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The sun had just set, and darkness was settling over the river's edge. Two golden eyes glinted in the darkness, and then the mirror-like surface was broken in ripples as a long, dark shape levered itself up and out of the water. Moving along out of the water, Ylva silently made her way over to a nearby rock formation, settling herself on the still-warm rocks. "Why muuuuuuust I leeeeave the water?" she growled, her voice a dangerous-sounding rasp.

It seemed as though she was speaking to nothing at all, and then a second, much tinier, dark shape dropped out of a tree and prowled over to the rocks. The human edged up onto the rocks and then shoved back her hood, revealing a deathly pale face and two ice-blue eyes. "Mostly because we can't talk during the day," Kayce pointed out, seating herself beside the wyrm's head. "And you don't have to speak aloud. I can hear your thoughts just fine."

Ylva merely hissed quietly and ignored the human for the moment, glancing around the clearing they were seated in. Humans: such a pain they were.

Kayce was the first to pick up the sound of distant voices, but Ylva heard them soon after. The crocodilian wyrm gave a long, loud hiss, her eyes roaming the surroundings until she caught the faint flickering of light. Her hiss increased in volume and intensity. Either a fire or a light of her kind was approaching, and she wasn't keen on meeting either.

Her bonded looked less than pleased as well, and her hood was instantly whipped back up over her face. Not only did she dislike light, but people were also among those she hated. She carefully eased down amongst the rocks, her dark cloak blending seamlessly with the surrounding outcroppings.

As the odd pair came into view, Kayce's annoyance only increased, and Ylva looked rather murderous. They were touching her water; her territory included that water. She was not just going to let a half-grown brat invade her turf. "Back off!" she growled aloud, her voice sounding even more threatening with its rasp.

Ylva heard the distinct rumble the smaller wyrm made, and she wasn't sure whether to be annoyed at its insolence or pleased with the challenge being issued. Her yellow-gold eyes gleamed in the darkness as she turned her head to view the pair fully. She snorted and got to her feet to climb down from the low rockpile, water still dripping from her back and head. She took a few steps toward the pair, annoyed that they stood between her and the river. She could have gone farther up or downstream to slide in, but it was the principle of the matter that irked her.

Upon hearing the humanoid's attempt at a greeting, Kayce rolled her eyes and stood, jumping off the low rocks and striding to catch up with her wyrm. These two were no threat. Idiots lost and out of their element, they seemed to be, but Kayce was not in the least bit worried about them. Annoyed, yes, but not threatened.

Eyeing her bonded as the young woman came to stand beside her, one hand resting on the wyrm's shoulder, Ylva shifted her weight from foot to foot and then glared back at the intruding pair. "You do realize where you're at, don't you?" she growled aloud.

Ylva hissed quietly. Youthful idiot! "In a manner of speaking, I suppose. You're either new to the area or you're so stupid as to think I wouldn't catch you here. I'm not blind, nor am I deaf," she growled fiercely, punctuating her remark by stretching out her neck and snapping her jaws shut with incredible force. As a threat, that usually worked well enough to scare anyone off.

Ylva, the wyrm is young, not even fully grown. He doesn't know. Kayce reminded her wyrm. She was a killer, and occasionally a cold-blooded one at that, but while this wyrm was young and brash, he also seemed ignorant. She didn't kill ignorant youth, even when they grated incredibly on her nerves, like now. His bonded appeared superficially calm-- what was his bonded?!--, but as a hunter, Kayce could pick up the sounds of an accelerated heartbeat. He was scared.

Good. That meant they wouldn't make this mistake twice.

While Ylva gave her bonded a reproachful look, Kayce tipped her hood off and stood with her head bared in the moonlight. Her skin was deathly pale and in stark contrast to her dark hair. She planted her hands on her hips, her cloak gaping wide enough for a bit of moonlight to glint off the dagger strapped to her thigh. She didn't speak aloud to the two; she just stared, one eyebrow arched.

Ylva and Kayce gave simultaneous snorts of disbelief. Honestly, what kind of idiots do they think we are?! Every village and settlement within three days' walk knows that this part of the river ismine! How could they be that ignorant?! Ylva groused at her bonded, her tail lashing back and forth. She eyed first one intruder and then the other, trying to decide which to take her territorial fury out on first.

I think they are telling the truth, even if they're not being very respectful about it, Kayce replied. The unwritten law of the wyrms gave Ylva full grounds to escort the two miscreants off by any means she felt justified, which meant she was fully allowed to rough the two up. Kayce herself, however, would have preferred to do the job, as she wasn't especially fond of the look the little humanoid had been giving her.

Ylva spoke up first. "You're obviously stupid as well. If you've passed through any settlements, you'd know to avoid this part of the river and the lake nearby. While you're at it, do avoid that lake. If any wyrm gets to tear into you, I'd prefer it'd be me, and not that arrogant male," she added, and her yellow eyes took on a ferally wicked gleam. She was sadistic as well as territorial, and Kayce realized she had to intervene before the water wyrm really did start ripping them apart.

"You can start by explaining who you are. And I'd suggest you adjust your attitude, or I'll let Ylva enjoy her right to escort you both away," the young woman added as she rested one hand on Ylva's shoulder as a deterrent, fixing her pale gaze on the humanoid for a moment. She heard Ylva grumble in the back of her mind for a moment, but the water wyrm didn't move. Not yet, anyway.

He's a hybrid. No wonder his hide looks so ridiculous, Ylva commented to her bonded, watching Angetenar with an eye well-adjusted to hatred. 'Eridanus' was a dark name, and 'Fireclaw' was most obviously one of fire. Being a water wyrm, Ylva despised fire.

With a great passion.

Kayce had the good grace to ignore Ylva's mental comments. She had learned very quickly that it was best not to respond; it only encouraged the creature to snap more. "Angetenar? I've met one of your siblings. You'd have done well to consult her before wandering in this area," the young woman said to the wyrm. As much as Ylva wanted to rip the two apart, Kayce just wanted them gone. They really were two clueless idiots wandering in the wrong part of the wilderness.

You did? Ohhh... yes. Azha. Ylva gave a rumbling chuckle, looking very pleased. She remembered cunning little Azha. Now, this is all well and good, but I'm going to escort them out! With force!

Give me a minute! Kayce snapped up at the water wyrm, and Ylva, looking quite surprised that the human had a temper, just stared down at her bonded. "You're free to go. Avoid the lake," she added, waving one pale hand in the direction of the not-too-distant body of water. "And stay clear of the river.... all of it. Count yourself lucky. Go."

With that, the human folded her arms across her chest and waited. The two had plenty of space to escape around herself and Ylva, though the water wyrm looked less than pleased that the intruders were about to simply walk away. With a long and prolonged snarl, the wyrm stalked a few meters downstream and eased herself into the water, circling around behind the two intruders.