The Red Waste - The Underground

The dragon finished pulling Jarkoopi onto the platform hanging above the area. He growled, exhausted. His reptilian head craned around, scanning for any potential threats. Assuming he found none, he would of course be anxious to check out the ship wrecks below. Who knows what stories they may tell, and what treasures they may hold?

On the other hand, he was still tired.

"Welp, that's all well and good but... I feel I deserve a break, so..." Asaph made what was perhaps a foolish move. He stepped over to the oily water, and took a drink! His great tongue lapped up the water into his mouth. He then found a comfortable spot on the stone floor and curled himself up. With a yawn he said, "Wake me up in an hour or so. If Jarkoopi is awake by then, tell him he owes me."

He began to snore softly.

The sound of Asaph's voice and the movement of his body had her nimbly and quietly moving out of the way, not yet realizing what the large reptile intended. When she saw his snake-like head bend down to the water, she gasped. "No! Don't do that, it--"

But it seemed as if the dragon already knew what was going to happen, and the Swan could only look incredulously at him, her pretty eyes round and unbelieving. "But we're..." She gestured to the great open cavern. They were a flight away from where she could FEEL her heart leading her. She no longer had a need of the white, thread-like light that was leading them; she knew where she was going.

She had dreamed it so many times before.

But Asaph was asleep, and as he shifted and moved, Jarkoopi then also came away, his great yellow eyes still bleary and fuzzy. It was one thing to drag a dragon of the same size. It was quite another to fly with one, and although the Swan could turn into a large avian herself, it still wouldn't do much when compared to Asaph's weight.

The Swan looked over at Jarkoopi and she shook her head. Her clothes were now warmed and dry, and her long, cornsilk hair was wavy and mussed from the heat that had come off Jarkoopi's scales, making her a little frizzy and her clothes a little wrinkled.

All of them also stunk, a little like chlorine, in a way, given the slick oilyness of the water and the humidity of the cave tunnel they had been walking through. With no sun to tell what time of day it was, the Swan's sense of passing time was also thrown askew.

"I am fine, now. Thank you for saving me," she said to him, and then looked at Asaph. "I cannot wake him. He took a large drink of the water. And yes, we must go there. That is the way."

She turned and took something from the sack she held at her hip -- it was a bottle, with a topper upon it. She went over to the river and she filled the bottle with that water. With a rather large sample of it taken from the river itself, they could see that the water did indeed look... oily. The large bottle disappeared quite easily into the little bag, and she tied it once more to her hip.

Then, the quiet and self-possessed woman stepped to the edge of the cliff they were standing at and dropped off the edge. Midfall, she turned into a peregrine falcon and swept over the river, her keen eyes looking at all the ship wrecks. She spot one, and she looped around, once more effortlessly turning back into a human as she landed in a graceful crouch.

She approached the ship and looked about it, then called up to Jarkoopi. "If you can carry him at least this distance, perhaps we can take this ship to the tunnel." Her voice echoed liked thunder in the empty cave, as the only true sound it had heard in... eons.

"Do not worry, we will make it." He said quiet proudly, despite just waking up.

He tiredly shifted up onto all fours, stretching out his arms and legs, prepping himself to carry Asaph, Dream Hunter.

What a lazy bum, slowing us down.
He said ironically as he watched his friendly rival snore away to the waterfall's calming crashing. He moved over next to him, nudging his face with his claw, hoping he'd wake up, but knowingly knew he wouldn't. Without Asaph, Dream Hunter's consent or knowing, Jarkoopi, Kepesk Altiui plucked one of his friend's scales and put it away in one of his small pouches for use later. Then The Sparrow came back and told him they'd have to get on a ship.

"A moldy wood ship? Are you certain it would hold us? Much less float?"
He certainly didn't want to trust his footing to a primitive boat.

Nonetheless, Asaph, Dream Hunter would have to get down there somehow. Jarkoopi, Kepesk Altiui pushed, shoved and possibly rolled Asaph, Dream Hunter over to the ledge. He then looked down at the drop himself.

Asaph continued to snore peacefully. His massive hind legs twitched and jerked slightly as he was rolled, but it had more to do with his dreams than with him being rolled along.

"Oh silver dragon... your scales... how they shine in the sun..." He muttered slightly to himself.

Rolling him along would not wake him. The easiest way would simply be to wait the hour. However, in an emergency, perhaps a sufficient... jolt?

Jarkoopi, Kepesk Altiui stepped up to the ledge, and began casting magic while anxiuosly watching the ship below that the scale was on.

"Ternock, xkhat wer darastrix ulph wyogale, dronikr!"

Assume all went well, Asaph, Dream Hunter would teleport and trade places with the scale, hopefully now he'd be resting soundly on the ship. (And will hopefully stop sleep talking too.) Before he went, Jarkoopi, Kepesk Altiui grabbed the lone scale again and tucked it away in his pouch once more. He took to the air, and flew down alongside the ship and spoke to The Sparrow as she steered.

"Lead the way, I can follow or push, if need be."

Asaph appeared on the ship deck in the same position as he was on the cliff's edge. He was still snoring, but it was a light snore and he was breathing a bit more easily. There were signs he would indeed awaken soon.

While Jarkoopi, Kepesk Altiui was slowly suffering fatigue from the constant flying, he stayed behind the ship, pushing it and assisting with steering whenever needed. He felt the air's texture change, they were making progress, that was for sure. Asaph, Dream Hunter woke from his slumber, Jarkoopi had been displeased when Asaph burdened the team like that, he never would've done that.
"I can feel it, we draw close."
The sound of his wings flapping was audible with the ship's creaking. Almost tauntingly to Asaph, Dream Hunter,
"It really wasn't too hard. All that book reading has really been making you soft and lightweight."
He grinned at the old man, he wanted question why a human form like that, but he didn't, he could ask probably at a later date.