Gender/age: male/20
Physical: strongly built and sturdy in health. Standing 5�10, he has olive tan skin and black hair, kept cut very short over his stern face. He has a sharp, long nose, and is often frowning at people. That is not saying he isn�t handsome, and he certainly has a voice that could charm a bard.
Mental: Sharp like his face, usually seen as angry and sullen. He is quicker to ire than Dave, and they battle constantly over the leadership of the group. He often assumes the role of advocate to the �best wishes of the group� though he must sometimes admit that Dave is a good leader. Though Ants have a nicer attitude than he, Drake truly does have a good heart. He is convinced that his family do not miss him on his travels, but he may be proven wrong if he could contact them.
Skills: He is a good enough conversationalist that the small clans which are visited by the group often use him as a diplomatic envoy to other larger ones. He is good at scheaming and debate, but often uses too obvious ploys to get his desired effects and therefore can be out-guessed by those better at it. Otherwise he is good at trapping and some hunting skills, such as making nets and trap wires.
He stood and saw the incredible sight of silver, red and bronze dragons soaring in unison over the countryside, and held back a sneer. No, he didn't hold it back. They were back and all grown up. It seemed like only yesterday that they had gone to Caer Talor Cliff.
And how like Dave to go off and do something without demanding the rest of the group come with. They had gone, oh yes, they were spared from the rath of House Faustas at first. But now, it was getting harder to find lands to rest on which hadn't been monitored by that House first. When Dane and Rita and Dave bonded, the Clan had moved on.
Everyone looked up to Drake while the others were off. And that suited him just perfectly fine. He made good decisions. He made sure that the Clan stayed one step ahead of House Faustas. He made certain that they had food, water and shelter the whole time.
Now, the trio were back. Lovely. He swallowed a curse and started down the hillside when the dragons landed.
Of course, they really impressed him. They were huge, and shining, and ... Wow. He didn't bother to hold back a vaguely congratulatory remark to the bunch of them. Up close and personal, their dragons were fabulously better than he thought they'd be.
The night came as it always would, and Dave addressed the group. "We're going to be able to guard the Clan, no matter where we go. Drake? I understand you've done a good job as the Clan leader while I was away."
Drake almost-almost said 'who ever said you were leader' but didn't. Instead, he nodded once and continued to stare.
"That's an impressive accomplishment, Drake. Time was we'd be scattering and lost half the time, and ... honestly that's because the two of us were fighting more than half the time."
Muttering went through the Clan. Was this really Dave? Had he been replaced by someone with a heart? Drake took more interest. "Then, what happens now, oh-leader?" It wasn't even said sarcastically, this time, he meant it.
"I'd like to hear where you've been, and what you did. We've a lot of catching up to do, and I want background information."
"You're being somewhat demanding," Drake muttered, "for someone who just got back on a dragon."
Don't be silly, he's trying to compliment you! Spoke a brilliant mind directly into the raven-haired young man's. His eyes bugged out. It was Saoith, annoyed. And he would like to know how you kept your people alive. I will be guarding them now. You do not have to run if you do not want to any more. But he wants to know where you'd run, if you had to. I myself do not like the thought of running instead of fighting.
"Of course, of course," Drake said, and others shook their heads. They had obviously not heard Saoith speaking to the man. How he could do this was a mystery -- didn't dragons only telepathically speak to those they'd bonded, and aloud to their aquaintances? Perhaps... Drake thought, perhaps it was because Dave and Dane had abilities beyond normal people.
Well, so did he, burn it, and he'd intended to tell Dave anyway. At least this time, Dave would actually be listening.
Drake tied another knot in a hunting net, while he spoke. It was busywork for him, something to keep him from... Well, from throttling Dave or doing something else he'd regret later on. The net was one of his favorites anyway, and he'd learned how to catch smaller prey than was usual -- of course that meant he had to catch more OF it, but the smaller creatures often had brighter fur and were easier to share and eat on the run.
It had made for better travel time, at any rate, that he did this. It was a cinch to take three or four chizatza and hand them out, while the guards of Faustas snuck around looking for a big fire pit. The smaller sized camp fires they often overlooked. Stupid of them.
Drake preyed on stupidity and mistakes, yet he never relied upon their enemies making them. As an opportunistic leader, he'd very nearly led the group into several traps, but they made it out. He found that admitting these mistakes to Dave was more of a relief than he'd thought they would be.
"If I'd turned them down the pass instead of up into the hills that day," Drake related, "the Faustas house would have twenty more study subjects than they had. It was luck. Didn't think they'd be up that far in the spring."
"But you were wrong," Dave pointed out, a bit harshly. "You're very lucky you had sent Tracey out for scouting. That girl has ears like a bat..."
"Yes, well... Even if they'd come up to us, they'd still have been at a disadvantage. No one was injured. Everyone was packed, and ready to run anyway. I saw to that before we even entered the passes between the mountains."
"I'd have gone around, it's a longer trip but it's--"
"We did that three months before, remember? And it was packed with traps and hideouts where the Faustas guards could relay to their lords. That area is a no-go zone now. I'd never take them back there until I knew that Faustas didn't have scouts waiting for us." Drake snapped. He sighed, and then said, "Look Dave, I guess it was good while it lasted, and it was hard work. And now you want to lead them again and I can't blame you. The feeling is good. But..."
"But you'd rather not give it up," Dave said, "I understand that too. But... The reason I've asked you all this, is because I think you should go to Talor and try bonding yourself. Four dragons? Against Faustas?" Dave chuckled, "that'd be a sight."
"That'd be a burial ground!" Drake said, grinning hard. "Are you serious? Do you think they'd take me?"
"I think so. But I'd also like to have you here to remind me ... that sometimes I make mistakes too, like underestimating your abilities."
"Gads, you're getting all noble on me, stop it..." Drake groaned. How could he continue to hate Dave's guts if he kept complimenting him like this?!
***
Later, perhaps a month had gone by, and Dave had fallen into a stronger routine than he had before they had parted. Drake showed them where to go first, and described the circuit that the Clan would normally take. Dave insisted on changing it, and at first Drake was going to argue. Then he realized that Dave would be able to add the element of surprise in addition to the dragons by their sides. It would be something to see, if Faustas guards did hook up with the Clan now.
But he'd be well on his way to Talor by then. Rita volunteered to take Drake to the coast, where he'd be put on a boat and take the long eastern trip to Talor. The islands were not particularly easy to navigate. He wished that at least someone would volunteer to fly him all the way to Caer Talor, but that wasn't going to happen.
He'd just have to fly all the way back, then. Into the sunset, on whatever dragon he might be able to bond.
And he would, if only to prove that Dave's expectations could be outdone one more time.
The thought never occurred to him that they'd ask, if they were in need of knowing. In fact he didn't really wonder, because when they had been busily scooting across Paniya the only people muttering about Dave's absence were his relatives, and Tracy and Wade. Their staunch friendship wouldn't be held back.
But then, the call went out at long last for the hatching at Caer Talor Cliff! It was the second hatching, a momentus occasion because of the strange bi-colored dam of it. But the clutch was large enough, had big trembling eggs which Drake tried to look casually at (and failed).
The silence just before the first hatchling was overwhelming. Drake wanted to know if everyone else's blood was pounding in their ears, or what?! But there was something else in there too, a feeling, a tightness at the back of his throat. Here was the time and place for him to bond! It wasn't later on, it was to be now!
It wasn't to be from the first hatchling, however. A beautiful cream female found her way to a girl on the dunes, and that started off everything. A trio of red, brown and blue split off to find their bonds. Happy laughs, confident shouts, and the applaudse of the crowd seemed to bolster the other eggs into hatching. Then another brown came out, next a blue, and a green and red pair.
While the others went snuffling around the warm dunes, the red went straight to Drake. He and one other hatchling (oddly, it was a male green!) came toward with the air of strength that Drake demanded of his hatchling.
The red stretched his neck up, making eye contact with Drake, and only inside letting him know that there was confusion in him still, fresh from the egg.
I do not know, have I done this right? Am I doing okay? Drake, my name is Antoneth, but I think you knew that already, didn't you.
"You'll do fine, Antoneth," Drake said, as he matched the red's stare. They left the dunes for the dragon's first meal, and to celebrate. Soon... He'd have a story to tell when he got back to the Clan!
