Sionnach (closed)

"If we come into contact with any German riders, let it be known that I would like to talk to them if possible. It might turn into a fight, but I'm willing to try diplomacy over warfare." Fiona said to the other two riders, knowing that they would be joining her for the morning as Invah crouched low and then took off in flight.

Everything inside of the mist seemed so eerie. It was hard to hear and even harder to see, something she had never truly experienced before outside of a few early mornings in Inverness and a couple of blizzards. She felt on edge, knowing that anything could happen in a moment's notice.

Fiona's two fellows took up positions at either side to make sure none of them risked running into each other in flight while going through the fog. They didn't go too high til they were some distance from the camp, out over the channel. But as they climbed, they eventually reached a point where the fog fairly abruptly stopped. The morning sky above the fog cover was growing blue, which promised a fairly clear day, perhaps light rain as warned by clouds on the west horizon. Here above the mist, Fiona could immediately spot a dark flying shape over what, below the mist, was Calais on the Norman shore.

Ezra urged Daanai forward, then signalled to Fiona and Vostan that he was going to hang back. Vostan signalled the same, and they let Fiona go forward. Approaching one with three might be seen as a sign of aggression, and Ezra didn't want to risk it.

The unfamiliar dragon suddenly twisted round in the distance and began to glide slowly toward Fiona, the Rider standing up from their saddle to get a better look. The dragon itself appeared to be a northern male, a pale grey with dark fur along his spine, elbows, and a beard. The Rider was heavily armored in steel and fur, the designs seemingly Scandinavian at a glance, especially the old Nordic runes carved into her helmet and chest plate. She held a long bladed lance, couched in a strap on her saddle, and on her other arm was a great Scandinavian round shield painted with the image of a white otter on a blue wave.

The grey dragon drew nearer, his wings tilting back to slow his glide slightly so he could circle Invah. The Rider gave Fiona a familiar salute, arm across her chest with her fist over her heart, a sign of respect, and gave her a signal the Fiona knew from Ezra- a signal to land. With that, the grey dragon began to drift downward to land in the water, neutral territory.

Fiona stayed seated in her saddle as Invah gracefully hovered over the thick and misty clouds beneath them. The dragon in the distance was most definitely from the North, given away by his thick fur tufts and pale color. She wondered if this rider was from Norway or Sweden and why they were up flying around that morning.

When the rider circled around Fiona, she responded back, giving her the same signal of respect and pulling her reigns enough that Invah would know to land as well. Touching down in the water was always risky, but as soon as they splashed down in the mist, Fiona was standing on Invah's back, carefully crawling towards Invah's neck so that she could stand a little taller to see the other rider.

"Friend or foe?" Fiona called into the mist, barely able to see the grey Northern dragon floating a short distance away.

"Oh, most definitely a foe, but I'm curious about you," the woman called back. The black dragon drifted into view, the woman quite confidently walking up his shorter, broad neck and placing a hand on one of his horns as both stared at Fiona with confidence and curiosity. She removed her helmet to reveal long dark hair in a tight bun and piercing blue eyes, but most striking was a very deliberate scar carved across her cheekbone that looked fairly fresh.

"You were right, Avi, she is just a little young thing... Human, too. Here I thought the Scottish Caller would be some ancient Wolf or Weredragon. You're adorable." Despite the touch of condescension in her voice, there was clear interest and surprise and some respect. She had a similar confident attitude to some Riders Fiona knew, the most fiercely independent and dedicated were either extremely serious, or rather cocky like this woman.

"And you are?" Invah asked, holding her head just above water with a brow raised.

"Oh, forgive me, Lady Kyre," the woman nodded with a confident smile. "My people named me Jani Halfborn, daughter of Nilsine. This is Avfairn, son of Jolr. We come from Iceland."

Iceland was a very little-known, large island out to the far northwest of the isles, inhabited by descendants of the Norse folk who'd founded it. While Jani's accent was a bit removed, it was somewhat similar to a Norwegian accent.

"Human? No." Fiona said as the woman tried to size her up, commenting on her youth and her appearance. "I am a fox, through and through."

Fiona removed her own crested helmet, letting the other woman see her pale blonde hair and bright blue eyes. She didn't wear any markings of her station save for the small bear that was engraved in her chest plate. Sam didn't want her easily identified when she was out and about, which meant that her circlet had been left behind in Inverness.

"Might I ask why you would be our foe?" Fiona asked, wanting to know why riders would want to support Barbarossa at all.

"A Fox, huh? I can see it. I'm a half-blood myself. My father was a Bear. As for my purpose here... Money, mostly. Things aren't great back home in terms of honest work and being able to afford food. So here I am, caught up in some children's game of war. I figure, burn a few ships and knock a couple of do-gooders out of the sky, and I can take my pay and go home back to my usual work." She offered an interested smile at that. "And how about you, sweetheart? You're far too pretty to get that face messed up fighting some self-important German. And I thought Queens ran the domestic nonsense while the Kings did the fighting and dying. Or is Sam Ghis back at home and you're here?"

"If money is your many motivator, I will double whatever he is paying you." Fiona mentioned as she brought up why she was fighting for Barbarossa. "Because when he loses this, which he eventually will, I don't believe you want to be on that side. There will be very few who are spared, save the people that chose not to fight at all."

"My husband is here, on the front lines, same as myself. We will lead our troops together. There are those back at home that can protect our holdings there." Fiona explained.

"I don't intend to stick around long enough to see who wins. I just want enough money to look after my man here, and my lady back home. If you're paying double... Hell, why not? But why would you want a turncoat? Barbarossa could easily offer me even more and then I'd be right back on his side. Do you have a good reason as to why I shouldn't, other than the usual bull about your cause being the just one?" She leaned more heavily on the grey dragon's horn, rather relaxed despite the huge battle about to begin.

"Why wouldn't I want a turncoat? You know what he is planning and I'm interested in knowing." Fiona said with a shrug as the woman seemed just as at ease talking about battle as anything else. "There is nothing I can do to convince you that we are on the right side or not. The only thing that I can say is that at the end of all of this, when Barbarossa decides that the dragons are a threat to be taken out, there is only one place they can go where they will be protected. If you believe that Barbarossa will honor any deal he makes, you are sorely mistaken."

"Now that's a good answer," Jani nodded. "We weren't going to stick around, just for that reason. Bastard's already murdered a few dozen of the poor things, mostly mothers and their hatchlings. As for information... well, that might cost you a little more, but we'll see. I can tell you that most of the Riders he has are mercs like me, or dumb Imperial natives blinded by nationalism or drafted into service. Those poor idiots don't know Riders don't owe anyone fealty, not even their homeland. Their dragons are mostly those raised in captivity, they don't know any better either. Barely know how to speak. They may as well be simple beasts, like dogs, the way they were raised. Breaks my heart, honestly."

"It is a crime against my people... but we couldn't do anything about it without risking our lives and our livelihoods," the grey dragon finally spoke up. "They are treated like livestock, not the sentient, intelligent people they are."

"He will kill all those that are intelligent. If he has a caller, they will be raised from their slumber or found and slaughtered." Fiona said bluntly. "We have a sanctuary for dragons from all over. They are cared for by experienced riders, but we will never reveal their location...even if we knew for certain where they were."

"He knows about the sanctuary and he has a vague direction of where to look. You have a lot of secrets thanks to those Aleister Wolves, but I'm afraid it's hard to hide that dragons are fleeing into northern Scotland." She sighed and stood up straight, hands on her hips. "So... I suppose we're working together then. You only pay if you win, mercenary's honor."

At the sound of a large splash nearby, Jani bolted to her saddle to grab a javelin, but she paused seeing Daanai come into view. "I guess that's one of yours."

Ezra stood up from his own saddle, looking between Jani and Fiona. "... Is everything alright, here?"

"Peachy. Good to meet you, comrade."

Ezra looked to Fiona at that, taking off his helmet to reveal a confused expression.

"Mercenary's honor." Fiona agreed, a bit disturbed that Barbarossa might know where the dragons were being kept, but that was something she could have to discuss with Sam that evening.

When Ezra splashed down, Fiona turned to look at him and Daanai. "They are members of my riding corps. They are training another rider today, so do not be afraid if he joins us or can be heard above."

"Well, I'm not throwing my hat in with any 'Riding Corps' as you put it, but I can raise some hell among the Germans' ships for you. If I go back and report like everything's normal, they won't be any the wiser. Maybe I can knock a couple other mercs out too, let their dragons go free. None of us Riders ever stay on a job if we lose our partner." She settled back into her saddle at that. "So, everything square? Once I get chased out of Normandy, I'll come across and report. Make sure I don't get shot down by friendly fire."

"We will make the passage safe." Fiona said as she moved to her own saddle. "But mark my words, if you betray us after this deal, there is nothing that will stop anyone from bringing you out of the sky. Understood?"

"Don't threaten me with a good time, sweetheart," Jani chuckled as Avfairn turned away and, with no small amount of effort, managed to take to the sky again.

Invah sighed, watching her go. "I don't think she'll turn against us, but I worry about that recklessness. They've both clearly seen plenty of battle, though."

"Which could be to our benefit." Fiona said as she got into her position and placed her helmet back on. "Or it might bring us down entirely. Either way, we've got another rider on our side and numbers against Barbarossa's force are better than nothing."

"One less Rider on his side is more a chance our own will take his out of flight." Invah turned and began to raise her wings out of the water. It was difficult to get enough lift to rise out of the water, but with a little aid from Daanai, Invah was soon airborne while Ezra stayed low a while just to patrol for ships trying to sneak through the mist. Vostan remained nearby.

Fiona sat low in the saddle, letting Invah take flight and get comfortable before she straightened back up. It was still misty but they didn't really encounter anything else as they patrolled. As the morning wore on, she turned back towards the camp and gained the attention of a few of the other riders, calling for a meeting to speak about what had just happened.

As the small group joined, Fiona told them what she knew about Barbarossa's riding force. "They won't all be easily spoken to, but for the moment, it seems that money speaks. They have no loyalty to one side or another."

Gathered on the White Cliffs, the Riders in attendance all listened silently to Fiona's briefing. Eventually one spoke up. "Can you afford to turn many of them? What kind of prices are we talking about? Rider mercenaries cost a fortune."

"It's too expensive for Inverness to afford more than a few. However, if other kingdoms are willing, we might be able to turn more than we expect." Fiona answered, looking around at those that had assembled. "I don't like buying loyalty, but if it gives us the upper hand, I will do whatever it takes."

"At this point, need trumps any inhibitions," Ezra agreed. "And you never know, some of there mercenaries, if they come from northern countries, may be swayed to help their homelands if we impress upon them Barbarossa's intentions. He won't stop at England or any of the isles. He wants it all, from Ireland to the Rus."

The Riders all turned suddenly at the sound of a loud explosion in the distance, most of them confused, but others looking nervous. "They have cannons..." One female Rider murmured. "They must be on the ships..."

"They can't aim them up at us," another Rider soothed. "They can't aim upward, and they'd never hit us in flight. Just stay up high."

"We still have harpoons and arrows to worry about though. Don't get complacent.

"Everyone," Ezra spoke up, commanding attention thanks to his seniority and his position as something of an officer under Fiona. "There are plenty of threats for everyone airborne or waterborne. Our job is to cause chaos and take down the heavier ships. I'd personally like to see any of the warships with cannons go down first. Just stay out of range as much as you can, and don't lock into a glide if you can help it, it makes your partner an easier target. Remember what we've been practicing. Your partners should be using fire, breaking masts, and destroying sails. You should be firing down on ship officers. When the Riders who won't be swayed come out, you focus on them. If you can, crash their dragons into the path of the ships, make the battleground difficult for them. But if possible, just kill the Riders. Most riderless dragons will flee or surrender. The wilder ones will certainly turn tail."

“Cannons can only reach so far. I would be more concerned with the other riders that can take you out of a saddle in an instant.” Fiona said as the rumble in the distance started to subside. “We are more prepared than them. Remember that. They might try to use fear to shake us but we will not let that happen. I won’t let anyone walk blindly into a massacre.”

"Before you all go," a new voice reached them as Sam approached, carrying a couple boxes. "Everyone, tie these t' your dragons' saddles and your armor, so we all know who's who in th' sky from a distance when th' real fightin' starts. And so if anyone crashes, we can see from above tha' you're one of ours an' pick you up." He opened the boxes to reveal stacks of blue squares of cloth, a similar shade to the Invernessian blue. As all the Riders had unique armor, weapons, shields, and dragons, it would serve as their only means of uniformity. The Riders lined up to retrieve the bandanas and ribbons before reassembling before Sam and Fiona.

"I want t'thank you all," Sam spoke up, his tone a bit gentler now, looking at a group of people who'd trained and sparred with him for months and turned him into a confident Rider, his fear of heights practically non-existent now, at least from the back of a dragon. "None o' you had t'answer our calls. Whether y'came t'protect yer homeland, friends, family, your partner, or all dragonkind, or y'came out o' the need t'keep th'Rider way of life alive... I appreciate you bein' here, an' workin' as a team when normally, y'would never work with more'n maybe one, maybe two others. An' I want t'thank those of you tha' turned me into a proper Rider so fast, an' supported Fiona as Caller. Whatever happens today, ye've done the North a great service in jus' standin' up for it."

“Sam and I would not be in this position today if it weren’t for the strength that you gives us.” Fiona said, echoing her husband’s sentiments on the entire matter. “We are only as strong as the force behind us. We fight for what we know is right and for our dragons that are our family. We will not let them be destroyed senselessly.”