Dancing with Dragons [for Badge]

The gift mastery teacher glanced around the island, at the strange-colored trees that towered seemingly endlessly above them, and the numerous plants and animals that roamed around freely in the distance. It'd been a while since she'd been here, the woman had thought, turning around and glancing at the girl who'd come unto the island with her - the one that she'd been ordered to do some very particular training with today. 'Hosa Corvina.' She pondered on the name. Champion of the tournament, and runner up of the one previous, Autumn prefect, and future Guardian. The girl certainly had quite a reputation. Hopefully she wouldn't be a disappointment.

"Are you ready to start your training?" Irene called.

Hosa gaze flicked around at the animals in the distance as she stared at the alien landscape before her, a nervous glint her eyes as she glanced around. She had never really been to the island before other than for the tournament so to be in raw nature of it surprised her, the odd colored trees and plants that stretched on for miles...When Miss Moore spoke up, it caught the Autumn's attention as she turned to look at her, before nodding her head. "Yes, I am."

Hosa however was left unsure how she felt about this whole training thing. It wasn't that she wasn't thankful for it - Hell, this was a great moment for her to finish her training and master her gift - it was simply that she had no idea what this training was going to hold. When the Headmaster had offered her special training along with being a Guardian, Hosa knew she would of been a fool to turn it down. But now that she was here, she wanted to know what exactly this training would have...The Gift Mastery teacher was here which made sense but why were they on the island? Did they need room for her training, or did they need to be on the island for a certain reason...She supposed she was about to find out.

The blonde nodded simply, setting off down a path and waving any earthly obstructions out of their way with the simplest flick of her wrist. There were many different assortments of creatures here, both considered real and imaginary, some she was sure the student had heard of, some had never occurred to anyone's wildest imaginations. And while she was certain that Miss Corvina would love to stick around and get to know them all, there was only one creature planned for their training today - one of Hosa's strongest forms, and one she'd still had a hard time grasping control of.

It was quite the walk until they reached their destination. A large towering wall of thick trees and ivy vines stood before them, going so high you had to crane your head completely to try and glimpse at the top, and even then it still all but hid the sky from view. Irene pressed her hand nimbly to it and the plants pulled away, revealing a small, but very long tunnel. She began to walk through it, assuming the student was on her heel, the ivy sewing itself together again after every step.

By the time they'd reached the end, one could hear the sharp screeches and the sounds of harsh, sudden gusts of wind. "Lets begin then." Irene smile as they finally stepped into the light again. On the other end of the large clearing was a terrifying creature, large with an assortment of different colored scales: black, blue, and green. It's wings were ragged and clipped, teeth large and cluttered, stained yellow and read. Irene herself admired it's eyes the most, pure black and beady - the eyes of a true dragon.

"Transform now." She said simply.

Hosa followed quietly after the Gift Mastery teacher as they went down the path as she cleared whatever obstructions blocked the path as her eyes flickered into the rows of trees beyond. Attempting to see what she could spot between the think trees to farther her knowledge of what she could transform into but always kept the pace to remain behind Irene and not to get lost in this alien land.

Her eyes however soon flickered to the wall of trees and ivy, her mouth opening slightly in amazement as she stared at the amazingly tall trees as she followed Irene into the tunnel the had appeared from nowhere. She was half tempted to ask where they were going as her eyes fell straight once more with nothing to see other than for the wall of the long tunnel as they walked though it, but decided to hold her tongue.

But then the sharp screeches and the harsh whistle of wind reached her ear causing Hosa to grow nervous as Irene spoke up and they stepped into the light. Her eyes narrowed against it, struggling to adjust to the sudden light after being in that tunnel as she made out a large creature and her breath almost stopped in her lungs when she was finally able to make out the multicolored beast with ragged, clipped wings and yellow and red stained teeth...A dragon. She had brought her to a dragon.

While her fear wasn't as sharp as it would of been if there had been a giant spider, it was still there as Irene spoke two simple words as Hosa turned her gaze to her, her eyes wide as she stared at the gift mastery teacher. She wanted...No! Hosa didn't want to transform! It was easy enough of what Miss Moore wanted her to turn into - the beast was right in front of her but...Hosa's hands closed into fists as she took in a deep breath as her eyes flickered back to the dragon. "You want me to turn into a dragon?" she asked in a quiet voice - even thought she already knew the answer.

A look of mild irritation immediately struck the woman's face. She didn't say anything at first, turning to stare down this girl who had seemingly turned feeble during their trip over. Her emerald eyes stared down the student, waiting for the girl to get the hint and do what she was told already. Apparently that was never going to happen though. 'Wonderful.' The blonde though, her arms crossing together. There were few things that annoyed her more than having to repeat herself twice. "Is that a problem, Miss Corvina?" she said blandly, glancing back at the dragon across the clearing. It'd seem to have noticed their presence then, looking straight in the Gifteds' direction. Irene didn't blink as she stared back, even as it let out a hideous roar.

Hosa winched as the dragon roared, her gaze flicking toward it then back to the teacher. She just didn't get it, didn't she? Last time she had gone dragon...She really didn't want to think of what would of happened if it wasn't an illusion. Hosa had lost control, and sure she hadn't faced anything like that since...But she had also never faced anything like that before that moment. However, she had come here to train and if Irene wanted her to do so...She swallowed, before her eyes fell to her feet. "No...It isn't a problem," she said softly as she turned to face the dragon and closed her eyes.

As she let her mind drift to that of a dragon, she wondered what exactly the point of this was. It was one thing to make her turn into a dragon, but a whole different thing to bring her to a real dragon. She had noticed the wings were clipped - meaning the dragon was unable to fly and most likely the reason it was still in here - had the dragon been caught in here for some reason? Who had manged to put the dragon in this area? All these question and thoughts ran though her head as she brought up her own version of a dragon, using the form she had taken a year ago for reference.

And a second late, she was a dragon. She wasn't multicolored like the dragon before her, but instead was pure black with dark silver spikes running down her body as her wings shifted at her side as her long and giant tail flickered behind her as she got used to being on all fours like she was. Her eyes flickered open as she let out a soft snort, some smoke escaping from her mouth as her eyes landed on Irene giving off a cold stare, but instead Hosa was excited. No lost of control yet...That was good. She did suppose that before she had transform under pressure and deep fear - it had been a natural reaction to protect herself unlike this form.

She had let her mind in that battle to slip into one of a dragon - perhaps unconsciously believing that if she had the mind of a dragon, she had a better chance at surviving. Perhaps it was true, she would of won but her conscious mind had panicked at the lost of control and had held her back enough for Regina to 'kill her.' While so many thoughts bounced inside her mind, a bit surprised at how deep she was thinking, she held out the appearance of coldness and boredom. She was pretty good at putting on masks - she had spent most of her time at Beata under the personality she now happily claimed as her own one.

Irene did bother to take a few steps away and to the side, as to give the other girl more room to transform. She almost thought it a bit funny on how this young woman seemed to refuse on making up her mind about this entire situation, as well as her confusion. From excited, to reluctant, to seemingly cold again; Miss Corvina appeared to have a variety of emotions, not that it mattered much to the Gift Mastery teacher in the end. She didn't care much how the student felt on it. If this girl wanted to be a guardian, then she had to have complete control of her gift. She'd seen how well she'd fared in this tournament and the last and knew where her powers lacked.

She full well had her reasons for bringing Hosa forth to this creature. The woman had even gone as far as to hunting it down and catching it with her own hands, clipping it's wings short and housing it there, all for the sake of the student's training. If there was any potential for progress to be made, Irene was going to be certain than that would be had. And, in her opinion, there was no better way to train than fighting fire with your own fire, so to speak. In this case, the best way for Hosa to gain control of her dragon form was to fight an actual dragon herself.

The creature on the other end of the clearing had watched cautiously as the newest dragon appeared, in it's eyes, there was a younger, crude challenger for it's small bit of territory; and that was something it certainly couldn't stand for. It crept forward, raising it's wings to make it's appearance large and letting out a low snarl. When it became apparent that Hosa wasn't going anywhere, it was quick to make a move, breathing out hot blue and white flames straight for the shapeshifter.

Irene found a place out of the way, watching the training begin with the smallest smile.

Her eyes were on Irene, waiting for the gift mastery trainer to gift her a command or something. She was happy, being in control or something but she didn't want to spend a whole lot of time in this form. If things got out of hand..She drifted off from that train of thought, movement catching her eye, her gaze turned back to the multicolored dragon. It was creeping forward with a growl and then it opened it mouth and...

Really.

The moment she realized what was going on, she darted to the side with her big lumbering form, flames licking the back of her tail as it was caught in the hot fire breath of the dragon. She gritted her teeth as she came to a stop, her tail lashing back and forth as she spared a glare toward the gift mastery trainer as she found a place to watch the battle safely. This was her plan? Have Hosa fight a real dragon while in her dragon form?

It seemed like a stupid idea but...She supposed it would work. As a Guardian, she knew that she would be sent on dangerous missions and her life would always be in danger...Fighting a dragon would make a few of those missions seem like nothing and it help her master this form all right. But couldn't Irene had gone around a different way of approaching this? I dunno...LIKE TELLING HOSA? A heads-up would of been great, even if Hosa wouldn't have really approved of this!

She shook her head, shaking those thoughts from her mind. She had to focus - she was fighting a dragon. If she had to guess, he saw her as being in his territory and so was trying to protect his land. She did figure that he didn't see her as much of a threat - she was smaller than he was and no doubt looked younger. Ha, would he yell at her to get off his yard? A small grin appeared on the side of her face at that thought as she darted forward the dragon, her wings unfurling at her side as she jumped into the air for a quick second upon approach before attempting to bring her claws down hard on the bigger dragon's head as she let out a roar sending out her own fire breath on him - not as hot as the real dragon had manged, but pretty darn close.

The blonde woman didn't seem to mind Hosa's sharp look in the least. In her mind, there was no reason to give the girl any warning. It wasn't as if she were sending the girl walking to her own grave. This creature was under her control and she was ready to step in at a moment's noticed, if absolutely necessary. After all, this was training, wasn't it? The student had been told this would be to wrap up some of the girl's few short comings of her gift, keeping her away from mastery. She had to known better than anyone else what that had meant, right?

There was no time to think too long on it, no time to argue... Her emerald eyes watched intently as she witnessed the student striking back against the elder creature, attacking it's head and aiming to throw her own flames back at it. She would have been severely let down if such an attack hurt the dragon so easily. Thankfully, she was not disappointed. Though Hosa was putting on a good show of confidence, this dragon still knew it was older, and far larger, getting up on it's hind legs itself and flapping it's massive tattered wings again, showing itself up. It snapped at Hosa's paws, ignoring the stringing scrapes to the side of it's torso - which meant to be aimed at it's heard, and swiping claws of it's own back at her. It matched it's flame to hers, letting out another furious screech and leaping on top of the girl, it's jaws snapping at her back.

When the dragon reared up, Hosa was forced back as it snapped at her claws. She crouched as her tail lashed as she stared at the big dragon, her wings fully open as she hissed. She knew she had to be careful, this dragon was bigger and older than her - meaning it was more powerful. She had to try to take it down fast, but how would she do so? Her eyes flickered as she tried to think up of ways, but was forced back once more as the dragon slash at her, causing blood to trickle down where it had gotten the side of her face. Then, it breathed fire. Her response was quick; she raised her head and breathed out a billow of flames to match - trying to create a stalemate in the breath to keep it from hitting her but being distracted by this she barely had time to react or stop the dragon from jumping onto her back. She let out a roar of anger as she flapped her wings as the older dragon landed on her, before she gritted her teeth and rolled to the side, attempting to roll on top of the larger dragon. She then attempted to turn around and slash her claws at the underbelly of the dragon, knowing that it was a weak point for many animals, and she was sure it would be the same for a dragon.

Did she think that she could overpower the creature, Irene wondered as she watched the fight between the two of them go on. If she did, then that was cute. To be honest, the gift guardian was surprised that she'd managed to keep control of her gift for this long, seeing as how much trouble it'd given her only a year ago. The last obstacle that was known to complete the mastery of this girl's gift, and she seemed to have little to no problem with it at all. The blonde wasn't sure if she was happy for her or annoyed that this was proving to be nothing but a waste of time. Though, she supposed Hosa wouldn't have thought this possible if she hadn't been put to the test.

The elder dragon took a firm step to the side, stopping itself in it's tracks and planting it's feet unto the ground, halting Hosa's slick roll and whatever she'd been planning, her claws just short of doing any real damage to the creature. It spun around and swung it's heavy, armored tail down at the transformed girl, hoping to slam it further into the dust.

Dammit. Hosa attempted to pull herself back to her paws but was suddenly nailed by the heavy tail and knocked into the ground once more. Her sharp teeth gritted as her eyes narrowed, a small flame escaping from her mouth as she struggled to her feet again. She stared at the dragon, before she let out a soft huff. Perhaps she was going around this the wrong way. She was attempting to think her way though this, but that wasn't going to help. This dragon knew how to fight and would see most of her thought out attacks coming. So, she let herself relax as she let out a soft natural growl.

How about we do something unexpected, eh?

She seemed to have rather good control over this form - it was a relief and almost a godsend but she had a feeling part of it was due to last time she had taken this form out of panic and...The feral nature of the dragon had simply overtaken her panicked mind. She had been to scared to try it again in case that had happened again, but now she thought it was time to rely on that. This was a dragon against dragon battle, and she had a feeling her dragon mind would be a bit better at this - she had no clue any of the weak spots of a dragon. She had barely landed a hit anyways.

Her eyes slitted as she crouched, tapping into that natural mindset of a dragon. She quickly was aware of why this dragon was fighting her - territory. She had come waltzing into his land, and he wasn't happy about it. She snarled slightly, her tail lashing as she spread out her wings as well. This land wasn't anything special - there was barely any prey around but hey, it was a good hiding spot and like hell was she letting herself get driven out. Size wasn't everything. She soon remembered something she had over him - the sky. Her spread wings quickly started to flap as she started to take air, her eyes scanning for any weak points she could find.

Few were open on the top of the dragon, hard armored scales running across his body. Trying to get past thoughts would be stupid, so she would have to go for the few soft spots - and she meant very few spots. The easiest place she saw was the eyes - try to blind him and leave him open. It was a chance, but she would go for it. Her eyes flickered slightly as she attempted to pull herself from the feral mindset by found trouble doing so...So perhaps she needed work.

She could think straight - well aware of her actions and could think with her human senses but her mind was also littered with the natural instincts of the dragons. One of which was the fondness for treasure and shiny objects dragons tended to have - I mean treasure was pretty great and it was a good way to show your power...And those rainbow colored scales were eye catching...Maybe if she took care of this dragon, Irene would let her have some?

A slasher smile appeared on her face as her eyes narrowed, growling happily at that thought. It would be a pretty nice trinket...How many students could say they fought a dragon and lived? Hehe...A cloak of dragon scales. Now that would be badass. With a happy roar of all of the things she could do with this dragon's hide, she dove downwards with her claws outstretched, slashing right at the older dragon's eyes in an attempt to blind him.

The dragon let out a heavy snarl as the young shapeshifter took to the air. Angrily, the obsidian spikes along it's spine shot up instantly. It's body tensed and tattered wings tapped. Whatever it was that Hosa was trying, the creature was still bigger, still had more teeth, and could take whatever it was that she threw at it - or so it thought, anyways. Embers began to spark again at the back of it's throat before it shot more sickening pillars of flames up where the she-dragon flew, attempting to scare it away, or drag her back to the ground.

What it hadn't been expecting was for her to come near it's head, and attack it's eyes of all things, and it worked - for one of them at least. It let out a hideous scream and began snapping it's jaws at her feet for a quick revenge, hopefully before she could fly back again.

The flames that ran across her body was something she attempted to ignore, letting the blunt of her scales take most of the damage but it still hurt and stung like hell. But to hear the scream of the dragon - that one of her claws had stuck true - was something that her slightly-active dragon mind enjoyed as a soft purr of excitement rose up in her. Only it didn't last long when she felt teeth snap around one of her front claws. An scream of pain - echoing the one the real dragon had just let out - left her mouth as her free claw quickly started to slash at his eye that she had failed to blind, flamings leaving her mouth as well as she aimed it straight at the face of the elder dragon as well.

The flames that Hosa sent at the dragon helped in her attempt to ruin it's other eye, but it also made the situation worse for her as well. As it couldn't see where she had been attacking, neither could she see exactly where she was aiming. It shut it's good eye tightly. It's body was old and hardened, able to take whatever fire the human sent at it, except for where it's eye was damaged. That pain was excruciating... but no matter. It let go of her foot, flinching from the flames for a moment before leaping forward - headbutting into Hosa's side.