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Zephyiote smiled warmly, rolling her shoulders to stretch them. Any trace of sleep that lingered had disappated with her morning bath. Water had a way of waking you up. Unless it was a hot spring. Zephyiote found those to be rather comforting. With a nod of her head, she gestured to herself. "Forgive me for not joining you on the sand, but I have most recently bathed, and I do not fancy sand sticking to my pelt," she admitted with a shrug.

"I think I might enjoy catching a small tidbit to eat. There is nothing quite as good, nor as satisfying, as a kill one makes themself. Or with a group effort," she added, thinking that perhaps Florica would be the one to bring down the prey.

She gave a good few flicks of her tail, dislodging water that was dripping from the long strands of fur. She fancied one such as Florica at the moment, who didn't have to worry about water logged fur, or feathers. Even if she herself only had two major ones so to speak, the mane down her back was actually a mixture of soft down feathers as well as fur, which, while making it extremely soft, required a great deal of preening.

"After we catch ourselves some breakfast, I should like to refill the cantines. I do not fancy there will be any drinkable water on the Fire Island." She glanced over to where Besnik preened himself.

"Will Besnik be aiding us in our hunt, or will he be staying behind?"

Zephyiote could only grin, feeling the excitement emanating off of Florica. "Let us catch something first. After that you can wash off, and get your drink," Zephyiote suggested, turning around and marching off into the deeper undergrowth, making sure to be loud for the others to follow. It wasn't as if she was worried about scaring anything off. If she scared something out of hiding...all the better! She could chase it down without delay.

Under the cover of trees, the air was cooler and more humid. The ground gave way ever so slightly underfoot, and the sensation of mud between her toes was not unpleasant in the slightest. It satisfied some sort of...thing, inside of her. Some deep, primal urge of hers. No matter how easy and comfortable life at the temple was, she was, and always would be, a creature of the earth and sky. Her kind was forged from the fire and heart of the fire goddess at the beginning of time. And this was home.

She slowed down a little in her walk, all four ears alert, listening intently for any sound she could pick up. Crickets chirping, small rustles of a mouse in nearby leaves. Her own deep, but quiet breathing...a sudden tick. Was that a prey animal? What was it?

"Florica, did you hear that? Do you see anything?" she whispered, hoping the other was close enough to hear.

Zephyiote didn't need any more encouraging. Besnik's shrill, piercing shriek was like flicking a switch, throwing her into a frenzy of crazed instinct, turning a normally rather calm, dignified painter into a massive ball of claws and teeth. She whipped around without further adeu, squeezing between trees just wide enough to allow her through. It didn't take long to find the quarry Besnik had spotted. A bear was no where near as swift as a deer, and a lot clumsier. It didn't take Zephyiote terribly long to catch up to it.

However, it wasn't like normal bears. Poor thing must have had some kind of magic on it. It must have been a few feet larger than normal, and several hundred pounds heavier. Probably the work of an inexperienced sorcerer just starting his learning. Oh what a bother. Realzing it couldn't run, the bear turned to face her, it's own face a grimace of hatred and maliciousness, but no intelligence simmered in those eyes. It was simply trying to survive. Normally this would be something silly. It wouldn't do to kill so large a thing. Zephyiote wouldn't eat very much, in the interest of traveling on a relatively empty stomach. But she was also rather vain, as was a rather common trait in dragons, and couldn't back down from so great a challenge. She could do this. She was larger, heavier, and more agile. Not to mention of superior intelligence, and gifted in several ways with magic. Flame breath was more than enough.

"Florica, get over here!" she called out. Such a large thing would be best taken down in a pair. If she did nothing else, Florica could be at the minimum a distraction. Poor bear. Against anything else it was a terrifying hunter. Now, it was a mere prey animal.

The smart thing to do would have been to sit still, and to think. To use the flame kindling in her mouth, to trip the bear with a swift flick of her tail. Just about anything was smarter than what she did. Driven crazy by the smell of blood, and her hunger for it, she leapt forward, with a wild snarl, her teeth sinking into the bear's neck. Her teeth sank fast into the beast, but there was a thicker coat of fur and fat than she expected, and the intended deadly bite was not so effective as she had hoped. While the bear screamed at her, it was still alive, and trying to swat her off its back. Which was just fine. Pan'Lun were good at other things too. They weren't called coiling dragons for nothing. Her tail wound its way around the bear's upper torso, pining its arms at its sides, while it continued to scream in protest. The pair fell to the ground like that. A ball of brown fur and flashing silvery scales. Unfortunately, her hold loosened slightly on the impact, long enough for the bear to move just a little, and sink his own teeth into her side, below her rib cage, missing one of her many eyes by nary an inch or two.

Zephyiote's cry came out muffled through all the fur and skin in her mouth, but it was obvious she was in pain. She wanted to yell for Florica to help her, to take out this creature while she had it immobilized, before it took a chunk out of her. She wanted to write, to get away, but that would only injure her more, and give the bear a chance to strike with its uninjured arm. Now she could only hope that her constriction would choke him before he did any more damage, or that Florica would have the sense to go after it on its stomach, or on the side of his throat or whatnot.

Zephyiote gingerly loosened her grip on the monster bear, taking a few steps back to stare in a sort of amazement at her side. Her eyes narrowed, brows drawing down in frustration. "I might be flying a little slower now." and then she burst out laughing. As if this was the funniest thing in the world. Her head eyes squeezed shut as her mouth pulled up at the corners, flashing an especially sharp set of teeth in a good natured way. Finally, when her little fit had subsided, she shook her head, and smiled at Florica. "It is not as bad as it looks, I assure you. We might have to slow our pace a little though..." Zephyiote shook her head in dismay, a little peeved that she should hinder their travel. "Please, eat your fill. I will be back in a moment."

Zephyiote neglected her wings, and took off via Pan Lun magic, flicking over tree tops and over to the beach, where she had left the supply bag. Having been dry since the chase, she landed delicately, limping only slightly as she moved to it. She proceeded to pack herbs into the wound, pouring a bit of water over it to clean it, but was unable to bandage the wound, do it its location. Were she wingless, it would have been possible, but because of the limbs sprouting from her shoulders, it would be impossible to wrap a bandage around her middle. Oh well. It would have to do.

She quickly returned to Florica and Besnik, not wanting to keep them waiting. She was keeping the pain to herself though. Truth be told, it hurt terribly. And though nothing had been damaged internally, it didn't mean it was all fine and dandy. But she didn't want to worry Florica. So she would keep it to herself.

In the manner of some of the Pan'Lun monks, she neglected to land this time, floating at standing distance above the ground, she hovered near her friend and food. The later of which she ate voraciously, to try and take her mind off the injury it gave her. For such a large animal, the meat was suprisingly tender, though was a bit too sweet for Zephyiote's tastes. The taste of swan and deer were best.

Zephyiote, oblivious to the conversation that had gone on about her only a short while ago, ate what she considered a medium sized portion. Enough to satiate herself, but not enough that she would be so stuffed that flying would be slower. As if she wouldn't be going slow enough as it was with her injury and all. With a contented sigh, she sat back, shuffling her wings a little, and cleaning herself until she felt well enough about her appearence. "If you would like to go to the spring and wash off, follow me. I think I would fancy a little bit of a dip myself." It might help the pain a little... Zephyiote would not admit the hurt, for fear she would be thought of as weak. But if one paid attention, one might notice a slight exaggeration in her step, the slightly stiff look of her smile, and the little waver at the end of some of her words. Small indications that she wasn't quite at the top of her game. But she would be damned if she let it slip intentionally.

The forest floor was nice underfoot, and the shade the leaves provided was pleasant. When she distracted herself with such things...it wasn't so bad. Only when she faltered in her thoughts did she again feel the twinge in her side. She shook her head, growling to herself a little. Come now Zephyiote...I know you are stronger than this! She grimaced and trotted faster, acting as normal and casual as possible. Within moments the spring could be heard bubbling quietly, and Zephyiote sighed inwardly with relief. She didn't want to walk anymore. The idea of lying down was quite appealing.

Zephyiote smiled warmly at Florica, ever thankful to have such a pleasant companion, and a friend...if Florica would allow Zephyiote to be her friend. Unable to lie about her condition, for it went against her morals, Zephyiote never-the-less tried to assuage Florica's worries. "Darling Florica. I thank you for your concern. I am exuberant that someone should care about a hurt of mine, rather than wanting to inflict one. But this journey...is important to me...I suspect that were my wings torn from my shoulders, I should try to swim my way to the aisle. No, I must go. I will be fine. Just a little bit of rest is all..." she gave a little snort of pleasure, smoke issuing from her nostrils, when she lay down. Being still was nice. She woud rest up while she could. But she aimed not to delay their journey anymore than could be helped.

She set about to preening, going over her mane and tail fluff, making sure and blood and grime was but a distant memory. When that was done, she plucked a rock up, and set about to sharpen her claws. For no particular reason. She didn't expect to encounter and trouble on the Western isle, but you never could be too sure.