Whitestar watched the strange caravan from behind the fronds of a young palm tree. He listened intently to Apple translating Alyssia's plan, and he could sense the excitement in her hushed squeaking. Her idea for him to stay under the cover of the foliage was probably best. His pale-colored scales would glitter like sharps of ice in the direct sun, and it would be impossible for him to gain the element of surprise from the air. Blackout could attack the Nightwing directly, and the hunter might not even realize it was an attack until Blackout was nearly on top of them. The two Rainwings were the perfect ambush pair, and with the caravan distracted by both Alyssia's diversion and Blackout's attack, they would be set up perfectly to surprise the humans in the back. Whitestar would fight when he needed to. He wasn't exactly skilled though. Eclipse had taught him what he needed to survive, not how to take on half a dozen humans and potentially a Nightwing. But he was stronger than the other dragons put together, and he was more than willing to fight. Besides, if things started to look bleak, there was one other thing he could do to shift the tide a little.
He nodded firmly toward Alyssia and then shot a glance over his shoulder at Blackout and the two Rainwings, waiting for their response.
@Harmonylight
(Ok, so harmonylight is elsewhere at the moment, but I texted her and asked if I could control her characters momentarily so that we could keep the story rolling in order to get it caught up with the rest of the rp. So, if I do something for her characters, that's why.)
(Oh! Also, I'm gonna edit the original post, but just a heads up, Alyssia is gonna have Apple stay back and not attack, you know, with her being blind and all. XD I totally forgot about Apple being blind when I first wrote it. lol)
Alyssia's heart leapt as Whitestar nodded firmly. They were good with it. She looked towards the others for nods. Bamboo gave the first nod of the three, the excitement in his eyes evident. Blackout was next and he stared out towards the caravan with a very determined look. Apple was the last one.
Oh please accept, Apple. If you don't, then Bamboo probably won't and then the whole thing is gonna fall apart. Apple finally nodded her consent but nervously, as if she wasn't sure. Alyssia's heart jumped for joy.
Yes! My plan is gonna work!
She turned her focus back towards the main caravan. She nodded back towards the others and told them to get into their positions. Before she left, she turned back one last time towards them. "By the way, when you hear me scream, "attack" that will be the code word for you to actually attack." Confident, she started running towards the caravan.
Alright, Alyssia, this has to work, so you better play your part well. The caravan was a little farther than she had previously judged and she was tiring out. The sun beat on her and she could feel her mouth becoming parched again.
Keep running, Alyssia. It'll just add to the act when you get there. And, remember, make it dramatic. She smiled, she'd been told that her eccentric personality made her dramatic at times and now she got to test it out.
The caravan got closer and she saw the hunter better. He was a young man and the two people he had been talking to were wearing fancier clothing, so she assumed that they were the wealthy people going to buy and sell dragons at the Scorpion Den. She sped up. This had to look convincing. She heard shouts as she neared the jeeps, they were shouting orders and pulling guns on her. She ran as hard as she could and started shouting things of her own.
"Help me! Help me, please!" she screamed as she ran by the jeeps and towards the limo. Several guards closed on her and blocked her path. She kept running as one of them grabbed her and restrained her. She tried squirming out of his grip, but she couldn't. The shouts were heard by the others and they came towards the commotion.
"What is this all about!" the man in the fancy clothes demanded. The woman standing beside him saw Alyssia and her face softened.
"It's just a terrified girl," she started over to Alyssia and ordered the guard to release her. "Young lady, what are you doing out here?"
Alyssia tried to create fake tears, but they weren't coming. Instead, she jumped to the woman and buried her face in her shoulder. "Help please!" she cried, trying to add more panic to her voice.
The man walked forward, skepticism in his eyes, "Sweetheart! She's a random stranger from the desert! You can't just trust her right off the bat!" He gestured for the guards to grab Alyssia again.
"No! No please! I've been out in the desert for days now! I don't know where to go!"
The woman looked at the man. "Please Jack! She's obviously afraid. Can't we bring her with us. I mean, look at her! She's all burned up and tattered."
Alyssia suppressed a smile. She'd forgotten that she looked a mess and was grateful that it added to her plan.
The one named Jack seemed to soften but shook his head and gestured once again to the guards to grab Alyssia.
She tried to fight back. "No! You don't understand! What happened to me was horrible! I'm burned and dying! I need a city! PLEASE!!" Squirming her way out of their grip, she decided to add some more dramatic nature to it. She fell and grabbed her head, pretending to be remembering horrible events. "NOO STAY AWAY!!" She screamed. "The memories...they're horrible!!!"
The woman rushed to her side and Jack grabbed her, "Jasmine, you can't help her."
"Yes I can!" she replied. More guards came to the scene, trying to restrain Alyssia, but also not knowing whether to help or restrain.
She heard another voice, one that was calm still, even amid the situation. "Have your men restrain her and then I'll keep her away from the rest of the caravan on my dragon, that way if she is dangerous, I'll be able to keep an eye on her." The voice was confident, but also had a soft touch, like he was used to this situation. She looked up to see a blonde haired hunter from the Scorpion Den. Using this moment, she screamed at the top of her lungs, "NOT THEM!!!! THE ATTACK! NOT THE ATTACK!!!" She hoped the dragons recognized the code word and had started to move in. She looked around and saw 5 or 6 guards all around her. They all restrained her and began taking her towards the front of the group towards the limo. She took a quick glance at the jeeps and noticed that there were only two men in one of them.
Good, there are only eight of the guards then.
"Get her in the limo, she needs air conditioning and some water!" the woman named Jasmine ordered.
"Jasmine, she can't stay in there though," Jack reminded.
"Yes yes, I know," she said annoyed.
She kept squirming and holding her head. Finally, she felt the cool breeze of air conditioning in the limo. A thing of water was lifted to her lips and she drank long and deep, allowing herself to calm down. Adrenaline was still pumping from her performance and terror started to build up as she didn't hear anything. Not even one scream. Her heart began to sink and she feared that she hadn't screamed loud enough.
I thought my plan was gonna work. Now these people are gonna take me back to that retched place and I won't be able to escape this time.
"Are you ok, sweety?" Jasmine asked. Her green eyes bearing into Alyssia's ocean blue ones.
She breathed in and out slowly, "Yes....yes ma'am. I think so... I-"
She stopped as she heard screams coming from outside the limo.