Drachma, the land of dragons (Part 1)

Phoenix Mountains; the epitaph of a large mountain chain nearly rivalling Mount Hakobe's, yet so much vaster than what she was used to. The ravenhaired maiden stared down the everlasting white mountainside from atop Avide's broad back, holding on to a single extending tendril so she could peer down the depths beneath her without much risk. Not that it would truly matter if she fell down, as she had her own wings to fly if need be, but it would be an annoyance were Avide not to notice his rider had gone missing. Nevertheless, what had brought her to this particular place was the sightings of a Kekai Kotaki, a giant horned feline beast that roamed snowy mountaintops for reasons unknown. This creature had piqued her interest, and as her current lifestyle deemed of her, she had set out to find it. Only actually finding it was proving far more difficult than expected.

Kenna groaned and rolled back unto Avide's back, having the dragon usher a warning to her as she did so carelessly. Avide was in fact not just a mere dragon, but a demon shapeshifter tasked with guarding the young heir's well-being in her late father's name. Which also meant a lecture left and right every so often. Patting the hard scales, Kenna reassured her guardian and right-hand man. "Don't worry Avide, I won't fall down so easily. I just can't seem to pick up any sort of trail that could belong to this Kekai Kotaki... did you sense anything off? she questioned, feeling the large dragon shake his head in denial. "Not a single ounce that seemed out of the ordinary. You're sure we're going the right way? Shouldn't we be skimming Hakobe's mountain range instead?" The ravenhaired maiden shook her head in turn. "No, my source definitely said the Phoenix Mountains... I think." "You think?! Kenna, for Caradhras' sake, get your damn focus str--

Both demons pulled their heads towards a certain point in the distance as if stung by a bee, and ushered the same unspoken words with held-in breath, not needing to speak them to know what they wanted to convey. An irregularity in the ethernano... large on. Avide batted his large wings a single time and sped up his pace, now soaring over the flanks as the visibility lessened due to an overly dense amount of mist. Kenna crawled up closer to Avide's neck so she could look at what was ahead of them, but was surprised to find that the mist was clearing the closer they came to the source of the irregularity. "Up! We need to get higher quickly." she exclaimed, having Avide skyrocket upwards almost horizontally before the mist had properly faded and visibility returned. As the ravenhaired maiden once again looked down to ascertain her position and the environment below her, she was left confused to see that there was no giant beast to be found down below. Instead a large building stretched out over the area, and she could make out small dots wandering around in the vicinity of the building. "What the...? Civilization? In this godforsaken place? Hmmm... well, I'm gonna check that out." she mumbled as she pushed herself upright and carefully walked over to the dragon's wing. Avide frowned and turned its head to see what the demoness was about to do, and protested as soon as he realised what exactly it was she was gonna do. "Kenna, don't you dare j-" The dragon mentally facepalmed as the demoness took the jump into the deep..Oh just fucking great, she jumped. he growled underneath his breath, looking down at the rapidly descending figure beneath him. That's why he hated stubborn humans. And although no longer human, Kenna still fit that specific group of individuals to the T. Avide mumbled some incoherent insults in his native tongue, deciding to stay above the clouds and out of anyone's line of view in case the ones down below would prove hostile.

The cold air cut into the demoness' pale skin as she descended like an arrow, fully tensed and straight to swiften the fall. Her thoughts wandered off to how she would introduce herself, and only then came to terms with the possible facts they might react hostile to her. "Well, there's no use worrying about that now." she muttered to herself, seeing how the ground quickly drew closer and closer still. Kenna back-flipped mid-air to readjust her position and blasted wings of pure fire from her back, using those to halt her rapid descent and allowing her a less leg-breaking landing. Still the impact proved a bit more violent than she'd hoped for, as she just downright slammed into the snowy underground on one bent knee and a clenched fist to keep her somewhat balanced. "God fu-" What followed was a series of incomprehensive foul-mouthed vocabulary as the ravenhaired maiden stood back up and shook her hand back and forth, trying to make the pained sensation leave her dominant hand. The fiery wings remained burning upon her back, giving off a gentle warmth that got the snow around her starting to melt. The demoness' eyes quickly took a gander at those present and gave them a sheepish smile. "Uhh, hi! I come in peace?"