors this way and through other means.” Gunther added.

“Well, I’m not a tourist by any means, just a traveler.” Athena winked, hinting at the other method used on her.

Still in flight, Gunther adds, “Yeah, unsuspectingly. But please be more careful next time. You are not a threat to us in any way, shape, form, or fashion.”

“Aww, thank you.” Athena blushed. “I’m just an explorer.”

“Well, explorers are appreciated!” Gunther noted graciously.

“Thank you!” Athena beams in delight, “And I hope to stay that way!”

~~~~~

Reaching the city center, Gunther touches down and allows Athena to disembark while inspecting his wings. Though he stayed in the air for a long time, Gunther's large wings began to strangely feel sore. Nothing a hot soak can handle. The red dragon closes his wings and resumes the tour with Athena, stopping first at one of the locations inside the territory.

“Is this a warrior's guild?” Upon seeing how the inside of the arena is decked out in a black and gray color scheme, Athena notices numerous weapons inside. But even more interesting is the view she is able to make out beyond the arena - an open field is ahead, yet the arena itself, and the guild, are completely open; the guild itself has no roof. This leaves Athena musing, “This is pretty impressive!”

“It is an impressive spot. This is where all the warriors train and work on their combat skills. We use long-range and short-range throws in practice but we also engage in hand-to-hand combat from time to time.” Gunther noted. The red dragon retrieves a battle axe from the pile of weapons stream all over the floor and motions for Athena to get clear. Once the female bat moves away from the red dragon, the warrior dragon arcs his arm back and slings the weapon forward, watching it slice through the air. It only smashes into a tree about half a mile away with a loud *THUNK!*, completely embedding itself deep in the tree bark.

“Holy crap, you’re strong! How are you able to flick that heavy thing so far, Gunther??” The example that Gunther shows leaves Athena blown away. Yet, to her surprise, the red dragon only laughs and flexes his right bicep, posing in front of her. He holds his pose briefly and relaxes while explaining, “Gotta keep up in shape as per a warrior's status. Physical strength is just as important as mental strength.”

“Can you fling that thing with your tail??” Athena wondered, still in awe.

Gunther denies the request in rejection, claiming, “If I tried flinging an axe with my tail, chances are I might take your head off with it.”

This causes Athena to shudder for good reason, having already developed a mental video and playback in her mind. “...! Point taken. Moving on!”

After making their way outside, Gunther leads Athena to the marketplace, located about two miles away. To cut down on the time again, Gunther takes to the skies with Athena clinging to him. And from the skies, Gunther can already see the bazaar.

Pointing out the bazaar while still in flight, Gunther declares, “There it is! It should take us no time to get there.”

The flight to the market is actually quick with the red dragon sailing through the air. And when he touches down, he wraps an arm around Athena to make sure she stays with him. And for good reason, too.

Waddling through the marketplace, Athena is greeted by various scents, items, and vendors. Some items, such as candles, produce, and cloth, she is familiar with - to an extent. Gunther, however, is used to the merchandise on display, having dealt with numerous customers and vendors in his own time. On the flipside, the red dragon cautions the female bat, “Make sure you keep a lookout for shady characters. They reel you in when you least expect it.”

Trying to make sense of Gunther's advice, Athena whispers to him, “And what do you mean by that?”

Plainly, Gunther reveals, “Sometimes vendors here are dishonest in their businesses. We’ve had to shut them down sometimes but they would keep coming back, so we ended up driving them out. The chieftain wouldn't allow it.”

From Gunther's explanation, Athena immediately understands the reasoning. She adds, “Dishonesty only breeds corruption. And there is no turning back from there.”

“Say, Athena, what do you like to eat? I can treat you to a snack!” Gunther offers to buy Athena a bite to eat since they're in the marketplace already. But before the female bat can even respond…

“Gunther!! Over here, big boy!!” Standing at one of the vendor spots is a purple dragoness who is occupied with selling different cloths; she spots Gunther and a pink bat accompanying him during her time at the marketplace. Upon seeing them, the dragoness leaves her post to meet Gunther and his guest.

“Oh, hey Flare!” With his ears flying up, it doesn't take long for Gunther to find the source of the noise when he sees the purple dragoness running to meet them. When Flare meets the two, she hugs Gunther and gives him a quick kiss on the cheek. This is happening in full view before Athena, who is just observing casually.

“Gunther, who is this??” Athena observes the purple dragoness caressing Gunther's chest while kissing him, and the female bat switches her attention to Gunther for answers.

In response, the red dragon nuzzles the purple dragoness and turns to face Athena while wrapping an arm around her waist, proudly declaring, “Athena, this is Flare Dunworth, my fiancee.”

Flare smirks at the smaller bat, “How are you, traveler?”

Sensing the demeanor in Flare’s tone, Athena warily responds, “I am doing fine, nonetheless. Gunther has been taking me around the land so far.”

Flare just giggles at the bar and kneels down to ruffle her hair in playful jest. The dragoness concedes, “I’m just messing with you!”

Athena turns pouty, frizzling up at Flare, “Don't even do that again! You’ll make a bad impression of others!”

Flare just shrugs, carefree; Gunther, meanwhile, grabs Athena and places her atop his shoulders to continue the tour of the marketplace, reasoning between the two women, “If you ladies are done bickering, we have a tour to complete.”

Flare and Gunther share a quick kiss between each other with the purple dragoness waving goodbye to Gunther and Athena and returning to her post in the bazaar. And with Gunther strutting off with Athena riding his shoulders, the female bat is gifted with a front-row seat to the vendors in her sight.

Along the way, Gunther suddenly kneels down to retrieve something from the soft earth, which turns out to be a lone gold coin. He displays this to Athena, who sparkles at the sight, “A gold coin! Say, Gunther? Are those things rare?”

“In this case, I would say yes. But we have gold coins with a dragon’s engraving, not a lion’s.” To clarify his point, Gunther holds up the coin for Athena to get a better view, revealing a lion’s head engraved on said coin. The sight causes Athena to breathlessly reel, “Tell me I’m not seeing things! Is that an actual gold coin??”

To test the dexterity, Gunther bites into the coin to see if it will bend - no reaction. Satisfied, the red dragon flips the coin up to the bat and declares, “It's real! Hold on to that, will ya??”

Catching the coin in her palms, Athena stares wordlessly at the coin while riding atop Gunther's shoulders, bouncing softly while he strolls along the marketplace. He pauses again and suddenly waves to a brown dragon just a few paces ahead, “Roman! Over here!!”

This time, Athena opens her own wings and lifts herself from Gunther's shoulders just when the red dragon jogs over to meet the brown dragon - Roman notices the levitating bat and points her out to the red dragon, “Gunther, who is this flying bat?”

“Her name is Athena and she is a guest here.” Gunther curtly introduces Roman to Athena, watching her levitate while paying special attention to her smaller form. “She's free to stay as long as she wants until she's ready to leave.”

“I see.” Roman leaves his post to meet Athena, who touches down after some floating in midair. He extends his hand out to her and kneels down to meet her level, introducing himself, “Hi! My name is Roman! Pleased to meet ya!”

Athena giggles, “You seem like the comedic type to crack a joke every now and then. Pleasure to meet you too! I’m Athena!”

A brief handshake is exchanged between the two, to which Roman grabs Athena into a hug while standing back up. The female bat goes limp in his arms in a teasing manner but her wings start flapping seconds later.

When Roman releases Athena, the female bat giggles at coming back to life again, floating in midair a second time. When she touches down again, Athena muses, “Should’ve gone along with it.”

Roman inquires, “What makes you believe I’m some sort of jester? I rarely crack jokes.”

“The energy, maybe?” Athena assumed, shrugging. “I could tell by the energy and appearance.”

“I see…” Roman mumbled, intrigued.

After some further conversation between the two, Gunther, Athena, and Roman later separated with the former two resuming the rest of the tour through the marketplace. Then afterwards, Gunther later departs for one final piece of the territory, and that is the chief’s tent and surrounding units.

The departure back to the main hotspot only takes a few minutes by flight, and Gunther led the flight back to the main part of the territory. When he eyeballs the chief’s tent and the surrounding housing, Athena wonders, “Which one is the chief’s tent?”

From the skies, Gunther points down to the blue tent and insinuates, “That blue tent down there is the chieftain’s hut. The surrounding tents are for the bodyguards.”

“Bodyguards?” Athena turns thoughtful at first and then realizes, “Escorts, right?”

Seeing the red dragon nod in confirmation makes Athena reason, “Given the way things are nowadays, who doesn't need an escort or protection detail? After all, nobody is immune to assassination attacks or surprise encounters.”

In return, the red dragon warrior only snorts in agreement. When he later touches down with Athena, the red dragon does a brief walkaround of the tents where he admits, “No one appears before the chief or around the grand tents unless they have permission from the chieftain himself. I'm getting ahead of myself here.”

This time, Athena sprouts her own wings and lifts off, citing her fears when Gunther joins her in the air, “The last thing I want is to die by unannounced arrival! But the chief shouldn't mind, right?”

Gunther hums, unsure, before revealing, “It's complicated. There's only limited information I have to share with you regarding that.”

Flying away from this area, the pair lands at a different spot in the tribal landscape, coming across an open field and some other housing units. This is when Gunther hugs Athena and explains, “Athena, in the short time we've met, you're free to stay as long as you want here. Take as much time as you need to recuperate.”

“Thank you, Gunther.” Athena meekly replied, humbled. Out of respect, the female bat makes a bowing gesture to the red dragon, but is pulled into a hug instead. Gunther assures her, “No need to bow to me. We're all equal!”

Athena later spent the night in a guest tent recharging herself so she will be fully ready for the continuation of her journey. After a quick search for Gunther, she finds Griffin tending to some trees nearby. Inquisitive, Athena implies, “Excuse me, sir, but have you seen Gunther? I'm ready to leave and I wanted to say goodbye and offer my thanks for showing me around.”

Griffin smirks at the female bat and her appreciation for their hospitality. While working on the trees, the dragon chieftain reveals, “Gunther's currently on a patrol route northeast from here. If you catch him, you can say goodbye to him and be on your way.”

Giggling in delight at Griffin’s explanation, Athena waves goodbye and takes to the skies to search for the red dragon warrior, flying off in the direction she has learned from Griffin.

Though her solo flight doesn't take long for her search, Athena finds Gunther currently occupied with something on the ground. From the skies, Athena swoops down to meet him and get a better look at what's claimed his attention.

A closer look reveals Gunther's attention being drawn by something buried in the ground, partially visible. When the female bat notices this, she touches down and slinks away to keep her distance, recognizing the situation as a possible trap. Yet she peeks from behind her spot to observe the red dragon hoisting whatever it is that's buried. But one grunt of exertion later and Athena's jaw drops at the sight. Gunther has just retrieved a buried battle axe!

While Gunther begins testing his flexibility and strength with his new catch, his ears fly up to a sharp gasp nearby. Readying his new weapon, the dragon warns, “I will take off your head! Come out now!!”

To his surprise, Athena reveals herself, staring in surprise at the red dragon and his new toy. Alluding to his status, Athena breathlessly remarks, “How did you manage to just pull that thing out of the ground?! That is a big, heavy axe!”

Gunther sets the new weapon down and flexes his right bicep to show off his strength. Directing this towards Athena, Gunther mentions, “Natural strength. Anyways, why are you here?”

Seeing his inquisitive expression, Athena freely strolls up to Gunther and hugs him out of appreciation before separating. She mentions, “I came by to say goodbye before leaving and I wanted to thank you for showing me around.”

Satisfied with the guest and her service, Gunther remarks, “I appreciate your company as well. Until next time, Athena; ‘til we meet again!”

Seeing Athena off, Gunther waves goodbye and watches Athena take to the sky and fly away, disappearing on the horizon. Once she disappears from his sight, the red dragon warrior resumes his patrol duty with his newly acquired weapon, already anticipating the news he will be breaking to the other warriors of the tribe.

~~~~~

Athena belongs to Zoey_Hyena from ToyHouse!