Rayne, Ridder and Baedden have an interesting conversation before someone crashes the party...literally.

Someone do it with me:

BUM BUM BUUUUUUUUUUM~!

And Happy Easter too!

MINE.

~Angel~

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What was she thinking, bolting like a spooked doe? She hadn't done anything wrong, she hadn't been in private hunting grounds or stealing anything. Yet when she saw the pair of armored men staring at her, half naked in a pond, she couldn't stick around to put her clothes back on! What was she going to say? She couldn't have them following her towards Magnus, clearly that's what they were seeking. Why else would they come this far in full armor and weapons?

Running seemed to be the best choice, however the jack-rabbit was a damn fast runner, or sprinter, even in heavy looking armor. He stepped in front of her and held his paws up to show he meant no harm but he still side stepped when she did. She turned and almost ran straight into his counterpart, a sweaty boar.

“We won't harm you, miss,” the jack-rabbit soothed, trying to be friendly as Rayne stood between the pair and scowled at them both, clutching her pack to her chest.

“Like I'm going to believe that,” she laughed in a nervous manner at them, looking from one to the other quickly as she shifted her weight on her toes, ready to make another attempt at an escape. She had to play the distressed damsel with strange men around, if she could pull that off maybe she could talk her way out of this. “You two just happen to be sitting there without a word watching me clean myself, my clothes and bow? I know what you two want from me, perverts.”

The boar snorted a laugh at her, something that was a smile on his snout as teeth appeared behind the tusks from his jaw.

“Baedden,” the jack-rabbit chastised as Rayne glared at the boar. She heard the large feet of the jack rabbit step closer, making her edgy and whip around to look at him. His paws were still raised up as he tried to take another step closer, but Rayne pulled the curved knife from her pack and pointed it at the brown furred throat in front of her. The jack-rabbit stopped, waited and stared at Rayne with his large brown eyes, not looking at the blade in the slightest.

“I mean you no harm, miss,” he said in his soothing tone of voice. “I promise no harm will come to you. We are here to help you.”

Rayne couldn't hide her perplexed face if she tried. Clearly this knight thought she was in some sort of trouble?

“With what? BATHING?” she asked in bewilderment. She was so shocked she hadn't heard the lumbering boar move behind her until he snatched the knife from her paw and tossed it into the pond. Rayne jumped back but the boar, Baedden caught her bicep and held her firmly against his chest.

“There we are,” Baedden grumbled as Rayne nearly vomited with the stench coming from his mouth. “Nothing sharp for you, m'lady.”

“Baedden” the jack-rabbit warned, “I had everything under control, release her. She has done nothing wrong.”

“Ridder, she JUST had a knife to your throat,” Baedden stated, pointing at the rippling pond where the knife splashed. “You don't call that wrong?”

“We've scared you,” Ridder replied calmly as he pried the boar's hoof off Rayne's arm. “I apologize for that, and for my companion's behavior.”

Rayne glared at them both before setting her anger on the boar.

“That knife was a GIFT!” she yelled at Baedden, who blinked and looked at Ridder for some help. “And you just decided to hurl it into the POND?”

“M'lady, you seem to forget you had it to Ridder's THROAT!” the boar yelled back. “I could care less where the weapon came from!”

“Calm yourselves,” Ridder stepped in between them, pushing Baedden back by his chest and giving Rayne her own room and looking to her gently. “You might not be aware of this, but we believe there are dragons in the immediate area here and you are not safe sitting so out in the open...where did you come from?”

“I—live—here,” Rayne replied in a slow manner, walking around the knights and back to her clothes, giving the boar a steady glare before stepping behind a tree to dress herself without the on-lookers. Dragons? Really? The giant amount of damage and fires for days tell them that? Rayne should have known all the fighting would have attracted attentions of knights. She had been so absorbed in Magnus and their recovery the thought never crossed her mind they should have been lying low.

“You live in the forest?” Ridder asked in disbelief beyond the tree. “Where, exactly?”

She frowned a little, that lie wasn't going to stick very well with at least the rabbit, Ridder.

“I'm not going to tell you where I live,” she growled before stepping out and sliding the bow around one shoulder while the pack rested on the other. “What kind of idiot do you take me for?”

“Do you treat all knights you run into this—rudely?” Baedden snorted angrily at her.

“I don't know, do you always stand by secretly unannounced while females bathe in what they think is a private, secluded area?” Rayne snapped as she stared the boar down. He growl snorted at her before Ridder stepped in their line of sight once again.

“Baedden give me a moment,” Ridder said sternly to the boar, who began to object, “Baedden, Give—me—a—moment.”

The boar made some sort of noise that could have been a growling, but it sounded like a snarling snort. Rayne wanted to spit her tongue out at the knight, but Ridder turned too quickly for her to attempt to do so. Baedden went to stand a few yards away, putting a hoof on his sword's hilt and looking around the little clearing. Rayne's eyes were suspicious, scrutinizing as Ridder seemed to smile a bit at her. Was he trying to be charming or was he genuinely laughing at her on the inside? Both thoughts annoyed her. If only she had noticed them sooner and got away back to Magnus, she wouldn't have to sit here and listen to what ever this Ridder had to say to her.

“As for the watching you bathe without announcing ourselves, I take full responsibility for it,” Ridder said humbly, bowing his head low as his long ears turned backwards, a formal apology.

Rayne rolled her eyes heavily and crossed her arms. She didn't care about his feelings, she mostly cared about the time she was spending here and how to leave without this goody two shoes on her tail.

“Apology and whatever else accepted,” Rayne grumbled. “Now please, go be on your way to where ever you came from or were going to.”

Ridder stood up straight in front of her, his large eyes looking at her with uncertainty.

“Perhaps we can escort you to a safer place,” Ridder offered.

“Look, I know what you think you're doing. A female in the forest alone where—honestly no one has ever really been where—” she stopped and looked towards where the fire had been, beyond the greenery. “—Forest fires have ravaged, and you think you need to be the good knight and save me from some sort of inevitable peril...But to be very blunt I don't want or need help...From you...Or him...Ever. So, just go away please.”

“I can't leave you here alone,” Ridder grumbled a little, looking hurt and motioning to the wilderness around them.

“I know these woods,” Rayne stated, “Better than anyone, so don't worry about me please.”

“Do you, now?” Ridder asked, ears attentive as his mood brightened. Oh good, Rayne thought, not the way to get rid of him. “Have you seen dragons in these woods?”

Rayne squinted her eyes a bit, shaking her and and pursing her lips in mock thought.

“No, can't say I have,” she answered him which he seemed to be buying.

A shadow appeared over them, far too fast to be a cloud over the sun. Rayne and Ridder looked down at the ground before Rayne looked up in time to watch Magnus crash down on the knight—the former knight known as Baedden, white back claws crushing the boar like a bug. The ground shook terribly but both Rayne and Ridder stayed on their feet, Ridder whisking around quickly to behold Magnus in all his rage.

“But,” Rayne muttered to Ridder, “I could be wrong.”

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Magnus roared, anger driving him to protect what was his. He always thought he wasn't the territorial type but the last few weeks were pressing his nerves to the brink. He truthfully had been hanging high in the clouds after snagging a quick horse or two, looking for Rayne to see if he could. What he didn't expect was to spot the shining armor glinting in his eyes even from the height he was at. He glided down a little for a closer inspection and saw Rayne with the pair of mortal knights.

HIS territory, HIS mate. He became so angry he dove with purpose and squashed one of the little fighters under his landing, of course the one farthest from Rayne.

The other, a long eared mortal pulled his sword and shield free and stood at the ready, standing in front of Rayne with a narrowed, un-intimidated glare. Magnus dared not use his flame with her so close, so instead his tail would serve as his weapon of choice.

“RUN!” the large eared knight yelled as Magnus swung his tail in a full forced swing! He knew where Rayne was, and he wasn't an amateur at using his own tail so she was never in danger of being struck. The rabbit creature ducked and rolled as the tail swung over him, getting to his feet quickly as possible. What he didn't expect was for Magnus' back swing to smack and grasp him around his armored form, lifting him high into the air! The knight was about to cut into Magnus' muscular tail when he hurled the little hard shelled insect into the water with such force, the pond's waters bowed upwards in a mighty splashing! Giving the knight no chance to even think about screaming before his armor would surely hold him at the mucky bottom, drowning him.

He roared, smacking his tail into the ground once before snorting smoke from his nostrils, snapping his jaw at nothing before he felt Rayne leaning on his arm. He looked down to see her staring up at him, worried and concerned but with the bow on her shoulder. His eyes softened as the rage left him, tilting his head down and letting her hug around his muzzle as much as she physically could reach.

“Grab hold,” Magnus rumbled at her, watching her head jerk up to look into his eyes.

“Of what?” she asked quietly.

“My mane,” he answered as he lowered his neck and shoulders. “Climb on, I'm taking you home.”

She nodded a little, agreeing silently before clambering up his bicep and shoulder and wrapping her paw a few times in his soft mane. She hoisted herself up between his wings and straddled his neck as much as possible, closing her eyes as her other paw twisted his silky strands in her tight fist. He wiggled a little to make sure she was holding on tightly, which resulted in her kicking his neck with her heel playfully.

“Don't do that,” she giggled, before putting her face in his mane. “Lets go, please.”

His muscles tensed under her, before he jumped up and slammed his wings down in a powerful motion, giving him the boost into the air to leave the ground. They were off, Magnus making the trip an easy flight as Rayne did not look or leave the safety of his mane the whole time.

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The pond had gone still, before the water rippled and a few bubbles popped on the surface. A short time later the pond seemed still again until Ridder broke through the glossy water and took in a deep breath. Quick thinking helped him free his body from the heavy armor which now sat at the bottom of the pond, along with his sword. He coughed heavily as he swam to shore, dark shirt, pants and a small knife clasped in his paw all that was left of his previsions and weaponry.

He was lucky to be alive after that. The mere impact on the surface of the water had him nearly unconscious, but his armor had saved the pain of that. His knife he used to cut his armor's straps free from his body, and his large feet propelled him to the surface in one strong motion. He lay on shore for a while, obviously the dragon had left since he wasn't being eaten alive and everything seemed quiet.

Then Ridder remembered...the tigress. He sprung upright and onto his feet, looking across the pond to where the body and armor of his crushed comrade lay but there was no sign of the female. His heart began to race, sprinting around the pond's edge through the taller grasses and tried yelling out for her, seeing if she was still around. What if the dragon had swallowed her up? Or stolen her to be feasted upon later? It was all his fault, the dragon wouldn't have touched her if he hadn't spotted Baedden and himself...she may have been in the safety of her home by then. His guilt weighed on him even though he knew there could have been a thousand possibilities, but his gut told him she couldn't have gone that far in that short of time...something had happened. Either the dragon had eaten her, or he took her.

Ridder looked at the smashed body of his former companion, falling to his knees a bit as he tried to keep composure. Baedden was an obnoxious fellow, but he didn't deserve to die for his lord like this, crushed under his own armor, the objects supposed to protect him. Ridder closed his eyes and said a quiet prayer for Baedden, before pulling off the boar's sword and sheath, both fully intact luckily. Ridder would hunt for food, find logs to burn and burn his comrade when the night came. He needed the body gone before scavengers would come sniffing it out, a knight should never be consumed by such means. If his soul hadn't yet released, the fires would send it to the next world.

The dragon hopefully assumed the threat was gone, Ridder was counting on that truth to see if he could get to the beast and save the young lady he hadn't wanted to condemn to death.