Searching...and Finding

Shiia screamed in horror, and ran over to the lifeless dragonar. She hugged him close to her, blood ran on her paws as she felt the slash. Don't die... please don't die... she thought aloud in whispers.

Pearlfoot grunted with pain and opened his eyes, he tried to move but felt dizzy, he had lost a lot of blood, but finally the wound stopped bleeding. Pearlfoot was left with little strength.
"I'll be fine..." he whispered, lifting his arms with difficulty to hug her back.

Shiia started to cry again. They needed Fireclaw and Shaylle. She gave Pearlfoot a gentle lick on the cheek. She was scared and did not know what to do. She held him close, still worried he might be wrong...

Suddenly, Xephyr burst through the clouds towards them both. He landed with grace in front of them. "Shiia..." he muttered. "And who is this?" he asked politely.

"I'm Pearlfoot, and who might you be?" Pearlfoot said "And how do you know Shiia?" he asked, growing suspicious. He still held Shiia close, to protect her if need be, he may have been weakened, but he would not let anything bad happen to Shiia.

Shiia still held Pearlfoot close. She did not say a word or move at all. She just continued to whimper.

Xephyr took them both in his wing. "I know Shaylle..." He whispered gently.

"If you know Shaylle then I guess I can trust you...." Pearlfoot said carefully. He attempted to comfort Shiia by still holding her close and whispering: "It will be alright if we stick together, I'll protect you..."

Shiia got out of the wing and sniffed around, trying to pick up a scent of anything familiar.

Pearlfoot followed her "Listen, Shiia, I am going to pick you up and run us both out of here, I don't like this guy" he muttered quietly to her. Pearlfoot suddenly reared up, picked Shiia up and ran as fast as he could on two legs, once they were clear of the forest, Pearlfoot spread his wings and with a few powerful beats he and Shiia were in the air, he held Shiia close to his chest as he flew, he found that he loved the feeling of flying with her.

Shiia clinged onto Pearlfoot tightly as he flew. She was still too confused to konw what was going on. She just clinged, knowing not to let go.

Finally, Pearlfoot saw a large-ish hole in the ground, surrounded by rocks near the coast, it too, had been tainted by demonic magic. The sea was red, like blood and the sand was dark grey. Pearlfoot landed on two feet near the edge of the hole; the hole seemed to lead into a underground cave of some sort. He carried Shiia in and laid her down on the comfiest spot of earth he could find, then sniffed around the cave, making sure there was no danger. Pearlfoot went and sat down next to Shiia.
"This place will do for a day or two, but we need to find somewhere safer for you to lay your eggs" he said to her.

Shiia knew her eggs were not coming out anytime soon. She snuggled close to Pearlfoot, and clinged to him still.

Xephyr flew up, curious as to why they ran off, and followed them. He doubted the two would be able to handle themselves on their own.

Pearlfoot hugged her close "I'll find us some food" he whispered to her "there's gotta be something to eat around here"
Pearlfoot licked her on the cheek, before pulling himself gently away from her and looking for food. The best he could find were a few rats and cave lizards. He brought them back to her "They were the best I could find for us" he said, hoping she didn't mind the rather rubbish food.

Shiia squinted at the food, as her focus was starting to get better. "No, thanks..." she said to Pearlfoot. "You did your best, I am just not all that hungry right now." she muttered calmly. She was not lying, her metabolism slowed down extremely, as she was pregnant, and rarely walked or flew without the help of someone else.

Xephyr saw them, seemingly eating small morsels of food. He swoopes down in a distant field paced with herds of buffalo and snatched one alive. "If they're searching for Shaylle, i am with them all the way, whether they want me or not..." he thought. He swooped down and landed in front of them, dropping the buffalo after breaking it's neck to kill it. "Here..." he said simply.

Pearlfoot looked at Xephyr suspiciously but accepted the buffalo with a quick "Thanks..." then he bit into the buffalo hungrily, tearing off strips of meat and eating them.

Xephyr simply stood in silence, watching them eat. "'Twas not a problem..." he said solemnly. "So... You be searching for Shaylle...?" he asked without emotion. "I, too, am searching for someone... A love if you will. My Lumina has gone missing and not a night has passed since then that I have had even a second of rest. Perhaps we can help eachother. Something tells me that neither of us can live without that for which we search..."

"You are right, we do search for Shaylle, and Fireclaw too. But first, I am trying to find a safe place for Shiia to lay her eggs" Pearlfoot said quietly, he hesitated, but then said "Truthfully, we need all the help we can get, but I'll only accept help if Shiia does too" Pearlfoot put a wing around Shiia "I'd die for her...." he said boldly and truthfully.

Xephyr nodded. "Alright..." he said solemly. "I will leave if my help is not wanted... I will wait for a response."

Shiia started to cry again as she heard the solemn voice that sounded almost like her father's. She buried her head against Pearlfoot's chest and did not know what to say or do.

Pearlfoot held her close, he looked at Xephyr "erm...could you give us a minute? I promise we won't run away" he asked quietly. He resumed trying to comfort Shiia, he still held her close.

"I shall... I offer you my sevices. Shaylle is an old friend. If he is missing, I would do everything in my power to help you find him..."

"Stop saying that!" Shiia yelled, poking her little muzzle over Pearlfoot's shoulder. "Father will be alright, and so will Mother!" She bent around the fact that something bad had happened to them once more. "Father has been in great wars, and has came out of every one of them... and he will come back with Mother this time too..." she said a little more calmly and a little less obnoxiously than before.