Two fire dragons called this area of the Dalkan mountains their home, draconic sisters who protected the human settlement of Laurel and the surrounding woodland from the foothills to the fringe of Everwhite. These two dragons, Sadira and Ateras, found themselves particularly protective of the rangers of Laurel; they even granted care of their small yet capable Drakling young to human coaches.
The sisters, like their young, also preferred human companionship, and over the generations had aided the local Guide Hall, since the Hall's territory was the same territory as their own. They would form a bond of friendship with a particular human, usually a ranger, and quite often this friendship was more maternally protective than not. Sadira, particularly fond of Zane, and Ateras, with a similar liking of Makzin, were thus more than happy to lend their assistance to the transport of the tranquilized bayyo.
With the passive tiger strapped to the back of Sadira and with Ateras bearing the hunters, the flight over the mountains back home to Laurel's Guide Hall took no time at all.
A large field, lightly hilled and dotted with shady copses of trees, lay between the Guide Hall--the most prominent building in Laurel--and the hospital. People and various maow of all shapes and sizes milled about the hills and Hall, giving the two dragons their respectful space.
Dismounting from Ateras with a leap, Makzin caught sight of Dr. Lake atop a forested hill a little ways away. She and her surrounding class of young students were watching them; with Zane's signal to her, she started across the grass, closely followed by her entourage of about a half-dozen children. Makzin knew the class: it was the next generation of junior rangers, soon to start on their final test within a couple day�s time.
And his little sister, Calley, was one of them.
He sighed.
Zane smirked over at his friend from where he was checking on the bayyo. "She's a student, Makz... and this near to becoming a Jr. Ranger, she's got as much right as the others to see this."
Makzin brushed back his blue bangs and resettled his cap. He could only grimace in response. Timber, quiet at his side, had long ago learned that it was pointless to try to budge Makzin from his ceaseless annoyance at his sibling, and so the fox-maow ignored Makzin�s displeasure and wagged his white-fringed tail at the approaching class.
The young coaches would soon complete their wilderness survival training, and wanted to combine their new skills with their maow coaching to become Junior Rangers. Makzin could only assume that Dr. Lake had just been discussing with the youths which particular maow they'd preferred working with throughout the past spring�s class, as each child needed a maow that had been specially trained by older rangers to protect and help the child as a Jr. Ranger from such things as the bayyo they'd just brought in.
Even though Calley already had Nips, a complacent hedgehoggish erinacci that she had raised since she was six, she would need a maow that knew about travel and could protect her if need be, or at least be alert enough to avoid whatever danger the girl might otherwise stumble upon.
As the young coaches gathered at a respectable distance from the dragons, there was a chorus of gasps and much whispering and pointing at the bayyo. "What happened to him?" a brunette asked, biting her lip at the all-too-red, dry splotches dotting the dazed tiger.
"It's just paint," Calley replied confidently. "My brother uses paintballs."
Makzin rolled his eyes; she was showing him off like he was some toy.
Zane, however, lifted his small pistol from its holster, aiming it harmlessly skywards to show the students. "It's not all paint," he said, covering for Makzin's audible growl. "We always try for nonlethal methods of subduing even a dangerous maow like this bayyo... but sometimes we have to resort to bloodshed.�
The class shuffled uncomfortably, paling visibly.
Dr. Lake approached, a woman in her 30's that served as the primary emergency doctor in Laurel as well as oversaw many of field research teams. �That paint is specially formulated by our chemists to temporarily sedate a maow by absorbing directly into the skin. It degrades rapidly, though, so it doesn�t do any real harm in the environment. But, just remember that if you ever come across anything like this bayyo, escape is your priority. Even if you have tranquilizers or weapons, a big part of being an effective ranger is knowing what fights to run away from."
Gideon seemed to be staring pointedly at Zane and Makzin, though Zane nodded in firm agreeement.
The small class nodded as well. "Is that the bayyo that tore up Audrey?" one boy asked excitedly. Audrey was the nearest town to Laurel, and Zane was very glad that he�d been able to stop the maow before it reached Laurel and wrecked upon it the same damage that Audrey�s population had endured.
"I heard it ate some people--" another girl said fearfully.
"It didn't eat anyone," Zane interrupted sternly, "�and the guy who got frozen in ice is going to be fine."
"It attacked a little girl!"
Zane nodded. "And she'll be okay too. We were lucky to catch this bayyo before it took any lives, though."
While Zane continued the lively and slightly morbid conversation with the cluster of ten-year-olds, Dr. Lake had left the class behind to examine the bayyo. She'd noticed the torn stitches right off as she surveyed the tiger maow's wounds, but kept quiet, only looking meaningfully at Makzin.
Makzin shook his head seriously in reply, giving a slight shrug to show that he nor Zane had any ideas of where the old, stitched wound was from.
The doctor let out a long breath and then composed herself, turning a calm smile to the students. "We have to get this maow into the lab before the drugs wear off; you can go spend some freetime in the field here until Lady Katt comes to finish your class today."
The students backed away unwillingly and left together aimlessly across the field, talking amongst themselves and looking longingly at the mountainous horizon, dreaming of adventure with powerful maow allies. Calley cast a stare back at her older brother, brow furrowed in worried curiosity, but Makzin waved her off. It took a nod from Zane, though, for Calley to turn her back and continue on with the other students.
Dr. Lake helped Zane and Makzin guide Sadira closer to the low-slung hospital building and then to unstrap the bayyo, wheeling it on a large stretcher through a large set of doube-doors and into the building. The two dragons watched the boys disappear into the building before turning back to the sky.
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