Its been raining a LOT where I live.

MINE.

~Angel~

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Rain. Torrential rain. For the night and the following day. The thunder boomed, the lightning hopped from cloud to cloud but never really struck the ground. The stream became a flood gate, the prairie land becoming a marshland and Rayne watched from the opening of the cave. The water poured down the rock faces of the mountain like tears and the forest leaves hung down from the weight of the droplets. It was like spring forgot it was supposed to bring showers, and suddenly decided to flood the world around them with nice cold water. Sheets of cold water.

Rayne had been looking at the arrows all morning, trying to decide which ones were useful and which ones were for practice. With all the time and the rain not stopping anytime soon she decided to set up an area for her to see if she could keep up her skills. She found it, an unlit cavern the length of Sagewynd's east side and almost completely straight. She set up some form of targets at the end of the cavern and found plenty of extra torches and used her own striking rocks to light it. At least on the days the weather was storming, she could have something to do when she was done reading and taking notes. One could do that all day, but Rayne's paw hurt and she hadn't learned how to write with the other. And reading while valuable in its own right, especially with all the access she had now, she found out that she lost sense of time and—had missed a meal or two. By the time Magnus had found her in the very back of the mortal works library, he thought she'd gotten lost in the winding corridors and hadn't been able to find her way back. Of course when Rayne was merely Magnus' pupil she had other things to entertain herself with while he was gone and slumbered or just disappeared into the back corridors. Trying to sneak around with a dragon telling you not to had its advantages in killing time. Now the whole cave was hers as well and somehow the sneaking lost its appeal.

So having another activity in the cave—besides Magnus was a good thing. She was working on others, but archery seemed the most practical after the circumstances with the two knights. She wouldn't kill again unless she had to, but she would certainly have the aim to scare off others. Even if she wasn't a dragon, she was to defend this territory and she would.

Magnus's wings were far louder and heavier in the rain, splashing through the water as he landed in the feet now pooling in the prairie, sinking slightly into mud. Rayne watched as muddy claws climbed up and a sheen of water covered his scale and flattened his mane. Once in, his great body shook and water was flung everywhere, drenching Rayne as she tried to cover her face with her paws.

“MAGNUS!” she bellowed.

He looked at her with a bored expression, shaking his muddy paws and splattering that everywhere as well.

“Worried about me?” he asked as his heated body began to steam off the remaining water, grinning with fangs upon fangs as he lowered his head down to her. Rayne put both paws down, her face and some of her hair saved from the wet and muddy onslaught. “How did you get so dirty? Did you try to go out in this?”

He was honestly, surprised. She could see it in his face as his ears turned forward. Her eyes narrowed, before she got an idea. Her face turned to sorrow, eyes wide and ears down-turned as she slumped forward slightly.

“I was just—so scared!” she tried to make a good convincing sob, before wrapping her wet, muddy form around his muzzle. “You could have been struck by lightning!”

From the strangled groan she knew he was trying to keep from hurling her off of his face and be sympathetic, and she had to bite the inside of her mouth to keep from breaking into laughter. She pet his muzzle firmly with new chunks of mud, looking up at his eyes.

“I'm just glad you're alright.”

Then his eyes were narrowing at her face, looking into them as the small amount of anger began to boil up.

“Bath,” he simply stated. “Now.”

“Whatever for?” Rayne asked as she knew her game was up but wiggled back and forth on his snout to mix the mud chunks with the water. She really was asking for it but she really didn't care. His form rushed down into the tiger, her arms now resting on his shoulders as she leaned into his chest, her nose almost touching his chin.

“And now I need a bath,” he stated as he splattered his paw on her face to make sure the one clean part on her wasn't any longer.

“Oh fantastic,” she responded in a droll voice, but the surprised noise when he swung her over his shoulder sounded much more truthful.

***********************************************************************

“What are all these books doing here?” Magnus asked as Rayne showed him the archery cavern. She was using old wheels standing on several bits and pieces of carts as targets, tied together with rope instead of hammered. It was quite impressive actually, but he still wanted to know what the piles from his mortal collection were doing there.

“Target practice,” Rayne answered, her bow in her paw as she had her quiver over her shoulder in the lit, but dimly lit place. He would add more torches later—TARGET PRACTICE?

“Rayne, you are aware these are books,” Magnus stated, picking up the top one from the pile and beginning to flip through it with a careful claw. “Like this one, 'How To Win The Lusty Luscious Lips of a Virtuous Virgin' by—”

The book was shot closed and even hopped out of his grasp by an arrow, falling to the ground as its cover and pages were pierced clean through. Magnus looked to his tigress who still held the firing position and stared at him with fire in her eyes. By the gods she was gorgeous.

“That was one of my favorites.”

“And now its not. I shouldn't be surprised you knew what you were doing the first—time,” Rayne growled as she lowered her bow down. “Not with all this,” she motioned to the stacks of books near his foot, “sitting in the stacks back there, and you won't need any of those kinds of 'how to' books anymore.”

“Rayne,” his smile was creeping through, “I never knew you were the jealous type. You didn't seem jealous over Xipil in the slightest.”

“Of course I was jealous of her—” she stopped and looked away in surprise as her face radiated. Magnus' brown quirked up as he suddenly found a new little button to push.

“And here I thought you were attracted to the slayer, not the dragon...” Magnus grinned, laughing in his chest triumphantly. She looked up at him with a tight-lipped expression, swinging her body a little nervously. “I would like to have known that earlier.”

“Well, in your words, O'mighty Magnus,” Rayne stated as she turned away from him and the books. “You never ASKED.”

“Mmmm, indeed,” he replied as he picked up another one of the books in the piles dedicated for target practice. “OH! 'Sex, Lies and the Leprechaun'! This one is a delight!”

The next arrow hit the book but nearly pierced his clawed thumb, his eyes watching the little book tumble next to its now pierced partner.

“I'm beginning to think that you don't need any more practice with that thing,” Magnus smiled at her as Rayne narrowed her eyes at him, picking up another book and just about to read the title when once again it was shot out of his digits and this time, impaled itself into the far wall. “Such violence over the written word.”

“I've been living THAT type of written word lately,” she stated, “And you don't need any more encouragement.”

“I could just burn all of them for you, if you wish,” he offered with a greedy smile. Did he enjoy these books? Once upon a time, knowing little things about the sexuality of lesser beings was in every creature's nature. Why? Curiosity of course. He didn't really need them though, and he was getting slightly nervous about her shooting them out of his claws.

“How about just naming the title, then throwing it into the air?” Rayne suggested, pulling another arrow from her quiver and holding it tightly in the bow, pointing down and facing the long corridor. “Give me something moving to hit and entertain you for a little while.”

“This should be interesting...” Magnus agreed, before picking up the next book and clearing his throat, giving his deepest sultry voice he could. “'The WOOOLF—At My Door'.”

“Throw.”

Magnus tossed it over his wing and watched Rayne aim carefully, hearing the pages fluttering like bird wings before the arrow went flying. He heard the hollow sound of the cover being pierced, but he kept his eyes focused on Rayne. He picked up the next one as she pulled another arrow free, her eyes waiting as her ears twisted to listen to his voice. Did he really feel this was useful? Did it have to be?

“'One Knight In My Bed'.”

“Throw.”

The fluttering came again and the distinct noise of the book being pinned to the stone wall came, Rayne readying her position once more but there was something quirking on her lips. She was smiling, and he was glad he was the cause of it.

***********************************************************************

“Another night in this damned barn,” the hawk grumbled beside his comrade. “How are we supposed to know if Baedden and Ridder found the dragons again? Wait for them to reappear?”

“We are here in case the beast comes back to eat this farmer's cattle, Astor,” the coyote, clearly the patient one replied in a calm manner, playing his hand as the hawk sneered at his loss. They were on their third candle of the evening, the only thing really lighting the dark barn save the lightning flashes outside. “Its not like we'll be able to charge after them, not with the storm of the century pouring down on us. Be glad we get to stay here for no coin with food and a roof.”

One of the horses nickered a bit when the thunder boomed again. The armor in the corner was safe from dripping holes in the roof but the shields were next to the double doors in case they needed to get outside quickly. Both wore a sword and a knife, but in simple tan cotton shirts and brown vests and leggings.

“We should've spent the coin, Loic. Its been what? Five days? Six? I'm getting sick of the horses as company,” Astor growled as the winds pulled and pushed the closed barn doors and Loic grabbed the cards to play again. “And you're no help, either.”

The coyote sighed heavily, which he seemed to be doing a lot these days. The farmer, clearly still fearing for his cattle had eagerly told them they could stay as long as they liked if they thought the dragon with the glowing eyes would return. He offered them his horse barn as it was the best he could do for sleeping quarters for the knights, as well as the place for their four horses. Baedden and Ridder had gone off a week ago, but Astor was too consumed with his own thoughts and lost a day somewhere in there. The farmer's 7-year-old daughter had given them cards and other little games to give them something to do when the rain started. Cards was the most effective in passing the time.

“Well, I'm going to try and get some sleep,” Loic stated as he put the cards on the crate they'd been using for a table. “I think its turning to night, although its hard to really say with all the clouds.”

“Maybe the gods are trying to tell us to go home,” Astor replied with a little chuckle as he shuffled the deck.

“Or stay put,” Loic offered as he went to their travel gear and unrolled his soft but flat roll or sleeping. “Unless you really feel the need to get struck by lightning again.”

“Oh the ONE time,” Astor snapped, “And I was flying with a very important message! Rain and lightning wouldn't stop me! I swore to the gods I would get that message through no matter what!”

“Noble Astor,” Loic laughed. “Although he was known as Noble Bald Spot Astor for a while...until his feathers grew back.”

“Yeah-ha ha ha ha...” Astor mock-laughed. “Go to sleep, you make excellent company when you're not awake.”

The barn door slid open and Astor jumped where he sat as Loic stared at the silhouette at in the door. The lightning flashed as a figure caked in mud, leaves and foliage walked in before closing the barn door behind him.

“...Ridder?” Loic asked as he went to see his comrade. “Ridder! What in all the hells happened to you? Where's your armor? Where's Baedden...”

Ridder's large brown eyes focused on the coyote, before they went to Astor and took off his soaked clothing.

“Astor,” the jack-rabbit ordered in a stern, too stern manner. Loic's face was concerned and worried, seeing Ridder wearing Baedden's sword spoke volumes without speaking. “Fetch your parchment, we need to write to Lord Bywren.”

“What happened to Baedden?” Astor asked as the jack rabbit went through their things and found new clothes.

“Dragon,” Ridder answered. “And Loic, you need to sit down while I recite this. I need you both to hear every word without questioning me, without interrupting me, then when the rain lets up Astor, you will fly directly to Lord Bywren. Loic, you and I will head to Sagewynd.”

The pair of knights stared as Ridder began to clean his face with a rag and fresh water, scooting around the large crate and the small candle light and starting from the beginning, Astor looking down at the pieces of parchment and scribbling away with his charcoal.