[i][b][u]Axel Wild Search
[/u][/b][/i]
The wind whipped up around Axel as he and his natrelmon trekked through the forest. A storm was starting back up and a chill breeze that reminded him of Ward was currently plaguing his new search. Combined with the rain, it was a frigid combination. To make matters worse, it was still some while till morning and he wouldn’t be graced with the warmth of the sun for several hours at least. Cold and exhaustion did their best to halt his advance, yet to no avail. 

Amar was in the rear, carrying all of his supplies. Yosoku was on point, easily creating a trail, its massive form not even slowed by the branches and brush. Chu stayed beside Axel as he trudged on, both keeping their cloaks wrapped tightly. Neither of them would complain, but he knew these conditions were not to their liking.

They had been right at the entrance to Toran, after the long journey, when Axel noticed a shimmering silver scale next to a tree. The foilage around was flattened down, like something had recently been resting there. The tree looked like it had been clawed by a medium sized cat with longer than normal claws, but Axel knew what the scale was from. It was an Albion, one of the rarest dragons in this region. He wasn’t able to pass up an opportunity to find such a majestic creature. Albions, while not the largest dragons, were prized for their beautiful scales and their magical powers that aided in breeding. They are also quite fierce fighters, which often kept away the average tamer, but merely made Axel desire it even more.

The Albion’s tracks weren’t too difficult to follow as it rarely was ever hunted. This one in particular almost invited Axel to tail it. Several times, in the more open areas of the forest, it could be seen flying around in the distance without a care in the world. Almost lazily it would hover and stare in his general direction, almost tauntingly. After several hours of this cat and mouse, Axel almost resorted to flying himself just to chase it down, yet he felt using magic to aid on the hunt was almost cheating. Instead he resorted to merely working on his target practice. A rock here, a branch there. Chu would occasionally throw knives up for Axel to shoot to practice on moving targets. Yosoku looked like he felt a little left out, but just grunted and continued. Ranged combat wasn’t his forte anyway.

Soon growing tired of his half-assed attempt of entertainment, Chu suddenly began moving quicker, almost at a jog. Axel knew it sensed the Albion was finally within reach and he wished to finish their task and get some sleep. Ahead of them they saw a clearing and they rushed through shoving branches, bushes, and in Yosokus case, small trees out of the way so that they might reach their quarry faster.

As they entered the clearing, Axel realized he had hit the jackpot. Not only had he found an Albion, but it appeared it was squaring off with a male Mythari as well.

“Two for the price of one.” He thought with a satisfied grin. “Byakko is smiling upon me today.”

[u][i][b]Later[/b][/i][/u]

The fight against the two dragons had been rough, and Axel looked a little worse for wear. His cloak had claw marks down it and there were holes in his shirt. The Albion had tried to latch onto his side but luckily it had only caught his shirt. In the end, both had been shown that in this instance, Axel was the top of the food chain. 

The sun was rising finally as Axel trudged towards Toran. He had some ways to go after this chase, but he would rather sleep in an actual bed rather than on the ground after a full week of camping. Thoughts of soft beds, warm food, and cold beer forced him to abandon all aches and pains and speed himself up to a jog. The sooner he arrived, the sooner he could shut his eyes. His rites could wait till he had awoken. After all, he had put them off for several years as is. What’s one more day.

An hour passed as Axel wound his way back the way he had came, when he came upon a new set of tracks. These were human tracks.

“I wonder who left these?” He pondered as he began following them, his exaustion momentarily forgotten.